Chapter 1 "Refugees" Discovered in Lingxi

"A 'refugee' has been discovered in Lingxi."

"Target is a young female, no threat, no threat... Approaching is permitted."

The captain's order came through: "Bring her back. Return countdown, five minutes. Everyone prepare to return to the cabin."

This temporary rescue team consisted of four members per team: two North Continent warriors and two members of the Cheng Xin Hui.

After the captain issued the order, the team should have acted immediately, but a wooden voice suddenly added, "There's another rescue target... an elderly woman, around sixty years old."

"..."

The already unstable communication channel fell silent.

The captain's silence felt like a disconnection.

The four-member team was standing on a mountain ridge, ash and rain blurring their vision. They used the terrain to make out the staggering girl... The two Cheng Xin Hui transcendents looked blank, while the other North Continent warrior wore a complex expression.

"Zhao Qi, I always thought you were mute."

The fellow warrior said awkwardly, "Although you reported the numbers, this seems to be the first time you've spoken since the mission to the south began."

Hearing this, the two Cheng Xin Hui enforcers also noticed something was amiss.

"Zhao Qi..."

These two enforcers were young. The struggle between Hua Zhi and Nan Wan had just ended when they joined the underground organization of Da Du, but no matter how young they were, they had heard of the "Zhao Group"!

Zhao Xilai had only passed away a few years ago.

The immense power in the Madam's hands was what the Zhao family had built!

The two young Cheng Xin Hui members exchanged glances, puzzled. They hadn't paid much attention to their teammates during this temporary mission, but they definitely felt the gloomy silence of one of them, who hadn't uttered a word the entire way.

They looked over.

They had seen posters of the Zhao family's young master.

The image on the poster was of a rather thin playboy, but the man before them was the complete opposite.

His face was covered in stubble, his expression gloomy, his complexion pale, and his eyes filled with numbness.

"It must be a coincidence in names, right?"

"I think so too..."

The two young Cheng Xin Hui members communicated telepathically. Not many people really knew what had happened back then.

The public only knew.

After Hua Zhi was handed over to Lu Nanzhi, the Zhao family disappeared overnight... Zhao Xilai's tombstone was said to be buried in an unknown small, desolate mountain, and the纨绔 (wankua) young master had completely disappeared.

Some in the Da Du district rumored that Zhao Qi had been taken care of.

No one continued to investigate, no one sought answers.

Because everyone thought this version of the "answer" was good enough...

That useless good-for-nothing, if he had been taken care of, it would have been a good ending.

"Everyone, time is of the essence, let's carry out the mission..."

Zhao Qi spoke again.

He noticed that the gazes of the three were fixed on him, and they didn't seem to be leaving.

There were only five minutes left until the return trip.

He didn't want to waste time on such trivial matters.

His words snapped the three back to attention. Zhao Qi softly arranged the mission: "You rescue the little girl, I'll rescue the old woman."

"... Hey, hey!"

Before the accompanying North Continent warrior could speak, Zhao Qi's source armor tail wings were already spewing flames, propelling him forward.

The warrior sighed.

As far as he knew, Zhao Qi's strength wasn't high, only slightly better than the entry level...

With that level of strength, why show off?

"Let's go, let's save people first."

The warrior said softly, and went with the two Cheng Xin Hui enforcers.

...

...

Boom!

Tao Yao saw the black night illuminated by a crimson light, the rain vapor torn apart by source armor. The North Continent rescuer took the lead, while the two Cheng Xin Hui members dispersed the mountain ash from behind.

"Little girl... congratulations, you're saved."

Hearing the voice, Tao Yao didn't show any joy.

Her face was pale as she looked back in the direction she came from, "There's someone else, someone else... Please, save my grandma."

"..."

The three fell silent.

"Where did you escape from?"

One of the Cheng Xin Hui enforcers noticed something strange about the little girl. The girl's face was sweet and cute, but her skin was covered with black spots, as if she had been burned by the sun.

"I came from the West Grotto."

West Grotto... The Cheng Xin Hui enforcer immediately reported the information!

These sun-scorched marks...

It was very likely the work of the Guang Ming Bi Lei! (Guang Ming Bi Lei)

"Please, there's someone behind... Please save her!"

Tao Yao was in tears, begging bitterly.

She finally saw a glimmer of hope.

Her brother hadn't lied to her, heading south would really give her a chance to be saved... But she was saved, what about her grandma?

