356: Returning to my alma mater, everything felt like yesterday.

Xia Country, Magic Capital University.

This is the highest institution of learning in the entire Federation, and a holy land in the hearts of countless young students.

In the center of the campus stands a hundred-meter-tall black-gold statue.

It is of a young man, pointing a single finger toward the sky, his gaze filled with disdain.

Beneath the statue, a line of golden words is carved, praised by billions of people:

【I provide the brains, the country provides everything — Lu Chen】

"Buzz—"

The air distorted slightly.

It didn't trigger any alarms; even the passing stray cats didn't notice a thing.

Three figures appeared out of thin air on the campus's famous "Plane Tree Avenue."

Lu Chen had changed out of his black trench coat and was wearing a simple white hoodie, jeans, and even a backpack.

Beside him, Su Qingying was also dressed in an elegant dress, holding several books in her arms, looking just like the cold school beauty who outshone the entire campus back then.

Only Wang Peng (Fatty), despite his best efforts to suck in his stomach, looked more like a school board member visiting for an inspection in his limited-edition haute couture suit.

"Whoa..."

Wang Peng looked around, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Brother Chen, this is too... retro, isn't it?"

"Outside, warships are already flying into five-dimensional space, yet they're still riding bicycles here?"

"This is called sentiment."

Lu Chen took a deep breath.

The air carried a faint scent of osmanthus, along with that unique, arrogant aura of youth found only within the ivory tower.

"Federal law dictates that the core area of our alma mater will permanently retain its 'Ancient Earth Era' appearance."

"This is to remind future generations that we crawled out of the mud pits."

Lu Chen took Su Qingying's hand, strolling beneath the plane trees covered in fallen leaves.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, splashing across the two of them.

In this moment, there were no gods, no rulers.

Only an ordinary campus couple.

"Remember this?"

Su Qingying pointed at a bench by the roadside, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"During our sophomore year, you were right here, holding a stack of messy blueprints, telling me you were going to build a 'Gundam.'"

"At the time, I thought you'd gone mad."

"There's a thin line between a madman and a genius."

Lu Chen walked over and sat down on that bench.

His palm stroked the cold back of the bench, as if he could touch the warmth of his body from years ago.

"If I hadn't been mad, how could I have torn a hole in that era where technology was locked down?"

"We were really poor back then."

Wang Peng also came over and plopped down beside them, making the bench creak and groan.

"To scrape together the money for your parts, Brother Chen, I ate so many instant noodles I wanted to throw up for the rest of my life."

"Who would have thought that the poor student who couldn't even afford a graphics card back then now has enough pocket money to buy the entire Milky Way Galaxy?"

The three of them looked at each other and smiled.

In their laughter was hidden the vicissitudes of ten thousand years, as well as the high spirits of youth.

"Let's go."

Lu Chen stood up and pointed toward the distant red brick building covered in ivy.

"Let's go listen to a lecture."

"It's been a long time since a teacher called my name; I'm actually a bit nostalgic."

...The lecture hall was packed to capacity.

This was a public lecture on the "History of Federal Technology."

On the podium, a white-haired old professor was waving his pointer with passionate intensity.

On the holographic screen behind him, footage was playing of Lu Chen presenting "Controllable Nuclear Fusion" at a press conference years ago.

"Students!"

"This was the beginning of the 'Era of Miracles'!"

"Marshal Lu Chen, with a mortal body, stood equal to the gods!"

"On that night, he alone conquered the energy problem that had plagued humanity for a century!"

"According to historical records, Commander Lu did not sleep at all that night. He didn't even drink a single drop of water in the laboratory; his eyes held only the light of truth..."

In a corner of the back row.

Lu Chen's mouth twitched as he listened.

He lowered his voice and complained to Su Qingying beside him:

"Who is this old guy? He's making things up without even checking the facts?"

"That night, I was clearly eating barbecue and drank two bottles of beer; the blueprints were covered in oil spots."

"Pfft."

Su Qingying covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes curving like crescents.

"This is called artistic license."

