There were some things about fate that truly defied explanation. Often, only when looking back afterward could one feel the sense of inevitability, as though fate itself had been pushing everything forward.
If Mudrock had been a cold and heartless person, she would have left with Rhodes Island's troops back on the Ursus Snowfield. Without staying behind as the rearguard, she never would have met Shi Lei.
If she had not acted on impulse and brought everyone to Lungmen instead, then when V and the little girl suffered an outbreak of Originium-related illness on the Ursus Icefield, they would have been doomed to die.
If Mudrock's Squad had sneaked into Lungmen as stowaways, they would not have received Officer Chen's help. They would have had nowhere to live, left wandering the Lower City in search of a way to survive.
If Shi Lei had not attacked the Cat Gang's stronghold, Mudrock's Squad would not have gotten this bargain. Following Officer Chen's reminder, they had taken the stronghold first and become famous in a single battle.
If they had not become famous, Miss Lin would not have remembered Mudrock when she dined with Shi Lei and the others. Later, when Mudrock borrowed medicine on the black market, she might really have been beaten to death.
In the unseen darkness, it was as though an invisible chain linked one ring to the next. Had Mudrock made a different choice at any point, the future would have turned out completely differently.
But fate was sometimes just that strange.
"Don't be afraid. I'll try detonating one Originium crystal first. If you can't endure it, make sure to tell me."
Now that Shi Lei had advanced into the Immortal Realm, his control over energy was naturally far beyond what it had been in the Genshin