The World Is a Vast Web of Connections

Just by looking at the creature known as Moonglow, Chen Guan could feel an intense warmth.

This passive effect was even more powerful than the Dew of the Tree of Life, which had cost him 280,000 Popularity Points. As White Tiger had hoped, Chen Guan was secretly amazed.

Moonglow crushed the icy shell beneath its feet and walked up to Chen Guan. Lowering its head, it pressed the single horn atop its head directly against the arm wrapped in bandages.

Pure vitality, almost tangible in form, poured into his meridians in streams of green light.

The black contamination marks hidden beneath the bandages came into contact with the green radiance, and wisps of white smoke immediately rose from their surface. The sizzling sound of burning flesh spread continuously across the snowy ground.

The blackened, rotting muscle fibers writhed furiously under the stimulation of this vitality and began to heal.

Baal, lying dormant deep within Chen Guan’s mental space, immediately started stomping around.

“Idiot! What a complete idiot!”

He truly hadn’t expected this human to have such a trick up his sleeve.

I thought you were just boasting.

“Astaroth’s mark was actually erased just like that. That was an incredibly powerful force for you, and you actually let a weak human forcibly purify it?”

Chen Guan ignored the voice in his mind. He quietly savored the sensation of the cold wind against his fingertips once more.

“Don’t be ungrateful, boy. That mark would indeed have eroded your vitality, but it could also have granted you a ticket to enter the game. From now on, you’ll have no shortage of conflicts with Astaroth’s followers. It was giving you a chance to compete for power.”

“You’ve lost big, boy!”

Chen Guan raised his newly restored hand and clenched it into a fist. He thought silently that Astaroth posed no threat to Baal, but leaving that thing inside his body would sooner or later turn it into a deadly ticking time bomb.

Even the occasional pain had been irritating enough. White Tiger had done him a real favor this time.

After letting out a series of short cries, Moonglow withdrew its horn. Its entire body then rapidly dissolved into a shower of light, and it directly ended White Tiger’s summoning on its own.

Chen Guan watched the entire scene, clicking his tongue in wonder.

Although White Tiger was a summoner, his raw strength was undeniable. Even without relying on the righteous tactic of overwhelming an opponent with numbers, his one-on-one combat ability was formidable.

For a summoned beast like Moonglow to come and leave as it pleased clearly meant that it and White Tiger were not in a traditional master-servant relationship. They seemed more like equal partners cooperating with each other.

Moonglow appeared to be even more valuable than his 280,000 Popularity Points. Chen Guan truly had no idea what kind of existence it was.

Brushing aside those pointless thoughts, Chen Guan casually tore away the ruined bandages. The once-charred, rotting flesh on his right arm had already grown into complete, new skin and muscle. Only a faint red mark remained in the middle of his forearm.

One by one, his five fingers bent and closed, and abundant gripping strength once again surged through his body.

“How do you feel?” White Tiger asked, both hands tucked into his coat pockets.

“Thank you.” Chen Guan rolled the torn bandages into a ball and put them into his storage space instead of littering the ground.

“One thank-you won’t fill my stomach. When the performance assessments come around, you’ll have to stand at the front and shoulder the pressure for me.” White Tiger raised an eyebrow. Chen Guan was an important future pack mule in his eyes.

Chen Guan stared at him. “I suddenly feel like my arm is starting to split open again.”

“Don’t be like that. I was only joking.” White Tiger pulled one hand from his pocket and waved it. “Come on. We’ll register you first, then I’ll take you there.”

White Tiger turned and pushed open the glass doors of the white building.

Chen Guan followed silently.

Inside, a straight corridor stretched beyond sight. The alloy walls on both sides were densely engraved with patterns that blocked mental perception.

The two of them stopped in front of a metal door marked Isolation Observation Room.

White Tiger raised his right hand and placed it over the fingerprint scanner.

“I’ve brought someone.”

An old man’s voice came through the built-in speaker.

“Jing? Come in. Access granted.”

The heavy alloy door slid smoothly open to both sides.

The room covered several hundred square meters. At its center stood a platform forged from alloy, its surface covered by layer upon layer of rune-inscribed cloth.

The raised edges of the cloth revealed the cold, rigid outline of a rectangular container beneath.

An elderly man with graying hair, dressed in a white lab coat, was holding an electronic pen and writing on a terminal. He glanced at White Tiger, then shifted his gaze to Chen Guan.

The old man’s eyes traveled from Chen Guan’s shoulders toward his back, locking firmly onto the coffin he was carrying.

He pushed up the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose with a finger covered in thick calluses. The look in his eyes grew increasingly strange.

White Tiger turned sideways and patted Chen Guan on the left shoulder.

“This is Old Wang, the person in charge of Base 07.”

White Tiger reached over and ruffled Chen Guan’s hair. “This is the student from Huaqing Academy I mentioned before—the one who works under me.”

The fervor had already faded from Old Wang’s eyes, and his expression returned to normal. He turned and looked at Chen Guan with a kind, benevolent smile.

“You must be Chen Guan from Huaqing Academy, right? I’ve heard about you from my grandson.”

My… grandson?

Chen Guan immediately began racking his brain, trying to think of which acquaintance of his had the surname Wang.

Old Wang had mentioned Huaqing Academy as well, and a plain, honest-looking face instantly appeared in Chen Guan’s mind. That face quickly overlapped with the old man standing before him.

Wang Hanyue?

Old Wang’s next words confirmed his guess.

“Hanyue said you were an upright, kind, and hardworking young man.”

“When you first entered the academy, your strength was about equal to that of my useless grandson. But looking at you now, you’ve already left that boy far behind.”

There was no displeasure in Old Wang’s voice at his grandson being surpassed. Instead, he clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

“What an outstanding young hero!”

Chen Guan was deeply shaken.

So even Wang Hanyue, that honest, straightforward fellow, was a child of connections.

This world was one giant web of connections—and he was the only honest man without any background.

Seeing Chen Guan standing there in a daze, Old Wang was not surprised in the slightest.

“I imagine my grandson never mentioned me, did he? That’s only natural. My identity is classified and cannot be disclosed to outsiders, so I hope you won’t take offense.”

“The bonds between young people shouldn’t be influenced by an old man like me. Otherwise, I’d truly be committing a sin.”

“Old Wang, you’re joking. How could I take offense?” Chen Guan said with a smile once he recovered. It was a classified organization, after all. He understood.

Still, he was rather surprised. Wang Hanyue looked like a hulking military officer, whereas his grandfather seemed more like a civilian researcher.

Old Wang burst into hearty laughter. “Good, good. I haven’t introduced myself yet. My full name is Wang Zhiyong. I’m a specially appointed research fellow. I may not be skilled in combat, but I do have a sharp eye.”

“As for why I invited you here, Jing has probably already explained the reason. I won’t repeat it. However, I do have one small request. Chen, would you be willing to tell me where the coffin on your back came from?”