Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 579 - 486 Ivory Tower_1

The scoffing snort made Huai Shi pause. As he looked up, he saw the youth sitting on the sofa—but to call him a youth seemed a bit of an overstatement.

He was clearly just a child, wasn't he? He seemed to be only about eleven or twelve years old at most.

Yet there he was, dressed in an exquisite and crisp suit, his golden hair impeccably styled, a solemn expression on his face, and intently perusing a hefty tome in his hands.

He glanced up at the two newcomers, let out a huff of displeasure, but said nothing more.

"The little tyke sure likes to act grown-up."

Huai Shi chuckled nonchalantly and took a seat. Only then did he notice Ye Su's odd expression. "What's up?"

"Uh..." After hesitating for quite a while, Ye Su whispered to him, "That's actually our colleague, a new teacher like you."

"What?"

Huai Shi turned to look back at the kid on the distant sofa in disbelief. "Him?"

"Yes, the vice-principal's student, the youngest scholar of materials science in recent years—only thirteen years old," Ye Su quietly introduced. "And he had already become the vice-principal's teaching assistant at the age of eleven. Though he's just been recognized as a formal employee, strictly speaking..."

"He's still my predecessor?"

Huai Shi's face twitched, and he turned to look at the aloof kid on the sofa again.

A thirteen-year-old scholar of materials science? Could there have been some mistake?

"It's not just in recent years; it's in all of history," the indifferent boy on the sofa corrected. "My theorem paper was approved by the Scholars, and I was officially registered at the age of twelve and a half. Don't get it wrong."

With that, he closed the hefty book he was holding slightly and looked up at Huai Shi, asking arrogantly, "You must be the new botany teaching assistant?"

"Actually, I'm also the main lecturer for classical music appreciation," Huai Shi added.

"Hmph, all flash and no substance..."

The Little Brag shook his head dismissively, eyeing Huai Shi. "Forget it, one mustn't expect talent from the mediocre. Out of politeness, let me introduce myself. You may call me Martin, registered name 'Liquify.' Be sure not to mix it up."

Having said that, he turned his gaze away, no longer paying them any mind, and went back to his book.

In the ensuing awkward silence, Huai Shi stroked his chin and suddenly pondered a very serious question.

Does the Ivory Tower have any child protection laws? Should I perform a Cello Performance on the spot? I guarantee that before a lullaby is done, under the influence of art, the kid would transform and become someone entirely different, realizing how important it is to be polite to one's elders...

"Don't be mad, don't be mad; he just lacks tact."

Ye Su seemed to detect the dangerous action brewing in Huai Shi's mind and hastily dissuaded him. "Trust me, this is already him being unusually polite. After all, he used to see you as his biggest rival... I'll speak to the vice-principal later about having him apologize to you. How's that?"

"Rival?"

Huai Shi suddenly felt something was amiss, and his guard went up instantly.

What does he have to compete with a thirteen-year-old kid for? There's a problem! His instincts told him something wasn't right. Someone is out to get me!

"AHEM. It's a long story."

Ye Su coughed a few times. After a brief reflection, his expression turned strange. "As everyone knows, resources at the Ivory Tower are limited. Typically, at the start and end of each academic year, staff compete for higher ratings and achievements to secure greater authority and benefits, so competition is fierce. Supposedly, the principal recruited too many people this year, irking the vice-principal. He decided to lay off a batch of underqualified individuals without regard for seniority..."

What should I do if I'm faced with a mass layoff just after starting the job?

A sense of crisis engulfed Huai Shi.

If it were other diligent individuals, it might be okay, but me... I was planning to be nothing more than filler! Wasn't I just making myself a target? And what about the plans to slack off for a few years, do the bare minimum, add a touch of gold to my resume, and then comfortably move on? If I were to be fired, forget progress, would I even have the face to return?

Soon, Huai Shi calmed down.

I have strong backing from the Astronomical Society, so there shouldn't be an issue... right?

But then, Ye Su's next words plunged Huai Shi's heart into the abyss. "To demonstrate determination, the vice-principal has already expelled the Jurisdiction Bureau Education Minister's nephew. It's expected that this will bring a new atmosphere. However, someone of Mr. Huai's extraordinary talent naturally needn't worry and will surely pass with ease."

How could I not worry? I'm worried to death, okay! If even the nephew of the Jurisdiction Bureau Education Minister could be expelled, who would care about one more resume-padding person like me?

Huai Shi's smile stiffened gradually.

He felt incredibly uneasy inside. This time, it was a complete disaster.

I was supposed to just coast along quietly as a decorative figure, and these past few months I've been completely slacking off with no preparation of any lessons or teaching plans. Besides, I wouldn't know how even if I wanted to! Making do as an Abyss Plant Studies teaching assistant is one thing; at worst, I could just assist with the grunt work. But how am I to teach classical music appreciation?

Perhaps I should just resolve to buy a couple of mind-controlling and hypnotic music scores from the Hell Music Association and play them as soon as class starts, playing until the end of class, ensuring every student who attends pretends they've learned something... The more I think about it, the more problematic it seems! After a while, wouldn't the students start going mad?

