Pripyat.
The vast wasteland was shrouded in night, with only the blurry outlines of mountains, trees, and buildings remaining. The night wind whimpered, both mournful and desolate.
This town, where time seemed to have frozen in the wind, was not still. Rag dolls lying on rusted playground equipment, buildings housing deformed rat swarms, a permanently stopped Ferris wheel... everything was wandering, like ghosts.
Suddenly, a tiny figure in the center of the town shot up into the sky, like a burning bullet fired towards the heavens.
Immediately after, the ground trembled violently, dust waves swept through, and intense light instantly illuminated the sky above the town, as if the terrible Disaster recorded in human history was replaying.
Under the cover of the intense light, the shopping mall in the center of the town, completely taken over by plants, rose from the ground like an awakened beast.
Broken bricks and rusted rebar rolled and trembled like pharyngeal tissue within the twisted maw that opened from the top of the mall, emitting a deafening roar.
Accompanying the roar, countless small urban legend with bodies made of plants and concrete, resembling giant cockroaches, like a swarming insect horde, waved their tentacles and emitted metallic screeching sounds as they flew towards the fat Xiao Bai in the sky.
Seen from afar, it resembled a spire made of broken building debris piled up in a structure that defied physical common sense, covered in alien plants.
Intense regret almost condensed into substance, swirling with highly radioactive dust to form brilliant, aurora-like air currents, dancing like ribbons in the air.
Just as the dense tentacles were about to touch the small insect, a string of dense code suddenly flashed in his dark green eyes.
Immediately, a triangular symbol like a video pause button appeared out of thin air, instantly freezing the active "spire" below and the urban legend-ified shopping mall, as if they had been cast into statues.
Immediately after, a low whisper came from the direction where the small insect was.
"Delete..."
As the words fell, the surrounding space briefly warped, and interwoven light patterns of the three primary colors flashed across the sky above the town. A faint sound similar to electromagnetic interference crackled in the air.
The next moment, the group of urban legend and their parent body, frozen in mid-air, suddenly trembled, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer, and instantly disintegrated into dust.
Pale dust scattered down, and before it hit the ground, it quickly vanished into nothingness.
As if swallowed by another world, no longer existing in this one.
The small insect slowly descended from the sky, landing on the trembling Ferris wheel. He patted the Ferris wheel's steel frame and pouted, saying, "Stop shaking, I won't kill you, I'm just sitting for a bit."
The Ferris wheel made a slight creaking sound and stopped.
The small insect wriggled his fat body and sat down, his six negligible forelimbs resting on his chest. He surveyed the town shrouded in darkness and muttered to himself glumly.
"Damn it, where should I go to find a God Kingdom Prototype?"
Void originally thought that this town, which had become a urban legend entity due to the spreading reputation of being a "ghost town that devours life" and the lingering regret that had not dissipated from this land for a long time, would be a natural God Kingdom Prototype.
However, when it truly arrived [N O V E L I G H T] here, it discovered that other than mutated urban legend of all sizes scattered everywhere, there wasn't even a single hair of what it wanted.
"I really envy Disaster for having a mother..."
Void was muttering to itself when, as if suddenly sensing danger, its body stiffened, its dark green pupils trembled, and with a "whoosh!" it shot up from the Ferris wheel like electricity.
It wriggled its body in mid-air, about to escape, when suddenly, a terrifying Spiritual Energy fluctuation descended, trapping it in place.
That Spiritual Energy fluctuation gripped it tightly, released, gripped tightly... repeating the cycle, like an invisible large hand playing with its springy body.
It could feel that the Spiritual Energy fluctuation had drilled into its body, disrupting its Spiritual Energy circulation. Its entire body was emitting painful wails, yet there was no substantial damage.
This feeling reminded Void of a tragic encounter it had not long after becoming a urban legend, when it wandered the internet, occasionally peeking at the dirty little secrets on human hard drives.
That time, it met a lunatic. That person, like someone raising Gu, installed seven or eight anti-malware software programs like a certain 'Goose Butler', 'Kingsoft Antivirus', '361 Warrior', etc., on his computer. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Several software programs killed each other first, and only then did they free up some space to kill it.
They couldn't kill it, and they kept bothering it, like cutting flesh with a dull knife, which was extremely uncomfortable.
Human, unknown Spirit Mark type, Calamity-level Psychic...
Void sensed the source of that Spiritual Energy fluctuation. It was less than two meters behind it. Its spiritual sense spread out, and in an instant, it detected this information.
