Side Story: Saving Private Ed

"Actually, not having Magic Adaptability isn't an insurmountable problem."

At this, Tata suddenly spoke.

Fang Heng jumped, snapping out of his thoughts, and looked at her in surprise. "You... how did you know what I was thinking?"

"If Sir Knight calms himself, he can sense my thoughts as well. The resonance between a Dragon Knight and their Dragon Soul naturally refers to mutual acceptance on a spiritual level."

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

Tata looked at him, puzzled, and asked humbly, "Privacy?"

"Like, personal space."

"Personal space?" Tata took the phrase literally and nodded calmly. "You can rest assured, I will keep my mouth shut and guard secrets."

It would be strange if he could rest assured, Fang Heng said softly, "But, there are some things that Miss Tata shouldn't see either..."

"Why?"

"...As for why." Fang Heng involuntarily pictured some inappropriate images, but immediately realized it was bad and his face turned pale.

It was too late.

Tata frowned slightly, her delicate brows furrowing, and asked with confusion, "Who is this Forest Dweller woman? Why is she so shamelessly naked? Does Luotao have such customs? Strange, I've never seen it recorded in any book."

"Th-that... no!"

This was practically the most brutal public execution. Fang Heng's face turned crimson, his mind felt like a scorching boiler, whistling and steaming. If there had been a crack in the ground, he would have wished to crawl into it immediately.

But the more he tried to banish those chaotic thoughts from his mind, the more new and bizarre ideas popped up. Tata remained expressionless, observing him closely as if she were reading an interesting book.

"Sir Knight's thoughts are very unique, they've taught me a lot of knowledge I haven't encountered before."

Fang Heng said with a crestfallen face, "No, that's not 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 sternly. "However, if Sir Knight doesn't want me to access this knowledge, I will try to keep it at the bottom of my memory."

"That's not what I meant..." Fang Heng replied weakly. "Oh, right, Tata."

"Please tell me, Sir Knight."

"You said earlier, didn't you," Fang Heng asked, avoiding the awkward topic, "that not having Magic Adaptability isn't an insurmountable problem?"

Tata nodded. "I just scanned this Holy Crystal and found that it stores a lot of things that Sir Knight might find useful."

"This crystal?" Fang Heng looked curiously at the Holy Crystal in his hand. "Can Holy Crystals store things too?"

"As long as it's information, there's no problem," Tata explained. "The designer embedded them inside the crystal from the beginning. I can read and write them."

Fang Heng nodded.

Pages of light appeared before him, unfolding to reveal dense text and intricate diagrams. Some were notes, some were manuscripts, and some were design blueprints.

Some were complete, and some were unfinished. The first thing Fang Heng's eyes fell upon was the design blueprint for the Type 0 Holy Crystal, which was stacked up to seventy or eighty pages. He didn't have time to look through them all, only flipping through the author's summary at the end.

Then he discovered that the design blueprint was incomplete.

Hain-Fam stated in his self-description that he felt his time was running out while designing the Type 0 Crystal. Therefore, he only completed most of the crystal's concepts, but lacked the corresponding Dragon Soul and Dragon Knight constructs.

He even provided some basic suggestions for the Dragon Soul in the diagrams, but the Dragon Knight construct was completely blank. He only added a note: 'Left for future generations to explore on their own.'

Today, that future generation naturally became Fang Heng.

He couldn't help but glance at Tata. The summary mentioned that the Type 0 Crystal was very special; in its attribute-less state, it couldn't accommodate most conventional artificial Dragon Souls. Multiple experiments had been conducted, but all ultimately failed.

However, it seemed Tata was not subject to this limitation.

"Tata, do you know what's going on?" Fang Heng couldn't help but ask.

Tata shook her head. "I'm not sure yet, but this crystal didn't reject me much when we synchronized earlier."

"Good thing it didn't reject you," Fang Heng thought with relief and switched pages casually. "Perhaps there will be other discoveries after reading the entire design blueprint. We can discuss it later."

