“Alas, we can’t see a thing about what’s happening.”
“The screen always glitches at crucial moments, and by the time it clears up, everything has changed. That subway sure took a beating.”
The crowd chattered on and on, one after another.
“But this time, the nightmare train didn’t run away—it’s actually risking it all in a head-on clash with Yang Zicang.”
One man squinted and stared at the two screens that had been the first to go down.
“Wait—what’s that thing under Yang Zicang’s feet? It can even fly. Did he get another treasure?”
More people crammed into the room, all falling silent for a moment, until someone said:
“Damn, he definitely seized that from the Editor-in-Chief’s subordinate.”
“Shit, I kind of want to head to the Frequency-Disrupted Lands now. A flying treasure like that—I’ve never even seen one before.”
Even the city’s top experts, who hold high positions in the town, rarely encountered flying treasures, yet now one had fallen into Yang Zicang’s hands.
“Ah, he got another great find!”
“Alright, stop arguing.”
Zhu Yin, standing in front, clapped his hands to signal the crowd to settle down.
“The outcome of the anomaly in the Frequency-Disrupted Lands has a significant impact on us too—don’t go leaking any information. Also, if you know any platform owners who have Spirit Stones, tell them to get the stones ready and make sure to hand them over to Yang Zicang. Otherwise, once this is over, I’ll send a dedicated team to conduct a purge.”
It was clear that YangZicang was collecting the Divine Stones to deal with the Editor-in-Chief, and the previous several frightful incidents on the Land of Static were caused by its minions. The Land of Static must absolutely not be allowed to fall under a master, especially such an unshakeable grand figure—otherwise, there may be no room left for humans to live freely in the future.
Everyone listened to Zhuyin’s instructions.
He had already stated this matter before, but now that more people had entered the observation room, he mentioned it again. However, this time he even uttered the word “purge,” indicating the severity of the situation.
The models on many people’s chests lit up, and they began contacting cargo teams from the Frequency-Lost Area that they were familiar with to inform them of the sub-town chief’s decision.
Inside the carriage.
Xingmiao’s translucent body sat cross-legged on the ground, with several broken bone fragments floating inside her.
These Divine Stones, trapped by chains, surrounded Xingmiao.
{You continue to collect the Divine Stones. As for these stones with their powers sealed, I need some time to unshackle them.}
“Okay,” the group nodded.
As the ripples faded, the sky was once again shrouded in darkness.
The train headed toward Wang Chong’s telekinetic platform. After collecting that section of finger bone at the camp, it proceeded to the location indicated by Xing Miao. They could also sense that the energy radiating from Xing Miao was growing stronger.
Since everyone carried an aura of death, they did not switch out the three injured individuals while at the camp.
Little Liu, bruised and battered from the heavy fall, looked at the unfamiliar surroundings outside and said:
“This place isn’t on the previous map.”
“Well, in this half-day, the divine stones across the regions have changed hands plenty; it’s only normal to update the map.”
The phantom train stopped in a mountain hollow.
“You!”
Zicang Yang recognized at once the man standing by several stones—it was Li Shangxiang from the previous wasteland convoy.
“Hello there, Zicang Yang?”
He approached politely with a cheerful smile:
“Actually, I’m with the Shiqian team. These are what we’ve gathered over the past few days—six in total.”
“So many.”
Luo Bin stared in shock at the stones.
Suddenly, they burst with a bang and exploded into energy.
The energy then condensed into fragments of bones of varying sizes, flying into the train and coalescing around Xingmiao’s skeletal body.
The aura emanating from it immediately grew denser, and the train itself became more sinister, as if it could truly bring death to the land—a ghostly chariot racing through midnight, impenetrable to the living.
Li Shangxiang cast an admiring glance and stepped forward to hand over a simple map:
“Someone among us was once chosen by a divine stone and received a revelation. Beyond these six I have here, there are more from the past couple of days in two other spots you can pick up.”
This was a huge help. Xianfei Zuo then recalled the two mental transmissions he’d received earlier, but out of caution, he had pretended not to hear.
Li Shangxiang, after offering the map, brushed the dust off his hands and smiled toward Zicang Yang:
“We relied heavily on Wuying tonight; otherwise, we wouldn’t have been this efficient.”
Everyone understood—they had likely relied on Wuying to steal them.
“Thank you. With these, we should have enough.”
Xingmiao’s body parts were scattered across at least a hundred pieces. According to its request, collecting just over a third would suffice to handle the Editor-in-Chief.
It’s hard to imagine how powerful it truly is.
The train started moving, and Luo Bin sighed:
“People from our city are just better. ShíQiān lives up to his name—on the Frequency-Lost Ground, he might spend his days petty thieving, but when it counts, he’s a thief with honor.”
