Chapter 1108: Autograph

Chen Ling fell into silence.

After an unknown amount of time, he slowly spoke:

"I understand. Thank you, Teacher Ye."

"During this time, just rest and study here. No matter how big or small the knowledge of the Integration School is, the more comprehensive your grasp, the better. After all, the only person who understands your situation best in the world is yourself... No one can study you faster than you can study yourself."

Teacher Ye subconsciously reached out for his tea, only to realize the cup had been shattered. He helplessly withdrew his hand and continued,

"If you feel like you can't keep up with the progress, you can ask other students for their notes. If there is anything you don't understand, you can come directly to ask me."

"Okay."

Chen Ling stood up, preparing to leave.

Just then, Teacher Ye suddenly remembered something.

"Wait a moment."

Chen Ling looked back and saw Teacher Ye open his mouth, hesitating for a long time before speaking embarrassedly:

"That... Chen Ling, could you give me a little bit of your blood?"

Chen Ling didn't hesitate much. He grabbed his bone-carving knife with a backhand motion and pressed the blade against the vein in his wrist. "How much do you need?"

Seeing Chen Ling's posture, as if he were about to chop off his entire wrist the next second, Teacher Ye was shocked.

"No, no, not that much! Just a little bit... Wait a second!"

Teacher Ye rummaged through his drawer for a moment, found a disposable blood-drawing needle from the hospital, gently inserted it into Chen Ling's vein, and pulled it out a moment later.

"Alright, thank you."

"Is this little bit enough?" Chen Ling raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"It's enough."

Teacher Ye took out a piece of cotton to stop the bleeding for Chen Ling, but before he could place it on the wound, the cut on Chen Ling's arm had already disappeared. "To be honest, I have always had an important project that I haven't been able to crack, and to continue the research, I must have the blood of a world-ending calamity... I owe you a favor for being willing to help me."

"You're too kind, Teacher Ye." Chen Ling replied earnestly. "Before I came to the Integration School, I was prepared to be a test subject... What is just drawing a little bit of blood compared to that?"

Hearing this, Teacher Ye thought of something, and a flash of imperceptible disgust crossed the depths of his eyes.

"Our Integration School's experiments have always been solely to save people. The kind of thing you're talking about... I, Ye Mu, could never do."

Chen Ling withdrew his arm, bid farewell to Teacher Ye, and walked straight out of the office.

*Whoosh—*

Just as he walked out the door, Chen Ling caught a glimpse of a sneaky figure flashing past him in a panic.

"..." Chen Ling closed the door behind him and said calmly, "Xiao Tao, is there something you need?"

Seeing that Chen Ling didn't try to stab her again, Xiao Tao finally relaxed her tense body and lowered her head guiltily. "No... nothing at all..."

"Were you eavesdropping again just now?"

"Ah?! No, no! I... I was just passing by..."

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll be going." Chen Ling glanced at her and turned to walk toward his room.

Seeing this, Xiao Tao silently gripped the notebooks she was hiding behind her back, gritted her teeth, and followed him anyway.

"Brother Chen Ling, this is for you!"

The girl in the hemp clothes gripped a notebook tightly with both hands and handed it to Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was slightly stunned and took it with both hands. "This is..."

"These are the class notes for 'Basic Principles of Integration Theory'!" Xiao Tao said earnestly. "I'm the study committee member in class. Among everyone, my notes are the neatest and most comprehensive... I only brought this one for now; I'll bring the notes for the other subjects next time."

Chen Ling flipped through the notebook. A large amount of knowledge points were neatly recorded, and there were even colorful tabs attached next to important chapters, with the name of each knowledge point written on them, making it easy to find exactly which page they were on at a glance.

Chen Ling looked at her with a strange expression. "And you said you weren't eavesdropping?"

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

Chen Ling didn't refuse. Just as Teacher Ye said, the person who understands his physical condition best is himself... There are too many secrets in his body—the stage, the lottery, the audience—he couldn't tell Teacher Ye everything, so mastering the knowledge of the Integration School himself was crucial.

This notebook was exactly what he urgently needed.

"If you give the notes to me, what will you do?"

"I memorized all these knowledge points last year. They're all in my head, so it's fine even without the notebook!"

"...Thank you."

Chen Ling's voice was much gentler.

"If you need it, I can also tutor you... I have plenty of time." Xiao Tao gathered her courage and spoke again.

Chen Ling looked her over with confusion for a long time. "Why help me?"

"Because I'm the study committee member! Helping classmates who aren't doing well in their studies is my job!" Xiao Tao said, puffing out her chest. But after saying that, her confidence seemed to waver, and she added quietly,

"If... if you could give me an autograph... that would be even better."

Chen Ling: ...

"...An autograph?" Chen Ling found it inconceivable.

Chen Ling had only ever written his name on contracts and test papers in his life; this was the first time someone had asked for his autograph... He couldn't imagine in his wildest dreams that there would come a day when someone would ask him for one.

"Is it not allowed?" Xiao Tao's expression was visibly disappointed.

Chen Ling struggled for a long time before finally squeezing out:

"It... is."

A smile returned to Xiao Tao's face. She immediately pulled a piece of autograph paper from behind her back and handed it to Chen Ling, along with a colored pencil.

Chen Ling took the paper and pen with a strange expression and signed his name. Just as he was about to return the pen to Xiao Tao, she pulled a crumpled newspaper clipping from her pocket. It looked like it had been deliberately cut out, and it was the scene of Chen Ling driving the train to break through the gates of the Aurora Domain.

Seeing this newspaper clipping, Chen Ling's expression became even stranger.

"Sign this too?"

"Mm-hmm!" Xiao Tao beamed. "Sign this with a 'TO' dedication!"

"What's a 'TO' dedication?"

"It's writing the name of who you're giving it to... Let me teach you how to write it, 'TO Xiao Tao...'"

Chen Ling, the world-ending calamity whose fierce reputation had spread throughout the human domains, was now silently squatting in the corner of the hallway, clumsily writing on the newspaper while wiping the sweat from his forehead from time to time...

"'TO Xiao Tao...'"

"'May you be happy every day! Eat as much as you want without gaining weight...'"

"'May you 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 his best to squeeze all the characters onto the small piece of newspaper.

"Yes!" Xiao Tao nodded.

"His surname is Xi, and his name is 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.