Tata nodded.

Fang Heng continued to read, and a deep gleam flashed in his eyes. "...Ritual Crystal?"

It was an even more hasty manuscript, mentioning a brand new design, but only a small portion of it. Fang Heng, as usual, flipped to the end, where Hain-Fam had indeed left a brief summary.

It was a very short line of text, and the notes were also different from before, written in a somewhat disjointed manner. It took him a great deal of effort to understand the meaning.

Fang Heng immediately realized that this passage might have been dictated by the author to someone else while they were in a delirious state.

It stated that this was a design blueprint for a 'Type I Crystal,' an upgraded version of the Type 0 Crystal. It was a more powerful attribute-less crystal, possibly even approaching the level of an attribute crystal.

After reading the entire design concept, Fang Heng couldn't help but sigh.

What is genius? This is genius. This Mr. Hain-Fam spent his entire life searching for ways to allow ordinary people without Magic Adaptability to use large-scale Magic Devices and Battle Gear.

And he had almost succeeded.

The design blueprint recorded his lifelong pursuit and ultimate goal.

It was a pity that heaven didn't grant him much more time. Although he had basically completed the production of the Type 0 Holy Crystal, the more important Type I Crystal only had a basic concept and preliminary design left behind.

Fang Heng carefully examined the design. It was extremely complex, filled with ingenious inspiration and wild ideas. However, the blueprint itself was only at a level two or three tier, which he could barely understand.

This should be the initial stage of the Type I Crystal, or it could be called the Alpha state of the Type I Crystal. It solved the problem of existence. The power of the Alpha Crystal was still very weak, equivalent to an F-grade attribute crystal.

The lowest grade of attribute crystals.

However, even this type of crystal is enough for Chosen under level five to use. In fact, F-grade crystals are more widely used in reality. After reading the design blueprints, Fang Heng couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

He was still far from level five, yet this beginner blueprint was enough to significantly boost his strength.

Moreover, he could continue down this path. Although he might not have the genius of Hain-Fam, he still had a glimmer of hope, didn't he?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but raise his head and take a deep look at the statue of the master alchemist, bowing respectfully to it.

This was not just a student's bow, but also a gesture of heartfelt admiration.

The stone tablet mentioned that Hain-Fam became an alchemist of the Numelin Empire because he was a magic adept with fire and earth dual attributes. He could have advanced further and become a true powerhouse.

But his lifelong wish was to pave a bright path for ordinary people, just like his teacher.

This noble sentiment alone was enough to command respect.

"Perhaps we can further refine it," Fang Heng said softly, "so that Mr. Hain-Fam's vision can truly be realized one day."

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

"It's okay, I can learn more knowledge to enrich myself."

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

Tata looked at the innocent boy without a word.

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

Tata nodded, "With the original design blueprints and ideas, it's not difficult to continue on this path, but the outcome is hard to say."

"We have to try. This is my only chance too," Fang Heng said confidently, giving the fairy a bright smile. "Besides, I think Mr. Hain-Fam left them here for a reason."

Tata also nodded.

Fang Heng closed those pages and looked around. "Alright, Tata, have you found out how we should leave here?"

"Are we leaving now?" Tata asked.

"No, let's wait a moment." Fang Heng suddenly remembered something, shook his head, and took out an amber-colored Glowstone emitting a soft light from his upper pocket.

He looked at the golden crystal with a determined gaze.

Starport 'Ouroboros Ring' --

The afterglow of the sun was gradually sinking behind the curved edge of the planet, turning the azure ocean and the brown-yellow continent into pitch blackness, leaving only a golden arc of light.

Next came fifty-two hours of long night. Because speed must be maintained in synchronous orbit, the starport experiences nearly two and a half days of continuous daylight and darkness.

During the day, the surface of the starport heats up rapidly, reaching up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit at its peak. At this time, 'Ouroboros Ring' stops most external operations, and the outer layers of heat-resistant and insulating materials ensure the safety of the internal living areas.

