A Bold Guess

Night fell over the World Association.

Shen Hui, a group of students, and some ordinary people had been brought there.

A large number of them were students who had attended the gathering with Shen Hui.

They were the people Shen Hui had rescued.

The people Shen Hui had saved looked at him with complicated expressions.

They had later learned that they had survived thanks to Shen Hui's counterattack.

But they had also learned that the thick, dark gray fog had been released by Shen Hui.

And in that fog, they had been tormented by negative emotions and all kinds of terrifying hallucinations.

Those with more serious mental problems had already been sent to the hospital.

They were among the ones who had fared relatively well.

But they still felt awful. Whenever they closed their eyes, it was as if they had returned to that environment.

It felt unbearably oppressive.

So they were both grateful to Shen Hui and a little afraid of him.

Shen Hui, however, didn't care about their situation at all.

After all, things had been like this all afternoon.

After Shen Hui defeated the black-clad men and escaped, he had just run into Ye Yitian and Chi Yan, who had come to reinforce them.

Although Ye Yitian and Chi Yan were very curious about what had happened there,

the situation had been urgent, since there were still many other places that needed help.

They had decided to talk about it after everything was over.

So they had only asked a few brief questions before arranging for Shen Hui and the others to take shelter at the World Association.

Those who had suffered more severe mental trauma had been sent to the hospital.

Shen Hui had thought he had the ability to help.

After all, they were short on manpower. It was best if he could do his small part.

But Chi Yan had stopped him, saying that Shen Hui's world was too dangerous.

She was afraid the people he rescued would become mentally unstable. They were alive as it was, but after Shen Hui helped them, they might end up half-dead. That was why she refused.

Of course, that was just Chi Yan's excuse for preventing Shen Hui from acting on his own.

The real reason was that she was afraid he would get into danger. After all, he was still just a student.

Seeing that it was already dark, Shen Hui sighed helplessly.

"It's still not over. I really don't know how many places have been affected."

Qingxue, Ye Long, and the others beside him also looked gloomy.

It had all happened so suddenly. If Shen Hui hadn't been there, they would already be dead.

Ye Long was also worried that Ye Yitian might run into danger out there.

Fortunately, nothing had happened where Qingxue's parents lived.

Seeing that no one was speaking and the atmosphere had grown oppressive,

Old Wang, Wang Yi, spoke up. "Who do you think those black-clad men are? They're people too, so why would they attack us? Could they really be traitors?"

Wang Yi's question pointed to something deeply abnormal.

After all, nothing like this had ever happened in all these years.

Then Qingxue thought of something and spoke up:

"According to history, in the early stages of the foreign race's invasion, quite a few people worshipped them as gods."

"Only after those foreign races began their invasion did those people's illusions shatter and they recognize what the foreign races really were."

"But I'm saying... is it possible that those who worshipped the foreign races back then never completely disappeared...?"

As Qingxue sorted through her thoughts and voiced them,

she realized only after saying it aloud that it was a bold idea.

Even she was startled. She quickly covered her mouth.

But as Shen Hui and the others listened to her, none of them looked as though they thought it was impossible.

Instead, they all looked thoughtful.

"That's very possible!"

Ye Long seemed to have figured out the connection. He clenched his fist and shouted.

Or rather, if they ruled out every impossibility, this was the explanation that best connected the two.

Shen Hui nodded too. "But this is only our guess. We'll have to wait for the investigation after this incident is over to find out what really happened."

Then Shen Hui continued, voicing what he had been pondering all afternoon.

It was also something the others were very concerned about.

"I just don't know how they managed to make the Creation World manifest."

Shen Hui felt that this was the crucial question.

If those people couldn't do that, then today's chaos wouldn't have happened.

But hearing Shen Hui's words, Ye Long immediately said:

"Come on, Brother Shen. You manifested your own world, but none of us did. You should know the answer to this, right?"

Qingxue also chimed in. "You really didn't feel anything unusual at the time?"

Shen Hui had already said this for the sixth time that day.

"It was that strange sensation of a fluctuation. I mentioned it to you at the time, but none of you felt it."

But even after he explained it, they still had no idea, since they hadn't felt anything.

Shen Hui had no choice but to let it go. They could only wait to hear from Branch President Chi Yan and the others.

But if they could make this ability manifest whenever they wanted,

that would directly shatter the traditional understanding of the Creation World.

It would be another epoch-making reform concerning the Creation World.

A little after eight that night, there was finally some movement.

The Awakened Ones who had gone out to help against the black-clad men's attacks in various places began returning to the World Association one after another.

Every one of them was battered and bruised, with injuries and exhaustion written all over their faces.

Not long after, Chi Yan, Ye Yitian, and the other members of the Guardians Organization appeared together.

Chi Yan gave them a few instructions, and they all dispersed to rest.

Chi Yan and Ye Yitian walked toward Shen Hui and the others.

Ye Long hurried over first and asked with concern, "Dad, President, are you all right?"

Ye Yitian coughed twice and said slowly, "I'm fine. Just a minor injury."

Shen Hui and the others walked over too.

"President, has everything outside been taken care of?"

Shen Hui asked.

Chi Yan nodded. "It's all been taken care of, but the losses were severe."

"And it wasn't just our region. Every region had the same thing happen. We were among the luckier ones."

At that, Chi Yan sighed, her face full of exhaustion.

This day would remain etched in their memories.

Shen Hui and the others exchanged glances as they listened.

They had thought it had only happened in their region. They hadn't expected it to happen in every region.

Shen Hui asked again, "President, do you know what this is all about?"

Shen Hui wasn't the only one curious. Qingxue, Zhang Yi, and the others pricked up their ears too.

But as expected, they had no news.

"The investigation is still underway, and we've made some headway. We'll know more tomorrow."

As Chi Yan spoke, she looked at Shen Hui with a look of admiration.

"You did well today. Otherwise, our region would probably have suffered the heaviest losses."

Hearing this, Ye Long and Xiao Xiangyan felt a little embarrassed.

After all, they had organized the gathering. If they hadn't, none of this would have happened today.

But Chi Yan wasn't blaming them.

"Since you faced those black-clad men today,

and Shen Hui can manifest his Creation World, come with me and tell me in detail what happened to you today."