Chapter 38: The Forest in That Great Fire. Ying Huo: The Liu Family… Just as I thought…

“Eh?”

The Exile murmured, his eyes instantly turning sharp. “Not good! We’re out of time!”

Liu Ming opened the data map. The third point of light was now closing in on the brass mine where the Y006 Anomaly Core was stored… it was almost overlapping with the light representing the core itself.

Liu Ming stopped hiding the map from the others. In a situation like this, a lack of information would be fatal. Mute leaned over to look, and his expression darkened immediately.

Although he didn’t know the specifics of what was happening, there was a point of light right in front of them on the map. The position and direction of that light clearly coincided with the bastard before them who called himself The Exile. Furthermore, the aura on The Exile was extremely similar to the aura the true mastermind had once left around the Y006 Anomaly Core – so similar that Mute had initially mistaken The Exile for the mastermind.

Seeing another point of light at the location of the Y006 Anomaly Core, Mute instantly understood what those lights represented: the Anomaly Core, or rather, power related to the King of Anomalies.

He couldn’t afford to remain wary of The Exile anymore, for there were more pressing matters to worry about.

“This is bad… Du Shui and the others…”

In their initial division of labor, Du Shui and Ying Huo had stayed behind at the Fifth Brass Mine with Jenny to search for other clues and to guard Y006 against anyone who might try to exploit it.

And now, that unfamiliar light – the one besides The Exile and the Y006 Anomaly Core – was standing almost side-by-side with the core.

“Move!”

Unexpectedly, The Exile was the first to bolt. “The situation is getting serious. I’ll take you out of here.”

In front of him, twisting black smoke formed a massive gate, pulling all three of them inside.

On the other side, at the Fifth Brass Mine.

Noisy shouts drifted over from outside the cordoned-off mine; it was the parade route that had detoured this way.

Inside the temporary office next to the mine, Jenny waved her hand irritably, signaling the staff to maintain order. She, Du Shui, and Ying Huo were buried in a mountain of documents, trying to find the “Liu Family member” hidden behind the mastermind.

However, the Liu Family had always been known throughout the Fifth District for being insidious, cunning, or rather, resourceful. Jenny had investigated for days without results; it was unlikely a miracle would occur in just one day.

The noise outside the mine became increasingly obvious. Jenny set down her documents and stood up, intending to find an excuse to disperse the crowd. But she froze when she saw the people gathered near the mining area for the Carnival.

Though they were all cheering, their faces bore identical expressions – even the curve of their smiles was exactly the same.

It was a bone-chilling sight.

Jenny whipped her head around and dragged Du Shui and Ying Huo out of the temporary office. “No, something’s wrong! This is a diversion! Someone is making a move on Y006 – that bastard who caused all this has finally come back to collect her results!”

Before Du Shui and Ying Huo could figure out what was happening, Jenny threw a Spatial Barrier over them and dragged them into the mining area where the yellow flames were still burning.

They reached the familiar cliff, but now, behind them stood a crowd of fanatics. Their level of madness was identical, like puppets controlled by something.

The citizens who had been surrounding the parade floats charged toward the three isolated figures without hesitation. Even with a cliff ahead of them, no one slowed down.

“Let’s jump!”

Looking at the yellow fire below the cliff, Du Shui was actually faster than Jenny to make a decision. She was a woman of action and leaped straight down.

“Wait – at least wait for me!”

Ying Huo’s reaching hand was a step too late, but he didn’t hesitate, following her down immediately.

Jenny: …How can you two be so completely reckless?!

The strangely behaving citizens were inching closer. She took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and jumped in after the two daredevils.

During the fall, amidst the abrupt heat brought by the yellow fire, Ying Huo’s blurring consciousness finally found its footing.

He opened his eyes only to find that the sensation of falling had vanished. He was standing on solid ground, still surrounded by burning yellow flames.

Ying Huo crouched down and tentatively touched the ground beneath his feet. He rubbed the soil between his fingers; it was moist and fine-grained. This wasn’t the coarse, sandy texture of a desert at all.

This was the soil of the 6th District.

He looked up, forcing himself to scan his surroundings. The continuous yellow fire had already covered the vast forest. He walked among the towering trees, watching the home that all living things relied upon turn to ash inch by inch.

The Hunter Tribe that protected the 6th District were running through the forest. Their goal wasn’t to escape, but to use their mental power – and even their physical bodies – to carve a path through the dense woods.

A path wide enough for all the creatures of the forest to leave.

Ying Huo stared blankly at the hunters running past him. They carried animals that were their constant companions, young children, and the wounded. Bringing up the rear was a figure Ying Huo had forced himself to forget, yet one that grew more vivid with every moment of longing.

It was a robust, middle-aged man who was the very definition of a hunter. He manipulated vines to pull down the burning giant trees one by one, creating collapsed natural firebreaks so the spreading yellow fire wouldn’t consume this single path of survival.