During dusk and dawn, the starport reveals its busiest side. Maintenance and upkeep work are carried out during this period, with countless robots and staff performing spacewalks.

Through the glass windows of the corridor, one could see the scene outside—long mechanical arms carrying supplies, and staff using propulsion packs to extend long repair pipes all the way to the lowest level.

Below was Earth, humanity's home.

The giant blue sphere gradually sank into shadow, and the Western Hemisphere began to reveal a star-studded vista. From the villages of Western Europe to the cities, lights wove a golden net, radiating in all directions, gradually connecting into a single expanse.

There were lights on the ocean as well, marking busy international shipping lanes. To the south, passing through Africa and the Atlantic, that ancient land appeared somewhat dark.

Ambassador Liao withdrew his gaze from the glass window and then turned to enter the conference area.

In about twenty hours, the starport would enter the extreme cold zone, with the nighttime temperature dropping to minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit. To leave before then, time was of the essence.

Except for the representative of the Russian Federation, most of the attending national representatives arrived via Space Elevator No. 07 and Space Elevator No. 03. These two space elevators were on the second orbit and passed below the starport every seventy-four hours.

The door to the conference area opened. Upon entering, the atmosphere inside was tense, with representatives from several responsible nations pushing blame onto each other.

"I reiterate, Ambassador Travail, the starport's data is not in our hands. Our statistics are based on entry and exit registration procedures, but stowaways are not included."

"Please mind your wording. There are no stowaways; it was merely an accidental incident," another retorted.

"Very well, it seems we have at least agreed on a unified public statement. But before that, at least find the person—"

"That will take time. We have found the person who brought them in, and they are still comparing photos."

"In the past eight months, nearly thirteen thousand Chosen have entered or left, and the number of tourists is several times that. Mr. Savage, you're telling me they're still 'comparing photos'? God, when will this end? I can tell you clearly that my people are holding back the media, but who knows how long we can last. Don't we have any more advanced means?"

"There's nothing we can do. We have too little information," someone sighed in the noisy conference area.

"Perhaps we can have him describe what that lovely big boy looks like. After all, our current intelligent recognition success rate is very high, with an expectation value of over ninety-six percent. This way, we can filter out nearly eighty percent of the options."

"Good idea. Then who will take responsibility for the remaining three-point-something percent probability?" the representative from the First Sector asked, sitting in his chair and looking at the others. "If you don't mind, we can put it to a vote."

The conference area suddenly fell silent.

They looked at each other, staring blankly. The July Incident had passed for almost six years, but its repercussions were still felt, greatly impacting the positive image of the Chosen.

The number of unfortunate individuals imprisoned for dereliction of duty back then was no less than the number of attendees now.

"Why are there still stowaways now?" someone couldn't help but complain.

Everyone's gaze turned to Ambassador Liao, who had just entered.

The Chinese representatives couldn't help but look displeased, but there was nothing they could do. After all, the problem originated from their own side. They were also incredibly frustrated. How could there still be stowaways when the tourist channels had become so standardized?

What kind of lunatic was this?

Weren't they just asking for trouble?

But they still had to take this matter seriously. The July Incident was a stark warning. Thinking of that scene, everyone present shivered.

"Has there been any news about the name Ed after all this time?"

Ambassador Liao sat down and shook his head at everyone. "Since the beginning of this month, our side has urgently reviewed the immigration and emigration lists from the past six months, but we haven't found anyone by that name."

"Then perhaps he's a Chinese national of another country."

"Wait, there's news," the representative from the Second District suddenly exclaimed. "Everyone, you'd better take a look at this. Ed-Rollin, born in the Magic Era, the greatest alchemist in history, and one of the creators of modern alchemy."

"What the hell is this?"

"Undoubtedly, it's an alias," the person couldn't help but press their forehead. "Of course, that big boy might not have meant it. I suspect he might have been referring to his ID in the New World."

