mesbooks Chapter 27 Strength
Chapter 27 Strength
Jianghai City, at the entrance of the veterans' compound.
A familiar figure stood there, looking lost and dejected.
It's Shen Meng.
She looked much more haggard than she had two weeks ago. The exquisite makeup on her face was gone, replaced by a pale complexion and heavy dark circles under her eyes.
She came to see Lu Yuan today specifically.
After Gao Yang's downfall, she became a laughingstock at school. Those girls who once envied and were jealous of her now looked at her with disdain and mockery.
She tried to find Gao Yang, but found that Gao Yang was like a different person, extremely indifferent to her, and even verbally abusive.
She then suddenly realized what was happening.
When she chose Gao Yang, she was only attracted by the halo and future brought by his A-level talent.
Now, with his halo shattered, Gao Yang has revealed his selfish and violent nature.
She regretted it.
She was filled with regret.
She thought of Lu Yuan. She thought of that boy who, though of average talent, was always so calm and knowledgeable, and who could always help her solve problems with pinpoint accuracy.
I recalled the afternoons we spent studying together in the library, the sunlight streaming through the window and falling on his earnest profile—a scene of tranquility and beauty.
She thought that Lu Yuan must still be angry with her.
But it's okay.
She can apologize and make amends.
She believed that as long as she humbled herself and sincerely begged him, Lu Yuan, who liked her so much, would definitely forgive her.
After all, he's already a big shot who's risen to great heights, so he probably wouldn't stoop to the level of a mere woman like her.
With this in mind, she arrived at the veterans' compound.
She straightened her clothes, forced out what she thought was the most touching and pitiful smile, and walked to the guard post at the gate of the compound.
"Hello, I...I'm looking for Lu Yuan," she said softly.
However, she was met with a cold face and a reply devoid of any emotion.
"The person you're looking for isn't here."
"No?" Shen Meng was stunned. Her smile froze for a moment. "That's impossible. He lives right here. I'm his classmate, my name is Shen Meng. Could you please inform him?"
She assumed the security guard at the gate had changed and didn't recognize her. Before, when she came to see Lu Yuan, the uncles and elders here had always been very welcoming to her.
However, the soldier on guard simply looked at her expressionlessly and repeated, "There is no one here. Please leave immediately and do not obstruct official business."
That cold tone and aloof attitude made Shen Meng's heart sink.
She then noticed that the atmosphere in the veterans' compound today was completely different from before.
The guards at the gate have changed from retired veterans in security uniforms to active-duty soldiers with guns and eyes as sharp as knives.
On the walls of the compound, there were many surveillance devices that she couldn't understand, flashing with faint light.
The entire compound seemed to be shrouded in an invisible, chilling atmosphere.
"Why...why is this happening?" Shen Meng panicked a little. She continued, unwilling to give up, "Big brother, I really have something urgent to discuss with Lu Yuan. Please let me in, or you can help me contact him."
"This is your last warning. Leave now." The soldier's voice was already tinged with impatience, and another soldier behind him had even placed his hand on the hilt of his gun.
The chilling murderous aura made Shen Meng turn pale with fright, and she subconsciously took two steps back.
She knew these people were serious.
If she continues to pester them, they really will take action.
Just as she was caught in a dilemma and on the verge of tears, the familiar security door in the courtyard creaked open.
A middle-aged woman wearing an apron and carrying a basin of freshly washed fruit came out from inside.
It was Lin Rou, Lu Yuan's mother.
"Auntie!" Shen Meng's eyes lit up when she saw Lin Rou, as if she had seen a savior. She quickly ran over. "Auntie, it's me, Shen Meng! Do you remember me?"
Hearing the sound, Lin Rou looked up. When she saw Shen Meng, her face showed no surprise as expected, not even a ripple of emotion.
She glanced at it indifferently, then nodded, her tone as flat as if she were speaking to a stranger: "Oh, it's you. What's up?"
This indifferent attitude made Shen Meng's heart skip a beat.
Lin Rou used to be incredibly warm and welcoming to her. Every time she came, she would hold her hand and ask her all sorts of questions, and she would also cook delicious food for her.
"Auntie, I...I'm here to see Lu Yuan." Shen Meng forced a fawning smile, suppressing her unease. "Is he...is he home? I have something I want to say to him."
"He's not here," Lin Rou replied simply and directly.
"He's not here?" Shen Meng asked anxiously. "Where did he go? When will he be back? Can you give me his contact information?"
"He went to a very far place." Lin Rou placed the fruit bowl in her hand on the stone table in the yard and began to slowly wipe the water droplets off it. "He won't be coming back."
"As for his contact information," Lin Rou raised her head, looking calmly at Shen Meng, a gaze that made Shen Meng's heart tremble, "that's a military secret, I can't tell you."
Military secrets?
These four words struck Shen Meng's heart like a heavy hammer.
Even if she's naive, she understands what those four words mean.
This means that Lu Yuan is no longer an ordinary student she can approach and discard at will.
He has stepped into a higher level that she can never reach.
There is now an insurmountable chasm between them.
"Auntie, I..." Shen Meng's eyes instantly reddened, tears welling up. She choked out, "I know I was wrong before. It was my fault, I was blind, I hurt Lu Yuan. Please let him see me, okay? I want to apologize to him in person, I want to beg his forgiveness..."
She began to cry, her tears falling like raindrops, a sight that evoked pity in me.
