[Main Quest: Utterance of Marvels – Part 2 Unlocked.] [Quest Description: The remnant melody has sounded…
Following its guidance, you will search for your past and embark on a new, unknown journey.] [Completion Rewards: Radiant Tide × 20, Lustrous Tide × 10, Astrite × 1600, Shell Credit × 100000.] *Wait, bro!* Walking on the road back to Taoyuan Village, You Luoming silently flipped through the quest module in his mind.
Huge waves of shock rolled through his heart.
*How does this system even judge quest completion?* *There wasn’t even a quest marker!
How did Utterance of Marvels – Part 1 get completed?* *I didn’t even see the Rover’s face!* You Luoming complained internally for a while, but his system panel remained unchanged.
The content of Main Quest: Utterance of Marvels – Part 2 was relatively simple.
In the game, the Rover walked along chatting with Yangyang and Chixia, and upon reaching Jinzhou City, the main quest naturally completed itself.
Now, the situation inside Jinzhou City was unknown, and the Rover was nowhere to be seen.
He had no idea what it would take to finish this quest.
After pondering for a moment, You Luoming gave up thinking about it and opened his inventory instead.
Twenty gold spheres and ten blue spheres lay inside, radiating an irresistible temptation to pull on the gacha banner immediately.
However— There were only two standard banners in the Convene interface right now.
He could spend the blue spheres, but he had nowhere to use the gold ones.
Having twenty gold spheres stuck in his inventory felt like having a harem of three thousand concubines while being a eunuch—an unbearable itch.
After brief consideration, You Luoming surmised that limited banners would likely open later, though the exact time and conditions were still unclear.
A burst of static sounded as Yangyang’s terminal received a communication request.
“It’s Baizhi,” Yangyang explained before answering the call.
Baizhi’s urgent voice immediately chimed through: “Yangyang, return to Taoyuan Village at once!
Help Jianxin and the others evacuate the villagers immediately.
Quickly!” “What?” That single sentence filled the trio’s hearts with intense unease.
Chixia asked anxiously, “Baizhi, are you okay?
What’s happening in Jinzhou?
Why do the villagers need to evacuate Taoyuan Village?” “There’s no time to explain, Chixia!
General Jiyan is leading a squad of Fractsidus toward Taoyuan Village!
Get the villagers away, as far as possible!” Hearing those words, You Luoming’s brain went blank.
*Jiyan?
Leading the Fractsidus?
Telling the villagers of Taoyuan Village to run as far as possible?* He understood every single word, but combined together, they made zero sense.
How could Jiyan be in league with the Fractsidus?
*Did Jiyan defect?!
How did the plot break down to this extent!* “What?!” Clearly, Yangyang and Chixia were equally shaken.
“I will do my best to stall General Jiyan, but I can’t hold him off for long.
Just do as I say!” Baizhi dropped her final warning and hung up.
Yangyang tried to call back, but the line went unanswered.
“Damn it, how could this happen…” Yangyang clenched her fists tightly, her teeth biting her lower lip.
Her expression was an indecipherable mix of anger and worry.
“We don’t know what happened on Baizhi’s end, but let me follow her instructions first.
Pick up the pace!” “Calm down, Yangyang!
Baizhi should have notified Jianxin already.
Jianxin and the others are organizing the evacuation in Taoyuan Village right now, so don’t panic,” You Luoming soothed.
“The distance from Jinzhou City to Taoyuan Village isn’t too far.
Even if the villagers evacuate quickly, they’ll leave behind tracks that can be followed.” Hearing this, Chixia stomped her foot in anxiety.
“Then what should we do?” “Help me find one more Elite Class Echo, and then I’ll go fight Jiyan.” Yangyang and Chixia froze simultaneously.
It was as if the wrinkles on their cerebral cortex had been instantly ironed out, leaving them momentarily stunned, like taking a quiet stroll through a Norwegian forest…
“You Luoming…
do you really think you can beat General Jiyan?” Yangyang asked, half-doubting.
