Chapter 585: Choice (4k, seeking monthly tickets)

Jūdai Yuki is going to challenge the strongest-looking professor among them, Professor Mengjiang!

By the time Hikari Tenjou finished his business and returned to the Fusion Department, he had already heard the news.

Whether Mengjiang was truly the strongest professor, Hikari couldn't say, but judging purely by appearance, Professor Mengjiang was likely more capable in a fight than Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe; he was absurdly sturdy.

The duel was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Professor Mengjiang had a class right after finishing his patrol duty and resting for a night before the next shift, and they would hold the duel during that class.

Once this matter broke, it spread like wildfire among the students.

Originally, because they were trapped on the island without internet, there wasn't much to talk about, and since they were constantly on edge due to the occasional spirit attacks, everyone was living in fear. Now that something like this had happened, everyone couldn't help but discuss it like a precious treasure.

It was precisely because of this that the topic spread instantly.

After all, while duels between professors and students occurred occasionally at Duel Academy, this was different. This was a special period, and Jūdai challenging Professor Mengjiang at a time like this seemed very "interesting" no matter how you looked at it.

And the reason for the duel made the students even more eager to discuss it.

Jūdai challenged him because he saw Professor Mengjiang kill a spirit with his bare hands!?

This—

It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with that, right?

Many students thought so.

These spirits invaded their academy, disguised themselves as classmates to attack them, and then expected to survive after surrendering—where was the logic in that?

To be precise, the vast majority of students thought this way.

However, there was also a group of students who felt that Jūdai's choice wasn't without merit. Since the opponent had surrendered, wasn't it normal to spare them and lock them up?

Even on a battlefield, there were protocols regarding prisoners of war, right?

However, that was where the problem lay.

If you were soft-hearted and let the opponent go, could you guarantee they wouldn't commit evil again later?

If other spirits rescued them and they ended up harming another classmate, who would be held responsible?

Based on this issue, the two sides of students argued heatedly.

To the former, cutting weeds and eliminating roots was far more worry-free and safer for their classmates than spending more effort on specialized supervision. For them, safety was the most important thing right now; everything else should be discarded.

But to the latter, if they really killed all the spirits indiscriminately, how were they any different from the enemy? Moreover, if they kept prisoners, perhaps they could obtain intelligence from those spirits—wouldn't that be better?

Both sides had their own logic and were arguing incessantly all over the academy. Even in the Fusion Department, many students were debating each other.

Hikari Tenjou lay half-slumped in his chair, listening to the students' discussion, rubbing his temples.

"Department Head, if it were you, what would you choose!" As the discussion grew intense, someone wanted to find an "authority," so they called out to Hikari, hoping he would answer.

Hikari smiled without responding, but in truth, many people knew clearly.

What would he choose?

What else could he choose!?

They had always known Hikari Tenjou's temper!

Eliminate evil completely!

Let alone spirits, he wouldn't even show mercy to humans; how could he possibly show mercy when the opponent surrendered?

That was impossible.

Everyone was familiar with Hikari Tenjou, and naturally, they also knew clearly that the Fusion Department's other pride, the "hero" Jūdai Yuki who had once saved his classmates at the Threshold, would absolutely not choose that way.

If the opponent was willing to admit their mistake, he would likely show mercy regardless of who they were.

Unless... they were genuine existences like the Dragon God of Dark World or the Mad King of Dark World who simply would not repent.

Of course, Jūdai did indeed have an enemy he once thought, "No matter what, I must make him die!" and that was... uh, Chima Lingwang.

Hikari would not answer this question.

Because this kind of question was not something he could "decide" or "indoctrinate."

Matters like this could only ever be judged by the final result. If Jūdai were to choose, he would inevitably say he would choose to spare the opponent.

What if the opponent committed evil again later?

Then he would go and protect others.

What if he failed to protect others?

Then it was his fault. The fault lay in his inability to protect everyone, not in his choice being wrong.

Sparing the opponent might lead to new help, or it might lead to them gathering cohorts to make a comeback; it might be beneficial, or it might result in losses. Some people didn't want to take that risk, but Jūdai wanted to bear it.

Honestly, it was a bit extreme, but if you expanded on it, it was even more extreme.

Because it wasn't just those "spared" spirits; even if spirits he had never seen before attacked his classmates and caused them injury, in Jūdai's view, it was still unacceptable and his fault—his fault for failing to protect his classmates in time.

However, the good news was...

Perhaps because he had been with Hikari for a long time, or perhaps because he had seen "Lord Ba Wang," the current Jūdai was far less extreme than the version Hikari remembered from that same point in time. If it were that Jūdai, he would have dueled the professor on the spot, never "challenging" them or agreeing to wait until the professor finished their work.

"Hikari, what do you think?" Jūdai lay on the table for a long time until, as if thinking of something, he looked up and asked.

