Near sunrise, the train pulled slowly into Cambridge Station.
Under the leadership of Professor Corso, they followed a secluded path along the River Cam for about thirty minutes.
Just as they were about to step into the wilderness, the view suddenly opened up.
The River Cam branched off here, forming a quiet bay where Thanatos University lay nestled, facing the ancient town of Cambridge across the water like a long-forgotten twin.
“Is this the River Cam?”
Li Hao stared at the water ahead with eyes full of curiosity.
“Then that bridge ahead must be the one from the poem. ‘Silence is tonight’s Cambridge,'” Li Hao said, pointing at a blurry stone bridge in the distance.
Hearing his words, Professor Corso, Christina, and Clarence all looked at him with expressions of confusion.
He froze for a moment.
“Sigh, you guys don’t get it. Lin Yu, you understand, right?”
Li Hao cast a pleading look toward him.
“It is from ‘Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again,’ a modern Chinese poem. ‘Silence is tonight’s Cambridge’ is the conclusion of that poem,” Lin Yu explained.
“A Chinese poem? Then we truly don’t know much about that field…”
Professor Corso stroked his chin thoughtfully.
They stepped onto the branch of the River Cam and onto the bridge at the main school gate — a single-arched, matte black metal bridge.
Its design was minimalist, and the body of the bridge hovered a few centimeters above the water’s surface, emitting a low hum.
From the school entrance, the main body of the school appeared to be a complex of buildings made of bluish-gray stone.
The style was similar to an ancient monastery or a Roman-era fortress: low, stout, and silent.
The students on the road wore matching black uniforms with a silver-embroidered Scythe School Badge on their chests.
“Alright, your dormitory is in Building 3. For specific registration and check-in issues, you can just ask Vigus. I have also arranged for a student to receive you at the dorm. Go and check in first,” Professor Corso said to the two of them as they looked around.
“For the next few days, you can explore the school. If you are unclear about course selection, you can ask Vigus or me.”
***
Thanatos Student Dormitory.
In Room 126 of Building 3, Lin Yu and Li Hao knocked on the heavy oak door.
After a moment, a handsome, tall, and expressionless Chinese man opened the door.
Mu Chengfeng, a second year student and an intern at the Operations Department, was from Beijing, China.
The school had thoughtfully placed the three Chinese students in the same dormitory.
“Are you Lin Yu and Li Hao?”
Mu Chengfeng asked with a stiff face and a flat tone.
The two nodded.
“Professor Corso already told me. Welcome,” he said, stepping aside to open the door.
Entering the dormitory and looking around, Li Hao couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder, “Holy… such a huge dorm… and only the three of us live here?!”
He looked up at the high ceilings and the hanging crystal chandeliers, his face full of disbelief.
“Foreign schools are so awesome…”
Lin Yu wasn’t as excited, merely observing everything quietly.
It really didn’t look like a student dormitory; it was more like a luxury, fully furnished apartment.
The living room was spacious, with two bedrooms featuring private bathrooms on either side.
It even had a small kitchen and a balcony outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, where one could see the shimmering light of the River Cam in the distance.
“Senior, are you also a freshman?”
Li Hao asked Mu Chengfeng.
“Mu Chengfeng. From Beijing, China. Second year,” Mu Chengfeng introduced himself expressionlessly, his words clean and brief.
“Oh, oh, Senior, hello! My name is Li Hao, and this is Lin Yu. We are both from Hunan.”
“Hello, Senior,” Lin Yu greeted politely.
Mu Chengfeng nodded, still maintaining his stiff face.
“Sort out your things first. I’m going to eat breakfast, and then I’ll chat with you later.”
Mu Chengfeng paused for a second.
“Do you need me to bring you something to eat?”
“Uh, no thanks,” the two of them replied, declining his kindness in unison as they looked at the serious-faced Mu Chengfeng.
Once Mu Chengfeng had left.
“Is this Senior… a bit strange? His… tone and expression look like he’s saying ‘I’m really annoyed by you guys,’ but his words are all like ‘Welcome, Juniors!'”
Li Hao complained.
“True, he seems to lack facial expressions…”
From the moment he opened the door until now, Mu Chengfeng had maintained a stiff, stone-faced expression.
“Never mind that. Hey, Lin Yu, give me a hand!”
Li Hao was struggling to pull things out of several oversized suitcases.
Soon, one of the desks in the dorm was covered with a pile of colorful, limited-edition figures and sets of manga.
“What exactly did you bring to school?”
Lin Yu asked, looking at a “Luffy Gear 5” figure that took up almost half a suitcase.
“These are my treasures!”
Li Hao carefully picked one up, using a soft cloth to wipe away nonexistent dust.
His eyes looked like he was gazing at a lover.
“This is my spiritual food, my source of creation. Without them, my spirit would wither.”
“But can’t your superpower just create these things at will?”
“Even if I make them perfectly, they’re still just pirated versions, do you understand?”
Without looking away from the figure, Li Hao spoke with righteous conviction.
Lin Yu really didn’t understand the difference between official and pirated versions.
In his opinion, as long as the quality was good, a pirated version wasn’t necessarily worse than the original.
However, he didn’t voice his opinion, simply shaking his head to indicate he didn’t understand.
He watched as Li Hao, like a hardworking squirrel, placed his “treasures” one by one on the bookshelf.
The room, which had been somewhat cold and empty, was quickly filled with a cluttered yet lively atmosphere.
“Alright!”
Li Hao clapped his hands, looking at his masterpiece with satisfaction.
Then, he plopped onto the soft sofa and pulled out his Student Terminal.
“Let’s talk business. Vigus said that for the next week, we only need to do two things — select our courses and explore the environment.”
The light screen popped up, and a list of courses came into view.
Besides the regular general education requirements like University Physics, Advanced Mathematics, and Linear Algebra, there were many more eye-popping electives:
[Introduction to Mythological Genealogy]
[General Introduction to Mythology]
[Theory and Practice of Divine Sense Manipulation (Basic)]
[Containment and Preliminary Identification of Artifacts]
[Actual Combat and Cold Weapon Application]
[Modern Weapons Training]
[Logical Analysis of Supernatural Phenomena]
Language Electives: French, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Ancient Greek, Latin…
“My god…”
Li Hao was dazzled.
“Are these really college courses? I feel like… I’m learning to be a charlatan or a secret agent.”
Lin Yu’s fingertips slid across the light screen, his gaze stopping on “Theory and Practice of Divine Sense Manipulation.”
Since he didn’t have so-called Divine Sense, would he be unable to choose certain courses?
It didn’t matter.
He would take it one step at a time.
He silently closed the course list.
“Let’s go. We’ll need to consult with the professors and seniors for course selection.”
Lin Yu stood up and looked out the window at the ancient, unfamiliar environment.
“Didn’t they say we should get familiar with the school? Let’s go walk around.”
“Right! We should go to the cafeteria for breakfast too. I heard the English roast beef is amazing. Then, we can go check out that ‘Arena’ the professor mentioned on the train.”
“Is there roast beef for breakfast too?”
“Whatever, let’s just go.”