area51novel 058 Board of Trustees
058 Board of Trustees
Suddenly, seven lights illuminated the dark room, dividing the darkness into seven bright areas.
With a "buzzing" sound, a young girl suddenly appeared in one of the areas. "Hi everyone, are you all online?"
"Hey? What's going on? Is something wrong?" Charlotte Gottingen complained.
A moment later, light flickered in another area, and an elegant woman appeared.
"Oh! Elizabeth, you're here! I've been waiting for ages; I thought there was something wrong with the virtual meeting room!"
"Charlotte, your instructions are so hard to understand that I had to ask the family alchemist to figure out how to use this toy," Elizabeth Laurent said.
"Hmph, blind fools. This is mind stealth technology developed by the Göttingen family! As long as you wear the neural connector on your head, you can enter a virtual network. As this space continues to expand in the future, we might even be able to create a virtual Nibelungen for humans!"
"Stop Nibelungen, can you brighten this place up a bit?" Elizabeth asked. "It's so dark here, it looks like a villain's meeting room from an anime!"
"Well, ray optics is very computationally intensive. While neural connectors have solved the translation of human consciousness, the server's computing power isn't enough to build spatial scenes," Charlotte said. "However, I've already invested in Nvidia stock. I'm very optimistic about their CUDA architecture; it's perfectly suited for this technology!"
"Why don't you invest in IBM? I heard they developed a chip for the PS3 that can be used to build a supercomputer," Elizabeth asked.
"Hey, let me tell you, that CELL chip is a total rip-off. You should sell your Sony stock right now..."
As the two women chatted, three more holographic beams lit up in the darkness, leaving only two empty seats.
"I'm so sorry I'm late. I don't know much about high technology..." A man who looked like a monk put his hands together and apologized to everyone.
"Is everyone online yet?" another middle-aged man asked.
“Angers is absent; he never indicated from the beginning whether he would attend this meeting,” Frost Gattuso replied. “As for the last one, everyone is used to his mysterious demeanor. Let’s get started.”
"Angers' silence also reflects his attitude: the ownership of that S-class is not open to discussion."
"An unclaimed treasure belongs to the first person to discover it. Angers discovered Lu Mingfei and gave him an S-level rating before the 3E exam," the monk said slowly, twirling his prayer beads. "Talented horses are common, but discerning judges are rare. If we try to steal his talented horse, he'll naturally be unhappy."
"Hmph, has he forgotten that we appointed him as principal? We founded Kassel College? We were the ones who made him our talent scout, and we funded the construction of this horse farm!" Frost retorted.
"In short, this S-class is too special. Among all the S-classes on record, he is the most special one. I don't object to Angers training this S-class, but he has obviously been hiding something from us. He used all his resources for his own revenge and neglected a greater cause," the middle-aged man said.
"His Word of Power is not recorded, but its flexibility, adaptability, and stability are astonishing," Charlotte said. "It can directly defend against hard impacts, generate repulsive forces, and unleash heat rays. It can stand still and kill three generations of species in extremely unfavorable battlefield environments. I think this Word of Power has extremely high research value."
"Most importantly, he never chanted dragon script when he cast his spells, which is a skill that a freshman cannot master. Angers must have secretly trained him in this ability to prevent us from finding any clues in his chanting."
"And it basically recovered in just one day, and we can eat barbecue and drink beer. This stability is undoubtedly the strongest single strategic asset we have seen in nearly a century."
"The attribute of power is not important, as long as it is within the scope of Word Power." Frost said coldly, "Lu Mingfei, eighteen years old. His parents are Lu Lincheng and Qiao Weini, the most dazzling S-class couple 20 years ago, who have been out of contact for nearly ten years. They left their child to live with relatives, where he was mistreated by his aunt, his grades were at the bottom, he had a crush on a classmate but was tricked, and his daily activities consisted of spending all night at internet cafes."
Frost looked around and said, "Gentlemen, we're not reading a third-rate light novel. The Lu couple forcibly severed all ties back then. They deliberately stripped S-class out of the mixed-race society, throwing him into the lowest, most vulgar quagmire, stripping him of worldly desires, stifling his self-awareness, and using ten years of psychological repression to mold him. Until Angers invited him to join Kassel, gave him S-class privileges, praised him on the day of his freedom, and now personally flew to the Three Gorges to comfort him. This series of disgusting actions was all to make him a knife in Angers' hands."
"So pitiful, Lu Mingfei is so pitiful, boohoo..." Charlotte covered her mouth, it was hard to tell whether she was crying or laughing.
The atmosphere in the virtual meeting room immediately became serious.
"That's right, Kassel will never allow such inhumane behavior!" Frost nodded to Charlotte. "Angers has already begun to strengthen its control over the S-class."
Frost stated with certainty, "A person who grows up in extreme repression and deprivation will immediately lose themselves in the gentle embrace of privilege and care, and be led by the nose by the person who provides that privilege. Zero Romanov is proof of that. Angers found the most harmless-looking little girl to approach S-class, to play the role of an absolutely obedient nanny, and slowly turn herself into his girlfriend, taking control of his life step by step."
"How can you be sure that girl named Zero isn't really in love with Lu Mingfei? Maybe this is love, and it has nothing to do with Angers' conspiracy," Charlotte couldn't help but retort.
"Zero, supposedly from the Romanov family, A-rank bloodline, with a completely blank past." On the other side, the monk-like figure slowly said, "According to intelligence, she hardly interacts with anyone else at Kassel College, and her behavior clearly shows signs of military training. Moreover, making love cookies right at the start of the semester and declaring S-rank sovereignty over the entire school is too purposeful. Only someone who has been suppressed for a long time wouldn't realize they are being controlled."
"Well then, the analysis is quite clear," Elizabeth Laurent, who had been listening quietly, said with a light laugh, "How do we save this S-class?"
"We can't change S-class's past, but we can influence his present and future," Frost said. "I'll give him more money, more privileges, and a better girl who truly wants to spend her life with him. All of this requires no return, no demonstration of the source of goodwill; simply diluting Angers' influence is enough."
"I completely agree with Mr. Frost and everyone else's insightful observations," said Elizabeth Laurent. "This S-class officer just rescued our elite team in the Three Gorges, and the Academy deserves the highest honors for him."
"The Göttingen family agrees!"
"agree."
"agree."
"Then, the tone is set." Frost adjusted his cuffs, his projection flickering slightly in the blue light. "Then, let our S-class enjoy the peace it deserves."
The seven holographic beams extinguished simultaneously in the darkness, and the virtual space returned to nothingness.