Saving Private Ed

"Actually, lacking Magic Adaptability wasn't an insurmountable problem."

Tata suddenly spoke up.

Fang Heng was startled awake from his thoughts and stared at her in surprise. "Y-you... how did you know what I was thinking?"

"If you calm your mind, Sir Knight, you can sense my thoughts as well. The resonance between a Dragon Knight and a Dragon Soul naturally means mutual acceptance on a spiritual level."

"W-wait, but...!" Fang Heng stammered. "Doesn't that mean I have no privacy?"

Tata looked at him in confusion and humbly asked, "Privacy?"

"I-I mean personal space."

"Personal space?" Tata interpreted the term literally and nodded calmly. "Please rest assured. I will keep my mouth shut and guard your secrets."

It would be strange if that reassured him. Fang Heng muttered, "But there are some things even Miss Tata can't see..."

"Why?"

"As for w-why..." Some inappropriate images involuntarily surfaced in Fang Heng's mind. But he immediately realized how bad that was, and his face went white.

Too late.

Tata furrowed her delicate brows slightly and asked in puzzlement, "Who is this Forest Dweller woman? Why is she so shamelessly naked? Does Luotao have such customs? Strange, I've never seen any book record anything like it."

"Th-that... isn't...!"

This was simply the most brutal public execution imaginable. Fang Heng's face burned red, his head seeming to contain a boiling-hot furnace that whined incessantly as steam practically rose from his scalp. If there had been a crack in the ground, he would have crawled straight into it.

Yet the more he tried to drive those messy thoughts from his head, the more strange new ideas kept popping up. Tata watched closely beside him with a blank expression, as though she were reading an interesting book.

"Sir Knight's thoughts are very unique. I have learned much knowledge I had never encountered before."

Fang Heng looked miserable. "No, that isn't good knowledge. Please try to forget it."

"Knowledge is neither good nor bad, Sir Knight. It depends on the person who uses it," Tata said seriously. "But if you do not wish for me to access this knowledge, I will try to place it in the deepest layer of my memory."

"That's not what I meant..." Fang Heng replied weakly. "By the way, Tata."

"At your command, Sir Knight."

"You seemed to say earlier," Fang Heng asked, steering away from the awkward subject, "that lacking Magic Adaptability wasn't an insurmountable problem?"

Tata nodded. "I just searched this Holy Crystal and found that it contains many things that may be useful to you, Sir Knight."

"This crystal?" Fang Heng curiously examined the Holy Crystal in his hand. "Holy Crystals can store things too?"

"If it is only information, there is no problem." Tata explained, "The designer inscribed it within the crystal from the beginning. I can read and write it out."

Fang Heng nodded.

Pages of light unfolded before him, covered in densely packed text and intricate, exquisite diagrams. Some were notes, some manuscripts, and some blueprints.

There were completed works and unfinished ones. The first thing Fang Heng saw was the design blueprint for the Type 0 Holy Crystal, a towering stack of seventy or eighty pages. He had no time to read them all and merely flipped to the author's concluding remarks at the end.

Only then did he discover that the blueprint was incomplete.

Hain-Pham stated that when he designed the Type 0 Crystal, he had already felt that his days were numbered. Thus, he had only completed most of the crystal's concept, while lacking the corresponding Dragon Soul and Dragon Knight Construct.

He had offered some basic suggestions for the Dragon Soul on the blueprint, but the Dragon Knight Construct section was entirely blank. There was only one line: 'To be explored by those who come after.'

Today, that successor had naturally become Fang Heng.

He could not help glancing at Tata. The summary stated that the Type 0 Crystal was highly unusual. In its attribute-less state, it could not accommodate most conventional Artificial Dragon Souls. Many experiments had been conducted, but all had ultimately failed.

Yet Tata seemed exempt from this limitation.

"Tata, do you know what is going on?" Fang Heng could not help asking.

Tata shook her head. "I do not know for now either. But when we synchronized earlier, this crystal did not reject me too strongly."

"Good thing it didn't reject you." Fang Heng was secretly relieved. He casually switched pages and said, "Perhaps reading the entire blueprint will reveal something else. We can deal with that later."

