"All right, Brother Yi. Give me a second. It's just a simple edit. It won't take long."
Chen Yu had barely heard that crystals were about to be handed out when his fingers flew across the keyboard. In no time, he had spliced Lin Yi's combat footage together with his later instructional video.
He thought for a moment, then came up with a simple, straightforward title.
[Doomsday Survival Tutorial: Learn This and Kill Until the Monsters Won't Dare Come Near You!—Source Energy Training from the Front Lines at Hongfu Tower in Helu City]
Chen Yu let out a long breath and pressed the Publish button with his thumb. His Moyin account, which had over two hundred thousand followers and usually featured gaming and collectible unboxing videos, was instantly thrust into the eye of the storm.
"Done! Everyone, search for 'A Yu Loves Playing' on Moyin and help share it. Send it to as many people as you can!"
Almost everyone in the Banquet Hall instinctively pulled out their phones and searched for Chen Yu's account. They shared the video first, then opened it to watch.
After a brief network delay, the video loaded and began to play.
Soon, they saw Lin Yi appear on-screen in Dark Armor. Then came the Black Iron Long Staff, tearing through the air with a low, sharp whistle; the Corrosive Abyss Wolf, its bones shattering beneath the flurry of blows before it disintegrated into dust; and Lin Yi calmly picking up the crystal and retrieving his weapon under the watchful eyes of the Abyssal Wolves surrounding him...
After watching the video, Zhou Jinghua's eyes were already red.
She had seen Lin Yi's armor damaged twice and witnessed the pain he endured while training, but he had come through those ordeals safely. They hadn't made much of an impression on her.
This time, however, she watched her son weave through a horde of monsters and fight for his life right there on the screen. The sight violently clashed with the image she had held of him for years: a quiet student who studied hard and never gave anyone cause to worry.
She felt a strange, unfamiliar fear, yet at the same time, a pride and heartache she couldn't put into words.
Everyone else was just as shaken by the bloody, brutal, yet clean and decisive battle footage. For a moment, the entire Fujin Hall fell into an eerie silence.
But Chen Yu's voice soon broke it.
"Holy crap! Holy crap, Brother Yi, that... that was incredible!"
Chen Yu didn't need to watch the video again, so after posting it, he had been keeping his eyes on the comments. Now he pointed at the flood of messages racing across his screen, too excited to speak coherently.
"It's only... it's only been up for a little while, and it's already passed ten thousand views! The comments are going crazy!"
"That fast?"
Lin Yi was a little surprised, too.
Back in his previous life, when the monsters first descended, he had mainly searched online for survival information and reports about the Abyssal Beasts after getting through the initial crisis. He had also looked for the rescue areas covered by local police. He hadn't paid much attention to what online celebrities were posting.
Before long, the signal had vanished and the internet had gone down. Aside from those who had radios, everyone else had become an isolated island of information.
So when Lin Yi heard Chen Yu say that, he couldn't help feeling curious about what impact his actions would have.
This really was something he knew nothing about.
Thinking of that, Lin Yi lowered his head and took out his phone, opening Chen Yu's Moyin account.
The first thing he saw was the title of Chen Yu's latest video.
Lin Yi's mouth twitched. He tapped into the comments, and a flood of messages instantly filled the screen.
[What kind of game cinematic is this? I just woke up and saw it. The effects look pretty good. A Yu, when did you turn into a clickbait monster?]
[Did you stay up so late you lost your mind? You're damn lucky you're still alive! Why are people like you fine sleeping at home?]
[He's telling the truth! Our school killed a monster, too, and it dropped a Gray Crystal. It had something called "Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique" inside, too. We're hiding in the school building, and there are a bunch of monsters wandering around downstairs. Location: Shicheng No. 29 Middle School. Help!]
[My whole family is gone. They covered for me so I could hide in a room, and there's a monster scratching at the door outside. Haha, I don't want to live anymore, either. I'm going out to fight that beast.]
[Why did these monsters suddenly appear? They've made it all look like a game. Are Higher Dimensional Life forms messing with us lowly beings?]
[Where's the military?! Where are the troops? What about missiles and nuclear bombs?!]
[Could you explain the Guidance Technique in more detail? What exactly does "a tingling sensation like warm winter sunlight" feel like? I've been sitting cross-legged for half an hour, and my legs are numb, but I don't feel anything.]
