socalfunplaces Chapter 26 Board of Directors
Chapter 26 Board of Directors
Beyond the Golden Screen: The Real World - Kassel College Square
"Hahahaha!"
The deafening laughter almost lifted the night sky above the square.
The students laughed so hard they almost fell over. Some were squatting on the ground clutching their stomachs, some were laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes, and others were patting the shoulders of the people next to them and pointing at Lu Mingfei's blank face on the screen.
"A loser gains fans on his first day of school! What an unexpected turn of events!"
"That guy, Qilan! How come I never knew he had such a talent for comedy! I'm going to make a good laugh at him when he gets to school."
"Look at Lu Mingfei's signature! It's all crooked and messy! It's hilarious!"
"He actually agreed! He actually agreed! The inauguration ceremony is at 3 PM this afternoon! Does he even know how much work the president of the freshman fraternity association has to do?"
"I bet he had no idea! He just felt awkward refusing because they were so enthusiastic!"
"Oh no, oh no, I can already picture the chaos this afternoon..."
The professors couldn't help but chuckle. Professor Guderian laughed so hard his glasses tilted to one side, while Professor Manstein, though trying to maintain a serious expression, had a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Even Professor Schneider, whose face was usually icy, showed a rare, faint smile.
Chu Zihang stood at the edge of the crowd, watching Lu Mingfei's helpless expression on the screen, a barely perceptible gentleness flashing in his golden eyes.
That boy, despite possessing what is possibly the noblest bloodline in the academy's history, and despite displaying astonishing strength and decisiveness on Freedom Day, was as clumsy as a toddler in his daily life.
This contrast... is kind of cute.
At the other end of the square, Caesar Gattuso stood with his arms crossed, his expression indescribably complex.
He watched as Nuonuo called Lu Mingfei "Ricardo" on the screen, watched her purple-gold Mary Jane shoes, watched her long legs swinging as she sat on the lectern—these were all familiar to him, Nuonuo's little habits, little actions, little whims.
But he had never seen Nono look at anyone with that kind of gaze.
It wasn't the usual sly, teasing look in his eyes, but a deeper, more complex one... was it inquiry? Concern? Or something else entirely?
Caesar clenched his fist.
He knew he shouldn't be jealous—the screen showed another time and space, another future, where what happened between Nono and Lu Mingfei had nothing to do with him in the real world.
But he just couldn't control himself.
That loser, what gives him the right?
Behind the Golden Screen: The Real World, On a Chicago to BJ Flight, First Class
Nono curled up in her seat with a tablet on her lap, the screen displaying the live stream of the Kassel College Forum—someone was broadcasting the content of the golden screen in the square in real time.
When she saw Lu Mingfei burst into the classroom with bloodshot eyes, when she saw him call out "Hello, Rabbit," and when he blankly said, "Sorry, I blew up your boyfriend"—
"Pfft."
She couldn't help but laugh out loud.
A flight attendant happened to pass by, heard the laughter, and asked with a smile, "Ms. Chen, is there anything you need?"
"No, thank you." Nono shook her head, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
She continued reading. She saw Lu Mingfei staring blankly at the "Ricardo M. Lu" nameplate, saw Qi Lan enthusiastically rushing up for an autograph, saw Lu Mingfei sign his name in a crooked hand and then blankly agree to become chairman...
"This guy..." Nono said softly, her fingers unconsciously tracing Lu Mingfei's face on the screen, "Why is he so dull?"
But this seemingly dull-witted Lu Mingfei "avenged" her on Freedom Day, single-handedly fought his way through the battlefield for her, took down Caesar and Chu Zihang for her, and finally "committed suicide" to end his life for her.
This is the kind of dull-witted Lu Mingfei who cries his heart out when he sees his mother in his dreams, curls up alone in the stairwell when he learns that he may be a descendant of the White King, and becomes as helpless as a frightened rabbit when he is worshipped.
It was this simple-minded Lu Mingfei who made her travel halfway around the world, sit on this flight, and go to China to find him.
"Wait for me, Ricardo," Nono whispered to the screen. "When I find you, you have to explain to me why I care about you so much in that future world."
The plane continued flying through the night sky. Outside the window, the eastern horizon was beginning to lighten, dawn was approaching.
Behind the Golden Screen: The Real World, Kassel College, Board of Trustees Meeting Room
The heavy oak doors were tightly shut, and the conference room was filled with the complex aromas of cigars, aged whiskey, and power. Six of the seven high-backed chairs around the long conference table were already occupied.
Hilbert Jean Angers sat at the head of the table, his silver hair gleaming coldly under the chandelier. To his left were Mr. Turing, Lisa Laurent, and Elizabeth Laurent—two representatives of the Laurent family, the elder and younger sisters. To his right were Frost Gattuso, the de facto head of the Gattuso family, and a masked school board member whose identity remained a mystery.