Tata nodded.

Fang Heng continued reading. Suddenly, a heavy gleam flashed through his eyes. "...Ritual Crystal?"

It was an even rougher manuscript, mentioning a completely new design, though only a small portion of it remained. As usual, Fang Heng flipped to the end, where Hain-Pham had indeed left another summary.

It was a short passage. The handwriting differed somewhat from before, and the phrasing was disjointed and confused. Fang Heng had to spend considerable effort figuring out what it meant.

He immediately realized that this passage might have been dictated by the author while no longer fully conscious, then written down by someone else.

It said that this was a set of blueprints called the 'Type I Crystal.' It was an upgraded version of the Type 0 Crystal, a more powerful Attribute-less Crystal that might even have approached the level of an Attribute Crystal.

Fang Heng could not help sighing after reading the entire design concept.

What was genius? This was genius. Hain-Pham had spent his entire life seeking a way for ordinary people without Magic Adaptability to use large Magic Devices and Battle Gear.

And he had almost succeeded.

What was recorded in this blueprint was his life's pursuit and ultimate goal.

Unfortunately, heaven had not given him much time. Although he had basically completed the Type 0 Holy Crystal, the more important Type I Crystal had only been left with a fundamental concept and preliminary design.

Fang Heng carefully examined the design. It was extraordinarily complicated, filled with flashes of genius and imaginative ideas. Yet the blueprint itself was only around Tier Two or Tier Three, so he could barely understand it.

This should have been the earliest Type I Crystal, or perhaps the Alpha state of the Type I Crystal. It solved the problem of whether such a crystal could exist at all, but the Alpha Crystal was still rather weak, approximately equal to an F-rank Attribute Crystal.

The lowest class among Attribute Crystals.

Yet even this kind of crystal was enough for Chosen below Level Five to use. In fact, F-rank Crystals saw even wider use in reality. After finishing the blueprint, Fang Heng was overjoyed.

He was nowhere near Level Five yet. This preliminary blueprint alone would already increase his strength considerably.

And he could continue down this path. He might not possess Hain-Pham's genius, but at least he had a sliver of hope now, didn't he?

With that thought, he raised his head and gave the master alchemist's statue a deep look, then bowed respectfully to it.

This was not merely a student's salute, but also heartfelt admiration.

The stone tablet mentioned that Hain-Pham had become an alchemist of the Numelin Empire because he possessed dual fire-and-earth Magic Adaptability. He could have gone much further and become a true powerhouse.

But his lifelong wish had been to pave a bright, level road for ordinary people, just like his teacher had done.

That noble sentiment alone was enough to inspire respect.

"Perhaps we can improve it further," Fang Heng said softly. "Perhaps one day, Hain-Pham's vision can truly be realized."

"You will face countless obstacles," Tata replied calmly.

"It's all right. I can learn more knowledge to strengthen myself."

"That is not what I meant."

"Huh?"

Tata looked at the innocent boy and said nothing.

But Fang Heng asked her, "Can we do it, Tata?"

Tata nodded. "With the original blueprint and concept, it will not be difficult to continue down this road. But the outcome is hard to predict."

"We have to try. This is my only chance as well." Brimming with confidence, Fang Heng gave the fairy girl a bright smile. "Besides, Hain-Pham left these things here. I think there must have been a reason for it."

Tata nodded as well.

Fang Heng closed the pages and looked around. "All right, Tata. Did you find out how we are supposed to leave this place?"

"Are we leaving now?" Tata asked.

"No, wait a moment first." Fang Heng suddenly remembered something. Shaking his head, he took an amber-colored Glowstone emitting a soft radiance from his jacket pocket.

He looked at the clear golden crystal, his gaze resolute.

Star Gate Port, 'Ouroboros Ring'—

The afterglow of the sun was gradually sinking beyond Earth's curved horizon. The azure ocean and tawny continents had both turned pitch-black, leaving only a golden arc of light.

Next came fifty-two hours of night. Because the Star Gate had to maintain velocity in synchronous orbit, it experienced days and nights that each lasted nearly two and a half days.