"But he hadn't entered the New World at that time—"

"You know how these teenagers are," the first speaker replied irritably. "That damn negligent official should be held responsible. He actually believed this name. With that kind of intelligence, he still dares to take on private jobs?"

Everyone's gaze once again turned to the Chinese section.

The representative from the Third District's face turned dark.

"It's not entirely without gain," Ambassador Liao said diplomatically. "At least we know that the child might be an alchemist, which significantly narrows down the scope of our investigation."

Although he said it narrowed down considerably, his tone didn't betray any sense of relief.

It was at this moment that the personal communicator in his suit pocket suddenly lit up and vibrated.

Ambassador Liao stood up, made an apologetic gesture to the others, moved to a quiet spot, pressed the receive button on his earpiece, and then spoke, "Hello, may I ask who this is?"

"Liao," a hoarse, deep voice came from the earpiece. "Do you have a personal terminal with you? You'd better check a post on the Aethelria United Community. It was posted in your China section—"

"Community?"

He subconsciously looked up, gazing outside through the glass window of the corridor.

Outside was the living area of 'Ouroboros Ring'—

About half an hour earlier, Scarpe, accompanied by other members of the Dawnstar Adventuring Group, was completing the final procedures for the Chosen's retirement.

The staff member looked at her several times before confirming again, "Miss Scarpe, your immigration records show you are an American citizen. Are you sure you want to sell your 'assets' to us? I apologize, but I must confirm to avoid any disputes. This is the Russian Federation's office."

Scarpe glanced gently at Quilod beside her and replied with a smile, "That's right, I am certain of my choice. Additionally, I require permanent residency in the Russian Federation."

The staff member looked at the two of them with sudden understanding and couldn't help but chuckle. "Understood, that's certainly no problem. The Russian Federation welcomes any Chosen, whether former or current. Also, I wish you both good luck."

"Thank you."

"Then, would you like to have the remaining information in the Luminous Matter settled now?" the staff member asked. "A reminder, if you leave Aethelria through death, more than half of the information stored in the Luminous Matter will be lost. The exact amount remaining needs to be calculated. We hope you understand—"

Scarpe nodded. She was well aware of this. It was no longer the wild era of the past; many regulations and procedures had long since been standardized.

The reason the Chosen received support from various countries lay precisely here.

In the middle of this century, humanity recovered Starlight material from the hast042 region of the asteroid belt. From it, they deciphered residual information from a higher dimension, 'Type II Element.' Through exploration of the Type II Element, they finally deconstructed a series of information from the higher dimension—in fact, it was later discovered to be a complete set of blueprints.

This was the origin of this Radiant Star Gate.

The Star Gate technology not only established a long-term passage between Earth and Aethelria but, more importantly, the vast amount of peripheral technology gained from its construction led to significant advancements and developments in human science and production levels in the latter half of this century.

This was the core and focus of humanity's contention for the Type II Element (Starlight)—because Starlight seemed to be a rich legacy from a higher dimension, symbolizing the possibility of technology and progress.

In the early days, the competition for Aethelria among various countries was fierce. The permanent member states and secondary powers, according to the provisions of the Suva Declaration, entered the Star Gate with organized armies, quickly igniting a protracted war in Aethelria.

This war, on one hand, provoked strong resistance from the indigenous inhabitants, and on the other hand, made the participating countries feel that the gains did not outweigh the losses.

The main reason was that with the retirement of the first generation of Chosen, humanity gradually mastered the method of resource acquisition in the New World—through Luminous Matter to record the Chosen's gains in the New World—knowledge, skills, experience, and equipment. The moment they chose to leave the New World, all information was solidified within the Luminous Matter and brought back to Earth.

This led to a problem.

To continuously obtain resources from higher dimensions, there had to be a continuous stream of Chosen returning to the real world. This was somewhat unprofitable compared to the continuous deployment of troops.

Furthermore, there were also opposing voices from the public—the mainstream ideology at the time largely considered it an unjust war of invasion, thus anti-war sentiments became the dominant social trend for a time.

