WebNovels

Chapter 6 - Chapter 5: The Crownless

The ground fell into silence. Not the kind you notice after laughter dies down or a conversation ends, but the kind that is pressed against your ears, heavy and wrong. The air wavered as though heat rippled through it, yet it was cold enough to bite. Whatever this place was, it wasn't natural.

Chixia's voice cracked through the stillness first. "Huh? We agreed to meet up with Baizhi here… Where is she? "

Yangyang's gaze swept the pale horizon, steady and careful. "This is the center of the Etheric Sea."

The name sank into me like a weight. Etheric Sea. It wasn't just a place—it carried consequence. And the unease in my chest told me before the words left Chixia's mouth what it meant.

"…A Tacet Field? " she whispered.

Yangyang gave a quiet nod.

The panic in Chixia's eyes sharpened. "When did it show up? It wasn't here when we just got here! "

"I didn't sense it," Yangyang admitted, her brow furrowing.

"So it just appeared? Just like that? " Her voice pitched higher. "Or worse—what if it's following us? "

I swallowed hard. A Tacet Field forming that quickly, unseen… it felt like a trap. On Earth, we'd call it walking blind into a hot zone, with enemy scopes already on your back. Only this wasn't snipers—it was worse.

Beside me, Rover stood still. No fidgeting, no panic. Her golden eyes narrowed on the horizon, searching. Her hair caught what little light there was, shifting in the unnatural current of the place. For a moment, the reflection of that frozen sea glinted in her gaze. Against the emptiness, she was—without question—the most vivid, living thing here.

Yangyang's voice grounded me again. "At the center… someone is there."

Chixia followed his gaze. Her jaw dropped. "Isn't that Baizhi?! "

She shouted her name until her throat strained, but the silence swallowed it.

Yangyang's tone stayed calm, though it carried weight. "This Tacet Field is fresh. It has entered its dormant state. That means—for now—it's stable."

"For now," Rover repeated softly, her voice quiet but edged.

Chixia looked like she wanted to argue but bit it back. I could see the worry tugging at her.

"Is there a chance," I asked, my voice low, "that she isn't real? That what we're seeing is bait? "

Chixia froze, then frowned hard at me. "…That's a horrible thought."

"Maybe. But on the battlefield, horrible thoughts save lives." My grip on my weapon tightened.

They went back and forth—Chixia tossing out tropes she half-believed, Yangyang countering with reason—but I'd already made peace with the truth: whatever waited down there, real or not, we were walking into it.

"Let's go," Rover said simply. Her tone had the finality of steel.

Yangyang activated his glider without hesitation. Chixia followed, light unfolding from her gourd terminal like a pair of wings. Then both of them turned to me.

I shook my head once. "I don't have one."

No one looked surprised. They knew already—I'd come into this world with nothing. No terminal, no gear, no lifeline. Just me.

Yangyang nodded, practical as always. "Then you'll go with Rover."

Her eyes flicked to mine. Steady, but restless, like even she hadn't expected to be paired with me this way. She exhaled slowly, then turned, the light of her glider blooming behind her like unfolding glass.

"Hold on," she said, voice flat but not unkind. "If you fall, I can't promise I'll catch you"

I didn't hesitate. I stepped forward, hands finding her waist. The warmth of her body bled through the layers of fabric. She stiffened almost instantly, a faint pink blooming at the edges of her cheeks before she forced her expression still.

The glider burst to life, wind roaring against us as the ground dropped away. My instincts made me tighten my hold. The air whipped hard, dragging at us both, but all I felt in that chaos was her—steady in front of me, heat against the cold rush of sky.

She drew a sharp breath, almost too quiet to hear. "…This is only practical," she murmured, half to herself. "Don't… misunderstand."

I didn't answer right away. The words she wanted were "Yes, of course." Practical. But the truth caught in my throat as I looked past her to the endless sea of light below.

I smiled faintly, letting the wind carry my voice. "I won't."

But I did.

Because for all the views this world had shown me—the sprawling city of Jinzhou, the broken ruins, the impossible sky—none of them compared to this one.

The glide slowed, Rover's light wings folding away as we descended. I tightened my hold around her, feeling the warmth of her back even as the air grew colder and heavier. The Tacet Field welcomed us with silence, an unnatural, suffocating silence.

