Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 91 Return
I already said the whole book is finished, why are you still flipping through it?

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Under the rising moon, Rolf hurried anxiously through the birch forest after nightfall.

To maintain balance, the "J"-shaped flexible steel plate prosthetics of the Wind Demon have a very large contact area, which makes walking on flat ground feel strange. But unexpectedly, the wide contact area makes it easier for him to move forward in the snow, especially when he is riding the wind, he can walk on the snow as if it were flat ground.

But Rolf had never tracked in the snow, nor had he ever lived in the north where snow never melted—the central territory of the Starry Sky only saw seasonal, sporadic snowfalls, and the five city-states in the southeast of the narrow Cornmas Alliance were even drier and warmer—which made his tracking extremely difficult, even though he was the first to notice the anomaly in Serena's carriage and immediately give chase.

Rolf's ability to control the wind allows him to move freely through the narrow and crowded Red Town Street, and his speed is just as impressive in the dense birch forest.

But he must find that boy.

The boy who gave the ghost of the wind a new life.

Rolf walked through a grove of trees and saw a flat patch of snow ahead.

His gaze suddenly froze!
The Ghost of the Wind shuddered and landed on the snow.

Under the moonlight, a glamorous woman with a cloak wrapped around her shoulder easily.

A seven or eight-year-old boy, his hands tied behind his back, slipped unresponsively from her fingers and fell to the snow like prey that had been murdered.

like a statue.

The alluring and seductive woman turned slightly, licked her lips at Rolf, and gave him a strange smile.

No.

Rolf knelt down in disbelief on the snow, his hands trembling as he reached out to the boy with his eyes closed.

No breathing.

No heartbeat.

There is no pulse.

No.

That boy.

That grown-up boy.

The boy who gave himself a choice.

The boy who saved himself from the abyss of despair.

The amazing boy who taught him to read, spell, and communicate using sign language.

died.

No.

Rolf raised his head, half of his face hidden behind a silver mask, his expression unreadable.

"What's wrong?" Serena Corleone tilted her head and winked seductively. "Oh, are you here to see little Thales?"

Rolf clenched his fists and slowly stood up, his eyes, filled with resentment and anger, fixed on the alluring woman.

“Sorry, he’s asleep.” Serena chuckled.

"Let's find him again in the next life."

A sudden gust of wind swept across the flat ground.
Serena's expression changed!
The wind is getting stronger.

The snowflakes around Rolf billowed, ruffling his clothes.

The Ghost of the Wind stared intently at Serena.

He had no idea how strong the woman in front of him was.

But he will do everything in his power to make the other party pay the price.

In this way, I owe that boy a debt.

Let's pay it off.

But just a moment later, Rolf was shocked to discover:
He was stiff all over.

I can't move.

what happened?

Yes… he rolled his eyes… this woman?
Serena let out a pleasant laugh, her gaze never leaving Rolf, maintaining the pressure of a 'pause'.

“These kids nowadays,” she pouted as if in distress, shook her head, pointed to the side of her eye, looked at Rolf who was frozen in place, and clicked her tongue:
"Don't they use their brains when they fight?"

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So dark.

So dark.

I can't feel the passage of time.

There was no space.

Why did it suddenly light up?

It's too bright, it's blinding.

These are...memories?
So many memories.

Familiar or unfamiliar scenes flashed rapidly before his eyes.

Chaos.

In the end, only a jumble of sounds remained:
The Central Limit Theorem provides sufficient justification for our random sampling... Don't get distracted! Master these techniques, and you'll at least be able to work in the market research departments of various companies after graduation...

what is this?
"Qi Ren, if you were transported to a different world awaiting salvation, would you strive to become stronger, farm, advance your technology, and dominate the world... Would you want to change it?" "Forget it, societal changes are always unpredictable... unless I'm a creator god..." "Okay, conclusion: there's no point in asking you this question." "What's with that look of utter disdain?"

Such a familiar voice...

Class issues are often linked to inequality; education, income, and capital are common terms… Blau and Duncan, remember these two scholars, they will be your nightmare for the next two years… In our time, if you couldn't use log-linear models, don't even think about doing social class analysis…

This is so confusing... Why do these combinations make no sense at all...?

"Why are you so conflicted! It's just one question: should we be together...? Why are you frowning?!"

Why does everything seem so familiar, yet shrouded in a fog...?

The key to the logistic regression model lies in this probability function, which is actually the same as the Probit model... If you only understand general linear regression but not logistic regression, don't say you've studied regression models... There's no other reason, I just think it's embarrassing...

Where am I...?

Everyone considers him one of the three founding fathers, but compared to Weber's extensive references and scientific arguments, categorizing his philosophical contemplation, which he came up with while sitting in a chair, as... in the opinion of some radical scholars, including myself, is simply an insult to our discipline...

What is this...? But the name looks so familiar...

[A one-mode social network can be represented by a symmetric matrix, while a two-mode one is more complex... Look at your stupid faces, haven't you all studied linear algebra?... Without studying advanced mathematics, what makes you think you're capable of mastering this subject? Bullshit!]

Wait, I know what these are... I've studied them, even written about them, and taught them...

"I don't know what the point is of all the hard work our family has put in to send you to school, but we in the Wu family have always held this belief: knowledge may not be useful, but it is certainly priceless..."

Who's talking...? What are all these things?!
For example, factors such as teachers, school location, class type, and parents' income all influence student performance at different levels—some at the individual level, some at the class level, and some at the school level. Simply assuming they all work on the same dimension without distinguishing between these different levels makes the conclusion that "what has the greatest influence on student performance" unconvincing… This is why stratified linear models are often used in education to overcome this limitation, and this principle also applies to our research…

I know... I must know... Damn it, why can't I remember!
[Marx and Weber held diametrically opposed views on the autonomy of the state... The difference between the two types of state power defined by Mann is... Haven't you all read the text? Can't finish reading it? Then why not get some extra sleep?] Wait, who am I... Who am I?

