Act Zero: Prologue

[Prat①·Tales of Snake Island]

After more than a month of construction, the coffee shop that Meteor had been longing for finally took shape.

The anonymous group of friends squatted in the prefabricated construction site, packing their gear and preparing for their trip to Red Star Hill.

Jiang Xueming, meanwhile, was squatting in front of his laptop, conducting international communications.

Jason Megan had already set off ahead of time to scout out the Northern Territory and gather supplies at the trading post to prepare warm clothing and tools for the journey.

"How's it going?" Xue Ming put on his headset and talked to Jason about the trip.

Jason's sighing voice came from the other end of the phone.

"It's terrible, just as bad as last time. I can't find suitable stress-resistant and cold-weather clothing in Iceland. There are too many of you, so we need to make them to order, especially for Bu Liuxing. I simply can't buy his clothes."

"Last time? Which time are you referring to?" Jiang Xueming inquired about Jason's past, "When you were exploring the Northern Territory with Wendy Mills, did you also encounter this predicament?"

"Not really." Jason perked up when talking about the former waitress. "She was a very skillful person. All she had to do was kill Inspiration Deer and Arctic Fox to make sturdy, durable, and warm clothing. Last time we bought things from the people at the Albert trading post, those Slavs were unreasonable barbarians. The prices they quoted were outrageous—the closer we got to Red Star Hill, the scarcer the supplies were, and the higher the prices naturally became."

Xue Ming: "Three years later, nothing has changed at all?"

Jason: "What else could possibly change in that place? Aside from the exceptionally daring VIPs looking for some truly outrageous fun, probably only the Madness Butterfly Sect would attempt to venture into Red Star Hill."

Upon hearing the name of the Madness Butterfly Sect, Xue Ming frowned.

He never imagined that this deadly place would also attract these ruthless criminals.

Why do these guys want to go to Red Star Hill?

Jason: "You can only see them occasionally. In that godforsaken place, let alone humans, even monsters are considered precious protected animals. These audacious and Madness Butterfly Sect embarked on this perilous journey to seize the Immortal Lune within the bodies of the Death Giant."

Xue Ming: "What specific sect is it? Have you looked into it?"

Jason: "Its name is [Lord of Cinder]."

Upon hearing the familiar words, the meteor immediately came to join in the fun.

"Shall we pass the torch?"

Jason immediately explained, "It's not what you think, Bu Liuxing —I'm not joking with you at this point. Seriously speaking, these cultists who want to seize the Immortal Lune are very likely the same group that stole the Rune from the Ancestral Palace back then, and the culprits who caused Commander Jessica to become neither human nor ghost."

Xue Ming: "Do they also want to become [[Outlaw]]?"

"I know very little about these things. Most of the information about the Dead Puppet Agency is classified as β-secret. Unless you hold a high position or have obtained a VIP qualification certificate to explore the deepest runic mysteries of the Dead Puppet Agency— " Jason finished speaking halfway through the rules, then began to state the facts. "Ordinary people wouldn't know about this. However, regarding the question you asked, I think the possibility is extremely slim. The people of the Madness Butterfly Sect hate and despise the Immortals the most."

Xue Ming: "Is it related to their doctrines?"

Jason: "That's right, the Madness Butterfly Sect has many names and many variations, but they all stay true to the same principle. Anything related to the Vita Imprint has a complete life cycle, and most of these people consider fusion and death extremely important—if someone is immortal, that is the most vicious and severe punishment for a member of the cult."

Xue Ming: "."

Jason continued, "Like the eternal cycle of reincarnation in other religions, life is constantly evolving, changing its form in the torrent of time. The people of the Madness Butterfly Sect always mix their blood with other things to adapt to the new era, to create new life, and the most glorious and greatest moment is when they face death after fulfilling their mission."

Xue Ming: "What about Mary Stuart? Why is what she's after different?"

Jason analyzed, "Because she's not religious at all—she didn't regard the Vita Imprint and the Blessed Holy Blood as some supreme god. All her motives and all her outcomes were simply about surviving, living long enough, and living a good life."

Xue Ming wrote this information down in the electronic file, and then continued the previous topic.

"Back to the [Lords of Cinder] – how much do you know about them?"

