……
At night, unknowingly, Yang Zicang, burdened with many thoughts, fell into a deep sleep.
He had been far too exhausted that day, drained to the point of utter mental frailty.
His breathing was steady; he clung to sleep with the greed of an infant.
The ring on his chest flickered faintly. When the moon reached its zenith, in his consciousness, it suddenly opened wide, like a slender, radiant moon.
In his dreams, Yang Zicang felt as though he were speaking to himself, his thoughts murmuring within.
[Daily summary: Average hourly yield of Chronos 123.6N.]
[As a great Quad, my performance in the first twelve hours was near perfection.]
A few more voices echoed after that, but he ignored them; the murmurs in his dream were hazier than drifting clouds.
[Because today’s hourly earnings exceeded 100N, I have received a residual stamp. Shall I use it? Hmm, the decision-making persona is asleep.]
[As a great Quad, I am curious to know what kind of consciousness training ground this stamp—which can only exist for three days—might lock onto…]
At some point, Yang Zicang realized he was awake—fully lucid within the dream.
He glanced at his hands in confusion.
He knew this wasn’t reality, yet if this were a dream, it was far too vivid.
The place was a dim ancient street, flanked by stone houses on both sides.
Figures with dragging arms and drooping heads loomed faintly in the mist.
–Are these… zombies?–
{_ One-third of human life is wasted in sleep. _}
{_ Here, you can train even in your sleep. _}
{_ This is a reward for today’s hourly wage exceeding 100N. Enjoy it. _}
The distant zombies spotted the extra presence of Yang Zicang. They slowly turned their bodies, breaking through the mist as they shuffled toward him.
–Ahhh, they really are zombies!–
The zombies let out hoarse, guttural howls with their decayed throats, trudging forward as a grim aura engulfed the entire street.
–Get lost! How is this supposed to be enjoyment?–
He ran back, spotting ahead an arched shed that seemed to hold some clutter, hoping to find a weapon there.
Seeing their sluggish movements, Yang Zicang forced down his unease and comforted himself, –They don’t seem that dangerous.–
But the next second, one of the zombies bent its legs and leaped up.
Like a grasshopper, it bounded over six or seven meters, crashing toward him in an instant.
A flicker of panic flickered in Yang Zicang’s eyes; he felt his fear magnified.
At this moment, without Moxel’s mental influence over him, he found himself almost nostalgic for the manic delirium of the afternoon—at least then, he’d naturally ignored many danger signals.
–Chronos!–
He shouted, but his chest gave no response.
–Deploy!–
Thud! The corpse landed right on top of him.
Moxel’s effects and any emotional interference had completely vanished.
–Ah! Get away from me! –
[My mind is collapsing.]
Nauseating hands gripped his throat—pain, terror, and utter helplessness flooded through Yang Zicang.
–It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare! This isn’t real!–
Yang Zicang kept pumping himself up, one hand groping frantically on the ground until it closed around something hard. He seized it and swung, smashing it against the zombie’s head.
What he clutched was a just-broken limb bone.
[My courage is being born.]
Fortunately, other than their immense lunging strength, these things were slow in all other movements.
Three corpses pinned him down, while the others piled on top of the heap.
–It hurts.–
Yang Zicang felt his skin being torn, blood streaming, yet the arm that brandished its weapon swung more and more fiercely.
Wham! Wham!
[Good.] [Now, even when my emotions are fragile, I can summon the will to fight back.]
After a fierce struggle, Yang Zicang dragged his battered body out of the zombie horde.
Limping, he made his way toward the shed, which indeed held a cache of weapons.
But two more zombies leaped toward him from behind.
–Aah!–
Yang Zicang fought back fiercely, wrestling with one as he straddled it and swung his bruised, bloodied fists.
At this moment, it was hard to tell who was more like a demon.
Four hours later.
Exhausted, Yang Zicang dragged his body over to the entrance of a wooden warehouse on the edge of a town, holding a woodcutter’s axe in his hand.
The wounds on his body were healing quickly—after all, this wasn’t the real world.
[Faced with these grotesque creatures, my mind has gradually begun to accept their existence and has initially overcome the fear of them.]
Yang Zicang muttered to himself.
He felt that he could indeed maintain a sliver of rationality in confronting these suddenly spawned, repulsive beings—though he wasn’t sure if they even qualified as living creatures.
If he ever encountered them in the real world, he thought, he probably wouldn’t be instantly driven to mental collapse by sheer terror.
The countless zombies lying in the streets emitted a faint glow. It converged before Yang Zicang, forming three weak, shimmering halos.
As Yang Zicang touched it, information about the object emerged in his mind.
Basic Corpse Leap, uses remaining 3/3.
Each use costs 1 Y Chronos principal.
–This is a nightmare indeed…–
……
At midnight, inside a certain subway station, a voice snapped, –Matt Chao, still no success?–
–No, I can’t pick up his aura.–
–Strange. After coming into contact with Zhang Fei, he can still conceal himself. What exactly is Yang Zicang’s Moxel capable of? Isn’t it just a wind field?–
–Perhaps he unlocked a higher position of ‘Quad,’ rendering your ability ineffective?–
The silver-uniformed man leaning against a seat in the ocher-yellow subway car said with a penetrating gaze, –No matter.– Since we can’t lock onto him via aura, let’s use ‘seeds’ to track him instead._-**
……
In the early morning, Yang Zicang turned over comfortably, sprawling out in a big’X’ shape on the bed.
