HISD Chapter 20 The First Battle in the Real World
TL/N: Dragon Girl changed into Dragon Maiden, it just sounds better.
"You don't know either?"
The young female agent frowned. "You joined the Supernatural Department two years before me. Fine, it makes sense not to know much about the Western guardian deity, Homelander. But what about our Eastern guardian deity, Dragon Maiden? She should have come here before to examine other detainees, right?"
The young male agent gave a wry smile. "She has been here. More than once, actually."
He paused, a trace of awe in his eyes. "But… including our Chief, no one knows her true appearance."
"Why?"
The young female agent looked confused.
She had been told Dragon Maiden visited multiple times, yet no one had ever seen her? No one even knew her age, or whether she was male or female?
That didn't make sense at all.
The male agent glanced around nervously, then lowered his voice. "Because… we cannot see her."
"Cannot see her?" The young female agent froze.
Inside the isolation chamber—
Through the surveillance feed, Yi Meng caught that sentence. His mind stirred, and his thoughts raced at an impossible speed.
Unable to be seen?
Was her body invisible? Or did she not even have a body? Could she be a soul, a consciousness only?
There wasn't enough information to rule anything out.
Too many possible branches. Without a clear idea of her abilities, Yi Meng had no way to prepare or guard against detection.
"Come on… say more about Dragon Maiden!"
Yi Meng's heart grew anxious.
As if in response to his inner urging, the male agent outside parted his lips, ready to continue—
But just then—
The door to the corridor opened, and the middle-aged Chief strode in briskly.
"Chief!"
All the agents inside the monitoring room immediately stood up.
The male agent who had been about to speak clamped his mouth shut, and together with the female agent, straightened into formal salute.
The Supernatural Foundation Department faced dangerous incursions and detainments daily. Death or permanent injury was always a step away. Yet what broke people even faster was the psychological toll. Many agents, after enduring cases no human mind should ever bear, ended up permanently committed to asylums.
That was why, under normal circumstances, discussion of supernatural incidents was forbidden, especially in private. Even more so toward ordinary citizens, to prevent panic.
"No unusual activity?"
The Chief swept his gaze across the room, then turned toward the one-way glass window, observing the silver-haired boy lying quietly on the bed.
"Nothing." A male agent shook his head. "This student… treats the place like a hotel. Still hasn't woken up."
"Good."
The Chief nodded, checked his wristwatch, then said in a low voice, "Stay sharp. It's almost time. She's coming."
The guardian deity of the Eastern jurisdiction. The leader of incursion inspections. The one ranked alongside Homelander—
Dragon Maiden.
Every agent in the room stiffened, instantly forming two neat lines. They stood as if awaiting the arrival of a divine being, their faces solemn, bodies unmoving.
The department fell utterly silent.
Minutes ticked by.
Ten minutes later, as 6:30 pm approached, the young female agent widened her eyes, staring intently at the corridor. She flicked a glance at the surveillance camera feed at the department's entrance.
She saw no helicopters, no cars approaching. No living beings at all.
She waited patiently. But even when the scheduled time for inspection arrived, nothing changed in the hallway or the feed.
Puzzled, she was about to speak—
And then, the next second, she couldn't. Her thoughts froze, as if bound by a mysterious force, her body stiffening like stone.
The other agents suffered the same fate—thoughts halted, bodies locked. But they knew exactly what this meant.
The guardian deity had arrived.
"Dragon Maiden."
The Chief, one of the few still able to speak, gestured toward the isolation chamber and respectfully announced, "The subject for inspection is inside."
At the same time—
Inside the chamber, Yi Meng's thread of static consciousness was still linked to the surveillance system. Through it, he saw every agent frozen, as though their very minds had stopped functioning.
For him, time itself seemed to slow. His brain processed data at inhuman speed, like a true AI.
He listed the intel gathered so far—
No one could hide from her.
No one had seen her true form.
She could cross vast distances.
She had no physical body, her powers tied to thought.
"Could it be…?!"
Yi Meng's mind jumped to one terrifying possibility.
Half a second later—
An overwhelming mental presence pierced through the isolation chamber's bulletproof walls and entered his body as he lay on the bed.
Three seconds passed.
The presence receded like a tide. Then, a voice—neutral, calm, and divine—echoed in the Chief's mind:
"He is fine. And none of your members show signs of invasion."
"I understand." The Chief exhaled, visibly relieved. "Thank you for coming."
Dragon Maiden did not reply.
The other agents let out collective sighs as their bodies shuddered, their minds released from paralysis.
The Chief knew—Dragon Maiden was gone.
"At least, no new invasion records for our city today."
His gaze fell once more on the silver-haired boy in the chamber. He gave the order: "Wake him up. Send him back."
…
"Wake up. Time to get up."
The young female agent shook Yi Meng.
The boy slowly opened his groggy eyes, stretched with a yawn, and sat up.
"Sleep well?" The female agent gave him an exasperated look.
"Yeah."
Yi Meng straightened up, putting on a serious face. "I'm an outstanding student and a model citizen. Always cooperative with investigations."
"The investigation's over. You can go."
She was speechless. Sleeping through the entire confinement? His nerves were like steel.
Yi Meng.
She silently memorized the name.
…
Later that night—
A car dropped Yi Meng off. After removing his blindfold, he realized he was standing alone before his school gate.
The day had already given way to night. Streetlights glowed bright across the city.
"Do not speak of what you experienced today."
The agent driver's words still echoed in his mind.
Yi Meng exhaled. He needed time to digest everything.
But one thing was certain—after learning even a glimpse of the truth behind this world, he had no interest left in the Federation's upcoming exams.
Looking at his peaceful high school campus, his thoughts were in turmoil. He recalled that hair-raising moment in the isolation chamber.
Yes—hair-raising.
His secret had nearly been exposed by Dragon Maiden.
Fortunately, Yi Meng had figured it out just half a second before—
Dragon Maiden's ability.
Telepathy.
Only a psychic power like that could remain unseen, traverse distance instantly, and paralyze human thought.
Against such power, no secret could survive. Every memory, every thought, could be laid bare.
But Yi Meng had acted in time.
When he realized Dragon Maiden might be similar to Marvel's Professor X—he didn't resist. Instead, he split his consciousness in two.
Like partitioning a computer drive.
He created a "front partition" of ordinary thoughts and memories, carefully edited to present the image of a normal student. Meanwhile, his true self—his secrets—were hidden deep in a "secure partition."
When Dragon Maiden scanned him, she only touched the surface—never the truth.
He had tricked her.
Of course, this mental partitioning…
Only someone like Yi Meng, with AI-like traits, could pull it off. No one else in this world could.
For those three seconds, it had been a battle. Telepathy versus artificial intelligence.
Yi Meng had barely won.
This was his first battle in the real world.
A narrow victory.
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