"Wendy and I once met a Lord of Cinder, and like the Hand of Omnipotence, they were Blood Butterfly fundamentalists. They were named that—just like the Harvest Ritual of the Council of Five Kings." Jason spoke of the station's traditional festival, "The BOSS's crucifixion brought the Universal Elixir, and he bestowed the essence of his body upon the passengers like holy blood. Those who perform this ritual for the BOSS will become kings."

Based on the five VIPs' gem attributes, reasoning, and achievements.

"They are divided into three categories: Hunter King, Detective King, and King Crafters. Those who survive to become BOSS Attendants will relinquish their names and live out the rest of their lives under this title."

Jason sent a picture--

--It is the emblem created by the Lord of Cinder himself, a golden-red chariot of flames, the carriage shaped like a sun. The chariot is pulled by unicorns.

"And these [Cult of Cinder] are like kings who offer up their essence during the harvest season; they will use the power of the Madness Butterfly to gather essence, burn themselves, and become the sun of the underworld."

Xue Ming: "How long have these people existed in the underworld?"

"It's called fundamentalism, but it's actually a new sect," Jason replied. "During the Cold War, the nuclear arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States showed the world the power of this artificial sun—and immediately members of the Madness Butterfly Sect began to organize and plot to acquire this power."

Xue Ming: "They can even handcraft uranium-235?"

"No, compared to the hardships and obstacles on the path of science, these people prefer to use mysterious things to achieve this goal. Just imagine, Soul Power is such a magical thing, what if someone really can do it?" Jason analyzed logically, "Long-term nuclear testing requires researchers who are neither knocked down nor killed. Soul Power, an experimental subject that is extremely unstable and changes with spiritual energy, will induce many experimental accidents—and thus, Immortal Lune have become the power that the [Lords of Cinder] desperately crave."

Xue Ming: "That's amazing!"

Jason continued, "Tell me my story, Jiang Xueming. I really didn't want to go to this place."

Xue Ming: "Is it because it's too dangerous?"

Jason: "No, I'm not afraid of danger."

Xue Ming: "Why is that?"

Jason patiently explained, then brought up another matter.

"There are many reasons, but the most important one is that the Red Star Hill outpost was part of the Soviets pioneering team—"

"--My hometown is Romania. In my father's generation, it belonged to the Warsaw Pact, but then the Soviet Union collapsed overnight, and Romania returned to NATO. My hometown is Sulina, a very beautiful seaport."

"Do you know what this means? I was born while still learning Russian, and later English, but I rarely speak the Dacian dialect of my hometown anymore. I am a person whose homeland was taken away, repeatedly dominated by demons from the East and demons from the West."

"My mother tongue is my true home. Just imagine how terrifying it would be if you went back to Hengyin City and everyone there started speaking Japanese."

"Everything you knew became unrecognizable. Later, Ukraine and my motherland began to fight over the ownership of Snake Island because researchers said that there were very rich oil and gas resources around Snake Island, and there was a military base on that island. My father was there, only 100 kilometers away from my Sulina Port, and he died in the armed conflict."

"I hate the Cossacks, I hate the Slavs, I hate their insatiable greed—their desire to cross half the Black Sea to invade other people's territory, kill their fathers, kill their children, and seize their land."

"What about the hill where the Red Star is? What can it bring me? I don't understand the BOSS's arrangements, not at all—it's a useless spectacle created in the underground world when the Soviets and Americans were arm wrestling. I went to this place with Wendy to become a VIP, and in the end, I even lost my most important lover and friend."

Jason's tone was heavy, sinister, and terrifying.

"Jiang Xueming, can you imagine? If you have a vengeful enemy who killed your father, and the BOSS asks you to help them, to help them expand their camp, to help them explore the unknown land of the dead, and in the end you even lose your beloved waiter, ending up covered in scars, running back to the station in a sorry state."

Jiang Xueming: "Let's go find her together."

Jason sneered and retorted, "Really? Although the BOSS kept telling me that Wendy had only disappeared, that she was missing, not dead—I know in my heart that she definitely wouldn't live much longer. No matter how terrifying a calamity beast is, it's difficult for it to survive in the Northern Territory, let alone humans who are lost in the lightless Sauvage, inhaling poisonous gas and hiding from the Death Giant."

Jiang Xueming mentioned Jason's current waitress. "Your waitress happens to be both a Cossack and a Slav—her name is Katusha."

"I understand what the boss means." Jason interrupted immediately, "I know, I understand. Ming De wants me to shatter this inner demon head-on, but it's really, really hard for me to do, really, really hard to understand. My hatred for them has escalated to ethnic hatred, just like your unfriendly attitude towards the Japanese."

