NABC Chapter 23 Victory is destined to be accompanied by sacrifice
Chapter 23 Victory is destined to be accompanied by sacrifice
Behind the Golden Curtain: The Future World - Kassel College
[Time: Three days after the first day of freedom, on the eve of the 3E exam]
The Kassel College forum's homepage is almost entirely flooded with the same name.
Exclusive! S-Class Freshman Lu Mingfei Shows No Reaction to the Word of Power "Emperor"! Possibility of Being a White King's Bloodline Greatly Increased!
In-depth analysis: Five key characteristics and historical cases of the White King's lineage
Betting opens! Will Lu Mingfei pass the 3E exam? Odds updated in real time!
Senior Sister Nuonuo recounts: The mystery of Lu Mingfei's bloodline.
The posters all had the same ID: "Finger von Frings," the "Minister" of the News Department, a well-known repeat student, gossip king, and... betting house at Kassel College.
In room 303 of dormitory area one, Fingel sat in front of three computers, his hands flying across the keyboard, a signature smirk playing on his lips. Simultaneously running on the screens were a forum backend, data analysis software, a betting settlement system, and over a dozen chat windows.
"Bet! Bet! Place your bets!" he yelled into his headset. "President Chu Zihang bet $500 that Lu Mingfei will pass! President Caesar bet $5000 that he won't! The gap is huge, brothers! Anyone else want to bet?"
Messages are scrolling through the chat window at breakneck speed:
"President Chu Zihang actually placed a bet? Doesn't he never get involved in this kind of thing?"
"500 against 5000? How much does Chairman Caesar underestimate Lu Mingfei?"
"I'm betting 100 that Lu Mingfei won't pass. How could a descendant of the White King possibly pass the 3E exam? That exam tests the resonance of the Black King's lineage!"
"I'm betting 50 that he can pass. That's a monster who can use incantations without regard to 'commandments'!"
"Breaking news! Senior Nono just said that Lu Mingfei will be downgraded to 'F' if he fails! But she bet 1000 on him passing! She's just saying that!"
Fingel watched the betting amount soar, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile: "Great! You can bet on both going up and going down! The odds change in real time! Settlement will be made after the exam!"
He pressed Enter, and another pinned post appeared on the forum homepage:
"The Ultimate Guide to the 3E Exam: How to Pretend You're Not a White King's Descent? Only $99!"
The post was obviously made up, but Fingel didn't care. He had already fooled—no, served—several classes of freshmen with this "secret manual," earning enough for instant noodles and cola.
"Done!" Fingel stretched and turned to look at the other side of the room.
Lu Mingfei was lying on the bed, facing the wall, motionless. He had been lying like this for two hours, not playing on his phone, not reading, not speaking, like a soulless shell.
"Hey, junior," Fingel kicked the bed leg, "Stop playing dead. The 3E exam starts tomorrow. Are you sure you don't want to buy my secret manual? Only $99, guaranteed to pass!"
no respond.
Fingel scratched his head, stood up from his chair, and walked to Lu Mingfei's bedside: "I'm serious, junior brother. The 3E exam is actually quite easy to pass. As long as you're willing to pay, I'll give you my most treasured secrets. Just think, if you really can't pass and are demoted to F grade, how embarrassing would that be? How disappointed would Senior Sister Nuonuo be..."
"She won't be disappointed," Lu Mingfei suddenly spoke, his voice muffled. "She has Caesar now."
Fingel choked.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting, but looking at Lu Mingfei's huddled back, those frivolous jokes suddenly wouldn't come out.
"Um... junior brother," he said, unusually serious, "you can't force feelings. Senior Nono and President Caesar are indeed a couple, everyone in the academy knows it. But you've only just arrived, you'll meet many more nice girls in the future, there's no need to..."
"I know," Lu Mingfei interrupted him. "Senior brother, I want to sleep."
Fingel sighed. "Alright, then you should get some rest. Good luck on your exam tomorrow—though I think you're in for a rough time."
He walked back to his computer, closed most of the windows, leaving only the backend monitoring of the betting odds. The odds were still changing; Lu Mingfei's "fail" option had soared to 3.5 to 1, while the "pass" option had fallen to 0.2 to 1.
Clearly, most people do not have a high opinion of this new student who is unresponsive to the Word of Power "Emperor".
Fingel looked at the data, then at Lu Mingfei's back, and suddenly, as if possessed, he secretly placed a $200 bet on "pass" in his own betting pool.
"Damn it, consider it a loss as a charity donation," he muttered, turning off the computer.
The room was plunged into darkness, with only the moonlight streaming in through the window, casting a cold, silvery glow on the floor.
---
Lu Mingfei was not actually asleep.
His eyes were closed, but his mind was terrifyingly clear. Those images, those words, swirled in his mind like a revolving lantern:
Nono laughed and said, "Lie down," then blue smoke exploded from her chest.