Her grandma had fallen down just behind them.

"I'm sorry, you have to come with us now... As for the old woman, we've already found her, someone will go and save her."

The Cheng Xin Hui enforcer who had completed the report took a deep breath and looked at Tao Yao. He couldn't hesitate at this moment; taking the little girl away was the best choice.

Otherwise.

If they wasted time, everyone would die out here!

"Three minutes left until boarding... Retreat!"

He said softly, "It's too late if we don't go back."

The three took the little girl towards the source energy boat encampment.

"Return immediately... Zhao Qi, do you copy?"

...

...

In the rain, red light scattered, falling on the muddy ground.

Zhao Qi heard fragmented, vague sounds.

He successfully landed in front of the second refugee...

It was an old woman covered in mud, emitting a faint glow in the rain.

The reason the old woman was emitting a glow was because she had been directly burned by the "sun." Her flesh was branded with bright red marks. Zhao Qi quietly looked at the dying woman who only had a breath left.

Of the four members of the team, he was the only one who had given a complete report to the captain.

It wasn't because the other three had bad eyesight.

Everyone saw the old woman...

But, in their judgment, this was already a "corpse" not worth saving. The road to the South Grotto was too long, and many people had fallen in the muddy mountains, but some had simply not been seen.

And the old woman at this moment was actually the lucky one, the one who had been "seen."

Life is sometimes heavy, and sometimes light.

When it is seen, it is often heavier.

"... Zhao Qi! Return immediately!"

A reminder from his teammates came through the mental network again.

Zhao Qi silently disconnected.

Everyone was afraid of death, but he was an exception...

He had come to the Sang Zhou Grotto with the thought that "it wouldn't be bad to just die like this."

In fact.

Dying during "rescue" was the most perfect ending he could imagine.

Zhao Qi squatted down, picked up the shriveled body, and said perfunctorily, "I am Zhao Qi, a member of the North Continent temporary rescue team. I am now responsible for taking you away."

The old woman who had fallen into the mud was already delirious.

"Chi!"

The tail wings spewed flames.

The two took off.

In the distance was the source energy boat base. Zhao Qi looked dazedly at the "end point" emitting massive amounts of light. There should be two minutes left on the countdown. He saw that some source energy boats were already burning their cores, igniting flames, preparing to take off.

Would he make it in time?

If he didn't...

Would he really die here?

Did he really want to die here?

These thoughts gathered together, swirling in his mind.

Suddenly, a sharp screech broke through the night.

"Chah!"

A huge black crow burst out of the forest.

The mentally distracted Zhao Qi only saw a ball of black shadow slamming towards him. He dodged instinctively, but then there was a loud "bang!" The crow's claw gripped his shoulder, and its iron hooks scraped sparks off the second-tier source armor!

"?!"

All of Zhao Qi's thoughts were shattered at that moment.

Before this sudden crisis, his first reaction was the answer: the source armor's bones quickly adjusted, and he sped up towards the camp.

Zhao Qi's overall qualities were terrible.

He could be said to be the worst recruit in Luo Yin City.

But his source armor flight test score was good, his best subject.

The black crow missed its attack and sped up for a second strike, but Zhao Qi's micro-adjustment unintentionally completed an evasion, the crow's shadow brushing past the second-tier source armor's tail flame.

But the black crow's adjustment speed was even faster than Zhao Qi's.

It lived in the high skies.

A black line twisted and turned, then shot over like a black arrow—

"Hoo..."

At that moment, Zhao Qi's mind completely relaxed.

In fact, he already knew the ending of his fate...

Even without this black crow, he wouldn't be able to reach the camp in the last ten-odd seconds. Of the ten source energy boats, except for number three, all had begun to close their doors, and even boat number one had already begun to take off.

He closed his eyes.

...

...

"Bang!"

A muffled boom of exploding flesh and blood rang out above Zhao Qi's head. He opened his eyes in horror, and then saw a familiar face with curly hair.

Chen Mei had blasted the black crow with a punch.

The punch was extremely forceful, a large cloud of black crow feathers and flesh exploding in mid-air—

Like a black-and-scarlet bloody firework.

But at this moment, the "firework" exploded slowly, because [Time] had been slowed down.

Zhao Qi's eyes widened. He had originally been a bird flying rapidly in the sky, but in Chen Mei's [Time Slow] domain, he instantly turned into a fish sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Chen Mei grabbed the protruding part of Zhao Qi's source armor bone.

