Bai Zhou's sleep quality left much to be desired.
For someone accustomed to a healthy nineteen hours of sleep each day, a mere six hours had left him with prominent dark circles.
Then again, who could blame him when a day in Wancheng lasted thirty-six hours?
At six in the morning, having yet to adjust to the jet lag, Bai Zhou was jolted awake by a pounding on his door. His immediate reaction was to glance to his side.
The dormitory was empty, shrouded in the quiet gloom of dawn.
The mysterious girl from the night before was nowhere to be seen, as though she had been nothing more than an ephemeral dream.
Yet Bai Zhou knew it had not been a dream.
He raised his right hand and opened his palm. Stamped distinctly across the flesh was a black, feather-shaped mark.
The girl named Crow, the black raven suddenly spreading its wings...
*Bang! Bang, bang!*
The pounding on the door persisted. Bai Zhou quickly threw off the covers and opened the door to receive a notice instructing everyone to assemble outside in ten minutes.
"Assemble?"
Bleary-eyed, Bai Zhou snapped fully awake, instantly recalling the words Crow had spoken the previous night.
Reality seemed to be shifting precisely toward what Crow had foretold.
Bai Zhou quietly clenched his right hand, concealing the black feather mark on his palm.
Ten minutes later, washed and dressed, Bai Zhou stepped out of the pale yellow dormitory building.
As he walked between the structures, he noted that fully armed soldiers had placed the area under martial law. From time to time, personnel passed by escorting sealed, oversized black boxes. The entire subterranean base was permeated by an extraordinary tension.
Before long, a group of six or seven people gathered before a low, gray building.
This weathered, grayish-white structure stood three or four stories tall, its walls bearing several lines of faded slogans:
*Heads may fall and blood may spill, but the Black Chamber line must never yield!*
*Standardize control, militarize the organization, and drill contingency plans in real combat.*
*Sloppy Black Box management leaves colleagues and loved ones in tears!*
*...*
Tucking himself into the back of the group, Bai Zhou quietly observed the others. Every one of them wore a P1-Rank Specialist badge, their faces a mixture of nervousness and curiosity.
Ahead of them stood a middle-aged man in a black suit sporting a P4-Rank Specialist badge. He casually flicked away a spent cigarette butt.
In his hand, he held a silver-white metal briefcase, its side embossed with an image of a crucifix bound in chains.
"I am a P4-Rank Specialist from the Black Box Maintenance Department, surname Liu. You may address me as Section Chief Liu."
Crushing the cigarette butt beneath his boot, he straightened his necktie. "You are all newcomers who recently joined our department. Today, I will be giving you a tour to introduce you to your future work.
"Once you return, you will write a report on your impressions of this tour. I will be checking them tomorrow."
With a brisk snap of his combat boots, he turned on his heel, and the group hurriedly fell into step behind him.
"Though Blue Star has enjoyed long-term peace and stability, beneath the surface of this world, anomalous phenomena and mysterious entities have never rested. The erosion of the mundane realm by the Reflected Ruin Realm hasn't ceased for a single day," Section Chief Liu said in an even voice. "To protect the lives and property of Federation citizens from violation, various secret departments have continually stood on the front lines to combat them—such as the Anomaly Investigation Bureau, the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, and the Science Supremacy Council...
"—And the Black Box Special Control Department is the most widespread, fundamental, and crucial among them!"
Bai Zhou heard muffled gasps around him.
*So even the natives of Blue Star don't know about this?*
"When it comes to certain mystical objects or entities that possess exceptional value, we seal them into 'Black Boxes,' containing and controlling them within the 'Black Chambers' of the Black Box Special Control Department."
The man's measured voice echoed ahead. Stepping up the stairs, he scanned his P4-Rank badge before the entrance.
A green light flashed, and three successive, heavy steel gates slid open one after another.
"Tinghai City General Administration Branch 36 of the Black Box Special Administration was established twenty years ago, and it has made immense contributions to the city's stability.
"...Among its divisions, our Black Box Maintenance Department—as the frontline unit in direct contact with the Black Boxes—maintains an annual casualty rate no lower than ten percent."
Behind his calm words lay a history demanding solemn respect and a grim reality.
"We control, we seal, we protect..."
He turned around, standing before the pitch-black threshold, his expressionless gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"—Welcome to the real world you have never set foot in!"
...
The so-called "Black Chamber" was indeed black. The light here felt frozen, dead, ghostlike.
Inside, it was so dark one could barely see one's hand before one's face. Both sides of the long corridor were lined with sealed iron doors, resembling a prison block.
Occasionally, personnel in white uniforms wearing corpse-pale rubber gloves walked past, the *clack-clack* of their footsteps echoing down the hall.
