Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 232 The End of the World
It was after dinner, just as evening was falling. The setting sun slanted in through the gaps between the tall buildings, casting its light into the alley. The light streamed through the frosted glass window with faded decals, softly spreading across the table covered with a red plastic tablecloth.

Several white porcelain bowls sat on the table, their rims stained with a little oil. A few plates of leftover food, still unwashed, lay quietly, the sauce from the braised pork glistening with a thin sheen. A few pairs of wooden chopsticks rested casually on the rims of the bowls, their shadows stretched long and thin, as if time itself had slowed down at that moment. Only an old man and a young boy remained at the table, the lingering aroma of the food still filling the air.

Chu Zihang, Susie, and Nuonuo all wisely took their leave after the meal. They all knew that Angers' purpose in coming was Lu Mingfei, and there were probably some things they shouldn't know, so it was better for them to say goodbye.

Angers produced a cedar wood cigarette case from somewhere, took out a Cohiba Behike cigar, and calmly gestured to Lu Mingfei, "Is this alright?"

"Although secondhand smoke is harmful to health, nothing serious should happen in the short term... and it probably won't matter much to people of mixed race, right?"

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, his eyes unconsciously glancing out the window. The setting sun was slowly sinking between the buildings, and the sky was gradually turning red.

"That's not necessarily true. A doctor once told me that even people of mixed race have a risk of developing lung cancer..."

Angers slowly sniffed the cigar known as the "King of Cuban Cigars," cut an opening in the cigar, then used a thin match to char the cigar body before lighting it and taking a satisfying puff.

"And that doctor didn't live as long as you?" Lu Mingfei replied subconsciously.

The old man in front of him looked very old, but when Lu Mingfei realized his age, he even felt that he didn't look old enough... It was really hard not to think that a person from the last century could still be sitting in front of him talking and smoking.

"Cough cough..."

Angers coughed several times after hearing this. "No, he's still alive and well, and he smokes and drinks even more than I do."

"A doctor cannot heal himself..."

Lu Mingfei nodded thoughtfully, "Just like doctors who treat hair loss and baldness, and many people with male pattern baldness and male pattern baldness!"

"Hmm, that's quite a novel idea. I'll share it with him when I have the chance."

Angers exhaled a puff of blue smoke. It has to be said that old ginger is indeed spicier. As an old man who has lived for more than a hundred years, he has seen far too many different kinds of people. He can easily accept and adapt to Lu Mingfei's endless stream of nonsense and his unconventional thinking.

"Now let's get down to business."

"oh oh……"

Lu Mingfei thought to himself that the principal was not very familiar with Chinese social etiquette. If he knew this, he would have served drinks during the meal and discussed everything, whether it was appropriate or not, while the principal was still a little tipsy. Why wait until the meal was over to start? Now he couldn't just pretend to be drunk when he encountered a difficult question!

Hmm, if I encounter any difficult questions later, I could just make up an excuse about being allergic to certain foods and then faint? That sounds like a good idea!
“You are excellent, Mingfei. Although I knew you would be S-class a long time ago, I did not expect you to be this excellent.”

Angers immediately offered unreserved praise.

Students who had previously spoken with the principal would likely feel like the sky had fallen upon witnessing this scene. In their minds, Principal Angers would praise outstanding students, but that praise was more like that of an elder encouraging a younger generation—restrained and subtle, something like, "The future is yours." But now…

Never so straightforward!

“I can’t wait to see the day you enter Kassel College. The school hasn’t had an S-class freshman for many years, and your excellence will definitely inject new vitality into the college.”

"Does injecting a lively atmosphere mean becoming a thorn in someone's side and then turning against them?" Lu Mingfei blurted out.

As someone who was already famous among the entire school's teachers and students even before enrolling, Lu Mingfei felt more like a fuse... At least the student council led by Caesar was definitely on the opposite side of him, while the Lionheart Society led by Chu Zihang was on his side. If anything happened, it would be like a spark falling into a powder keg, waiting for a huge explosion.