You Luoming spread his hands.
“If I can’t beat him, I’ll run.” “How will you run?” “Transform into a Gulping Puffpipe Echo and dive into the water.” The Gulping Puffpipe happened to be one of the Echoes he had harvested during this trip to the Gorges of Spirits.
In truth, You Luoming didn’t actually believe he would lose to Jiyan.
Using the Gulping Puffpipe to escape was merely a joke.
This confidence stemmed directly from the Rover’s abilities and combat experience.
His chances of winning were around ninety percent.
*** Time rewound to half an hour earlier.
Inside the Tacet Field.
The lower-ranking members of the Fractsidus were known as Craftsmen.
They were ordinary humans without Resonance abilities who fused Tacet Discord limbs into themselves through technology, obtaining combat power superior to normal humans.
The price, however, was continuous corruption by the Tacet Discord limbs, causing their sanity and appearance to deteriorate over time.
Panting slightly, Taoqi flicked the blood off her broadblade and looked over at Yuanwu, who was picking up a battered bowler hat.
“Your martial arts are pretty strong,” she noted.
“You’re not bad yourself.” Yuanwu tried to put on the bowler hat whose side had been blown apart by gunshot.
Seeing it split completely in two, he gave a bitter smile and tossed it aside.
“Let’s go.
We made too much noise just now, so we definitely can’t press deeper.
Let’s head out and report the situation.” “We haven’t gathered any useful intelligence yet.
I’m not willing to just leave like this.” Taoqi shook her head, pointing purposefully at the dead Fractsidus members on the ground.
“Standard Fractsidus members wear identical uniforms and masks anyway.
I have a bold idea—” Yuanwu caught her meaning instantly.
“As expected of the Defense Affairs Officer.
I get it!” Before long, the two had changed into the Fractsidus uniforms and put on the masks.
“Um…” Yuanwu stared at the noticeable bulge on Taoqi’s chest under the male uniform, opening his mouth but holding his tongue.
“Strange.” Taoqi didn’t feel anything was amiss.
Filled with curiosity, she picked up a dark purple stone bracelet.
“I’ve dealt with the Fractsidus before, but they’ve never worn standardized bracelets like this.
Besides, this bracelet gives off an uncomfortable feeling.” “If it feels uncomfortable, don’t wear it.
Nobody’s going to pay special attention to a bracelet anyway.” Without thinking much more of it, the two inspected each other before walking deeper into the field.
Passing beneath jagged rocks floating beneath a bleak sky, they finally reached the far edge of the Tacet Field.
Before their eyes were the empty, numb faces of Jinzhou citizens.
Countless civilians were currently lined up in long queues under the supervision of other Fractsidus members.
The arrival of the pair didn’t attract any attention from the other Fractsidus members, as everyone was currently focused on the outcome at the end of the line.
Seeing the end of the line, Taoqi couldn’t help but gasp: “Magis—” Yuanwu covered her mouth just in time before “Magistrate” could slip out.
“What are you shouting for?” At the end of the queue, Scar turned his head in annoyance and barked.
Seeing that only Yuanwu and Taoqi had returned, a trace of dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes.
“Seven went out and only two returned, and you didn’t even capture those two rats alive?
Useless trash!” Still, he didn’t pay much attention to Yuanwu and Taoqi, turning his focus back to the Whispering Oculus.
A sturdy high-voltage electric fence had been erected around the Whispering Oculus.
Inside the fence were roughly a hundred Jinzhou citizens, clutching their heads and wailing in agony.
Some civilians, unable to endure the mental corruption of the whispers, madly tried to flee outward, only to be blasted back by the electric fence upon contact.
“AAAAAHHHH!” Amid heart-rending screams, one of the men underwent a violent mutation.
Within seconds, dark purple veins squiggled across his entire body.
As his final cry of anguish faded, the man was gone.
In his place stood a Tacet Discord—a Judgement Warrior.
“A live conversion rate of only one percent?” Scar sneered, thoroughly dissatisfied with the results of the experiment.