"Catalog No. F-375611 Black Box, [Fragment Echo], status stable, ready!"
Resting Mausoleum, before the densely packed gravestones.
Several researchers in white coats carefully operated a projector that looked extremely old, mounted on a stand.
A clear image appeared before everyone—
"Slash!"
It came with a soft shout.
A blinding screen of light appeared before everyone.
Even the Major, wearing sunglasses, couldn't help closing his eyes as the intense light stabbed at them.
As the light slowly faded, the image that entered everyone's view was Deputy Han, lying on the ground with one arm severed, and...
The figure of a handsome young boy.
—To everyone's shock, what the boy held in his hand wasn't a knife, but a...
Fire Poker?!
The image abruptly ended there.
"—That kid from Evening City?"
An officer couldn't believe it. "How could it be him?"
"Are there any other images?"
The officer turned to the researchers.
The researchers all shook their heads.
"As you know... the fragments that [Fragment Echo] can project aren't controllable."
As they spoke, the researchers carefully disassembled the old camera and put it back into the Black Box.
"Perhaps..."
The Major's expression darkened, his gaze behind his sunglasses turning icy. "All of our eyes have been gnawed out by rats."
"How could we have let someone like this in!"
"Could he be from the Blood Worship Cult...?" an officer asked suspiciously.
"An Extraordinary one this young would have to be at least Level 2. It's impossible for him to have no foundation in the Blood Worship Cult."
"Let a genius with the potential to advance to a Level 6 title go undercover? Have they gone mad!"
"Is it some special trial, or... has he set his sights on our industrial chain?"
At that, the Major shook his head.
"No. Judging from that pure white Holy Light..."
"He absolutely isn't from the Blood Worship Cult!"
But the Major did not relax because of this.
Instead, his expression grew even more solemn. He muttered uncertainly:
"Summoning Holy Light, a weapon without a blade... Those seem more like the style of the [Holy Relic Institute]?"
"The [Holy Relic Institute]?"
The officer froze for a moment before finally digging the origin of this name out from the depths of his memory. His eyes gradually filled with shock.
Because the name was far too ancient.
So ancient that it existed only at the bottom of some dust-covered files or in the marginal notes of certain documents.
But their signature style did indeed seem to be Holy Light in the left hand and a weapon without a blade in the right...
"The Sun Knight of the [Holy Relic Institute] was recorded as having traits extremely similar to those displayed by that kid."
The Major said coldly:
"Otherwise, I can't think of anyone else in Tinghai who has mastered an Extraordinary Path capable of using Holy Light!"
Those monsters whose mouths were filled with mercy and benevolence had once been the dominant force on Tinghai City's orderly side during a certain era.
How many Extraordinary societies had been wiped out by their hands? They had voluntarily carried out the Authorities' duties as a semiofficial force.
But their era of activity had been far too long ago. They had vanished without a trace fifty years earlier, before the Special Management Department even existed.
"This Bai Zhou may or may not be one of them... but that no longer matters."
"Even if the so-called [Holy Relic Institute] truly still exists, they're nothing but old relics that were swept into the trash heap long ago."
"The era has already changed."
The Major pushed up his sunglasses, his tone decisive and beyond dispute.
"—What matters is that Bai Zhou must die!"
"And as soon as possible!"
—Because the Account Book on Deputy Han had gone missing!
As the last person to come into contact with Deputy Han, Bai Zhou was clearly the prime suspect.
Not only that,
Bai Zhou had escaped through the Secret Passage in the Resting Mausoleum.
Before he left, there were signs that every gravestone had been tampered with...
—Clearly, Bai Zhou knew far too much.
The officers understood the seriousness of the matter even without the Major saying it, and their hearts turned cold.
"This is a tremendous disgrace, isn't it?"
The Major swept his gaze across the officers and reprimanded them coldly,
"He deceived every one of us and quietly learned many of our secrets..."
"But we know nothing about him!"
The Major berated the officers until they couldn't lift their heads. No one dared provoke him at a time like this.
But...
Wasn't he the one who had personally recruited Bai Zhou?
Some officers secretly grumbled inwardly.
"Rest assured."
At that moment, an officer stepped forward and volunteered:
"I'll personally lead the team to capture him. I'll bring the [Sword Bearer]."
The Major's cold expression softened somewhat.
"Fine."
"But it's still not enough."
He shook his head. "To ensure there are no mishaps..."
Suddenly, he turned to the officer in charge of the Logistics Department beside him.
"Where was Bai Zhou's Dormitory assigned?"
The Major abruptly asked,
"Before we cast a Heavenly Net around him, I want to know what exactly he has done here, and..."
"What kind of person he really is."
No one knew anything about Bai Zhou.
The only person at the base who knew him reasonably well was already dead.
After all, before today, no one had ever taken a nobody like Bai Zhou seriously.
The last time they had heard that name was when Deputy Han chose Bai Zhou as his "New Sheep."