During daylight, temperatures on the Starport's surface rose rapidly, reaching as high as 251 degrees Fahrenheit. At such times, the Ouroboros Ring suspended most exterior operations, while its outer layers of heat-resistant and insulating material were sufficient to ensure the safety of the internal living areas.

At dusk and dawn, however, Star Gate Port displayed its busiest side. Daily maintenance and upkeep began during those periods, as countless robots and workers commenced spacewalks.

Through the glass windows of the ring corridor, one could see the scene outside—long mechanical arms transporting supplies, while workers used propulsion packs to pull lengthy repair conduits all the way down to the lowest level.

Below lay Earth, humanity's homeland.

That enormous blue sphere was gradually sinking into shadow. The Western Hemisphere began to reveal a sky covered in starlight. From rural Western Europe to its cities, lights formed a golden web that radiated outward in every direction, gradually connecting into one vast whole.

There were lights upon the ocean too, marking busy international shipping lanes. Southward, past Africa and the Atlantic, that ancient land appeared somewhat darker.

Ambassador Liao withdrew his gaze from the window before turning and entering the conference area.

In around twenty hours, the Star Gate would enter an extremely low-temperature zone, where nighttime temperatures would plunge to minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit. If they wanted to leave before then, they had to hurry.

Other than the Russian Federation delegation, most representatives had arrived via Space Elevators 07 and 03. Those two elevators were located on the second orbital track and passed beneath Star Gate Port once every seventy-four hours.

The doors to the conference area opened. Inside, the atmosphere was extremely tense, with representatives from several responsible nations passing the blame among themselves.

"I will reiterate this, Ambassador Travail. We do not control the Star Gate's data. Our statistics are based on entry and exit registration records, but stowaways are not included in them."

"Watch your wording. There are no stowaways. It was merely an accident," another person retorted.

"Fine, it seems we have at least established a unified public line. But before that, find the damn person—"

"That takes time. We have found the person who brought him in, and he is still comparing photographs."

"Over the past eight months, nearly thirteen thousand Chosen have entered or left, and the number of tourists is several times that. Mr. Savage, you are telling me he is still 'comparing photographs'? God, how long will that take? I can tell everyone clearly that my people are keeping the press outside, but only heaven knows how long we can hold them off. Don't we have any more advanced methods?"

"There is nothing we can do. We have too little information." Someone sighed amid the noisy conference area.

"Perhaps we could have him describe exactly what that adorable big boy looked like. Our current intelligent recognition systems have a success rate with an expected value above ninety-six percent. That would let us eliminate nearly eighty percent of the options."

"Good idea. Then who will take responsibility for the remaining three-point-something percent?" The representative from the First Competition Zone sat in his chair and looked at the others. "If you do not mind, we can hold a vote."

The conference area suddenly fell silent.

They looked at one another, wide-eyed. The July Incident had happened almost six years ago, yet its aftermath had still not faded, greatly damaging the Chosen's public image.

The number of unfortunate people imprisoned for dereliction of duty back then was no smaller than the number of attendees here today.

"How can there still be stowaways these days?" someone could not help complaining.

Everyone turned their eyes toward Ambassador Liao, who had just entered.

The Chinese representative's face darkened somewhat, but there was nothing he could do. After all, the problem had come from their side. They had the same headache—why were there still illegal entrants now that tourism channels had gradually become standardized?

What kind of lunatic was this?

Wasn't this just looking for trouble?

Yet they had no choice but to take this matter seriously. The July Incident was a warning from the past. At the thought of that scene, everyone present shuddered.

"After all this time, have we still found nothing about the name Ed?"

Ambassador Liao sat down and shook his head at everyone. "Over the past month, we have urgently checked the entry and exit lists from the previous six months, but found no such person."

"Then perhaps he is an ethnic Chinese citizen of another country."

"Wait, we have news," the representative from the Second Competition Zone suddenly shouted. "Everyone, you should look at this. Ed Rowling, born in the Magic Era, the greatest alchemist in history, one of the founders of modern alchemy."

"What the hell is that supposed to be?"

"Without a doubt, it is a false name." The man could not help rubbing his forehead. "Of course, that big boy may not have done it intentionally. I suspect he was giving his ID from the New World."

