Elite Mages’ Academy

The history of Planet Norma’s invasion by colonial academies could be traced back to more than two centuries ago. The fact that they could hide from everyone without revealing anything necessitated an extremely harsh monitoring system. Therefore, Xiao Lin did not doubt Song Junlang’s words at all.

Xiao Lin followed Mao Tianying up the spiral staircase while looking all around. The mountain was indeed hollowed out, and except for the portal to Dawn Academy at the bottom, it was divided into at least seven or eight floors. There were doors leading to the stairs beside each floor, but Mao Tianying went straight to the top floor without stopping. Once the top floor door was pushed open, his eyes suddenly lit up as the bright rays of the sun shone down.

Xiao Lin was a little surprised when he saw the blue sky. After living in Dawn Academy for a month, he suddenly felt that Earth’s sky was bluer.

Outside the door was the mountaintop, and Xiao Lin noticed the presence of a huge telescope not far away. Speechless, he asked, "You disguised this place as an observatory?"

Mao Tianying corrected him. "It’s not a disguise. It really is an observatory, but we have a certificate issued by the country."

Song Junlang laughed too. "About a few decades ago, someone asked off the cuff and wondered if we could see Planet Norma from Earth. Everyone thought they could try it, so an observatory was built on the Earth Division."

"Then, did you manage to see Planet Norma?"

Mao Tianying spread his palms. "No, but everyone treats this as a fun way to pass the time when things get boring. After all, the main task of our division here is monitoring and surveillance."

Mao Tianying led the two of them to his office. The building on the ground was more of a decoration. No one was in it and the interior was also rather messy. He took out a bank card and threw it to Xiao Lin, saying, "The password is one-two-three-four-five-six. The amount inside is left over from someone who came back some time ago. There’s probably more than two hundred thousand in it. Will it be enough?"

"That’s enough! More than enough!" Xiao Lin was a little surprised at how nonchalant the man was, but when he thought about it, Renminbi was probably nothing to an academy that aimed to colonize strange worlds.

"You’d have to inform the American side if you want to go back. Department Head Song has to come forward on this. I don’t have a high enough level," Mao Tianying said half-jokingly.

"Leave it to me."

Department Head Song asked for a number. Magic cell phones were not allowed to be used on Earth, so he picked up the landline on the desk and dialed. The other side answered in seconds.

"Mr. Hank? I’m afraid it’ll take two days for Xiao Lin and I to arrive in America."

"Why?"

"Oh! It’s a long story. Xiao Lin isn’t feeling well after returning. I’m afraid he’s not comfortable with the environment since it’s his first time here. He

"Department Head Song, can you not patronize me with such ridiculous excuses? He’s an Earthling! This is Earth!"

"Mm, I admit that I was kidding when I said his body can’t accept the environment, but he really is not feeling well. As you know, the wormhole is full of uncertainties. We haven’t fully understood the effect of Timesand on the human body yet..."

The two went back-and-forth with each other for nearly ten minutes and Song Junlang finally convinced the other party to agree. Xiao Lin was rather dumbfounded when Song Junlang hung up. "Did he really believe that I’m not feeling well?"

"He’s not an idiot. Who in the world would believe it!"

"Then why would he agree?"

After a moment’s silence, Song Junlang sighed. "The chances of coming back will only decrease in the future. Everyone understands this, so it’s only natural they give you some leeway."

Song Junlang rummaged around the office, seeming quite familiar with everything. After a while, he found a car key, a couple of bank cards, and a few mobile phones. He threw one to Xiao Lin and said, "Don’t use the magic phone. Just put up with it in the next two days. I’ll drive you to the airport."

Mao Tianying waved them goodbye after sending them down the mountain. Song Junlang found the parking lot by himself and vomited a bit. Those guys still had not upgraded their vehicles even after so many years.

Department Head Song claimed that he had not been back for several years, but he was actually familiar with the roads nearby. He pointed to the roadside from time to time and talked about the changes that had occurred in the past few years. For example, he would comment that a very large hotel had been demolished there some years ago, or that a bridge had finally been completed.

Xiao Lin sat in the front passenger seat and listened quietly. He suddenly asked, "Why haven’t you come back all these years, Department Head Song? I know that the academy has strict restrictions against the students returning to Earth, but graduates don’t seem to be bound by this rule."

Song Junlang fell silent for a moment despite his talkativeness earlier. He turned his head and pretended to look at the scenery, as if he did not want Xiao Lin to see his expression. After a while, he faintly replied, "I don’t want to come back. Must there be a reason for that?"

Realizing that the other party did not want to talk about it, Xiao Lin changed the subject. "Why does the school restrict students from coming back? Are they worried that Earth would undergo turbulent effects?"

Department Head Song shook his head. "There’s no ‘might’. It already has, and the effect is irreversible. It’s a pity that people always realize the seriousness of the problem only after things happen."

Song Junlang asked while driving, "Have you heard of the Great Tianqi Explosion?"

"I have. It was a mysterious explosion that occurred in Beijing during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty. Both the scope of the explosion and the casualties were large, but the cause of the explosion is still an unsolved mystery."

Song Junlang had a noncommittal attitude and asked, "What about the Tunguska Explosion?"

"I’ve read about it. It was an explosion that occurred over Siberia, Russia in the early twentieth century. The force of the explosion was in the tens of millions of tons and its power was extremely terrifying. There are many speculations about the cause of the explosion, such as asteroids, comets, nuclear weapons, and even an alien spacecraft crash, but there hasn’t been an exact statement yet."

After speaking, Xiao Lin realized something and was overcome with shock. "F*CK! No way, are you saying that these two incidents were caused by people from colonialist academies?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Department Head Song said in a very calm tone. "These two incidents were clearly recorded and filed. The big explosion in the Ming Dynasty was when a student wanted to dispense a new type of magic potion, but accidentally caused an explosion. Said student exploded to death on the spot."

"Doesn’t the reign of the Tianqi Emperor during the Ming Dynasty date back more than four hundred years ago?"

"It’s two-hundred-and-ten N.C. now, which means its two hundred and ten years of colonial history. This timeline is based on the time on Planet Norma. Don’t forget that the time ratio is two to one. Our country’s first foray into Planet Norma dates back to the Ming Dynasty."

Xiao Lin was rather surprised when he heard that and asked, "What about the Tunguska Explosion? Was it also a failure in preparing a potion?"

"That was a fight between two people from Russia’s Voyna Akademiya. The reason for the fight is known only between their own people, but in any case, it was a very fierce fight."

Having said that, Department Head Song sighed again. "The original colonists had no qualms about unleashing the otherworldly power they mastered on Earth. Fortunately, they were pioneers in the early days of colonization and everything was trial-and-error. There was no central computer to arrange courses systematically for them. Therefore, the strength of those people was extremely low, and the impact on the world is ultimately limited. At most, they might leave some mysterious legends and strange stories. Stuff like innate martial arts masters who can kill a hundred people, black magic, European vampires and werewolves, and so on and so forth. The explosion during the Ming Dynasty was the biggest event of that year, but that was the extent of it."