So these security guards must be itching to fuck their own mothers right now!
So, to the security guards, these stupid students and their families deserved their misfortune. It was their fault; they brought it on themselves.
At this moment, Sting finally understood what the Black Prophet meant—the people don't care about us, so let's not overestimate ourselves.
So it wasn't until this moment that Sting truly understood that this was real despair, real enlightenment, and the reason why the Black Prophet was so insane and could calmly march towards destruction.
Who can I blame? It seems I can't blame anyone, which is why I'm in despair. I'm tired. Let's just destroy ourselves!
In despair, Sting finally lowered his proud head.
"Drag them all to the lobby! The company will be here soon to move the prisoners!"
The supervisor then ordered the security guards to act quickly. The students, consumed by despair, no longer had the strength to resist.
Their lives seemed destined to end like this, leaving their families and friends to suffer as well. Unless a miracle occurred, this would be the final page of their story.
But who could bring them miracles? Hayden wouldn't suddenly appear in New Jersey, nor would Pania suddenly stick her head into Mitra's factory. As for Angela, the source of all these miracles had absolutely nothing to do with this matter.
But a miracle still occurred.
"I will not allow my students and their families and friends to be treated unfairly."
The factory gates were suddenly pushed open. Percival Albion strode in calmly. His expression was serene, but the power emanating from him was more imposing than that of the divine overseer.
"What?!" The technical director turned around and immediately gasped. "Percival Albion?! What are you doing here?! These thugs were the ones who attacked and damaged our property first!"
“I just happened to hear you shouting loudly.”
The old professor replied, his tone still humble and polite, yet with a hint of coldness.
"If you intend to deal with the students who damaged company property only according to the law and regulations, I may have nothing to say. But it is clear that you are the ones who want to expand the scale of the incident first, and you are the ones who want to overstep the boundaries and extend this matter to many completely unrelated people. I can't just stand by and watch them be tortured into confessing, falsely accused of a bunch of crimes that don't belong to them, and then have their whole family die in the end."
"So now, if you want to—what's that saying again? Oh, to use illegal violence against my students, then I'll have to be ruthless with you from the start."
These words made the Protoss supervisor roll his eyes. For a moment, he hesitated and considered it, but clearly, he ultimately decided the matter was far too serious. If Professor Albion were to take all the students and prisoners away, this supervisor (even though he was a Protoss) would probably be skinned alive by his superiors. To avoid being skinned alive himself, he had to skin others first.
So, who is to blame for the world becoming what it is today?
"Grab this old man too!"
The supervisor said.
"My God, this is really stupid."
Professor Albion shook his head and raised his wand.
"However, defeating you all would be beneficial for explaining to your superiors."
279: Burn my remains with the blazing holy fire
To be honest, Sting could barely see the battle between Professor Albion and the Protoss technical director; he could hardly discern anything from the clash of light and shadow.
Firstly, because all the students were knocked to the ground, their view was obstructed. Secondly, Sting felt that even if he stood up now and watched from a meter away, he probably wouldn't be able to comprehend the entire battle, because everything happened too fast. A red shockwave exploded instantly, and then the blue shield changed direction. A bunch of green lights suddenly collided, and hazy shapes appeared and disappeared... Sting couldn't even tell who had cast what spell.
Strength is always relative. Professor Albion had consumed the elixir of immortality, while his opponent was a god. Both possessed reflexes and agility ten times faster than mortals, meaning their actions were almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Sting only knew that the god-like technical director was constantly drawing upon the powerful magic provided by the StarNet, unleashing spell after spell while frantically dodging.
Meanwhile, Professor Albion simply stood there, flicking his wand, mostly silent, only occasionally uttering unrecognizable ancient language, after which the surrounding area would be enveloped in a white light. When the light dissipated, the divine chieftain opposite him had already staggered back. The protective barrier he had erected with the power of his entire company was shattered and torn apart by the old professor's wand with a mere flick of his finger.
Sting had once watched a live stream of a spell duel between two world-class magical combat experts online, but this battle seemed to be on an even higher level. He had just lost two brothers, which was already a great loss of grief, but the sight of the battle before him left Sting's mind numb. No mortal warrior he knew could last even half a minute against this god. Yet, ten such gods combined probably wouldn't even be able to touch Professor Albion…
This made Sting feel from the bottom of his heart that they had indeed been saved.
"This is too strange!"
On the contrary, the Protoss leader was completely bewildered and utterly baffled.
"You're not a warrior god, so how come your reaction speed is so much faster than mine!?"