Therefore, after the signing of the second Suva Treaty, coupled with the birth of Radiant Equipment, civilian commercial forces gradually entered this field, and the military and government moved from the forefront to the background for the first time.

This gradually formed today's landscape.

A coexistence was reached between the Chosen and the indigenous inhabitants. Adventure and exploration gradually replaced war as the theme of the New World. Although friction and conflicts still existed between guilds, the large-scale world wars of the first half of the Star Gate Era were no longer seen.

Scarpe was silently waiting for the currency settlement.

The others from Dawnstar were communicating with each other. After a few days of reflection, most of them had recovered their original mindset and no longer dwelled on previous events—though they were still somewhat unaccustomed to it.

However, with the subsequent intervention of psychological counseling, they would soon adapt to life on Earth again.

Only Elsa among the crowd seemed a bit dejected. Compared to the others, she was only fifteen years old. Ending her career in the Second World so early was a significant blow to her—and she didn't have much savings yet.

Scarpe gently patted the young girl's shoulder.

It was at this moment that the staff member returned to the front desk. "Miss Scarpe, we found unread communication information on your Radiant Equipment. Would you like to check it before settling?"

Scarpe was slightly taken aback, then suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "Let me see."

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

One was a request to extract her storage permissions, and the other was a permission for a network login request.

Seeing these two requests, she couldn't help but cover her mouth, and tears welled up. But it wasn't sadness, rather joy and excitement: "That brat is really still in Aethelria--!"

"Should I reject the requests, Ms. Scarpe?" the staff member asked, not quite understanding.

"No, of course not," Scarpe immediately refused decisively. "Please approve--"

"Is it Ed?" Quilod looked at the two requests and also realized what was happening, asking in a low voice.

Scarpe nodded.

"It's Ed!" people couldn't help but be a little surprised, whispering to each other in delight.

"I knew it, that lucky kid is fine after all!"

"It's a shame we can't see the request ID, otherwise we might be able to contact him online and ask where this kid is now."

"Speaking of which, has anyone asked for his contact ID?"

The people looked at each other.

It seemed Ed had never mentioned it before.

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

Quilod was stunned and, not understanding why, handed over a transparent board. Scarpe took the terminal, opened a webpage, and then asked the others, "What's the code for the China region in the Aethelria United Community?"

"A0086."

She swiped her hand across it, and a pure white page slowly opened. She opened the automatic translator, and a conspicuous Chinese post immediately caught her eye.

'Strongly condemn the despicable deception by the Descendants of Flor and the Jefflitte Redcoats for luring their mercenaries into the Zone of Silence to die. Video and mission brief included as evidence. Please pin this post, moderators--'

Poster ID: Scarpe.

The hall suddenly fell silent.

Only the eyes of the little girl named Elsa lit up.

Luo Hao sat in front of the computer, shaking his one hundred and several dozen pounds of fat, sighing.

He counted on his fingers how many days were left until his death. No matter how he calculated, he couldn't figure anything out. He couldn't help but frown even more.

Becoming a Chosen was a great honor for most people.

But not for some.

Six years ago, three stowaways died on the other side of the Star Gate due to illegal use. This was exposed by a staff member working at the Starport, causing a huge uproar and eventually leading to the infamous July Incident scandal.

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

Although, for the most part, due to the deliberate propaganda and downplaying by various governments, the storm quickly passed, it left a profound impact.

One of these was the birth of the official tourist channel, which has now become a major means for Starports to achieve self-sufficiency in profits.

Most people therefore thought that this bad event finally had a somewhat decent outcome, first promoting the enhancement of citizens' rights, and second, the entire Chosen industry was further standardized as a result.

But among a minority, some more sensational theories circulated.

"The three publicly acknowledged deaths are known, but who knows the real number of people who died? Governments have always been shameless about these things."

"If it weren't for that staff member, we might still be in the dark."