Bai Zhou felt a clammy chill seep into him. Even as tension tightened in his chest, he subtly closed his fist.
*Is that crown in here?*
"At times, due to the nature of our duties, people refer to us as maintenance workers," Section Chief Liu murmured.
"Ignorance is truly a blessing, but in the Black Box Special Administration, you cannot afford not to know what you are facing. That is a misfortune, but at the same time..."
With a crisp snap of his fingers, two pale blue lights flickered to life along the pitch-black corridor.
Then, deeper down the corridor, more lights flared to life one by one, like a flame being carried along a trail.
Bathed in the faint blue glow, Section Chief Liu faced the group and offered a faint smile.
"At the same time, it is an honor."
"..."
In the dim corner, Bai Zhou warily eyed the automatically lighting blue lamps.
In Wancheng, there were similar automated streetlights, but they only lit up for the Black Robes, reinforcing their aura of exclusivity and authority.
—Only later did people discover that there were actual people concealed inside the walls manually operating the switches.
Bai Zhou thus had good reason to suspect: were there dozens of ax-wielding guards hiding behind the walls along this corridor, glaring through peep-slits to monitor everyone passing through?
"These rooms are the 'Black Chambers' used to seal the 'Black Boxes.'"
Section Chief Liu led the group past several observation windows, each bearing a prominent serial number painted in bold red.
He raised a hand, pointing toward a black door inscribed with the words: *Catalog Number: F-5986, Untiring Dancing Shoes*.
"【F-5986】. During the initial containment attempt, an operational error resulted in seven participating specialists suffering lifelong disability."
"And this one." He shifted his calm gaze toward another black alloy door labeled: *Catalog Number: F-14270, Death Cellphone*.
"【F-14270】. In 2025, during an outbreak caused by a containment failure, I lost my teacher."
The crowd fell silent, watching Section Chief Liu walk past the sealed, pitch-black alloy doors without a flicker of emotion.
They saw only his effortless familiarity with these numbers, never knowing what each designation truly meant to him.
Bai Zhou peered curiously through the observation windows. The sealed, massive black boxes concealed whatever lay within, yet blurry, blood-dripping dying words hovered faintly above them.
*【Dance! Dance! Dance! Do you want to dance, too?】*
*【Write hypocrites into the phone's memo pad, and you can kill them... I will become the god of the new world!】*
*...*
A dizzying array of such messages passed before Bai Zhou's eyes. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single dying wish among them that he had any clue how to fulfill for now.
"Being a maintenance worker has never been an easy post. Around here, sacrifices and injuries are commonplace; you will get used to it over time,"
Section Chief Liu's voice drifted back from ahead. "Our efforts may go unsung, but the Federation will never forget what we give."
Section Chief Liu proceeded to guide the group past more observation windows.
Emblazoned in deep crimson on their doors were designations such as *Catalog Number: F-3000, Concrete Toaster*, *Catalog Number: F-3240, Radiation Power Bank*, and *Catalog Number: F-4122, Beat-heads Poster*.
With every window they passed, Section Chief Liu offered a brief rundown of the origins and background of the corresponding mystical object.
Though most details were classified and could not be elaborated upon, merely revealing the tip of the iceberg left a heavy weight on everyone's hearts, stirring deep dread about their future.
Bai Zhou alone had his mind elsewhere.
Ever since entering this corridor, he had been subtly scouring their surroundings.
After searching for quite some time, he finally spotted what he had been looking for—
*【Catalog Number: F-13777, Johor Laurel】*
*【Description: In 1699, Sultan Mahmud of the Kingdom of Malacca was assassinated. The young sultan's grievance over the extinction of his bloodline left his vengeful spirit hovering night and day over this laurel wreath, bestowing upon it the most vile curse in the mortal world.】*
*【Containment Measures: Submerge the crown in sealed distilled water. Never allow direct exposure to starlight. The crown must be maintained at all times in a dim environment isolated from external light.】*
*【Addendum: Water must be replaced and the seal renewed every seven days.】*
*Johor Laurel?*
Bai Zhou had nearly walked past it. Fortunately, he peered through the door's viewing window to examine the Black Box inside.
The box was tightly sealed, but the glowing, bloody characters suspended in midair were plain as day to Bai Zhou—
*【On the day Irene returns to the throne, all traitorous subjects shall die!】*
*Irene?*
*Found you!*
Evidently, there was a high probability that this was the Crown of Thorns Crow had spoken of.
So who in the world was that Mahmud-whatever on the label?
Bai Zhou had good reason to suspect that the base's intelligence personnel, much like those two Black Robes, had squandered their organizational budget on packs of Furongwang cigarettes.
