An hour later.
Wu Xiaode had already flown beyond the coastline, soaring over the vast sea with flapping wings.
According to the navigation, he should be nearing his destination.
He looked around and, sure enough, saw an island rugged with jagged rocks.
Is this the place?
Ya took out his phone to check again.
Yes, this is it.
He descended, transforming back into a human, and looked all around.
The whole island was only as big as a football field, and aside from the scattered rocks, there seed to be nothing else.
Strange.
This is the place, right!
The Book of the Dead automatically opened, revealing a map.
It was indeed this island.
On the back side of the island, there was a prominent red mark, with text written alongside it:
"The red mark indicates the last safe house underground, and its entry code is:"
"734876X34235SG12P"
"Locker code: D76892V19652537"
"Safe house coordinates: 32°20′N, 64°45′W;"
"Underground: 135.12 ters."
Yes, the target is 135.12 ters underground!
But how do I get down there?
He walked around the island and found the spot marked in red.
Clearing away the pile of rocks on the ground, Wu Xiaode suddenly discovered a rusty iron door hidden below.
The iron door appeared to be embedded in the ground, shut tight, with no obvious way to open it.
There was a symbol of a microphone painted on the door, worn and sowhat unclear through the years.
Wu Xiaode looked up at the Book of the Dead.
The entry code...
He cleared his throat and recited, "734876X34235SG12P."
After a mont’s wait.
Rumble—
The iron door automatically opened, revealing a decrepit passageway leading downward.
Wu Xiaode stepped inside.
The iron door imdiately closed tightly behind him.
Bang!
The echo resonated, taking a while to settle into silence.
There was no light.
Darkness enveloped everything.
Wu Xiaode released the Silent Demon Mist, cloaking himself in it as he continued downward.
He quickly arrived at a corridor.
Alongside the corridor was a long row of lockers, and looking forward, there was another iron door.
Lockers, huh...
Wu Xiaode stepped up to the row of lockers and touched the interface, selecting "Retrieve Item."
Suddenly, a keypad popped up, prompting him to enter a password.
Wu Xiaode glanced at the Book of the Dead and quickly typed in a password:
D76892V19652537.
—Who knows how those spirits of the military managed to get these codes.
Beep beep beep!
The locker made a series of beeps.
Click!
The door of one locker sprang open.
Inside the locker was a badge and a letter.
Wu Xiaode took out the letter first, opened it, and inside found a few lines written on a torn blank page:
"We won’t live much longer."
"To fight this despair, today, we all banded together to kill a ’Participant,’ shredding even his soul completely."
"Everyone but chose suicide."
"—This is to keep the secret."
"After all, this is the only hope."
"I’m tasked with placing the ’Participant’’s badge here for those who co after."
"As an Undead Mage, I will preserve my own soul and try to find a suitable successor among the Awakeners."
"If you’re reading this letter, it ans I’ve chosen you."
"Go on, go uncover the truth of this world."
"And if possible, please do sothing."
"Even if—"
"It’s for your own sake."
"PS: Wear the ’Participant’’s badge, and by consuming 1 point of Soul Power every minute, you can activate its Power."
"It will let everyone know you are a ’Participant.’"
Wu Xiaode reached out, picked up the badge, and inspected it carefully in his palm.
It was a square badge, resembling a cellphone, yet only as long as a finger and as wide as two fingers.
On the badge, a few lines of text were displayed:
"Current scene: School."
"User: Star Spirit Empire."
School?
What does that an?
Wu Xiaode pinned the badge to his chest.
Almost instantly, the Book of the Dead displayed a few lines of icy crystal text:
"You have consud one point of Soul Power and activated the ’Participant’’s badge."
"Current Soul Power: 3/11."
"You are a ’Participant.’
"Now you may enter that iron door."
Wu Xiaode pondered briefly, then strode towards the iron door and pushed it open.
Boom!
The door closed behind him.
Wu Xiaode found himself standing in a school classroom.
Seven or eight people were standing around.
Only one person was sitting on the podium, with a cigar in his mouth and legs arrogantly crossed.
He sported a full beard on his face, with eyes that were cold and fierce.
In front of him, a bloodied young man was being held down by two people on his hands, kneeling on the ground, and letting out pained groans.
The young man was clearly tornted, his body lacking a single intact piece of flesh.
When Wu Xiaode appeared, everyone turned to look at him.
"He’s a Participant," one of them said.
"Ah, one of our own, then we don’t need to bother with him, let’s continue," the man on the podium flicked ash from his cigar as he spoke.
Everyone’s attention turned back to the young man.
"I really... am just a high school student... why are you hitting ..."
The young man’s face was full of tears, speaking with an innocent and yet painful tone.
He was spitting blood from his mouth, seemingly not long for this world.
—He was even wearing a school uniform.
Everyone burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, he says he’s a high school student!"
"Did you all hear that!"
"My God, this sin prison is really fascinating; he actually believes he’s a high school student!"
Wu Xiaode didn’t want to seem out of place, so he joined in and laughed out loud.
