Vol-2: 091. The Ring is Turning

091. The Ring is Turning

Buzz——

The raging motorcycle raced through the tunnel, with blizzards and sandstorms offering her a welcoming salute. Darkness blurred the view, cold winds tore at her cheeks, and the red-black clouds loomed overhead. It all seemed like hell.

However, upon closer thought, considering the teachings of those scriptures and texts, hell might be warmer than the outside world.

Xia Jianjing skillfully rode into the endless night. Perhaps influenced by Li Aozi's words, she occasionally lifted her head, gazing at the red-black sky.

"I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light... huh?"

Xia Jianjing murmured.

"How arrogant."

She was speeding fast. As a Gamma-tier, she disdained wearing any armor except for a helmet. The faint energy attached to her body easily fended off the wind, sand, and frost. The unhidden Gamma-tier biological signal she emitted throughout the ride kept the mutated monsters from daring to approach her.

Soon, Xia Jianjing arrived at her destination—Cold Iron Settlement.

If someone had never left the city in their entire life, their understanding of the outside world and the Four Nations would be rather narrow.

In fact, the outside world wasn't a specific area but a kind of state.

Any place not protected by a particle barrier emitter and lacking unified national identity and administrative divisions would be disdainfully called the outside world by civilized people. They might be the remnants of decayed nations or refugees abandoned after the Four Nations occupied resource-rich territories.

Thus, Blue Star never lacked population. After Abyss Heavy Industries improved a new type of fertilizer, many scattered settlements in the outside world grew into considerable numbers.

However, survival and living are two entirely different things.

Xia Jianjing parked her motorcycle next to an old cargo ship's engine from a sunken ship of the old era. She passed through the cold, semi-open container cabin and entered the underground. Contrary to what people might imagine, the environment here wasn't crude or sparsely populated. On the contrary, after dozens of generations of digging and expanding, even though much of the frozen soil beneath the ship had been excavated, the space remained narrow and lacked housing.

How ironic. Even in this almost apocalyptic wilderness, people still lacked shelter.

Xia Jianjing's arrival was nothing new to the settlement residents. They huddled in their meager possessions and corners, not even daring to raise their eyes to look at her.

"Miss Jing..."

"She's back. Why don't I see Nighsong?"

"Shh, you should call her sir."

Xia Jianjing paid no mind to the whispers of these outsiders.

The people of the outside world lived in settlements within old-era submarines, containers, and cargo ships. Some lucky settlements discovered old-era nuclear power equipment and barely survived by relying on it. Due to the lack of organization and civilization, the natural population growth was chaotic, leaving the outsiders in a constant state of poverty, hunger, and cold.

Xia Jianjing couldn't solve this problem. She always believed that no one on this planet could.

Not even her highly respected mentor.

Click.

Xia Jianjing stopped at the door of a sailor's cabin. She raised her hand, knocked, and explained:

"It's me, Alkanu."

In the next moment, the door automatically opened, revealing a man who resembled a crow—around forty or fifty years old, tall and sturdy, with black hair tied into a ponytail pinned with a black feather.

The middle-aged man wore a yellow and black trench coat, with an old-era radiator hanging around his neck like a pendant. A skull and wrench armband on his upper arm identified him as a senior scavenger.

Facing Xia Jianjing's arrival, the man sat at the bedside, slightly raised his head, and casually said:

"There's a fire burning in your heart, Jing."

"I want to ask you a question, Master Bedia Alkanu."

Jing slowly walked into the room, closed the door, approached Alkanu, and stared directly into his eyes, saying bluntly:

"Master, do you think the sun and stars exist?"

"What kind of idiotic question is that?!" Alkanu snorted. "Anyone with half a brain wouldn't ask something like that."

"I want to know your opinion." Jing insisted, staring at Alkanu's eyes. His silver-bright eyes seemed to be made of some incredibly pure substance, nobler than silver and holier than snowflakes.

"Believe it or not, the sun is there, Blue Star revolves around it, and it rotates on its own. The universe also exists. Even the sun is insignificant to the universe, just like sand." Alkanu calmly explained. "Is that all? My good apprentice, did you travel all the way from Tianhuan to preach your protests or just to ask this idiotic question to an old madman—you've been to school, don't be stupid."

He snorted again, shook his head, full of disdain and contempt.

"Master." Jing said: "Do you want to go to space?"

Alkanu's laughter abruptly stopped. He turned his head and stared at Jing, as if seeing this kid for the first time today.

"Tell me you haven't gone crazy yet, though sooner or later, you'll end up half-mad like me."

"Not yet, at least." Jing lifted her sleeve, her gaze sweeping across the cracked patterns on her arm. The fine fractures reflected a faint light, a degree no human arm should be able to reflect.

"This thing gave me the capital to enter the Gamma-tier." Jing said, "But at the same time, it's also corroding me."

"Calamity has the ability to catalyze human evolution—or rather, it accelerates humanity's timeline." Alkanu stroked his chin. "You're fortunate that Calamity didn't turn you directly into a monster and instead gave you superpowers. Anaerobes weren't so lucky—when we found him back then, Calamity had turned him into a cube covered in branches and tendrils, eerily floating in midair… We had to use an old-era antimatter bomb to destroy him. You should be grateful."

"Answer my question, Master."

Jing looked up at him:

"Do you want to go to space?"

"No." Alkanu shook his head. "I don't want to, not in the least. I was born in the outside world, and I want to die here too. My ancestors have borne enough burdens, and now I just want to stay here and quietly reach the end of my life—but I know you won't settle for that."

"You're right, Master."

"You want to go to space?"

"No, I want to save Gretorvo and then send a Red Arrow to space."

"Give me the Ether Elixir."

