Chapter 6: A Gathering of Heroes; Black Swan: I’ve Figured It Out, All of You…

Inside the meeting room, a complex and tedious discussion unfolded, centered on reinforcing the containment capacity of the World Tree and the schemes of the Scorching Ghost.

The five District Chiefs spoke from the perspectives of their respective regions. As they debated, they didn’t forget to jostle for their own interests; beneath their clashing viewpoints lay a raw hunger for profit.

“Forgive my bluntness, but that prophecy is far too specific. Who’s to say this isn’t a plot by Y009?”

The elder from the Second District was the first to raise the concern that had been weighing on everyone’s minds. Although Anomalies followed their own logic—their abilities and cores preventing them from acting against their fundamental nature—the core of Y009 Ratatoskr¹ was information. Its essence consisted of fragments of written prophecy from different points in time. Logically, it shouldn’t possess its own consciousness or bias.

But who could guarantee that?

According to the prophecy from Anomaly Y009, the prison known as the World Tree was about to wither completely. Y007, Y006… Anomalies closer and closer to the Source would begin to awaken, and the Sovereign of Anomalies would be born from the World Tree’s remains. Then, dragon wings would blot out the sky and destroy everything.

Who could be sure Ratatoskr’s prophecy wasn’t just a way to build momentum for its Sovereign?

“Whether it’s a plot or not, we must take action.”

The Third District Chief, who had been wiping his blade, paused. Although he was only a blurry holographic projection, it was clear he was unexpectedly young.

He gave his blade a light shove, and the beautiful, clean longsword slid into the scabbard at his side with a crisp metallic ring.

The elder from the Second District sneered. “How long have you even been a District Chief? You have no place to speak here.”

The Fifth District Chief sighed. “Then I suppose I have even less of a right to speak.”

An older man dressed like a hunter from the Sixth District looked up, his eyes widening. “Why has your district changed leaders again?!”

The Fifth District Chief smiled. “I can’t help it. I’m just too strong. The last one had only been in office for a week before I knocked him out with an elbow. What else could I do?”

Because of the severe Anomaly erosion in the Fifth District, their selection process for District Chiefs differed from the others. They used a total free-for-all system; anyone could challenge the Chief. If you won, you were the new District Chief.

In short, the Fifth District was a grand stage—come if you have the life to spare.

The Second District elder scoffed. “Old Six, I know you want to favor these inexperienced youngsters again, but there’s no need. Rather than being led by the nose by Anomaly 009, I would rather concentrate our manpower on investigating…”

The elder’s cold gaze swept toward Liu Lin, the First District Chief sitting closest to Black Swan. “…Exactly who laid a hand on the World Tree, the only prison capable of containing Anomalies, and released the Scorching Ghost.”

“Perhaps there is an Anomaly mole right here among us.”

Liu Lin merely continued to smile, as if he hadn’t caught the elder’s implication. “Oh? Could it be that you already have a suspect in mind?”

He narrowed his eyes slightly. Wherever his blood-red gaze landed, an undeniable chill followed.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Yun Zhou and Du Shui shrank back, trying their best to minimize their presence.

They shouldn’t be here; they should be hiding under a car.

Black Swan finally had enough. she rapped on the table, silencing the District Chiefs before they could speak again and forcibly steering the meeting back on track.

“The certainty of the prophecy was already proven when the Seventh District fell. The future Y009 spoke of is gradually becoming reality. Starting with Y004, which caused the fall of the Seventh District, high-sequence Anomalies will gradually wake up, eventually awakening their Sovereign and bringing about the end of the world.”

“We don’t have time to hesitate. This time it was the Scorching Ghost; last time it was the Anomaly erosion brought by Y004. Who knows what will be next? Y008? Or Y007?”

Black Swan’s voice was sharp and powerful. The District Chiefs, who had been at each other’s throats just moments ago, fell silent instantly.

She looked around the room. Once she was certain no one would speak, she took a deep breath and dropped the decision she had been preparing for a long time.

