Seeing that familiar name,
Su Wen now understood that "Azure" was a homophone for "future."
He smiled gently.
Then, together with the beautiful girl beside him, he opened the film that had just been released:
The film began in a desolate mountain village.
Yellow earth was constantly swept up by the wind and sand.
The villagers here wore expressions as numb as the yellow sand.
If life held no hope,
then perhaps even the journey from birth to death was not worth remembering.
Until one day,
someone discovered this mountain village. Carrying his luggage, he arrived at the foot of the mountain and spent more than half a year building a dilapidated classroom.
The children of the mountain village finally had a school where they could learn.
Over those ten years,
besides teaching them knowledge,
the young teacher personally led his students in planting wind-resistant saplings he had bought from a big city.
Day after day, year after year, he never stopped.
Ten years passed.
The small trees surrounded by yellow sand continued to grow, sprouting fresh branches.
Twenty years later,
the children had gone through generation after generation, while the people planting trees had gradually expanded from the teacher and students to others as well.
Thirty years passed.
The once-young teacher's hair had gradually turned white. During holidays and festivals, he often received letters and gifts from his former students.
They were living well. They had gone out and seen a broader world.
Fifty years later,
the man who had once been young was buried beneath the first tree he had planted with his own hands.
And the once-barren mountain, when viewed now,
was lush and green, shaded by towering trees.
The screen faded.
Only the final words remained against the black backdrop:
To the Fire-Bringers:
After you departed, the stars replaced the night and illuminated civilization's road ahead.
The film ended.
Compared to "A Lonely Civilization's Journey of Redemption" and "Lighthouse Number Forty-Three," this film had far fewer twists and climaxes.
It merely told the story of an ordinary person in a gentle tone.
Yet across such a vast span of time,
no matter how ordinary something was,
it would ultimately become a greatness worth remembering through the endless accumulation of civilization's progress and human emotion.
"A story worth remembering."
Su Wen turned to ask,
"Jiang Menghan, what do you think?"
"We all know this world is impetuous yet real. The obsession with achievement has turned education into a means of classification.
No matter what, this model is the optimal choice for the current evolution of society.
Civilization needs teachers. The flame must be passed on endlessly, generation after generation. Only then can the future become something real and tangible."
The iceberg-like girl calmly and rationally gave her answer.
Su Wen and Jiang Menghan leaned against the edge of the rooftop.
He leisurely opened a can of cola.
"Meng Han, as a researcher, your conclusion is indeed rigorous and realistic."
Then,
the young man looked at the campus scenery in the distance and continued:
"But John Adams once said:
'I must study politics and war, that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture.
Their children may have the right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.'
In that film just now, I saw how the yellow sands had become lush forests.
The possibilities of civilization, the possibilities of humanity,
could perhaps only be concealed.
They could never be erased.
Humanity's efforts today are likewise so that those who come after us may see a broader river of stars."
Just like in the memories of the "Deep Dream,"
he had seen Wu Shuang endure torture after torture of "electric shocks."
Yet she had still relied on her impressions to resolutely draw the hometown she could never forget from her memories.
Even if a bird's wings were broken, it would probably still gaze up at the sky.
The girl replied,
"Very romantic. Very much your style, Mr. Su."
Su Wen smiled gently.
He did not make some awkward joke. He merely said to the girl beside him,
"There's somewhere I want to take you."
"Where?"
"How about you guess?"
Jiang Menghan ultimately agreed. With her arms around Su Wen's waist, she sat on the back seat of that battered bicycle.
The two of them embarked on their second spontaneous journey at the end of summer.
In the late-summer breeze,
the girl's hair lightly brushed past him.
The scene was incredibly beautiful.
Half an hour later,
he found the place he wanted to go.
It was where Wu Shuang had once stood atop the mountain and sketched a panoramic view of her hometown.
At this moment,
mountain flowers bloomed in riotous splendor.
The wind had ceased, and the rain had stopped.
"It's a beautiful view,"
Jiang Menghan said.
"Yes."
He answered calmly.
Three days later,
inside the Mental Review Bureau,
Zhu Yu personally stamped a document with the official seal of certification.
Mental Review Bureau Tracking Analysis Report Extraordinary individual: Su Wen. No abnormalities in behavioral logic, no antisocial tendencies. Mental stability: Clear Danger level: E No further tracking or investigation is necessary. Extraordinary individual archived.
Due to Westminster's establishment of the Equality Act,
the Mental Review Bureau's danger assessments and mental stability evaluations of extraordinary individuals had been moved into the shadows.
Staying home and resting was the behavior with the lowest danger rating.
Therefore,
no one had any idea how many things he had actually done.
Of course, Su Wen probably did not care.
After all, all the bad things had been done by "Schlote Heavy Industries," the "Dormant Sect," and "Zero-Sum Game."
They had absolutely nothing to do with him.
At the same time,
seven days after the previous "Deep Dream" incident ended,
a new game arrived.
15 natural days remain until the "player's" scheduled time of death. Countdown begins. Begin the game? Bartender Number One Game type: Role-playing Real-world duration: Five days Game difficulty: Low Game background: Time: Early Origin Era Location: Detroit, Michigan's largest city As a result of the economy and the arrival of the Origin Era, public security in the districts east of Detroit's First Avenue gradually worsened. Drugs and Black Gangs ran rampant. Some asked, wasn't there a police station here? The answer was: the police here were constantly worried about their own safety as well. Within this area, Freezing Point Bar was an obscure little bar in the chaotic district. Only a very small number of people knew that its taciturn, gray-haired owner was Vern Oniens, the White Hound—a defector from Leis Angton and once the finest supervisor of Leis Angton Security Company. Before long, a team targeting the White Hound had already begun a secret operation. (Note: Vern Oniens held the secret of the Detroit ruins. If he died, the future timelines of "Self-Awareness Origin," "Purification Protocol," and "City of Sin" would be shifted. Game objective: One Star: Gain the trust of Vern Oniens, the "White Hound," and become Freezing Point Bar's finest bartender.
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