After several rounds, the supervisor was knocked to the ground, only able to support himself with one hand while gesturing wildly in the air with the other. He could only desperately summon company magic, forming layer upon layer of protective shields. Professor Albion's attacks were simply too swift. He lashed his wand like a whip, unleashing several precise spells every instant, each striking the divine supervisor's impending magic and dispelling it.
Putting aside the speed, the reaction was practically prophetic. Professor Albion only ate some magic pills; he doesn't have the nanosecond-level reflexes of a War God. How could he be so much faster than a God?
Of course, he didn't intend to explain his advantages to the enemy during the battle; after all, the professor wasn't Hayden. He simply pointed his wand at the fallen Protoss chieftain, who was still trying to put up a last stand, and said in a solemn voice, "Let my student go, my friend."
But the Protoss chief only swore. So the professor waved his wand and knocked him and the other security guards unconscious. The battle was over.
"Sorry, Professor."
Sting and his men lowered their heads in shame.
"We've caused you trouble again."
The old professor shook his head: "Young people should do what young people do. This is not something an old man like me can easily judge. I'm just giving you a heads-up."
"But the trouble you've caused this time is too great. If this continues, I don't know how many people will be implicated and killed by the company. But the power of the Mitra Group cannot be challenged head-on. So I'll send a few of you to New Sprout City first, and then go through the legal department to help you with legal procedures for defense and compensation."
Professor Albion's thoughtful consideration for them surprised and ashamed the dropouts.
But then again, Sting was a little puzzled: "Professor, how did you know we would be here at this time?"
“It’s no big deal,” Professor Albion replied casually. “I often know things that others don’t.”
This explanation sounded like a blatant evasion, leaving the dropouts speechless. However, they had no idea that Professor Albion's prophetic techniques had actually reached an unprecedented level.
For the past few years, Professor Albion has been tirelessly researching Kabbalah numerology and the Tree of Life planted by Angela, even delving into birth charts and astrology. This stems from his own thirst for knowledge about the mysteries of time and space, and also from the fact that Hayden and Karen desperately need magic that can trace and predict the past and future. Hayden is talented in this area and has grasped quite a bit of the technology, but he is simply too busy to spend all his time in the laboratory researching.
So the old professor simply took over the task from his two overworked students and immersed himself in the exploration. As he continued to delve into these disciplines of searching for the past, future, and destiny, over the years, by combining celestial phenomena with modern mathematics, ancient Kabbalah, and the Tree of Life, Professor Albion's understanding of the mysteries of time and destiny had reached another level.
A supreme realm that surpasses the ancients.
With this astonishing knowledge, Professor Albion now possesses predictive abilities no less than Hayden's prophetic talent. Hayden has intuition and revelation, Odin can see directly into the future with one eye, Freya can have precognitive dreams, and the eight bodhisattvas can "comprehend" some future events using their supreme supernatural powers.
As for Professor Albion, he can now use inexplicable mathematical theories to calculate the past and future. That's true "fate" magic!
Unfortunately, such magical calculations are time-consuming and mentally taxing, and the predictions of the future can interfere with each other. Other major gods and bodhisattvas possess absolute power far exceeding Professor Albion's, and his calculations cannot directly contend with theirs. Without these flaws, Professor Albion would be virtually omniscient by now. Even if he weren't omniscient, finding troublesome students would be effortless.
...That being said, Professor Albion, while urging Sting and the others to flee to Newbud City, also turned his gaze towards the Mitra branch office building in the city center. His eyes were focused, but his brows were furrowed. What exactly could the professor see in those "enlightened" eyes?
Whatever he saw, the situation was definitely not good.
“Professor, there are some people calling themselves the Black God Gang, who are probably also dropouts from our school. They went to the Mitra Corporation building to act as bait.”
Sting then remembered something and quickly said to the old professor,
"Are you planning to rescue them? But they started their operation earlier than us, and by now they're probably already..."
"Of course I will."
Professor Albion sighed softly.
"Of course I'm going."
————————————————————————————
Meanwhile, inside the Mitra branch building mentioned by Sting and the old professor, members of the Black God Gang were struggling to survive.
Actually, they were doing quite well at first. This was because the Black Prophet had once again summoned their "Avenging Angel," Tissphonie. This dark angel possessed fighting power far exceeding that of an ordinary company security team! She laughed amidst the hail of bullets, wielding her longsword and flaming whip; even the Mithra security team, clad in mithril armor, were no match for her!
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! The security team at the Mitra branch was slaughtered by the "Avenging Angels"!
But then a strange thing happened. The Black God Gang were already fanatical believers in death, so it wasn't surprising that they were willing to risk their lives. However, on the other hand, the company's security guards seemed equally determined. They fought with extreme bravery and ferocity, even willing to sacrifice themselves to face the Black God Gang's death magic.
