A Friendly Start

Chapter 42: What a Friendly Start

Teleportation.

Half-dreaming, half-waking.

The solemn and majestic voice of the Main God emerged clearly beside their ears.

--[Main Mission: Survive for three days without leaving the current island district.]

--[Success grants one additional D-rank side quest and 1500 reward points. Failure penalty: deduction of triple the side quest and reward points. If the total reward points are negative upon settlement, the reincarnator will be erased.]

Toes touched the earth.

"Light, shelter us; banish evil and curses from our midst."

Si Ming swept his gaze across the surroundings as pure white radiance ignited from Jacob. It was a holy spiritual light capable of dispelling curses and resisting charm effects. All members of the Celestial Team were enveloped and bathed within it until they touched the golden boundary.

"The Main God's protective layer is still active; we have ten minutes left."

The light flowed between Si Ming's fingers, touching the Night Battle Qi within him without any conflict or resistance. Clenching his fists and fully armed, he swept his gaze outward; the five of them were currently standing in a vast plaza.

A very lively plaza.

It should have been very lively.

Hundreds, no, thousands of people stood in twos and threes all over the square. There were old and young, men and women. Yet they neither walked nor made a ruckus; they simply raised their heads in unison, staring at the many giant screens broadcasting videos nearby and all around the plaza.

Many screens, all showing the same video.

The screens edited and prepared by Li Ruonan to spread the curse.

Within the Main God's protective barrier, an unspeakable silence suddenly filled the air.

Outside the barrier, hundreds, thousands of people pressed their hands together in reverse, their eyes dull, chanting in unison toward every screen they could see.

The reincarnators could not hear them, but the sound was uniform, consistent, grand, and could even be called solemn.

[Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; life and death are determined by names.]

The guess had come true.

Si Ming closed his eyes gently, a plan rapidly forming in his mind. However, before putting it into action, he remembered his current identity.

A reincarnator, a member of the Celestial Team, and someone who aspired to be the captain of the Celestial Team.

"What do you say?" His voice broke the silence.

"The main mission is simple," Jacob checked his wristwatch. "But leaving a piece of evil filth alive is an eyesore. It's not very conducive to my physical and mental health."

"Involving so many innocents... the whole city, the whole island, even the whole world..." Valentina frowned slightly. "There should be a way to save them... well, I mean, saving these cursed people should trigger a side quest, right?"

Si Ming nodded and looked at Song Tian.

"You decide." Song Tian pressed his hand against the blade carried on his back; even while sheathed, Snow Drink continued to hum incessantly. "I only need to swing my blade."

"And what about this young lady?"

"I'm fine with whatever." The black-haired woman gently pressed her chin, looking thoughtful. "But I don't think any of us believe we should just start fighting right here—though at this point in time, the main characters from the movie plot should already be gone. Still, intelligence gathering is necessary, isn't it? Perhaps our first stop should be that Guan Sheng Di Jun... Zhou King Temple?"

"Leave the initial operations to me." A pale blue light flickered in Valentina's eyes. "My cloak has group holographic shielding capabilities. It can temporarily hide our tracks. Besides that, when I installed the Sandevistan, I also configured a network access port for hacking. I will connect to this era's network to gather intelligence, and also... well, you all know the way, right?"

"Memorizing maps isn't difficult," Jacob added immediately. "I will provide everyone with an extra layer of protective divine arts to ensure our tracks aren't easily leaked from a mystical perspective. Also, are we going by ground, air, or underground?"

"Ground for now," Si Ming decided. "We will leave from here, and after clearing the downtown area, we will head to the Zhou King Temple. If there are any accidents, weigh your actions carefully when dealing with bewitched civilians—at least until we make contact with the local Orthodox God, we must try to avoid the title of 'slaughtering the innocent'."

"Heh... you're much kinder than you look." Yu Zhiwei stretched, smiling charmingly. "Fine by me, I support this plan."

Si Ming glanced at her.

"One more thing: once the protective barrier is lifted, let's not address each other by our real names. Just as we planned earlier. Miss Traveler."

"Understood, understood." Yu Zhiwei waved her hand. "As you command, my dear Professor."

Si Ming was already used to this person's daily antics.

He looked at the others—'Bishop' Jacob, 'Ranger' Valentina, 'Swordsman' Song Tian—none of them raised any objections to his steady, balanced direction.

The group quickly discussed the operational plan, making minor adjustments to a few optional details until the Main God's isolation barrier began to show an unstable, flickering halo.

It was time.

"In the name of Tyr, conceal us."

Invisible divine power dispersed, retracting the protective light Jacob had summoned upon their arrival. The next moment, Valentina whipped the cloak behind her back.

Magic and technology took effect simultaneously.

The moment the Main God's barrier faded, the figures of the five began to blur.

The wind flowed in.