"But he had not entered the New World yet—"

"You know what teenagers are like," the first speaker replied angrily. "The one who should be held responsible is that damned derelict. He actually believed that name. With that level of intelligence, how did he dare take private work?"

Everyone's gaze turned toward the Chinese delegation once again.

The representative from the Third Competition Zone looked thoroughly grim.

"It is not entirely without gains," Ambassador Liao said, trying to smooth things over. "At least we know that the child may be an alchemist, which narrows the search considerably."

Though he said it had narrowed considerably, his tone carried no hint of relief.

At that moment, the personal communicator in his suit pocket suddenly lit up and began to buzz.

Ambassador Liao rose and made an apologetic gesture to the others. He went to a quiet spot, pressed the answer button on his earpiece, and said, "Hello. May I ask who this is?"

"Liao," a hoarse, low voice said through the earpiece. "Do you have a personal terminal nearby? You should look at a post on the Aethelria United Community. It was posted in your China region—"

"The community?"

He instinctively raised his head and looked outside through the ring corridor's glass windows.

Beyond them lay the living area of the Ouroboros Ring—

About half an hour earlier, Scarpe had been completing the final procedures for retiring as a Chosen, accompanied by the other members of the Dawnstar Adventurer Group.

The staff member looked at her several times before confirming again, "Miss Scarpe, your entry and exit records show that you are an American citizen. Are you sure you wish to sell your 'property' to us? I am sorry, but I must confirm this to avoid too many disputes. This is a Russian Federation office."

Scarpe gave Quilod beside her a gentle look and answered with a smile, "Yes, I am very certain of my choice. Also, I need permanent residency in the Russian Federation."

The staff member looked at them in sudden understanding and could not help smiling. "I understand. Of course, that will not be a problem. The Russian Federation welcomes any Chosen, former or current. And I wish you both good luck."

"Thank you."

"Then would you like to settle the remaining information in your Luminous Matter now?" the staff member asked. "A reminder: if you leave Aethelria through death, more than half the information stored in the Luminous Matter will be lost. The exact remainder must be calculated afterward. I hope you understand, ma'am—"

Scarpe nodded. Of course she knew. This was no longer the primitive era of the past; many regulations and details had long since been standardized.

This was the fundamental reason why the Chosen received support from nations around the world.

In the middle of this century, humanity had decoded the high-dimensional cosmic information residue known as the Type II Element from Star Radiance matter recovered from the hast042 region of the asteroid belt. Through studying the Type II Element, they eventually deconstructed a series of information from the high-dimensional universe—later, people discovered that it was in fact a complete set of blueprints.

That was the origin of the Everlight Star Gate.

The technology of the Star Gate did not merely lie in establishing a permanent passage between Earth and Aethelria. More importantly, the many related technologies gained from constructing the Star Gate had enabled enormous progress in human science and productivity during the latter half of the century.

And that was the core focus of humanity's struggle over the Type II Element, or Star Radiance—because Star Radiance seemed like a rich inheritance from the high-dimensional universe, representing the possibility of technology and progress.

In the early days, nations competed fiercely for Aethelria. Several permanent council nations and second-tier powers entered the Star Gate with organized armies under the provisions of the Suva Declaration, quickly sparking a protracted war in Aethelria.

On one hand, this war provoked fierce resistance from the natives. On the other, it made every participating nation feel that the costs outweighed the gains.

The main reason was that only after the first generation of Chosen retired did humanity gradually master a way to acquire resources from the New World—by using Luminous Matter to record what Chosen gained there: knowledge, skills, experience, and equipment. The moment they chose to leave the New World, all that information was solidified within the Luminous Matter and brought back to Earth.

This raised a problem.

To obtain a constant flow of high-dimensional information resources, there had to be a constant flow of Chosen returning to the real world. For armies deployed in an endless stream, that was simply not worthwhile.

They also had to face opposition from the public. At the time, mainstream thought largely regarded it as an unjust war of invasion, and anti-war sentiment briefly became the dominant social current.