—But no one could have imagined it.
The supposedly weak lamb had transformed in the blink of an eye into a Black Goat, writhing with tentacles as it rose onto its hind legs...
And devoured the shepherd instead.
"To ensure you kill someone, you can't know nothing about him."
"Bring over the best psychological profiler. Within half an hour, I want to see a profile of Bai Zhou!"
The Major waved his hand grandly and had the Logistics supervisor lead the way,
"Take me there!
Tinghai City.
Bai Zhou mingled with the bustling crowd.
He navigated by map and spent a long while before finally determining his current coordinates.
Then he discovered a problem—
He only knew that north was up, south down, west left, and east right when looking at a map—
But he didn't recognize southeast, northwest, or any of the real-world directions.
Fortunately, he still had Ya.
Bai Zhou turned his head to look to the side.
The petite Ya walked along while reading the Account Book as if no one else existed, her head lowered in deep concentration.
—Bai Zhou was very worried she would walk straight into a utility pole.
"Most of the Account Book's contents are encrypted."
After a while, Ya snapped the Account Book shut. Her expression was strangely cold.
"But I identified the names of several budget-allocation projects inside."
"The Shepherd Plan, the Talent Cultivation Plan, the Park Construction Project, and..."
Ya glanced at Bai Zhou as if weighing her words.
"The Late City Material Ward Experiment!"
"..."
Bai Zhou's heart lurched.
His worst guess had come true.
Everyone in the alleys of Corner Street was someone who had watched him grow up.
Uncle Xiang and the others... how were they doing now?
"As for the so-called 'park,' it should be an important component of their industrial chain."
"...It's more convenient for me to move around. I have a few suspicions that I can investigate while I'm at it."
She turned to look at Bai Zhou.
"The pursuers won't catch up for a while. You can find somewhere to eat first."
"Let's meet at the intersection of Dongxing Road that you mentioned later."
"All right." Bai Zhou nodded.
Eat something?
He was indeed a little hungry.
But it wasn't time yet...
Just as he was thinking this, Ya disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Being elusive was her trademark. Now that she had left the base, she was even more like a fish returned to the sea.
But...
Bai Zhou scratched his head.
A tuft of cowlick on top of his head stuck straight up like an antenna.
On the bustling, brightly lit street, Bai Zhou stood outside a convenience store and blinked.
But—
Since he couldn't find his way around, how was he supposed to get to Dongxing Road?
In the end, Bai Zhou was forced to overcome his social anxiety and introversion,
and ask an unfamiliar couple by the roadside for directions.
During the exchange, the girl's clothes were quite distinctive, and Bai Zhou couldn't help taking a couple of curious glances.
The girl rolled her eyes, but also seemed faintly pleased by her own charm as she tugged at her clothes.
After sincerely thanking the kind couple, Bai Zhou left with the Briefcase in hand...
Only after Bai Zhou had walked some distance away did the girl finally realize something. She turned to her boyfriend and shouted:
"—Why didn't you tell me I was wearing my clothes inside out?!"
"Ugh, it's so tight."
Bai Zhou bared his teeth a little as he hurried along.
The dark-gold ring had twelve spikes that dug painfully into his flesh, its thorny band tightly constricting Bai Zhou's index finger.
—Of course, it was the mysterious Crown of Thorns.
It had merely temporarily transformed into a "Thorn Ring."
Originally, Bai Zhou had planned to take the risk and steal the Crown directly.
But when he took the Crown out in the Black Room, the Sea of Ignorance within his body began to churn. The luminous characters glimmered, causing the Crown to react faintly.
—There was some reaction, but not much.
It had roughly trembled twice, just to show it had noticed.
Then nothing.
—But this also proved that Bai Zhou's earlier reasoning had been correct.
If he wanted to solve the Crown's problem, he had to go to that Battlefield Ruins to search!
But just as Bai Zhou fished the Crown out of the water tank and lamented that it was too large to hide—
The Crown of Thorns suddenly shrank, becoming small enough to resemble a ring, and clamped itself around Bai Zhou's index finger.
—It could do that too?
This mutation left Bai Zhou both delighted and astonished.
Those twelve lines of "Refusal to Acknowledge" never sounded again...
This showed that Crown still had never fully acknowledged Bai Zhou.
But the existence of "light" seemed to make "Crown" willing to observe Bai Zhou for a while.
Perhaps, in a certain sense, the existence of "light"—or rather, Laia's blessing—was also a kind of "qualification."
Although this "qualification" was very, very minor, barely enough to cross the threshold for becoming an observation candidate.
—But Bai Zhou was the only observation candidate.
That was good enough.
But the problem was...
After putting it on and coming out, he discovered that the ring seemed to have grown into his flesh. He could not quite take it off.
Unless he was willing to chop off his own finger...
Since he could not figure out Crown's exact nature, carrying it around gave Bai Zhou the uneasy feeling of having a time bomb strapped to him.