"Baizhi! " Chixia's voice rang out the moment her boots hit the ground. She sprinted forward, braids flying, panic sharp in her tone. "Baizhi! We're in a Dormant Tacet Field, right? Why did you come here by yourself? "

Her words echoed into the stillness, swallowed by the strange air. Baizhi finally came into view, standing in the middle of the haze as if she belonged there. Composed. Almost too calm.

Chixia's feet skidded, her eyes widening. "Baizhi, you know, we… huh? "

Baizhi's gaze flicked to us, her face unreadable. Then, softly, she spoke. "You are alright, it seems."

That simple line, quiet as it was, carried the weight of a sigh unspoken. The worry was there, buried under her control. I'd heard voices like that before—back home, in field tents, when medics tried to hide relief beneath discipline.

Chixia shook her head quickly, filling the silence with a flood of words. "You should've seen them, Baizhi! Jeff, and Rover too—they were super energetic! Handled a huge Tacet Discord like it was nothing! Way more spirited than me! "

She threw her hands wide, grinning as if she were more proud of us than herself.

I blinked, caught off guard, warmth creeping up my neck.

Rover, standing beside me, shifted slightly—her golden eyes flicking my way for just a second before darting back toward Baizhi. A faint, almost invisible color touched her cheeks, like Chixia's words had brushed against something delicate inside her.

Yangyang stepped forward, steady as ever, grounding us. "I've been keeping an eye on his condition through the Stream," she said, her voice calm, though her eyes lingered on me just long enough to make sure it was true.

Baizhi's gaze lingered on us longer than it should have—sharp, unreadable, like she could strip away every layer without ever laying a hand. The silence grew heavier under it.

I frowned. "…What's going on? Is this some kind of mind-reading gathering? "

Yangyang shook her head, calm as always. "It isn't," she said, her eyes flicking toward Baizhi. "She's just worried about your condition. She probably thinks we shouldn't let you push yourself yet."

"I'm fine," I answered—too quickly.

"Hah! " Chixia burst out, eyes lighting up like she'd just caught me bluffing. "Wow, would you look at that! Oh no—suddenly I feel sooo much pain." She clutched her stomach dramatically, staggering in slow circles like an actor on stage.

Yangyang's calm cracked, worry flashing across her face. "Where does it hurt? Are you alright? "

Chixia couldn't hold it. She doubled over laughing, waving her hand. "Relax, I'm kidding! Just wanted to see how much attention I'd get if I pretended to collapse."

Yangyang let out a heavy sigh, more exasperated than angry.

But Baizhi cut through their noise like a knife through cloth. "Worry clouds your judgment, Yangyang."

She stepped forward, calm and steady, and her eyes moved over me with a quiet precision that reminded me of field medics back home. "His vitals are stable—normal pupil size, steady breathing rhythm, and skin tone within range. No immediate cause for concern."

Her gaze slid to Rover, and for the first time her tone paused, just slightly. "Rover's condition is also stable. No irregularities in posture or movement. Signs of fatigue, but nothing critical."

Baizhi's tone didn't waver. She swept her gaze back across the field, her voice low but firm. "This isn't the place for talking."

The Tacet Field hummed faintly around us, the air too still and suffocating. Her next words carried a warning I didn't need translated.

"Let's go."

Baizhi's tone didn't waver. She swept her gaze back across the field, her voice low but firm.

I shifted, ready to follow—but then the world shifted first.

Like a switch being flipped, the ground beneath us bled into a deep violet, shadows crawling outward in jagged veins. The silence shattered. Chixia and Yangyang both gasped, hands clutching their heads as if something had sunk claws into their skulls. Even Baizhi winced, her composure cracking for just a heartbeat.

But me? My body locked up for another reason.

Instinct. That ugly, unshakable reflex drilled into me by years on battlefields. My gut screamed before my brain could catch up—danger.

Something was coming.

The air warped, heavy enough to choke. I spun on instinct, pulse hammering, when a blur of gold crossed my vision.

Rover.

She moved faster than I could register, faster than I could believe. One second she was beside me, the next she was already ahead—blade drawn, her entire body coiled like lightning given shape. Metal rang sharp against something massive, the sound splitting the air as she blocked a strike I hadn't even seen coming.