Thus, after the Second Suva Treaty was signed, coupled with the emergence of Luminous Matter equipment, civilian commercial forces gradually entered the field, while the military and governments withdrew from the forefront for the first time.

The present-day situation gradually took shape.

The Chosen and the natives achieved coexistence. Adventure and exploration gradually replaced war as the theme of the New World. Though frictions and conflicts still existed between guilds, the massive world wars of the first half of the Star Gate Era were no longer seen.

Scarpe waited silently for the currency settlement.

The other members of Dawnstar were talking among themselves. After several days to process everything, most had returned to their previous state of mind and stopped dwelling on what had happened, though they still felt somewhat unaccustomed to things.

Once psychological counseling followed, however, they would surely adapt to life on Earth again soon enough.

Only Elsa seemed rather downcast among the group. Unlike the others, she was only fifteen. Ending her life in the Second World so early was a heavy blow to her—and she did not have much savings either.

Scarpe gently patted the young girl's shoulder.

Just then, the staff member returned to the counter. "Miss Scarpe, we found unread communication information on your Luminous Matter device. Would you like to check it before the settlement?"

Scarpe froze slightly, then suddenly remembered something. She hurriedly said, "Let me see it."

The staff immediately forwarded the information to her personal terminal. Scarpe opened it, and her heart nearly stopped for a moment. There were two unfamiliar permission requests:

One requested access to her storage permissions, while the other was a network login authorization request.

Seeing those two requests, she could not help covering her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. But they were not tears of sorrow—they were tears of joy and excitement. "That brat really is still in Aethelria—!"

"Should we reject the requests, Ms. Scarpe?" the staff member asked, somewhat puzzled.

"No, of course not," Scarpe immediately answered firmly. "Approve them—"

"Ed?" Quilod looked at the two requests and realized what was happening as well. He asked quietly.

Scarpe nodded.

"It's Ed!" The crowd could not help but react with surprise, whispering excitedly among themselves.

"I knew it. That lucky kid really is all right!"

"Too bad we can't see the request ID. Otherwise, we might have been able to contact him through the network and ask where exactly he's ended up."

"Come to think of it, did anyone ever ask for his contact ID?"

Everyone looked at one another.

It seemed Ed had truly never mentioned it in front of anyone.

Scarpe reacted quickly. She immediately said to Quilod, "Lend me your personal terminal."

Quilod froze for a moment, then handed over a transparent tablet without understanding why. Scarpe took the terminal, opened a webpage, and asked the others, "What is the code for the China region of the Aethelria United Community?"

"A0086."

She swiped her hand across it, and a pure white page slowly opened. She activated the auto-translator, and a conspicuous Chinese post immediately jumped into view.

'Strongly condemn the Descendants of Flor and the Jefflitte Redcoats for despicably deceiving their mercenaries into entering the Zone of Silence to die. Video evidence and mission brief included. Moderators, please pin this—'

Poster ID: Scarpe.

The hall fell silent at once.

Only the little girl named Elsa suddenly had her eyes light up.

Luo Hao sat before his computer, his hundred-plus kilos of fat trembling as he sighed mournfully.

He counted on his fingers, trying to work out how many days remained until he lost his life, but no matter how he calculated, he could not reach any conclusion. That only made him look even more miserable.

For most people, becoming a Chosen was an immense honor.

But for some people, it was not.

Six years ago, three stowaways died beyond the Star Gate after illegally using one. A staff member working at Star Gate Port exposed the matter, causing a tremendous uproar and eventually creating the infamous July Incident scandal.

It was the first time the public learned that humans could die on the other side of the Star Gate, in that world called Aethelria.

Generally speaking, the storm soon passed due to the deliberate propaganda and downplaying efforts of governments around the world, but it still left a far-reaching impact.

One result was the creation of official sightseeing routes, which had now become one of Star Gate Port's primary means of making enough money to support itself.

Most people believed that this bad event had at least produced a fairly good outcome. First, it had promoted greater civil rights, and second, it had further standardized the entire Chosen industry.

But among a small number of people, some rather alarming claims continued to circulate.

"There were three deaths they couldn't cover up. Who knows how many people really died? Governments have never had any shame when it comes to this sort of thing."

