Thirty Years

The officer walked straight toward the gate, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing a number as he went.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

“Sir, it’s me.”

“Speak.” The voice on the other end was low and steady, carrying the calm authority of someone who had spent years behind a desk.

The officer pushed open the airport's glass doors. Outside, a light drizzle had begun to fall at some unknown point.

It wasn't heavy—a fine, dense mist that felt cool against his face.

Standing under the portico, he looked up at the grey sky and took a deep breath. “Sir, something big seems to have happened in Liming City.”

He gave a brief explanation of the situation on his end, adding, “I managed to track down some of the things that man said when he suddenly appeared on the plane. He asked the passengers about the year, and he asked about Forging City.”

“According to passenger accounts, the chaos on the plane only started after he appeared. We aren't sure if he was the one who initiated it, but once he showed up, everyone began attacking each other.”

“Many passengers released malice indiscriminately. This seems to match the records of a certain type of mental contamination. I remember hearing that residents near Forging City were prone to this kind of affliction...”

The other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds. “Continue the investigation.”

The superior then lowered his voice and added, “This involves supernatural power. It may be handed over to the Supernatural Management Bureau later.”

“Understood.” The officer hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

He could read between the lines. Since this involved supernatural power and would be transferred to another department, he didn't need to dig too deep, lest he invite trouble upon himself.

Standing under the portico as the rain drifted down from the sky, the officer recalled the surveillance footage of the long-haired figure standing at the cabin door. Perhaps that person had already vanished into the city.

...

【New mechanical prosthetics—anyone can be a superhero.】

Standing before an electronic road sign, Yue Shi looked up at the giant screen as it cycled through various images.

The advertisement's slogan was displayed in large golden letters, followed by a flashy array of product information—various models of mechanical prosthetics, ranging from fingers to entire arms, from feet to entire legs, and even exaggerated mechanical members.

Each model was accompanied by an exquisite 3D demonstration, rotating to showcase the precision joints, smooth lines, and the cool paint jobs on the outer casings.

A model in a blue bodysuit spun, jumped, and moved with their eyes closed on the screen, their actions so exaggerated they looked like something out of an action movie.

A passionate voice-over introduced the products: “A new generation of mechanical prosthetics—lightweight, comfortable, and ergonomic. Whether you were disabled by a workplace injury or are simply pursuing a stronger physique, our new mechanical prosthetics can meet your needs. From now until the end of the month, get thirty percent off your first order, plus twelve months of interest-free installments...”

Yue Shi stared at the screen, his lip twitching slightly.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. After all these years, they were still developing various models of mechanical members?

It could only be said that as long as humans remained human, their pursuit of certain things would never change.

A passerby glanced at Yue Shi with a strange expression and muttered under his breath, “Upgrading his hardware at such a young age...”

Yue Shi ignored him, casually spreading a bit of contamination to let the passerby’s soul descend into depravity.

Though he was looking up at the screen, his mind was rapidly organizing information.

After graduating from that school and passing through that door, he had been teleported directly back to Zhongzhou, appearing on a passenger plane mid-flight.

At the time, the passengers in the cabin had been drowsy, only to see a long-haired man materialize out of thin air, cradling a snow leopard cub in his arms.

Then, those passengers had all fallen under his influence and started attacking one another.

Even though he hadn't actively released any malice, his mere existence was a form of contamination to ordinary humans.

He had left that plane quickly.

As for the plane crashing?

That had nothing to do with him.

From the passengers' words, he had learned that this was Zhongzhou thirty years later.

During the days he spent adventuring on the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop, thirty years had actually passed in Zhongzhou?!

Was it an inequality in the flow of time? Or had the school directly sent him thirty years into the future upon his graduation?

Yue Shi suspected it was the former; the flow of time in the worlds within the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop was different from the outside world.

While he had experienced a few months in those worlds, years had passed outside.

What was certain was that the Deep Red Continent had changed significantly, and Zhongzhou had changed even more.

Walking through the streets of Liming City, Yue Shi looked at the skyscrapers reaching into the clouds, their glass curtain walls reflecting piercing light. The exterior walls were embedded with electronic screens playing various advertisements.

The streets were filled with ads for mechanical prosthetics, and there were many cyborgs—people who were half-human and half-machine.

Some had only a single mechanical arm, while others were mechanical from head to toe, emitting a faint hum as they walked. There were even some whose heads were half-modified, with a single red electronic eye.

The cyberpunk feel was much stronger than before.

Fortunately, Yue Shi had left himself a few safety nets before leaving Zhongzhou.

He wondered if Yu Duanhong, the man possessed by ghosts, was still alive.

Those who commanded fierce ghosts rarely lived long; the ghosts would slowly devour the host's vitality. Three years would have been enough for those two ghosts to pick Yu Duanhong clean, let alone thirty.

But perhaps he was still around. After all, the world was unpredictable. What if he had been incredibly lucky, escaped the negative influence of the ghosts, and become a powerhouse in his own right?

Yue Shi didn't particularly care.

He had another safety net—Jiang Kun, who was bound to the Heaven-Defying Fate-Changing System.

He was the one who had created that system. He could feel that it was still running, so Jiang Kun should still be alive.

Even if Jiang Kun was gone, his descendants, disciples, or friends should still be around.

Yue Shi would go looking for them.

However, even without any safety nets, Yue Shi wasn't afraid.

Perhaps as a result of becoming an outstanding graduate, he could feel that his strength had been enhanced across the board since leaving that school. It wasn't the kind of enhancement where one 'learned a new skill,' but a more fundamental strengthening.

His authority was more stable, his power purer. He was even confident that if the Zhongzhou authorities shot an arrow at him again, he wouldn't need to use the Five-Metal Mooncake to block it.

He could catch that arrow head-on.

Not to mention the vast amount of occult knowledge he had studied in the library. He now had a deep understanding of all sorts of dark magic and sorcery, and he happened to need a chance to test them out.

Yue Shi withdrew his gaze and picked up the snow leopard from the ground. The cub had been crouching by his feet, batting at a pebble that had rolled from somewhere. It seemed a bit reluctant to be picked up but eventually curled into his arms and squinted its eyes.

“Let’s go. Let’s see what thirty years has done to Zhongzhou,” Yue Shi said softly.

He stepped into the crowd. Behind him, the electronic road sign continued to play the advertisement for mechanical prosthetics.