Or should I learn from my old boss and secretly find some dirt on the vice-principal, threaten him not to fail me, or we'll all go down together? That won't work. How can you threaten someone who's a Fifth Stage Boss, perhaps even The Crowned One, and a strong contender who can stand against Golden Dawn on the Group Star? They could crush me with a flick of their finger... So what should I do?

Huai Shi's criminal instincts were starting to stir. Why not take advantage of a dark and stormy night and chop off the heads of all the competitors? As long as I'm the only teacher left, they'll have no way to fire me! But that's just absurd, isn't it?

For a moment, his mind was full of bad ideas, but after much contemplation, he was left with only one question:

Is it too late to search on my phone for how to teach?

「It wasn't long before...」

Raymond's driving was really fast.

Suddenly, with a slight shudder of the vehicle, the previous sense of flotation vanished. A reassuring gravity returned, and the armor on the carriage slowly opened, revealing the view outside the window.

It was no longer a sea view, but thick white fog instead.

Faint rock music played in the driver's cab as the truck charged through the fog, racing as if on a highway, unafraid of crashing into anything or falling off cliffs—because there was nothing like that here.

Huai Shi squinted at the streaks of light passing overhead in the sky and the faint rainbow hues. He couldn't help asking, "Are we in the Inner Ring now?"

"Yes." Ye Su nodded, taking a sip of tea before explaining, "After all, the Ivory Tower is an important institution and has access to the Rainbow Bridge."

"This is my first time seeing it."

Huai Shi gazed in fascination.

They were now speeding along the Border's highway, so to speak. It was more convenient and faster than using the Endless Sea, and it wasn't limited to use only in the Asia region. This was the outer side of Current Circumstances' first blockade: the Rainbow Bridge.

Enveloping the entire Border and connecting all its parts, it created layers of stellar rings of discharging light—this was the essence of the Rainbow Bridge. They were now in a pathway of the Rainbow Bridge, speeding along its vast internal extensions.

Without concern for Abyssal deposits or the fluctuations of the Source Substance tide, they could travel safely and quickly to any location.

Compared to the lengthy travel originally anticipated, it was incredibly fast, almost like teleportation. Though it wasn't as instantaneous as when the Rainbow Bridge was fully activated—capable of traveling a thousand li in an instant, reaching any distance—the current journey had already shortened the distance manifold.

Guided by the rainbow light, the truck zoomed past enormous objects in the mist with a howl.

A piercing train horn blared from beside the vehicle, followed by the thunder of train tracks. A giant silhouette, enveloped in a whirlwind, rushed past, heading somewhere unknown.

Then, the sounds of engines, one after another, came from the fog, flashing by too quickly to be seen.

It was unimaginable how much bustling activity was occurring within this vast mist, and they were but a mere speck that had entered it.

Not long after, as their direction changed for the third time, the truck slowed down again. The fog started to thin, revealing a sharp silhouette directly in front of them.

Like a delicate piece of art floating in an endless sea of clouds, a small octahedron suddenly emerged from the pallor. It rapidly enlarged, enlarged, enlarged, until it filled Huai Shi's entire field of vision yet was still too vast to comprehend fully.

It continued to expand rapidly, enveloping everything in its shadow.

—The large Mobile Border: the Ivory Tower!

Guided by the rainbow light, the massive octahedron turned silently—a framework established by the Creator.

It rose slowly from the mist, countless mirror-like shells unfolding in layers from its outline, as if being released from compression.

In reality, the Ivory Tower hadn't changed at all; it was just that they had passed validation and were gradually entering its core.

In the end, within the reflections of surging mirrors, Huai Shi could no longer make out its true appearance. Through the shards, he could only glimpse towering buildings, vast courtyards, and silhouettes sleeping in the darkness... but soon, even those phantoms disappeared.

A crisp bell rang.

The truck slowed down once more.

It felt like they had returned to the world of mortals. After taking a final turn, they glimpsed an ancient and enormous city nestled among verdant mountains.

Ancient castles and tower houses stood tall among modern skyscrapers and buildings of futuristic, quirky designs—old and new, layered atop each other. At first glance, they seemed discordant, yet they appeared to share a profound, if disjointed, sense of unity.

"This is the main body of the Ivory Tower nowadays," Ye Su commented with a smile. "It used to be even larger, but I've never seen that."

"This one is already amazing, isn't it?"

"After all, it's one of the main remaining bases of the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy," Ye Su said. "The school is just a part of it; there are many more institutions here not open to the public. You're a member of the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy. If you manage to acquire a formal teaching position, you might get the chance to enter the library..." Ye Su patted his shoulder, encouraging him. "With a bit of luck, you might even see the "Book of Fate"."

"I see, looks like I need to work... Wait a second!"

Huai Shi had just nodded in agreement out of habit when he realized something was off. He turned around in shock.

His heart was thunderstruck, then thunderstruck again, and again, and again. He was completely unable to suppress the horror within; he could hardly breathe.

"You... said what?" He struggled to look back at Ye Su. "What was that 'Fate' thing you mentioned?"

Ye Su's mysterious smile widened.