Jiang Xueming decided not to bring it up, as it might offend Jason.

Where shall we meet?

Jason: "Albert Research Station is the largest trading post in the Northern Territory near Red Star Hill. Despite being the closest, it's still over 600 kilometers from our destination. The hill where Red Star is located is very deep and very far away—heaven knows how deep these reckless Slavs have dug, drilling again through the winding mountain roads underground. As long as they can make a hole, they'll keep digging."

Xue Ming: "That's an old tradition from the Cold War era; it's about competing for excellence without expecting results."

Jason: "Once we left Albert Research Station, there was no turning back. You need to think this through."

Xue Ming: "I've thought it through."

Jason: "Really? I suffered the worst injury of my life just as I was about to emerge from my cocoon. Can you handle the consequences? Are you really mentally prepared?"

"With your cocoon-breaking ability, don't even think about becoming a butterfly." Jiang Xueming sneered, "With that little fighting power, you can't even protect yourself. You're lucky if your waiters don't cause you trouble. You should repent! Jason, I am the leader of the Nameless Ones—I won't run away. The BOSS tacitly approved my actions, which means it recognizes my abilities. If it thought I was weak, so weak that I couldn't even watch or fight, it probably wouldn't have let me go on this long trip in the first place."

Before she could finish speaking, Jason Megan hung up the phone, seemingly furious <Heart of Rage>.

Jiang Xueming calmly dialed back.

Are you getting impatient?

Jason: "The signal isn't very good."

Jiang Xueming: "You haven't even said where we're meeting, and you're already talking about Albert Station—Albert Station is so big, where am I supposed to find you?"

Jason: "Red Nail Hotel."

Jason then hung up the phone.

"He's got quite the nerve," Jiang Xueming said to Liuxing, taking off his headset. "I don't know where this cook gets his confidence from."

Bu Liuxing, that clever little darling, understood the implied meaning.

"Ming Ge, like you said, our good cat rarely misjudges situations. After all, its eyes are like Polarized Sextant. It sent Brother Jason to Red Star Hill, which means it had confidence in his abilities, so it made that kind of manpower allocation—but why did something unexpected happen?"

Xue Ming: "Why don't you go and ask the BOSS yourself? Ask the Hunter King for a copy of Jason's log from back then?"

Meteor: "The BOSS is still sleeping, and the Hunter King is very busy too."

Xue Ming thought to himself--

--Red Star Hill is so dangerous, yet the BOSS wants Jason, who has weak combat skills and a weak will, to explore such a godforsaken place, and even treats it as a crucial VIP trial in Jason's life. It's like a hellish test from a devilish examiner.

What makes Jason special is his twenty-four Lapis Lazuli and his spiritual essence that allows him to control and manipulate so many of them.

Are these related to the hill where the red star is located?

Are there any historical documents that can be verified?

"Ming Ge, how about we make another trip to the Arcane Library? Or maybe look for some information in the library?"

Xue Ming pointed to the objects in the rough workshop and said to Liuxing, "There's not enough time. We can't modify our Flash Butterfly Armor suits in time. I can't figure out how to add air conditioning to them no matter how hard I try. Metal is brittle when cold, so these heavy and cumbersome bulletproof vests are useless. There might be people from the Madness Butterfly Sect joining us on this journey, so we need to prepare Russian-style heavy armor."

Meteor scratched his head. "Well, we can't just barge in cluelessly. Do you know anyone particularly knowledgeable?"

"Yes!" When it comes to connections, Xue Ming is practically a social butterfly at the station. "Our guide is Xiao Qi's master; she's from the same school of thought as us. She must be extremely knowledgeable."

Ten minutes later.

Su Ling sat bewildered in [JoeStar]'s little workshop, facing the questions from Xue Ming and Liu Xing, two curious children.

"I don't know, I'm not sure, I don't understand."

Teacher A Ling delivered a fatal triple combo, followed by Qin Chuan's triple combo.

"Very mysterious, with a story, extraordinary."

At that time, Jiang Xueming's face was wrinkled like an old lady's, and her teeth were chattering and making a crunching sound.

Su Ling was unaware of the situation. Her soul power was very special, and even when dealing with exploration missions in unfamiliar areas, she received many game hints that helped her turn danger into safety.

These top students usually don't do any pre-exam review; they take the exam unprepared.

