Lord of Prayer

·

“…And that’s what happened. We were saved by a passing Ascender. He left right after we called the police, saying he had something urgent to attend to…”

Several Star Association vehicles and ambulances were parked in front of the abandoned factory. Li Xiye was recounting her group’s experience to an Operator from the Special Operations Team.

The Special Operations Team Operator from the Hong City Star Gathering took down her statement word for word, not showing much surprise at what had happened here. This world was full of dangers that wielded Extraordinary Power, lurking in corners and hiding in inconspicuous shadows. Many people were injured or killed by them every year—and there was no shortage of people who actively went looking for trouble.

Take this group of young people, for example. They’d heard through the grapevine that monsters frequented this place, yet instead of reporting it, they decided to court death by coming out to this dark and desolate wilderness to explore…

To be honest, while incidents like this weren’t common, they still encountered five, six, seven, or eight a year. Each time, the thrill-seeking group suffered heavy casualties or, in some cases, was wiped out completely.

This bunch of kids got lucky. So many of them survived, and one of them even had an awakening.

As for the Ascender who had saved them…

Hong City was a world-class metropolis. There were at least a thousand Ascenders hidden here, not to mention the daily transient population. Who knew where that Ascender came from? They were probably just passing through.

The Special Operations Team Operator wrote down the last word and capped his pen. “Miss Li, we have a clear picture of the situation now. The Star Association will take over from here. You can go and rest. There will also be a professional psychological counseling session for you later.”

“I’m fine… Have you found the others? Li Wei and the rest…” Li Xiye asked in a low voice, still clinging to a final shred of hope, praying that her other missing friends were still alive and well.

The Special Operations Team Operator fell silent for a moment before shaking his head. He said softly, “Two minutes ago, the Operators found their bodies inside the factory, along with several other Corrupters. They’ve all been safely contained and are being transported back to the Star Association for a detailed investigation.”

The bodies had been mangled beyond recognition. According to the on-site autopsy report, they had been killed by the Corrupters right at the beginning.

Li Xiye sighed, her heart aching with grief for her lost friends. She then boarded an ambulance to go to the hospital for a medical examination and treatment.

—Even if she hadn’t been physically harmed by the Corrupters, a thorough check-up was necessary to rule out any subtle mental contamination.

She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes to rest, her thoughts turning to Zhou Chen, who had left in such a hurry. ‘I wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to see him again…’

·

「Rainbow City Center.」

At 3:30 in the morning, the downtown streets were still bustling with people. Virtual billboards flickered with kaleidoscopic colors, and constantly shifting holographic images dazzled the eye. Hot pot, barbecue, Korean BBQ, snack streets, shopping malls… none of these places showed any sign of slowing down. Men and women of all races and ethnicities laughed and chatted as if the night had just begun.

Zhou Chen stood on the rooftop of an office building, gazing down at the clamorous city below. The lights burned like bonfires, the blooming neon was dreamlike and illusory, and the streets teemed with traffic, like a grand, never-ending gala.

A summer breeze drifted by, bringing a sense of peace and tranquility to the high place. Yet amidst this calm, he felt a surreal sense of detachment, as if he didn’t belong here. His heart was filled with a what-the-hell, this-is-bullshit kind of feeling.

After a long while, he let out a wistful sigh.

‘Unbelievable. I’ve time-traveled again!’

‘I’m back in Hong City… sixty years ago!’

‘What the hell is going on? One second I was in my hotel room playing on my phone, and the next, I’m sixty years in the past, running into the letter writer, Li Xiye…’

Zhou Chen lay down on the edge of the rooftop, clearing his cluttered thoughts. He focused his mind, meticulously picking apart everything he knew to find any clues.

‘First, sixty years from now, three factions secretly gathered in Hong City: the Blood Race, Omega, and the Crimson Sect.’

‘These three factions must be plotting something, but I don’t know the specifics of their conspiracy. Maybe they’re planning something big, or maybe it has to do with my time travel.’

‘Second, according to Old Yang, the Blood Race and the Crimson Sect went to war once before, sixty years ago. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and it seems there was no clear winner. That must be why the Blood Race hired Omega to boost their combat strength sixty years later.’

‘The common thread between the two time periods is the war between the Blood Race and the Crimson Sect…’

‘Then, the most important thing is that mysterious letter I received.’

‘The person who wrote it, the one I found using the Wish’s location navigation, was the very same Li Xiye I just saved.’

‘But it wasn’t the her of now. It was the her from sixty years in the future.’

‘Sixty years later, she plays the part of a riddler and writes a letter asking me to come to Hong City. I came, and so I somehow time-traveled, which led me to save the younger Li Xiye and meet her. This ensures that in the future, she will definitely write that letter asking me to come to Hong City, forming a closed time loop…’

At this thought, Zhou Chen’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up.

‘My time travel probably wasn’t an accident. Perhaps…’

‘—it was inevitable!’

‘If I hadn’t appeared here to save Li Xiye, there would be no way to explain how the Li Xiye from sixty years in the future knew me.’

‘So that brings up another question. Why me?’

Zhou Chen pondered this question for a second before giving up.

‘Sudden bad luck, a trouble-magnet constitution, the “Destiny Gravity” generated by the Wish Bottle and the Hammer of Forging… Who the hell knows what kind of bizarre chemical reaction you get when you mix all those factors together.’