Magic High School.

"Is he... giving us directions?" the fat man whispered.

Li Ge nodded, turned to the lantern bearer, and said solemnly, "Thank you."

He didn't respond, but simply turned and began to slowly walk down the corridor. After a few steps, he stopped, turned his body as if to glance at them, as if to say, "Follow me."

Li Ge followed without hesitation, and the fat man hesitated for a moment before chasing after him as well.

This is the bizarre Chernobyl. The so-called pollution is nuclear radiation, and the source of pollution is the nuclear reactor. These twisted and grotesque monsters are actually the Soviet soldiers who blocked the nuclear reaction. Even after they died, they continue to prevent outsiders from entering Chernobyl.

In reality, there was no danger in this world. Even if captured by these Soviet soldiers, at most they would just be knocked unconscious and thrown out of Chernobyl.

The greatest danger here is actually nuclear radiation.

They followed the lantern bearer through the ruins filled with radioactive dust. Along the way, they saw more monsters, some patrolling, some clearing rubble, and some simply standing quietly in front of the ruins, as if in remembrance.

Li Ge even saw a blood-soaked corpse whose skin seemed to have dissolved. He frantically swung his shovel, trying to shovel the soil into the passage. However, the passage had already collapsed, and the inside was like a bottomless abyss. It seemed that no matter how much soil he shoveled, he could not fill the abyss.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, the female knight seemed to have reunited with the man in black robes. They hid in an abandoned high-rise building and looked towards the city center.

“That newsboy must be dead. I saw him get knocked unconscious and dragged away by a monster,” said the female knight, still clad in heavy armor. Her armor shimmered with the glow of runes, so the weight of the armor seemed to have no effect on her movements.

“I saw it too. There are too many monsters here. Even though I didn’t flee towards the city center, I still saw countless monsters covered in blood along the way,” the man in black robes continued. From beginning to end, he seemed to have never shown his face, completely hiding himself in his black robes, which also seemed to be a magical artifact.

"As for the mission, we should only have 72 hours to survive. The watches the school gave us have time displays." The man in black robes raised his watch and looked into the distance. "As for dealing with the source of pollution, that's beyond our capabilities. As for those monsters, how many do you think you can handle?"

“One at most, I can only handle one,” the female knight said. “And that’s only for a short time. The strength of these monsters far exceeds my expectations.”

She stretched out her hand, and on the exquisite and gorgeous armor, a part of the arm guard was strangely dented, clearly indicating that she had fought with the Lanternman and was almost killed along with his armor by a shovel.

Even this exquisite set of magical knight armor couldn't withstand a single shovel strike from the shovel-wielding warrior.

“I’m in a similar situation, so we can only hide. My family has passed down some walkthroughs. The school won’t set tasks that are impossible to complete. There must be a way out in this world,” he said. “I think as long as we can hide for 72 hours, we can leave smoothly and complete the entrance exam.”

“I agree, for the glory of our ancestors,” the female knight replied.

However, as they continued to look into the distance, their pupils suddenly contracted, because they saw Li Ge and the fat man, surrounded by what they saw as "monsters," heading towards the other side of the city.

"This is... how is this possible!" the female knight exclaimed in surprise.

"That innocent yet foolish student, I don't know how he gained the trust of these monsters, actually wants to solve the source of pollution!" The man in black robes also looked in this direction with great surprise.

Chapter 4 The "Fatty" from Nagasaki Prefecture

In fact, many secrets of this abandoned city are hidden in various places.

Whether it's the Russian graffiti on the walls, the many children's casual drawings, or the various calendars, newspapers, and even flyers left on this land, they all reveal the secrets and history of this city.

With careful searching, one can quickly piece together the story of this city.

This is also why Li Ge and Fatty were able to gather all the information here while sharing a room. It's also because Li Ge is a "cheater"—he knows the story of Chernobyl, so he can confirm the situation here more quickly. At first, Li Ge just couldn't believe that he, a transmigrator, had actually returned to Earth and to Chernobyl.

Others, if they searched diligently, could also piece together the story of the city. As long as they stopped being afraid of the Soviet soldiers who were driving them out and clearly stated that they were there to help, they could get the Soviet soldiers' assistance and successfully find the source of the pollution.

This mission was only meant to test the most basic intelligence gathering and analysis skills.

