The three Psychic Alchemy objects slowly floated and spun.

Yang Zicang first looked at this crystal glasses with a fairly decent appearance. He thought, if he put them on to see Miss Xu Aiyuan, would it reduce much of the natural influence from her abilities?

As soon as this thought arose, Yang Zicang shook his head to dismiss it.

“Well, first, exclude the glasses.”

Next was this small beehive wrapped in mist. Yang Zicang picked it up, brought it closer to look, and peered inside through a tiny hole the size of a green bean; the interior seemed empty.

“As for the ring, hmm… it doesn’t seem very useful either.”

— “My boss suggests you choose the ring.”

Outside the force field rippling with hexagonal wave patterns, a voice shouted loudly. With its roar, the voices of many other psychic body owners also appeared in the channel.

— “The glasses are better than the ring.”

— “The hive might be more useful.”

There were many suggestions for each of the three prizes.

“A flame of discontent burning in people’s hearts? ‘Evil Force’?”

The young man’s brow twitched a few times. He looked at the Wind Spirit Warrior and said, “I’ll choose this small beehive then.”

The psychic body providing the additional reward had more ‘kinetic force’ attached, enabling it to understand Yang Zicang’s words. The warrior nodded, lightly pinching with his fingers, and the floating small beehive instantly became more three-dimensional, as if tangible.

It floated to Yang Zicang’s hand, the surrounding space began to blur, and the force field walls softened.

— Even malice from your enemies can brew honey.

Some text flowed like phosphorescent light across the small beehive in the palm, then vanished and dissipated.

——<Stars guide your path, Sixth Star Reserve Corps>.

……

Over these two days, Hong Haocheng seemed quite mysterious in Zhang Miao’s eyes. This man, new to the area, appeared to have access to special intelligence, knowing the waters beyond the island like the back of his hand.

Although Zhang Miao tried countless times to warn Hong Haocheng about the island’s dangers, he couldn’t dissuade him from his single-minded course.

Under the cover of night, the man was finally leading him to this island formed from the fragments of currently called City 11.

“We’re here.” Hong Haocheng gently lay down on the water surface, turned to Zhang Miao, and gave him a thumbs-up:

“Kid, as a backup time code, you’ve grilled fish quite well these past two days. Later, I’ll see if I can rustle up something else to eat for you.”

Zhang Miao stood up from the water with a yawn, wringing the water from his blanket.

Just then, several flashlight beams flickered on and swept toward them.

“We finally caught you!”

Hong Haocheng raised an arm and looked toward the source of the shout. Amid the clatter of hurried footsteps, four or five people with silver-glowing rings on their chests surrounded the duo.

But then, Hong Haocheng noticed that the flashlights were mainly aimed at Zhang Miao’s face beside him.

“That guy with the severed arm—is he dead or not?”

“Talk, kid, where’s the Demonic Nightmare plane?”

Hong Haocheng was left awkwardly ignored on the side.

Zhang Miao shot him a glance and said lightly to the group, “The plane went down, and that guy’s dead.”

“Ah…” The burly man who seemed to be the leader among the five let out a sigh.

“All that good aircraft, gone just like that.”

Feeling the regret in the air, Hong Haocheng relaxed a bit and joined the others in lamenting the loss of the Demonic Nightmare plane.

Then the strongman lifted his head and said to Hong Haocheng:

“What model are you, kid? Eh, forget that, whatever you’re called, join us. Otherwise, hmph.”

“Hmph, hm-hmph-hmph.”

The group closed in, melee weapons gleaming with a golden glow in their hands.

The leading thug licked his dagger as he walked. “Ever heard the sound of a chest being cut open? The heartbeat goes from ‘thump, thump, thump’ to ‘gurgle, gurgle, sputter…’ Come on, fork over your lifespan, then take us to find the plane model.”

“What?”

Hong Haocheng turned to look at the fluctuating circle on Zhang Miao’s chest, blinking from people constantly trying to contact him.

Zhang Miao quickly raised his hands. “That’s got nothing to do with me! Look at my model—it never even stabilizes. I haven’t connected to a single Mental Link request.”

A sleazy-looking individual stepped forward from the opposite side, grinning coldly while twirling a rope. “Knew you’d show up on this island. Hands on your heads, surrender!”

“That model probably flies too—and it’s a real treasure!”

So that was it. Hong Haocheng walked ashore with his hands raised, heading toward the man who was spinning a lasso. Watching the kid emerge from the water and approach step by step, the sleazy-looking man snorted triumphantly:

“Not bad, kid — yo…”

Before the word “wise” could leave his mouth, Hong Haocheng stepped forward and crashed into the man in front of him.

Bang!

The moment they tumbled to the ground, the bald boy rolled over and lunged at the next person.

The small red circle on his chest flickered.

[Because I am the magical triangle! So I can triple-amplify!]

[452N! What a vast amount of years—can’t even be divided evenly!]

Before the man in front could react, Hong Haocheng’s fingertips had already dug into the gap between his shoulder blades. With a twist and a pull, a crisp “click” mixed with the sour crack of bones exploded, and the man let out a blood-curdling scream like a pig being slaughtered.

[I’ve canceled out 140N.]

Immediately afterward, Hong Haocheng grabbed his head with both hands. With a crisp “crack” from the throat, the man’s entire head was almost twisted around. But at the very last moment, the head jolted bizarrely and twisted back slightly.

