185 Magic Tower Library

"Lucite," Hobbes suddenly spoke.

"What's wrong?" Lucite put down the scroll he had finished copying, scratched his head, and looked puzzled.

Don't you think it's a little strange?

Hobbes pointed to the armed students ahead.

Contrary to previous promises, Mordot's Enforcement Team did not immediately head to the Graduate School. At Mordot's insistence, they first went to the Magic Tower Library, took some Magic Guidebook, and copied many scrolls of offensive magic.

"Hobbes, are you starting to suspect something again?" Lucite asked.

Hobbes said, "According to Mordot, the Graduate School is located in the city, fifty kilometers away from the main campus."

"Given the current situation, with Dimensional Barrier and Implant Equipment Vanguard everywhere, it will take at least two days to arrive. During that time, they will need weapons and supplies, right?" Lucite thought it made perfect sense.

"The reason is fine, but the behavior of the Enforcement Team members seems a bit abnormal to me."

Hobbes quietly pulled Lucite aside and whispered, "Look at them, the low-level Magic Scroll are right there in the library, but they don't use them. Instead, they deliberately open the books and copy new ones on the spot."

"Hmm..." Lucite twirled his catfish whiskers, thought for a moment, and said, "Perhaps he's worried about the effect? After all, he's come to the Magic Tower Library, so the content of the classic original books stored here must be the most accurate."

"I think they're secretly taking notes," Hobbes said, pulling a book from his pocket and handing it to Lucite. "These guys are probably going to line their own pockets. Take a few copies too."

Lucite glanced at the cover, "The Suleda Curse Technique Notes," and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. "Damn, this is a forbidden book— Hobbes, this is a crime."

"Where are the police now? I have a bad feeling about this—these people have weapons, armor, and numbers. If they add a few more banned books to expand their fighting force, do you think anyone would dare to control them?"

Hobbes had a flexible mind:

"Having a gun in hand keeps us calm. This is just an emergency evasion. If these guys do something illegal, we can use forbidden magic to stop them."

"But..." Lucite hesitated. "Isn't this still a bit inappropriate? After all, this knowledge is taboo, and we don't know what risks it might pose. Neither you nor I have taken any related courses. What if we hurt ourselves?"

"Oh, just take it!"

What are you discussing?

A member of the Enforcement Team walked over and asked curiously.

"Ah! It's nothing!" Lucite was startled, and the forbidden book in his hand immediately fell to the ground.

The Enforcement Team gave him a strange look, then their gaze shifted downwards. "Hmm? You dropped something, let me pick it up for you..."

Smack

Hobbes stepped forward, pressed down on the cover, snatched it back first, shoved it onto the nearby bookshelf, and chuckled as he said:

"It's nothing. It's Lucite's first time entering the Magic Tower Library. This kind of place is not open to the public on a regular basis. He was so shocked that he couldn't speak."

"Really? That's normal. After all, our school's Magic Tower Library is the place with the most Forbidden Knowledge on the entire White Candle Star."

The Enforcement Team officer was quite nice; he chuckled a few times, puffing on his Magic Cigarette, indicating his agreement.

"Normally, Dean Nastisha personally oversees and manages the Magic Tower. The Magic Tower Library in other schools are similar. Only in very rare cases, such as graduation, special research, or strategic laboratory needs, are access to the materials here permitted."

"Wow, it's that serious."

As Hobbes spoke, he stepped forward, channeled magic into the Enforcement Team officer, and lit his pipe. The officer immediately gave Hobbes an appreciative look. "No wonder people call you ' Know-it-all Hobbes,' you really know how to get things done."

"Hehe, it's nothing, it's nothing. As a junior, it's only right to respect seniors."