The District Chief of the 6th District, the leader of the Hunter Tribe, the most outstanding hunter in the forest, and the person he dreamed of seeing again more than anyone else in his life.

If he could see him just one more time, Ying Huo would be willing to give his life, his everything.

Because… that was his father, Ying Zhu.

The father who would never see him again, and who would never even know he was still alive.

The moment Ying Huo saw that man, he could no longer control his reason. His consciousness told him not to run blindly in such an unknown situation, as hidden dangers could be lurking anywhere, but his body moved of its own accord. He followed the man, sprinting toward the end of the continuous sea of fire.

Ying Huo followed behind Ying Zhu, unwilling to stray even a single step. He wanted to get a good look at the father he hadn’t seen in years.

However, the father in his memory clearly couldn’t see him. At the final moment of escorting the tribe members away, his father suddenly turned around and gazed deeply into the distance of the forest.

Ying Huo almost burst into tears. He would never forget that direction. It was the direction of home, and also the place where he…

Where he had died.

Ying Huo began to run forward. His father and the frantically retreating people of the Hunter Tribe gradually vanished as the environment underwent a second transformation.

During the Great Fire Incident, Ying Huo, who had been guarding the Y006 Anomaly Core alongside his father’s brothers, encountered a powerful thief. The thief’s appearance was unremarkable, yet they moved as if through an uninhabited land, cutting through all the defenses of the 6th District with blade-like precision.

The thief killed everyone guarding the Anomaly Core in the 6th District.

Ying Huo had been young then. He only knew that he had to protect the Anomaly Core in his arms even if it cost him his life. It was the thing his father had insisted must be protected with the combined strength of the entire 6th District. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew he had to take responsibility.

Because he was the child of the District Chief of the 6th District.

“Stop struggling. Sooner or later, you’ll end up like this too. If you’re unwilling to wake up, I’ll help you!”

The intruding thief spoke words he couldn’t understand while chasing the frantically running Ying Huo.

But the outcome of a chase between a powerful thief and a young child was obvious. Ying Huo’s chest was easily pierced by an invisible blade. His blood soaked the Y006 Anomaly Core. Perhaps because his resentment was too intense, his blood began to burn after leaving his body. Bright yellow flames enveloped him, incinerating every inch of his skin and even his bones into ash.

And from those ashes, a brand-new child, forgotten by death, was reborn.

He used the power of Y006 to survive, but because of it, he forever lost the chance to stand before his father.

Because he was no longer human. He was an Anomaly.

An Anomaly that needed to be kept under surveillance.

So, Ying Huo went to The Tower alone to turn himself in, hoping The Tower could resolve his immortality. Instead, a pitying Chairperson Black Swan stuffed him into the Tree Tower Academy.

“You’re still a child. Don’t think about all that nonsense. Go study first. Once you’ve finished your studies, I’ll come and ask you about your plans for the future.”

“By then… it won’t be too late to decide your own fate.”

Ying Huo still remembered the curve of Chairperson Black Swan’s lips. Those two simple sentences had become one of the primary motivations that sustained him until now.

And his current motivation…

Ying Huo continued to run forward, but his thoughts uncontrollably drifted to Yun Zhou, Du Shui… and Liu Ming.

He had new motivation, and his pace quickened. Yet, he could never forget-

What his original goal had been for living until now.

Who was it…

Who was it… that stole the Y006 Anomaly Core?

And who was the thief’s accomplice, the one who worked with her to burn down the forest of the 6th District?

Ying Huo ran with all his might. He charged forward, toward the end of the road, toward the third transformation where the surroundings began to blur.

At the end of the path beneath his feet, Ying Huo saw a woman expressionlessly pouring accelerant onto yellow flames.

The upturned eyes, the familiar family crest, the smiling temperament of someone who calculated everything-she was practically a carbon copy of Liu Ming.

Liu Luo.

Liu Ming’s disappeared older sister.

Ying Huo clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms, though he didn’t notice. He lowered his head, his hair masking his expression.

“The Liu Family… the Liu Family. It really is the Liu Family. Liu Ming… I won’t forgive you.”

“…Is that what you want to hear me say? Mastermind?”

Ying Huo snapped his head up, his emerald eyes burning with rage.

In an instant, following a sharp, long cry, a majestic Golden Eagle Spiritual Body tore through the blurred space, ripping a massive hole in the environment before coming to a steady rest on Ying Huo’s outstretched arm.

Ying Huo stood tall. He looked past the peeling space at the woman outside-Jenny, who was wearing a knowing smile.

“I should have realized it sooner. The only thing capable of resisting the flames of the King of Anomalies… is the spiritual power of another King of Anomalies.”

“When did you swallow Jenny’s consciousness? Y007… Hela, you really are as persistent as a lingering ghost.”