Chapter 158 - 145: Official Endorsement

Before Yin Zhen even picked up Bai Qiang’s call, the phone registered to Ding Yi had already received a text notification confirming a ten-million-yuan deposit.

Over the phone, Bai Qiang said that once Kunpeng’s people had the materials ready, they would leave them at a location she designated, and Yin Zhen could pick them up herself.

Bai Qiang offered a thoroughly reasoned analysis of Kunpeng’s stance and of the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, Guan Lan. After the lengthy breakdown, she cut straight to the point.

"I’m reserving judgment on whether Guan Lan is actually the Protagonist. She’s coming across as too confident and forceful — and that’s precisely what someone looks like when they’re trying to hide their own uncertainty."

"Then who do you think the real Protagonist is?" Yin Zhen asked.

"Her seven-year-old daughter, Guan Xing."

Yin Zhen was taken aback.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. First, Guan Lan is the type of person who spent six years chasing her academic and professional ambitions and left her daughter in her brother’s care without a second thought. So why would she suddenly keep the girl by her side where she’d only ’get in the way’? When I left the intelligence center, I spotted Guan Xing there, with someone keeping her company. That alone is an unusual Signal."

"Second, looking at this through the lens of novel logic, Guan Xing appears far more frequently in Nan Jiamu and Guan Heting’s love story than Guan Lan does — more often than even me. And finally, knowing how that damn system operates, it would never pick someone of absolute rationality as the Protagonist. If Ancient Abyss is too stable, the game stops being fun."

Yin Zhen had to admit it made sense. That rotten system was absolutely capable of pulling outrageous stunts just to keep things entertaining.

"Got it. Using a young child to keep a rational mother in check — that kind of internal conflict is exactly what the system loves to watch. Still, the current setup isn’t bad. As long as Guan Lan can keep the real Protagonist from causing trouble, and keep her alive inside Ancient Abyss, that’s all that matters."

Bai Qiang agreed, then asked, "What are you planning to do over the next few days? Zoe’s almost ready to hatch, isn’t she?"

"Three more days. I’m heading out to pay a visit to some specialists."

Yin Zhen glanced at the talismans she had copied down on the table, along with the list of names and addresses Lucy had filtered for her.

"Would you mind—"

"Yes, I would."

"Can you at least let me finish before you say no?!"

"Would it make any difference?"

"Fine, fine, go by yourself then! I’ve got a clinic to set up and clinical medicine books to read — I’m absolutely swamped, not that you’d care. You are so ungrateful. Ungrateful!"

With that final outburst, Bai Qiang hung up with a sharp click.

Yin Zhen stared at her phone and sighed, then sent Bai Qiang a text.

[The supernatural Strength has probably already started seeping into Ancient Abyss. Keep an eye out for anything strange around you — look for objects that might be on the verge of a transformation. Bring them over there, and they might end up becoming Ghost Devices.]

After sending the message, Yin Zhen slung her bag over her shoulder, asked Lucy to transfer some money to her card, and headed out the door with Ying and the egg-bound Zoe in tow.

Lucy had no interest in going outside. The surveillance cameras scattered across every corner of the world were her windows onto it.

What she really wanted right now was to get the workshop set up as fast as possible, get her hands on the materials she needed, start building armed combat robots, and convert the villa into a heavily fortified stronghold.

Yin Zhen was seriously starting to think Lucy had a persecution complex and a crippling fear of insufficient firepower.

...

That evening at seven o’clock, Guan Lan officially posted on the Ancient Abyss Player forum on behalf of Kunpeng.

[Kunpeng Personnel Appointments & New World Intelligence]

— Posted by ’Guan Lan’.

Fellow Players, I am Guan Lan — Protagonist of Ancient Abyss and Commander-in-Chief of Kunpeng.

After a period of preparation and consolidation, the following positions within Kunpeng have been confirmed:

Shen Qing is appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief, overseeing combat and security operations.

Signal Bad (Ke Yuxin) and Ye Se Going Solo (Zhao Zhendong) are appointed Head and Deputy Head of the Special Operations Unit respectively.

I Want to Quit (Zhong Ning) is appointed Head of the Training Unit, and Naming is Too Troublesome (Chen Shuai) is appointed Head of the Intelligence Unit.

Da Lang Takes His Medicine (Ye Lianqiao) and Xian Yu Never Idle (Li Xianyu) are appointed Head and Deputy Head of the Medical Support Unit respectively.

All other personnel appointments can be found in the post by Intelligence Unit Head, Naming is Too Troublesome.

The next world type is — [Supernatural].

Kunpeng has obtained the majority of intelligence on this world, including its Power System, foundational worldview, and a portion of its rules and forbidden actions.