“Based on the importance of the prophecy and the explicit warning from the Scorching Ghost,” Black Swan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it possessed an unquestionable authority, “I have decided to establish a special Corrector squad, codenamed ‘Salvation’. This squad will report directly to me and hold supreme authority to move freely across all seven districts. Its core mission is to investigate the truth behind Y009’s prophecy and… find a way to prevent the apocalyptic ending foretold within it.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the holographic projections of the Chiefs who had just been attacking one another, before finally landing on Yun Zhou, who was trying to shrink further into his corner.

“The Captain will be the core of the prophecy—Yun Zhou.”

She didn’t use Yun Zhou’s notorious nickname, “Son of the Devil,” but called him by his name, going to great lengths to protect the boy’s dignity.

“Huh? Me?” Yun Zhou snapped his head up. He didn’t even have time to feel touched; he even forgot to wag his tail. His silver-grey wolf ears flattened into “airplane ears²,” his face a mask of disbelief and panic.

Me? Fighting the prophecy? For real?

Black Swan ignored him and continued, “As for the members… Du Shui, Liu Ming. You both heard the contents of tonight’s meeting. What are your thoughts?”

【??? Why is Sister Black Swan calling for Liu Ming? This young master is clearly just cannon fodder?!】

【Wait, this isn’t right. Is this not the First Cycle? In the memories of the Second Cycle Yun Zhou, Liu Ming definitely didn’t exist in the First Cycle! This guy is clearly just fodder!】

【Did he join the squad and then immediately get himself killed? Given how much that wolf pup values friendship and loyalty, even if he only lived for a few days, he should still exist in the Second Cycle Yun Zhou’s mind, right?】

【So strange. I’m getting more and more curious about what’s going on with Liu Ming.】

When the name “Liu Ming” came clearly from Black Swan’s lips, Liu Ming felt as though the blood in his veins had frozen instantly.

Even though this was exactly what he had hoped for.

Joining the “Salvation Squad” mentioned in the bullet comments meant staying by the protagonist’s side at all times. It would make it easier to contact key characters and collect Misunderstanding Points, but…

Why was it that even the bullet comments felt something was strange, yet the Plot Strings and T231 gave no reaction at all?

Liu Ming raised his head and met Black Swan’s eyes. They were deep as the night, seemingly seeing through everything. He felt a chilling cold crawl up his spine to the top of his head.

If the Plot Strings simply felt that adding one person to the Salvation Squad was unimportant and wouldn’t affect the key plot, that would be fine. But what if… what if his joining the Salvation Squad was also under the “plot manipulation” of the Plot Strings?

The conference room fell into silence. Neither Du Shui nor Liu Ming spoke immediately.

Liu Ming shifted his gaze to the bullet comments, trying to find more clues while Du Shui remained silent, but he failed.

【Whatever, whatever! Let’s go! The Salvation Squad assembles!】

【The little wolf cub looks so cute when he’s confused! I’m totally devouring this!】

【Is no one shipping the tsundere, sharp-tongued young master and the hot-blooded idiot captain? I’d say this Liu Ming still has plenty of charm!】

【Wait, why does Young Master Liu look so pale? Is he scared? Surely not?】

Liu Ming sneered inwardly. Scared? Yes, scared of all of you.

He didn’t bother looking at the nonsense-spewing bullet comments anymore. The T231 panel seemed to still be flickering with a silent, cold red light at the edge of his vision. The warning 【Major Node, Cannot Be Changed】 was still fresh in his mind.

The novice protection period was over… There was no need for him to forcibly resist this suspicious plot point. After all, if he alerted the Plot Strings, he would be the next one to be completely erased.

When a program is running, don’t try to fix the obvious bugs.

Liu Ming sighed. He looked toward Black Swan, placed his hand lightly over his heart, and bowed his head slightly. “It is my honor to share the burdens of the Seven Districts.”

Since the Plot Strings hadn’t raised any objections for now, he would continue to act like a puppet controlled by them, doing exactly as requested.

Du Shui also seemed to have found her voice. She took a step forward and spoke firmly, “I’ll join as well. After all…”

The girl glanced at Yun Zhou, whose eyes were still spinning as if he were still loading, and sighed. “After all, my friend is already the captain now.”