Led by Skocpol, people began to reflect on the social schemas of Marxist scholars and Parsons' macro-theories... The societies embedded in history may not function as they imagined... Thus, the tradition of historical analysis returned to our attention...

What am I?
Don't assume that qualitative methods don't require the same level of scientific rigor as econometric methods. On the contrary, because we lack the clear and explicit scientific standards of econometric research, we need even more to demonstrate and explain the scientific basis for using this method, grounding our research in the field... Otherwise, you're no different from writing a news report... You might as well switch majors to journalism and become a reporter; I guarantee you'll earn more...

Ahhhhh——

But the sounds that followed contained many clearer and more poignant memories:

"Beth, no matter what, keep him in the capital. He will survive... Hold him, he's my blood! You know my temper."

"This guy's called Thales... He's assigned to the sixth ward. Look at that stupid look on his face... Kid, I guarantee you won't live past the second year."

"No! No! Don't hit me! No! I just... I just... ah!"

"You guys really don't want water? It's right next door! ...Listen to me, I'll think of a plan!"

"My name is Karak! I heard you're the boss of your place? From today onwards, you have to give me half the money!"

"This is the last dose of medicine, there's no more! You...you must never come back again...Wait! Here are some old clothes, take them..."

"Little brat, you have to call me Sister Yara!"

"Standing above the heavens, surpassing the gods, looking down upon all living beings... You can say 'no,' but you cannot refuse; this is only the first time you've lost control."

"I know that you possess something he lacks."

"King Nuen wanted fairness... to exchange my son's life for his son's!"

An unprecedented flood of memories flashed back in an instant.

It's about to burst his consciousness.

Sudden.

Everything quieted down.

Darkness descended once more.

I feel much better now.

He was sleepy.

Perhaps it's time to go.

Go back to where he came from.

Or... just fall asleep.

Just now.

Two unfamiliar voices rang in my ears.

A voice, sounding old-fashioned:

“Such a soul… oh, of the highest quality ever seen… yes, Mother senses it.”

The other sound was flat and shrill:
"Wait, the smell of danger... it's the same as it was six or seven hundred years ago..."

"You are always so careful and at ease. Your mother will take it into consideration. Your mother is absolutely fair."

"No, it's not completely dead yet... It has incredible vitality. Even though no one is trying to rescue it, it's still rising. At this rate, it'll be back up there soon..."

"Yes, I can sense that Mother doesn't reject it, but she doesn't like it either."

"Oh my God..."

"What's causing such panic?"

"Have you ever seen such a hybrid of blood and soul...? How is this possible! Unless the Alchemy Tower and the Soul Tower cooperate..."

"Don't lose your composure! Stay at your post and mind your own business... Besides, the three great magic towers have been destroyed for a thousand years..."

"A thousand years, is that so? My long-term memory has gotten worse again..."

"Mother has made a decision...to let things drift and allow them to rise again...to prepare to open the floodgates."

"A reverse flow gate? But it was only raised back up more than 30 years ago... That's too short a time. Would Mother allow this frequency? At least we'll have to wait until the last one falls back down..."

"Do not ask, do not speak, this is your mother's decision, you must obey!"

Immediately afterwards, he felt everything around him shaking violently!
"boom!"

"Clap!"

As if something had shattered, he seemed to hear a clear, crisp sound.

The next moment, as if emerging from the water, he smoothly inhaled a breath of air amidst the invisible pressure and darkness!
It's not just a breath of air.

That was a force.

A power beyond that of ordinary people.

He—Tales Star—remembered who he was.

His senses returned along with them!

It felt as if every pore on my body opened up in an instant, greedily absorbing information from the outside world. My stiff joints stopped rubbing together, as if they were being lubricated by a force.

The blood pooling in the skin seemed to receive a command and returned to the blood vessels to provide life-giving nutrients, while the heart, which had been racing due to lack of oxygen, resumed a brief, regular, and slow beating—only stronger and more powerful than before.

Thales sensed it.

A force emanated from an unknown corner of his body, rapidly rising and instantly spreading throughout his entire being.

The pain in his throat gradually disappeared, and he could even feel that many small, hidden injuries in his body were slowly healing.

Soon, Thales felt the cold beneath him, the fierce wind around him, and Serena's familiar laughter.

Like a drowning person being brought back to life, Thales suddenly opened his eyes!

Then, he looked up at the sky with trembling eyes, opened his mouth wide, and took a breath of air that he hadn't felt in a long time, as if it had been separated from him for many years!

"call……"

Everything is the same as before.

He came to life.

Well, actually, the previous chapter was already finished. Thales died, that's all.

So this chapter is a completely new story that takes place in another parallel world. Although the characters' names, appearances, and personalities may seem similar, they are actually clones, doppelgangers, or multi-dimensional reflections.

So this is a new book, and I've already thought of a title: *The Bloodline of a Fallen Nation*.

Don't laugh, I'm serious.

(This way I can write in the synopsis, "I already have a completed work of 40 words, I guarantee I won't abandon it," right? That would surely attract a lot of readers—I'm such a genius.)
What?! Someone actually thinks I'm just faking the memory flashback? Good heavens, I spent two hours editing and revising this to connect the scattered clues from before and dig a few huge plot holes along the way!

By Wujian, who looked completely serious.

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(End of this chapter)