Chapter 182

On the way here, Ian, who had nothing to do, actively found a photo of senior Liz through the graduation photos of previous students posted by the school on the official website, circled senior Liz in the photo and sent it to them.

Although this photo is blurry due to its age, the outlines of the people are still clear. The photo shows a group of students standing in a row, and the two people standing in the middle of the last row are circled. One has blond hair and the other has purple hair. The blond one is smiling loudly, holding the shoulders of the purple-haired boy next to him. The purple-haired boy has a gentle smile on his face and stands very orderly.

There was no doubt that these two people were the ones they were looking for. The one with blond hair was Cyril, and the one with purple hair was Liz.

Although the photo was blurry, one could still see the high spirits of the two men, and that the purple-haired boy and the old woman in front of them were 50% alike. Apparently they were not mistaken, the old woman was indeed Liz's relative.

"Hello, we are studying at 'Alpha High School for Special Powers' and are considered junior students of Senior Liz. There are some things I would like to consult you about. Is it convenient for you?" Jiang Tianming asked politely, but he was also straight to the point.

Normally, this kind of thing should be kept secret, so as not to make the other party wary and not tell the truth. But they came to visit without hesitation, and it was obvious that it must be related to Liz. In this case, it is better to tell the truth directly than to hide it.

However, Jiang Tianming did not tell her anything about Cyril. He had to judge the old woman's attitude first before deciding whether to tell her everything.

When she heard the name "Liz", the old woman's expression changed. Her originally friendly expression suddenly faded, as if she wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. In the end, she just opened the door a little, made room for them, and answered in a hoarse voice, "Come in."

Walking into the shabby house, there is no special scene inside. It is as shabby as the outside. However, it can be seen that the owner loves life very much. The room is very tidy and the furniture is spotless. Even though the furniture is shabby, it does not make people feel sloppy.

There is only one pair of shoes in the shoe cabinet at the door, only one coaster on the table, and only one coat on the hanger... From all the details in the house, it can be seen that only one person lives in this house.

Su Bei paid special attention to the photos on the wall, some of them were of Liz, some of the old woman and another man, and some of the three of them as a family. But without exception, the photos all showed them when they were young.

If there are no photos of Liz because she has passed away, then why are there no photos of the man and the old woman in the photos when they are old? Su Bei withdrew his gaze thoughtfully and adjusted his luck to the best.

The reason why he didn't adjust Jiang Tianming's luck was not because Su Bei was thinking about his own problems, but mainly because the cost-effectiveness of adjusting Jiang Tianming's luck was too low.

Su Bei wasn't sure if it was because this was a comic book world, but the "compass of fate" on most people's heads was exactly the same, but there were a small number of people whose fate was far more "heavy" than that of ordinary people.

There is no doubt that this is the case with comic protagonists such as Jiang Tianming. To change their fate, they need to consume much more mental energy than others, whether it is the big pointer or the small pointer.

Therefore, Su Bei only adjusted his luck value, which could effectively save his mental energy.

Speaking of Jiang Tianming's "Destiny Compass", there is a small episode. Su Bei once tried to bend Jiang Tianming's big hand downwards. Of course, this was not to kill the opponent. As long as he adjusted it back in time, there would be no problem. He just wanted to try to consume it.

The result of the experiment was that it could not be adjusted at all. From what he perceived, even if he sacrificed his vitality, it would not be enough to kill the protagonist of the comic.

The interlude is over, let's get back to the topic. The two sat on the sofa, Jiang Tianming stopped the old woman from pouring water for them, thought for a while and found a breakthrough: "Didn't the school compensate your family for what happened back then?"

The implication is that if she was given compensation, why would she still live in such a place. From the fact that "Alpha Superpower High School" could casually give away a few skill books, it can be seen that they are really rich and generous. In the superpower world, they are considered rich and generous, not to mention in the ordinary world. Giving out compensation of several million or tens of millions is easy.

Hearing this, the old woman's expression froze. Knowing what he wanted to ask, she nodded and said perfunctorily, "I gave it to you, but I spent it all on my extravagant spending over the years."

After saying that, he still stubbornly poured a glass of water for each of them and also poured a glass for himself.

Su Bei raised his eyebrows and interrupted, "By the way, I didn't ask you just now, are you Liz's..."

"Mother, I am his mother," replied Mother Liz.