Above the plaza and between the high-rises, the air was suddenly filled with the synchronized prayers of the crowd.

[Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; life and death are determined by names.]

[Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; life and death are determined by names.]

The reincarnators looked at each other; they could still see one another, yet the surrounding crowd looked right through them. The moment the Main God's barrier was lifted, everyone sensed a faint, tingling warning of danger flowing through the atmosphere, like static electricity on a winter day.

Something is here.

Something is lurking nearby.

It is filled with malice, yet remains indifferent.

Si Ming knits his brows slightly. He does not sense any divine power reaction of the same scale or type as Death Divinity.

Then...

The Reincarnators exchange a glance.

Jacob, being the professional, gives a slight shake of his head. His voice, processed for concealment, rings out from the patch-style tactical headsets worn by everyone.

"I cannot confirm its specific form of existence, but its general energy level should be at or above the A-rank zone. If we engage in a direct fight, the odds of victory are unknown. The most critical point is that we likely cannot strike the entity's true body from here."

Si Ming glances at Song Tian, who is looking up at the sky with burning eyes, though he keeps his battle intent restrained.

"Proceed as planned."

Without hesitation, the Reincarnators move quickly. Si Ming takes the lead, with Song Tian bringing up the rear. Valentina, responsible for intelligence gathering, moves briskly in the middle alongside the two remaining non-combatants. Within seconds, the group leaves the most dangerous area of the plaza.

The sense of crisis fades.

Yet, on both sides of the road, the crowds remain, standing in place while staring at their phones or nearby display screens.

There are men and women, old and young. Even toddlers only a year or two old, who have just learned to walk and are still babbling, stand there just as quietly.

There are no vehicles moving on the streets. The entire city has come to a complete standstill at this moment. Si Ming's gaze sweeps casually over several ordinary passersby, yet he sees no signs of hunger or thirst on their vacant faces.

Everything has only just begun; perhaps the moment the Reincarnators descended within the Main God's protective barrier coincides with the time the curse began to spread on a large scale.

Then...

Valentina's footsteps falter for a brief moment, but she immediately follows the queue and continues forward at a brisk pace.

"It has only been about half an hour since the curse began to spread. The current live map has been uploaded to the 'Professor's' armor navigation program. However, I have discovered something peculiar—the moment the curse broke out, this island's connection to all external networks was completely severed. I cannot receive any signals from the outside world now, but I can confirm that at least six spy satellites are closely observing this area. And that number is still increasing."

"The reaction is a bit too fast." Yu Zhiwei tilts her head slightly, looking at the sky. "Are the local 'Orthodox Gods' playing a part in this? Or does this place have some sort of mature response mechanism that is currently being executed?"

"It is a 'momentum' we can borrow." Si Ming purses his lips slightly. "Ranger, can you hack into those satellites?"

He waits for a few seconds.

"...No, with the current equipment, it is impossible."

I see. Then he understands well enough.

"It seems the three-day countdown is not just for us, but for this island as well."

"What do you mean?"

Si Ming does not answer directly.

His gaze suddenly shifts, and a little girl standing by the roadside, who seems somewhat out of place with the surroundings and wears a look of bewilderment and unease, suddenly catches his eye.

In his eyes, in their eyes.

Si Ming suddenly recalls a setting he had acquired in the past that had not been fully verified—the Main God carefully selects locations when deploying Reincarnators. Under normal circumstances, there are major clues related to the main quest or important side quests near the landing point. This is to prevent the team members from being nothing but brute-force thinkers who wouldn't even know where the door is when it comes time to kick it down.

Then...

A look of struggle suddenly appears on the little girl's face. It is as if something invisible has suddenly locked onto her, forcing her to react immediately.

That invisible sense of crisis emerges once more.

The little girl raises her hands unsteadily, her mouth emitting stuttering sounds that are clearly a form of resistance.

"Fortune... and misfortune... are interdependent, life and death—"

Her voice cuts off.

Before Si Ming's Night Battle Qi can touch her, Valentina's hand has already covered her mouth and face.

"Sorry, it was a reflex—" She offers an apologetic look to the others, but there is no hesitation in her eyes.

Yu Zhiwei smiles softly.

"Sigh..." Si Ming sighs, his form, along with Valentina who initiated the external interference, stepping out of concealment.

The sense of crisis intensifies sharply.

Nearby, all around, many passersby who look like puppets turn in unison to look at the area where the group is standing.

"I believe we are theoretically the strongest team, right?" Si Ming says softly, and his companions reveal themselves along with him.

"So, for this thing to harm someone right in front of us, isn't that a bit disrespectful to us?"

Song Tian silently draws his blade.

Yu Zhiwei shrugs.

The next moment, the surrounding crowd screams and lunges toward them, emitting shrill, hysterical sounds.

"Who are you! State your names!"

And—

"Purify!"

Light erupts violently from Jacob's palms.