Volume Three: The Academy Runs Wild - Chapter 216: Racing Against Time

Dreams reflect illusions.

And yet this illusory scene is so real.

As dusk falls, the dim, golden sunlight envelops the earth, adding a touch of the eerie to the familiar scenery.

A gentle breeze, neither too hot nor too cold, rustled through the treetops, their leaves a mix of yellow and green.

The crumpled newspaper rolled across the deserted street.

The slightly dilapidated sidewalk was covered with scratches and stains.

Small advertisements are peeling off the mottled walls of the old building.

Rust began to appear on the metal benches along the road.

I sat quietly on a bench, basking in the twilight sunlight and watching the old street scene bathed in a dim, yellowish glow.

It wasn't about admiring, nor was it about daydreaming.

I simply watched and felt time slowly flowing by.

The ordinary street scene reveals something extraordinary, yet the extraordinary aspects are also ordinary.

"Are you doing well in the new world?"

It was pretty good; I gained a lot, but it was also very tiring.

"The rewards are not necessarily positively correlated with the effort; the ideal situation is probably one where you reap what you sow."

Really? I don't think so. Although I'm quite happy, this kind of hardship where one wrong step leads to another is quite torturous.

"Whether life is easy or not, it's all a life experience, equally irreplaceable; simply put, it's all a way of living."

Therefore, is there no good or bad in life?

"There is no standard for measuring 'what constitutes a good life'."

So that means as long as you think you're doing well, that's enough?

"Whether subjective consciousness or objective consciousness is more important varies from person to person."

It really feels so ambiguous.

"However, humans are such creatures, ambiguous and ambiguous, with infinite possibilities, yet far too few choices."

So?

"There is no 'therefore' and there is no need for 'therefore'. Of course, if you think there is, you can make one up yourself."

I feel so tired... both physically and mentally.

"If you're tired, I'll go buy a jianbing guozi. What do you want to add?"

Ham and hemp leaves are fine.

"I understand, wait for me here."

Someone had gone far away, and the soft footsteps gradually became barely audible. I still stared straight ahead, at the desolate street scene in the twilight.

"The hour of twilight is the time when demons appear"—for some reason, this old saying suddenly came to mind.

If this statement is true, then--

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I've bought it."

I looked at 'the other person' for the first time.

The setting sun cast a long shadow of the other person, stretching it across the dappled pavement. Tall and slender, the person carried a plastic bag containing two steaming hot jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes).

The world stood still the moment it witnessed all of this.

Then the dim light faded away.

The world disappeared along with it.

The dream ends.

The fool returns to reality.

"Um..."

When I got up again, it was already dark.

Have I been sleeping ever since the battle with the Black Crystal?

I must be really exhausted.

I looked at the bed; Haoyue, Xiao, and the two little girls were all gone. The big, empty bed was empty except for me.

"..."

A strange sense of unease quietly began to grow.

It's like forgetting something important.

I have a feeling that something happened during the encounter with the Black Crystal, but I've forgotten what it was.

If you can forget it, it probably wasn't anything important.

But what is this feeling of unease?

Moreover—"dream..."

While I was asleep, I seemed to have a dream, a dream of some memorable scenes.

But I can't remember exactly what I dreamed about.

There seems to be something in my mouth.

It's not that there are actually food scraps or anything like that left in your mouth, but rather a peculiar taste remnant of "having eaten something like that."

Flavors include fermented soybean paste, scallion, egg, fried dough stick, sesame leaf, and ham sausage. The ham sausage flavor seems to be Shuanghui's "King of Kings."

If all of these are taken together--

"... the jianbing guozi sold at roadside stalls?"

The answer then became clear.

Back on Earth, it was a late-night snack I often bought on my way home from evening self-study sessions, and it was one of my favorite foods.

But that's impossible.

In another world, where would you find jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes)? Not to mention the ham added is a fast-growing product of modern food processing.

Is it because I haven't eaten Earth's food for so long that I'm hallucinating?

Just how much of a foodie am I?

If this continues, won't we start to have the illusion that we've eaten Roujiamo, fried pancakes, crossing-the-bridge noodles, salt and pepper pork tenderloin, and cold noodles?

I put on my clothes, left the bedroom, and went downstairs.

"Ah, you're here."

Haoyue, Xiao Wu, Xiao, Givinia were all sitting on the sofa in the living room; they seemed to have been discussing something.

"Are you awake, Xiao Ye? Honestly, you're such a sleepyhead." Haoyue greeted me with a smile.

"If you're awake, wash your hands and eat something. You've slept all day and barely eaten anything," Givinia said kindly as always.

They were both acting exactly as usual.

As for the other two—

"You're awake."

"Uh, ah, Ye... are you alright now?"

Am I just imagining things? I feel like there's a hint of wariness in Xiao Wu looks at me? And Shino seems a little lost?

There's a subtle sense of incongruity.

"What are you all talking about?" I asked cautiously.