However, Li Ge cheated, skipping the tests of analytical ability and most of the intelligence gathering ability. He was able to determine that this was Chernobyl with just a few words, and successfully gained the trust of the Soviet soldiers by using his identity as an international brigade member.

"Fatty, do you know The Internationale?" Li Ge asked, surrounded by a group of Soviet soldiers.

He knew that these Soviet soldiers were actually skeptical about being part of the International Brigades, but they still chose to take the gamble. So Li Ge decided to sing the Internationale together to ease the tension.

"What Internationale?" The fat man was taken aback.

Li Ge understood. Fatty was indeed from a different world than him, or rather, his worldview might be completely different from his understanding of Earth's history.

"No, it's nothing." Li Ge also felt that he was being too suspicious, but he still chose to believe Fatty and the keepsake left by his parents.

He can sing the Internationale, but only in his native language; he doesn't know the original French or Russian. However, the melody and core message remain the same regardless of the version.

So he slowly began to speak, his voice not particularly pleasant, but the next instant, the familiar melody made all the Soviet soldiers present pause for a moment.

"Arise, you starving and freezing slaves..."

As the song began, the Soviet soldiers seemed to have lost all hesitation and confusion. They strode forward, each holding a shovel.

Although their appearance was extremely tragic—some were headless, some had festering skin, some were completely corroded down to their bones, and some had lost half of their bodies—

However, their steps remained firm, and they never considered compromising or making any concessions regarding the nuclear leak.

Finally, they arrived at an open area. In front of them was a huge, dilapidated cooling tower, which was the No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Even after many years, even in this eerie replica, the building still exudes a chilling aura.

The lantern bearer stopped, turned to Li Ge, and began drawing on the ground with his shovel.

Li Ge looked down.

The monster drew a simple diagram, a radiation icon, surrounded by many little figures and arrows pointing outwards, indicating evacuation. Then it pointed to the inside of the reactor, drawing several little figures with arrows pointing inwards, indicating they were entering.

Meanwhile, another group of people pointed around, and Li Ge looked over; there was a huge pile of cement...

“Stone coffin…” Li Ge understood. “You want to build a stone coffin to seal the reactor.”

The lantern bearer nodded, and then it drew an even larger pattern, covering the entire area with a huge dome.

“But you can’t do it now…” Li Ge said softly, “because this is no longer… the real world, and there will be no more reinforcements from Moscow… You are all left here…”

The lantern bearer remained silent, and the pale blue light dimmed somewhat.

Just then, Li Ge's watch vibrated, and he looked down at it:

[A test taker was detected approaching the core of the pollution source]

The exam is complete. Candidate number 9528 has achieved an "Excellent" score and may choose to leave or stay.

Current pollution level: 28%

Sure enough, once he arrived, the air smelled "sweet," and Li Ge realized that the radiation here might be far beyond his tolerance limit. The soaring pollution levels also told him how dangerous this place was.

However, he felt no discomfort, which was within his expectations. After all, radiation is something that would make Li Ge vomit and feel nauseous even on the outskirts, let alone inside Chernobyl.

Even now that the contamination level has reached 28%, he has no adverse reactions. He can only assume that the watch or something else is protecting him, or that in this bizarre instance, as long as the contamination level does not exceed 100%, there will be no problem.

Therefore, this was no longer within his consideration. Li Ge immediately began to think about how to "seal" the source of pollution.

In his memory, the Soviet Union used a large number of helicopters and materials such as lead and boric acid to temporarily stop the nuclear leak and evacuate everyone from Chernobyl as soon as possible. After that, 13 layers of solid cement were used to seal the leak, finally stopping the further leakage of nuclear radiation.

That solid cement is the "stone coffin" that can essentially seal off the source of pollution.

Li Ge quickly began to deduce that the current time point should be the point where the Chernobyl people have withdrawn, but the sarcophagus is not yet completed. Therefore, even the sealing material "cement" has been prepared for them in the mission. At the same time, they are also the last Soviet soldiers, and there will be no more support from Moscow.

Assisting them in completing the cement pouring is probably the original task process.

Li Ge had already completed the instance and could leave at any time, but looking at these Soviet soldiers who, despite dying, still held their heads high, he was deeply moved.

Their tattered uniforms and the various medals worn by some of them, though covered in blood, still shone brightly.

