Chapter 91: For breakfast, it's better to eat something light
Suddenly, Mike remembered something.
"Do you have two people as godfathers at the same time? Did they not mind?" he asked.
Maxen Stoneheart glanced sideways at Mike with a disdainful snort, "How could they mind? Don't underestimate me!"
Mike responded, "When it comes to being a son, you're definitely better at it."
Maxen Stoneheart lowered his voice, "People only know about Morpheus taking me as his godson. Later, Ares—my second godfather—approached me privately. He said my swordsmanship was very talented and insisted on taking me as his godson. Who do you think I, Maxen Stoneheart, am? Could I just accept that? Of course not!"
Maxen Stoneheart sighed, a look of helplessness on his face, "But what could I do when my first godfather agreed on my behalf and even accepted a fine sword from him? That settled it."
Maxen Stoneheart downed a bottle of beer and cautioned Mike, "You better not spread this around. Apart from the Ares and Morpheus, you're the only one I've told."
Mike slowly nodded in understanding.
So, Maxen Stoneheart, as a godson, serves as a bridge between Morpheus and Ares.
For the sake of the human race and the Supreme Being, Maxen endured the humiliation and accepted two godfathers, pioneering a new shared economy—a shared godson.
If he were a Pokémon OCD participant, Maxen could strive to have Apollo also recognize him as a godson. That would achieve the 'Godfather Collector' milestone.
Thinking about it, having three Supreme Beings as godfathers means even if Maxen were to defecate in front of demon gods, none would dare lay a hand on him.
"Stone, let me teach you a phrase that sounds particularly domineering on the battlefield," Mike said, taking a deep breath and speaking in a deep tone, "I am the son of all Supreme Beings!"
Maxen's eyes lit up. "That's a great line! Very domineering! Alright, I'll remember that. Next time I slay a demon race Battle Lord, I'll definitely shout it out."
"Not bad, really good!" Maxen was very pleased, not even minding that Mike called him 'Stone.'
Meanwhile, Mike was pondering something else. "If Maxen Stoneheart really becomes the godson of three Supreme Beings, when I become a Supreme Being in the future, wouldn't I have to be his father too?"
Looking at Maxen again, Mike's gaze was somewhat peculiar.
Better not. Let the three Supreme Beings enjoy having Maxen Stoneheart as a godson. Mike had no such plans.
The two chatted idly as time passed, and it was six o'clock.
Mike dropped off food at the Mysterious Mine workers' group on his way before returning to Earth.
In his room, a shadow was waiting for him.
"Shadow Nine, all done?" Mike asked.
No response, which was normal for Shadow Nine. Shadow Nine rarely spoke, and when he did, it was significant.
As Mike opened the dorm door, he saw Anderson, a senior, passing by with a cow over his shoulder, the cow still chewing on fresh grass, clearly unaware of the gravity of the situation.
"Thump, thump, thump—"
Anderson knocked on Cain's dorm door, entering with the cow.
"Morning, senior..."
Cain also didn't grasp the gravity of the situation at first.
"Morning, have something to eat before warming up," Anderson said, his understanding of food transcending eras, "The fresher the ingredients, the better. This breed is specially raised by superpower universities in Washington D.C., the more you eat, the more your attributes increase."
Sharpening his knife, Anderson gestured and asked, "Do you want to eat the shoulder or the spine first?"
Cain stood there dumbfounded, muttering, "Holy Fuck... are you serious?"
"Stop talking, just tell me your answer."
Cain: ...
Mike: "For breakfast, it's better to eat something light."
After breakfast, Kaelum came to find Mike. "Mike, let me introduce you to today's schedule."
Given that Kaelum intended to repeat a year, he was arguably more responsible than other seniors or juniors! The students they were responsible for were at least B-grade talents, with plenty of A-grade and quite a few S-grade talents.
"Mike, if you want to stay at summer camp, it's going to be tough!" Kaelum pulled out a timetable, explaining, "This morning we have basic courses, explaining the latest level strategies, and we've invited Professor Gregory Blackwell from the New York superpower universities."
When mentioning Professor Gregory Blackwell, Kaelum's expression became much more serious, adding a few more words, "Professor Gregory Blackwell is over a hundred years old now, his talent is only F-grade, currently level 60, a tier-one Battle Soldier, stuck on the ninth floor of the Tower of Truth."
Professor Gregory Blackwell only has the lowest F-grade talent, but reaching level 60 is quite an achievement.
Kaelum wasn't his usual joking self, instead being very serious, "Professor Gregory once participated in the Blood War, his strength... somewhat lacking, usually only able to do some public security patrols.
Later, Professor Gregory returned to scientific research, specializing in the first nine floors of the Tower of Truth strategies, achieving outstanding results. The Tower of Truth strategies in your textbooks were all written by Professor Gregory!"
Under Kaelum's introduction, Mike came to understand. In a sense, Professor Gregory Blackwell was a nearly buried genius. Hindered by his limited talent, Professor Gregory couldn't advance his own strength, but he found another way to help enhance the strength of the entire human race.
Before Professor Gregory Blackwell published the first edition of the strategy, human participants, even those with S-grade talent, struggled to achieve high exploration rates in the first few floors.
According to incomplete statistics, after the first edition of Professor Gregory's strategy was published, the average exploration rate increased by 5%-20%!
