Chapter 16 The Magic Engineering Institute

The Magic Engineering Institute was filled with clear, streamlined designs and a sense of geometric lines. Large windows allowed the morning light to freely illuminate the office. In the brief silence, one could feel the movement of the clouds outside, even without looking up.

"Professor, could you please tell me where I might be able to help?" Lanqi asked Professor Polao in confusion.

His eyes clearly held a hint of worry, but this worry seemed to stem from a sense of responsibility and Lanqi's ardent love for the school.

"Our school has indeed been a bit of a misnomer lately. Our ranking among the Southern Continent institutions has been declining for the past two years." Professor Polao sighed. "Correspondingly, internal and external pressures have also increased significantly."

Ikellite Academy is not only affiliated with the Kingdom of Hutton but is also the official certification and highest-level directly affiliated institution of the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association and the Southern Continent Kingdom Joint Council. Along with numerous powers and conveniences, it also needs to meet corresponding indicators to ensure that the support from the association yields results.

And their current situation is—

The newly appointed Duke Mi Gaia, who was about to take office as the new dean and principal of the Magic Engineering Institute, is missing. The Dean of the Sage Institute holds several positions concurrently, the Dean of the Knight Institute has retired and been re-employed, and the Dean of the Alchemy Institute is still in jail.

It can be said that Polao is the only reliable person in the school right now.

"I don't really want to manage the Magic Engineering Institute. I should have retired long ago, but no one in the Kingdom of Hutton can replace my work except for Mi Gaia. The Kingdom of Hutton needs my magic engineering research and technical support, and the research institutes are all in the academy, so I basically stay in the school." Professor Polao explained the current situation of the school.

"So, our school's indicators might not be enough this year?" Lanqi roughly understood the problem that Professor Polao was currently worried about.

"Judging from the first half of the year, it's not enough. We must hurry in the second half of the year. We should be able to solve it with a little effort. The indicators that other departments lack can only be supplemented by the Magic Engineering Institute." Professor Polao replied.

As a comprehensive institution, Ikellite's strengths lie in conquering the Shadow World, magic engineering research and various clerical positions. The Magic Engineering Institute has always been stable.

Leaving aside the current state of the Alchemy Institute, the number of fourth-year students and fixed-time students in the Knight Institute and the Sage Institute has decreased significantly in the past two years, leading to fewer high-level Shadow World clearances and a bit of a talent gap.

"Uh, can Lanqi becoming a platinum-level card maker count towards some indicators?" Hyperion asked from beside Lanqi.

"Unfortunately, you are students of the Sage Institute and do not have the Magic Engineering Institute's training record. You are not considered orthodox magic engineers of the Magic Engineering Institute, so even if Lanqi becomes a platinum level, there will be no points from the Joint Council." Professor Polao, sitting across from them, shook his head. This was precisely why he had said earlier that Lanqi had almost helped him.

This rule is mainly to prevent some academies from recruiting ready-made card makers to brush points, so without a normal training record, it will not be judged as a teaching achievement of this school.

The points for cultivating a platinum-level card maker are very high. Lanqi almost brought a huge amount of points to the Magic Engineering Institute, but he chose to enroll in the Sage Institute, just like Mi Gaia who chose the Knight Institute back then, making Polao sigh at their unique ideas.

"But Lanqi was not cultivated by us in the first place, so it is reasonable that we can't get these points. We just didn't take advantage of it." Professor Polao was quite open-minded and spread his hands. "The school is actually being targeted because of Lauren. The Dean of the Knight Institute, Sfen Tuosi, has a violent temper and is a very crazy old bone. No dignitaries dare to provoke him, but Lauren is young and has a good temper. On the contrary, some dirty tricks are particularly effective against him. You understand what I mean, right?"

Polao looked at Lanqi, returning to the main topic.

"Indeed, sometimes villains like to jump on the faces of gentlemen. Dean Lauren clearly has the strongest martial power, but in most cases, he cannot solve problems with force, and he can't do things like convincing people with martial virtues." Lanqi rested his chin, and couldn't help but worry about Lauren.

Seeing Lanqi worrying about Lauren, Hyperion also worried about Lauren.

"Recently, Lauren has actually received a lot of criticism, feeling that although his personal ability is strong, he is somewhat derelict in his duty. Not only are there dignitaries in the kingdom trying to impeach him, but the international voices are not very good either." Professor Polao continued.

Regarding the matter that Athena, the vice president of the student council, refused to pursue further studies and instead wanted to become a head chef, Lauren released her under pressure.

Many domestic dignitaries felt that Lauren had destroyed a peerless genius who should have become an eighth-order powerhouse, and letting her become a chef was an absurd and selfish act.

International voices are also indistinguishable from what kind of motivation. There are not a few who suspect, are hostile to, and are wary of High Priest Lauren. Reports that smear him and make a fuss about it can often be seen, calling him a mediocre talent in the education world and seeing him as someone who cannot tolerate anyone stronger than him out of selfishness.

There are not a few such reports.

Lanqi, who began to emerge last year, just slapped these people in the face for Lauren, making them quiet for a short time, and then disappeared for half a year, becoming ordinary again.

Lauren was criticized again, and all kinds of rumors rose again.

"I see." Lanqi frowned and nodded.

He didn't expect it to be related to him.