The dropouts wanted to fight; their youth and strength were meant to embrace death, transforming madness into fearless courage. Yet, these company security guards fought with the same reckless abandon as soldiers in an action movie! What, then, was the source of their will and motivation?
Clearly, nobody here knows or cares about the answer. In this chaotic battle, everyone on both sides displayed a sublime finality. The spacious and beautiful lobby of the Mitra New Seattle branch is now littered with corpses.
Both sides were mortals. In other words, they were nothing more than the corpses of ordinary people. Although it seemed like a lot of people had died, this was just the entrance hall on the first floor of the company. The gods hadn't intervened yet. The first wave of battle lasted for ten minutes.
In just ten minutes of fierce fighting, fifty members of the Black God Gang's suicide squad were either dead or wounded. Although they all possessed special healing magic, its effectiveness was ultimately limited in the heat of battle. Even with emergency treatment, they were still covered in blood, their clothes riddled with holes, and blood was flowing out. Their magic power was also beginning to run out—after all, they didn't have a perpetual motion machine. So they chose to engage in hand-to-hand combat. They advanced step by step, firing pistols, drawing knives to slash, and even exchanging punches and kicks.
Especially the Black Prophet. He was constantly fighting, covered in wounds, especially his head, which was so bloodied that his face was completely obscured. The blood on his face looked like an even larger bloody tattoo.
...This is what Professor Albion saw when he arrived at the scene.
Entering the company building through the main entrance, the first floor was a plaza-like lobby littered with corpses, mostly members of the Black God Gang, but also a significant number of Mitra Group security guards. Moreover, the number of surviving security guards was far greater, having already surrounded the Black God Gang survivors.
The reason these dropouts haven't been wiped out is almost entirely due to illusions increasing their survival rate, and the fact that the "Avenging Angel" is incredibly powerful. She's practically a fighting god; no mortal dares to stand in her way.
However, Professor Albion was a learned man, and the moment he stepped into the hall and saw the so-called "Avenging Angel," he was immediately horrified—this Avenging Angel looked like a devil, or at least a high-level devil! Where did these students who had dropped out of school get this summoning technique?
...Actually, this shouldn't be hard to guess, right?
Could there be any other devils in New Yatu now?
The current chaotic battle was not a good time or place to talk. So Professor Albion raised his wand and drew it, his magic surging, and a fiery white light shot out in mid-air, forcefully tearing apart the front lines of the two sides that were still trembling and fighting.
The old professor strode confidently between the two camps. His former students all recognized him, which was understandable. But the company security guards, seeing this white-bearded old man in a long robe adorned with faintly glowing runes, carrying a classic wand and exuding an air of authority, instinctively ceased their attack. In the magical world, this image of a mysterious, white-bearded old wizard still held considerable sway.
"What exactly are you doing, Kuferak?"
But the old professor ignored everyone else. He walked towards the Black Prophet, said the name of his former student, and frowned.
"You're committing suicide! And you're trying to drag others down with you before you die! This is a pointless waste of your lives! Come back with me now! I'll take legal action to deal with the Mitra Group on your behalf!"
That being said, looking at the countless mangled corpses of both sides in the hall, even a fool would know that this matter couldn't be resolved peacefully. Therefore, Professor Albion, though outwardly calm, was inwardly groaning. The Sting gang hadn't killed any factory workers, only knocked them unconscious, making that relatively easy to handle. The Black God gang, however, was a truly deadly situation.
“Professor Albion, you’re mistaken.” Unexpectedly, the Black Prophet wiped the blood from his face and said respectfully to the professor, “This is not pure suicide. Although our fifty brothers don’t even go to the first-floor lobby today, tomorrow, others who follow our example may be able to rush to the second floor. Sooner or later, our ideas will also create people who bring nuclear bombs into the company and blow up the building.”
“Senseless sacrifice? There is no such thing in the world. Even the heroes and great men passed down through history may die a glorious death, but behind them lie hundreds or thousands of nameless victims.”
The Black Prophet suddenly chuckled as he finished speaking.
"Although it sounds a bit cliché, professors, everyone has their own legend. The sacrifice of the first group often means disappearing as nameless cannon fodder."
Professor Albion came to save people, yet he still said such things, clearly showing a willingness to die.
Moreover, at this point, these students no longer have the opportunity to regret or change their ways.
Because a small group of tall men in armor had already arrived.
280: What joy is there in living, what sorrow in dying?
Five new enemies have arrived on this battlefield, three in front and two behind. They are 2.5 meters tall, wield vajras, wear golden power armor, and have sacred combat genes specially modified by Mitra Corporation's bioengineers flowing in their veins.