[To the person asking where the military is: do you think they don't want to save you? If they weren't keeping the monsters tied up, you'd be facing a lot more than the ones in front of you!]
[Stop calling the police. It's no use. They're doing everything they can to rescue people. All you can do is pray you're lucky enough to be near a police station. The right thing to do now is check online to see who's near you and get in touch while you can. Location: No. 445 Jinling Street, Linjiang District, XX City. Anyone nearby, contact me!]
[I'm near Hongfu Tower! Somebody, help! There are several wolves outside! I thought I could only wait to die, but now I think I might survive. Location: 996 Convenience Store, diagonally across from Hongfu Tower. Please, someone, come save us!]
[Location: Zi Feng Tower. The military has been beaten back three times already. You'd better not come. I'm just waiting to die now, but I'm at peace with it. I hope the military learns this Source Energy someday and avenges us. Here's a picture of this Great Serpent. Image. Image.]
Lin Yi's gaze lingered for a moment on several comments asking for help and for more details about the Guidance Technique. He sighed silently to himself.
There wasn't much he could do right now, but the person asking for help at the convenience store could be his next target.
Then Lin Yi put away his phone and looked back at the round table.
Seven dusty gray Spirit Shine Crystals lay there quietly.
"Everyone."
Lin Yi's voice wasn't loud, but every gaze turned toward him.
"There are seven crystals. When I picked them up, I already knew what was inside. Three contain the Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique, another three contain Level 1 Source Energy Crystal Bodies, and the last one..."
He paused before continuing. "It's a portable Source Energy Detector."
The news lifted Lin Yi's spirits a little.
After all, this thing would be very useful in the early stages.
But Source Energy Detectors usually only came from white or green crystals. The chance of one dropping from a Gray Crystal was extremely low.
The portable Source Energy Detector found in a Gray Crystal was the most basic model. It had a limited detection range and was practically useless against truly powerful fighters. But in the early stages... especially when dealing with these low-tier Abyssal Beasts, it was practically a divine weapon!
Its many practical functions—including locating targets, communication, and, most importantly, detecting the Source Energy levels of living beings—made it more useful in the early stages than some of the items found in blue crystals.
"A detector?" Chen Yu craned his neck curiously.
"What does it do?" Zhou Jianjun immediately asked. His soldier's instincts made him especially sensitive to the word "detection."
Lin Yi didn't answer right away. Instead, he took the inconspicuous gray crystal and squeezed it gently while everyone watched with bated breath.
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out as it broke.
But this time, no gray mist burst from the crystal. Instead, a small, intensely condensed Light Sphere emerged, flickering with faint blue-white electrical arcs.
It was only about the size of a billiard ball and hovered a few centimeters above Lin Yi's palm, making a soft crackling sound.
It seemed to be made of liquid metal and flowing light. Its internal structure rapidly spun, shifted, and collapsed. The process lasted less than two seconds before the unstable Light Sphere abruptly contracted inward and solidified.
As the light faded, a delicate device rested in Lin Yi's palm.
It was an extremely futuristic-looking device.
Its shape resembled an ear-hook headset. The main body was a deep matte black with a fine, sandblasted texture.
At the front of the ear hook was a tiny sensor module, slightly smaller than a fingernail and shaped like a flattened teardrop.
The whole device looked sleek and lightweight, with a distinctly high-tech feel.
"So this is... a portable Detector?"
Zhou Yuxuan pushed up his glasses and leaned in for a closer look. "You wear it over your ear?"
"How do you use it?" Chen Yu asked eagerly.
Lin Yi didn't answer. Pretending this was his first time handling the equipment, he carefully picked it up between his index finger and thumb. Then he paused, as if recalling the information the crystal had transmitted, before gently hooking the curved section over the top of his right ear.
Next, Lin Yi raised his right hand and pressed his index finger precisely against a tiny circular button on the side of the sensor module, so small it was almost indistinguishable from the casing.
Beep...
A faint sound, as if it were coming straight from the bones of his ear, reached him.
The next second, a nearly transparent, pale blue screen appeared out of thin air before Lin Yi's right eye.
The screen was just the size and shape of a frameless eyeglass lens.
It didn't interfere with Lin Yi's view of the real world, but the scene visible to his right eye was overlaid with a clear layer of information.
Before you continue