"I was wondering why you look so much like Senior Liz, he must have inherited more of your genes," Su Bei sighed casually, as if he was just chatting, "I look more like my dad, my mom often complains to me about this."

Hearing these words, Liz's mother recalled the past and couldn't help laughing: "Yes, his father often complained to me. If you ask me, what does he have to complain about? Although the child looks like me, he is closer to him."

At this point, Su Bei naturally asked: "Where is Liz's father? Is he out working?"

Yes, this is his real purpose. Since Liz's mother is still alive, the lack of photos of the two of them in their old age can only mean one thing - Liz's father is either divorced from Liz's mother or he has passed away.

Judging from Liz's mother's attitude just now, she had no hatred towards Liz's father, only full of remembrance and regret. Su Bei immediately ruled out the second guess and concluded that Liz's father had passed away.

This is not a big deal, life is so easy to pass away. But one thing caught Su Bei's attention, that is, the last time Liz's father appeared in the photo with his son, Liz looked about 17 or 18 years old, and there were no more photos after that.

Knowing that Liz died at the age of seventeen or eighteen, it was hard for Su Bei not to suspect that his father died at the same time as him.

Thinking back to the time when the epidemic broke out, Su Bei guessed that his father also died of the epidemic.

But it is clear that Liz has eliminated the epidemic with his life. Could it be that his father died before that or is there another hidden story?

However, although he had asked the question as naturally as possible, perhaps because the question itself was sensitive enough, Mother Liz immediately became alert again and answered in a cold voice: "He has been dead for many years."

This behavior only increased the suspicion that her father had problems. Su Bei's eyes flashed, and he seemed not to notice the change in her attitude. He said regretfully: "Parents who can raise a hero like Liz must be good people. I believe that Liz's father must be living happily in heaven. Please accept my condolences."

He originally just wanted to change the subject after a few pleasantries, so that Liz's mother could relax her guard again. But after hearing these words, Liz's mother showed a bitter expression.

She didn't say anything, but just tightened her grip on her glass of water. Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she asked, "What do you all know?"

Jiang Tianming was stunned and looked at Su Bei in dumbfoundedness. He didn't understand what the mystery was in the conversation just now, and how Su Bei knew the secret that forced Liz's mother to compromise.

Su Bei seemed confident on the surface, but in fact he was confused. What did he say? Liz's mother just kept doing this. Could she not make him look like some evil force?

Although he didn't know what was wrong with what he said just now, Su Bei was clear about one thing: he accidentally hit the other party's secret.

This should be due to his best luck. Lucky people can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

He maintained his composure and quickly recalled what he had just said. There must be a key point here. Su Bei extracted a few key words from what he had just said - "a hero like Liz", "my parents are good people", "I lived happily in heaven".

Which of these three words made Liz's mother break down?

Looking at the other bits of information he had obtained: the father and son were likely to have died at the same time, the mother was still living in poverty despite receiving a huge amount of compensation, and there might be something wrong with the father's death...

Now Su Bei needs to use its imagination and try to expand them into a complete story line.

After he had a vague idea of ​​the general situation, he sighed and said, "You don't have to punish yourself for the death of your husband and son. If they were in heaven, they would definitely feel sad."

It has to be said that this is a big gamble. Apart from what Elvis said at school, Su Bei knew nothing about Liz. In fact, if possible, he should check where Liz's mother spent the money.

But there was not much time now, he had to react immediately, so Su Bei could only guess. She obviously did not use the money for herself, so she either saved it or gave it away.

It is known that some people died as a result of Liz's experiments, and Liz's mother probably gave the money to the families of these students.

But this doesn't make sense. It's impossible that Alpha High School only compensated Liz and didn't compensate those people. Since everyone has been compensated and her son is dead, why should she feel so guilty?

And one thing worth noting is that there are no recent photos of Liz's mother on the photo wall in this house. If Liz and Liz's father didn't take photos because they died, then why didn't Liz's mother take photos?

Combining the previous series of information, Su Bei boldly speculated that the deaths of the two, at least the death of Liz's father, had something to do with her, so she punished herself so much.

Regardless of whether this matter is really related to her or whether she really did something wrong, it is reasonable for Su Bei to say something comforting after so many years.

After saying this, he lowered his eyes and pretended to drink water to avoid showing the tension in his eyes. After all, it was a big gamble. If he failed, Mother Liz would definitely find out about his boasting, and then the mission would be difficult.

Therefore, even northern Jiangsu cannot avoid being nervous.