Hobbes ' words sounded nice, and the senior member of the Enforcement Team nodded, adding a few more words, "To be honest, we don't know which way to go either. In any case, we have to cross the city to reach the Graduate School. We might encounter more enemies and survivors along the way. Once we leave the school, we'll be in danger, so we might as well take this opportunity to gather more knowledge and magical information—don't take offense at what I'm saying. The law governs the living, but no matter what, our lives are our own."

"Yes, yes, yes! Survival comes first, senior, you're absolutely right." Hobbes nodded in agreement. "Speaking of which, senior, after entering the Magic Tower, I couldn't find Captain Mordot. Do you know where he is?"

Lucite was speechless.

"What, do you need him for something?" The Enforcement Team officer looked at him suspiciously. "The senior said he's looking for a very powerful magic book; his mentor told him about it."

"It's just a slight concern."

'It seems Mordot doesn't want others to know his purpose.'

Hobbes's eyes darted around, and he casually brushed it off. "Since we're going to leave the school, we'll definitely be facing mountains of Implant Equipment Vanguard. What should we do then?"

"Well... I don't know." The Enforcement Team officer shrugged. "Anyway, with the Epsilon-rank captain around, he's only one step away from Zeta-rank. Just trust Captain Mordot."

"Captain Mordot, you seem to respect him quite a bit?" Hobbes asked casually, taking the forbidden spellbook back and putting it into Lucite's bag.

"Of course." The Enforcement Team member got excited when he brought it up. "Captain Mordot is a junior now and has been a member of the Enforcement Team for three years. When Crescent Moon first attacked the school, he was on duty as a freshman. Almost all of his teammates died. If we're talking about love for the school and hatred for Crescent Moon, he's definitely at the top of the list."

"The first sneak attack by Crescent Moon..." Hobbes unconsciously clenched his fist, but put on a puzzled look.

"You're new here, it's normal that you don't know." The Enforcement Team member sighed. "Actually, three years ago, when Crescent Moon first attacked our school, it launched a similar sneak attack. It's just that the scale wasn't as large as this time."

"I have indeed heard that claim." Lucite noticed Hobbes's gaze and joined in to elicit information. "It just seems like no one at school cares, and there aren't any commemorative events or anything like that."

"Hehe, do you know why?"

The Enforcement Team officer sneered, "Actually, many of us died in that attack. Several students I knew were studying on campus at the time, and they were attacked by the Implant Equipment Vanguard ' self-destruction as soon as they came out of the study room. More than a dozen members of the Enforcement Team were killed on the spot, and several others died in the battle with the Implant Equipment Vanguard —I still remember the names of those friends."

He took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and said softly, "Lohr Shift, Saklin Merch, Donnel Petri, and Lena Ining."

Lucite turned to look to the side: Hobbes was simply looking ahead calmly, quite indifferent.

"That incident was clearly a terrorist attack, but the school forcibly suppressed it."

The Enforcement Team officer said coldly:

"White Candle Star has always been known for its safety and reliability, making it the top choice for allied civilizations to send their children to study Crystal Tower through education."

"Once they graduate and return to their hometowns, their privileged backgrounds will quickly allow them to take over their parents' jobs and become local officials, rulers, and heads of corporations. At that point, they will become even more friendly and accommodating to the Crystal Tower Civilization, and may even become compradors and agents supported by the Supreme Council."

"The students who died were all ordinary people of the Tanas Race, of ordinary backgrounds. They joined the Enforcement Team only to earn more Credits, graduate smoothly, and find a job. Such people were not lacking in civilization, so they just died. Damn it, it's really messed up... They were all such good people who loved life."

As he spoke, he glanced at Lucite:

"Oh, I wasn't talking about you. People like you who change their destiny through knowledge are always respected in our civilization. I just have a bit of a disdain for the mages of the Supreme Council who do things this way. They only care about efficiency and have no human touch at all."

"It's nothing, I don't care. I hate those people too." Lucite waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

"They are our fellow countrymen, so their deaths are no big deal," Hobbes said. "But if a few outsiders die, it's a diplomatic incident, so we can't afford to be negligent."