"Ha, idiot." Hearing Jūdai finally regain his spirit and prepare to ask, Wan Zhangmu finally breathed a sigh of relief and scolded, "Your stupid brain doesn't work well; wouldn't it have been better to ask sooner?"

"Lightning, I don't allow you to belittle yourself like that."

"Hey!"

Even when his mental state wasn't great, Jūdai never lost a verbal sparring match with Wan Zhangmu.

Jūdai turned back to Hikari and asked, "Hikari, if it were you, would you spare..."

"Jūdai, don't ask questions like this." Wan Zhangmu sighed, "You should know very well what Hikari would do."

Today, Wan Zhangmu had seen with his own eyes Hikari Tenjou kill a professor for the sake of humanity; there was almost no other possibility for the choice Hikari would make.

Asking such a question, how could you expect Hikari to answer?

If he spoke the truth, it would likely lead to an argument, and by then, the atmosphere in the academy would probably be even worse.

"... Would I do that?" Hikari folded his hands into an arch and pondered, "That's hard to say."

The two looked at Hikari in surprise.

They hadn't expected Hikari's answer to be like this.

"Because it's really hard to answer." Hikari shook his head, "To be precise, it should be... it depends on the situation, right?"

"Depends on the situation?"

"Yes—for this spirit, I would never forgive it, but for other situations, it depends on the circumstances at the time."

The two listened quietly to Hikari's words.

Hikari recalled, pondered, and recounted based on his own experiences: "After all, we can't know what kind of enemy we encounter each time. Perhaps some people were controlled because of accidents or incidents?"

"For example, the spirits previously controlled by the Ronghe Sect's power—they were brainwashed and controlled, so there was no way to kill them."

"But besides that? Some want to actively invade; those guys can't be allowed to exist, right? If they launch an invasion and just say 'I surrender' verbally, they can just walk away... how could such a good thing exist in the world?"

"And whether they can truly repent, I can't be sure; it depends on observing them over time."

Hikari spread his hands and said, "It's too complicated."

Yeah—

Wan Zhangmu patted his head.

In most cases, it depends on the specific situation.

Even within the Ronghe Sect, there were actually people Hikari didn't dislike, such as the current third-year department head of the Fusion Department. Even though they were a genuine member of the Ronghe Sect, because relevant information was investigated, they were put under supervision, but their relationship with Hikari was actually quite good. Like Professor Salafu, who was the initiator who dragged the power of Darkness into this world—in a sense, one could say they were a sinner against all humanity; Hikari didn't show mercy, which was a matter of course.

After all, in practical terms, what Professor Salafu did was far more serious than Chima Lingwang, even far more so.

In such a situation, if Hikari showed mercy, that would be irresponsible to humanity.

But when encountering other situations, who could decide before the event occurred?

"Hmm..." Jūdai frowned, "Then have you encountered such a situation?"

Hikari tilted his head, suddenly dazed, then clapped his hands: "I actually have."

You really have?

Hikari stood up: "No time like the present, Jūdai. Since that's the case, let's go take a look directly. We'll go and return quickly; nothing should go wrong here."

Another dimension?

Jūdai understood.

Because time was tight and to prevent any sudden accidents at Duel Academy, Hikari called Jūdai and went to the third floor.

Hikari tried to activate the dimensional gate, but the gate couldn't be used normally due to the power of Darkness.

This was also one of the reasons why Duel Academy couldn't establish contact with the outside world; even the dimensional gates in the school were basically unusable. Except for places like the Great Universe Workshop or the Curry Dimension connected by Professor Huashan, other "non-direct" dimensions were severely blocked.

Hikari adjusted the machine, increased the power, then took out the Emerald Book and pressed the entire book onto it. Relying on the power of the whole book and the "Philosopher's Stone" within, he finally started the machine.

He couldn't waste energy, so Hikari didn't waste time; he quickly took Jūdai and went to a place he wanted Jūdai to see...

Fluffal Sanctuary!

The demons of this dimension once reached an agreement with the Ronghe Sect, then invaded the X Dimension, later suffered a backlash, and were attacked by Ronghe Sect soldiers. Finally, it was under Hikari's rescue that they settled down and became stable.

At the root, they actually weren't "innocent."

But in terms of the result, Hikari didn't deal a death blow to them.

Jūdai arrived in this dimension and saw that most of the spirits here were very busy. He asked Hikari and only then learned that since Hikari left, the Fluffals—to be precise, all spirits including Edge Imps and Fluffals—had been busy running around. They traveled through various spirit dimensions every day, trying their best to find and rescue people who had been harmed.

Not only that, they also made an agreement with Hikari: if humans from the X Dimension came for revenge, they would definitely bear the wrath of the X Dimension humans.

This was what an attitude of "I was wrong" looked like.

Jūdai stayed here for over an hour, even playing with some newborn spirits for a while. Seeing that the time was about right, he quickly left this dimension and returned to Duel Academy.

