What kind of existence is Arthurs?

The biting wind was like a knife, and the vast wilderness was dotted with stars.

The hundred miles of fertile land had turned into a bone-chilling frozen plain. As far as the eye could see, it was a desolate white, devoid of life.

"Crunch—"

The sound of crushing ice shards underfoot echoed on the frozen ground, reflecting a faint white glow. A Mobile Task Force, dressed in attire completely unsuited to the environment, advanced.

After all, who could have imagined that in a temperate zone, especially during a sweltering summer, such a vast ice field would appear?

The team maintained a professional combat formation, pushing deeper into the frozen tundra.

The scenery along the way relentlessly assaulted their perceptions and desecrated their souls.

The sheep's eyes, as tall as an adult, reflecting their figures, had already left them breathless.

But the solidified flames made them feel even more insane.

Looking out, countless swollen, rotting masses of flesh covered in sheep's eyes were piled upon the frozen ground.

They were so enormous, like giant pythons coiled on the earth, adorned with frozen flames, making the entire world appear magical and unreal.

"Snap!"

The Mobile Task Force stopped in unison. The captain made a gesture, and several members immediately crouched down, raising their sniper rifles.

The captain, leading the remaining members in a semicircle, approached a solitary figure in the distance.

"Ms. Ji Zijun, are you alright?"

As the Mobile Task Force drew closer, the captain cautiously inquired.

Ji Zijun stood with her arms crossed on a patch of clear ground on the frozen tundra, free of ice crystals, gazing into the darkness ahead.

"Ms. Ji Zijun..." Seeing her colleague did not reply, the captain was about to ask again.

"I'm fine," Ji Zijun shook her head.

"Phew, Ms. Ji Zijun, how were you feeling when you joined the Foundation on September 11th?"

"I was recommended internally and joined on June 3rd. I'm in a terrible state right now and don't feel like taking a test," Ji Zijun pointed out her colleague's deliberate error.

"Mental assessment passed. Welcome back, Ms. Ji Zijun." Hearing the instruction through the earpiece, the captain finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, the roar of turbines could be heard from the distance, and several cars were speeding towards them.

"Screech—"

An ambulance stopped not far from Ji Zijun, and several medical personnel rushed out, preparing to provide emergency aid.

However, when they saw Ji Zijun, they were stunned.

They did not see the frozen or even near-death scene they had anticipated.

Ji Zijun, though holding her arms due to the cold, with a touch of red on her cheeks from the chill, showed no signs of being frozen.

She looked more like a woman who had just shed her thick coat, deliberately posing for a photoshoot in the snow.

"Where is Arthur?"

Compared to the shock of the medical personnel, the Foundation members who disembarked from the other SUVs were more concerned about Arthur's whereabouts.

"He left after he healed me,"

Ji Zijun replied, her gaze drifting towards the distant darkness. The candlelight there had vanished. She wondered if he had left like last time, or if the candlelight had been extinguished.

"Left?"

The Foundation members exchanged glances. One of them directly signaled a search gesture to the Mobile Task Force.

"Search for the target immediately. Be advised, do not get too close upon discovery to avoid misunderstandings, and certainly do not provoke the target."

"Yes!"

The Mobile Task Force members exchanged glances, mustered their courage, and stepped on the crunching frozen ground, following the direction Ji Zijun was looking.

In the shadows, more forces joined the search operation.

Leaving the frozen tundra and returning to the human world was already one in the morning.

After a simple mental assessment, Ji Zijun was given a sedative by the Foundation and fell into a deep sleep.

However, while she slept soundly, the Foundation was in an uproar and bustling with activity!

Missile barrages and frozen landscapes.

Such a massive event could not be concealed from the surrounding populace.

How to hide the truth, quell the public outcry, and keep the relevant Foundation departments awake all night was a source of immense stress!

However, the Foundation was well-versed in dealing with such matters, no matter how stressful.

Memory alteration where necessary; lies woven where needed; smoke bombs deployed; information blockades established.

The entire process, though extremely cumbersome, was essentially by the book and presented no real difficulty.

What truly interested the Foundation was the incident codenamed "Frozen Ground," which unveiled a little-known aspect of anomalies to the Foundation.

This would hold immeasurable value for their future research into anomalies.

However, compared to this value, the Foundation was more interested in the Lord of the Lantern, Arthur himself!

The power he displayed completely resolved a previous question the Foundation had.

—That is, who was the main entity, him or the Lantern?

The next day, at ten in the morning, Ji Zijun woke up naturally.

She forced herself to eat something, and after another mental test, she had to participate in a holographic meeting.