Black Swan nodded with satisfaction. These two children were sensible and strong enough. Even if they hadn’t heard Scorching Ghost’s speech tonight, they would have been among the best candidates for this squad.

If the two of them hadn’t agreed, things would have become slightly more difficult. Fortunately, they had both given answers that satisfied her.

“Council Chairman, so many elite Correctors don’t even have the authority for cross-district Anomaly correction. Is this—” The old man from the Second District still wanted to struggle, but Black Swan merely gave him a fleeting glance.

The latter immediately shrank back and stopped talking.

“Liu Chuan, what are the detection results for Y009 Ratatoskr?”

Black Swan’s fingertips tapped lightly on the conference table.

Liu Chuan opened a translucent electronic screen, projecting rows of floating data and text in front of the District Chiefs.

“It is still steadily outputting floating text. After filtering out the meaningless babble, the remaining information points to a clear direction.”

As soon as Liu Chuan finished speaking, the words projected by the holographic technology reshaped themselves in mid-air into a clear sentence.

【Anomaly Y008, King of Water – Kraken, is about to awaken. The dead ocean regains its vitality; the pitch-black tide will follow the King’s footsteps, obey the Emperor’s will, and devour everything.】

The young District Chief of the Third District froze completely.

Black Swan sighed. “This is why I am in a hurry. Third District, you know the authenticity of this prophecy.”

The Third District Chief took a deep breath. “Yes, Council Chairman. The Kanagawa offshore platform recently detected signs of Anomaly erosion beneath the ocean…”

Anomaly erosion was a pollution phenomenon where high-level Anomalies used their mental power to influence or even permeate the surrounding environment. In places touched by Anomaly erosion, all life would perish, and new groups of Anomalies would constantly be born.

Only the mental activity of Anomalies within the top ten of the sequence could trigger Anomaly erosion. What led to the fall of the Seventh District was exactly a large-scale, unannounced Anomaly erosion by Y004.

At least judging by the current situation in the Third District, the prophecy of Y009 Ratatoskr was not entirely groundless.

“Yun Zhou,” Black Swan said suddenly.

“Here!” Yun Zhou snapped to attention again.

“Corrector squads are usually composed of four people. Tomorrow, I will assign the most suitable fourth member to you. You and the members of the Salvation Squad will head to the Third District the day after tomorrow to look for clues regarding the prophecy and observe the status of Y008.”

Yun Zhou’s eyes widened.

Black Swan waved her hand, giving him no chance to speak. “Alright, students. You are tired now. Go back and rest.”

Since Black Swan had spoken, the three students could no longer remain. They took their leave and exited the conference room.

After Liu Ming, who was at the back, closed the door, the silent atmosphere of the conference room was finally broken by a slightly anxious voice.

“Council Chairman!”

The holographic projection of the Third District Chief had his brows locked in a frown. “The signs of Anomaly erosion haven’t been confirmed yet. Setting aside the fact that Anomaly erosion doesn’t necessarily mean the awakening of a high-sequence Anomaly, even if Anomaly Y008 really is awakening, they shouldn’t be on the front lines.”

Black Swan looked at him. “Why not?”

The Third District Chief sighed. “They are too young. They have no experience.”

He truly didn’t understand why Black Swan chose such a critical moment to send a newly formed team of youngsters to his territory to cause trouble.

Black Swan smiled, her words carrying a hidden meaning. “You only benefit from having graduated a few years earlier. Otherwise, you would be in this squad right now. Don’t put on the airs of a senior. Besides…”

“Don’t you think it’s very interesting? To see the elites of the seven major districts, who are usually at each other’s throats, gathered in a single squad.”

Black Swan glared at everyone seated in the conference room, her expression full of frustrated disappointment. “If you all were capable of trusting one another without reservation, I wouldn’t have needed to form a Salvation Squad and push the youth to the front lines.”

She gave a cold laugh. “Unfortunately, I cannot trust you now. After all… one of us is truly compromised.”

The containment cells at the base of the World Tree would not have opened on their own, and the only people with the authority to unlock them were the heads of the seven districts.

Translator’s Notes