After returning, he was still burdened with thoughts. It seemed that although he had figured some things out, more questions had arisen, and the smile on his face was more or less fake.

These questions in his heart were not something Hikari could answer; Hikari could only help as much as he could.

Just like that, a day later, the students of Duel Academy gathered in the same classroom again, a rare occurrence.

Professor Professor Professor Yanjingshe silently found a seat. He already knew about Salafu being defeated, but he didn't make it public.

To him, the death of a colleague wouldn't affect his affairs; he wouldn't care.

The students took their seats one after another, and then Jūdai and Professor Mengjiang stepped onto the stage.

Professor Mengjiang's uniform was open, revealing the shirt inside. Whether it was because he was too exhausted during this period or had completely let himself go, he took a cigarette out of his pocket, held it in his mouth, blocked the wind with his left hand, lit it with a lighter with his right, and then took a deep drag, exhaling a ring of smoke.

"Phew~~"

He looked at Jūdai, noticed Jūdai's furrowed brows, and couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, Jūdai, how about it? How have you been thinking these past two days?"

Jūdai shook his head: "I still... feel it's not right."

His mind was still muddled.

"Hahaha, I understand, I understand everything." Mengjiang laughed heartily. He had always appreciated Jūdai; after all, Jūdai was the most active in his class and the most willing to cooperate with him, so he had gotten to know Jūdai well.

Based on this, he also understood Jūdai to some extent.

In his view, Jūdai's only problem wasn't kindness, but "I want everything."

Wanting to protect friends while not wanting to harm other existences—that was a bit difficult.

Edo pulled up a seat and sat beside Hikari, eyeing the stage.

He could also understand Jūdai's thoughts, so he wasn't surprised by Jūdai challenging Professor Mengjiang.

Although both were "heroes," Jūdai's hero was more of that pure, radiant, brilliant kind. He might use Evil HEROes, but his ultimate goal was always protection.

"Honestly, I'm actually quite happy, Jūdai."

"The professor is happy?" Jūdai was actually quite surprised.

"Hahaha—of course." Professor Mengjiang laughed heartily, "You see the professor looking like this rough guy, so you should understand, right? The professor wasn't a teacher before...

I used to be a soldier in the international peacekeeping forces and even received several medals."

Professor Professor Yanjingshe was silent; he had seen Mengjiang on the battlefield before, and he was indeed the elite of the elite in the peacekeeping forces.

"A soldier... of the peacekeeping forces?" Hearing the professor's past profession, Jūdai was slightly surprised.

He hadn't expected Professor Mengjiang, who killed spirits with his bare hands, to be a soldier of the peacekeeping forces.

"I didn't go by the name Mengjiang before." The professor said while smoking, "But when I resigned, the boss said that if I used my original identity, I might be targeted by some big drug lord, so I changed my name."

The students were also quite surprised by this identity. Of course, what they were most surprised by was why, as a soldier of the peacekeeping forces, he would become a teacher for no reason.

The professor took another drag of his cigarette.

"Anyway, most of you should have seen it too; I'm really not very good at teaching—usually, I just play videos or use myself as an example." Mengjiang laughed, and Professor Chronos beside him couldn't help but smile.

Indeed, among the many professors, even the few who were just making up the numbers might not have any special talents, but they had mastered the basic skills of teaching and educating people well.

Only Professor Mengjiang was truly completely unskilled, so he usually taught blindly, teaching whatever came to mind.

"If this continues, won't my professional qualification assessment go down the drain? So I'm very grateful to you, Jūdai," he casually pressed the blade-shaped Duel Disk on his chest. The Duel Disk unfolded automatically, and he then casually placed his deck into the Duel Disk, which automatically shuffled it, "If I kept teaching normally, I might have to drink the northwest wind next semester—but, you challenged me. This way, regardless of the duel's outcome, I think the students will more or less understand me, and understand you."

"Now, my professional rating assessment is secure, right?"

Although before that, he might get a harsh mark from Professor Chronos for smoking in class.

"After all... for duelists, you only need to duel to understand each other, right?"

Jūdai's mood finally became high-spirited.

It seemed the professor wasn't a brutal war maniac who would kill everyone in every situation—

What he was actually most worried about was that the off-campus professor he was closest to would be a war maniac.

"So that's it—that's great! Professor! Duel!" He excitedly equipped his Duel Disk.

Professor Mengjiang, LP: 4000.

Jūdai Yuki, LP: 4000.

"I'll go first, draw—" Professor Mengjiang's physical fitness seemed even more terrifying than Jūdai's, as he snatched the first turn.

He casually held it in front of him, and the card automatically popped into his hand. He glanced at it and grinned: "Ha, good draw. Then—activate Continuous Spell Card, Zhanhua History - Rebellion of False Edicts."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 586 =====