A beam of warm sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains.
–Ahhh~–
The young man, shielding his eyes from the light with his arm, groggily came to.
–Mom, what time…–
He froze as he felt the rough bedsheets, then after a few seconds, let out a soft sigh.
Sitting up in bed, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the wooden crate by the bedside.
Chu Chiang had told him to put all his clothes and belongings in there, so that if something happened, he could grab the case and bolt—which he did.
He felt the Quad within the halo on his chest, and sure enough, the skill representing –Corpse Leap– existed within it.
–This is actually real. I gained a skill in my dream.–
……
After finishing breakfast with the other two, Yang Zicang had a brief Syn-Link communication with Liang Xi.
That half-grown youth had already been chased into a dark, narrow passage by a fierce rat and was now lost.
The girl beside him held a document in her hand.
Yang Zicang picked up the water glass, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and then leaned his head over.
In the breath between his nose, he caught the faint, subtle fragrance of Mu Xiaoyu. Yang Zicang instinctively averted his gaze from the document for a moment, glancing at her fair and delicate face.
–What’s this?– He quickly withdrew his gaze and said.
–It shows the possible Moxel abilities that each building or item might give birth to. We wanted to check if we could pick one.–
The document was filled with many buildings and various man-made objects, each accompanied by brief textual descriptions.
Some Moxel abilities were extremely useless—like breaking glass silently or turning water into overnight American coffee.
–Alas, I wonder what kind of Moxel I’ll end up getting.–
After saying this, Mu Xiaoyu turned her head and playfully stuck out her small, pink tongue.
The three were somewhat disheartened. They looked at Yang Zicang with envy.
After chatting with the locals all night, they came to understand what the young man beside them implied by his square Moxel.
–ZiCang, can you take me to the Accommodation Moxel? I asked around. If we want to reach them, we’d need to hand over a hefty amount of Chronos before the end of the month. And that’s only because we were brought here by you. Otherwise, they only take responsibility for joining members.–
–To be honest, the three of us staying here and getting free food and lodging is already thanks to Yang Zicang. Let’s learn the ropes about the Moxel first before we talk about it further,– said Chang Yang.
Chang Yang tactfully steered clear of the topic of –joining– that might unfold.
He didn’t want to put any pressure on Yang Zicang.
Footsteps could be heard from outside, coming closer.
–Everyone’s here.–
Yao Chiming walked over to Yang Zicang’s side, followed by Zhao Xuemei.
–ZiCang, getting used to it?–
Yang Zicang laughed and said, –Being able to find a quiet place to sleep peacefully in a place like this is akin to heaven.–
–Hahaha.– A big hand patted Yang Zicang’s shoulder: –Starting today, for the next half month, this city is going to be a little different.–
–What’s going to be different?–
Zhao Xuemei, standing nearby, said:
–After the fifteenth night of each month, the city gradually becomes filled with many new areas and buildings. By noon the next day, among the phantoms in those zones, people will emerge into this world. Generally, they are born near where nightmares are incubating.–
So this was what we encountered yesterday—it actually only happens mid-month.
She added, –In the latter half of the month, hidden zones, known as interwoven spaces, appear in certain places. That’s what makes it different. These interwoven realms are filled with all sorts of monsters and bizarre dangers—not stable spacetime in the usual sense—until they gradually collapse back into Earth or foreign terrain by the month’s end.–
–Schrödinger’s box?– Yang Zicang was the first to reference that infamous cat-killer concept.
–It’s not the same. Once you decide to join us, we can take you to a low-level interwoven space. Then you’ll understand.–
The roar of a car engine and shouts drifted in from outside.
–I’m Yu Fei from Right Street. Tell your Captain Yao to come out and talk.–
Arguments were rising outdoors.
Yao Chiming was already reasoning with them.
–What’s going on?– Yang Zicang stepped outside, asking the person by the door.
–They want your armor.–
Seeing Yang Zicang appear, the man in the passenger seat of the off-road vehicle in front of the base grabbed the door and jumped out.
–So you’re the new owner of QuadMoxel? I’ve heard about you. You did pretty well yesterday.–
–Thanks for the compliment.–
–Too bad, though. It’s just a Quad with wind field abilities—a wind shield that overlaps with force field abilities.–
The tone of this man shifted abruptly, and Yang Zicang was fuming, nose nearly twisted from anger.
–You stirred up trouble and left the mess for us to clean up. Do you have any idea how much Chronos we burned through dealing with the attack from the Heroic Alliance last night?–
–That’s right! The Heroic Alliance is demanding we return the A-Class Module. What do you suggest we do about it?– the man in the car roared.
Yao Chiming sneered coldly: –Yu Fei, what do you think? Even if I did hand it over, it wouldn’t take long for headquarters to come after us. You just said it yourself—it’s an A-Class Module, after all.–
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