"If not for that staff member, we might still have been kept in the dark."

"The government must be held accountable."

"Close the Star Gates. They're a trap set by higher-dimensional civilizations—"

Luo Hao certainly did not support closing the Star Gates, but he firmly supported the first few claims.

Not long ago, he had joined a group called The Truth You Don't Know—where many people constantly discussed how governments fooled the public and concealed the truth.

Some had even claimed to be Starport staff themselves, personally involved in transporting corpses—the ground outside the Star Gate had supposedly been carpeted in bodies.

Luo Hao believed it completely.

Later, the group attracted the attention of the cyber police and was forced to disband. He had even been invited to the station for tea because of it. Nothing serious happened in the end, of course, but Luo Hao became much more cautious afterward.

In short, he personally kept well away from the Chosen profession.

But that did not mean he was unfamiliar with Aethelria.

In fact, it was quite the opposite—

He was a gaming fanatic, his interests stretching from virtual games all the way to the New World. He followed many "streamers," including some of the top Chosen in the Second World. He paid close attention to competition between different nations and knew every major war of past years by heart.

He himself was also a die-hard fan and supporter of BBK Guild, with an entire cabinet full of merchandise and guild posters.

Of course, his love for the world of the Chosen stopped there. To put it bluntly, he preferred watching other people fight in that world rather than stepping onto the field himself.

But misfortune struck without warning.

Who would have thought that his father, so desperate for his son to become successful, would pull some strings and secure him a place in Chosen training?

The day his father publicly announced that "birthday gift" at his birthday banquet, everyone applauded enviously. Luo Hao alone nearly burst into tears.

That day, he understood a truth.

Sometimes, having a rich father was not entirely a good thing.

He did not want to become a Chosen—and naturally, he wanted even less to end up before a military court. He had heard the military treated people who refused training as draft dodgers. Even if he did not die in the end, he would probably lose a layer of skin.

He was afraid of death, and he was not some reptile. So after careful consideration—he could only take things one step at a time.

Fifteen days remained.

Luo Hao let out a long sigh and turned on his computer.

He needed to see whether there was anything he followed to distract himself. Otherwise, if this continued, he would really die of nervous exhaustion. Unfortunately, Chosen were not actual online streamers. They streamed very rarely, generally only doing so occasionally at their clubs' request.

Top Chosen were even more so.

Of course, some Chosen of the younger generation had recently changed the old generation's ways and begun enthusiastically promoting themselves. But Luo Hao looked down on such people—by his own words, they streamed all day and had no professional standards whatsoever.

So perhaps he was the legendary masochist.

He first checked several channels he followed regularly, only to find not a single familiar ID. Feeling somewhat disappointed, he made his way to the Aethelria United Community as usual.

The Aethelria United Community was a semi-official large community related to the New World. It was divided into more than a dozen regions, each basically representing a competitive zone, with China being its own separate zone.

Although Luo Hao had zero practical experience, years of constant immersion had made him something of a theoretical master. His ID was also a well-known one in the United Community.

But when he opened the posts today, his face darkened. Most of them were discussing the disastrous defeat suffered by China's three Major Guilds in Mireland.

He happened to know about that defeat.

They had only managed to stabilize the situation after deploying force. Otherwise, China might no longer have any footholds in Mireland.

But no matter how one looked at it in this day and age, such a thing was hardly glorious.

And this was already China's second disastrous defeat in the latter half of the year.

It seemed that after the June veterans' retirement season had passed, the Chinese Chosen corps had entered a prolonged slump. Faced with this situation, people could not help asking—where were the newcomers?

The newcomers were fucking streaming.

Thinking of it made Luo Hao feel thoroughly disgusted.

He simply decided that out of sight was out of mind and blocked every post containing related keywords. His view immediately cleared, but then a strange post suddenly caught his eye:

'Strongly condemn the Descendants of Flor and the Jefflitte Redcoats for despicably deceiving their mercenaries into entering the Zone of Silence to die. Video evidence and mission brief included. Moderators, please pin this—'

The moment Luo Hao saw the post, he could not help sneering.

