Chapter 1108: Signature

Chen Ling fell silent. After an unknown amount of time, he slowly spoke, "I understand. Thank you, Teacher Ye."

"During this time, you should rest and study well here. The more comprehensive your knowledge of the Fusion School's principles, big or small, the better. After all, you are the only one in the world who truly understands your own condition… No one can research you faster than you can research yourself."

Teacher Ye instinctively reached out for his tea, only to realize his cup was broken. He reluctantly withdrew his hand and continued, "If you feel you can't keep up with the progress, you can ask other students for their notes, and if there's anything you don't understand, you can come directly to me."

"Okay." Chen Ling stood up, preparing to leave.

Just then, Teacher Ye suddenly remembered something. "Wait a moment."

Chen Ling turned back. Teacher Ye opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and then awkwardly asked, "Um… Chen Ling, could you give me a bit of your blood?"

Chen Ling didn't hesitate much. He immediately grabbed his boning knife, the blade resting against a vein in his wrist. "How much do you need?" Seeing Chen Ling's stance, as if he was about to chop off his entire wrist, Teacher Ye's face blanched. "No, not that much! Just a little bit… Wait!"

Teacher Ye rummaged through a drawer for a moment, pulling out a disposable hospital syringe. He gently inserted the needle into Chen Ling's vein, and then withdrew it a moment later. "There, thank you."

"That little bit is enough?" Chen Ling asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes, it's enough." Teacher Ye pulled out a cotton swab, ready to stop the bleeding, but before he could apply it, the wound on Chen Ling's arm had already vanished. "To be frank, I've had an important research project I haven't been able to tackle, and to continue it, I need the blood of an apocalyptic calamity… If you're willing to help me, I'll owe you a favor."

"You're too kind, Teacher Ye," Chen Ling replied earnestly. "Before I came to the Fusion School, I was prepared to be a test subject… Taking just this much blood is nothing."

Hearing this, Teacher Ye seemed to recall something, and a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of aversion passed through his eyes. "Our experiments at the Fusion School are solely for saving lives. What you're implying… I, Ye Mu, would never do."

Chen Ling retracted his arm, said goodbye to Teacher Ye, and walked directly out of the office.

Swoosh— Just as he stepped out, Chen Ling caught a glimpse of a furtive figure, darting past in a panic. "…" Chen Ling closed the door behind him and calmly asked, "Xiao Tao, is there something you need?"

Seeing that Chen Ling didn't backhand her with a knife again, Xiao Tao's tense body finally relaxed. She lowered her head guiltily. "N-nothing… nothing at all…"

"Were you eavesdropping again just now?"

"Ah?! No, no! I… I just happened to be passing by…"

"Alright, if there's nothing, I'll be going then." Chen Ling glanced at her, then turned and headed towards his room.

Seeing this, Xiao Tao quietly clutched the notebooks she had behind her back. Gritting her teeth, she followed him.

"Brother Chen Ling, here!" The linen-clad girl gripped a notebook tightly with both hands and offered it to Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was slightly taken aback and took it with both hands. "This is…"

"It's the classroom notes for 'Basic Principles of Fusion Theory'!" Xiao Tao said earnestly. "I'm the class academic representative, and among everyone, my notes are the neatest and most comprehensive… I only brought this one now, but I'll bring the notes for the other courses to you next time."

Chen Ling flipped through the notes. A vast amount of information was neatly recorded, with even important chapters marked with colored tabs indicating the name of each topic, making it easy to find specific pages at a glance.

Chen Ling gave her a strange look. "And you said you weren't eavesdropping?"

"I… I was just passing by, and then I overheard a little bit… I didn't mean to." Xiao Tao lowered her head, feeling a bit guilty.

Chen Ling didn't refuse. As Teacher Ye said, he was the one who understood his own body best… He had too many secrets within him—the stage, the lottery, the audience—things he couldn't tell Teacher Ye. Therefore, mastering comprehensive knowledge of the Fusion School was crucial. This notebook was precisely what he urgently needed.

"If you give me your notes, what will you do?"

"I've memorized all these topics last year! They're all in my head, so I don't need the notebook!"

"…Thank you." Chen Ling's voice softened considerably.

"If you need, I can also tutor you… I have quite a lot of free time," Xiao Tao said, gathering her courage.

Chen Ling looked at her with suspicion for a long time. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I'm the academic representative! It's my job to help other students who aren't doing well!" Xiao Tao said, puffing out her chest. But after she spoke, her confidence wavered slightly, and she quietly added, "If… if you could give me an autograph… that would be even better."

Chen Ling: "…"

"…An autograph?" Chen Ling was incredulous. In all his life, Chen Ling had only ever written his name on contracts and exam papers. Giving an autograph was a first… He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that he would ever be asked for one.

"Is it not possible?" Xiao Tao's expression visibly fell.

Chen Ling struggled for a while before finally managing to say, "Y-yes…"

A smile reappeared on Xiao Tao's face. She immediately pulled out an autograph sheet from behind her back and handed it to Chen Ling, along with a colored pencil.

Chen Ling took the paper and pencil with a strange expression and signed his name. Just as he was about to hand the pencil back to Xiao Tao, she pulled out a crumpled piece of newspaper from her pocket, which looked as if it had been deliberately cut out. It depicted the scene of Chen Ling driving a train through the gates of Aurora City in the Aurora Domain.

Seeing the newspaper fragment, Chen Ling's expression grew even stranger.

"Sign this too?"

"Mm-hmm!" Xiao Tao smiled brightly. "Sign it with a 'To' dedication!"

"What's a 'To' dedication?"

"It's where you write the name of the person you're giving it to… Let me teach you how to write it: 'To Xiao Tao…'"

Chen Ling, the apocalyptic calamity whose fearsome reputation echoed throughout the human domains, now quietly squatted in the corner of the hallway, awkwardly writing on the newspaper and occasionally wiping sweat from his forehead…

"'To Xiao Tao…' Be happy every day! Eat as much as you want without gaining weight…"

"Be happy every day! Eat as much as you want without gaining weight… Anything else?"

"Hmm… Add one more sentence: May you find Brother Renjie soon!"

"May you find Brother Renjie soon… Is your brother's name Renjie?" Chen Ling asked without looking up, trying to fit all the words onto the small newspaper fragment.

"Yes!" Xiao Tao nodded. "His surname is Xi, so he's Xi Renjie. He's an enforcer in the Aurora Domain… But those three characters are too long, so just writing 'Brother Renjie' is fine."

The pen in Chen Ling's hand suddenly froze in mid-air.