"The government must be held responsible for this."

"Close the Star Gate, it's a trap by a higher-dimensional civilization--"

Luo Hao certainly didn't support closing the Star Gate, but he firmly supported the previous few theories.

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

Some even claimed to be Starport staff themselves and had personally participated in transporting bodies—the area outside the Star Gate was completely covered.

Luo Hao believed this completely.

Although later that group attracted the attention of the cyber police and was forced to disband, and he was even invited to the police station for a chat, nothing major happened in the end. However, from then on, Luo Hao became even more cautious.

In short, he personally kept a respectful distance from the Chosen industry.

But that didn't mean he was unfamiliar with Aethelria.

In fact, quite the opposite--

He was a gaming enthusiast, and his interests extended from virtual games to the new world. He followed many 'streamers,' including some top Chosen in the Second World, and was very concerned about the competition between countries, knowing the details of several major wars over the years.

He himself was a staunch fan and supporter of the BBK Guild, with a cabinet full of merchandise and guild posters.

Of course, his love for the world of the Chosen was limited to that. To put it bluntly, he preferred to watch others fight each other in this world rather than participate himself.

But fate is unpredictable.

He never expected that his father, who wished for his son to succeed, would use his connections to get him a spot in a Chosen training program.

That day, at his birthday banquet, his father publicly announced this 'birthday gift.' Everyone applauded enviously, while Luo Hao alone almost burst into tears.

That day, he understood a fact.

Sometimes, having a rich dad wasn't a perfect thing.

He didn't want to be a Chosen—of course, he even less wanted to face a military tribunal. Rumor had it that the military treated draft dodgers as deserters. Even if they didn't die, they'd probably be stripped down to the bone.

He was afraid of death, and he wasn't a reptile, so after much deliberation—he could only take it one step at a time.

Fifteen days left.

Luo Hao sighed deeply and opened his computer.

He wanted to see if there was anything he was interested in to distract himself, otherwise, he'd truly go mad from nervousness and die. Unfortunately, the Chosen weren't true streamers, and they rarely broadcasted. They usually only did so occasionally when their clubs requested it.

This was especially true for top-tier Chosen.

Of course, some of the younger generation of Chosen had recently broken from the old ways and started actively promoting themselves. But Luo Hao couldn't stand these people—in his own words, they streamed all day, showing no professional integrity.

So, this person might be the legendary masochist.

He first scanned his usual subscribed channels and found no familiar IDs, which disappointed him a bit. Then, he skillfully navigated to the Aethelria United Community.

The Aethelria United Community was a large, semi-official community related to the New World. It was divided into over a dozen zones, with each zone generally representing a competition area. China was its own separate area.

Although Luo Hao had zero practical experience, he had immersed himself in it for years and had become a theoretical master. His ID was well-known in the United Community.

But when he opened the forums today, his expression darkened. Most of the posts were discussing the crushing defeat of China's three major guilds in Mireland.

He happened to know about that crushing defeat.

In the end, they had to deploy reinforcements to stabilize the situation. Otherwise, China might have no foothold in Mireland right now.

But in this era, such a thing was hardly a glorious achievement.

Moreover, this was already China's second crushing defeat in the latter half of the year.

It seemed ever since the retirement season of the old guard ended in June, China's Chosen legion had entered a prolonged period of decline. People couldn't help but ask—where were the newcomers?

The newcomers were all TM streaming.

Luo Hao felt a wave of bad luck wash over him just thinking about it.

He decided to just ignore it and blocked all posts with related keywords. His vision suddenly cleared, but then, a strange post caught his eye:

'Strongly condemn the Descendants of Flor and the Jefflitte Redcoats for their despicable deception in luring their mercenaries into the Zone of Silence to die. Video included, mission brief as proof. Requesting moderators to pin this post—'

Luo Hao couldn't help but scoff when he saw this post.