“I will help you complete the stone coffin,” Li Ge said, making a promise.

The lantern bearer nodded, and then a long passage of Russian seemed to come from the mouth of another monster.

Li Ge quickly nudged the fat man with his elbow and asked, "Fatty, what are they saying?"

The fat man seemed to be thinking about something, but after being elbowed, he came to his senses and translated, "They said that from now on, it's really going to be a fight to the death. We are the last group of people left in Chernobyl. I can tell you, this is our final battle, and our only outcome is death."

"I'll go first, then the deputy commander, then the commander, then the medal-winning soldiers, and finally the international friends who came to help..."

The more the fat man translated, the softer his voice became.

Chapter 5 The Nuke "Fat Man"

Li Ge fell silent, looking at the group of veterans, unable to express his feelings.

Perhaps, even with all the Soviet soldiers present, these few "reincarnated" helpers alone wouldn't have been able to fill the nuclear reactor with cement. The quality of these outsiders was far, far inferior to that of the Soviet soldiers...

"Unless, we can completely react with all the still-radioactive nuclear waste," he murmured, as if only the fat man could hear him.

But Li Ge isn't Godzilla; he really can't unleash an atomic breath or conjure up a supergalaxy with his bare hands, but that's obviously impossible.

“Li Ge, I have another way!” The fat man seemed to have been thinking the whole way, and at this moment, he seemed to hear Li Ge’s voice, and seemed to have finally finished his calculations. He said, “I will become a nuclear bomb. I can detonate myself and then completely react with the nuclear leak here through the nuclear explosion.”

Li Ge: "?"

He didn't point out the question mark because he thought there was something wrong with him, but because he thought there was something wrong with you, the fat guy.

What do you mean you can detonate it? What do you mean... wait a minute? Fatty?

Li Ge's eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yes, Li Ge, you guessed it right. I’m from Nagasaki Prefecture, so I can become a 2.2-ton nuclear bomb ‘Fatty’. It’s a tradition in my hometown. Fattys here have a once-in-a-lifetime moment of glory.” Fatty smiled, revealing his big white teeth, and gave a thumbs up.

Dude, so you're this "fat guy" after all this time?

No, huh?

Li Ge was now completely bewildered, his brain starting to ramble incoherently, as if fighting with itself. He even wondered if he had heard a really ridiculous joke, like how a fat man from Nagasaki Prefecture could have a yield of 2.2 tons?

You don't have a younger brother named "Little Boy," do you?

It was only then that Li Ge realized just how exaggerated and unreasonable the "comedic" ability of the clown mask left by her parents was. After all that, she realized that she herself had become a comedic character.

However, looking at the fat man, Li Ge suddenly asked with some sadness, "Fatty, if you explode, will we ever see each other again?"

Despite not having known each other for long, Fatty was willing to sacrifice himself to help Li Ge block the lantern bearer, and he encouraged and helped her every time. After such a short period of getting to know each other, Li Ge really thought that Fatty was already a close friend.

“Perhaps, if you come to Chernobog again next time, we’ll have a chance to meet again.” The fat man gave another thumbs up, revealing his gleaming white teeth. “After all, even if I self-destruct, I’ll only lose one day’s memory.”

Losing... a day's worth of memories...

For Li Ge, the next time she met the fat guy, he would completely forget what happened today and would still consider them old classmates.

"Now is the peak of our youthful passion, Li Ge!" The fat man took a deep breath, pointed his thumb at himself, and said, "Leave the cleanup of the pollution source to me. Let's go crazy!"

"After all, this is the only glorious moment of my life as a fat man from Nagasaki Prefecture!"

"Thank you, Fatty..." Li Ge said. He felt like crying, but when he saw Fatty saying these things in the funniest, most nonsensical way, he was amused instead.

The fat man immediately interrupted the Soviet soldiers' conversation, saying, "Comrade-in-Chief, I have an idea! I can turn into a 2.2-ton yield nuclear bomb that is fully reactive. As long as I can be sent to the radiation source, I can find a way to detonate myself and neutralize all the nuclear contamination!"

In that instant, Li Ge sensed that even the Soviet soldiers were showing expressions of confusion.

However, they soon accepted the premise that the fat man could turn into a nuclear bomb and began discussing the specific details.