She preferred practicing her ability to beat up examiners to practicing her test-taking skills.

Then--

Jiang Xueming dialed Xingchen's number, trying to find outside help.

[Part ② Materialism]

He hadn't held out much hope. Given the relationship between Tian Shu and the sister units of the Nine Realms, he would be grateful if he could gather some useful intelligence.

Surprisingly, Brother Xingchen turned out to be quite reliable.

"I don't know much about the underworld, but I like to get to the point— Jiang Xueming, I recommend that you carry out this mission as a man. Don't have any illusions about the abilities of the little finger."

Upon hearing this information, Jiang Xueming was so astonished that he couldn't close his mouth.

"Brother Xingchen, how did you know?"

Su Xingchen: "Your passenger logs are classified documents by the National Security Bureau, so I can't see them. But I can find out about the recent Spirit Calamity case in London, United Kingdom —and naturally, I can find out about you too. Don't underestimate my intelligence capabilities."

Jiang Xueming: "You mean, we shouldn't use [B·SIDE]? We'll just rely on my male body to complete this mission?"

Su Xingchen: "Yes, the journey to Red Star Hill is mostly a mix of roads, bridges, tunnels, and complex terrain. In sub-zero temperatures, machinery is very prone to malfunctions in wind, sand, rain, and snow. Moreover, there are many special things along the way, and perhaps your highly precise spiritual body can come in handy."

Jiang Xueming asked curiously, "What is it?"

"If you're asking about this, then the story is quite long," Su Xingchen said, her tone rising and falling. "Want to hear it?"

Jiang Xueming: "Let's get to the point."

"During the Cold War, we all know that the Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in a nuclear arms race, right?"

"Yes."

"But the reports that are published mostly focus on how many nuclear warheads the two countries have built, without paying attention to how they are delivered. This subtly implies that nuclear weapons are simply launched by intercontinental ballistic missiles, right?"

"Um"

"Red Star Hill is a relic left in the underground world by the Soviet Union during its most powerful era. You can see the magnificent treasures left by this red giant on earth. According to the intelligence I have, more than 50 years ago, in order to miniaturize and miniaturize nuclear forces, in addition to man-portable nuclear missiles, many new weapon platforms and many strange Cold War inventions were left in the underground world—to deal with the calamity beasts."

"You mean, if I can repair these artifacts, they might actually come in handy?"

"Yes, the most interesting thing should come from the industrial products of the reign of Königsson, a bipedal walking weapon platform. The reason for its bipedal movement is simple: to adapt to the muddy and swampy environment of Niflheim's beaches. Originally, it was equipment adapted to launch mini nuclear bombs in all terrains. It's like how the Russians discovered this strange weakness in the American troops trapped in the jungle during the Vietnam War, and wanted to repeatedly expose and humiliate the ugly state of the American troops trapped in the mud. As a result, this long-legged aesthetic has been inherited into the underground world. Similar to the series of modifications made to the AK by Zenit Company, the Soviet weapons design bureau, the Ministry of Defense, and the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant launched this project, codenamed [Materialism], oh no, it should be pronounced like this in Russian—материализм."

"From your description, it sounds like a two-legged robot?"

"No, they're weapon platforms. Calling them robots is too trendy—machines are machines. They won't become human. No matter how close-fitting the sci-fi armor is, it's still cold machinery. If you can restore them using die-casting technology, repair their circuits, and wake up these old diesel-powered weapon platforms, you should be able to find ammunition in the oil paper packages in the warehouse to deal with some large targets."

"How come I've never heard of such a thing before?" Jiang Xueming wondered. This was too sci-fi, too fantastical.

Su Xingchen said unhurriedly, "Before you came to the Nine Realms Station, you had never heard of its name, and after you came to the station, you still haven't heard of the name Tian Shu—in fact, events on the surface are just as chaotic and exciting as those underground. This kind of bipedal, all-terrain weapon platform has been deployed in Afghanistan more than once. It's just that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, all the combat records were destroyed by the KGB. They couldn't leave these things to NATO and the Americans—we often say that Russian scientific research relies on archaeology, and this is one of the ancient relics of the Soviet Union."

"Is there anything else you want to ask, Commander?" Su Xingchen asked with a teasing smile.

Xue Ming: "That's all."

Before closing the communication, Su Xingchen sent her blessings, just like when she started the mission with Ye Bei.

"Good luck, Operator Xue Ming, the mission is about to begin!"