Chapter Fifty-Two

Life in the research institute was much more relaxed than Heilong had imagined. Apart from having to cooperate with a few candid shots each day, the rest of his time was his own to spend—either recharging or sleeping.

Academician Ding had already mentioned the need to control his weight. As a far-sighted dragon, Heilong naturally agreed. Otherwise, if he insisted on the popular notion of “a dragon never becomes a slave—unless food and lodging are provided,” it would be hard to argue against such a rationale for Heilong’s decision to settle down.

Due to the need for secrecy, Heilong had to stay cooped up in the institute and couldn’t go anywhere. Still, he didn’t find it boring, because Gao Ying came by every day to chat with him—ostensibly to provide psychological counseling.

However, Huang Ze felt that the topics she discussed had little to do with actual counseling. Instead, they were mostly mundane matters: watching the news together, browsing forums and arguing with online trolls, or watching movies and TV shows side by side.

Heilong had objected, thinking this hardly counted as proper psychological support. But Gao Ying insisted this was all part of the process—helping Heilong stay connected to society, enlivening his mood, enriching his spiritual life, and strengthening his empathy and interaction with human society. These, she claimed, were the most essential elements for Heilong’s psychological and human side.

Unable to out-argue her, Heilong simply let her have her way. After all, it was true that he had been out of touch with the world for quite a while and did need to reintegrate as soon as possible.

That evening, Heilong had Gao Ying help him log into his WeChat account. Though he was a homebody with a small social circle, he did have a few friends, and after being out of contact for so long, he genuinely missed them.

“Brothers, I’m back! Did you miss me?”

Heilong had Gao Ying type this into a group chat called “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.” His claws were too big to operate the phone himself, so Gao Ying had to do it for him.

“Huang Ze? Is it really you?” someone with the nickname “Fan Fan” quickly replied with a voice message. “Weren’t you missing? How did you suddenly pop back up? Where the hell have you been all this time?”

“I thought you’d gone abroad like Old Xia.”

“Old Xia went abroad?” Heilong was confused. “I heard foreigners aren’t exactly friendly to people from our country. Why would he go abroad?”

“That’s only for ordinary folks,” Fan Fan replied, sounding a bit scornful. “It’s different if you’re loaded.”

“The native deities overseas are obsessed with gold. If you sacrifice a pound of gold and become their follower, you get their divine protection and blessings, so you can live freely abroad.”

“That’s the path Old Xia took... Damn, that bastard didn’t even tell me when he left, and I thought we were brothers.”

“Now the country has tightened up gold and border controls. It’s not so easy to go abroad anymore.”

“Sigh... It’s not something that can be explained in a few words, and you never know if you’re being watched online. Where are you now? Let’s meet up tonight and talk it over.”

“Uh... I’m out of town for now, won’t be able to make it back for a while. Maybe next time.”

Heilong noticed there were only three people left in the chat and continued, “Old Xia’s gone abroad, but what about Panzi? What happened to him? Why did he leave the group?”

“Him? He got into some heretic cult nonsense, got his account banned, and even got arrested. He’s still in detention right now!” Fan Fan sighed. “You have no idea how speechless I’ve been these past six months. You disappeared, Old Xia went abroad, Panzi got arrested... I’m the only normal one left!”

“Uh, heretic cults...” Heilong, loyal by nature, grew concerned. “Panzi’s a top student from Magic City University, well-educated. How did he get caught up in that? How’s he doing now?”

“He should be out soon, hopefully,” Fan Fan replied. “It’s just bad luck. Panzi’s an astronomy enthusiast, was in a few astronomy circles, liked to set up the telescope for some stargazing.”

“That used to be harmless, but ever since our country crossed into this new world, everything’s changed.”

“The stars above us are no longer the material suns we once knew, but unknown energy entities. Staring at them with a high-powered telescope makes you vulnerable to their corruption.”

“One of Panzi’s astronomy groups got collectively contaminated by a heretic god, who seduced them to spread its faith online and recruit followers. The authorities quickly caught wind of it, and now the whole group is in detention for ideological re-education.”

Heilong felt a strange heaviness in his heart. So much had already changed within his small circle—what massive impact must this crossing into another world have had on society at large? It was no exaggeration to call the times turbulent and rife with hidden currents.

“Huang Ze, what have you been up to these past six months?” Lu Fan asked. “The police even came to ask me about you a while back—quite detailed questions. Don’t tell me you got mixed up in something big?”

“No, nothing like that... Just got scammed in an online romance, ended up locked in a black kiln mining coal for half a year.”

Heilong made up an excuse on the spot. “Fan Fan, I’ve got something to do, gotta go now. We’ll chat later when I’m free.”

Lu Fan replied, “Alright, take care. If you need help, just say the word—don’t try to handle everything alone. Don’t forget you’ve got a brother here.”

“OK, got it!”

...

Late at night, what could a freelancer like Heilong possibly have going on? The truth was, he’d just discovered something interesting—someone had just tried to add him on WeChat, but Gao Ying took one look and rejected the request without hesitation.

“Why did you reject it? This is my WeChat account, shouldn’t you at least ask my opinion?” Heilong glared at her—not out of anger, but simply to assert himself a little. After all this time together, he increasingly felt like he was being dominated by this woman.

“Because it was obviously a scam account,” Gao Ying replied without batting an eye.

“A scam account?” Heilong was dubious. “But her friend request said she was a follower of Freyja, the goddess of love, and that she found my account under the goddess’s guidance... She wanted us to receive the goddess’s blessing together and become eternal lovers.”

“Precisely because she said that, it means she’s a scammer,” Gao Ying replied. “Freyja is one of the native deities, and her divine power can’t influence people from our country at all. Anyone adding friends online with that excuse is almost certainly a scammer.”

“Really?” Heilong still wasn’t convinced, suspecting Gao Ying just wanted to keep him to herself—this woman had long since set her sights on his pure little dragon heart.

“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you?” Gao Ying replied earnestly. “Just look it up online yourself—there are tons of reports about this kind of thing. Since love goddesses actually exist in this world, using their name to scam money or seduce people is way more effective than selling tea leaves.”