Chapter 213: Tolerance

Um... it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Yang Yixie thought carefully and wondered how this whole mess could be left to him alone.

Regarding the Black Stone Mountain Range, there's an underground lab to the east, a secret base to the west, and a swarm of stone men running around building nests inside; he reasonably suspects the range has long been hollowed out by people.

His bomb is at most a fuse, so why dump the entire mess on him alone?

"Flame City Cannon" itself officially voiced its objection.

But a bounty is a bounty; if it's high, it's high, and the Supervision Bureau can't find him.

Sigh, if he turns himself in, can he still claim the bounty?

Yang Yixie's thoughts began to drift; unfortunately this thing is a single‑player game—if it were multiplayer, he could open an alt account, sell himself, and that would be a rich start.

Luo Jinyou saw Ying Duo staring at the bounty notice and could only speak up to draw his attention back.

"By the way, what happened after I passed out?"

When he woke up, he only saw the worried Professor Luo De'an, who told him that the Supervision Bureau arrived in time and sent the still‑comatose him back to the Academy.

Teacher Li Ya also gave him a check; indeed there was no problem with his body, only his consciousness was trapped deep in a dream, and it would be fine once the dream naturally ended.

Ying Duo thought a few seconds over his question; the situation was too complex, and explaining it clearly would take a lot of words.

"You passed out, and classmate Xiao Ming went up to play dice with that crow, and the Supervision Bureau arrived."

Luo Jinyou:???

Wait, who is that classmate Xiao Ming? How did he end up playing dice?

As for the stone‑men leader's movements, the mountain's collapse from the explosion, the Supervision Bureau's hunt... those lengthy and unimportant parts were selectively ignored by Yang Yixie.

Thus Luo Jinyou asked in vain and heard nothing.

Luo Jinyou's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Ying Duo's "that's the fact" face, suddenly feeling his question was stupid.

When probing Ying Duo for details, just how distressed is he?

Forget it, later he'll just ask Shen Zexi.

In this Mercenary Corps, aside from the Regiment Leader, everyone else is fairly reliable.

Yang Yixie happened to open Luo Jinyou's affection panel, and the computer screen centered a display of Luo Jinyou's affection toward him.

【Affection: 62/100 (Tolerance, Friend)】

62 points crossed the "Acquaintance" threshold, reaching the "Friendly" stage, and even carries the "Tolerance" tag.

Speaking of which, why "Tolerance"?

Yang Yixie didn't dig deeper; after all, the affection had risen, and perhaps he could start exploring storylines related to Luo Jinyou.

Ying Duo recalled what the Supervision Bureau said when checking Luo Jinyou, basically that Luo Jinyou was having a nightmare?

Usually such cases involve an NPC's unpleasant memories, which are generally tied to the plot.

"You had a nightmare," Ying Duo said, not asking but simply stating.

Golden eyes looked at Luo Jinyou, calm and unruffled, as if no secret existed before him.

"What did you dream about?"

Luo Jinyou's expression froze for a moment, then was quickly covered by a habitual detachment.

He glanced at the overly bright sunlight outside, his tone decidedly nonchalant.

"Nothing, it's all from a long time ago."

Ying Duo still stared calmly at Luo Jinyou, not changing the subject despite the other's obvious evasion.

The 62‑point affection stayed steady, so since it hadn't dropped, Ying Duo could boldly continue probing.

"What was that long‑ago thing?"

Luo Jinyou's fingers on the blanket involuntarily curled; the sunlight outside was so bright it made his eyes sting, and he fell silent for a moment—long enough that Yang Yixie thought he would brush it off again as before.

Perhaps because the 62 points met the requirement, or perhaps due to their mutual similarities, Luo Jinyou finally spoke.

"My biological parents and Professor Luo De'an are old acquaintances," he said, his gaze unfocused on the window as if viewing a faded memory.

"They are experts in energy ore transmutation, not the topmost, but still quite renowned."

Unlike Professor Luo De'an, his parents, though also Special Ability Practitioners, were not combat‑oriented; they chose the research path early and have since shone brightly.

"When I was young, I spent most of my time in the laboratory's annex living area, until I was seven years old."

Luo Jinyou's speech suddenly slowed, "The lab suffered an unexplained Mutation energy leak, attracting a swarm of Aberrant Species; my parents hid me here and there, trying to avoid them."

"Unfortunately, when Professor Luo De'an arrived with reinforcements, my parents showed no sign of life; he only managed to rescue me, and since then I've been adopted by the professor."

Ying Duo listened silently the whole time, like a statue of a listener.

Luo Jinyou described his childhood in a few brief sentences, which was precisely the nightmare rooted deep within him.

His gaze refocused on Ying Duo's green hair, which emitted a subtle glow even indoors, and he suddenly asked a rather abrupt question:

"Ying Duo, your hair is a living Mutation Source, right? Are you worried the mutation it emits might harm those around you?"

Ying Duo shook his head almost without hesitation, quite definitively.

"No."

Didn't Lin Xun examine him before? He said the emitted Mutation concentration was at most comparable to the farthest edge of the Slum.

Indeed, for Ying Duo, internal conflict? It simply doesn't exist.

Luo Jinyou let out a slight laugh, "Right, I asked the wrong person."

If Ying Duo were to suffer internal conflict because of that, he wouldn't be sticking to him daily despite knowing he couldn't tolerate the Mutation factor.

In fact, this lets him gradually adapt to the Mutation.

He looked at Ying Duo's matter‑of‑fact demeanor, a hint of envy flickering in his eyes.

"Actually..." he seemed to talk to himself, yet also confide in Ying Duo, "I kind of envy you."

"Envy?" Ying Duo tilted his head slightly, showing confusion.

"Hmm," Luo Jinyou nodded, "I envy you for being able to so 'openly' accept the 'unconventional' parts of yourself, not dwelling on where they come from, not fearing what future they might bring."

Although Ying Duo also has the reason of having an abnormal mind, his carefree, do-as-he-pleases attitude without any worries truly makes him envious.

He subconsciously touched his chest, where traces of that past disaster still remained.