They are giants, warriors of Bodhisattvas and Vidyarajas, their perfect figures towering and magnificent. Nothing can stop their advance; shields shatter, swords break. Their absolute fighting power can only be surpassed by true gods. A group of dropouts, even if they possess some special dark magic, will only be torn to shreds like paper.
It seems that the management of this Mitra branch has made up their minds to spend a little money to quickly eliminate these troublesome student terrorists!
With the arrival of the Vajra God squad, the company security guards, who had just been frightened away by Professor Albion, immediately regained their courage, raised their weapons, and were brimming with excitement, as if they had found a pillar of support. After all, a single mysterious old wizard, a white-bearded old magician, couldn't possibly handle an entire five-man Vajra God squad!
In fact, even Professor Albion himself couldn't help but frown deeply at this moment.
He wasn't just frowning because of the difference in power. What he really needed to consider was... even if he did have that much power, what could the professor do? Openly engage a Vajrapani squad in the Mithra Corporation's headquarters and defeat them?
He would certainly die then. If anyone were to openly defy the Mithra Group's burgeoning power in this way, with foolish and reckless force, they would surely die! Not to mention Professor Albion, even Hayden, Karen, and the Peacock King would certainly die!
Openly challenging the Mitra Group's regular military force, even if you win the first battle, will only provoke their greater anger and more troops, ultimately leading to your being hunted down and possibly endangering your family and friends. This behavior is like trying to challenge a super typhoon… no, Kallen and the Peacock King could certainly shatter a super typhoon with a single punch, but even that wouldn't be enough! Therefore, this behavior is more like trying to stop a planet from moving!
Can you grab the Earth with your hands and stop it from spinning? If you can't, how can you openly challenge the power of the Mithra Group?
As for why killing a mortal security guard doesn't count as a public challenge... well, temporary workers, aside from their chips and equipment, aren't really company assets. If someone dies, you can just remove the chips and equipment and find another temporary worker to install them. So, killing a mortal security guard is basically irrelevant to the company. However, the [Vajra God] is different. The War God race itself is considered company assets.
Professor Albion is never afraid of death, especially not of dying to protect his students—a death he has always preferred (after all, he's not going to die of old age anyway). But if he were to fight the Vajrapani now to protect his students, he might drag Hayden and Karen down with him.
New Sprout City is currently preoccupied with building the Life Network, much like a caterpillar spinning its pupa. At such a vulnerable and crucial time, if Hayden and Karen were to fall into the Mitra Group's clutches, their grand undertaking could truly be ruined.
Therefore, at this moment, directly challenging the authority of the Mitra Group is something Professor Albion cannot do.
However, just as he was quickly considering how to bring these troublesome students back through legal, diplomatic, or negotiation means—it was the "Avenging Angel" summoned by the Black Prophet who, wielding a longsword and a flaming whip, stepped forward to stand between the Vajrapani God and the students!
In the professor's view, she was merely a high-level demon. A high-level demon is essentially a version of a war god from the old gods. Her combat power was indeed considerable, enough to defeat several ordinary gods. However, if we consider her combat power using the Angela conversion algorithm, the problem becomes quite clear: a few years ago, when Angela first came to Hayden's side, she could single-handedly defeat more than a dozen high-level demons; yet, back then, Angela would have been at a disadvantage when surrounded by three [Vajrapani].
There are five Vajrapani here now. How many rounds can a high-ranking demon survive?
Besides, the devil is not something to be trusted at all; you can't expect her to sacrifice herself for the good of these students.
With that thought in mind, Professor Albion finally decided to step forward and protect the children—but just as he took his first step, the Black Prophet spoke again.
"Professor, you should leave quickly, take the people who are too injured to move with you."
The Black Prophet said,
"Those who can still fight will die standing. But if they are captured by the Mithra Group, they will suffer a fate worse than death."
Upon hearing this, the five Vajra Guardians immediately dispersed, silently surrounding the Black God Gang and the old professor, forming a loose circle about thirty meters apart. Now even the professor had some difficulty leaving (especially since he couldn't attack the Vajra Guardians).
"Kuferak, I know you want to die a heroic death, but the speed of the War Gods' reaction will not give you that chance."
The old professor shook his head.
“You will all be caught, you will all be captured. The Mitra Group will not give you an easy death, and your families and friends will be punished as a result. I can no longer tolerate such evil. I will hold out for you for a few minutes, and then you can take the opportunity to escape.”
Where could these kids escape to? Of course, to Newbeam City. Professor Albion didn't need to say it again, because the Black Prophet wasn't stupid. Actually, this was the professor causing trouble for Hayden and the others, but at this point, he couldn't worry about that; he'd just trust the children's wisdom.