“Appropriate competition can indeed be more beneficial to mutual improvement to some extent, while a harmonious and pleasant atmosphere is not good in the current situation.”

Angers chuckled and shook his head. "But that's not the real matter I wanted to discuss... Would you be interested in taking university-level courses in advance?"

"University?" Lu Mingfei was taken aback. "I'm already studying there..."

"I know."

Ang nodded. "You got a near-perfect score of 749 in the mock exam during the winter break, and you did it in a very short time. This shows that you have completely mastered all the knowledge in high school... However, the university knowledge I'm talking about is not what you are learning on your own, but the knowledge from Kassel College."

"From Kassel College?"

"According to the description in the Old Ida of Norse mythology, at Ragnarok, the dragon king Nidhogg will bite off the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil, and the world will be destroyed on that day. I think you already know this."

“I do have some understanding of it…” Lu Mingfei nodded. To be precise, this was something he had seen when he first started reading about dragons.

"But you probably don't know exactly when it will arrive."

"I'm not a prophet... wait, could it be you, Principal?" Lu Mingfei realized.

“I don’t possess such advanced skills, but long ago, there was a group of people who were skilled in this.” Angers shook his head slightly. “Do you know the Maya?”

"I learned about it when I read 'The Little Copernicus' and 'One Hundred Unsolved Mysteries of the World'..."

"The Maya were undoubtedly geniuses in astronomical observation, and their calendar, the 'Solar Calendar,' was extremely accurate... Of course, in terms of mathematical theory and the precision of data, ancient China was the pinnacle. But we mention this here mainly to emphasize the cyclical observation and prediction of the future within the 'Solar Calendar.'"

Angers spoke slowly, his demeanor at that moment more like that of an old professor giving a lecture to his students.

"The solar calendar is a book of the past, the present, and the future. It is a history book and a prophecy book. The Maya wrote the future into history because they believed that these things were predetermined and could not be changed."

"Isn't that too pessimistic? No wonder that those who could do such things in ancient times haven't been able to leave behind any legacy."

Lu Mingfei complained, "They clearly lack the Chinese spirit of conquering nature!"

"...That is indeed a rather novel analytical perspective, and what you said makes a lot of sense."

Angers was stunned, and it was unclear what he was thinking. After a long while, he continued speaking.

"In short, there are five solar ages in the 'Solar Calendar'. The first four solar ages all had advanced civilizations, but they all ended in destruction. Matlactil was destroyed by a flood, Iecott was destroyed by a wind serpent, Queavilo was destroyed by a rain of fire, and Zondrilic was destroyed by an earthquake."

"Earth, water, fire, and wind?" Lu Mingfei keenly perceived the elements involved.

“That’s right, earth, water, fire, and wind, the four elements, also the four monarchs.” Angers took a drag of his cigarette. “And in every apocalypse, different ancient human civilizations would make different choices to preserve their civilization. This is reflected in the myths of various peoples. The most well-known one is probably the Great Flood.”

"Noah's Ark... Yu the Great taming the floods?" Lu Mingfei read out the two stories that immediately popped into his mind.

"The time of Yu the Great's flood control is much later than the time of Noah's Ark recorded in the Bible, probably earlier. Our current research is closer to the time when Gonggong angrily struck Buzhou Mountain, and then Nuwa patched up the sky."

Angers thought for a moment, "The only difference is probably what you just mentioned. Chinese mythology does indeed have a stronger spirit of resistance. Most other myths involve hiding and fleeing, while your records show the killing of the troublesome monsters or gods..."

"Of course! Our ancestors were even more formidable!" Lu Mingfei puffed out his chest.

“The evidence on this point is indeed conclusive,” Ang said, nodding.

"However, my main point is about the fifth Sun Age. There is no sixth Sun Age in the 'Sun Calendar.' The Maya believed that this era would end in some kind of great change."

In their concept of 'cycle,' the end of one era signifies the beginning of another new era; it is the perfect conclusion of a grand time cycle, a time of renewal and rebirth.

He looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes and said softly.

