The cold wind cut like a blade, beneath a vast sky strewn with stars.
The fertile fields stretching for a hundred miles had already turned into a bone-chilling tundra. Gazing as far as the eye could see, everything was deathly white, devoid of life.
"Crunch—"
The sound of boots crushing ice rang out across the frozen earth, which reflected a faint white glow. It was a Mobile Task Force dressed in clothing completely unsuited to the environment.
After all, who could have imagined that such a vast frozen wasteland would appear in a temperate region—especially during the scorching summer?
The team maintained a professional combat formation as it advanced deeper into the tundra.
The scenery along the way violently assaulted their worldview and desecrated their souls.
The Horizontal-Pupiled Sheep Eyes, each reflecting their figures at full adult height, had already left them gasping.
But the frozen flames drove them even crazier.
Looking around, countless swollen, rotting chunks of flesh covered in sheep eyes were piled across the frozen earth.
They were so enormous that they resembled giant serpents lying prone across the land. Adorned with frozen flames, they made the entire world seem fantastical and unreal.
"Smack!"
The Mobile Task Force suddenly halted in perfect unison. The captain made a hand signal, and several members immediately crouched down where they stood and raised their sniper rifles.
The captain led the remaining members forward in a semicircle toward a solitary figure in the distance.
"Madam Ji Zijun, are you all right?"
After approaching the Mobile Task Force, the captain cautiously asked.
Ji Zijun stood with her arms folded on the only patch of clean ground without ice crystals, gazing into the darkness in the distance.
"Madam Ji Zijun..." Seeing that her companion did not respond, the captain was about to ask again.
"I'm fine." Ji Zijun shook her head.
"Phew. Madam Ji Zijun, how did you feel when you joined the Foundation on September 11?"
"I was an internal referral. I joined on June 3. I'm in terrible shape right now and am not in the mood to take a test." Ji Zijun pointed out her companion's deliberate mistake.
"Psychological assessment passed. Welcome back, Madam Ji Zijun." Hearing the order in his earpiece, the captain finally relaxed.
At that moment, the roar of turbines came from the distance. Looking far off, several cars could be seen speeding toward them.
"Screech—"
An ambulance stopped not far from Ji Zijun, and several medical workers rushed out, preparing to administer emergency treatment.
But when they saw Ji Zijun, they were dumbfounded.
They saw none of the severe hypothermia—or even the near-death state—they had expected.
Although Ji Zijun had her arms folded because of the cold, and a trace of frostbite-red colored her cheeks, how could she look even slightly frozen?
She looked more like a beauty who had just taken off her thick coat and was deliberately posing for a photo shoot in the snow.
"Where's Arthur?"
Compared with the medical workers' shock, the Foundation members who had gotten out of several other off-road vehicles were more concerned about Arthur's whereabouts.
"He left after curing me."
Ji Zijun answered while gazing faintly into the darkness ahead. The candlelight was already gone. Had he left as he had last time, or had he extinguished the candle?
"Left?"
Several Foundation members exchanged glances. One of them immediately made a search signal to the Mobile Task Force.
"Search for the target immediately. Take note: after locating the target, don't get too close, to avoid misunderstandings. And above all, don't provoke the target."
"Yes!"
The Mobile Task Force members exchanged glances, summoned their courage, and followed the direction Ji Zijun had been watching, tracking across the crunching frozen earth.
In secret, even more forces joined the search operation.
By the time they left the frozen earth and returned to the human world, it was already one in the morning.
After undergoing a simple psychological test, Ji Zijun was given a sedative by the Foundation and fell into a deep sleep.
But while she slept peacefully, the Foundation was thrown into complete turmoil and frantic activity!
Missiles had scoured the land, freezing mountains and rivers.
Such a massive disturbance could not possibly be hidden from the surrounding civilians.
How to conceal the truth and quell the boiling public uproar left the Foundation's relevant departments working through the night, frantic and overwhelmed!
However, no matter how frantic they became, the Foundation was well practiced in handling such matters.
Memories that needed erasing were erased; lies that needed weaving were woven; smokescreens that needed spreading were spread; information that needed sealing was sealed.
Although the entire process was extremely cumbersome, it was essentially just following a script and could hardly be called difficult.
What truly interested the Foundation was that this incident, codenamed "Frozen Earth," had revealed an unknown side of a certain type of anomaly.
This would have immeasurable value for their future research into anomalies.
However, compared with that value, the Foundation was even more interested in Arthur, Lord of the Lantern, himself!
The power he had displayed had completely answered one of the Foundation's previous questions.
That was: which was the true primary entity—he or the lantern?
The following day, at ten in the morning, Ji Zijun naturally woke up.
She forced down a little food, underwent another psychological test, and then had no choice but to attend a holographic conference.
The subject of the meeting was none other than the Frozen Earth Project.