The Dean of the Sage Institute is itself a position with many powers. Like when Lanqi and Hyperion took the entrance exam, dignitaries tried to shake this fairness. It is difficult to imagine how much Hyperion's enrollment difficulty and danger in the school would increase if Lauren were replaced by a powerful dignitary full of tricks and selfishness.

"However, regarding your disappearance, the domestic voices in the Kingdom of Hutton are not so loud, because as long as you can become a platinum-level card maker in the Kingdom of Hutton, the Shadow World and the level are not important." Professor Polao felt that the main reason now was that Athena was approaching graduation, and those lords of the Kingdom of Hutton would definitely not let go of this opportunity to take away Lauren's position as Dean of the Sage Institute.

If the Sage Institute is going to replace a dignitary-pushed dean in the second half of the year, then Polao will really have a headache.

At least Lauren won't be a hindrance, does things seriously and responsibly, and is a trustworthy and upright person, which is better than those who want to seek personal gain by power.

"Then I must help Dean Lauren prove himself. He is an excellent dean." Lanqi seemed to have made up his mind and assured Professor Polao.

Not to mention what kind of troubles Lauren has been facing internationally all along.

Just from the causal relationship that Lauren insisted on helping Senior Athena guard her dream, and then Senior Athena cooked and fed Tata every day, Lanqi felt that he had a responsibility and obligation to help Lauren solve the current problem.

"What are you going to do?" Professor Polao looked at Lanqi in surprise, not expecting Lanqi to be so enthusiastic. This kid really loves Lauren.

"Professor Polao, could you please help me get a challenger promotion special approval letter, and treat me as a fifth-order when challenging the Shadow World?" Lanqi requested Professor Polao.

Professor Polao not only has the highest authority in the school but also has extensive contacts with the Southern Continent Card Maker Association and the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association.

"...You want to touch the seventh-order Shadow World?"

Lanqi is currently fourth-order, and Hyperion is fifth-order. If Lanqi wants to be regarded as fifth-order, there is only one possibility. He wants to find a seventh-order teammate and bring them into a more difficult Shadow World.

After all, according to the regulations of the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association, the order gap between teammates when teaming up to challenge the Shadow World can only be two orders.

Sometimes, some very outstanding individuals want to keep up with high-order teams. With the guarantee of big figures, they can get a special approval letter that treats the order as plus one.

"Yes, I want to bring a cat in." Lanqi confirmed.

This way, he and Hyperion can team up with the seventh-order cat boss. Next time, there is a certain probability that the Shadow World will encounter the seventh-order.

"..."

Professor Polao was silent.

He believes that a smart kid like Lanqi has thought clearly about the dangers.

The seventh-order Shadow World will produce qualitative changes, just like the gap between the seventh-order and the sixth-order itself.

Usually, the highest level of enemies that can appear in the Shadow World is the Shadow World order plus two, capping at the ninth order.

For example, in the fifth-order Shadow World Saint Hall Rogue Dinner that Lanqi and Hyperion challenged, normally after they pass the mechanism, the enemy they need to defeat is sixth-order, and if the mechanism fails and the Shadow World enters a berserk state, the highest possible enemy they can encounter is seventh-order.

So the biggest problem with the seventh-order and eighth-order Shadow Worlds is that theoretically there is the possibility of a ninth-order figure appearing.

The ninth order is the realm of touching gods, and in any era is the existence that dominates ups and downs.

They may be allies, but more likely they are enemies, and even cannot distinguish the relationship between their positions and the Shadow World mission.

Any clearance of the seventh order and above Shadow World, not to mention its merits in extinguishing natural disasters, its own record is extremely important historical data.

Whether it is this world's history or other world's history, it will have learning and research value.

As for the ninth-order Shadow World, it is already a world-destroying level, and the time node projected by itself may be the few years before the advent of the annihilation era when even the ninth-order powerhouses are difficult to survive.

Generally, it only appears once every one or two centuries.

The ninth-order Shadow World of this century is already in progress.

The price is that it will forcibly summon all the ninth-order powerhouses of the world in a few years.

So in today's North and South Continents, the eighth-order of the bishop level is the supreme powerhouse.

"I can help you get it, but you have to think clearly. If you fail, I am not afraid of any responsibility, but Lauren will be doomed." Professor Polao tapped the table with his knuckles and stared at Lanqi with a serious expression for the first time.

A clearance of the seventh-order Shadow World itself is an extremely high indicator for the school, which can help Polao solve many problems.

It's just that if Lauren knows that Lanqi, a student who is just about to be promoted to the second grade, has run into the seventh-order Shadow World, people may be numb.

Lauren has to be responsible if something happens, and in the process of the Shadow World, Lauren, as the person in charge, may be under full pressure from the entire Kingdom Federation.

Of course.

If Lanqi can take it down.

Then everything will be reversed.

It will become a process of questioning Lauren, understanding Lauren, and supporting Lauren again.

And many people will be red-faced, feeling that Lauren is cultivating secret weapons and does not give them any face, forcibly slapping their faces. Lauren's appeal will rise again.

"I must help Dean Lauren dispel this doubt." Lanqi assured Professor Polao with unusual excitement.

"..."

Hyperion looked at Lanqi with some worry and fear.

In addition to being a little afraid of the seventh-order Shadow World that she might encounter, she was also a little worried that if she suddenly encountered a cold winter at the end of this year, Dean Lauren would have to add more clothes.

(End of this chapter)