Sky-cracking Rider

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Early in the morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the villa's doorbell rang.

In the cold winter, very few people would be active just as the day broke. Wasn't a warm quilt snuggly?

"Who is it?"

Adrian, who had not slept well the entire night, his eyes rimmed with dark circles, shuffled into the living room in his cotton slippers and activated the doorbell intercom.

"Me, 'Summoner,' open up!"

"Huh?"

Adrian couldn't quite believe his ears.

Hadn't the cooperation between both sides ended?

Why were they looking for him again?

Why hadn't Liaison Officer Rossi given advance notice?

Full of questions, he opened the entrance door of the villa's living room, only to see a hulking figure in a grey trench coat standing outside.

Wait a second, the doorbell wasn't at the entrance door but ten meters away, on the gate wall.

How did this guy ring the doorbell?

Could it be that he entered the yard first, then rang the doorbell? Right, the man was a Psychic Ability User, skilled in Psychokinesis. Rings a doorbell remotely—no big deal.

"Is there something you need?"

Adrian let the man into the house.

"Would you like some tea, or perhaps coffee?"

"I'm looking for 'Rookie'!"

The "Summoner" with the hedgehog hairstyle still maintained a cold demeanor, not seeming to fear freezing to death in the chill.

Adrian said irritably, "There's no drink called 'Rookie'!"

Speak human, please!

Not answering the question could be very vexing.

Since the task at Ancient Castle Manor concluded, there had been no further opportunities for interaction between the two parties. You celebrate the New Year, don't blame others for celebrating the Lantern Festival. Task Force 04 didn't need to show any more courtesy to the other side.

The "Summoner" paused, then seemed to understand.

"I want tea, I'm looking for Chen Fei."

Now that was speaking human.

"Please wait a moment. Everyone was quite exhausted last night and will wake up later."

Adrian turned and headed for the kitchen to prepare the tea.

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The villa was plenty warm inside.

"Chirp!"

"Good morning!"

Chen Fei, with Little Bird perched on his shoulder, drifted through the living room towards the kitchen, beginning the routine of preparing breakfast.

The little fellow hadn't exerted much effort the night before and woke up early. Then, pecking at Daddy Chen Fei's ear, it danced a wake-up jig on his face, rousing him from sleep.

Chen Fei had no choice but to get up. He was always responsible for Task Force 04's meals, having both the experience and an abundance of it.

Sometimes Mouri Misono would also come to help, lending a hand.

The mixed grain porridge had been set to cook before bedtime. Steam buns were easily placed in the steamer set above the porridge pot.

The bread dough had been kneaded automatically while everyone washed up the night before, left to rise overnight, already taking shape. The oven with the preset timer started working just on time.

Breakfast preparation actually required frying some eggs and bacon and heating some milk and soy milk. Salted duck eggs, fermented tofu, and pickles were all ready-made, not leaving much work to do.

This was an experience learned from Chef Abel at the Aircrew Base cafeteria: delegate work to time.@@novelbin@@

Tasks like simmering and fermenting, which take time, can be managed with ease if the time is calculated correctly, allowing one to effortlessly complete a massive amount of kitchen work.

The most tedious task was simply measuring ingredients; taking advantage of free time for pre-measuring and packing. Then, when needed, just open the sealed container and pour it out.

"He's awake!"

The "Summoner's" gaze fixed on Chen Fei, following him to the entrance of the kitchen.

Then there was the sound of the fridge opening and closing, the gas stove puffing away, the clanging of the frying pan on the stove, followed by sizzling sounds, as the exhaust fan hummed lightly to expel the greasy air outside. Despite this, the enticing scent of frying eggs managed to waft out from the kitchen.

"Hey!"

"Summoner" leaned on the kitchen door frame, looking at Chen Fei, who was mechanically and sleepily cooking, yet each step was perfectly precise.

Nothing but the fruit of practice!

"Ah? Is there something you need?"

Chen Fei snapped back to reality, looking puzzled, and with a flick of his hand, the sunny-side-up egg in the pan gently flipped over to slow-cook on low heat.

He was especially good at frying eggs with runny yolks, cooked on the surface but still soft inside—low heat and a smooth sliding motion were the keys.

"How did you know that it wasn't the real deal?"

Others, upon hearing the "Summoner" ask so directly and straightforwardly, would likely be confused, having no clue what he meant.

"Uh, intuition, would you believe that?"

Chen Fei had fully woken up by now, shrugged his shoulders, and it seemed that the other party confirmed that Akim blown up by Project 152 was indeed a fake, and the real 'him' was still at large, otherwise he wouldn't have sought him out for no reason.

But the matter of the Dog System seemed impossible to prove, as he had no evidence to present.

Everything needed evidence—if there was no evidence, what was the point of speaking? Other than wasting breath, he might even be labeled as delusional.

Pfft, like he wanted to be labeled as delusional!

"Believe? Of course, I believe. Do you have the skill of prophecy?"