It was predictable that, as the only surviving human who had experienced the scene firsthand and come into close contact with Arthur, her testimony would influence the judgments of countless people.
"Based on the information currently available, I believe the God of Abundance Project's development into a spreading anomaly is inseparably connected to Willard's Dream Containment Plan!"
"Initially, the God of Abundance should have been something resembling a spider-like hunting creature. It occupied the target villa and hunted only the prey inside. This perfectly explained why the experimental personnel were attacked when they approached the doors and windows."
"Willard's Dream Containment broke this balance. I have reason to suspect that the God of Abundance developed into a spreading anomaly and began slaughtering humans in a frenzy in order to capture biological entities capable of resisting Dream Containment."
"Of course, it's also possible that Dream Containment awakened the God of Abundance."
When Ji Zijun arrived, the conference was discussing the God of Abundance.
Ji Zijun sat in a holographic containment chair with her head lowered, staring blankly. She seemed indifferent to the discussion around the conference table.
"Madam Ji Zijun!"
"Huh?"
After an unknown amount of time, a conference secretary called Ji Zijun's name several times before she came to her senses. Someone at the meeting had apparently mentioned her.
"Is your mental state all right? Do you need to take a break?" A holographic image looked over. Judging from the nameplate on the table, it was Dr. Kipling.
"No need. I just need a little time."
"Understood. Then let's return to the main topic. Madam Ji Zijun, could you describe once again what happened after you encountered Arthur in Commus Town? The more detailed, the better." Dr. Kipling said he understood, but immediately went straight to the point.
"Okay!"
Ji Zijun nodded and began describing everything truthfully.
"You're saying that you had already been frozen stiff, and he saved you?"
When Ji Zijun's account reached the point where the anomaly disappeared, the conference table fell silent.
"Yes. Although I had already frozen stiff and was on the verge of death, I could feel that he touched my forehead. Then all the pain throughout my body vanished, as if..." Ji Zijun murmured as she recalled the scene. "As if all my pain had been taken away."
Ji Zijun murmured as she described what had happened.
In truth, how could the scene at the time possibly be described through such impoverished language?
No one knew what kind of spiritual shock she had endured upon witnessing the Old Ones.
It was a distortion and terror that far surpassed the physical shell!
For a time, she had wanted to embrace madness and sink completely into chaos.
It was he who pulled her back when one of her feet had already stepped into the abyss.
She still could not forget the warmth at his fingertips.
It would be etched into her bones, something she would probably revisit again and again for the rest of her life.
Because it was hope. It was salvation!
"Madam Ji Zijun, how do you understand Arthur? I mean, what kind of existence do you believe he is?" Dr. Kipling nodded and changed the subject, asking solemnly.
"He?"
Ji Zijun's gaze grew distant.
After a long while, she said softly, "I believe he's a human mage who wields immense power, comparable to that of a god. Yes, a human mage."
Ji Zijun heavily emphasized the word "human."
"Perhaps he left his homeland while pursuing power. Now he wants to return, but while traveling through space and time, he inadvertently arrived in our world."
"Perhaps our world is very similar to his homeland. That would explain why he was so excited and lost his composure when he first appeared."
"That may also be one reason he has never taken the initiative to attack us, and has even shown us tremendous goodwill."
"Perhaps our world is a parallel universe to his homeland. Otherwise, why would our appearances be so similar? And why would our languages be exactly the same?"
As Ji Zijun murmured, the conference room quietly fell silent.
Everyone pricked up their ears, listening to her understanding and judgment.
"He should hate evil."
"When he said he was going to pay respects to the God of Abundance, I thought he was a follower of an evil god. Only now do I understand that he was speaking ironically. He was going there to kill it!"
"That magic incantation was the best proof."
"He summoned an even more powerful monster and killed the God of Abundance, which had been wreaking havoc on the human world!"
At this, the expressions of everyone in the conference room became varied.
"Summoning a monster to attack another monster sounds like absurd wishful thinking straight out of fantasy literature, doesn't it?" a doctor said despite himself. His name was Streitge, and he worked in the Foundation's science department.
"No, that absolutely wasn't wishful thinking. If the monster wasn't summoned by Arthur, then why did it obey his orders and attack only the God of Abundance? That was definitely because the monster was under Arthur's control." Ji Zijun argued in response.
Streitge smiled and did not argue.
As a researcher, he disliked relying on verbal debate. Making one point was enough.
What mattered was the actual research results.
"We've already recorded the magic incantation Arthur chanted, and the science department has begun deciphering it. At present, the language is completely different from every known language system, so its pronunciation is quite strange, and we'll need to train specialized personnel. Whether this is really summoning magic from fantasy literature will be clear once we conduct an experiment."
A senior Foundation member spoke in a deep voice.
I'm just afraid nothing will happen even if you manage to chant it.
Ji Zijun couldn't help retorting inwardly, but in the end, she kept those words to herself.
Before you continue