Chapter 36 Omphalo-Centric-Academy

Under the leadership of Qian Bosen,

the two made their way through various alleys in the district, arriving at a place dominated by factory buildings, with a street named Steel Street where railway tracks lay in the middle.

Here, there were many railway platforms primarily responsible for transporting various factory materials and finished products,

however,

one platform was visibly different,

its doors adorned with a large number of clover-shaped arched grilles and decorations, and atop it stood a small metal sculpture resembling a newborn's fetal form.

"This is the direct train platform to the academy, facilitating the faculty and students' commute between the academy and the district."

Soon,

a train combining gold and wood drove into the platform, consisting of only four carriages.

After a ten-minute short journey.

The towering outer walls of Omphalo-Centric-Academy came into view,

and above the sharp walls was a layer of black membrane flowing with a Star River hue, dome-shaped, enveloping the entire academy, making it impossible to peek inside.

Facing the not-so-far academy gates, the train showed no signs of stopping,

at that moment,

the Magic Secret Text engraved between the carriages lit up, resonating with the academy's front door, like the relationship between a "key" and a "lock."

As the train's head collided with the academy's steel gates,

Hum!

Accompanied by a ripple spreading out,

the train had entirely entered the campus,

and the view outside the windows immediately switched to the unique dazzling night scene of the academy,

the flowing Star River, like a thin veil, shrouded the main buildings, lending them a mysterious aura.

Between the towering Gothic spires, warm colored lights seeped through the vertical windows, combined with the cool hues of the night, it made the mysterious atmosphere even denser.

The campus interior also had varying terrain and architectural features, showing a very distinct sense of tiered difference,

some buildings stood alone in the air, their exquisite architecture like noble gentlemen guarding the academy in the Eternal Night.

"Wow!"

Not just Yi Chen,

even the little grape stood on his shoulders, its eyes completely exposed, enjoying this beautiful scene.

Before long,

Yi Chen and the little grape's view was drawn to the center of the academy,

where there stood two independent, nearly columnar small mountains topped with bridges connecting them.

Atop each of these pillar-like small mountains, there was a distinctively styled educational building,

one side featured a single-layer, church-style building with a larger floor area,

the other side featured a multi-story, almost windowless cubic building,

at this moment,

Professor Qian Bosen's voice came, briefly introducing:

"The academy does not offer dense and intricate courses, the only two subjects you need to learn are 'Gentleman's Studies' and 'Pathology.'

And the teaching locations for these classes, are the mountain-top buildings you see.

The Swan School for unified, public lectures in 'Gentleman's Studies,'

and the Viersman Teaching Building for grouped, secretive lectures in 'Pathology,'

They are also called the 'Twin Towers,' serving respectively as the academy's 'lungs' and 'heart.'"

"Only two classes a week?

Are all the students here gentlemen of the same rank?"

"Correct, you only need to attend two classes a week, the rest of the time is for self-improvement.

All the newcomer gentlemen studying here are of the lowest rank 'Human'... Those who transcend this limit no longer need the school's protection and instruction.

The academy has only two requirements for you,

1. By utilizing the school's provided free educational resources, achieve the 'Limit of Man' within two years, though if reached earlier, you may leave school immediately.

2. Complete at least one 'task' per month, generally, you need to go to Zion's 'Gentleman Hall' to pick up tasks of corresponding difficulty."

When Qian Bosen mentioned this, Yi Chen also recalled the team formation issue suggested by Jin.

Qian Bosen continued,

"Since you lack any foundation,

I will dominate your leisure time during the initial period of your enrollment… Only when I deem you truly qualified to go out will I let you go on Gentleman tasks."

"Okay."

...

After some time spent exploring by train,

Yi Chen quickly discovered the distinct layout of the academy's crucial buildings.

The architecture of the Omphalo-Centric Academy was divided according to the human body structure.

The Twin Towers, serving as the heart and lungs, were located at the school center.

The most northern, gloomy, massive, and thick Great Book Library served as the brain.

The row of campus buildings and the cafeteria near the school entrance served as the intestines and stomach,

and the Fetal Heart Church, which was also the office building for the teachers and the decision-making site of the academy, served as the most important 'connecting structure' between the campus buildings—the umbilical cord.

Its exterior was a supremely large Gothic church,

from the top of the church extended a black, umbilical cord-like strip that reached straight into the sky... It was this structure that maintained the academy's state of Eternal Night.

The interior of the church was divided into three levels,

connected by a long stairway that gradually converged upward.

The lowest level was for ordinary staff offices such as cleaners, security guards, and regular teachers who mostly resided on this level.

The middle level corresponded to single offices for associate professors and professors. Teachers who were awarded titles not only needed to reach the required Rank but also needed to have made significant contributions to Zion or the academy.

The top level,

housed only one room - the Fetal Heart Room, which was also the office of the Principal.

Even Professor Qian Bosen rarely had the opportunity to visit and meet with the Principal there, except for very important meetings, otherwise, the Principal would not show up.

...

Fetal Heart Church - Middle Level Corridor

A stone key made of white rock material was spit out from the mouth of an owl.

Click~ Open the door

A spacious office dominated by cool tones appeared,

covering about one hundred fifty square meters, and the ceiling height reaching up to five meters, filled with numerous plant pots for decoration, with trees even planted in the corners. The overall brightness from wall lamps was dim, giving the impression of being in a night-time forest.

The owl flapped its wings and landed on a branch in the corner.

"Please, take a seat… I need some time to draw up your training schedule."

"Okay."

Yi Chen sniffed the plant aroma in the air, feeling the vitality pulsating within the room, almost like a sensation of coming home… he even felt hungry.

He casually chose a sofa to sit on,

gently touching the tender leaves of a nearby potted plant as if he were touching the crispy skin of roasted chicken, but he ultimately resisted.

Glancing at Professor Qian Bosen, who was engrossed in his work, Yi Chen guessed there would be no significant movements for an hour.

"I should move around a bit, I'm afraid I might not be able to resist and end up eating all the professor's carefully tended plants."

After walking around the office for a while, he soon stopped in front of an ordinary-sized bookcase.

A book caught his attention - "World History"

Since transcending, Yi Chen had not yet truly understood the specifics of this world, whether its structure was completely the same as the Original World, or if it had a completely different geographical distribution and structure.

He took out "World History"

Leaned quietly against the bookcase, commenced reading.

As he flipped the first page of the book,

a fold-out world map also unfolded,

When he saw the world displayed on the map, Yi Chen's pupils instantly dilated, and his spirits also perked up.

"This is an entirely new world system!"

His thoughts densely immersed within the book in merely a few seconds, blocking out everything around him.

As he read deeper,

the Emblem imprinted at the back of his head also began to squirm as if it were flipping pages.