Caesar proudly declared, "This is not something you should be involved in," and then he knocked Caesar down.
Professor Guderian exclaimed in shock, "Unless you are of the White King's blood."
Fingel said in a cheeky tone, "She has a boyfriend, Caesar."
And then there are those glaring headlines on the forum, those bet amounts, and those comments that are either curious or contemptuous.
Everyone was talking about him, analyzing him, betting on his success or failure. But nobody really cared what he was thinking, whether he was lonely, afraid, or...wanting to give up.
"Brother." Lu Mingze's voice rang out in the darkness, "Are you crying?"
"No," Lu Mingfei answered in his mind, but warm tears did indeed slide down his cheeks, soaking his pillow.
"Do you want to see your mother?" Lu Mingze asked softly.
Lu Mingfei was stunned.
Mother. Jovie. The woman whose memory is now only a blurry outline and a gentle embrace. The mother who supposedly died for him.
"Can...I do it?" His voice trembled.
"Close your eyes," Lu Mingze said. "I'll take you to see her."
Lu Mingfei closed his eyes.
Darkness surged in like a tide, engulfing consciousness.
Dream - Time and location unknown
When Lu Mingfei opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a curtain of rain.
The rain was heavy, with large raindrops pounding the ground and splashing up a misty spray. The sky was a dark red, as if soaked in blood. All around were dilapidated streets, old buildings, and streetlights casting a dim yellow glow in the rain.
This place... feels familiar.
Lu Mingfei looked around, his heart pounding. He remembered; this was the old neighborhood near Shilan Middle School, the place where he had grown up. But the neighborhood was completely different from what he remembered—huge claw marks on the walls, cracked ground, and some buildings had even collapsed, as if it had been the site of a brutal war.
"Mingfei!"
A woman's voice came through the rain.
Lu Mingfei suddenly turned his head.
At the end of the street, a figure was running towards him. It was a very beautiful woman, around thirty years old, her long hair soaked in the rain, clinging to her pale cheeks. She wore a simple white dress, already stained with rain and mud, but her running posture remained elegant.
Joe Winnie.
Even though he had only seen her in photos and his memory of her was hazy, Lu Mingfei recognized her at a glance.
His mother.
"Mom..." Lu Mingfei opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Qiao Weini ran up to him, grabbing his shoulders with surprising strength. Her face was filled with anxiety and fear, her eyes fixed on Lu Mingfei: "Run! Mingfei, run! Don't look back!"
"Mom, I..." Lu Mingfei tried to say something, but Qiao Weini pushed him hard.
"Listen to your mother!" her voice was almost a scream. "Get out of here! Go to Kassel! Find your father! Don't trust anyone! Don't look back!"
Lu Mingfei staggered backward as he was pushed. He looked at his mother's face, at the despair and determination in her eyes, and suddenly felt a heart-wrenching sorrow.
This sadness was so familiar, as if he had experienced countless partings in countless nights and countless dreams.
"Mom..." he finally managed to utter, his voice trembling with tears, "Where are you going? Let's go together..."
"I can't leave." Qiao Weini shook her head, tears mingling with the rain. "Mom has things she has to do. But you have to live, Mingfei, promise Mom you'll live."
She reached out and gently stroked Lu Mingfei's cheek. Her fingers were icy cold, but the touch was as tender as if she were touching the most precious treasure in the world.
"As a mother, I may be a failure." Jovini's voice became very soft and gentle. "I couldn't be there for you as you grew up, I couldn't watch you go to school, I couldn't teach you to ride a bicycle, I couldn't... give you a complete family."
Tears welled up in Lu Mingfei's eyes: "No, Mom, you're not..."
"But my love for you has never changed." Jovie interrupted him, giving a pale smile. "From the first time you kicked me in my belly, from the first cry you uttered when you were born, from the moment I held you and looked at your tiny face... Mom's love for you has never changed, and it never will."
The rain intensified.
A low, inhuman roar came from afar, like the howl of a giant beast or the sound of metal scraping together. The streets began to shake, and cracks spread across the walls.
Qiao Weini's expression changed. She abruptly shoved Lu Mingfei back: "Go! Now!"
"Mom! Let's do it together..."
"Victory always comes with sacrifice, Mingfei." Qiao Weini looked at him, her eyes gentle yet firm. "Mom chose her own path. And your path... is to live well, even if you're just an ordinary person."
She patted Lu Mingfei's head one last time, then turned and walked toward the direction from which the roar came.
A white dress fluttered in the rain, her figure slender yet upright.
"Mom—!" Lu Mingfei wanted to chase after her, but his legs felt as heavy as lead, and he couldn't take a step.
He could only watch helplessly as his mother's figure disappeared into the depths of the rain, vanishing beneath the dark red sky.
Then, the whole world began to collapse.