"My goal?"
Leilin stood atop the stage, the center of countless gazes, yet his mind had wandered off.
"To live an ordinary, comfortable life? Yes! With time, money, and a wife who loves you — what else is there to hesitate about?"
"But why... why does a trace of reluctance still linger in my heart?"
Leilin touched his chest. "If everyone else is content with that, then fine. But if there exists a path to immortality and I don't even try to pursue it, how could I face myself?"
"Immortality? Immortality! Yes — the pursuit of the ultimate, the attainment of eternity — that is what I seek!"
Leilin's eyes sharpened with resolve in an instant. He grasped Carol's hand and said softly, "Carol! I'm... I'm sorr—"
BOOM!
At that very moment, a violent explosion rang out, and tongues of crimson flame erupted in every direction.
Screaming, the crowd scattered in all directions. An armored black vehicle barreled through the campus grounds and screeched to a halt at the edge of the stage.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Countless steel-armored figures vaulted from the vehicle, their movements drilled and precise.
"External armor attachments? And elemental-powered laser cannons?"
Leilin's gaze fell upon the metallic skeletons visible beneath their plating and the strangely shaped cannon barrels in their hands. His face went pale, and his pupils contracted sharply.
"Seize her!" The armored figures didn't so much as glance at the fleeing students. As though the masses were nothing but insects, they charged straight toward the center of the stage, their eyes devoid of all warmth.
This was the contempt for life that only came from having waded through countless bloodbaths!
"Carol! They're targeting Carol!" Leilin's blood ran cold.
"Brother Leilin!" The girl cried out, clutching his hand.
As a celebrity, she naturally had a few bodyguards nearby, but they never even had time to draw their weapons before the laser cannons struck them directly, reducing them to charred, blackened lumps.
In an instant, the screams of the crowd grew even more desperate. The armored warriors bore down on Leilin like an iron wall, and everything in their path — tables, chairs, human bodies alike — was obliterated without mercy.
"These people... they're definitely not ordinary soldiers or mercenaries..."
Leilin's pupils contracted, every muscle in his body going rigid. But when he looked at Carol beside him, her face was awash with terror, her legs nearly giving out beneath her, making her look even more pitiful and vulnerable.
"Move!" he roared, seizing her arm and sprinting hard.
With the chaos of the fleeing crowd providing cover, he managed to drag Carol off the stage and plunged straight toward the teaching buildings.
"Capture her! Kill the man!" someone who appeared to be the squad leader barked out his orders.
Leilin then saw a mass of laser cannon barrels swinging toward him. "Get down!" He slammed Carol's head down, forcing her body flat against the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Blinding beams of light lanced through the air. When the glare subsided, the stage behind Leilin had been reduced to a scorched wasteland. A charred, mangled arm dropped right in front of his feet.
"Brother Leilin!" Carol's eyes went blank with terror, her fingernails digging so hard into Leilin's hand they were about to draw blood.
"I know! Run!" For some reason, a scene of carnage like this didn't unsettle Leilin at all. He felt not the slightest discomfort — he could even think with cold clarity.
"Their target is Carol! If I abandon her at a critical moment, I can definitely draw their attention away and earn myself a chance to survive!"
He glanced at Carol. "After all, we're neighbors and boyfriend-girlfriend of a sort! I'll help her escape for now, but if I still can't shake them off after trying... I'll have no choice but to let go..."
Though dark thoughts churned behind his eyes, Leilin's face bore only a look of grim determination as he grabbed Carol and ran.
Glancing over his shoulder toward the main gate, he saw a throng of students packed together, none of them daring to look even once in the direction of the black-clad attackers, as though they were some kind of monsters.
And there — Xiwei's distinctive shock of yellow hair stood out, with a little girl trailing beside him.
"Xiwei and Guo'er are both over there — not a good place to draw fire toward!"
Leilin's gaze flickered. He abandoned the group near the main gate and instead pulled Carol into a different stream of fleeing students.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blood and flesh flew through the air. Leilin and Carol had drawn the attackers' fire, bringing catastrophic devastation upon that entire crowd.
Under the bombardment of laser cannons, the students ran about in even greater panic, making it far harder for the enemy to identify their true target.
And under that cover, Leilin managed to drag Carol safely into one of the teaching buildings.
"Stay here! Don't run!" Leilin stuffed Carol into the closet of a changing room, then chose a different ventilation shaft and crawled inside.
"There's still an exit through here. If we're discovered, while they're busy with Carol, I should be able to escape through the ducts..."
A cold glint flickered in the depths of Leilin's eyes.