“Hmm?” Hong Haocheng was slightly surprised. Was it because he hadn’t used a temporal attack?

“Just a mere grayish amplification glow, not even a thousand years’ worth of amplification, and you dare to act recklessly.”

Several others rushed at him more angrily. *Bam bam bam!* In the chaotic scuffle, figures tangled together as one man suddenly bulked up his shoulders, tightly latching onto Hong Haocheng while a golden phantom shimmered in his hands.

“Die! Ah~ oh~”

Hong Haocheng swung a back kick, straight into the man’s groin. Just as he broke free from the embrace, a torrent of filth erupted from another person like a geyser.

*Ugh, ptoo*

A spray of yellowish-brown muck, laced with half-digested vegetable leaves, splattered all over his face, the stench almost making Hong Haocheng retch along with it. He wiped the gunk from his eyes, spat with a “Pfft,” and kicked the man away with one sweep.

Zhang Miao, pale-faced, waded into the water and swam farther out.

Hong Haocheng likewise dashed out of the “fountain” and plunged into the lake.

After swimming far enough and washing himself over and over, Hong Haocheng surfaced and cursed: “Damn it! Isn’t there a single safe spot around here?”

Muffled curses echoed from the shore.

“Huh, what’s that thing?”

Hong Haocheng spotted something faintly reflecting moonlight upon the distant water. He took a deep breath, sank back in, and swam swiftly toward it like a sleek fish.

“Safe places? Well, besides the Cruxspace I mentioned earlier, which is relatively safe, there’s an absolutely safe place: Hub Town. But only masters or their teammates can enter there. Huh? Where’d he go?”

Zhang Miao looked around left and right—the person who had been right beside him just a moment ago was already gone.

Suddenly, the silent night sky was pierced by the “roaring” sound of an engine. The water’s surface rapidly parted as a small boat charged in from the distance.

The burly man on the shore, seeing the trail sliding across the water, exclaimed in alarm, “Ah, that guy stole our boat!”

“Come back! That’s our yacht!”

“F*ck your ancestors!”

This yacht-like vessel, with some scaly armor on its hull, quickly stopped beside Zhang Miao. The bald man grinned, reaching out his hand from the water and saying:

“What a haul! I just came and already snagged a monster boat. Get on, quick.”

“How is this called just ‘snagging’!”

Zhang Miao was pulled aboard by Hong Haocheng, spat, and leaned against the side of the boat: “But man, you’ve got sharp eyes. I had no idea there was a boat. This is really a great catch.”

“There’s not only a boat, but also food. Hey, these are oranges—a source of sugar. Sachima, rice wraps, nice, and even chocolate! Thanks for nature’s bounty.”

Zhang Miao glanced toward the area lit by lights, where several figures stomped their feet by the water: “Without the boat, it’ll be pretty troublesome for them to get back. Say, Brother Hong, you’re amazing—are you a martial artist?”

“Not really.”

Hong Haocheng recalled that he had only undergone special training for a month, and he would practice a few moves with Feng Juguan during the trip whenever time allowed. Yet, in such a short time, he had become so proficient in these combat skills—truly thanks to the power of the monster he had fused with.

“Can you teach me martial arts? I can find a way to trade you some temporal sequence.”

“Then I’ll have to give it serious thought.”

The wind blowing across the lake surface turned gloomy, and the water suddenly rippled with fine, dense patterns.

Hong Haocheng, who had just stuffed a piece of jerky into his mouth, and Zhang Miao both involuntarily looked toward the shore.

The reeds by the lakeside were suddenly bent down by a gust of wind. A three-to four-meter-tall, dark blue, viscous energy body stepped out from the shadows. It swung its giant palm, grasping toward the few people who had turned around in alarm at the abnormality.

“Ah!”

Amid their screams, it grabbed hold of one person and shoved them into its thick blue energy body.

The person’s cries vanished instantly.

“What the hell is that thing?” The jerky in Hong Haocheng’s hand fell onto the boat. “Is this the ‘giant’ you were talking about?”

“They should be… those former strong individuals from City No. 11.” Zhang Miao swallowed his saliva. “They’ve lost their human consciousness and turned into monsters.”

The remaining four hurriedly ran into the lake. The towering energy beast lunged forward, gripping one person in each hand. Amid their desperate screams, it stuffed them into its stomach, where they were instantly decomposed by its energy.

Hong Haocheng quickly lunged to the stern and yanked the Nightmare Traction Engine, “You led me right to this place? Damn it, I knew you were unreliable.”

“It’s my first time here too, bro. And I told you this place was dangerous.”

“Do you have any idea how massive that guy is!” Hong Haocheng exclaimed on the boat, “Terrifying—I couldn’t even shoulder-throw that thing!”

The giant on the shore seemed afraid of water. It stood at the edge, gazed at the two in the water and the distant boat, then turned and walked into the crumbling city silhouette shrouded in darkness.

The two in the lake swam toward the boat.

“Help.”

“Help us; we’ll give you quantum timepieces, just save us.”

Zhang Miao looked at Hong Haocheng: “Should we save them?”

“Do you think I graduated from kindergarten?”

The yacht swiftly sped into the nearby darkness, and the fragmented outline of this Zone 11 city gradually came into view for the two.

“It’s so massive, almost as big as a small county town.”