Settling In

"By the way, was that crystal you gave away earlier from Mr. Extinction?"

Amidst this strangely relaxed atmosphere, the King of Xin suddenly asked.

Ren Yi looked up at the crystal before him and arched an eyebrow. "It was his. Why? Do you want it back?"

"No, there's no need." The crystal swayed slightly, its tone flat but carrying a faint sigh.

"That gentleman has waited far too long for liberation. To him, that crystal doesn't even count as dregs."

After a pause, he added, "But since he is finally free, I imagine Mr. Gawain has also long since passed. The Pope has likely atoned for his sins at last."

"For them, this is the best possible ending."

Ren Yi tilted his head. From that tone, there was clearly a story hidden there.

"To the world, these are merely trivial matters," the King of Xin hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Mr. Extinction's talent was 'Unfettered Body.'"

"For a period after entering an Instance, he could maintain absolute clarity. However, the price for that clarity was a state of mental chaos in his daily life."

"Years ago, he risked everything to bring back the knowledge regarding the formation of soul crystals for us."

"Furthermore, Gawain was Mr. Extinction's child."

Ren Yi was stunned.

"Before the apocalypse, when Azure had yet to reveal his true colors, the Pope personally branded Gawain with the Holy City's brand of piety to capture Mr. Extinction." The King of Xin's voice grew softer.

"I'm sure you can guess the rest. The Pope lived with the guilt of that act for his entire life."

"He's finally been able to atone."

"So, while I feel sadness for them, I truly believe that this current ending is the best resting place they could have hoped for."

Ren Yi listened quietly, not saying another word.

To the world, these were indeed small, fragmented details. But for certain individuals, they were the reality of an entire lifetime spent enduring the heights and depths of joy and sorrow.

In the middle of this slightly heavy atmosphere, the kitchen door slid open with a clatter.

Dr. Lin walked out leisurely, munching on a red apple, instantly shattering the silence in the room.

"Don't forget to have 'im register," he said, chewing indistinctly. He jerked his chin toward the King of Xin's crystal. "What's your name?"

The crystal swayed gently but didn't make a sound for a long time, as if stumped by the question.

Ren Yi didn't notice his hesitation. He casually opened the registration interface on the Anomaly Web and turned to ask, "How should I address you normally? I can't just keep calling you the King of Xin."

"Uh... CL-021," the crystal's voice came back slowly.

"Your name is a serial number?" Ren Yi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I was a test subject for the soul experiments," the King of Xin answered calmly.

"Genetically speaking, Azure is my father, which is why I was born with mental power... That's also why I was confident in leaving a contingency plan to counter him on a soul level."

When mentioning Azure, for a brief moment, he seemed to transform back into that sovereign who had rebelled against the culprit of the apocalypse.

But that sharpness was fleeting, and he quickly returned to his previous slow-paced demeanor.

"If you feel a formal name is necessary... why don't you choose one for me?"

"Sure, I'll do it!" Dr. Lin chimed in immediately, sounding strangely enthusiastic.

Letting Dr. Lin choose a name? Ren Yi instantly felt a strong, ominous premonition.

Before he could stop him, he heard Dr. Lin say, "How about Xiao Wang? Or Xiao Xin?"

"What? That's way too casual," Ren Yi protested decisively.

"A name is just a label, don't be so picky." Dr. Lin rolled his eyes. "Then what do you think it should be?"

Ren Yi rubbed his chin and pondered for a few seconds, cycling through a few names in his head.

"Let's go with Wang Zhixin."

Dr. Lin looked speechless. "That's not any better than mine. Isn't that just as lazy?"

"Ignore him. Let's hear what the man himself thinks." Ren Yi turned back to the crystal.

"Uh... I'll go with Wang Zhixin."

And so, the King of Xin, now Wang Zhixin, officially settled in.

The reason Ren Yi accepted all of this so quickly was partly because his brother had vouched for it.

On the other hand, when this King of Xin—Wang Zhixin—had said "meeting you is our good fortune" earlier, Ren Yi could clearly feel that the soul within the crystal was genuinely happy to have met him.

【Rank: D (Progress: 3/1000)】

Ever since he returned to the Alliance and that drizzling rain began to fall, Ren Yi always felt as if something was being slowly replenished within his body.

When he woke up from his sleep, he found that he had quietly leveled up.

The three current progress points came from his brother, the laughing Dr. Lin, and our very own Wang Zhixin.

However, given Ren Yi's current wealth, this panel would become 1000/1000 in just a couple of days.

The reason he wasn't in a hurry to absorb energy was that his brother told him there was a bottleneck for reaching C-rank.

...He had to wait until school started to take a Unified Exam.

The reasoning was that the Alliance's resources were limited, so they had to set some thresholds to filter people out.

Although he didn't understand why a bottleneck would be an exam... combined with the rule that one must return to the Alliance to level up and that rain that seemed to replenish energy, Ren Yi had a faint suspicion.

So, was the purpose of the world invasions to obtain some kind of energy related to their leveling up?

Besides, he hadn't even visited the trading market Auntie Lu Qing mentioned yet.

He would worry about C-rank later. According to the introduction he had read before, "After reaching D-rank, physical combat power increases, the range of ability influence expands, and one rule or ability can be strengthened once."

There wasn't much to say about the increase in basic attributes. Regarding rules, Ren Yi felt he didn't need to upgrade them for now, so he naturally chose to strengthen his ability.

The first thing to change was the Ammunition limit, which expanded from one to ten. This made Ren Yi breathe a huge sigh of relief.

But aside from that, he hadn't noticed any other changes.

After all, this ability upgrade didn't come with system notifications or any sudden moments of enlightenment.

Hole up at home, he couldn't even find a target to test it on, so he had no idea what else had improved.

But today, he had finally caught someone he could ask.