"The Summoner" was somewhat puzzled and incredulous; it was indeed unbelievable that a Metal Ability User possessed Psychic Series prophecy or precognition skills.

Up to now, whether among spellcasters or supernatural power users, there have been very few who possess prophecy or precognition skills, not even enough to count on one hand.

Prophecy and precognition are slightly different; the future in a prophecy might change, but the information from precognition will definitely occur.

The longest prophecy was limited to a week, and it was vague, like solving a riddle, requiring much interpretation and prone to significant errors.

Even the most accurate precognition was limited to two seconds into the future, and while it was indeed accurate, what could it really achieve? If used to speculate in finance, one would probably lose until their pants fell off.

To be able to guess that Akim was a fake without any sign, this level of precognition was pretty impressive.

"You guess?"

Chen Fei brazenly shook his frying pan.

A perfect sunny-side up egg smoothly left the pan and then he heated the pan again on high flame, cracking another egg into it with a satisfying sound, and once again the sizzling started.

Team 04 needed to consume at least 30 eggs every morning, with Apu and Kiterley being the main forces in devouring these eggs.

"I got it!"

Without any hesitation, "The Summoner" turned and left.

"Hey, hey, what are you two talking about? Why are you leaving, not even taking a sip of your tea? Hey, hey!"

The one truly in a fog was Team 04's captain, Adrian; he had just brewed some black tea, but before anyone could take a sip, they were leaving—what on earth did this mean so early in the morning?

Especially the conversation between Chen Fei and "The Summoner", although it was not secretive, it was more confusing than if it had been.

"Goodbye!"

"The Summoner" didn't look back and pushed open the living room door, heading into the morning chill and away from the villa.

Chen Fei, focused on the skillet and the egg on the gas stove, called out loudly, "No need to chase!"

Adrian watched "The Summoner" step out into the yard and get into a car.

The vehicle quickly departed, vanishing from sight.

"What's all this about? Are you two exchanging secret signals?"

"We're playing charades, to be honest, it's a bit unclear to me too. Just pretend to understand even though you're confused!"

What Chen Fei didn't say was that the other party probably knew full well but chose to feign ignorance. Whether or not they probed anything from him, it was probably what they had intended.

"Can you explain a bit clearer?"

Adrian still couldn't figure out what kind of charade it was.

"The former police chief of the Tunguska Region, Akim Vasily Ulyanov, who we took down last night, might not have been the real person!"

As soon as Chen Fei finished speaking, a scream came from outside the kitchen.

Tanya Ilyin Alexandrovna, who awoke and came to report in the living room, turned pale and trembled, "No, no, not the real person? How is that possible?"

Now that her loyalties had shifted, she was probably the one who most wanted Akim dead; his death would mean her largest connection with the "Sacred Advent" organization was completely severed, like getting rid of a big worry on her mind.

If Akim were still alive, as a traitor, Tanya would probably find it hard to rest or eat in peace. "Sacred Advent" wasn't a group of saints and believers; they would quickly confirm who betrayed Akim, and maybe the blade of vengeance would arrive at her door soon.

"Don't worry, we will protect you."

Adrian, seeing the girl's panic-stricken appearance, naturally understood what she was worried and scared about.

"No, no, I must leave here, it's no longer safe."

Tanya hugged her head and crouched in a corner of the living room, her face almost transparent with terror.

"There won't be a problem for a while."

Chen Fei casually flipped the eggs, too engrossed in conversation to notice that this egg had overcooked, no longer the perfect runny yolk.

Suddenly, without warning, a barrage of cracks and pops sounded, and something whizzed into the room.

"Look out!"

Adrian immediately got down.

"Ah!"

Tanya shrieked repeatedly.

"Who's there?"

A figure burst through the window and rushed out.

Judging by the sound, it was probably Kiterley, an A-rank Metal Ability User.

A cold wind swept into the living room immediately; not just the windows, but even the floor-to-ceiling glass had been shattered by the unexpected gunfire.

Standing in the kitchen with a frying pan in one hand and a wooden spatula in the other, Chen Fei was dumbfounded.

"Jiu!"

Xiao Jiu cast a Light System Magic Shield for herself and Chen Fei's father.

Inside the kitchen, it was very safe, unaffected by the rain of bullets.

"It seems I've been talking nonsense."

Chen Fei shook his head and returned to the stove to continue the sizzling of the eggs.

He left the task of pursuing the enemies to Kiterley.

"You lied, I'm leaving this place!" Tanya said with a sob.

She had nearly lost her life, which had nothing to do with being an A-rank Psychic Ability User. Even without her abilities being suppressed, she didn't have a Psychokinesis Skill like "The Summoner".

The sound of gunfire alerted everyone; people rushed out from their rooms ready for a fight, with spells, special abilities, and Battle Qi all activated.

"It's okay now, Kiterley has gone after them!"

Adrian shook his head in distress; the villa was no longer safe, and exposure had come too quickly.

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