Apocalypse Forecast-Chapter 686 - 566 Past Afterimages_1

Huai Shi was taken aback.

He had never heard such a stern and righteous speech from an opponent before and found it hard to believe.

Suddenly, he felt a subtle shock, as if he were standing at the bottom of a valley, being looked down upon from the moral high ground.

Are all you foreign gangs so polite?

"That’s why people always say you Inspectors must have a screw loose somewhere," Michel said, shaking his head. "Huai Shi, in your eyes, is a life-and-death struggle the only way to resolve things in this world?"

"Uh... since the fight has already started, well..."

Huai Shi scratched his head. "Wildfires cannot be burned out; they regrow when the spring breeze blows?"

"The Ivy League is an integral part of the American Genealogy. Destroying Ivy Vine would mean the complete extinction of the American Genealogy. Go on, try burning the American Genealogy to the ground and see what happens."

Michel scoffed. "If Luo Su truly had the ability to rebuild Utopia and integrate the Current Circumstances Secret, then it might be possible. But if the American Genealogy were gone, where would he find a cornerstone to replace it? It’s the 22nd century now. Can we please stop trotting out that outdated logic from the Primitive Era?"

A twitch appeared at the corner of Huai Shi’s eye.

This familiar caustic tone and sharp words...

He felt as if he were standing in front of a carbon copy of the Great Grandmaster.

——Do you two use the same brand of mouthwash?

"Even though I don’t understand why Luo Su places so much importance on an Executioner like you, as the issuer of your nominal diploma, allow me to give you this lesson."

Michel raised his head, looking down at the young man before him. "As Sublimators, it’s not wrong to fight to the death, but for educators, such behavior is not something to be praised.

"The Ivory Tower and Ivy Vine may be incompatible in certain domains, but ultimately, neither of our institutions was formed in pursuit of violence—seekers of knowledge don’t establish authority through violence!

"Even though academic disputes can often be ruthless, employing every means available, to Scholars, there is nothing more precious than life itself."

Michel continued, "The Gallic people could behead a Scholar—one who might appear only once in a thousand years—in ten seconds. Yet, even in another thousand years, they could not produce another Creator like Lavoisier. After Archimedes was stabbed to death by the Romans, there was simply no other Archimedes!

"For thousands of years, countless Scholars have diligently sought to replace destruction with creation, and swords with morals. Even if that day is still far off, it shouldn’t be an excuse to abandon virtue and exhibit our beastly nature."

He looked intently at the young man before him and told him, word by word, "We imbue knowledge and mystery with intellect, hoping that one day it can transcend cruel evil and create a virtuous cycle!"

Pure Power represents pure nothingness.

And sometimes, that Power becomes a mirror, reflecting the image of its user.

In his astonishment, Huai Shi suddenly recalled what Tong Ji had once said to him: after becoming a Sublimator, no matter the original goal, it would eventually turn into doing whatever one pleased, like a game of idiom solitaire.

Yet, compared to doing whatever one pleased, the choice to refrain from certain actions is what is truly precious.

Indeed, in the face of Power, both good and evil are magnified millions of times.

But it is precisely for this reason that the importance of Temperance becomes even more pronounced.

Even though he had already grasped this concept, hearing such words from Michel still touched Huai Shi.

"I thought bankers and great capitalists didn’t care about lives," he couldn’t help but lament.

He really hadn’t expected to hear such truths from someone hailing from a bastion of capitalists and bankers.

"Death is a loss that must be avoided. People live to create greater value. Naturally, they must also avoid the destruction of greater value in senseless struggles."

Michel glanced at him. "If we weren’t mindful of this point, why would we bother making any agreements?

"Why not just escalate the war? Make a call, have the Ivory Tower and the American Genealogy each send out a Fifth Stage adept to fight it out and decide the ownership of this Hell. Wouldn’t that be more straightforward?"

Huai Shi was speechless.

After all, up to this point in the fighting, it seemed like hardly anyone from either side had actually died—at least compared to a true war of attrition, their conflict could almost be described as amicable. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The Ivy League had indeed maintained a Scholar’s decorum. Even when their train cars were invaded by the troupe upon arrival, they hadn’t taken the initiative to attack the students, who possessed little ability to resist.

They had avoided casualties as much as possible.

Even Michel hadn’t been truly malicious after Huai Shi’s surrender.

He was provided with three square meals a day, never lacking meat or vegetables, ensuring a balanced diet.

Letting Huai Shi curry favor down below was one thing, but they even allowed the Ivory Tower to pay a ransom to get him back!

This so-called aristocratic treatment was really something else.

Huai Shi scratched his head. After careful calculation, it seemed the ones truly doing the fighting were the Mercenaries and the large groups of underlings on both sides... Don’t us ’tools’ count as people?

But since even the Eye of Nightmare, who were here as tools, hadn’t said anything, what was there for Huai Shi to fuss about?

He could only go through the motions first: get angry, cold, and shivery. Can this world ever get better? How are we ’tools’ supposed to live to your satisfaction? Damn these tears... So much oppression against us ’tools’... When will we ever stand up? Hell is empty...