The seventh chair was empty—that was Lu Lincheng's seat.
At that moment, a holographic screen rose from the table in front of the chair, displaying Lu Lincheng's face. He looked much older than his actual age, with gray hair and deep-set eyes, but a certain unsettling light burned in his eyes. He was clearly on an airplane, with the cabin window as his background, and outside the window the pale sky of the Siberian ice field.
"The meeting begins." Angers tapped the table. "First, regarding the golden light screen..."
"We can discuss the light screen later!" Frost Gattuso rudely interrupted, the acting patriarch of the Gattuso family always lacking patience. "What we need to discuss now is Lu Mingfei! That brat stole the Gattuso family's bride and is very likely a descendant of the White King—this dangerous heretic must be brought under control!"
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.
"The bride?" Lisa Laurent raised an eyebrow. This young school board member in her early twenties possessed a composure beyond her years. "Frost, what are you talking about?"
"Chen Motong!" Frost gritted his teeth. "She was the bride chosen by the family for Caesar! This was an agreement reached between the Gattuso family and the Chen family long ago! But now? In the light screen, she's entangled with that Lu Mingfei, and in reality, she even abandoned Caesar to go to China to find him! What kind of behavior is this!"
"Does Nono know about this?" Angers asked calmly.
Frost choked.
"Does Caesar know?" Angers continued to ask.
"...I don't know." Frost finally admitted, but immediately hardened his tone, "But that's not important! What's important is the agreement! It's tradition! The marriage between the Gattuso and Chen families has been planned for twenty years! This concerns the future of the Secret Service!"
"The future of the Secret Service should not be built on the sacrifice of young people's happiness," Elizabeth Laurent said softly, her younger sister's voice gentle but firm. "And as far as I know, Nono and Caesar are not officially engaged; they are just boyfriend and girlfriend—and boyfriends and girlfriends can break up."
"You!" Frost stood up abruptly, his face flushed red.
"Sit down, Frost." Angers' voice was not loud, but carried an undeniable authority. "We are not here today to discuss the emotional matters of young people, but rather Lu Mingfei's lineage and safety."
Frost slumped back into his chair, his face as somber as the sky before a storm.
Angers looked at Lu Lincheng on the screen: "Professor Lu, as Lu Mingfei's father and an expert in S-level bloodline research, what are your thoughts on this matter?"
Lu Lincheng's face flickered slightly on the holographic screen. He was silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper:
"My son is not of the White King's bloodline."
Everyone in the conference room looked at him.
"The test results in the light screen are problematic," Lu Lincheng continued. "The Word of Power 'Emperor' is ineffective against him, not because he has the White King's bloodline, but because... his bloodline purity is too high, exceeding the 'Emperor's' perception range."
"What do you mean?" Mr. Turing frowned.
"That means he's not a descendant of the White King, but rather the purest and oldest descendant of the Black King," Lu Lincheng said, emphasizing each word. "His bloodline is directly inherited from Nidhogg."
Dead silence.
Even their breathing could be heard clearly.
Nidhogg, the Black King, is the progenitor of dragons, the king of all dragons, and the destroyer in mythology who gnawed on the roots of the World Tree and brought Ragnarok. His bloodline has long been diluted and severed in the course of history, and all existing hybrids, in the end, are merely branches and offshoots of the Black King's bloodline.
Direct inheritance?
What does that mean?
Does this mean Lu Mingfei isn't a hybrid, but... a pureblood?
"Impossible!" Frost was the first to object. "Pure-blooded dragons cannot possess human form! This is a fundamental law of alchemy!"
"I didn't say he was pureblood," Lu Lincheng said coldly. "I said his bloodline purity is almost identical to that of a pureblood. Because..."
He paused, and what he said next made everyone hold their breath:
"Because when Jovin was pregnant with him, she underwent my bloodline purification experiment. She used herself as a vessel, filtering my bloodline with an alchemical matrix, and passing on the most essential part to Mingfei. So what Mingfei inherited was not an ordinary hybrid bloodline, but... a purified power close to the source."
A collective gasp filled the conference room.
"You're insane!" Frost roared. "You're experimenting on your own wife and unborn son?!"
"I have no choice!" Lu Lincheng's voice suddenly rose, his eyes burning with a crazed light. "Odin is hunting us! Jovini's bloodline has been locked! If we don't reveal our pure bloodline and hide our tracks, our whole family will die!"
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down:
"Qiao Weini knew the risks, but she volunteered for the experiment. She said that if someone had to sacrifice themselves, she hoped it would be herself, not the child. So she used her own life as a price to ensure Mingfei's safety—and also to ensure his special bloodline."
Everyone fell silent.