The two fell from the sky. The moment their feet touched the ground, Chen Mei began to run, like a child flying a kite between the valleys... and at this moment, Zhao Qi was the kite.

The oppressive force of the [Time Slow] domain surged over. Although the original owner bore the brunt of it, Zhao Qi's face was still squeezed by the air.

His long-numb face was now full of horror.

He didn't expect to run into his old "acquaintance" Chen Mei here. When he was living a life of纨绔 (wankua) in the Da Du district, he had met Chen Mei several times in special occasions.

His father and Chen Mei's father were the two most powerful people who dominated the Da Du district.

People naturally compared the two...

In fact, there was nothing to compare.

Chen Mei had taken half of the Cheng Xin Hui with a pair of iron fists at a young age, and was on par with Song Ci.

And he was nothing.

But Zhao Qi, who was young and frivolous at the time, didn't think so. He knew the difference between Nan Wan and Hua Zhi, which was exactly the difference between Chen San and his father, so he thought that the one who was really "nothing" was not himself, but Chen Mei.

At this moment, Chen Mei's lips curled up, as if mocking the old days.

Zhao Qi was ashamed.

But he didn't notice that there wasn't much smile in Chen Mei's eyes.

This showed that Chen Mei was serious about saving him.

"Boom—"

Time moved slowly in the [Time Slow] domain.

To Zhao Qi, this [Time Slow] time was too long, it felt like a century had passed!

He watched helplessly as the last "ten-odd seconds" of his life's countdown turned into dozens of seconds with Chen Mei's help.

The feeling of being forcibly given extra life wasn't pleasant.

In the end, he was thrown into the source energy boat by the guy he used to look down on the most, and was even thrown into the highly private exclusive VIP conference room.

"Bang!"

[Time Slow] ended. Zhao Qi felt nauseous and dizzy, and couldn't help but clutch his stomach and threw up a big mouthful. The people around him quickly dodged, but fortunately he didn't throw up anything in the end. After gagging a few times, he passed out.

"Zhao Qi, how did this guy end up here?"

Inside the source energy boat were the Cheng Xin Hui's high-level elites.

Su Cha raised his eyebrows.

"This guy joined 'North Continent'... from what I heard, Luo Yin City."

Qi Lu wiped the barrel of his hot gun. In the beast tide counterattack just now, he had really run out of bullets. Looking at Zhao Qi lying on the ground, and the old woman who was about to die, he was puzzled and said: "But given Zhao Qi's personality, how could this pile of mud possibly participate in an outdoor mission?"

"That is indeed unreasonable."

Wu Yong sharpened his knife leisurely, and mocked, "This Mud Brother is the person I looked down on the most in Da Du, without exception. If this kind of trash has the awareness to come to Sang Zhou Grotto to save people, and is even willing to risk his life... then my worldview will probably collapse today."

"Everyone, now is not the time to discuss this 'Mud Brother'."

Chen Mei's voice came from outside the conference room.

He walked in, glanced at the unconscious Zhao Qi: "I have to admit, running into this acquaintance in this kind of situation is indeed a surprising and pleasant thing, but this guy has really changed a lot."

"Is he dead?"

"Not quite. He's just unconscious now. My [Time Slow] is too much of a burden for him, but... if I don't pull the time flow rate to five to one, I won't be able to return to the cabin."

Chen Mei cut to the chase: "My main purpose is not just to save Zhao Qi... this old woman is very important."

The gazes of several people fell on the old woman.

"The Cheng Xin Hui just rescued a little girl, that girl has 'solar flares' all over her body... this old woman has even more 'flares' than that little girl."

"Solar flares?"

Su Cha murmured: "This is the work of the Guang Ming Bi Lei."

"Yes... many refugees in the West Grotto have 'disappeared'. I think it must be the Guang Ming Bi Lei who attacked them."

Chen Mei said with lowered eyebrows: "All the Wanderers in the West Grotto have disappeared, and many neutral people have also 'died'."

"Under this circumstance, these only two 'survivors' are particularly important. Mr. Qi Mo just sent me a message, he hopes that I can save this old woman, not only out of humanitarianism."

"Not only out of humanitarianism?" Su Cha asked: "Is Mr. Qi going to do some research?"

Chen Mei shook his head. He said sincerely: "I don't know. After boarding the boat, Mr. Qi Mo hugged a computer case and made a connection. He is immersed in those codes that no one can understand... I only know that I should trust him."