...However, the dying words did not end there.
Beneath it was another line...
*【Fifty is prime time to hustle! What does enduring a little bitterness matter? It's merely a dusting of frost and wind!*
*I'll eat it, I'll eat it, I... I can't take it anymore! It's too bitter! This bitter life, please don't make me pedal the spinning wheel again!】*
*...An Empress pedaling a spinning wheel?*
It felt less dignified than a miller pulling a holy sword from a millstone.
It was hard to imagine that the crown of someone like this would breach containment in the near future and annihilate the entire subterranean base.
"This is a recently arrived Black Box,"
Section Chief Liu explained briefly as they paused before the door. "You should be aware that matters on the outside have been turbulent lately; the conflict between the Blood Worship Cult and the authorities has reached a boiling point.
"You must have seen the martial law this morning. An incident occurred at Branch 9, necessitating the emergency transfer of its Black Boxes to other sites. Our Branch 36 took custody of several of them.
"This is one such item: the Johor Laurel from the Kingdom of Malacca, dating back several centuries..."
"..." Bai Zhou listened absently, dragging his feet to fall behind the formation until he was practically leaning against the door.
Sensing the Black Box's proximity, the black feather mark on his palm grew scalding hot.
The next instant,
*Whoosh.*
Innumerable faint, transparent black threads—exceedingly stealthy and almost imperceptible—extended from the black feather mark.
These threads slipped through the window, penetrated the Black Box, and connected straight to the crown inside.
Taut and suspended in midair, they hung delicately, blending seamlessly into the darkness of the Black Chamber.
Unless one inspected them up close or physically touched them, noticing their existence was nearly impossible.
*...?!*
Bai Zhou was startled by the sudden development. Taking advantage of the others' distraction, he hastily shifted his hand behind his back, cradling the palm anchored to the countless transparent threads.
Immediately after, he stepped backward with his hands behind him, quietly retreating behind the crowd into a deeper shadow before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
...And so, completely unnoticed in the shadows, the black feather initiated its covert containment of the crown.
"Hey! You over there, keep up with the group!"
Having finished his brief on the Johor Laurel, Section Chief Liu turned to lead the group forward, only to notice Bai Zhou lagging behind in the corner.
"Coming, coming!" Bai Zhou kept his right hand behind his back, nodding continuously toward Section Chief Liu while shuffling forward at a snail's pace to buy time for the black feather's sealing process.
Time ticked away. Bai Zhou, forcing a look of natural composure, felt every second drag like a year.
Finally, just before the touring group was about to disappear around the forward corner, the myriad threads suspended in the air abruptly dissolved.
The black feather mark on his palm gradually faded away.
Bai Zhou let out a long breath.
The covert containment had been quietly completed.
—A catastrophe that had yet to take shape had been stealthily averted.
Looking up for one last glance at the bloody dying words atop the Black Box, Bai Zhou fell deep into thought.
Just as Crow had said, the sealing process wasn't difficult—in fact, it was extraordinarily simple... Yet only Bai Zhou could see Crow, and only Bai Zhou could carry this out.
Anyone else would likely have been misled by the plaque and never even found the Crown of Thorns.
...The group continued walking and pausing. Before they had even covered half of the Black Chambers, the morning slipped away.
"That will be all for this morning's tour." At the far end of the dim corridor, Section Chief Liu halted with briefcase in hand, the pale blue light stretching his shadow long behind him.
He turned to face the crowd with a grave expression. "I imagine all of you are feeling overwhelmed right now, gripped by fear toward these mystical items and entities.
"—Yet in truth, we do not lack the strength to fight them."
With that, he pressed a button on the handle of his silver briefcase.
*Click—*
A crisp mechanical release rang out, and the briefcase seemed to come alive, "awakened" in an instant.
Amidst a tremendous mechanical roar, the case began to shift, dismantle, and reconfigure.
Countless tiny, scale-like mechanical plates snaked from bottom to top, encasing Section Chief Liu's entire right arm. The sleek, streamlined silver-white casing gleamed with an icy sheen.
"As long as you accumulate merits and attain the rank of P4 Specialist like me, you will qualify to petition the organization for the right to become an 'Extraordinary,'" Section Chief Liu said. "Even with only an initial awakening of your 【Fate Principle】, augmented by specialized gear, you can wield incredible power!"
—Saying this, he turned his palm upward. With a roaring *boom*, an eerie blue flame surged from the silver-white mechanical palm.
A rolling heatwave swept through the narrow corridor, baking the air until it distorted.
A suffocating pressure bore down on everyone's chests, filling them with astonished terror.
Bai Zhou alone merely scratched his head.
*Doesn't feel as impressive as... Crow.*
At least she didn't require external aids like a mechanical arm.