"There's nothing we can do about it..."

The Enforcement Team officer sighed:

"After all... we're at war."

"Even if they don't die at the hands of the Crescent Moon, by this time, they should all have advanced to the Zeta-rank and been conscripted into the army. At this point, the more people who support us, the better. We're still counting on our vassals to fight for us, send people, and pay for our services."

"The civilizations that sent troops to the front lines for the Crystal Tower, the civilizations that sacrificed their wives' fortunes for this war, the civilizations that fought bloody battles for us—there are many of them. Can you say that anyone is wrong?"

Before the Enforcement Team team could say anything more, a commotion suddenly broke out on the other side.

"Senior Mordot is back!" Sylvia exclaimed excitedly. "How did it go, Senior? Did you find that powerful magic book?"

Mordot emerged from the crowd, a stack of spellbooks tucked under his arm. He nodded to the expectant looks from those around him.

"Yes, I've already received it."

He grinned, looking smug and self-satisfied.

"From now on, we will lead everyone to survive."

Mordot said in a deep voice:

"The waning moon cannot defeat us; now, it's our turn to fight back."

Li Aoz continued forward, discovering a small number of armored corpses along the way. Their heads had been precisely destroyed, and their footsteps were numerous and chaotic, clearly indicating a group operation.

"Lucite and Hobbes probably ran into their own people."

With more people around, it would be easier to track them, so Li Aoz didn't think much of it and followed the footprints all the way.

Due to the existence of Dimensional Barrier, any means of transportation, such as flying, becomes extremely dangerous, and a slight misstep could result in falling into two-dimensional space.

Li Aoz was no exception— the Higgs Field inside the school still existed, and although he had the [Crescent Moon] Aoneng, he dared not use it.

The safest way is to walk around and explore the boundaries, finding gaps and openings between the barriers.

Fortunately, Li Aoz didn't see too many students being turned into two-dimensional beings along the way; most were brutally murdered by Implant Equipment Vanguard and died in the streets.

Li Aoz in a hurry and didn't have time to collect the bodies of his classmates, so he dragged them to a conspicuous place so that Future Person could see them.

While on their journey, Li Aoz took out the amulet that the veiled woman had given him earlier and asked, "Jannia, that woman just now seemed to know you."

"There are quite a few people who know me. After all, I am the weapon of a legendary demigod."

"Do you know what this thing is for?" Li Aoz showed the amulet to Jannia, who examined it carefully and let out a soft "hmm".

"I think I've seen the text on this before... but it was just a quick glance, so I'm not sure."

Jannia shook her head:

"But this is definitely not something that will harm you, so take it without worry."

Only after receiving confirmation from Jannia did Li Aoz accept the gift with peace of mind.

It's almost certain that the veiled woman had a hidden quest, which might be related to Jannia, a long-term quest similar to artifact awakening or enhancement.

Unfortunately, he was too busy and didn't have time. Let's talk about it another time if we happen to meet.

He glanced at the forum; there were hardly any people online at night, and not a single player from Trustworthy Village was online.

The situation remains far from optimistic.

Li Aoz's advance was slow, and he gained almost nothing from killing the Implant Equipment Vanguard along the way, which made him somewhat impatient. These monsters were practically worthless, just mindless zombies that had been modified and implanted with Aoneng marks. He had just had a good fight with Dia Lan, and these things were as easy as cutting melons and vegetables. Moreover, it was a forced battle, which would annoy anyone.

Fortunately, Dia Lan's condition was relatively stable. She would occasionally mumble a few words in her sleep. Li Aoz fed her some water and milk, and she didn't cause much trouble, so she didn't cause him any more trouble.

As time goes by, the world beneath the Dimensional Barrier presents a bizarre and grotesque appearance.

