Back to the Future 1999: Raining at the Same Time

Chapter 198 No! No! No! No! A mystic?!

After saying this, Chenxi's expression suddenly turned somewhat playful. Meeting Hoffman's increasingly dangerous gaze, he slowly dropped a bombshell that sent a chill down her spine:

"At the same time, I also want to save some people from their predetermined tragic fate."

After speaking, he looked at Marcus, his eyes filled with pity:

"A little pony lost her mentor forever during a mission in Vienna. While this undoubtedly led to her unimaginable growth, however..."

Leaving behind the remaining half of the sentence, Chenxi turned her gaze back to Hoffman.

“Isn’t the price of such growth too high, Ms. Hoffman?”

When Hoffman heard Chenxi say that Marcus had lost his mentor, his eyes did widen slightly for a moment, but when Chenxi turned to look at him again, Hoffman's expression returned to normal.

"If this mission does indeed present me with a moment where I must give my life, for the well-being of the Foundation and all of humanity, then it will be a worthy death."

Upon hearing Hoffman's answer, Chenxi smiled, nodded, and closed her eyes.

She practically crawled to her mentor's side. Marcus looked at the stage covered in blood, his voice trembling.

……

"...There's no such thing as something important. The mission is over, silly child."

"Make a phone call before the 'storm' hits."

"The future belongs to...you."

Her hand slid downwards.

This was a second that felt almost eternal.

The memory ends here, and the tone that follows is one of tenderness that neither of them has ever heard before:

"Yes, it was indeed a worthy death. The contribution of your sacrifice is irreplaceable. It led humanity to find a way to get through the storm."

"Yeah."

Upon hearing this result, Hoffman gave a slight, satisfied smile and didn't dwell on the matter any further.

However, the students standing nearby panicked during the conversation between the two.

What?! Ms. Hoffman will sacrifice herself in this mission? Or... or is it because of me? What... what should I do? Should I really not have participated in this mission?

What should I do? Should I ask Mr. Chenxi for clarification? But Ms. Hoffman didn't dwell on this issue too much. Should I not have done this...?

Extreme worry about his mentor, coupled with chaotic thoughts, led him to disregard the user's wishes and activate the mystical spell without authorization.

In an instant, Marcus saw the images in Chenxi's mind, and his own emotions, which were present within them, surged towards him. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, leaving him frozen in place.

Noticing this anomaly, Chenxi smiled helplessly, gently pinched Marcus's round little face, pulled her out of that illusion, and guided her to look directly into his eyes.

"Didn't I tell you? One of the reasons I came here is to prevent this from happening. Don't worry, even if you cause a huge disaster, I'll still be here for you."

Gently wiping away the tears from the corners of Marcus's eyes with her thumb, Chenxi ruffled her hair again. This time, however, the pressure was slightly greater than before, even slightly messing up her neatly styled curls.

After this brief interlude, the area around the coffee shop remained bustling with people.

After Hoffman checked his watch for the fifteenth time, she finally couldn't help but speak up:

"In theory, the head of the Vienna branch of the foundation would come to meet us and then take us through the necessary procedures of this era."

However, our train was delayed by 2 hours.

"Based on this premise, Mr. Carl should have been waiting for two hours. But so far, no gentlemen dressed in Foundation attire have appeared here..."

Chenxi shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Hoffman's words. The student, however, picked up where their mentor left off, whispering:

"Therefore, Mr. Carl was more than two hours late."

"A very clever answer. It would be better if it weren't reality."

Anything that wasn't in the plan gave Hoffman a headache.

"I'll go ask Mr. Carl if he's been here."

The mentor stepped out of the shade of the parasol and into the café. The apprentice left behind looked around listlessly, while Chenxi, like a true Viennese gentleman, ordered a coffee and sipped it leisurely, appearing extremely relaxed.

However, Marcus keenly picked up some key words from the conversations of passersby.

Passerby 1:

"I bet that island is a secret base for the Franco-Russian alliance, which is why those Bulgarians are so anxious, fearing it will threaten their access to the Aegean Sea..."

“A friend of mine in the Imperial Navy witnessed ships laden with gold leaving the port…”

"War is coming, my friends!"

Passerby 2:

"No, no, how do you explain the mysterious creature above?"

"I would rather believe it is a land that has never been discovered, like the other world that the Celts believed in, the sea kingdom in chivalric legends."

“If you don’t understand what this island means to us, you’re not worthy of being called a human being, my friend!”

"In this enlightened world of exorcism, it is an honor for our time to find such a pre-modern paradise."

"A secret base...another world..."

Marcus typed these novel words and phrases, and his eyes gradually began to sparkle.

"This is so interesting, I have to write it down."

Marcus opened his notebook and excitedly jotted down these trivial and useless bits of knowledge.

Ignoring the strange looks from others.

This unusual behavior eventually brought her some trouble that she couldn't handle: the approaching Vienna guards gripped their swords tightly and stared at her warily.

"Miss, could you please show me your identification?"

"Ah, okay."

The unexpected conversation didn't throw her into a panic; she politely and methodically explained her situation:

"...I'm sorry, my documents are with my companion. Could you please wait with me for a moment?"

"I am a mystery staff member at the headquarters of the St. Love Foundation, and I have a letter of introduction personally written by the head of the Vienna branch..."

"...a mystic?"

The title seemed to possess a strange magic; the guard, on high alert, instantly raised his voice, drew his sword, and used the silencing spell floppy disk he carried with him.

"You must come with us, miss! Please hold your hands outstretched and remain silent!"

"Hey, bring those Gorens over here! There are unregistered occultists here!"

"Uh-huh??"

Marcus, whose ability to speak was instantly sealed, could only stare wide-eyed and utter indistinct babbling. The guards quickly turned their attention to Chenxi, who was sitting at the same table.

He reached into his robes and pulled out another floppy disk, unleashing a burst of mystical light towards Chen Xi. Yet, he remained calmly seated in his chair, as if the spell wasn't aimed at him at all.

"There's a misunderstanding about mystics that I'd like to clarify here."

He gently put down the half-finished coffee in his hand, and a streak of light, accompanied by the soft sound of the coffee cup hitting the porcelain plate, shattered the mysterious spell that was aimed at him.

"Shutting out mystics won't stop them from using their magic."

He reached out and pulled Marcus to his side, flicked his finger to remove the tongue-rolling curse from her, and then cast a stream of emerald light to heal the pain caused by the broken spell.

Chenxi then turned her gaze back to the guards who were gripping steel knives tightly and looking tense.

"Furthermore, if I were you, I would never use something so dangerous to aim at a gentleman, especially in Vienna."

As they spoke, the guards suddenly felt the steel knife in their hands become too hot to hold, and it clattered to the ground. The reddened blade mirrored their flushed faces.