"They can't exactly write in the textbooks that the great leader created nuclear fusion while eating skewers, can they?"

"That would have been more grounded."

Lu Chen curled his lip, pulled a bag of melon seeds from his pocket, and gave half to Fatty.

"Crack, crack."

The crisp sound of cracking melon seeds was particularly jarring in the silent classroom.

The old professor on the podium frowned, pushed up his glasses, and swept a stern gaze toward the back row.

"That student!"

"Yes! The one in the white hoodie!"

"Stand up!"

Hundreds of pairs of eyes in the class snapped toward him instantly.

Lu Chen was taken aback.

He pointed at his own nose.

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

The old professor's beard trembled with anger.

"This is a seminar on the 'Biography of Lu Chen'! In such a sacred classroom, you are actually cracking melon seeds?"

"This is a great disrespect to the sages!"

"Do you know how hard Commander Lu worked back then?"

"Do you know how much effort he put in for the future of humanity?"

"Uh..."

Lu Chen stood up and scratched his head awkwardly.

"Professor, is there a possibility..."

"That he actually wasn't that sacred."

"He was just an ordinary person who also loved to eat, drink, and have fun, and also loved..."

Lu Chen glanced at Su Qingying beside him.

"And also loved looking at beautiful women?"

"Presumptuous!"

The old professor was enraged and slammed the table.

"This is slander! This is sacrilege!"

"Get out! My class does not welcome students with no faith like you!"

"Exactly! That's too much!"

"How could he say that about Commander Lu?"

The surrounding students also cast looks of disdain.

Lu Chen shrugged helplessly.

He picked up his backpack and was about to leave.

Suddenly.

Su Qingying stood up.

She didn't say a word, but quietly took off the plain glasses she had used as a disguise.

In that instant.

It was as if a beam of light had illuminated the dim classroom.

That innate coldness and nobility, that aura that could only be cultivated by commanding millions in the sea of stars, instantly silenced the entire classroom.

The old professor froze.

He looked at that face—the face that had appeared countless times in textbooks, hailed as the 'Mother of the Federation.'

The pointer in his hand fell to the floor with a 'clatter.'

Immediately following that.

He looked at the young man who was currently collecting melon seed shells into a trash bag.

That familiar profile.

That nonchalant smile.

"Lu... Lu..."

The old professor clutched his chest, nearly losing his breath, almost fainting on the spot.

"Shh."

Lu Chen put a finger to his lips.

"Don't shout."

"We just came back to take a look."

He smiled, a smile as warm as the early spring sun.

"Also, Professor, your lecture was quite good."

"Aside from the part about me not liking water, the rest..."

"I'll own it."

After saying that.

Lu Chen took Su Qingying's hand and, with a mischievous-looking Wang Peng in tow, strode out of the classroom amidst a room full of petrified people.

It wasn't until they disappeared at the end of the corridor...

...that a scream loud enough to blow the roof off erupted in the classroom:

"Holy crap!!! He's alive!!!"

"God Lu! It's God Lu!!!"

"Mom! I've made it! I attended the same class as a god! He even ate my melon seeds!"

...Outside the campus.

The sun was setting in the west.

Lu Chen stood at the school gate, looking at the stone tablet that read "Magic Capital University."

The 'bio-skeletal chip' in his chest was currently burning hot.

It was a kind of... fulfillment.

"The journey is finished,"

Lu Chen said softly.

"From the rental house to the nursing home, and now here."

"I have revisited all of my past."

"There are no more regrets."

He turned around.

His gaze no longer lingered, but instead turned toward the void of the sky.

His eyes instantly became sharp, like an unsheathed sword.

"Fatty."

"Here!"

"Qingying."

"Here."

Lu Chen opened his arms, and the space behind him began to shatter inch by inch, revealing the 'Xuan Yuan' anchored in the cracks between dimensions.

"Since the mortal affairs are settled."

"Then..."

"Let's hit the road!"

"To meet that..."

"Big Player who..."

"Treats us like NPCs!"