When Ya had asked that strange question earlier, he knew—
Ya had never encountered this situation either.
Fortunately, for some reason, Ya had always known the standard sealing methods for Crown of Thorns.
It seemed that Ya understood Crown of Thorns to a certain extent... but not much.
She probably did not know about the so-called twelve "Refusals to Acknowledge," either.
A conceited fellow like that had probably never been rejected so many times in his life.
—This Crown definitely had something of a rejection-prone personality.
Fortunately, it was Bai Zhou. He had thick skin and a good mentality.
This time, his own safety was at stake. Once Ya returned, he would have to ask her more about Crown.
Hopefully, he would get something out of it—
After walking for an hour, Bai Zhou passed through several intersections.
After leaving the bustling commercial district, the streets grew increasingly deserted, and fewer and fewer pedestrians passed by.
The air gradually turned colder, and even the light grew scarcer.
Walking along the pitch-black, deserted road, Bai Zhou felt less unfamiliarity and a little more familiarity instead.
Evening City's nights were far darker than this.
It was just that the moon here was too white, lending everything a desolate air.
It was not red enough, not festive enough, and Bai Zhou found it difficult to adapt.
After a while.
At two-thirty in the morning, the heat of the day had completely dissipated, and mist gradually rose in the distance.
The traveler in the late-night fog finally reached his destination.
Dongxing Road had arrived.
This place seemed to be a remote, semi-suburban area. The roads were neither clean nor smooth, there were very few shops with signs along the roadside, and none of them were open.
Bai Zhou searched along the road and only found the Yongning Life Care Center after quite some time.
Actually, before this...
Bai Zhou had always thought that this so-called life care center would be something like a nursing home.
But what appeared before him was a tightly closed gate and a black signboard.
"What's this...?"
[Yongning Life Care Center]
[Funeral Services · Cremation · Cemetery Customization · End-of-Life Stand-Up Comedy Planning]
A promotional slogan was also pasted on the gate:
"Enjoy eternal final peace. Let us customize the last page of your life!"
—Bai Zhou was dumbfounded.
So this was what "Yongning" meant? And this was what "life care" meant?
Eternal peace? Funeral services and cremation?
Bai Zhou was very familiar with this.
The people of Evening City understood this best of all.
"Is this how Blue Star People name things?"
—No wonder this street was so deserted.
But that made things convenient for Bai Zhou.
Surely no living person would come wandering around a funeral home at two in the morning, right?
Amid the rising mist, Bai Zhou looked around, walked beneath the large tree in front of the gate, and glanced at the tree pit.
Then he took out the Black Short Club...
Half a minute later.
Bai Zhou really did dig a book out from beneath the tree.
He gave it two quick slaps, shaking off the dirt, and his spirits rose.
"Swish..."
The air seemed to turn into flowing water, carrying a faint stickiness, as though the book itself were resisting being picked up.
The heavy Mysterious Book was not a perfect rectangular cuboid like an ordinary book. Certain parts were inexplicably asymmetrical and irregular, and staring at it too long created the discomfort of spatial dislocation.
Several massive Dark Metal Chains inexplicably covered its spine, as though they had grown outward from within.
Its cover was made of a mysterious, almost metallic Mysterious Leather. It was a lifeless blue-green, reflecting an eerie luster beneath the pale moonlight, like abyssal seawater or aged copper patina.
Etched upon it was a huge, incomprehensible Composite Symbol.
At first glance, it looked like an eye.
"..."
With a rhythm resembling breathing, the smell of earth and the scent of Deep Sea Silt from some unknown source wafted faintly from the book.
It was as though Bai Zhou had not dug a book out of the soil.
—But rather, a living corpse.
Something like this absolutely should not have been casually buried in a tree pit in front of a funeral home...
It should have been worshiped upon a mysterious, grotesque altar, or simply buried as a taboo within some grand ruin!
There was no doubt that the moment he took hold of it, he could feel the pale desolation of death rushing toward him, along with the vicissitudes of the world's passing. He knew that it was absolutely not a counterfeit.
This was what the Special Management Department, the Blood Worship Cult, and countless others had fought desperately over...
Dead Sea Scrolls!
"Finally, it's mine!"
Bai Zhou took a deep breath and, by the light of the bright moon, opened the book's cover.
The writing on the Title Page entered his eyes.
It was a gorgeous script, almost symbolic in nature, the sort that would not have seemed out of place at any mysterious ritual.
But the instant he saw it, Bai Zhou's mind shook violently. A distant, solemn whisper, almost like a dream, inexplicably rang in his ears.
Then, he somehow understood the meaning of the writing on the Title Page, because those words overlapped with the whispers continuously echoing in his ears...
It said:
[Those who cross this page shall know that "understanding" is the beginning of "annihilation"]
[This is not a domain the foolish should know. This is the truth of Myriad Phenomena Crawling...]
It also said—
[Thousand-Faced Moon, Waiting For You To Enter Dream]
Before you continue