If I call your name, do you dare answer?

Yangyang suggested, "The Terminal sounded a danger alert when it detected the Tacet Discord earlier. It must have been at least Raging Tides Class. Perhaps Rover could check her Data Bank level?"

Chixia said breezily, "Why go to all that trouble? Can't Rover just try absorbing it with her Terminal?"

Rover nodded slightly and raised the Pangu Terminal in her hand, aiming it at the Echo the Crownless had left behind.

Lu Li watched curiously from the side. After all, catching Pokémon was something he needed to learn too!

Strangely, though, several seconds passed without anything happening.

Chixia asked in confusion, "Huh? You can't absorb it...?"

Rover looked at her Pangu Terminal. "My gourd is level zero."

"Leave that Echo alone! Let me!"

Lu Li used Hyper Voice.

Although the system had explained that his Pangu Terminal couldn't absorb Remnants defeated by someone else, what if the system had lied to him?

[System: ?]

Everyone turned to Lu Li.

"Aren't you from another star system? How do you have a Pangu Terminal?"

Bai Zhi eyed him suspiciously.

"Don't worry about that. Anyway, watch and learn!"

Lu Li raised his gourd and fixed a sharp stare on the Echo before him.

"Crownless, if I call your name, do you dare answer?"

A cold breeze swept past. Nothing happened.

The system really hadn't lied to me!

Chixia shouted at Lu Li in mild irritation, "Echoes can't talk!"

Rover looked over in confusion. "Is your gourd level zero too?"

Lu Li tilted his head up slightly. "My gourd was made in the Land of Light. Ultraman Technology-nothing short of divine!"

Chixia said, "Didn't I just say that? And what's the Land of Light, anyway?"

Lu Li offered no further explanation. With his hands clasped behind his back, he lifted his chin toward the horizon, his expression lonely, as though recalling something.

Chixia couldn't take it anymore. "Is there something seriously wrong with this guy?"

Rover asked, "What happens if we can't absorb it?"

Bai Zhi said, "Before long, the Echo will dissipate, and the Skysea will disappear. Once the Skysea is gone, the blocked communications signals will naturally return. The Tacet Field will fall dormant until its next revival."

"We need to report the anomalies in Yunling Valley to the Frontier and the institute. Let's leave first."

Just as everyone was about to turn and leave, the Tacet Mark on the back of Rover's right hand suddenly lit up.

A voice sounded that only Rover could hear.

"Hungry... so hungry..."

Drawn by a powerful suction force, Rover couldn't help raising her right hand. Golden light shone from her palm.

Then the Crownless's Echo streamed toward the Tacet Mark on the back of Rover's hand.

A sudden understanding came to Rover, and she absorbed the Crownless's Echo in its entirety.

Chixia exclaimed in amazement, "Wh... what kind of power is that?!"

"I've never seen a Resonance ability like that! What other tricks have you been holding back? Swallowing Remnants whole? Charcoal-grilled Echoes?"

Chixia leaned closer to Rover, staring at her curiously.

Rover looked down at the Tacet Mark on her hand in bewilderment. That voice just now...

"I don't know what happened either."

Yangyang ventured, "Could this have something to do with Rover's missing memories? Can you remember anything now?"

Lu Li was startled. You just said she lost her memories, right?

Overwhelming strength, amnesia right out of the gate, swallowing Echoes whole...

Don't tell me you're the protagonist!

"Are you feeling all right, Rover? Does anything hurt?"

"Could there be lingering effects from the Remnant? Bai Zhi, if it's convenient, could Rover have an examination at the Huaxu Research Institute's Resonance Medical Department...?"

Bai Zhi was pondering with a hand under her chin and didn't answer immediately.

Then she said, "Absorbing Echoes into the flesh isn't entirely without precedent."

At Bai Zhi's words, Yangyang seemed to remember something too.

"Absorbing Echoes into the flesh...? I remember the opening of the Huanglong section in the Chronicles of the Era mentioned..."

"...Thus the celestial one descended, holding heaven and earth within their palm, taking Echoes into their body; a single breath coalesced, and Pangu was born; heaven was spread and earth laid down, warp and weft aligned, and light shone upon the four directions. Thus began Huanglong's history, and Tingzhou was first divided..."

Lu Li raised an eyebrow. With his knowledge of astronomy and geography, his thorough reading of the Four Books and Five Classics, and his mastery of every narrative trope, he could tell that Rover was definitely the celestial one mentioned in the Huanglong section!

Everyone else seemed to realize something too, and the looks they gave Rover grew a little strange.

Noticing their gazes, Rover froze. "Could I be...?"

But Chixia shook her head.

"That's way too long a time span. Sure, Rover might live longer than ordinary people, but even the longest lifespan would only be measured in centuries. Huanglong's known history spans at least a thousand years..."

"Even leaving aside whether it's true, how long ago would that have been? That's ancient history! Jinzhou hadn't even been established back then, right? Are you saying Rover is our great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother?"

Bai Zhi shook her head slightly too. "We can't jump to conclusions before obtaining more data and conducting further analysis and research."

As soon as Bai Zhi finished speaking, everyone's Pangu Terminal suddenly lit up except Lu Li's.

"Huh? The signal's back!" Chixia exclaimed delightedly.

"This is... a video message from the Frontier, broadcast across all of Jinzhou."

Yangyang projected a hologram from her Pangu Terminal.

As blue squares flashed into view, the image of a young woman appeared in the air.

She had long, silver-white hair tied into two fresh, natural-looking ponytails. Even more unusual were her clear, bright, pale eyes.

She wore a black miniskirt beneath a moon-white-accented outer garment. Its distinctive cut featured white and black as the main colors, with gold trim and patterns. A golden dragon's tail adorned the front left of her outer garment, stretching from her waist to the hem.

"To all the soldiers and citizens of Jinzhou, forgive this interruption. I am Jinhsi, the current magistrate of Jinzhou."

Lu Li raised an eyebrow. Magistrate...?

That was no minor office.

In his previous life, the magistrate had been the highest-ranking official in Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, overseeing political affairs and issuing orders.

The office held the reins of the state, ruling from above and leading the people below, directing domestic affairs and foreign wars alike, with full military and political authority concentrated in one person.

"As the Moon-Chasing Festival approaches, Jinzhou welcomes visitors from every direction. With this grand celebration nearly upon us, anticipation runs high and joy fills every heart. I share those feelings."

The Moon-Chasing Festival... In my previous life, that had also been another name for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Since ancient times, Jinzhou has stood on perilous ground as Huanglong's frontline stronghold against the Tacet Discord tide. From the day of its founding, it has borne the burden of a war in which retreat is impossible and defeat unacceptable."

"It is thanks to the protection of Jinzhou's soldiers, who faithfully fulfill their duties and guard our borders, and its hardworking, community-minded, enthusiastic citizens that Jinzhou enjoys such peace and prosperity and presents so radiant a face to the world."

"We have always met the tides of war with fearless resolve and welcomed those from every direction with openness and warmth. So it is today, and so it shall remain."

"Therefore, there is something I would like to ask of you all."

"Among our arriving visitors is one who is of great importance to me, to Jinzhou, and indeed to all of Huanglong."

"We have been waiting for a long time."

"To this visitor: after awakening, you must feel terribly lost."

Lu Li: Lost. So incredibly lost!