Indonesia, Suo Island, on an unknown small island in the southern archipelago, at the Page Erhala Research Institute.
Every time he sat on the big rock outside the Research Institute, gazing north toward his homeland and reaching up to touch his own bald head, Balfe couldn’t help but reflect on his life—a life not particularly brilliant, but not completely invisible either.
They used to call him a Second Tier Spirit Power User.
But now, well…
His throat tightened.
From the sky came the sound of whirring blades. Balfe turned to look—a helicopter was slowly landing on the helipad.
He wasn’t surprised by the sight. Ever since the Research Institute started its work, every so often a helicopter would arrive with new people. Especially in the past half-month, newcomers had been arriving every few days. His job was to test each of them, making sure they could successfully integrate within the base.
Activating a Spirit Power User wasn’t easy. Especially for those seeking to advance in rank, pushing someone higher was extremely difficult—unless the other party was utterly cooperative and willing. Luckily, the Institute demanded exactly that.
As for those Experimental Subjects, some of them simply vanished—disappearing without a trace. The lucky ones came back, but after returning, there was always something wrong with their bodies. Only a few fortunate ones returned fully intact, able to tell the others about their incredible experiences in that other world.
What kind of world? What kind of experience? Balfe didn’t know, nor did he want to ask. All he knew was that another helicopter had brought more newcomers, which meant it was time to get to work again.
But this time, Goriun told him, these people didn’t need to be tested. Nor did they need to undergo any integration procedures.
They had other missions.
“Other missions?”
“It’s not your business. Don’t ask.”
“Fine, okay.”
Xu Chuyao had a dream. In her dream, she was walking back from the convenience store. The street was eerily quiet; there wasn’t a single other person on the main road. She thought to herself, must be the weekend today.
How nice—rest days are the best.
Then, out of nowhere, a little truck barreled out of an alley and hit her, sending her flying!
The Dalei Beautiful Girl Base.
Xu Chuyao sat up abruptly, her mind still muddled with sleep. She looked out the window at the faint light of dawn, unsure if she was still in the middle of a dream, if she was awake, or what her own name was anymore.
After half a minute, she finally got her bearings. She reached under her pillow and pulled out a tiny “sand pouch,” then angrily threw it aside.
“Bad luck charm!”
To be honest, this was a memory she’d never be able to forget—a moment when she’d truly been launched by a truck.
Enough. Shouldn’t have even tried using that thing. I wonder how my girlfriend’s doing… What did she dream of… Wait, do I even have a girlfriend?
Xu Chuyao quickly realized she was alone in bed. The other side was empty.
“Sigh, Shen Ning, are you there… You went over again, didn’t you?”
Her guess was right—Shen Ning had indeed gone over.
This time was an accident. Shen Ning hadn’t intended to go, she’d just wanted to test the effects of the Yichen Sand and see if she could change her pattern of lucid dreams. She didn’t expect that as soon as she closed her eyes, she’d find herself standing near the vast sand sea.
There were several people nearby, washing their faces with sand. When they saw her, they all stared in surprise.
Shen Ning recognized their faces—they were all members of her own Royal Guard who had come here with her yesterday through the thick white mist.
Melon had said they could stay here and use the Yichen Sand to treat their trauma, as a special favor from Her Majesty the Queen to the Royal Guard.
“Miss Shen, you’re back again. We’re really happy to see you, but didn’t you say yesterday that you needed some time to deal with things in the real world?”
Melon showed up right on cue. He’d been nearby and hurried over the moment he saw her.
“I really didn’t mean to come this time,” Shen Ning explained, rubbing her head. “I just wanted to test the effect of the Yichen Sand, but as soon as I fell asleep, I ended up here.”
“Probably because your dreams are too unusual. If you want to use Yichen Sand, I recommend you don’t sleep. Just daydream while awake, and it’ll work fine.”
So that’s how it works.
“So, this time, it wasn’t that the Yichen Sand didn’t work—it was interfered with by my dream?”
“That’s right, but it didn’t fail completely.” Melon gestured for her to look at her palm.
Shen Ning glanced down and finally realized she’d been clutching a photo in her hand. It was of Xu Chuyao, the Dalei Beautiful Girl, making all sorts of silly faces—sometimes smiling sweetly, sometimes bursting into laughter, sometimes sticking her tongue out in a mischievous way.
A Dynamic Photo!
“Well, it seems you really can’t keep things hidden, Queen Consort’s Portrait,” said Melon. “If you’re not thinking carefully when you use Yichen Sand, everything in your mind will show up.”
So that’s how it works.
She laughed wryly. “Well, I guess if I’m ever feeling lonely at night, I can just use this to help my brain come up with material.”
“That’s… probably not the intended use.”
Staring at the dynamic image in her hand, Shen Ning was at a loss for what to do.
“How about this,” Melon suggested, “since it’s the Queen Consort’s Portrait, why not enlarge it and put it here as a monument for everyone to admire? That way, if someone ever travels to the border and meets the real Queen Consort, they won’t attack by mistake.”
Shen Ning considered it and nodded.
“I’ll start now.”
Melon took the photo, raised it high, and did something mysterious. Instantly, the Dynamic Photo of Xu Chuyao grew many times larger—almost as big as the sand dune itself—standing at the edge of the desert.
Shen Ning’s eyelids twitched. “That’s huge!”
“Yes, I enlarged it.”
“I knew you’d enlarge it, but I didn’t expect it to get this big.”
From this angle, half the sky was filled with Xu Chuyao’s enormous moving image.
It had become a giant dynamic mural.
“No problem, Miss Shen, look—no matter how much I enlarge it, the pixels stay sharp,” Melon said, scratching his head. “That means your memory of the Queen Consort’s Portrait is crystal clear and won’t blur, no matter what.”
