Was I the Reason He Came?

"This is an order! Carry it out!"

Mike paused, his voice steely and devoid of warmth. "There's no need to inform her."

He trusted Jiang Xiaoci completely—but that didn't mean his trust extended to everyone under his command. The apocalypse was already upon them, and if people within his own ranks started playing political games for personal gain, how could they ever hope to unite against the catastrophe? He had to snuff out this dangerous mindset before it took root.

"...Understood, Commander."

The voice on the other end of the line was crisp and obedient, but Mike knew better. They would tell Jiang Xiaoci. She wouldn't react outwardly—no unnecessary moves, no defiant gestures—but the very act of reporting to her had already touched a nerve.

Jinling had only just begun to recover, and the third phase of the apocalypse was merely starting. Managing the city was already a monumental task, and yet, some people had the audacity to scheme from within. Human nature was unpredictable—a challenge as formidable as the apocalypse itself.

"So, it's finally happening."

Mike exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples. "The political instincts of my people... truly unparalleled."

His eyes darkened with thought. "It seems I can't just focus on the apocalypse mechanism anymore. The bigger this operation gets, the more problems I have to anticipate."

Just as he set down the communicator, deep in thought, something flickered at the edge of his vision. A crimson flame drifted in through the doorway—silent, brilliant, and pulsing with a warmth that felt oddly reassuring.

"What is this..."

Startled, Mike extended a hand, and the flame shot toward his palm, vanishing into his skin with a faint hiss.

"No need to be alarmed."

The voice of Dongfang Zhiyuan echoed from outside, ethereal and distant. "It's the wick you've been longing for. Keep it with you, and the Mindflayers won't be able to target you. You'll also encounter fewer... inexplicable phenomena."

Mike blinked, then let out a quiet chuckle.

Coming from someone as eccentric as Dongfang Zhiyuan, this sudden act of generosity was almost suspicious. Had he also seen the cracks forming within the ranks? Did he pity those who not only had to fight against the apocalypse but also endure the insidious power struggles of the upper echelon? Perhaps this was his way of fixing those fractures before they widened beyond repair.

Throughout the day, Mike kept a close eye on Dongfang Zhiyuan.

The old man had left his quarters early and walked straight into the thick of the mist. He moved as if guided by an invisible compass—the suffocating fog posed no obstacle, unable to cloud his vision or his steps.

Yet, he did not head to Jinling's central command. Nor did he, like Jiang Xiaoci, prioritize personnel restructuring before tackling disaster relief. Instead, Dongfang Zhiyuan took his time strolling through the residential district where Mike was staying.

At one point, he halted before a ruined streetlamp, its post corroded and entwined with flesh-eating fungus. Slowly, he raised his staff.

A soft pop sounded as a sliver of flame peeled away from the staff's tip and settled into the lamp. At once, a warm, golden light burst forth, pushing back the surrounding darkness and banishing the mist within a ten-meter radius.

Then, unhurried, he moved to the next broken streetlamp and repeated the process.

Before long, the residents of the district noticed the change. What had once been an endless abyss of black fog was now speckled with flickering beacons of light.

"Holy shit! What's going on? Did they find a way to disperse the mist?!"

"No way… My streetlamp just turned on! The fog outside my window is clearing!"

"I saw him! It's an old man—looks like a janitor or something! He's lighting the lamps! It's like some kind of magic!"

"I heard our Commander recruited actual mages, but come on, look at that staff! That thing's huge! It's thicker than a club—one good swing and you'd crack someone's skull open!"

Excitement rippled through the neighborhood. More and more people gathered at their windows, watching the spectacle unfold.

Mike, who had observed everything from the start, had seen it most clearly.

Dongfang Zhiyuan had manually lit five or six streetlamps. Then, with a casual flick of his staff, he drove it into the ground with a resounding thud.

Immediately, the flames in those first few lamps fragmented, splitting off into new embers that floated toward the other broken lamps nearby. In mere moments, light spread like wildfire, illuminating the entire district and dispelling the mist almost entirely.

Mike let out a slow breath, thoroughly impressed. "Damn. That's some real magic."

But then, a troubling thought surfaced. "If he keeps giving away his flames like this... does he have enough for himself?"

"This isn't the wick," a voice answered suddenly in his ear.

Mike stiffened, instinctively glancing around, but Dongfang Zhiyuan was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't bother looking. As long as you carry the wick, or remain under its light, you can hear my voice."

The old man's tone remained as calm as ever. "The mist around your district has been cleared. The Mindflayers won't trouble anyone here anymore, and the odds of encountering strange phenomena will drop."

"Take a walk outside sometime. Being cooped up indoors isn't good for you."

With that, the voice faded.

Mike turned toward the city, spotting Dongfang Zhiyuan already disappearing into the distance.

"Old man's something else…"

He muttered under his breath, realization dawning upon him. Many of Dongfang Zhiyuan's abilities weren't listed in his official records.

"So this is what the system meant by 'hidden abilities.'"

They weren't just about combat—they were practical, invaluable, and undeniably effective. But that raised another question:

"Why did he hide them?"

These abilities, while powerful, weren't so overpowered that they warranted secrecy. If anything, suppressing them had only lowered his official ranking. There was no obvious benefit to keeping them hidden.

"Wait a second... Could it be that he suppressed his ranking on purpose?"

A startling idea hit Mike like a thunderbolt. "Because I can only recruit SS-tier talents… Was he originally SSS-tier? Did he deliberately lower his rating just so I could recruit him?"

"No way. That's ridiculous. Why would someone of his caliber go that far just to join my ranks? Even across dimensions?"

Mike quickly shook the thought away. Unlike Chen Dafei, he wasn't narcissistic enough to believe something so far-fetched.

Still, with no better explanation, he could only chalk it up to the eccentricities of powerful men.

Just as he was lost in thought, the district's loudspeakers crackled to life.

"Attention, all citizens. This is the first official announcement of the third apocalypse."

The voice wasn't that of the usual communications officer. It was Jiang Xiaoci.

And her first words changed everything.