At a time like this, they were still fighting among themselves at home. More importantly, the Jefflitte Redcoats could be considered a BBK branch in the First World. As a die-hard BBK fan, he naturally extended his affection to them and was instinctively scornful of the post.

He clicked it open, preparing to go in and act as an unpaid defender, refuting the other side's nonsense.

But as a rational person, Luo Hao naturally would not speak without evidence. He thought, aside from the Continental Bridge, where would there be so many Zones of Silence in the First World? The poster was definitely just seeking attention.

He did not even read the description and directly opened the video.

But the instant he saw it, Luo Hao and every bit of fat on his body froze.

The video recorded on Scarpe's Glowstone happened to show the segment where Qin Zhi ambushed them. The moment Qin Zhi fired blindly in the footage, Luo Hao immediately judged that he was at least a Night Hawk.

He then looked at the others from Dawnstar and concluded that they were doomed. After all, apart from the captain and vice-captain, who were only one rank below their opponent, none of the others were even close to being Night Hawks.

The subsequent development unfolded exactly as he expected.

Qin Zhi baited them into attacking, and Elsa died. Seeing this, Luo Hao could not help shaking his head and fiercely despising the character of that Night Hawk from the Silverwood Spear. As BBK's longtime rivals, the Silverwood Spear and Crown of Silverwood naturally inspired no psychological burden in him whatsoever.

When Fang Heng appeared and dodged Qin Zhi's first arrow, Luo Hao could not help letting out a soft sound of surprise.

His eye was far more professional than most people's, and he keenly noticed something.

With a swipe of his chubby finger across the touchscreen, he dragged the progress bar back and watched again, raising his eyebrows—so it had indeed been a prediction. "This guy has some skills. He seems to be a Combat Artificer too..." he muttered. "For this adventurer group to afford a Combat Artificer in their party, maybe they aren't so simple after all."

Yet before he could finish speaking, he saw the next scene.

Fang Heng used a Clockwork Sprite to block the arrow, dragged the wounded warrior back behind the tree, and still found time to flip Qin Zhi the middle finger.

Luo Hao's eyes immediately widened into circles at the sight, and he nearly swallowed his own tongue.

He reacted quickly and immediately scrolled down the post—sure enough, it had exploded. But the discussion was not about the Jefflitte Redcoats' despicable conduct. It was about that Combat Artificer—

"Did you see that? That guy is amazing. He looks like a newcomer, right? That arrow block was incredible. How did he judge what the other side intended?"

"He really is young, looks even younger than me. It's honestly embarrassing. That was probably reaction speed, right? Did you notice how skillfully he controlled the Clockwork Sprite?"

"Everyone, you've all missed the key point—"

Luo Hao's stubby fingers clattered across the keyboard.

There were quite a few people in the community at the moment, and someone immediately replied, "Oh? What insight does our friend upstairs have?"

Luo Hao did not answer immediately. Instead, he dragged the video back and watched it carefully once more before confirming his thought. He considered it briefly, then typed out a message:

"Did you notice that while he used the Clockwork Sprite to block the arrow, he also pulled that warrior back?"

"..."

The comments below immediately erupted in wails of despair.

"Y-you don't mean that, do you..."

Luo Hao himself was rather amazed.

He could not help taking a careful look at the youth, silently committing the name Dawnstar to memory. "It was dual-control of Clockwork Sprites. He should be capable of it."

"Dual-control?"

"Really? Isn't that the threshold for professional Chosen?"

"But he's so young. Could another Combat Artificer prodigy have appeared?"

Luo Hao was unconvinced. He thought, I'm only around that age myself. Maybe I'm even better than him. But he immediately shook his head and threw out the absurd idea.

Whoever wanted to be a Chosen could go be one.

The community continued refreshing with more posts:

"Too bad we don't know whether he survived. That's the Zone of Silence."

"Yeah. If such a young man died in that place, the people from Jefflit would have committed a serious sin."

"Agreed."

Only then did people return to the main subject and begin condemning the Jefflitte Redcoats again.

But Luo Hao no longer took part in the discussion. He watched the video several more times, increasingly sensing that something was off.

"Strange," he thought. "Why does it feel like this guy isn't a Combat Artificer..."

