"Do you think humanity still has a chance to reclaim those lost territories?"

"When I was young... No, I should say that everyone who enters the Dubhe Tower has the idea of reclaiming lost territories when they are young," Mr. Lee said. "But we are already old. Just maintaining the status quo takes all our effort... The closer we get to the truth, the more secretive the things we can glimpse, and the heavier the despair pressing on us becomes."

Mr. Lee took a breath and continued, "I know, given my position, I shouldn't say such things to you, but I've always believed that true courage is the ability to hold on to hope even after glimpsing the truth of despair."

"Professor, your eloquence is really impressive. It's a pity you're not giving speeches," Sun Hang said.

"Hahahaha... You found me out," Mr. Lee suddenly laughed. "I said that exact phrase during a speech to the students at Chunming University. The kids in the audience were much more excited than you are now."

"Students at Chunming University... They probably haven't really come into contact with mysterious creatures, have they?" Sun Hang pursed his lips and asked.

"Never. To put it nicely, they are the pride of the heavens; less nicely, they're flowers in a greenhouse," Mr. Lee sighed. "The core region of the Federation hasn't seen the trace of mysterious creatures for so long that people are starting to forget what kind of world they live in."

"There are a lot of new mysterious creature-themed movies and anime every year, but they're basically commercial popcorn works," Yang Qi couldn't help but say. "People living in those safe areas still think mysterious creatures are just the monsters that appear on screens. Though powerful in destruction, they always get defeated by the protagonists."

"But in the real world, there are no movie protagonists," Mr. Lee continued. "Only people like you who hold the line in the border areas can understand that the peaceful life in the Federation's core region is entirely bought by the lives of hunters and soldiers."

"So... what are you trying to say?" Yang Qi asked tentatively.

"The Eternal Night falls, presenting a rare opportunity for reform. I plan to combine over a thousand higher education institutions' mysterious creature research specialties from the core region's twenty-one cities into one academy dedicated to nurturing talent in this field... This academy will be located in Shuzhou, under the cover of the Eternal Night."

"Isn't that too risky?" Yang Qi said in some shock. "What if Shuzhou falls..."

"As you said, 'what if,'" Mr. Lee smiled. "With you all there, surely the students will be able to complete at least one semester of classes, right?"

"This... this is too crazy..." Yang Qi murmured.

"You can't cultivate flowers that can withstand storms in a greenhouse," Mr. Lee said. "Only by allowing them to face the most despairing things can we develop truly valuable talent."

"Makes sense," Sun Hang nodded. "But the enrollment rate for this academy probably won't be very high. After all, parents wouldn't want to send their kids to a place under the shadow of Eternal Night to study."

"If we guarantee that graduates who complete their studies can directly enter the Dubhe Tower, I believe student recruitment won't be an issue," Mr. Lee laughed. "As for the first president of this academy, I have decided you will take the position."

"Eh?" Sun Hang pointed a finger at himself. "Me as the president? Seriously?"

"Do I sound like I'm joking?" Mr. Lee said, slightly serious.

"But Sun Hang is an infected individual. Having an infected individual as the president, wouldn't that..."

"Why can't an infected individual be the president? Besides, this academy is founded precisely to research mysterious creatures and infected individuals, so having an infected individual as president makes a lot of sense," Mr. Lee said. "My original candidate was your teacher, the director of the Celestial City Mysterious Creature Research Institute, but that old fellow, like us, has too heavy a burden to split attention to manage such a school."

"Why me?" Sun Hang asked again.

"Because you possess the courage I just mentioned."

"Courage?" Sun Hang was puzzled. "But you just said those university students were much more excited after the speech than I am. If you're looking for a brave person, you should look among them."

"True courage is not the emotional surge that emerges in the heat of the moment, but a steady, unwavering heart," Mr. Lee said. "You didn't show any excitement or enthusiasm, but you also didn't show any fear... meaning, you're not afraid of those mysterious creatures, nor of the desperate situation I described."

"Isn't that a bit too presumptuous?" Sun Hang asked, tilting his head.

"I've seen your evaluation report; you're not someone with facial paralysis, nor do you have any psychological or mental illnesses," Mr. Lee said. "In the ancient text 'Yan Danzi,' the sage Tian Guang once told Prince Yandan: 'The truly brave person doesn't show redness in anger; their complexion doesn't change.'"

"You're overpraising me, professor," Sun Hang's mouth twitched. "I'm just simply lazy, this is the first time I've received such a high evaluation, I'm flattered, really."

"If you were simply lazy, you wouldn't have gone to the Longquan Air Force Base or jumped out of a helicopter, nor would you have stood your ground facing the time-devouring shadow," Mr. Lee said. "You just haven't realized it yet."

"I simply wanted to fill my stomach..." Sun Hang secretly grumbled in his heart.

And yet, in the eyes of others, these "foraging" actions have become symbols of courage.

Despite how important it is to establish a positive image in the eyes of others, Sun Hang always had a strange feeling about it.

"Actually, it's quite simple to verify this. Recall carefully, when you were doing those things, did you ever feel afraid or have thoughts of backing down?" Mr. Lee asked.

Fear? Terror?

For a moment, Sun Hang felt confused—he suddenly realized that since waking up from a coma, he indeed hadn't experienced the emotion of fear, as if this emotion had been stripped from his personality.

Joy, anger, annoyance, disgust, tension... he had all these emotions, but fear was the one missing.

Sun Hang tried to imagine something that would scare him, but after thinking for a long time, his mind was blank.

Whether it was the abyssal darkness outside the haunted building, the mysterious trinity statues, or even the theoretically primal mysterious creatures... none of these could evoke a sense of fear in Sun Hang.

These things, to him, were even less impactful than the distress of "forgetting to bring toilet paper."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.