However, when Su Bei was holding the cup, his hand suddenly twitched and a few drops of water spilled out. If he hadn't been steady, the cup would have fallen directly.

Su Bei paused, put the cup back on the table, took out a tissue to wipe the water droplets that had just splashed out, and looked at Liz's mother embarrassedly.

When he looked up, he realized that Mother Liz's eyes had turned red without him noticing.

Liz's mother choked up and said, "You don't have to comfort me. I know it was because I was too stubborn that Liz...that's why..."

She couldn't say what happened, so she could only groan and say, "I killed him!"

As expected, Liz's mother felt guilty, but to Su Bei's surprise, she was not guilty of her husband as he had thought before, but guilty of her son. Her son's death was actually related to him!

But what is the relationship? Su Bei couldn't figure it out. Liz died to end the epidemic and sacrifice her vitality. What does it have to do with their mother? Did Liz's mother force Liz to sacrifice her life?

But it doesn't seem like that. Based on Su Bei's understanding of human nature, if Liz's mother really killed her own son for the sake of saving others, she might not feel guilty.

And what role did the father play in this story? Liz's mother did not mention the death of Liz's father, which shows that at least in her opinion, it should have nothing to do with her.

But based on Su Bei's many years of experience in reading comics, he is sure that his father's death is not without effect in this story.

If this story happened in the real world, Su Bei would not be sure. But since it happened in the comic world, the people and things related in the story must have a history.

After all, reality can be illogical, but authors always have to follow rules when creating.

The rules of comics don't stop there. Since Meng Huai mentioned this matter and asked them to investigate, it must be related to Cyril's invasion of "Alpha Supernatural High School".

Therefore, Su Bei replied solemnly: "Actually, I don't want to open your scars, but your concealment of this matter has caused Senior Cyril to have a huge misunderstanding of this matter. I won't hide it from you either. We came here in the hope that you can clarify it."

This statement was also a gamble. He was not sure what Liz's family affairs had to do with Cyril. But Meng Huai said that there seemed to be something hidden in this matter, and the principal did not look like a bad person. So, connecting these things, he guessed that it was because of Liz's mother's concealment that Cyril misunderstood the principal.

As for what Liz's mother had hidden and how Cyril had misunderstood, Su Bei didn't know, but as long as he could pretend to know, it was enough.

"Cyril... that child hasn't let go after all these years?" When Liz's mother mentioned the name of the deceased, she looked a little dazed. Finally, she seemed to suddenly realize something and asked nervously, "What did he do?"

At this time, Jiang Tianming also heard something more or less, and took the initiative to answer: "He believes that if the principal had not stopped Liz's experiment, Liz would have been able to research the antidote for the epidemic, or he had succeeded the last time, but was stopped by the principal and could not release it. Therefore, he has decided to retaliate against the principal and all the teachers and students of "Alpha Superpower High School."

The reason why I didn't go into so much detail before was because Liz didn't do much wrong just from what she heard. It's understandable that Liz's mother, like Cyril, has complaints about the school.

But now it seems that she obviously does not blame the school. On the contrary, there seems to be another hidden story behind this matter. Jiang Tianming is willing to speak out the matter.

Just as he thought, when Liz's mother heard that Cyril was going to take revenge on the entire school for Liz, she was really shocked: "He, he actually came back for revenge. If I had known, I wouldn't... I..."

She stuttered for a long time, but couldn't say anything. She just sat down dejectedly: "But what can I do?"

Seeing this, Su Bei became more certain that the secret she was hiding was very important, and he immediately said decisively: "You just need to tell him the truth."

Mother Liz knew he was right, but some truths were hard to tell. She didn't know how to expose the lies she had told. If she was exposed, her reputation would not matter, but her son's reputation would be ruined.

"I'm sorry, I can't..."

Before she could finish her refusal, Su Bei interrupted her immediately: "Can you really bear to watch the principal, Bei Xilier, kill hundreds of students from 'Alpha Supernatural High School'?"

He knew that once he said no, it would strengthen the other party's determination to refuse. So it was best to interrupt the spell in advance, so that it would be twice as difficult for the other party to refuse.

Jiang Tianming followed closely and said, "No matter what, Senior Liz used his life to exchange for the safety of others, right? Such achievements will never be erased."

Of course, he said this because he was certain that the principal's hidden secret was definitely not this point. He believed that if Liz had not really risked her life to save others, the principal would never allow people to continue to misunderstand her in this regard.