The theme of the meeting was precisely the Frozen Ground project.

—It was predictable that as the sole human survivor who had personally experienced the scene and made close contact with Arthur, her testimony would influence countless people's judgments.

"Based on the known data, I believe the development of the God of Abundance project into a diffusive anomaly is inextricably linked to Willard's dream containment plan!"

"Initially, the God of Abundance should have been a spider-like predatory creature, lurking in the target villa, hunting only prey within the villa. This perfectly fits the characteristic of experimental personnel being attacked when they approached doors and windows."

"Willard's dream containment disrupted this balance. I have reason to suspect that the God of Abundance developed into a diffusive anomaly and went on a killing spree of humans precisely to capture creatures to counter the dream containment."

"Of course, it's also possible that the dream containment awakened the God of Abundance."

When Ji Zijun arrived, the meeting was already discussing the God of Abundance.

Ji Zijun sat in the holographic containment chair, staring blankly with her head down, appearing indifferent to the discussion at the conference table.

"Ms. Ji Zijun!"

"Huh?"

After an unknown amount of time, a meeting secretary called Ji Zijun's name a few times. She finally snapped back to reality, realizing someone at the meeting had mentioned her.

"Are you feeling alright? Would you like to rest?" a holographic image looked over. The nameplate on the desk indicated it was Dr. Kipling.

"No, I just need a moment."

"Understood. Then let's get back to the main topic. Ms. Ji Zijun, could you please describe what happened after you encountered Arthur in Commus Town? The more detailed, the better." Dr. Kipling said he understood but immediately got straight to the point.

"Okay!"

Ji Zijun nodded and began to describe it in detail.

"You're saying you were frozen solid at the time, and he saved you?"

When Ji Zijun finished describing the scene after the anomaly disappeared, the conference table fell silent.

"Yes, although I was frozen stiff and on the verge of death, I could feel him touch my forehead, and then all the pain in my body vanished, as if... as if all the pain had been stripped away."

Ji Zijun murmured as she described the scene at the time.

In fact, the scene at that time was beyond the description of meager language!

No one knew the mental shock the Old Ones had inflicted upon her!

It was a distortion and terror far beyond the physical body!

At one point, she had wanted to embrace madness and completely descend into chaos.

It was he who pulled her back when her foot was already stepping into the abyss.

She could never forget the warmth of those fingertips, even now.

It would be etched into her memory, something she would likely recall often for the rest of her life.

Because that was hope, that was salvation!

"Ms. Ji Zijun, how do you understand Arthur? I mean, what kind of being do you think he is?" Dr. Kipling nodded, changing the subject, and asked with a serious expression.

"Him?"

Ji Zijun's gaze became distant.

After a long pause, she whispered, "I believe he is a human mage who wields immense power, comparable to a god. Yes, a human mage."

Ji Zijun emphasized the word "human."

"Perhaps in his pursuit of power, he left his homeland, and now he wants to return. While traveling through space and time, he unintentionally came to our world."

"Perhaps our world is very similar to his homeland, which is the fundamental reason why he was so agitated and lost his composure when he first appeared."

"This is also one of the reasons why he has never actively attacked us and has even shown us great 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?"

Ji Zijun murmured, and the conference room had quietly fallen silent.

Everyone was straining their ears, listening to her perceptions and judgments.

"He should detest evil."

"When he said he wanted to meet the God of Abundance, I thought he was an evil god believer. Now I understand, that was sarcasm. He was going to kill it!"

"That magic spell is the best evidence."

"He summoned even more powerful monsters and killed the God of Abundance who was plaguing the human world!"

As Ji Zijun said this, the expressions of everyone in the conference room varied.

"Summoning monsters to attack monsters, no matter how you look at it, sounds like absurd fantasy from a fictional novel?"

A doctor couldn't help but say this. He was Streitge, employed by the Foundation's science department.

"No, that's absolutely not fantasy. If that monster wasn't summoned by Arthur, then why would the monster obey his command and only attack the God of Abundance? This is absolutely because the monster was controlled by Arthur," Ji Zijun argued.

Streitge smiled and didn't argue.

As a researcher, he disliked pointless arguments. A single point was enough.

The key was actual research results.

"We have recorded Arthur chanting the magic spell, and the science department has already begun deciphering it. Currently, this language is completely different from all known language systems, so the pronunciation is quite strange and requires specialized personnel for training. Whether this is summoning magic from fictional literature or not, we'll know after an experiment," a senior Foundation member said in a deep voice.

'I'm just afraid nothing will happen even if you recite it.'

Ji Zijun couldn't help but retort in her mind, but she didn't say it out loud.