It sounded nice, but somehow didn’t feel quite right. Staring up at the gigantic moving mural, Shen Ning couldn’t help but reach out.
So beautiful.
Just then, someone came running from afar. He gave Shen Ning a slightly awkward salute before trotting over to Melon.
Melon examined him carefully and told Shen Ning, “They brought someone from outside. Says he’s here to work for you.”
“For me? I’ll go take a look.”
“No need to go yourself. Our people have already brought him over.”
Soon, a man with an honest-looking face was led over. Upon seeing Shen Ning, he burst out excitedly, “Miss Shen, it’s me, Huang Mao!”
It turned out he was the undercover agent she’d placed in the Page Erhala Research Institute.
Shen Ning waved her hand to let them release him.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Huang Mao, ever observant, immediately gave his report—just as he’d rushed over to do. Unfortunately, like the last few times, he’d been sent over as a matter of routine and didn’t have any vital information.
He might have sensed that his luck wasn’t great lately, or maybe he feared he’d failed Her Majesty’s orders. So, racking his brain, he managed to offer up something possibly useful:
“A new helicopter came today, brought some newcomers, but they weren’t made into Experimental Subjects. Not sure what they’ve been assigned to do.”
Was this information useful? Well, perhaps. Usually, any helicopter that came brought more Experimental Subjects, who were used up quickly; most didn’t survive, and of those who returned, only half were unharmed. There was no precedent for new arrivals not being used as Experimental Subjects.
But was it really useful? Shen Ning couldn’t say.
“Got it,” she replied to Huang Mao.
She’d have to ask Xu Chuyao about it later.
Xu Chuyao’s day started with her leaving the bedroom in the manor. She planned to find the Head Teacher and discuss Shen Ning’s repeated trips to the other side.
Crossing the garden, she heard Beryl calling out her morning exercises, with a bottle of milk on the stone table and muttering something about needing to grow taller.
The oddness in her voice was a little off-putting, but Xu Chuyao ignored it.
Passing by the Head Teacher’s room, she noticed it was silent—he was probably still asleep. He’d asked for some Yichen Sand yesterday; maybe he was reliving some memory.
As for Xiao Si Nuo, she was a total night owl—no chance she’d be up this early.
So Xu Chuyao went alone to the small courtyard from yesterday, picked up the Smart Stone, and prepared to open the Gate of the Other Shore.
She was confident that just by standing here, she could summon her girlfriend back, but to make sure it worked, she focused all her thoughts on Shen Ning.
What should I think about?
“Hey, hahaha, hahaha!”
Shen Ning, summoned back from the other side, opened her eyes to see Xu Chuyao—the Dalei Beautiful Girl—standing before her, laughing uncontrollably, clearly delighted.
“What’s up with you?”
“I suddenly remembered that time someone stole the flavor packet from my instant noodles. I stared at half a packet for ages and ended up not using it. The look on my face was probably hilarious, hahaha.”
A level-up icon appeared above her head.
“So it was you who stole it! And you still have the nerve to say it—at the time, you were peeking from the corner!”
She couldn’t stand it anymore and pounced, giving her a fierce hug—though she didn’t dare do more, since this wasn’t her territory.
We’ll settle this back at school.
A few minutes later, Shen Ning had eaten some breakfast and told Xu Chuyao about what had happened in the Crystal Stone World—not mentioning the dynamic mural, only passing along the intelligence from the undercover agent.
“They’ve assigned some lower-ranking Spirit Power Users to the Research Institute.”
Now Xu Chuyao understood—behind the Institute stood Wang Li, and since Wang Li was part of the Conquest Department, there was a strong chance she would try to attack the Equator Defense Line and let Mutant Beasts from Rong Daliya Old Continent break through. In that case, those people were probably just cannon fodder.
The problem was, the Clown Gang, though good at hiding, were easy to trick into being sent to their deaths, but their strength was limited and unlikely to pose a real threat to the Defense Line.
If Wang Li really wanted to target the Equator Defense Line, she wouldn’t rely on the Clown Gang. She still had the Corrosion Curse—a power that was incredibly strong, could only be used once, and left no trace after use.
Xu Chuyao propped her chin in her hand, thinking for a long time, but just couldn’t figure out who would be the card for the Corrosion Curse.
“Forget it, it’s not urgent. We can deal with it when we’re back.”
Right now, the most important thing was the situation in Yinghuo City. According to the information from the Interrogation Office director, Monrose would be making a move on her the day after tomorrow.
“Lord Banlier, here is today’s record of Xu Chuyao’s statements at the Interrogation Office. I have notified her about your scheduled meeting, and asked her not to leave Yingles City these days.”
“Understood. Leave it here.”
Monrose waved the Interrogation Office director away. He could sense that as his authority gradually slipped away, his subordinates’ attitudes were becoming less and less respectful.
But that was fine. It didn’t matter.
He glanced over the transcript submitted by Chuang, which recounted the girl’s endless lies.
“Bo Ya, beautiful teeth.”
He tossed it aside and then retrieved another document from the bottom of his desk—a [Page Erhala Research Institute, Recent Report on Spirit Power World Exploration Activities.]
This was what he truly cared about.
[Recently, we organized many Spirit Power Users and, through a system of selection, sent Experimental Subjects into the Spirit Power World. There, countless dangers lurked, and nearly half of the subjects never returned, while many of those who did were left with incurable injuries.
However, in exchange for these sacrifices, we’ve made some progress.
First, regarding the situation in the Spirit Power World: at first, one sees thick white mist everywhere, and sometimes spatial dislocation events may occur. After the white mist, some report seeing a vast ocean, and others say they seem to find themselves on a small island.]
Monrose read carefully, not doubting a word of the report.
Because the one who wrote the report was his trusted subordinate—Goriun, who had once served as his assistant.