I froze, breath catching. If she hadn't—if she'd been even a fraction too slow—that blow would've caved my skull in before I even knew it existed.

Her stance was unyielding, golden eyes burning like fire against the darkness pressing in. For a heartbeat, all I could do was stare at her back, broad and steady, holding the line where I would have fallen.

The Crownless's strike rattled through the ground, cracks spiderwebbing beneath my boots. Rover's blade met it again, a blur of silver that sparked against void-black limbs. Yangyang's arrows whistled past, wind-charged, slamming into its flank hard enough to stagger it for seconds at a time.

And I—

I couldn't just watch.

My pulse pounded in my ears. Back in my unit, I was never the strongest, never the fastest, but I was the one who ran toward the chaos. The one who knelt in the dirt, hands steady as I pressed dressings to wounds while bullets snapped overhead.

My purpose was always clear: if I can't strike like the others, then I'll keep them standing.

But here? What could I do? No kit, no meds—hell, no proper weapon. Just the standard-issue Tyro Pistol strapped uselessly at my side, something closer to a training toy than real firepower.

Still. It was all I had.

My hand shot to my belt, fingers clamping around the cold frame of the pistol. I yanked it free, thumbed the safety off like muscle memory, and leveled it at the monster's chest.

The recoil bit into my wrist as the first shot cracked across the field, a bolt of raw ether sputtering out like a weak flare. It struck the Crownless square in the torso—

and fizzled.

The thing didn't even flinch.

I gritted my teeth, firing again. Once. Twice. Three times. Ether bolts sparked harmlessly against its hide, leaving nothing but faint scorch marks that vanished as the violet light stitched itself back together.

"Damn it! " My voice tore raw out of me. My stance tightened, I adjusted, and I tried again—short, controlled bursts, just like training—but the truth was clear in the way the Crownless didn't even bother turning toward me.

I wasn't a threat. Not to it.

A shadow loomed, and before I could blink, Rover blurred past me, blade intercepting a crushing blow meant for my skull. The ground shook with the force of the parry, dust kicking up around us. She shoved the beast back with a surge of strength, golden eyes flashing as she barked, "Stay behind me!"

Yangyang's voice carried over the chaos, breath even despite the strain. "Jeff, your weapon won't pierce it—save your ammo! "

Her words hit harder than the monster's fists.

Because she was right. Every round I fired felt like pebbles thrown at a hurricane—pointless, useless. Still, my grip wouldn't loosen. Not yet. I wasn't built to stand still while others bled for me.

The Crownless roared, the sound splitting the air like the sky itself cracking. Rover darted in again, blade gleaming as she carved upward, while Yangyang loosed another volley of her feather abilities, wind whipping into slicing crescents that tore chunks from its frame.

And me?

I stood there with a weapon that might as well have been a child's slingshot, every shot a reminder of how small I was in this world.

But even as the futility sank in, even as the pistol grew heavier in my hands, my instincts refused to die. My breath steadied, finger easing on the trigger. If I couldn't kill it, maybe I could distract it. Draw its eyes, even for a second. Be bait, if that's what it took.

Because if there's one thing I'd sworn as a combat medic, it's this—

better me than them.

The Crownless moved like a nightmare made flesh—its limbs too long, too sharp, each step pounding against the ground hard enough to shake the air.

"Yangyang! Rover! Jeff! " Chixia's voice cracked from the other side of the shimmering wall, her fists slamming against it. "We're blocked outside—we can't get in! Are you all alright?! "

"We're holding—" Yangyang's reply came out tight, breathless, as she braced her blade against the monster's swipe. Sparks screeched from the impact, the vibration rattling up her arms. "But that thing is… this for real."

Baizhi's voice cut through, cold and focused. "It's the Tacet Discord's ability. Stay sharp. Don't let it divide you."

The monster lunged again. Yangyang shifted low, boots skidding across the stone, and cut upward in a clean arc that barely turned the blow aside. Rover was already there—her body a blur as her sword intercepted the next strike before it could crush me where I stood. The impact shuddered through the air, her boots carving grooves into the ground as she forced it back.

