Chapter 86 - 77: Token

The words had barely left his mouth.

Inside the Wish Bottle, a single star shone with a dazzling light and merged into his soul.

Zhou Chen shivered. His mind felt as cool as if he’d just drunk cold water after eating a mint, and his thoughts became clearer and faster than ever before.

It was like swapping an ancient, obsolete graphics card used for years with the latest RTX 9090 model. His processing and computational power received a massive boost, making everything feel brand new.

He opened a book and, for the first time in years, once again experienced the joy of learning.

This mysterious, unknown, profound, and extraordinary knowledge filled him with an insatiable hunger. When he entered a state of complete, focused immersion, the world seemed to fade away until only the book before him remained. He forgot everything, even the passage of time.

He was addicted to learning, unable to pull himself away.

·

The upper floors of the Eternal Commerce Mansion.

Melodious, soothing classical music played in the lavishly decorated office. Dressed in a suit that gave him a refined air, Fu Qing stood expressionlessly before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the bustling city cloaked in night.

The entirety of Jinzhu could be seen from here.

Every time he stood before the window and looked at the city, a heartfelt sigh would rise in him: ’The world is so big.’

’But in a world this big, why can’t there be a place for me?’

’Is it really so difficult to go from being a chess piece to a player?’

He began planning long ago to break the chains around his neck and no longer be at others’ beck and call. He had endured humiliation for countless years, only now revealing his hidden fangs.

He considered his performance excellent. In recent years, he had secretly manipulated many events and gradually eliminated numerous competitors. Just a short while ago, he had even killed his biggest rival, Qin Zewan, and began swallowing up Jinzhu’s black-market industries with lightning speed.

It was a massive prize for the taking.

As a port city famous throughout the Asian Region and even the World, Jinzhu’s maritime shipping industry was highly developed and generated enormous profits on its own. The benefits of running all sorts of smuggling operations on top of that could no longer be measured in mere money.

Consider this: many explicitly banned smuggled goods could be transported through his network, including items needed by very powerful people. If those deals went through, the money would be secondary. The most important gain would be the connections and favors.

As long as he completely took over the black-market business, he could use this opportunity to break his chains. It wouldn’t take long for him to rise up and become a truly powerful figure.

But recent events had completely thrown off his tempo and disrupted his plans.

First, a severe source of contamination appeared on a cargo ship, leading to the deaths of the entire crew. Then, a large group of smuggled Illegal Ascenders started causing trouble in Jinzhu...

This gave the Star Association a legitimate excuse to intervene and investigate, ruining his plans at a critical moment.

It could even render all his previous efforts useless and lead to a complete and utter failure.

At this thought, Fu Qing couldn’t help but clench his fists, his expression turning grim.

’Just who is behind this...’

"Boss, we got it from the interrogation. A considerable number of the stowaways were referred by ’brokers’ on the dark web. Many entrepreneurs in Jinzhu have bounties on their heads, and some of the others came back for revenge."

Just then, a Secretary with a beautiful, delicate face, wearing a professional suit and black stockings that emphasized her long legs, walked in, swaying her hips. She handed the file she was holding to Fu Qing.

"Brokers on the dark web..." Fu Qing frowned as he flipped through the file. ’These so-called brokers must just be a front. Who would deliberately send a group of Illegal Ascenders to cause trouble in Jinzhu at this specific time?’

’The Star Association?’

’If the Star Association is the mastermind here, then who’s responsible for the source of contamination? It can’t possibly be them as well, right?’

"What about the cargo ship incident?" Fu Qing asked, handing back the file with a cold expression.

"The situation at the scene is unknown; the Star Association hasn’t leaked any information. I asked the personnel responsible for inspecting the cargo ship, and they all said there were no issues during the inspection. It’s highly likely the crew was smuggling something privately," the Secretary replied.

Fu Qing stared at the distant lights and was lost in thought for a long time.

"There’s another possibility."

The Secretary seemed to have a realization. "You mean... Eternal Fire?"

"Exactly," Fu Qing said in a low voice. "Eternal Fire has been very active recently. Not just in Jinzhu, but in many other cities as well. They caused a major incident in Black Stone City two days ago. Perhaps they were behind the cargo ship incident."

"But all the crew on the cargo ship are dead, and the source of contamination was never found. Investigating it will be very difficult," the Secretary said.

After a moment of contemplation, Fu Qing said, "Have Birdman come see me."

"Yes, sir."

A little over ten minutes later, Birdman, dressed in an expensive suit and wearing a Golden Bird Mask, arrived at the office.

"Boss, you wanted to see me?"

"How is the takeover operation going?" Fu Qing asked without turning around, his hands clasped behind his back as he stood at the window.

"It was going smoothly a few days ago, but it’s gotten difficult recently. The Star Association has intensified their searches, and quite a few of our people have been caught. To avoid exposure, we’ve had to slow down for now," Birdman answered truthfully.

"Mm, tell Snow White and the others to lay low for a few days. We’ll resume operations after the heat dies down.

Also..."

Fu Qing turned to face him, his tone grave. "I have a mission for you."

Birdman’s expression grew serious. "Go on."

"I want you to find any trace of Eternal Fire, by any means necessary!"