She thought that by doing this, she could at least gain some sympathy from Lin Rou.
However, Lin Rou simply watched her cry quietly, her eyes remaining unchanged.
Lin Rou only spoke slowly when Shen Meng was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
"Shen Meng".
Her voice was soft, but every word was like a cold knife piercing Shen Meng's heart.
"You know what? The night Xiao Yuan awakened his talent, he came home and wasn't upset about being an F-rank blacksmith. He even smiled and comforted us, saying he felt like he was about to make it big."
"At that time, my wife and I were actually very disappointed. But what we were more afraid of was that our son might do something drastic. So we tried our best to comfort him and tell him that even if he lived an ordinary life, we would still take care of him."
"But what about you?"
Lin Rou's gaze suddenly sharpened.
Where were you when he needed support and encouragement the most?
"You were by that A-level genius's side, enjoying everyone's adulation and envy. You didn't even give him a single pitying glance."
"People strive for higher positions, just as water flows downhill. This principle is correct. You make your own choices, and none of us have the right to criticize you."
"But, Shen Meng, you shouldn't have done that after making your choice, you followed Gao Yang to humiliate him and trample him underfoot."
"When he was on stage, being laughed at by everyone, you didn't even lift your head."
"At that moment, all the affection between you and him was severed."
Lin Rou stood up, picked up the bowl of fruit, and turned to go back inside.
So, stop crying. And stop apologizing. It's pointless.
"Our Xiaoyuan is doing very well now, extremely well. He has a wider world to explore and more important things to do."
"His life should no longer be disturbed by someone like you."
"You can leave now. And don't ever come back again."
"You are not welcome here."
After saying that, Lin Rou walked into the house without looking back and slammed the cold security door shut.
The sound of the door closing seemed to shut out the last glimmer of hope in Shen Meng's heart.
She stood there blankly, letting her tears flow freely.
The words Lin Rou had just said kept echoing in her mind.
Where were you when he needed support the most?
"At that moment, all the affection between you and him was severed."
remorse.
Endless regret, like a maggot clinging to her bone, relentlessly gnawed at her heart.
She finally understood what she had truly lost.
What she lost was not a promising talent, nor a future big shot.
What she lost was Lu Yuan, a unique person who sheltered her from the wind and rain when she needed him most, guided her when she was confused, and believed in and supported her even when she was at her lowest point.
And all of this was pushed aside by her own hands.
"Wow--"
She couldn't hold back any longer, squatted down on the ground, and burst into tears.
The cries, filled with despair and resentment, lingered for a long time at the entrance of the veterans' compound.
The soldiers standing guard at the gate simply watched this scene coldly, their eyes devoid of any sympathy.
In their eyes, this was nothing more than a foolish woman paying the price she deserved for her shortsightedness and snobbery.
The Sky World, the exclusive training ground for Villa S-0.
"boom!"
A thick beam of lightning descended from the sky and struck the center of the training field.
When the light faded, a deep, charred crater, more than three meters in diameter, was left on the ground.
At the edge of the deep pit, Lu Yuan, holding a spear made entirely of lightning energy, knelt on the ground, panting heavily.
"No! It still won't work!"
Tang Long's roar came from not far away. Like a furious lion, he rushed up to Lu Yuan in a few steps, pointing his finger at him and cursing, "What I taught you was 'Thunder Dragon Break'! It's about condensing the power of lightning into a dragon shape, emphasizing 'penetration' and 'explosion'! What the hell is this thing? It's just a thick stun gun! It doesn't even have a shape! Are you trying to use this to electrocute star beasts?"
Lu Yuan wiped the sweat from his face, stood up with a wry smile, and said, "Instructor, this is my limit. My mental strength is not enough to compress lightning energy to that extent."
In the past ten days, the intensity of his training has increased several times compared to before.
During the day, Yan Ji and Tang Long took turns "torturing" him in various ways.
Yan Ji was responsible for teaching him various unpredictable movement techniques and assassination skills, as well as how to use every available condition to kill someone in a single blow in a complex battlefield environment.
Her training methods emphasize ruthlessness. She often takes Lu Yuan to a simulated extreme environment, such as a storm at 10,000 meters altitude or a bottomless trench, and forces him to fight her to the death in that environment.
Several times, Lu Yuan was almost "played to death" by her. In the end, he barely survived thanks to his strong willpower and the abnormal attribute of "Wind and Thunder Guidance".
Tang Long, on the other hand, was responsible for teaching him how to use various heavy weapons.
His training methods are characterized by a "crazy" approach.
He didn't teach specific moves at all, but instead directly instilled the "momentum" and "intention" of a weapon into Lu Yuan in the most brutal way.
Today, during sword practice, he threw Lu Yuan into a dreamlike world of swords and blood, letting Lu Yuan comprehend the domineering and decisive nature of the sword through endless slashing.
Tomorrow, during shooting practice, he will have Lu Yuan face the charge of thousands of troops alone, allowing Lu Yuan to grasp the spirit of the gun through repeated sprints and penetrations.
Under this almost self-torturing, insane training, Lu Yuan's progress was also incredibly rapid.
His level broke through several times in the past ten days, reaching level 33.
This is even with him drinking top-tier potions every day and being squeezed dry. According to others, the other members of the plan will all plummet to level 40 or even 50 after obtaining the resources before this leveling-up period ends.
Then comes the long, slow upgrade process.
Because after reaching level 50, the human body undergoes a new change.
气力