However, when it wanted to probe further, its body suddenly spasmed, the words "Insufficient Permission" flashed before its eyes, and the next moment, its spiritual sense probing was blocked.
That feeling was as if the other party had invaded its "system" through the Spiritual Energy fluctuation, restricting its usage permissions.
A Psychic capable of doing this must meet at least two conditions: their Power must be similar to its, and their Spiritual Energy fluctuation level must be one level higher than its.
After making eye contact, it was someone it couldn't defeat!
"Uh, friend, let's talk properly, why resort to violence as soon as we meet? Anyway, this is just one of my avatars, you won't get a urban legend main body core if you kill it..."
A network urban legend without "backups" is not a good urban legend. Void never shows its true body.
Netizen Laosepi still has over ten million alt accounts!
Although this avatar is a relatively important "backup" and difficult to restore... Void added nervously in its heart.
"Do me a favor. After it's done, I'll tell you where you can find a God Kingdom Prototype."
The person's voice was clearly processed by Spiritual Energy fluctuations, completely lacking any discernible characteristics.
"So it's about cooperation? That's great!" said Void.
Like open-source code, win-win cooperation is its favorite thing.
Of course, the premise is that the other party is not one of those crazy embryos whose Power has degenerated and corrupted due to being overwhelmed by negative emotions.
"Uh, if you don't mind, could you first tell me about the content of the cooperation?" Void asked.
"Disaster."
"Huh?" Void said in surprise, "You want it? Isn't that a bit much?"
Kidnapping female urban legend is something the Monster Story Chat Group has truly never done, it's too immoral.
"Bastard! Nonsense!"
A low roar came from behind.
"Uh, so you're going to persecute it? That won't do, it is my important partner, I cannot harm its interests. Otherwise, we won't be able to cooperate in the future."
At worst, I'll just lose an important avatar. Disaster is my important reference template; if it's gone, it's truly gone.
What's more, if something like this is done and gets out, the reputation of the urban legend bounty Website will be ruined. Void thought.
"Who said I was going to persecute it?" the person behind him said coldly, "I know you've established a bounty Website. I just need you to post a designated task for it."
Void, "..."
You say that's not persecution?
How do I feel like you're setting a trap for Disaster?
Fine, I'll pretend to agree first. When posting the task for Disaster, I'll maximize the risk warning. After it sees it, it definitely won't accept it.
Void thought, and replied, "Okay, it's a deal! Then tell me first, what kind of bounty do you want to post?"
"It's simple, if it gets the chance, have it join the Secret Society hidden within Da Chunyang Palace..."
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"What society?" Void asked. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Although, relying on the peculiarity of its Power, it has the ability to peek into any corner of the world covered by the internet, having the ability doesn't mean it dares to.
Da Chunyang Palace is one of the places it does not dare to deeply probe.
It still dares to peek at some simple information, such as Fu Xinyi's schedule.
But forces like the Secret Society, which it has never heard of and are deeply hidden within Da Chunyang Palace, touch upon its information blind spot.
Seeing that the person behind it did not respond for a long time, Void tentatively asked, "Hey, friend, do you want to join a group first? You could actually private message Disaster about this..."
After speaking, it suddenly felt that the Spiritual Energy fluctuation that made its heart palpitate had dissipated without any warning.
It was stunned for a moment, waited for a few seconds, then turned around sharply to look, only to find that the person had disappeared.
Looking at the empty abandoned town under the night sky, Void spat, "Tsk! I really met a weirdo today... unlucky!"
He talks about cooperation, but doesn't say what benefits I can get...
For something like this, wouldn't it be easier to just find Disaster directly? Why bother me? Void thought.
------
Shizhou City, Bu Ye Street.
Since the night became long, the number of nightlife crowds around the world has sharply decreased, and industries such as bars, nightclubs, and late-night snack shops have been severely impacted.
But there are exceptions to everything.
Cities like Shizhou City, which are close to Psychic forces and have very few urban legend incidents, are exceptions.
Bu Ye Street was originally just a very common tourist bar street, but as the night became long, a large number of practitioners flocked from other cities, and it gradually became prosperous, even crowded and chaotic.
Exaggerated neon signs lit up all night, shops squeezed into every gap, street food stalls set up along the road, an endless stream of people, the aroma of alcohol filling the air...
Various elements stacked together, the noise continuing all night, as if there were no night, so some people jokingly called it "Bu Ye Street," making it another must-visit attraction in Shizhou City besides Zhenwu Mountain Scenic Area.