"It's about the end of the Club Hunt. Two General Council members were killed one after another, making everyone in the entire Central United Academy feel uneasy. This is the first time in hundreds of years that Club Hunt has been stopped halfway through."

"Stopping halfway through means... oh wait, we have to go back to class?"

"Xiao Ye, you really hate going to class, huh? But it's okay, our 'applications' for leaving school are always valid, otherwise, that old hag principal... hmph!"

Haoyue's smile turned somewhat dangerous, and I couldn't help but shiver.

"That's good, now I can focus on my work... Actually, I came to the Central United Academy to find something--"

But Givinia interrupted me, "You don't need to explain A Ye. I've already told them about things like the Boundary Breaking Armor."

"Huh? You already said that?"

I glanced at Xiao Wu and Shino with a questioning look.

"Well, since it's a member's wish, I, as the club president, will naturally help."

"Me too, I want to lend Ye a hand!"

"You..."

I was a little touched. I thought I would have to explain myself a lot, but I didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic.

"Since you've put it that way, let's not delay and gather intelligence!"

However--

"..."

Everyone remained silent, even Haoyue slightly turned her head away.

Huh? What's wrong with everyone? They seem pretty unenthusiastic?

"Oh, I mean A Ye."

"What's wrong, Givinia? Finding the Boundary Breaking Armor should be one of your goals too, right? If we use your intelligence-gathering abilities—"

"No need to rush the Boundary Breaking Armor and stuff~"

"... Huh?"

"Actually, we can put this matter aside for now. Think about it, since Boundary Breaking Armor is in the Central United Academy, the organization must have already sent people to lie in ambush here. If we suddenly launch a large-scale investigation and attract attention, it would be counterproductive."

"Indeed... but if we don't hurry--"

"Everything takes time and must be done gradually. Acting rashly will only make things chaotic, especially now that there have just been a series of assassination attempts on members of the General Council. Security measures everywhere have certainly been significantly strengthened. If we really want to take action, we have to wait until this storm has calmed down a bit."

"What you said makes a lot of sense..."

"Right? Besides, A Ye, you were seriously injured in the battle with the Black Crystal. It's necessary for you to relax and recuperate. So, take a good rest during this time."

"Since you put it that way... fine."

"Dinner is in the kitchen for you. Go eat it before it gets too cold."

Seeing Ye head to the kitchen to find food, the four of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"We've managed to fool her for now..."

"But this isn't a long-term solution."

"In any case," Givinia said seriously, "During this time, A Ye is a ticking time bomb, and at least one person must stay by her side at all times to monitor her."

"What about that 'Serpent's Egg'? Don't forget about taking care of those brats too."

"How about this, one of us will keep an eye on A Ye, one will look after the children, and the remaining two will go find the Serpent's Egg, okay?"

"That's probably the only way."

"Furthermore, it is crucial to be aware that strong emotional fluctuations and external stimuli can trigger Rakshasa True Word's berserk state. Therefore, it is essential to keep her emotionally stable and prevent her from participating in battles. Moreover, she must not be informed that Rakshasa True Word is about to reach its limit."

"I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to tell her this... The problem is, she'll definitely realize something's wrong eventually. Putting aside you two award-winning actors, Xiao Ke and I aren't good at acting."

"Don't rush, Xiao Wu... If we're not good at acting, we'll probably have to keep our distance from Ye to avoid her noticing anything, even though it feels a little bad for her..."

"That's all we can do. Luckily, Ye doesn't remember what happened during her rampage. That way, even if she goes berserk again and we manage to subdue her, we can just make up some stories to fill in the gaps in her memory."

Givinia, however, looked distressed and said, "Not remembering what happened during the rampage does make it easier to conceal, but do you know what that means? During the rampage, her body is completely dominated by ferocity and violence, and her own consciousness is suppressed deep within. That's why she can't remember anything. In other words—the erosion of the Rakshasa True Word has penetrated very deeply."

"..."

Upon hearing this news, everyone fell silent.

"Ah, it seems everyone fully understands the situation. Well then, I'll be frank with something too."

Givinia pulled out the Shielding Device that had done so much work, and then—threw it into the trash can.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

"Without this, there's no way to control Xiao Ye when he goes berserk!"

"I can't help it..." Givinia shrugged with a wry smile.

"This thing is unusable."

A few seconds later, everyone understood what Givinia meant.

This is truly shocking news.

"Although this Shielding Device contains fragments of Huang Huo's ability, it is ultimately a consumable item; once it's used up, it's gone. The two previous suppressions of his berserk state already consumed too much of it, so now this thing is just a useless metal rod, unable to perform its function."

"So that means..."

"That's right. If it's just a preliminary berserk state, the four of us should be able to force her back to her original form. But if A Ye goes on another large-scale berserk state, then everything will be over."

Ye was the first to unleash his next major outburst.

They were the ones who found the Serpent's Egg first.

From now on, it's a race against time.

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