His Tower of Truth only covered the first nine floors, to which he dedicated his entire life of over a hundred years, all 40,000 days and nights, researching the first nine floors, seeking better strategies, communicating and summarizing with different class powerhouses, and sharing them without charge.
It was precisely because of Professor Gregory Blackwell's outstanding contributions that he was a lifetime honorary professor at most universities.
"This is a legendary figure."Mike said.
"Legendary? Mike, 'legendary' isn't enough to describe Professor Gregory!" Kaelum obviously held Gregory Blackwell in high regard, always referring to him as 'Professor Gregory.'
"Now you might not understand, but you'll know once you've attended Professor Gregory's class."
...
Summer camp, Zone C, teachers' office.
Professor Gregory Blackwell was organizing today's courseware, a habit he had developed over many years. Taking each class seriously, being responsible for every student. He couldn't do much, so he made sure to do everything well.
Professor Gregory Blackwell's assistant was a recent graduate student from superpower universities, also specializing in Tower of Truth strategy formulation, learning by Professor Gregory's side.
"Professor Gregory, levels three to six have been reset, we should change the topic for today, right?" the assistant suggested.
Professor Gregory Blackwell nodded firmly, "Indeed, outdated strategies are better left unspoken. Today, let's pick some basic information about the Tower of Truth to tell the students."
"Core City of Truth, Trade Secret Realm, exclusive space..." Under Professor Gregory Blackwell's direction, the assistant picked out these parts of the courseware for Professor Gregory to review one last time.
"The courseware on the Trade Secret Realm, you wrote it well," Professor Gregory Blackwell commented as he flipped through the pages, suddenly stopping on one page, "Huh?"
He uttered a surprised murmur, casually picking up a magnifying glass nearby, apparently wanting to take a closer look.
"Professor Gregory, is something wrong?" the assistant leaned in, seeing the content on the page clearly.
"This stone, it's a recent curiosity from the Mystic Market auction house. Someone priced an ordinary stone at one million gold coins for consignment, I thought it was interesting, so I included it in the courseware," the assistant said somewhat nervously, tentatively asking, "Professor Gregory, if you're not satisfied, should I delete this page?"
"Strange..." Professor Gregory Blackwell's hand holding the magnifying glass was steady, his eyes squinting, muttering 'strange' repeatedly.
"Professor Gregory, what's strange?" the assistant inquired further.
Professor Gregory Blackwell looked for a few more minutes, finally setting the magnifying glass aside, his expression solemn, "I'm certain, this stone comes from the newbie instance. Right after the first level, on the left side of the corridor, the sixth stone from the left."
Professor Gregory Blackwell had studied the newbie instance for who knows how many years, and he was extremely familiar with every stone inside!
"So, what about it?" the assistant was even more puzzled. Even if it was a stone from the newbie instance, it was still just a stone.
"Look closely at the front end of the stone, there are wear marks, It seems that something was drawn on the stone wall using this stone..." Professor Gregory Blackwell took out a tablet, logged into the Mystic Market auction site, and looked up this million-priced stone.
"Consignment time..." Professor Gregory Blackwell glanced at it, his face suddenly changing, then quickly returning to normal.
He casually remarked, "It must be a prank, thinking of selling such a thing for a million gold coins is too fanciful."
Professor Gregory Blackwell feigned calmness, seriously saying, "Delete it from the courseware, don't waste everyone's time."
"Alright, Professor Gregory," the assistant replied.
The assistant wanted to say something else but was dismissed by Gregory Blackwell.
"You go to the classroom to take attendance, I'll check the courseware and then come over."
After the assistant left, Gregory Blackwell could no longer control his body's trembling, collapsing back into his chair, his heart pounding.
"The newbie instance's stone, inexplicably worn..."
"An SSS-grade rating clears the newbie instance and is rewarded with a Trade Secret Realm pass..."
"The consignment time, just after Thor cleared the newbie instance..."
All the clues laid out before Professor Gregory Blackwell led him to only one conclusion: "The stone was consigned by Thor, and it's also a key item for unlocking the newbie instance's hidden level."
Realizing this, Professor Gregory Blackwell nearly had a heart attack!
This involved the human race's potential Supreme Being, Thor—Professor Gregory couldn't be careless!
He took several deep breaths, picked up the phone on the desk, and dialed a number, "Connect me to Maxen Stoneheart."
On the other end of the phone, Maxen Stoneheart's voice came through, "Professor Gregory, hello, I'm about to head to the Abyssal Plane, make it quick."
"Alright, listen," Professor Gregory Blackwell was extremely serious, "Take down the Mystic Market auction listing [identifierdolwm3146] items."
"Already taken down."
"Delete all purchase records of the consignor."
"No purchase records found."
"Change the Mystic Market salesperson interfacing with this person, set this person's confidentiality level to SSS."
"Modification in progress... I don't have the authority to operate!"
"Damn it, Professor Gregory, who did you find?" Maxen Stoneheart realized something was amiss.
"Don't worry about it."
Professor Gregory Blackwell reviewed everything in his mind, making sure he hadn't missed any details, and slowly made his final request.
"Have Shadow Nine come over and seal my memory of this morning, quickly."
Maxen Stoneheart: ...
If things had come to this point and Maxen Stoneheart still hadn't understood, he wouldn't deserve to have two Supreme Beings as godfathers.
Professor Gregory had discovered Thor's other identity in the Trade Secret Realm!