"We shouldn't be the ones going, but the upperclassmen teams all have other things to handle, so we have to step up for now."
A printed request for investigative assistance lay spread open, its bold black title hitting everyone's retina like a punch.
【Request for Investigative Assistance Regarding Recent Disappearances of Ability Users in Magic City】
Long Ao leaned in, his eyes lingering for a few seconds on the words "Magic City" and "Disappearances."
"Magic City?"
He muttered to himself.
"Disappearances again. Sounds like it could be interesting."
Su Yuehe's gaze swept over the document, then lifted, quietly glancing at Chen Guan across the table.
Chen Guan stopped eating.
Magic City.
The name hadn't appeared on Yue Teng's crude map, but it immediately brought back Yue Teng's words in the interrogation room.
"The black mist has chosen its master."
"No matter where he is, the remaining power will find him on its own."
"It will pull you toward places where the black mist exists."
So let him see—let him see if this so-called fate truly existed.
"We have to go."
Long Ao slammed the table, making his tray jump.
"Ability users disappearing might mean some random cult is at it again. Perfect chance to get some practice."
He looked at the others, waiting for a response.
"I'm in."
Su Yuehe's voice was firm, her gaze again drifting subtly toward Chen Guan.
She too wanted to see if Yue Teng's words were coming true.
An Changqing nodded, and then the three of them all looked at Chen Guan.
Chen Guan raised his eyes, meeting An Changqing's questioning gaze.
"Count me in."
Chen Guan's answer was short and straightforward. He had no reason to refuse.
"Good."
An Changqing let out an obvious sigh of relief—he had expected this outcome.
"Then the four of us will take on this assignment on behalf of Huawing."
He put the document back into its folder and tied it up again.
"It happened suddenly."
"We leave at seven tomorrow morning."
Long Ao was already impatient. "No problem."
Classes were way too boring for him anyway.
"But."
An Changqing's expression turned more serious.
"What is it?"
Long Ao pressed.
"We might not be the only investigation team."
An Changqing looked at the three of them, his voice deep.
"According to intelligence from the Association, the top local academy in Magic City will also send their student team to join this joint investigation."
...
The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten.
A maglev train heading to Magic City glided silently along the tracks, the scenery outside the window blurred into streaks of color.
There weren't many people in the carriage. The four of them—An Changqing, Long Ao, Su Yuehe, and Chen Guan—shared a row of seats.
"I told you I don't get motion sickness. This thing is like riding a rocket—arriving before I even feel it..."
Long Ao leaned back in his seat, hands behind his head, radiating boredom.
The teleportation formation at Huawing had been used so much that it broke down and still hadn't been fixed after days of repairs.
An Changqing was flipping through supplemental case files on his tablet without looking up. "It's about saving time. According to the latest brief from the Association, another person went missing yesterday."
As soon as he said this, the relaxed atmosphere in the carriage turned heavy.
Su Yuehe's eyes fell on the speeding city skyline outside the window as she said softly, "A B-rank assignment, but with a joint investigation... this time it might be more troublesome than we thought."
"Troublesome is fun."
Long Ao cracked his wrists, his joints letting out faint pops. "Let's see if the locals in Magic City have improved at all."
An Changqing finally looked up from his screen, rubbing his forehead. "Long Ao, keep it in check. We're here to assist with an investigation, not to pick a fight."
"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Student Council President."
Long Ao clicked his tongue and turned his head away.
Chen Guan remained silent the whole time.
He was leaning against the window, his gaze piercing through the glass, fixed on the gray sky outside.
Magic City.
Yin Chen's home was in Magic City. And that stone tablet... and Yue Teng's words.
The train arrived at Magic City Station.
The four didn't linger in the city center; they took a private car straight to Magic City Academy on the outskirts.
Unlike Huawing's ancient, grand style, Magic City Academy's buildings were thoroughly modern.
"Tch."
Long Ao sized up his surroundings and let out a contemptuous snort. "All flash, no substance."
An Changqing patted him on the shoulder. "Remember why we're here."
Guided by a student council officer, they crossed a wide plaza and entered an administrative building.
The meeting room was on the top floor.
The escorting student opened the door for them and made a welcoming gesture.
"Honored guests from Huawing, please come in. Our people are already waiting."
An Changqing stepped in first, followed closely by Long Ao. Su Yuehe and Chen Guan brought up the rear.
The meeting room was huge, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a view of Magic City's bustling skyline. A long conference table sat in the middle, and at the other end, two people were already seated.
One was a girl, tall and striking, with short fire-red hair. Next to her seat leaned a massive battle-axe that dwarfed her—its blade glinting coldly.
The other was a man, dressed in an elegant white suit, his silver hair meticulously combed, calmly holding a cup of coffee.
Hearing the door, they both looked up.
The red-haired girl's gaze skipped past An Changqing and Chen Guan, landing on Long Ao. Her previously expressionless face twisted slightly as her mouth curled down, and she spoke bluntly.
"You again."
Long Ao's eyebrows immediately furrowed. He was about to retort when Hong Yuan flash-stepped over to Su Yuehe's side, gesturing as she said, "You've lost weight again."
An Changqing pulled out a chair, sat down, and smiled at the two across from him.
"Hong Yuan, Yin Chen, it's been a while."
"Good to see you."
Yin Chen raised his coffee cup in greeting. His eyes briefly rested on An Changqing and Su Yuehe before settling on the last person to enter: Chen Guan.
In that instant, a genuine warmth filled his gaze.
"Boss Chen Guan, it's been a while since the Northern Frontier."
Chen Guan leaned his black coffin against the wall, pulled out the chair next to An Changqing, and sat down, nodding briefly to his two old acquaintances.
He wasn't surprised at all to see them here.
Yue Teng's words were eerily coming true.
Their presence was proof of that.
And Yin Chen's family—the stone tablet they had—would it have anything to do with this case?
Meanwhile, the other protagonist had no idea someone was thinking about his family. Yin Chen leaned slightly forward, hands crossed on the table, his smile unchanged, but his eyes locked onto Chen Guan.
"To be honest, I thought this joint investigation would be a hassle."
"But when I heard you were coming, I felt relieved."
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
