novelraw 088 Chekhov's Gun
088 Chekhov's Gun
"elder brother……"
Inhuman roars echoed across the square, filled with rage.
"Hold him back! Don't let him leave the school! There are lots of metal objects outside!"
The squads chased Constantine, firing Frigga bullets at him, and blood-red smoke completely enveloped him.
He waved his arms to cover his face and continued shouting.
"elder brother!"
"What is he shouting? Is he starting to use incantations?" someone asked.
"I don't know, I feel like they're insulting us."
The sounds emitted by the non-human dragon's vocal cords were like those of a vengeful spirit, sending chills down everyone's spines.
"Non-combat personnel, take the explosives!" Manstein didn't even have time to feel sorry for them. "Get off the school grounds quickly and blow the statues and streetlights down the mountain! Hurry!"
"Professor! He's too fast! We can't stop him!"
The free fire elements in the air seemed to be receiving a royal inspection, instantly boiling over. At the school gate, the remains of statues, street lamp posts, and even twisted steel bars from the shattered concrete that had not yet been moved began to tremble violently in the extreme magnetic field and high temperature.
They slowly floated into the air, their surfaces glowing with a blinding red light, liquefying and deforming, transforming into countless deadly swords of Damocles hanging over the heads of the teachers and students of Kassel.
"Is this the end...?" Everyone stared at the countless crimson swords floating in the sky, utterly silent.
-----------------
On the way down the mountain, Lu Mingfei slowly released the accelerator. The Bugatti Veyron had excellent sound insulation, and the low-speed engine noise was blocked outside the cabin.
Nono sat back in the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, and quietly turned her head to look out the window.
Nuonuo, who had been so lively just moments before, suddenly fell silent and remained motionless, causing Lu Mingfei to feel a sudden pang of unease. He turned his head and saw that Nuonuo was looking out of the car window, unable to see the expression on her face.
Lu Mingfei then realized that since the ball, he had either avoided looking at her or only stared into Nuonuo's eyes, and had never really looked at Nuonuo's face properly.
The hem of her deep purple suit was already wet, and she wore a pale white silk blouse underneath. She had a pair of small, dark sapphire stud earrings set in silver bases.
Like stars.
Her hair was blown into a mess by the wind, and she didn't bother to straighten it, looking like a crazy woman.
This is really hard to handle, Nono.
Ling always puts people at ease. Her hair is always neat, her life is regular, and you don't have to guess what she means when she speaks. You just do whatever she asks without having to think, which is great. Lu Mingfei is afraid of thinking; he tends to overthink, and when he does, he becomes anxious and insecure.
There's a lot of gossip on the Night Watchers forum, which Lu Mingfei also enjoys reading. There are a few videos on it, filmed by girls, showing Zero baking cookies for Lu Mingfei, with flour stuck to the tip of her nose.
Lu Mingfei secretly downloaded all of those posts and then, in a very unethical manner, forced Finger to delete them, claiming it was an invasion of privacy.
"If it had been Nono who made the cookies for you, instead of Zero, would you have ended up with Nono?"
Lu Mingfei gripped the steering wheel, feeling like a bastard.
Suddenly, both of their phones rang at the same time.
Nono took out her phone and squinted at the screen.
"The academy has been invaded; a Dragon King-level threat has been detected," Nono announced. "All personnel are ordered to immediately enter combat readiness."
Nono put her phone on her lap, and after a while, she turned to look at him.
"Why aren't you surprised at all?"
Lu Mingfei said, "Senior sister, there's a very classic rule in screenwriting called Chekhov's gun, do you know it?"
"The gun hanging on the wall in the first act must be fired in the third act, otherwise there's no reason for it to be there." Nono frowned. "What does it have to do with the dragon invasion?"
"In the worldview of the Dragon Clan, destruction is the inevitable end of the world," he said. "Their history is also a prophecy. History will end in 2012. The closer we get to the end, the more important the plot points in the script become."
"Yes, according to the Mayan calendar, the world ended in the Fifth Age," Nono said. "But many scholars believe that the end of the world may refer to a process, or the state of the Black King's rule, and there may not be a precise timeline."
"Regardless of whether there's any ambiguity in the timeline, the ending is very close. Now, every event and every key item is serving this ending."
Do you believe there is a supreme will guiding the world's direction?
"It's not about having a personalized will, but rather like a physical phenomenon. For example, an apple falls from a tree because of gravity. Once the initial conditions are determined, the outcome cannot be changed. Whether the apple falls directly down or hits a branch and lingers for a few seconds doesn't change the final result. Because what guides the apple to the ground is gravity."
Lu Mingfei added, "The brass pot I salvaged from the Three Gorges Dam is ready to be put to use."
"So now it's Act Three, and you know this thing is bound to cause trouble sooner or later."
"right."
"Lu Mingfei," Nono said, "you watch too much anime."
He hummed in agreement.
Nono turned her face to look out the window, where the car headlights swept across a "Beware of Bears" sign.
Her birthday was very lively, but it rained that day and there were no stars in the sky.
That night, she went up the mountain alone to look for fireflies. She searched and searched on the mountaintop, but found nothing.
But there must be stars on her birthday; otherwise, she won't receive her mother's blessings.
Many people wished her well, but the more they wished her well, the more heartbroken she became.
Today she asked Lu Mingfei to drive to the mountain spring to soak her feet. The moon was reflected in the water, which looked beautiful.
Lu Mingfei's hands were warm. She reached into Lu Mingfei's hands and grabbed the firefly. The firefly's tail twinkled and shone, looking just like the stars in the sky.
If all of this is a script.
The water she kicked, the firefly in her hand, and the words she shouted were not the first time for Lu Mingfei.
She thought she was accompanying Lu Mingfei on his journey forward, but he had already walked this path long ago.
If all of this were a pre-written script.
She thought she was saving Lu Mingfei, but in reality, she was playing a predetermined role.
……
wrong.
The initial variable was Lu Mingfei.
Every step she took followed in Lu Mingfei's footsteps.
The very first step was a phone call and an interview, and before that, Lu Mingfei had already experienced the apocalypse.
Nono didn't know what Lu Mingfei was like in the past, nor did she know what kind of interaction they would have had if she had met him back then.
The script couldn't capture her impulsive decision, nor could it respond to the sudden flutter in her heart when she saw him.
This is her own story.
"Drive faster," she said.
Lu Mingfei stepped on the gas.
The engine roared to life, and the car sped toward the next bend.