Little Liu held back.
Fold lines shot through one after another—representing the tent area with the Divine Stone contacting Yang Zicang for connections.
With unusual signs in the sky and pressure from both the Silver and Crimson hub towns, many tent owners sensed something major was about to happen tonight and began contacting him to hand over their Divine Stones.
Suddenly, a fold line shot through with panicked words:
{Yang Zicang, our tent area has been destroyed.}
Hurriedly, Yang Zicang connected and saw the dark scene behind this stranger—the land was filled with smoke and dust, the buildings gone.
“Do you know who did this?” he asked, feeling something amiss as he opened the link.
No sooner had he connected the Mental Link than a translucent female form, pulsating with waves, appeared behind the terrified man. She broke through the illusions like an apparition materializing before their eyes, and Yang Zicang was so startled he nearly fell backward.
On her strikingly gorgeous face, a cold stare swept over.
{You are Yang Zicang. Cease your collection efforts, and I will grant you the model upgrade materials you desire. I also invite you to join my company as an executive tasked with building a home on this land.}
Yang Zicang’s mind buzzed. By the time he regained his senses, the mental link had already been severed.
He turned around and saw Xing Miao lifting his head.
“She was very far from you—far beyond any distance that should allow contact. As for the materials, ha, you are already a quadrilateral. As far as I know, they are useless to you.”
Only then did Yang Zicang realize that the reason that person had been able to link to him was because the editor-in-chief had been the one connecting them.
From there, his thoughts turned to Mr. Xiao and the massive figure that had once pursued him. Both of them were quadrilaterals. If those materials were useful, they would have become pentagons long ago.
Yang Zicang nodded, slightly disappointed.
The three of them looked with joy at the figure formed from fragmented bones.
“You… can speak now?”
Xing Miao said softly, “Now that I can vibrate the air, naturally I can produce sound.”
At that moment, its emotions seemed a bit wistful, and while the others now felt they had a source of stability, none dared to ask further.
Clank!
A chain binding one of the divine stones broke apart.
The severed golden chain transformed into wavy energy, trembling as if alive.
Xing Miao pressed a finger against it, and though it curled up and snapped like a snake, it instantly exploded into dark wisps of energy. With a wave of its hand, the cluster of energy shot rapidly toward the carriage wall.
“I give this to you.”
Little Ma Chao seemed to let out a cheerful cry, whooshing and darting far away.
With the infusion of this energy, the ominous aura around everyone noticeably subsided.
Beside the small hill ahead, Wuying’s figure emerged. Next to him stood a nightmare pickup truck, carrying three divine stones on its bed.
“Wuying, thanks for your help. Time is tight—let’s catch up another time.”
Instantly, these three stones also turned into ink-jade-like bones and flew toward the carriage.
“Wait a moment.”
Before leaving, Wuying called out to YangZicang: “Borrow this from me.”
He actually tossed over the pyramid-like pointed cone treasure.
“This…”
“Just in case you need it. Go now—it’s up to you to guard the lost-frequency zone. My mission is done.”
The man smiled, waved his hand, and vanished on the spot.
Xingmiao glanced at YangZichang, who seemed slightly moved, and said meaningfully:
“Both Zuo Feixian and you rejected my request, so I notified more people instead. Do you understand?”
“Please forgive us.” YangZicang quickly admitted his mistake.
“There’s no need for forgiveness; I never blamed anyone. However, due to the suppression of rank, your rejection of me will naturally provoke certain misfortunes—you need to be careful.”
Zuo Feixian laughed heartily and said:
“No wonder today was so… well, pretty unlucky, I almost died, hahaha. Boss, next time I’ll follow your orders the moment you give them.”
Xingmiao sighed softly: “It’s okay. Here, it’s also the right practice to not trust others easily. After all, human nature is selfish, just to different extents; I don’t blame you.”
Luo Bin nodded in deep agreement:
“Ah, right, right. Unless someone’s been tested, we can’t fully trust anyone. Zicang, look, our revolutionary friendship has already withstood a huge test. How about we find a peach orchard, set some wine, and make it official?”
“Sworn brothers in the Peach Garden?” Little Liu looked at the three of them. “I’ve been tested too, right?”
“Haha, there are a lot of people helping tonight—Wuying, Li Shangxiang—if you count them all, we’d need to do the Peach Garden oath twice over,” Zuo Feixian said, counting on his fingers.
Xingmiao, overhearing their conversation, shook his head slightly.
Yang Zicang looked at the map: “The next place is…”
“No need to collect any more.”
Xingmiao, sensing his own state, began to silently undo the seal of the stone slabs. The golden chains were visibly trembling, on the verge of shattering.
Xingmiao=星渺 star
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