This intelligence was provided by Player ’Blossoming Prosperity’. Kunpeng extends its special thanks to ’Blossoming Prosperity’ for their extraordinary contribution to Ancient Abyss.

All Players who have joined Kunpeng and passed the background screening may apply to access this material.

In addition, I have compiled a comprehensive summary of the currently known underlying rules of the invasion game. Please read the following carefully.

At its core, the game is an invasion between worlds. Beyond ’Physical Invasion,’ there exists ’Setting Invasion.’ The most effective known method of ending the conflict is — killing the opposing world’s Protagonist.

... (remaining content omitted)

[Sweetheart Old Cat]: Supernatural?! Someone save me!!!

[Masked King of Singing]: Can Extraordinary Abilities kill ghosts?

[Don’t Want to Turn Over]: We’ll get to the supernatural stuff in a sec — when did Kunpeng change Commanders again? And the name Guan Lan... why does it ring a bell?

[The party of evidence will never admit defeat]: If it’s not a coincidence, then it’s that internationally renowned Chinese female scientist who made the cover of Nature. You can count on one hand the number of Chinese women running their own independent labs abroad. I recall her supervisor was a Nobel laureate, and she’s considered one of the scientists most likely to win the Nobel Prize in the future.

[Legs 1.8 meters]: She’s our Protagonist now? What’s a Protagonist even for?

[The party of evidence will never admit defeat]: I think this is great news. Someone who clawed their way to the top of academia and runs her own lab independently? Her impact on Ancient Abyss is going to be massive. I’m backing Guan Lan. I was on the fence about joining Kunpeng before, but now it seems like a no-brainer. Anyway, I’m off to apply.

[Guan City Native]: Did anyone catch the shoutout to Blossoming Prosperity? She provided the intel for the next world again — what kind of ability level is that?

[Scallion out of the Earth]: Wasn’t there a whole crowd on this forum calling Blossoming Prosperity a traitor and accusing her of killing the former Commander Nan Jiamu? Now the official side is coming out to vouch for her. Where are all those people who were trash-talking her? Come on out and show yourselves.

[Chasing Dreams on the Gentle Breeze]: It’s highly likely that Blossoming Prosperity did kill Nan Jiamu and that ’Want to Kill Someone Today’ from before, but she also took out Chi Hai and saved all of our lives. You don’t have to like her, but you have to acknowledge what she’s done. Now that the official side has come out to thank her, those conspiracy theories can finally rest.

[I’m lost]: Speaking of which, why hasn’t ’Blossoming Prosperity’ joined Kunpeng?

[Qiuzi Stealing Life]: If I had her skills, I’d go solo too. Freedom!

[Hua, the Left-Handed Killer]: Agreed. She can get intel, which means she can log in early. If she ever took on followers, I’d be first in line — beats running with Kunpeng any day.

[Scallion out of the Earth]: +1

[Don’t Want to Turn Over]: +1

[Chasing Dreams on the Gentle Breeze]: +1

[The party of evidence will never admit defeat]: You people are something else — always fawning. The next world type is Supernatural. How exactly do you plan to survive against something this unscientific? Anyone actually want to have a serious discussion?

[I Am Uncle Ying]: Ahem! Just popping in!

[Oxygen Allergy]: You shameless Daoist, you’ve got some nerve showing your face — you still owe me money!

[Qiuzi Stealing Life]: Oooh, drama above?

[Sweetheart Old Cat]: Uncle Ying, save me — please take me with you next world. I’m genuinely terrified of ghosts.

Somewhere on a mountain outside Guan City, Yin Zhen took a breather and scrolled through the new forum post.

Just from reading between the lines, she could feel Guan Lan’s commanding presence — that sharp, decisive edge to her. Just like Bai Qiang had said: a woman with both the capability and the ambition to back it up.

She’d openly declared herself the Protagonist, and on top of that, laid out every rule of the invasion game in plain sight for all Players to see.

Honestly, Yin Zhen couldn’t have done that.

She’d worry about traitors emerging within Ancient Abyss down the line — someone who might sell the Protagonist’s Identity to the other side.

Then again, if your own strength was enough, what did it matter that your cards were on the table? Anyone who came looking for trouble could simply be killed on the spot. It would even save you the hassle of hunting them down yourself. That was one way to look at it.

If Guan Lan truly was the real Protagonist, then Ancient Abyss’s home front was genuinely secure.

The pity was that her daughter was a hostage in the system’s hands.

Yin Zhen caught her breath and kept climbing.

"Lucy, this expert you found me had better actually be exceptional in every way — not just living somewhere exceptionally high up!"

Lucy’s flat, mechanical voice came through the smartwatch. "The list was generated through big data analysis and filtering. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Furthermore, metaphysics as a domain falls outside the bounds of science and does not exist within my database..."