Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 730: Chapter 594: There Is Light (Thanks to Mr. Lao E, the Alliance Leader_3)

Then, three portable small seals were applied, and Lin Nineteen was shackled with Source Substance manacles.

”Lucky indeed.”

On the operating table, Pant Delong, his face unrecognizable, looked down and scrutinized Lin Nineteen. His burned face twisted into a sinister smile. ”It’s thanks to your mentor that we’ve become like this, and now, here you are, delivering yourself to our doorstep.”

”Do you guess... how much he will regret it if he knows his student has fallen into our hands?”

Lin Nineteen sat stiffly on the ground, feeling only despair. Often, when you are so desperate that you think you’ve hit rock bottom, an even deeper despair reminds you: Dream on!

Outside the Shelter, familiar cries were heard.

”Little Nineteen! Little Nineteen!!”

It was Yuan Yuan’s voice. ”Where are you?! Can you hear me?”

In the silent Shelter, the Colonel and Harry Quinn exchanged a glance.

It wasn’t clear who let out a faint sigh, ”Lucky indeed...”

***

Ten minutes later, Isabella placed a cup of hot cocoa in front of Yuan Yuan and also passed her a blanket.

”You’re really lucky to have made it here. The nearest shelter to you must be at least a dozen kilometers away...”

The mature woman also rummaged through the shelter’s cabinets, found a jar of nuts, and shook it towards Lin Nineteen. ”Want some?”

Lin Nineteen sat in a chair, awkwardly shaking his head under Yuan Yuan’s annoyed glare.

”Relax a bit. That old bastard Pant Delong just likes to scare people,” Isabella comforted, shaking her head with a sigh. ”No matter what, we’re all teachers. Even though you’re not from Ivy Vine, we wouldn’t stoop so low as to use you for our purposes... Eat something after you finish your drink. It’s okay to sleep for a while. We’ll wait for your teacher to come pick you up.”

She paused, then looked up at the high tower outside the window and the never-ending fountain of despair pouring from it, and shrugged involuntarily. ”If he’s still alive, that is...”

After the emergency surgery was completed, Harry Quinn discarded his gloves and came over to take a closer look at them.

It was like visiting a zoo to watch monkeys. As rare as they come.

”Are you really Huai Shi’s students?” he asked, seeming incredulous. ”You don’t look it.”

Lin Nineteen couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ”Where in the world could you find a second person as carefree as our teacher? If others tried to imitate him, they’d have died from their recklessness long ago.”

Harry Quinn’s expression became strange. He shrugged and stayed silent.

But Pant Delong, on the operating table, raised his eyes.

”Carefree? Perhaps. You’re not wrong about that; that bastard always seems like he deserves to die... But there should be more to it than that,” he remarked.

He glanced at Yuan Yuan and then at Lin Nineteen, growing more dissatisfied. ”I might not know what exactly he taught you, but you haven’t learned the most powerful thing about him. Kid, there is a fundamental difference between you and him. I wonder if he’s not a good teacher, or if you’re not a good student?”

When Yuan Yuan heard this, her expression turned colder. She was about to speak when Lin Nineteen stopped her.

”Old man, after you’ve had your injection, you’d better take a rest. Don’t waste your effort.”

Wood Cottage waved his hand indifferently. ”Do you really think this kind of divide-and-conquer strategy will work on people from the Lin family?”

”The Lin family?”

Pant Delong frowned, then realization dawned. ”Lin Zhong You Lu, what relation is he to you?”

”My fourth brother.”

”And Lin Zhong Guanhuai?”

”Twelfth Sister.”

”That explains it. No wonder you don’t look like much of a good student. But I am still curious...” The old man frowned and looked over. ”Why did you choose him to be your teacher?”

Wood Cottage rolled his eyes in displeasure and retorted, ”Because I wanted to! What’s it to you?”

”Consider it a professional habit of a head of school affairs. Since it has become a fact, whatever the reason, it actually doesn’t matter anymore.”

Pant Delong pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded his head and suddenly spoke, ”Then, let me just ask, if you’ll indulge my meddling.”

Behind layers of bandages, the elderly man raised his head, looking in the direction of the youth, and suddenly asked, ”Mr. Lin, in your opinion, do Sublimators need teachers?”

Lin Nineteen looked at him blankly, stunned in place.

He didn’t understand what he meant. And he just realized... he had never considered this question before.

”You’ve realized it now, right?” Pant Delong seemed to smile. ”For Sublimators, is something like a ’teacher’ really necessary? Sublimators are not born from knowledge, nor do they require it; indeed, many among them are illiterate. To continue growing, the only thing they need is the formula for advancement.

But there are so many paths of sublimation in the world and countless Stigmata. The Astronomical Society has already disclosed numerous complete path formulas, readily available for purchase on the market—who knows how many there are.

As long as you have money and want to buy them, is it really difficult?”

”Techniques? Mystic Rituals? These can all be bought with money. On the Group of Thousands of Evils, you can even buy things the Astronomical Society prohibits. Your so-called legacy was determined when you chose your Stigma, or even earlier—before you were born...

The Lin family, I remember, is of Dongxia’s noble blood, right? Also a family that has inherited the holy name of ’Candle Illuminator,’ correct? Born into such a family, do you really need a teacher? Need a teacher completely unrelated to your genealogy and path?”

Lin Nineteen did not speak.

He also did not know how to answer.

”If you became his student because of your family’s arrangements, then I can assert that you have not yet understood the expectations your family elders have placed upon you.”

”Wood Cottage, you are neglecting the essential for the trivial,” he said, gazing at the youth, solemnly telling him, ”You have never seen the most sincere glimmer of light in the darkness...”

The young man opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but Pant Delong interrupted him.

”Listen well, you insolent Little Brag!”

On the operating table, the frail old man glared wide-eyed, his voice filled with an undeniable solemnity, ”The significance of a teacher’s existence is not to teach you how to gain power. It is to act as a forerunner, one who shows their successors the reason for using power and the method of how to use this power. It is to tell you what a beautiful future this power will lead you to!”

Isabella got up, wanting to hold him down.

His voice was too loud; it tore his wounds, causing blood to seep from under the bandages.

But Pant Delong paid no attention.

Under the layers of bandages and gauze, a trace of sorrow emerged in his dim, meaning-filled eyes.

”Little Brag, I detest your teacher from the bottom of my heart and even hate you by association. However, I cannot deny how precious his determination is. I also hope that you, as a student, do not see your teacher as a frivolous and reckless person—even if that man is indeed an utter scoundrel.”

In the silence, his eyes lifted, looking out the window at the swaying, crumbling tower.

He could not help but let out a sigh of despair.

”Lift your head, Mr. Lin. Like your classmate, go witness all this,” he said wearily. ”This is the most important lesson of your life. You won’t get a second chance for this precious experience, so do not divert your eyes.

”Your teacher is walking the path he has pioneered, showing you with his own being—how to become a Sublimator, how to become... a Hero!”

With his words, a solemn, pure white light rose from the dark heavens and earth.

So brilliant.

There was light.