"So you should be able to guess what will happen before renewal and rebirth... Only after everything is destroyed will there be rebirth. That is Ragnarok, the end of Nidhogg after earth, water, fire, and wind in this fifth Sun Age we live in,"

"Hearing you say that, Principal, I have a bad feeling..."

Lu Mingfei swallowed hard.

"However, I'm not very good at history, so I'd like to ask when the fifth sun age ended according to the Mayan solar calendar?"

"2012."

Angers gave a crisp and decisive answer.

Lu Mingfei was stunned: "But it's already 2009!"

"Yes."

"Does that mean I won't even be able to get my college diploma?"

Lu Mingfei frowned. "Principal, does Kassel College offer a grade-skipping option? What are the assessment requirements?"

"..."

Angers, the "old ginger," remained silent. Even with his vast experience, he was rendered speechless by Lu Mingfei's words... Please, the world is about to end! And you're thinking about your diploma and skipping a grade?

“I understand! So that’s what you meant when you asked me earlier if I wanted to learn the university knowledge of Kassel College in advance? Learning in advance would allow me to skip a grade, right?” Lu Mingfei suddenly realized.

"Right...right?"

Angers was trying to sort out his thoughts. How did Lu Mingfei manage to understand the correct meaning from a completely wrong line of thought? It was as absurd as doing a math problem where the process and data were all wrong, but the answer was completely correct!
"What I really mean is that time is precious. Since you have already fully mastered the high school knowledge, you can enroll in a school early to learn more and prepare for the future."

Angers finally finished tidying up and explained.

"The knowledge at Kassel College is different from that of other universities. We don't have 'University Physics' or 'Advanced Mathematics'. Our courses include 'Dragon Genealogy', 'Dragon and Word of Power', 'The Key of Solomon', 'Dragon Bloodline Theory', and 'Dragon Genetics', etc. This is the culmination of thousands of years of searching for and studying dragons by countless generations. And the purpose of everything is to slay dragons!"

The words stopped, like the silence after a musical movement has reached its climax. Angers had expected to see excitement or curiosity in Lu Mingfei's eyes... but in reality, he couldn't see any of that. What appeared in those clear black eyes was "difficulty".

"I am indeed interested in these things..."

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

He didn't feel much of a sense of mission about slaying dragons. After all, he currently had twenty-eight dragons under his command, including second-generation and third-generation dragons waiting in Nibelungen. Moreover, he had promised Yu Ji that he "would not slay the king of the earth and mountains" afterward. He felt like he was almost becoming one of the dragons...

However, that's not his problem. Just as there are good and bad people, there are also bad dragons. Some bad dragons should be killed, and he only wins over the ones that are worth winning over. Therefore, learning these courses is indeed necessary.

"But I don't have much free time to do these things..." Lu Mingfei thought to himself.

He currently has a schedule, and there is a lot of time for self-study in the schedule. However, the subjects studied during these self-study times must be related to his schedule!
Are these dragon-related subjects related to the subjects in the schedule? Will they increase the corresponding proficiency?
Lu Mingfei didn't know, but he couldn't tell Angers the whole story directly. This was something that couldn't be said directly, and there was no way to explain it clearly!

So he thought and thought and finally came up with a solution.

"that……"

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow and glanced at Angers, asking in a tentative tone.

"Principal, may I... try out the class first?"

"A trial lesson?" Angers was taken aback, probably never expecting to get this answer from Lu Mingfei.

"That's right! Isn't there usually a trial lesson before tutoring sessions?"

Lu Mingfei tried his best to make himself look more confident and justified.

"Hahaha...good!"

Angers smiled and actually agreed.

"How about this, I'll be teaching 'Introduction to Dragon Family Genealogy' at Kassel College, and I'll give you a trial lesson while I'm at it."

Lu Mingfei was taken aback; this was somewhat unexpected. He had originally planned to use this opportunity to stall for time... but he hadn't expected the principal himself to give a lecture?
Come on, he's over a hundred years old. Does being of mixed race mean he can disregard labor laws and retirement laws? He was lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)