Under the Dimensional Barrier, spacetime in many places is fragmented, and some places are sealed off, presenting a daytime scene. But if you go around the gap, you will immediately see dusk falling and the setting sun looking like blood. After going around a few more areas, you will see a foggy morning. Clearly, the Dimensional Barrier did not break out in an instant.

The attacks from the Implant Equipment Vanguard were likely coming in waves, which was also the limit of the Zeta-rank Crescent Moon.

Li Aoz focused on collecting supplies. The school was in complete chaos, with a large amount of reserves looted and no survivors found.

However, the atmosphere around Lucite's team was becoming increasingly chaotic.

Several hours later, Li Aoz finally walked out of the school gate and arrived in the Trivella City.

The burning streets were blocked off layer by layer, and the Implant Equipment Vanguard searched and looted the ruins at will, their numbers countless.

Trivella has become an isolated island in the ocean.

"... It's been blocked."

Li Aoz looked around and realized that he really had nowhere to go.

A massive number of Implant Equipment Vanguard have noticed him as a conspicuous individual and are steadily closing in.

The presence of Lucite and the others was just ahead... It seemed they were heading towards the Graduate School.

When they left, they probably didn't expect that there would be people who could fight their way out of the school, charging all over the place and attracting all the Implant Equipment Vanguard.

"Sigh, there's really nothing I can do."

However, thanks to these colonists gathering outside the school gates, the Higgs Field could no longer interfere with its effects.

Li Aoz rubbed his temples, and the moment he stepped out of the school gate, his eyes were instantly covered with a long-lost golden halo.

Sequence Nine: Gravity

White Candle Star's outer space orbit, ' Amaryllis ' Fortress.

"We've discussed the issue of strengthening materialist ideology and using magical theoretical thinking many times. You are all industry experts and education specialists; you should understand that university is the stage where students' thinking is most easily swayed. They possess a certain degree of independent thinking ability, but they stubbornly believe they are unique. This kind of thinking is unacceptable. If we're not careful, they can easily stray onto the path of idealistic heresy, and even worse, perhaps become corrupted and degenerate into mere citizens of society..."

As Ministry of Education Barkomon spoke at length about his ideas and educational policies, the leaders and professors in the audience were almost falling asleep.

"What era are we living in? Still talking about the threat of [Society]..." Karl twirled his Information Rune and complained in the group chat, "Dean Nastisha, what do you think? Decades ago, you personally banished the enemies of [The Hidden Society], is it still necessary to treat [Society] as the number one enemy now?"

"I have no comment." Nastisha said in the group chat while taking notes, "In any case, the threat has not been truly eliminated. The idealism of the Night Butterfly People is an absolutely unacceptable ideology. In recent years, there have been many cases of soldiers on the front lines who, due to the aftereffects of war trauma and mental illness, have turned to materialism and defected to the Night Butterfly People."

Dean Ye Wangnan suddenly said, "Only losers believe in religion. Our students are energetic and positive, enjoying the benefits of magic every day. I don't believe they would believe in that kind of stuff. As for 'society'—heh, how much of a failure must one be to give up everything and become a vessel for 'society's' citizens? Our popular education has done a good enough job; everyone hates 'society.' If this continues, be careful that hatred doesn't backfire on you."

"You didn't experience that era..."

Nastisha said with a complicated expression, "120 years ago, the Tailor, one of the councilors of the Hidden Society, returned with a brand new vessel and stepped into the land of White Candle Star. Her power was incredibly terrifying, a strange power that could not be explained by magic. She linked people's fates together, and the city's residents became her toys like puppets on strings... If it weren't for Miss Vierria's intervention, White Candle Star would have been destroyed long ago."

"But that was 120 years ago, right?" Karl said calmly. "The era has passed long enough. A mortal's life is only about 120 to 180 years. People don't want to be bound and controlled anymore. In another five years, people will treat the days of freezing and starving as a dream and forget about it in a flash."

Snap.