Over time, the original official name of this prosperous, noisy, and chaotic street had long been forgotten.
In a secluded small building near Bu Ye Street.
This is a rare quiet corner of Bu Ye Street.
Deep inside the small building, in a room with tightly closed doors and windows, where not a single ray of light could be seen, the air was so oppressive it was suffocating.
A man wearing a moon-white Taoist robe was hanging from the ceiling by ropes.
His hair was disheveled, much of it clumped together by viscous liquid. His Taoist robe was torn in many places, revealing deep, bone-visible wounds. A circle of blue-purple metal rings pierced his spine, looping around the vertebral column and locking the area where the Spirit Mark was located. Blood dripped from his toes, splashing across the floor like leopard spots.
"Wu Yutang, have you remembered Chu? Are you sure you want to leave the society?" A voice sounded in the darkness.
"Su-sure!" the man called Wu Yutang replied with a trembling but firm voice, "Joining you back then was a mistake."
"A mistake? Heh!" The voice in the darkness sneered, "In that case... you can say goodbye to your precious fan!"
As the words fell, a light "crack" sounded in the darkness, as if something had been broken.
Along with that light snapping sound, Wu Yutang's body instantly tensed, as if what was broken was not just the Spiritual Energy item that had accompanied him for a long time and greatly enhanced his strength, but some vital organ on which he depended for survival.
Thus, the tragic screams pierced the silence of the room, spreading out to be mercilessly swallowed by the noise of Bu Ye Street...
----
On the mountain road several kilometers away from Zhenwu Mountain Scenic Area.
The middle-aged man driving the SUV was quite nice. After his car engine blew, he let Fang Ji get in first and stayed by the roadside alone to wait for the repair shop's rescue. Fang Ji wanted to compensate him, but he refused to accept it.
"Thank you, Uncle, you're really a good person!" Fang Ji bowed slightly to the middle-aged man and quickly stuffed the gold necklace he had unexpectedly found into the SUV.
Having received kindness from others, he repaid it with gold.
It was as if the behavior was etched into his bones; he did it subconsciously, not feeling that anything was out of the ordinary at all.
"Uncle, just take it as a birthday gift for your daughter!" Fang Ji shouted from afar to the middle-aged man who hadn't yet come to his senses.
After speaking, he ran towards the bus, scanned the QR code, and got on the bus excitedly.
Then...
With a "splat!", he fell in front of the bus door, his forehead hitting the metal-edged step with a "dong", bouncing off, and his back hitting the metal handrail with a "Duang".
Bus driver, "!!!" This Miss, she's not going to die on my bus, is she?
Hua Sang, "..." Uh, why are there so many weird people today?
Shem, Saleh, "..." A fake Holy Child, only possessing the fragrance of a miracle flower!
Lu Yibei, "..." This Miss is too unlucky. If I ride in the same car with her, something bad won't happen, will it?
Today was only the second time Lu Yibei had seen Fang Ji, and she had witnessed him having bad luck twice in a row, making her can't help but wonder if this might not be a coincidence.
She felt that if there were gods rolling dice in the world, then Fang Ji was the type that was disliked by the gods.
He is similar to the Extinction-Bringer of Old Days, a "lucky one" favored by the world's malice.
Under everyone's gaze, Fang Ji stood up unharmed, rubbed his forehead, and looked around the carriage with expectant eyes, disappointment gradually appearing in them.
The person he was looking for was not on the bus.
The next moment, his gaze seemed to be pulled by some mysterious force, slowly moving towards Lu Yibei, and then his eyes lit up.
Although he didn't find Lu Yibei, he felt a similar familiar aura on this strange Miss as on Lu Yibei.
It was that aura that guided him all the way here.
"Sister, have you seen Lu Yibei? I'm looking for her!"
"..." Hua Sang was silent, looking at the young girl beside her, her gaze sizing her up.
"Sorry, I haven't seen her!" Lu Yibei replied politely.
Who is your Sister? Go away quickly! You're looking for Lu Yibei, why are you asking me, Disaster?
"Huh?" Fang Ji bit his finger and mumbled, "But, Sister, you have an aura similar to Lu Yibei's!"
Lu Yibei, "!!!"
Damn! Didn't the Coat already completely cover the aura? How did you recognize it? Are you a customs sniffer dog?
Hua Sang, "???"
She tilted her head, and for a moment, her gaze towards Lu Yibei became sharper, as if she wanted to carefully distinguish every pore on her body...