Still, that power was undeniably alluring. Heaven only knew how long it would take to be promoted to P4, though.
Perhaps Crow could offer him an alternative.
"...Once we dismiss, head to the cafeteria for lunch first." Seeing everyone's discomfort, Section Chief Liu extinguished the flame. "Reassemble after eating. The tour will continue this afternoon!"
Five minutes later, a famished Bai Zhou finally arrived at his most loyal haven: the cafeteria.
Heaven knew when Bai Zhou had last eaten; he hadn't even had time to touch yesterday afternoon's four-delicacy instant noodles!
To his surprise, the organization actually covered cafeteria meals—a perk he had never enjoyed in the Wancheng Training Corps.
After finally squeezing his way to an empty seat in the bustling, noisy hall, Bai Zhou scarfed down two platefuls of tomato-and-scrambled-egg rice in one go, even feeling up for some dessert.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find the paper-cup cream cupcakes he had loved so much in Wancheng.
All he saw were items like "Shanghai Caviar Frozen Pear Pudding," "Handcrafted Roaming Cherry Blossom Low-Sugar Daifuku," and a complimentary "Enamel Basin Strawberry Mini Mousse" for leaving a positive review.
All so fancy and frivolous.
Bai Zhou decided to try a "Supreme Oreo Low-Fat Baby Cupcake." To his surprise, it wasn't bad at all, just not quite as sweet as the paper-cup cream cupcakes.
So before leaving, Bai Zhou asked for two more cupcakes, packed them to go, and took them along.
...
Half an hour later, the afternoon orientation resumed.
The group soon passed the Crown of Thorns once more, though this time Section Chief Liu was introducing the other Black Boxes opposite it.
Taking advantage of everyone's attention being drawn across the way, Bai Zhou slipped into a corner and quietly retrieved the two cupcakes from his coat.
—From the beginning, he hadn't packed these two cupcakes for himself.
Like feeding stray cats or dogs, Bai Zhou wrapped the "Supreme Oreo Low-Fat Baby Cupcakes" in a plastic bag and set them down gently before the door to the Crown of Thorns' Black Chamber.
*If life feels too bitter, have a cupcake!*
Bai Zhou thought with a twinge of sympathy.
*That way, life will be sweet again!*
During his hardest days, Bai Zhou had pulled through relying on paper-cup cream cupcakes. It was a pity they didn't have any here; otherwise, he really would have liked to share one with Irene.
*Cupcakes are here...* Bai Zhou murmured in his heart.
"..."
Through the window, one could see the dying words hovering above the Black Box begin to flicker, as though hesitating.
Bai Zhou scratched his head.
"Please enjoy them, Your Majesty?" he tried phrasing it differently.
The next second,
With a resonant hum, the dying words blazed with brilliant crimson light, illuminating Bai Zhou's face.
Then, the words shattered section by section—dots, horizontals, verticals, and hooks—flying wildly out through the window like clawing beasts.
Half of them pounced toward the cupcakes, while the other half surged toward Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou instinctively leaned back, and the scene before his eyes swiftly dissolved into a blur.
A montage of visions shifted across his vision before finally freezing on a single moment.
A desolate island beneath a starry night.
A destitute middle-aged woman, clad in tattered royal robes, kicked a spinning wheel to the ground and threw her arms up, shouting toward the heavens—
"Just you wait! I shall live out a second life and fight my way back to loyal Constantinople! Fifty is prime time to hustle!
"Do not look down on a middle-aged pauper!"
...
A year later, starved to the bone, Irene closed her eyes in bitter grievance, having realized one final truth—
This coffin was the only loyal home she would ever have.
...
Bai Zhou was left utterly dumbfounded.
The next moment, the vision shattered.
The fragments coalesced in Bai Zhou's hands, transforming into a golden card visible to him alone.
"...What is this?"
Standing before the Black Chamber door in the pitch-black corridor, Bai Zhou looked down at it.
The face of the glowing card was carved with intricate, bizarre patterns resembling reptiles roaring toward the sky. They encircled an archaic, barely recognizable script whose sinuous, winding strokes seemed almost alive like birds, beasts, bugs, and fish.
Bai Zhou did not recognize these ancient characters, yet the instant his gaze touched the strokes, their meaning dawned upon him—
*【"Old Days: Jurassic" Pass】*
*【—Through the boundless expanse of eternity, even death may pass away; yet at the divide between dusk and dawn, what was lost may return, and what sank may rise.】*
*【From the fissures of time, a lost civilization extends its call to you.*
*"Traverse the ancient ages,"*
*it says, "and bear witness to this decaying era whose dying embers are about to fade."】*
Chapter 5