Nastisha paused, coldly raising her eyes to look at Karl: "What? Are you saying that [society] doesn't actually exist, it's just a lie fabricated by the government, and the real enemy is the Crystal Tower Civilization?"

"Did I?" Karl shrugged. "I didn't say that. Don't blame me if you think that way."

"I'm all too familiar with your kind of rhetoric," Nastisha said. "People who think they are awakened, who empathize with the suffering, who spread the dark side of the world around, who see themselves as whistleblowers, who think their actions are great, who fight against the whole world—people like you end up becoming the guides of society."

Karl sneered, "Oh my God, Miss Nastisha, patriotism is a business. If you actually believe it, don't blame others for breaking your defenses by telling the truth."

"I don't feel any stinging, Mr. Karl."

Nastisha calmly stated, "To question people's simple emotions and passions, and to ignore objective facts—only Red King follower with nothing but money on his mind would think that way, Mr. Karl. It seems I must report your idealistic tendencies."

"Hehehe, now you're blaming me for being a traitor, trying to get 500,000 Dina through me? And you're slandering me as Night Butterfly People's spy? Heh, only a little pink crystal like you would think like that. A crystal maggot is a crystal maggot. Watch out for the iron fist of the Supreme Council. You'll be the first one to come down."

"Enough! You two idiots!"

Principal Slavenikov·Durgen couldn't help but speak up in the group chat, stopping the argument. "The minister summoned us to space to share experiences and remind us of lessons, not for you two to quarrel."

He glared at Nastisha: "If you really love your country, then train all the students well, and I'll pay for your warships so you can go to the front lines and fight the enemy."

He gave Karl a cold glance again. "As for you, don't be smug. Men are always the first to be sent to the battlefield. No one can escape it."

Nastisha began:

"Professor Durgen, you clearly experienced that battle as well. The brutal atrocities of the [Hidden Society] are still vivid in your mind—"

"120 years ago, on the White Candle Star Fenris Frontline, I lost 30,000 brothers in one hour. I don't need you to remind me."

Durgen said coldly:

"I will not give up on guarding against the ' Hidden Society,' but Karl is right, times have changed. Trivella is now peaceful and tranquil. With Minister Barkomon in charge, not many people dare to bypass him and directly invade us."

"... I hope so."

Nastisha nodded and remained silent. Beside her Karl, like a victorious rooster, strutting about with his chin held high and arms crossed.

"Oh... how could this be?"

Principal Durgen shook his head slightly and continued to listen attentively.

Both of them are foolish. Do they really think the higher-ups would think so superficially? Every order from the Supreme Council is carefully considered, and it is always done to avoid more serious problems and interpretations.

These two idiots are still arguing about right and wrong... In any case, being able to get so close to Kappa-rank powerhouse is a rare opportunity.

Whether it's seeking knowledge or expanding their network, the content of the so-called 'training and learning' is secondary. What's important is that they can gain influence in front of a powerful figure like the minister, so that if they encounter any trouble in the future, they can say 'I am your student' and seek protection.

But young people are young people; they will never stop arguing about right and wrong.

But in this world, there is no absolute right or wrong.

"Fortunately, the colleges they are in charge of are a good match for their personalities."

Karl's quick wit and eloquence are perfect for providing food for thought for those studying Interstellar Civilization.

Nastisha is practical, brave, responsible, and has a strong sense of national responsibility. She is the perfect person to train practical students for the Magical Application Academy.

"This intensive training period is too long. I really don't know what it will be like at school."

After all, that item was secretly hidden in the school.

No matter how much secrecy is maintained, news of the Eye of Discernment fragments being located here will still spread to a limited extent. If someone infiltrates the school during this period...

No, that won't happen.

Durgen glanced at the Information Rune.

To date, there have been no reports of any abnormalities in Trivella.

Everything was normal on the ground, and he was beginning to agree with Karl's idea: times had indeed changed, and dangers of the level of [society] would no longer occur.