Even now, they were still infighting domestically. More importantly, the Jefflitte Redcoats could be considered a branch of BBK in the First World. As a die-hard fan of BBK, he naturally felt a sense of camaraderie and was inherently dismissive of this post.

He clicked on the post, intending to jump in as a supporter and refute the poster's fallacies.

However, Luo Hao, being a rational person, wouldn't speak without evidence. He thought, besides the Continental Bridge, where else were there so many Zone of Silences in the First World? This poster was clearly seeking attention.

He didn't bother reading the description and directly clicked on the video.

But upon watching it, Luo Hao and his plump body froze.

The video recorded on the Scarpe Glowstone was precisely the ambush scene where Qin Zhi attacked them. The moment Qin Zhi unleashed his blind shot, Luo Hao immediately judged that the opponent was at least a Night Hawk.

He then looked at the others from Dawnstar and concluded that these people were doomed. After all, except for the leader and vice-leader, everyone else was at least one tier below the opponent, and none of them could even come close to being a Night Hawk.

The subsequent development was as he expected.

Qin Zhi's entrapment, Elsa's death. Seeing this, Luo Hao couldn't help but shake his head, utterly despising the character of that Night Hawk from Silverwood Spear. As a long-term rival of BBK, he naturally felt no sympathy for Silverwood Spear and Crown of Silverwood.

When Fang Heng appeared and dodged Qin Zhi's first arrow, Luo Hao couldn't help but let out a soft "yi."

His eyesight was far more professional than the average person's, and he keenly sensed something.

He swiped his chubby finger across the touchscreen, rewound the progress bar, and raised his eyebrows—it was indeed a prediction. "This guy has some skills. He seems to be a Combat Artificer... " he muttered to himself, "This adventuring party can afford to have a Combat Artificer with them, so they don't seem that simple..."

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

Fang Heng used a Clockwork Sprite to block the arrow while simultaneously pulling the injured warrior back behind a tree, even managing to give Qin Zhi a middle finger.

Seeing this, Luo Hao's eyes widened, and he almost swallowed his tongue.

He reacted extremely quickly and immediately scrolled down the post—as expected, the post had gone viral. But what had gone viral wasn't the despicable actions of the Jefflitte Redcoats, but the discussion about that Combat Artificer—

"Did you guys see that? That guy is amazing. He looks so young, like a rookie. That block was incredible. How did he predict the opponent's intent?"

"He's indeed very young, looks even younger than me. It's embarrassing, really. That must be reaction speed. Did you notice how skillfully he manipulated the Clockwork Sprite?"

"Everyone, you're missing the main point—"

Luo Hao's short, thick fingers typed rapidly on the keyboard.

There were many people in the community at this time, and someone quickly replied, "Oh, fellow brother upstairs, what are your insights?"

Luo Hao didn't answer immediately. Instead, he rewound and watched the video carefully again before confirming his thoughts. He pondered for a moment, then typed out a message:

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

"..."

A wave of despair immediately swept through the replies below.

"You, you don't mean to say that..."

Luo Hao was also somewhat amazed in his heart.

He couldn't help but take a closer look at the young man, silently remembering the name "Dawnstar." "It's dual-control Clockwork Sprites; he should be able to do it."

"Dual-control?"

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

"But he's so young, could it be that another Combat Artificer prodigy has been born?"

Luo Hao dismissed it in his heart, thinking that he was only this age and perhaps much more powerful. But he immediately shook his head, throwing out that absurd idea.

What a joke, whoever wants to be a Chosen can be one.

The posts in the community continued to scroll down:

"It's a pity we don't know if he survived; this is the Zone of Silence."

"Yeah, if such a young man were to die here, the Jefflitte people would be in big trouble."

"Agreed."

Only then did people return to the main topic, and they began to criticize the Jefflitte Redcoats again.

But Luo Hao was no longer participating in the discussion. He carefully observed the video a few more times, and a faint sense of unease grew in his heart.

"That's strange," he thought, "why does this guy feel like he's not a Combat Artificer..."

Can one achieve dual-control without being a Combat Artificer?

