In that moment, Liu Yun felt her blood run cold.
She had lived for many years and seen many things, believing she was beyond being shocked by anything anymore.
But now, looking at those two lines of scrawled handwriting on the Book of Answers, she felt a deep-seated fear for the first time.
“I am Sinking Black. I believe you can see this!”
The remnant pages of the Book of Answers were her greatest secret; not a single other person in the world knew of them.
For the other party to use the Book of Answers to communicate with her, they had to know!
How was this possible?!
When had this been exposed?
Furthermore, why did they know about her? She searched her memory, but she couldn't recall ever knowing any powerful figure from a hidden organization.
Before she could think further, the words on the remnant pages continued to appear.
“I have fended off the death tribulation for your disciple, Wan Qianhong.”
“I know you must be paying attention to Bai Feifei as well.”
“For the sake of my intervention this time, please do me a favor. Bai Feifei is one of our own girls. Please do not make things difficult for her in the future.”
Once the short message was finished, the writing on the Book of Answers slowly faded, everything being etched into history.
Liu Yun’s heart was in turmoil, and even after the Book of Answers returned to its original state, she found it difficult to regain her composure.
She closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down.
The other party even knew she was calculating the karma for her own disciple...
The words were simple, but they represented too much. They gave her the sensation of being watched by some powerful and ancient existence.
She was a Prophet-level Scavenger, and all Prophets possessed the ability to “foresee”—a vague perception of karma.
At this moment, that vague perception finally became clear for an instant. The appearance of this Masked Hermit Society seemed to signal that the “Calamity” of Dawn City had drawn much closer.
A storm was brewing!
The things she had been avoiding and refusing to face were now being pushed right in front of her.
“The Masked Hermit Society...” she whispered, sighing as she suppressed the chaotic thoughts in her heart. She reached into her robes and pulled out her long-powered-off phone.
She turned it on and composed a text message to Wan Qianhong.
“Come back first. Immediately. Do not delay.”
“And... bring Bai Feifei with you.”
...
Down in the coal mine, Xu Mo maintained his persona as a mysterious expert after finishing his words to Wan Qianhong.
Wan Qianhong nodded earnestly and replied:
“Rest assured, I will pass these words to my teacher. Bai Feifei is a great hero; Teacher will certainly not make things difficult for her.”
Wan Qianhong’s mood couldn't help but brighten. She had previously thought Bai Feifei was going to be taken away, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
“Heh, actually, your teacher might already know everything I’ve said.”
Wan Qianhong: “...”
This senior spoke in riddles; his realm was too high. Most of the time, she simply couldn't understand him at all, so she bowed respectfully and didn't reply.
Little did she know, this was exactly the effect Xu Mo wanted. This wave of posturing had been incredibly satisfying!
This was the first time he had made up a fake organization, and it felt quite fresh. He had been so caught up in the fun that he’d said quite a lot, and looking at it now, the effect was excellent.
Well, this was a pretty good start. But one shouldn't overdo it; it was about time to leave...
Thinking of this, something else occurred to him. He looked at Wan Qianhong and said:
“By the way, I originally had no intention of interfering with the messy affairs in your Dawn City, but for the sake of that girl, I’ll give you a small hint.”
“The masterminds behind the research in this coal mine aren't just the Huang and Li families. There are even bigger fish behind them.”
Wan Qianhong was stunned. Given the omniscient performance of the man before her, she naturally took his words very seriously. She immediately pressed:
“Not just them? But the Huang and Li families are already the largest family powers in the city.”
“Could it be that other families are involved?”
Xu Mo waved his hand dismissively, as if such petty squabbles couldn't pique his interest at all.
“That is your business. It has nothing to do with me.”
In reality, he was simply recycling the words Wu Xin had said before dying in the previous run.
Wu Xin had only said that much. Since Xu Mo hadn't paid attention to the plot while playing the game before, how was he supposed to know the rest?
Just then, Xu Mo noticed new prompts popping up on his game panel!
On his panel, the storyline progress that had been stuck at ninety-nine percent for a long time finally changed!
【Special Storyline: Mystery of the Black Smoke Coal Mine.】
【Current Completion: 100%!】
【Rating: Perfect!】
【Congratulations on discovering the ancient secrets hidden beneath the coal mine and unveiling a corner of the mist surrounding Dawn City.】
【Perfect Rating rewards are being calculated...】
Oh?
He had been waiting for that one hundred percent for ages. If it hadn't come soon, he would have started cursing the crappy developers. Who knew that casually saying a line to Wan Qianhong would actually complete it!
It seemed there really was more to it; Wu Xin’s dying words were quite useful.
And completing the storyline actually gave rewards.
Back when he played the game himself, occasionally completing a storyline only gave an achievement or honor. This was much better.
Ignoring Wan Qianhong for the moment, he focused on his panel.
【Reward 1: Sanity cap permanently increased. Current: 100 → 300.】
Xu Mo’s eyebrows shot up. This was a very practical reward; the Sanity cap was the hardest thing to increase.
Although Bai Feifei had that hidden talent that locked her Sanity, increasing this was definitely a good thing. It served as a form of insurance in her normal state.
【Reward 2: Comprehensive vitality enhancement. At the same level, vitality will be significantly higher than others in the same tier!】
After the reward was applied, Xu Mo suddenly felt a warm current surging through his body. His strength had clearly increased!
Increasing vitality without changing levels meant increasing the limit of his personal strength!
【Reward 3: Successful extraction from the remains of the Avatar-level aberration. Obtained a new A-rank Containment Object.】
【Containment Object is initializing...】
After the three rewards were settled, Xu Mo blinked in slight surprise.
The two buffs were both limit-breakers; such things were hard to come by in the normal game.
On top of that, an A-rank Containment Object? A brand new one that hadn't existed in the world before!
These rewards were unexpectedly good...
This made Xu Mo, who originally disliked dealing with storylines and only wanted to kill, start to feel that they were actually quite worthwhile.
If it was like this, it wouldn't be bad to do them when they popped up.
Just as he was nodding in secret satisfaction, a new message suddenly jumped out on the panel.
This time, the font was blood-red.
【Critical storyline has been triggered ahead of schedule!】
【New Storyline Unlocked: Calamity of Dawn!】
【Current Completion: 1%】
【Remarks: The fate of Dawn City has entered its countdown. Light and dark, right and wrong, the most noble and the most base—everything awaits the final day.】
【Storyline Completion Reward: To be determined (Bountiful).】
Rate on N.U.