The Book of the Dead flipped open before his eyes:
"You have consud a bit of Soul Power and activated the ’Participant’ badge."
"Current Soul Power: 2/11."
"You are a ’Participant’."
A minute had already passed so quickly!
Wu Xiaode felt sowhat anxious.
Ya appeared quietly, perching on his shoulder, and whispered, "Be very careful, these people are extraordinary. If I replenish your Soul Power here, they will detect it imdiately."
"Understood," Wu Xiaode said.
The current minute had begun.
After this minute, there were two more minutes left.
He must figure things out within these three minutes, then find an excuse to get away from these people.
The crowd laughed for a while.
The man sitting on the lectern stroked his goatee, seemingly losing interest and gesturing with his hand:
"We’ve hit him enough, tornted him sufficiently, I think we should just hurry up and awaken his powers, then snatch them."
"Good idea, but once his abilities are awakened, the punishnt chanism of the sin prison will activate," soone said.
"It’s just about money, I’ll pay for it—go on, awaken his abilities," said the man with the goatee.
The crowd slowly beca serious.
Four powerful n strode forward, surrounding the youth and started chanting long spells.
The man with the goatee murmured:
"Alfonso, you cruel monarch, now I shall take away the powers you once held and use them to establish an empire of my own."
The spell was completed.
The youth remained kneeling on the ground, motionless.
But suddenly, a brilliant light burst forth from within him, enveloping his figure.
He fell into so sort of trance.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
The youth’s expression and deanor changed.
"Ptui!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at the man on the lectern opposite him.
"You ca to the sin prison to steal my powers?" the youth said mockingly.
The crowd looked at each other in confusion.
"This isn’t right, why are you awakening your mory?" the man wondered aloud.
The youth burst into laughter: "My powers are so formidable, surely soone would covet them, so I used my last bit of strength to seal the powers within my mory. The mont my powers begin to awaken, my mory would necessarily awaken first—"
"Your plans have failed!"
"Alfonso, because of you, the entire Galaxy Fleet was destroyed; this is all your fault," the man said.
The youth scoffed with a hint of pity: "Poor little boy, how are you all doing now? Still feeling righteous as slaves?"
Snap!
He was slapped across the face.
The man roared, "The Star Spirit Empire indeed conquered us, but our lives are much better than before—if it wasn’t for your adamant opposition to them, my father and sister wouldn’t have had to die on the battlefield. It’s all because of you!"
The youth’s gaze was heavy as he said, "Let guess, by now you’re free to trade organs, right? All kinds of psychoactive drugs are no longer prohibited? People can sell their dignity to work as the lowest-tier workers in the Star Spirit Empire? All the national mine veins are now controlled by the Star Spirit Empire? Let tell you, you’re finished."
"Shut up! At least we’re still alive, whereas you’ve been thrown into the sin prison," the man said harshly.
"My only failure was being overly confident when I was ambushed," the youth sneered, "while you sold out everyone for your temporary safety—you might be able to deceive yourself, but one day, you’ll know the fate of a dog."
"Attack! Strip his powers from him!" the man bellowed.
Seven or eight n advanced, each brandishing strange devices and attempting to place them on the youth.
"Don’t even think about it," said the youth calmly.
He stood still.
Spurt!
Streams of blood sprayed from him.
The youth slowly lowered his gaze.
His eyes filled with disdain, he looked down upon the crowd and uttered his last word:
"Idiots."
His head fell heavily to the ground.
He was dead.
A hush fell over the scene.
A few n looked at each other in terror and said, "Master, we didn’t have the ti..."
"Never mind, he would rather die than surrender his powers," the man got up from the lectern, disinterestedly, "This place is soon to be used by the demons, let’s leave."
"Having killed Alfonso, the Star Spirits should be satisfied," said one.
"Of course, soone was specifically watching this happen."
"Mission accomplished."
The n quickly agreed.
Their figures gradually faded, vanishing from the classroom.
One minute to go!
Wu Xiaode approached the headless body of the youth and took a close look at him.
The soul inside this body seed to be that of a monarch from so high-level human civilization!
Even such a figure was confined in the sin prison.
Tsk.
So, who am I?
Wu Xiaode paused for a mont, then shook his head, suddenly recalling sothing else.
This is a parallel universe three years in the future.
When I return to my world—
In our world, can I find him first?
A person like this, once awakened, must possess extrely powerful powers.
Humans need Awakeners!
Wu Xiaode imdiately began searching the youth’s body.
The Book of the Dead displayed a countdown in ice crystal letters:
"15 seconds left!"
"Please pay attention."
"Counting down 14 seconds!"
"13,"
"12,"
"11,"
"10,"
Wu Xiaode’s hand erged from the youth’s pocket.
He had found a note.
It read:
"Mr. Zhang:"
"Due to ill health, I need to take a day off to visit the hospital. Please approve my leave."
"Absent student: Li Kunlun."
"Class: Senior 3 (Class 5)."
Good!
This is it!
Wu Xiaode took the leave request and ran desperately back to where the iron door was located, pushed it open and walked out.
Ti was up!
Bang!
The iron door closed tightly.
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