Jing reached out to him:

"I need strength. I want to obtain the power to save this world. I'm not strong enough right now, but if I can succeed, maybe the whole Blue Star will get a chance to see the sun."

"Jing, you've grown up."

Alkanu looked at Jing's determined eyes with great emotion. He smiled with relief, nodded, and said with a chuckle:

"Well said, but I won't hand it over to you."

Jing's gaze froze: "Master—"

"You don't understand, Jing." Alkanu looked at her with a complex expression. "Ether is more dangerous, more terrifying than Calamity. If you don't want to betray humanity, then never touch her. That's what my ancestors told me."

"…Do you really believe that nebulous legend?" Jing spread her hands, frowning. "Society... professionals... citizens... juries... legislators and speakers... do you truly believe there's a 'living civilization' out there?"

"Jing, if you believe in the existence of the sun and the universe, then you should understand that if the universe truly exists, with its vastness, anything could appear. Whether it's Blue Star birthing life or living civilizations rampaging across the cosmos like monsters."

Alkanu removed the radiator from his neck and slapped it on the bed. He shook his head and said:

"Nighsong's ancestor was an extraordinary person. He knew the reasons behind all of this, but before he could leave any information, that entity called 'Society' wiped him out. After Calamity swept the world, we couldn't even remember our own civilization, let alone that hidden part of history—I only know that Ether is the source of that Society."

"Gret's ancestor—did he brag about that amazing 'Gandok Nighsong' when he was a kid?" Jing scoffed. "That was five hundred years ago, who even knows if he existed. His parents might humor him, but why do you, Master, believe that story?"

"I don't know, Jing, but I believe it." Alkanu smiled bitterly. "Ether is incredibly precious, but pure Ether Elixir is poison to humans. Maybe you could survive the Ether's toxins and fill your blood with powerful, mysterious energy, but I don't want you to die."

As he spoke, he pulled out a vial as thick as a finger from his coat

. Inside was a clear, silver-white liquid, calmly floating. It didn't dissipate or break down, no matter how much it was shaken, always maintaining its mercury-like steadiness.

"This is the Ether Elixir." Alkanu said, "If I open it here, it will poison everyone on this ship. I'm not joking—I too was poisoned by it but narrowly survived. The price was that 97% of my body tissue had to be replaced with prosthetics. If you're not qualified, you'll not only die but die in an extremely ugly way."

Jing said, "I know."

She stared at him and said:

"Calamity isn't as terrifying as Ether. Society can enslave your soul through Ether. You may become a puppet or a resource to be manipulated and used at will by the high-ranking speakers and legislators of that Society—this is even more humiliating and painful than Destruction."

Jing nodded: "I know."

"You don't know! Even if you barely survive and pay a heavy price, you'll face more problems—and you'll no longer be human. No longer an Assassin—you'll become a monster known as a 'Professional.' With poison blood running through your veins, you'll be a part of Society, and your thoughts will be twisted. You'll believe that Society is your mother, your creator. Your soul and conscience will be warped and corrupted! You will no longer be yourself, only a tool!"

Jing took a step forward: "I know."

"Are you even listening to me?!" Alkanu fumed. "You'll die worthless! When you die, no one will remember you, understand? Gretorvo, me, and your friends will completely forget you! Your existence will be erased, like an eraser wiping away pencil marks!"

"I will die sooner or later, Master."

Despite hearing such heavy consequences, Xia Jianjing's gaze remained steadfast:

"I am willing to become a Professional."

——————————

Li Aozi returned to Nuliang City, deliberately strolling the streets, making a show of himself, ensuring people knew he was in a prominent place in the city.

Li Aozi's appearance quickly drew a crowd and caused a sensation among the Tianhuan people. The beta testers who had been searching for him immediately noticed the crowd gathering and rushed over.

Although beta testers didn't have access to military players' internal data and training, they had professional teams guiding and training them, allowing them to pick up the game easily. Knowing that Li Aozi, the central figure from the promotional videos—the [Domination] system instructor—had arrived, the sharp beta testers had long wanted to try to switch to [Mutant].

Li Aozi's Charisma was overwhelming. After staying in a plaza for a while, idly browsing forums, he quickly attracted countless Tianhuan citizens to watch him.

"Please give me your autograph!"

"You're so beautiful. Please let me be your dog."

"Are you Li Aozi, the superhuman who crushed the Frost-Plated Republic Air Force? It's really you! It's an honor to meet you. Please accept this small token of appreciation."

Before long, the gifts around Li Aozi had piled into a wall. He warmly interacted with the ordinary citizens and random fans, greatly boosting his popularity.

"What the hell." Some citizens, seeing how approachable Li Aozi was, couldn't help but mutter: "The Frost-Plated Republic's propaganda is downright despicable. How could someone so beautiful and gentle be involved in a massacre?"

"I don't believe for a second that Li Aozi would do such a thing. It takes two to tango; it's obvious that the Humanitarian Organization is dirty too—Frost-Plated people need to reflect on what they did wrong to push someone as good as Li Aozi to the opposing side. It's definitely Frost-Plated's fault!"

"Beauty is a rare resource. Even if he did commit a massacre, so what? Dying at the hands of such a beauty is their privilege."

"My god, he's like a god of beauty. I've already forgotten I'm a man. For Li Aozi, he's my only goal for the rest of my life."

Just as Li Aozi was showcasing his Charisma and boosting his popularity, the [Eye of Truth]'s vision also caught a glimpse of a player with the ID 'Daylight•Night Wanderer'.

Li Aozi's heart leaped for joy:

"Hah, waiting here for so long wasn't in vain—a big guild has finally come knocking."

The Daylight Guild was a very famous big guild and studio in Summerflame, with thousands of enforcers, smurfs, and agents under its command—a veritable pig farm.

"Now, there's big money to be made."

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