Tinghai

Biodata

Background / History

Tinghai Metropolitan Area was formed after the Eastern Federation's establishment by integrating nearby cities, towns, and villages, with Tinghai City as its capital. Its population numbers in the tens of millions, and its cultural and civilizational heritage predates the Federation by centuries. Despite this foundation, the metropolitan area ranks 285th among the Federation's large metropolitan areas. 160 267

Tinghai lies along the coast near the Western Federation and was strongly influenced by the Western Federation during the wars of previous decades. 278

Before the Federation era, Tinghai's Mystic World was dominated by conflict between the Blood Worship Cult and the Holy Relic Institute. Their mutual destruction left no single lawful hegemon; the local Reset Pact subsequently became the leading force before being divided into the Black Box Special Management Department and the Bureau of Anomalous Investigation. 267 278

In the present day, Tinghai is a dense industrial city of skyscrapers, neon lights, heavy traffic, and large smokestacks. Economic stagnation has also left unfinished “ghost buildings” among its commercial districts. 63 80 81

The city's Lower City remains comparatively neglected, with a weak Authority presence and impoverished residents vulnerable to criminal and mystic exploitation. 372

Appearance

Tinghai presents itself as a modern coastal metropolis, marked by the illuminated “Tinghai Welcome You” landmark, high-rise commercial buildings, and active streets even late at night. 17 63

• Steel-and-concrete urban landscape with industrial chimneys and dense traffic. 63 80
• Coastal business districts containing abandoned or unfinished commercial buildings. 81
• A cityscape of neon lighting and crowded nighttime streets. 63
• The Lower City contrasts sharply with the modern commercial districts, characterized by poverty, decaying infrastructure, and limited official control. 372
• Its Reflection Ruins counterpart bears the hostile sign “Tinghai Excludes You.” 64

Mystic World Structure

Under the Ordinance Hall's supervision, Tinghai's official Mystic World apparatus includes two first-level institutions and four second-level institutions, with the FZDC and Armory among the latter. The heads of these major departments are generally called directors; their leaders are commonly Three-Life Lifeforgers, while deputy directors are generally Lifeforgers above Level 6. 420

The missing Director of the Black Box Special Management Department holds exceptional historical status. Also called the Chief Administrator or Chief Resetter, he was the legendary founder of Tinghai's modern Mystic World order; no successor has held his Director's seat since his departure. 420

Anomalous Characteristics

Reflection Tinghai

Tinghai possesses a Reflection Ruins Realm counterpart described as the “Backside of Blue Star.” It is a distorted, dangerous mirror of the Present World where different periods of Tinghai's past and present overlap. 64 65

• Familiar buildings can appear in grotesquely altered forms. 65
• The realm is populated by anomalies and hostile entities. 65
• Entering it may produce a sense of rejection in outsiders; certain objects tied to Tinghai can lessen that effect. 117
• The Reflection city's Clock Tower displays the sign “Tinghai Excludes You.” 64
• At “thirty-six o’clock,” the Reflection city's Bell Tower can forcibly expel its occupants back into the Present World. 77

Mystic Secrecy and Disaster Response

Tinghai's official institutions maintain extensive citywide measures to conceal the Mystic World from the ordinary public. During major supernatural incidents, hidden devices and rituals can be activated across the city to distort visual evidence, reduce anomalous phenomena's sense of presence, and alter public consciousness. 218

• The FZDC was established to prevent and respond to extraordinary disaster tides, including the secrecy work needed to preserve the boundary between the Mystic World and ordinary society. 218
• During the Saint Ascension crisis, citywide consciousness-distortion and hypnosis rituals were deployed to obscure sky-piercing pillars of light, giant pythons, and other impossible phenomena. 218
• Despite such measures, large-scale battles and explosions repeatedly provoke public panic, online speculation, and competing mundane explanations. 203 218

City History and Spirituality

Tinghai's history has a direct mystical significance. When Bai Zhou's deeds were entered into both the Ashen Remains Archive and Tinghai's local chronicles, the city's Urban Spirituality sharply increased for three seconds. 228 229

• Bai Zhou perceived Tinghai's land, civilization, and innumerable forebears as acknowledging and thanking him. 228
• Officials interpreted his appearance in the city's historical record as proof that he was a Hero recognized by Tinghai itself. 229
• The city's history can be altered on a massive scale: after Luo Tunan's defeat, public records and the memories of Tinghai's residents instead identified Elder Wu as the culprit. 242 243
• Bai Zhou and Ya retained memories of Luo Tunan, leading them to suspect the use of a B-Class Black Box by an unknown mastermind. 243 244
• The altered account is internally convincing enough that Elder Wu's established status as a Magic Pattern Master, Armory founder, and long-standing official power broker makes him appear a more plausible architect of the catastrophe than Luo Tunan. 243

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Bai Zhou's arrival — Bai Zhou first emerges into Tinghai from the underground base beneath Oddities General Store and sees the city for the first time. 17
• Reflection Ruins incidents — Tinghai's Reflection counterpart becomes the setting for Bai Zhou's investigations, including the Yuanmeng Middle School crisis and the battle against the Demon. 64 117 149
• “Senior Student Zhou” panic — After Bai Zhou kills the Demon, his anonymous identity sparks citywide attention, bounties, and competition among Tinghai's hidden factions. 152 153
• Major Luo's citywide crisis — Explosions around Longluo Private Middle School and Soaring Egret Mountain, followed by Major Luo's Saint Ascension preparations, throw the city into panic and force its institutions to deploy large-scale concealment measures. 203 218 220
• Luo Tunan's Saint Ascension — Tinghai becomes the center of Major Luo's plan to use the city and its inhabitants in his pursuit of sainthood. 220
• Recognition of Tinghai's Savior — Following Luo Tunan's defeat, the Gem Witch clears Bai Zhou's name before Tinghai's official forces, and the city records his deeds in its history. 228 229
• Erasure of Luo Tunan — Tinghai's altered records subsequently cast Elder Wu as the architect of the catastrophe, leaving Bai Zhou to investigate the missing truth. 242 243
• Blood Worship Cult resurgence — Bai Zhou's emergence as the Seven Sins Institute's new Institute Head under the identity of [Sloth] destabilizes Tinghai's balance of power. The Authorities raise the bounty on the S-rank fugitive [Quickblade Demon], strengthen surveillance, and prepare a joint operation against the Blood Worship Cult. 372 373
• Armory inheritance crisis — The hidden Lower City Armory, containing hundreds of unfinished Black Warriors and a large stockpile of Magic Pattern weaponry, becomes a potential foundation for whoever seeks to seize control of Tinghai. 368
• Citywide upheaval — Bai Zhou's clashes with cultists, Lifeforgers, and anomalous beings leave devastated districts and force the Authorities to manage simultaneous crises involving the Blood Worship Cult and unexplained destructive battles. 378 403
• Ancient secrets beneath Tinghai — Investigation of submerged ruins links Tinghai's hidden past to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Crystal Skull, the Blood Worship Cult's Saint Son, and a possible conspiracy predating the Federation and its official institutions. 420