Could someone who was not a Combat Artificer use dual-control?

Luo Hao refused to answer that question.

Because it was too young, too naive, simply impossible.

The view returned to the conference area at Star Gate Port—

On the large screen above the conference area, the same footage played over and over—the youth rolled aside to dodge that Night Hawk's first arrow, his judgment precise and his actions decisive. Then he raised his hand and used a Clockwork Sprite to block the fatal arrow.

Then, unhurriedly, he dragged the wounded warrior back behind the tree.

Finally came the scene of the middle finger. The image was enlarged and frozen, the close-up lingering on Fang Heng's face.

Ambassador Liao watched the scene solemnly, then turned around.

Behind him stood a dejected Starport staff member. He looked skin and bones, with deeply sunken eye sockets ringed in black, as though he had not slept for who knew how many days.

Ambassador Liao glanced at the man and shook his head somewhat disappointedly before speaking. "Huang Bingkun, look carefully. Is this really that boy?"

"It's him," the staff member nodded weakly. "I'd recognize him even if he turned to ashes. It's him. He said his name was Ed. I personally led him in."

"You're joking. Are you sure he entered as a stowaway?" The representative from the American side stood and shouted, "Could you have given him unregistered Radiant Equipment, only to remember it incorrectly yourself?"

At that moment, the video began looping again.

Everyone watched Fang Heng block the arrow with a Clockwork Sprite over and over. The Sprite's graceful flight path left a deep impression on them all.

"But weren't stowaways supposed to lack the Chosen System?"

"How did he manage dual-control?"

The representatives whispered privately, their eyes filled with boundless astonishment.

The staff member hurriedly defended himself loudly. "I absolutely did not remember wrong! Besides, Luminous Matter isn't kept by me. I swear, he entered the Star Gate directly. I guarantee it with my character."

"You've got character, my ass." Someone beside Ambassador Liao suddenly spoke.

It was a young military officer.

He was probably only in his twenties, vigorous and heroic, with an exceptionally sharp gaze. The look in his eyes made the staff member not even dare lift his head, much less argue back.

Ambassador Liao turned to look at him then. The latter nodded, then stepped forward from the back.

His gaze swept across the entire conference area, and he suddenly said, "Regarding this matter, on behalf of China, I thank everyone for your concern and attention toward our citizen. However, as a major power, China has both the right and the obligation to protect the personal safety of its citizens. We also have the capability and confidence to do so—therefore, we will immediately launch a rescue operation."

"Wait," the representative from the First World immediately objected. "You have not yet proven that this boy is a citizen of your country. As everyone knows, we also have Chinese immigrants. He could very well be one of our citizens."

Ambassador Liao did not answer the question. Instead, he directly led the Chinese representatives out of the conference hall.

"I protest! You cannot bypass everyone else and handle this issue on your own!" the man shouted furiously.

Then he immediately pulled out a communication device from his jacket pocket and hurried out through the other side of the venue while dialing a number.

Only the others in the conference hall remained, looking at one another.

On the large screen, the video continued replaying—

"Wait," someone suddenly broke the silence and asked, "Has the Dawnstar Adventurer Group returned?"

After a brief silence.

With a boom, the entire conference room suddenly came alive, and everyone began searching for the phones at hand.

I was a little late. As for why, everyone can see the word count for yourselves.

A few things to mention. First, an explanation of the "side story." Although it is called a "side story," it is actually a continuation of the main plot, so it is still included in the main text—it is generally just a summary of the entire volume's contents, or written from a perspective other than the protagonist's.

Yes, this chapter is also the final chapter of the prologue volume. Starting from the next chapter, the story will enter a new volume, and Fang Heng's personal adventure story will officially begin.

Second, a notice: because this book will only be released in March, and at the editor's request the word count needs to be controlled during the new-book period, the daily update will be reduced from 5,000 words to 4,000 words until release, after which it will return to normal.

Finally, thank you to Shouxide for the ten-thousand-word grand chapter and for becoming a leader. Pat pat. The book has been signed now, so please click, recommend, and save it. If you can, feel free to toss me some red support too. I certainly would not mind, haha.