"..."

Birdman’s face was solemn as he nodded forcefully.

"You can count on me!"

"Good. I trust you to get things done." Fu Qing had great faith in Birdman’s abilities. If not for his own cautious nature, he would have long since groomed Birdman to be his confidant.

"Eternal Fire has left many tracks in Jinzhu recently, indirectly disrupting many of our plans. You need to find them as soon as possible. The underworld is a good place to start. They’ve surely had some contact with black market dealers..."

Fu Qing could already smell the coming storm, but he had worked painstakingly for so long and had finally found such a golden opportunity. He was truly unwilling to give it up so easily.

Therefore, the best solution was to find Eternal Fire’s Fanatics and hand them over to the Star Association.

This would wash away the many suspicions directed at him.

·

The Library.

As he turned the last page of the encyclopedia and saw the blank back cover, Zhou Chen felt as if he were waking from a long dream, finally returning to the real world.

HISS. ’If I’d had this ability back in school, I definitely could have gotten into a top-ten university in the world...’

He sucked in a sharp breath. In just eight hours, he had finished all three volumes of the Alchemy Encyclopedia—a task that would normally take about a month to even begin to learn. His mind was now brimming with all sorts of Alchemy Knowledge, and his memory of it was exceptionally deep; he wasn’t forgetting things as soon as he learned them.

Of course, memorization was just the basic operation; the important part was deep comprehension.

Normally, after a month of preliminary study of the three volumes, there would follow a long period of consolidation, comprehension, and repeated practical application. Many people might not fully grasp it even after one, two, or even ten or twenty years.

"Then, I wish to completely master the Alchemy Knowledge I have learned."

Instantly, as a star merged into his soul, the vast amount of Alchemy Knowledge in Zhou Chen’s mind began to organize itself, integrating and connecting. Countless details, key points, and difficult concepts surfaced in his mind, deeply imprinted in his memory, as if he had personally experimented with them countless times...

’My repository of strange knowledge has increased!’

After the wish’s effect subsided, he took a Trial Version Transformation Array out of his pocket and stuck it to the back of his hand. With a thought, multicolored metal shavings appeared in his palm and began to meld and re-form.

A moment later, a perfectly square, silver piece of metal appeared in his hand.

This was "Alloy No. 3," a mixture of almost every metal element.

’I can’t believe it worked on the first try...’

The surprise on Zhou Chen’s face was impossible to hide. He had thought it would take several more attempts to succeed, but when he actually did it, it felt as if he’d practiced it by hand countless times, his movements already perfected through repetition.

’Wait, does this mean I can get a real Transformation Array implanted now?’

Successfully creating "Alloy No. 3" by hand meant one had officially stepped through the gates of Alchemy and was qualified to have a real Transformation Array implanted, instead of using these expensive trial versions.

’There is an Alchemy Association in Jinzhu, but if I go now, I’ll definitely arouse suspicion, whether from Eternal Fire or from Jiang Che’s side... I’m not supposed to be some kind of genius. Suddenly being able to whip up Alloy No. 3 is suspicious no matter how you look at it... I’ll go in a couple of days. I’ll just say I was in closed-door cultivation and had a sudden epiphany...’

Zhou Chen grinned gleefully, basking in the joy of having mastered basic Alchemy. He then picked up his phone to see if he had missed any messages, and it turned out he had.

It was from Birdman.

[Are you free? Come to the usual place tonight. I have something for you.]

’He has something for me? It’s definitely not a Star Mango... but something else is fine too.’ Zhou Chen quickly replied with an "Okay."

’Before we have a falling out, I should squeeze a few more goodies out of Eternal Fire. An easy mark like this doesn’t come around often.’

·

「Nighttime.」

Birdman’s club.

The elevator doors opened slowly, and Zhou Chen walked out wearing the Killing Maniac mask, which was stained with dried blood. Birdman was the only other person in the room.

"Congratulations on officially becoming one of us." Birdman gave a graceful salute, hand to his chest. "May you find the truth of life under the guidance of our God."

"I have already found where the truth lies!" Zhou Chen said fanatically. "This world will eventually return to the one true chaos under our God’s radiance!"

Birdman smiled and nodded, then took a small box from his coat.

It looked like a ring box.

Zhou Chen immediately grew wary. "I’m not that kind of person."

"Your mind has taken a turn for the impure," Birdman said with a grin. He opened the box to reveal an exquisite black stone ring.

"This is a token that only elite Cultists can possess—the ’Holy Fire Ring’."

"If you encounter other Cultists, just show them this ring, and they will know you are also a believer in our God."

"It has no other purpose beyond that."

Birdman shrugged. "You know how it is. If it were an Abyssal Cursed Object, the Star Association would definitely detect the contamination fluctuations. So, this is just a token."

Zhou Chen was incredibly disappointed on the inside, but on the outside, he accepted the ring box with a look of slight excitement.

"Since it is a holy relic bestowed by our God, I will be sure to take good care of it!"

"Just don’t let the Star Association find it."

Birdman added as a reminder, then plopped down on the sofa, took a cigar from his pocket, and lit it.

"Have a seat. I need to talk to you about something."