Luo Hao felt that he refused to answer this question.

Too young, too naive, simply impossible.

The perspective returned to the meeting area of the Starport--

On the large screen above the meeting area, the same video was being repeatedly played--the young man dodged the Night Hawk's first arrow with a roll, his judgment precise and his actions decisive. Then he raised his hand and blocked the fatal arrow with a Clockwork Sprite.

He then calmly dragged the injured warrior behind the tree.

Finally, there was the middle finger gesture. This scene was enlarged, frozen, and zoomed in on Fang Heng's face.

Ambassador Liao watched this scene with a serious expression and turned around.

Behind him stood a dejected Starport staff member, looking emaciated, with deep dark circles under his sunken eyes, as if he hadn't slept for days.

Ambassador Liao glanced at the man, shook his head with some disappointment, and then spoke, "Huang Bingkun, look carefully, is this the boy or not."

"It's him," the staff member nodded weakly, "I'd recognize him even if he were ashes, it's him. He said his name was Ed, and I personally brought him in."

"Are you joking? Are you sure he snuck in?" The representative from the American side stood up and asked loudly, "Did you give him an unnumbered Radiant Equipment, but you just misremembered?"

At this moment, the video began to loop again.

Everyone repeatedly watched the scene of Fang Heng blocking the arrow with the Clockwork Sprite. The beautiful arc of the Clockwork Sprite's flight left a deep impression on everyone.

"But I remember that stowaways don't have the Chosen system?"

"How did he achieve dual-control?"

Privately, the representatives were whispering, their eyes filled with immense surprise.

The staff member quickly retorted loudly, "I definitely didn't misremember, and besides, the Luminous Matter isn't under my care. I swear, he entered the Star Gate directly, I'll stake my reputation on it."

"You don't have a reputation to stake," someone suddenly said next to Ambassador Liao.

It was a young military officer.

He looked to be only in his twenties, full of spirit, with extremely sharp eyes. He made the staff member afraid to even look up, let alone refute.

Ambassador Liao then looked back at him, and after the latter nodded, he stepped forward from behind.

He surveyed the entire meeting area and suddenly spoke, "Regarding this matter, I, on behalf of China, thank everyone for their concern and attention towards our citizen. However, as a great nation, China has the right and the obligation to ensure the personal safety of its citizens. We also have the ability and the confidence to do so--so we will immediately launch a rescue operation."

"Wait a minute," the representative from the First Sector immediately objected, "You haven't proven that this boy is your citizen yet. As everyone knows, we also have Chinese immigrants; he could entirely be one of our citizens."

Ambassador Liao did not answer this question, but instead, he and the Chinese representatives directly withdrew from the meeting.

"I protest! You can't bypass everyone else and handle this issue alone," the man shouted in exasperation.

He immediately took out a communication device from his jacket pocket, dialed a number, and hurried out of the other side of the venue.

This left everyone else in the meeting room looking at each other in bewilderment.

On the large screen, the video was still replaying--

"Wait a minute," someone suddenly broke the silence and asked, "Has the Dawnstar Adventuring Group returned?"

After a moment of silence.

With a boom, the entire conference room suddenly came alive, everyone scrambling for their phones.

A little late, as for why, please check the word count yourselves.

A few things to mention. First, to explain 'Side Story.' Although it's called 'Side Story,' it's actually a continuation of the main storyline, so it's still included in the main text--it's just generally a summary of the entire volume's content, or not from the protagonist's perspective.

Yes, this chapter is also the last chapter of the prologue. 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 be put on shelves in March, as per the editor's request, we need to control the word count during the new book period. From now on, the daily update of 5,000 characters will be changed to 4,000 characters until it's put on shelves, after which it will resume.

Finally, a ten-thousand-character chapter to thank the ally "Shouxi." Pat pat. The book has been signed. Everyone, please click, recommend, and collect. If you have the means, help me out with some "red envelopes," I wouldn't mind, haha.