Thoughts on Social Practice

So, where should I begin?

Ren Yi tilted his head and thought for a few seconds. Using a tentacle to grip a pen, he scribbled two large words onto a sheet of scratch paper: "The Beginning."

Something still didn't feel quite right.

After a moment of hesitation, he reached up and wrote a larger, more formal line at the very top of the page: "Thoughts on Social Practice."

Now that felt right.

Satisfied, Ren Yi wriggled a bit on the bed.

He wasn't in his humanoid form at the moment; instead, he was spread out like a pancake across the fluffy bedding. A single long tentacle extended outward, holding a pen as he doodled and wrote on the nearby paper.

He was truly achieving the dream of studying while lying down.

Counting the days, it had already been three days since Ren Yi returned to the Alliance.

The process of coming home had been almost too sudden. While Ren Yi was still in the middle of a mental brainstorm, the surrounding darkness had abruptly vanished in the next second.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was standing firmly on the floor of his own living room.

Immediately after, Ren Man had washed his hands and headed into the kitchen. As the sounds of clattering pots and pans filled the air, all thoughts of storms, plans, and conspiracies were tossed to the back of Ren Yi's mind.

He had decisively chosen to eat first and then lie in bed for a while.

During this time, Lu Zihan had called, wailing and howling on the other end for ages, terrified that Ren Yi had met his end in the Three Cities World.

Ren Yi had patiently soothed him for a long time, repeatedly promising that he was completely unharmed before the guy on the other end finally settled down.

It had been raining continuously for the two days since Ren Yi's return.

The pitter-patter of rain tapped against the window, and the dim light in the room made the soft bed seem even more inviting.

Add to that the fact that Ren Man had been exceptionally busy lately—nearly every time Ren Yi opened his eyes, all he saw were notes on the dining table and food in the fridge, never even catching a glimpse of his brother—it was inevitable that he felt a bit listless.

With all these factors combined, Ren Yi's "little lie-down" had stretched into two full days.

Finally, after Ren Yi had practically exhausted his interest in Anomaly-tone, Anomaly-hand, and Anomaly-station, reaching the point where he never wanted to see any of those icons again, he crawled out of bed half-heartedly, intending to do something productive.

The productive task was, naturally, that "Thoughts on Social Practice" report.

Ren Yi's gaze swept across the corner of the desk, landing on two uniquely shaped energy crystals.

One came from "Extinction," and the other from Azure.

But now, according to Ren Yi's deductions, that crystal actually came from the City of Xin.

As the Pope had hoped, he had ultimately brought this crystal back to the Alliance.

One could say that from the moment the Pope had so "nonchalantly" pointed out the value of this crystal, it had been a blatant, open scheme.

After all, the Pope hadn't lied; this crystal was indeed extremely valuable.

And Ren Yi wasn't the type to act on petty impulses. He wouldn't spitefully give up such a tangible benefit just because he felt he was being manipulated.

But doubts followed.

Weren't the Pope and the King of Xin afraid he would simply use the crystal to craft an Anomaly Artifact, letting all their hard work go to waste?

Later, after much pestering, Ren Man finally did his best to explain another function of the crystal to him.

"Alliance rules... will refine it."

"They... can live... in Instances."

Ren Yi stared blankly for a moment after hearing that.

So that was it. They really pulled it off.

He had heard it very clearly; his brother had said "they."

Not just the Pope alone, and not just the King of Xin.

To put those two sentences into plain terms: the Alliance's rules would refine the crystal, bringing it under the Anomaly power system.

After that, through certain methods—most likely involving reconstructing their bodies—they could be recruited as NPCs within an Instance.

So, the "they" his brother spoke of had truly been preserved.

Seriously, that's incredible!

Pardon the bluntness, but he was truly impressed.

Those were some truly formidable individuals!

Ren Yi asked himself: if he were in their position, facing the desperate end of his world and the oppression of Azure, he might not have been able to do as well.

Despite the difference in race and stance, it didn't stop him from feeling a spark of sincere respect for the Pope and the King of Xin.

Since the outcome was clear, he began trying to look at it from the perspective of the people from the Three Cities World, reverse-engineering how the plan had been completed.

So, looking back at this world invasion, what was the actual beginning of everything in the Three Cities World?

Was it the ultimate Instance that included the Lu Family Courtyard? Was it the outbreak of the apocalypse and the descent of the Alliance? Or was it that son of a bitch Azure?

No, none of those.

Ren Yi, gripping the pen with his tentacle, wrote the words "Azure World" on the paper.

When he first started analyzing, his mind was a bit sluggish, so he simply transcribed the words the Pope had said to him earlier, word for word, onto the scratch paper.

He understood now. Every sentence from that old fox contained a hidden plant; every word had to be broken down and examined thoroughly!

As he wrote, he actually found something interesting.

The Pope had said, "The reason I was able to learn Azure's true face is that some of his secret files have always been hidden in a secret chamber in the Holy City."

Setting aside how much dirt on Azure was hidden in those files, that sentence alone revealed a key piece of information: Azure had once proactively shared a portion of intelligence with the Three Cities World.

Ren Yi added the word "Intelligence" below.

Azure had revealed a portion of intelligence from the Azure World to the Three Cities World, and combined with the Three Cities World's thirty years of experience as a Pasture world...

The Pope and the King of Xin likely knew far more about Instance rules than an Anomaly cub like Ren Yi.

For example, they very likely knew the method to become an NPC, whereas he was still completely in the dark.

But that was fine; he could call for outside help.

He extended another tentacle, skillfully grabbing his phone, unlocking it, clicking the search bar, and smoothly searching for: "How to recruit Instance NPCs."

A somewhat familiar blogger popped up, with a post titled: 《Five Minutes to Understand NPC Recruitment》.

This title... had he seen it somewhere before?

Ren Yi clicked it open.

"Hello everyone, I am an Alliance-certified science editor. Today, I'll give you a quick rundown on how to recruit NPCs for your own Instances."

"First of all, larger Instances still require a good number of Anomaly NPCs. This depends on your own Anomaly connections."

"If it's just a temporary need, I recommend a method: you can try your luck at the Alliance First Comprehensive Education School."

"After all, those cubs don't have Instances of their own and can't meet the entry requirements for large Instances. They also need Instance internship certificates to graduate, so they're quite 'easy to talk to' at times."

"Ahem, those who know, know."

Ren Yi slowly typed out a question mark.