His judgment was correct. Mother Liz's face was clearly touched. After hesitating for a long time, she finally nodded and said, "I really don't have the face to say it in person. I'm sorry. If you don't have anything else to do, please leave."

I didn't expect her to say that. It seems that Liz's mother was very wrong back then, and Liz is not as innocent as Cyril said. But now the principal and Liz's mother are probably the only two people who know the truth. They can't count on the principal, so they can only try to pry open Liz's mother's mouth.

Standing outside the corridor, Jiang Tianming frowned and thought for a moment: "I'll go ask Ah Bing if I can use the [Word Spirit] over the phone."

Although it is against the rules to use their superpowers on ordinary people, and they will most likely be punished by the superpower government afterwards, they have to act in an emergency, and since it concerns the safety of the teachers and students of a school, their actions will surely be understood. Even if they are not understood, it doesn't matter. The two believe that Meng Huai and the "Infinite Superpower Academy" will get them out.

Lan Shubing responded quickly. She could control other people through the phone. After all, the main medium of the [Word Spirit] power is sound. As long as the sound can be transmitted, the power can be used, but it consumes more mental energy.

But after getting the power of [Word Spirit], Jiang Tianming began to hesitate again: "If we do this, using the power to make her tell the truth, will Cyril not believe it?"

He certainly wouldn't say something like "Isn't it bad for us to do this?" What is really bad is that Liz's mother ignored the safety of so many people in the school in order to protect her own and her son's reputation.

"As long as we bring the evidence to him, he will definitely verify it himself." Su Bei said calmly. They all have ways to make people tell the truth, and Cyril will have even more. There is no worry that the truth will not be uncovered.

However, before the two of them could knock on the door again with the [Word Spirit] that made people tell the truth, the door of Liz's house was opened from the inside. Liz's mother walked out of the room and saw the two of them still standing at the door. Her expression was indescribably complicated.

Seeing her suddenly open the door, Su Bei and the others realized something and stood there in surprise without saying a word.

They looked at each other in silence. Finally, Mother Liz took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to go to the school to explain in person, but I can record a video for you to explain the truth of that year. If possible... I hope that only Cyril can see this video. The principal can also see it, because he knows the truth of that year."

"Of course, no problem!" Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better, and before they could use coercive means, Liz's mother figured it out on her own. This was undoubtedly a good thing, saving them a lot of trouble.

The two of them had no objection to her request. Jiang Tianming was surprised for a moment, but soon regained his senses. After thinking for a while, he said, "But we two have to check it in advance to avoid any mistakes."

In case Liz's mother's video does not explain things clearly or is of no use to the situation, it would be better for them to watch it in advance so that they can be prepared.

Mother Liz nodded. Since she was willing to record the video, she was prepared for the two people to watch it. She walked to the inner room with a staggering step and began to recall the past that had happened many years ago but was still fresh in her memory.

After about five minutes, Liz's mother came out with a camera with an ugly look on her face. After handing it to them, she ordered them to leave: "The video is here. Go away and watch it outside. If there is no problem, don't come here again in the future."

After getting what they wanted, the two naturally stopped arguing, said thank you and left the tube building, and found a quiet place outside to watch the video together.

The video was only five minutes long, but after watching it, both of them fell silent.

"So this is the truth." After a moment, Jiang Tianming pursed his lips, his expression not looking good, "Auntie is really..."

Perhaps he didn’t know how to describe this behavior, or perhaps he felt that speaking ill of his elders behind their backs, so he kept his mouth shut.

Su Bei shook his head and said sarcastically, "No wonder she doesn't want to tell the truth to my face."

He didn't know what would happen to the reputation of the deceased Liz if the truth was revealed, but the living mother Liz would surely be subject to endless accusations.

What is the truth?

Su Bei was only half right. Liz's father did get sick that year, but it was not the virus of the epidemic, but another terminal illness. It was similar to cancer, which had been known for a long time, but could not be cured by current human medical methods.

Liz's mother and father have a deep relationship and cannot accept the fact that he is about to die. Coincidentally, an epidemic broke out and Liz was ordered to research an antidote. Liz's mother took her own life to ask him to take advantage of this opportunity and use the medicines and equipment of "Alpha Superpower High School" to help Liz's father find a cure.

————————

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution during 2024-06-28 17:55:58~2024-06-29 18:03:13~

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!