I raised the Tyro pistol and squeezed the trigger. The recoil jolted in my palms, but the shot only sparked against its carapace. Useless. My teeth clenched. Fine. Then I don't aim to kill.

I snapped my wrist, firing not at the body, but at its joints—the elbow, the knee, and the point where it turned. Each shot made it twitch, stumble, and hesitate for half a second. And half a second was everything Rover needed to slip in with another precise slash.

"Jeff! " Chixia's voice carried a sharper edge this time. "Don't be reckless! You'll get yourself killed! "

"I know what I'm doing! " I shouted back, though my pulse betrayed me. My whole body was tight, every muscle screaming to just run. But if I ran, the others would take the hit. So I kept firing—measured, careful. Never at the bulk. Always at the places that shifted weight, that carried balance.

The Crownless swung wide, the motion faster than something that size had any right to be. Yangyang ducked low, her blade catching the worst of it, but the force still flung her sideways into the dirt. Rover didn't hesitate—she surged in to intercept the follow-up, golden eyes burning with focus. Steel met claw again, her stance rooted deep, every muscle taut.

I exhaled sharply, brain racing. Don't fight strength with strength. Use your head. Use what it can't control. Vision. Balance. Timing.

I dashed behind a broken pillar as its arm swept through the space I'd just occupied. Dust rained over me. I peeked out, lifted the pistol, and fired twice—once at its foot as it planted, once at its shoulder as it turned. The shots didn't wound, but they broke its rhythm. That was enough.

Yangyang was already up again, breath ragged, blood on her lip. She surged forward, sword dragging wind in her wake. She slammed into its exposed side with everything she had, the strike shoving it off balance. Rover followed, driving her blade across its torso in a savage cross-cut.

The monster reeled back, static tearing through the air in its distorted roar.

I tightened my grip on the pistol, forcing my breathing to be steady. I can't kill this thing. But I can make sure every second it looks at me is one second it isn't tearing them apart.

I stepped out from cover, raised the pistol again, and called out—steady anddeliberate.

"Over here, bastard."

The Crownless's head snapped toward me, eyes burning violet. Its next step shook the ground as it turned its whole fury in my direction.

And I held my ground.

The Crownless's roar split the air, raw static tearing across the field as it bore down on me. My chest clenched, but I kept my feet planted, pistol aimed, even as the heat of its presence pressed against my skin like fire.

Then Yangyang was there—slamming into its side with a heavy arc of her sword, the impact ringing out like steel against steel. She snarled through clenched teeth, holding the blade across its forearm to drag its strike away from me. Her boots skidded across the stone, dirt spraying up in jagged streaks.

"Jeff, move! " she shouted.

But I didn't run. Instead, I pivoted, firing three sharp shots—two into the bend of its knee, one at the side of its head. Each round sparked uselessly off its armored skin… but I wasn't aiming to kill. I was aiming to tilt it.

And it worked. The monster jerked, its weight thrown off for the barest second.

That second was all Rover needed.

She moved like lightning. One blink she was behind Yangyang, the next she had surged past her, golden eyes locked on the Crownless with a clarity that cut deeper than any blade. Her resonator's aura flared—wind curling, pulling the air into a sharp spiral around her.

Her blade came up in both hands, her whole frame coiled with intent. For a moment, the battlefield hushed—the air itself holding its breath.

Then Rover struck.

The slash tore across the Crownless in a brilliant arc, the pressure splitting stone beneath their feet, a gale ripping outward in its wake. The monster staggered, its distorted scream breaking as cracks of violet light split through its body. Rover didn't falter—she twisted with the momentum, driving her blade in a second, decisive cut that cleaved through the last of its resistance.

The Crownless convulsed, violet static shattering into fragments that scattered like shards of glass. Its hulking form collapsed inward on itself, dissolving into silence until nothing remained but the echo of its roar fading in the wind.

Rover stood in the center of the wreckage, chest rising and falling, her blade still humming faintly from the resonance. Strands of her hair clung to her face, her golden eyes bright even in exhaustion.

She finished it.

I lowered my pistol, my hand shaking, useless compared to the storm she had just unleashed. The adrenaline drained out of me in a cold rush, and I could only stare at her—this girl who moved like lightning, who carried the fight when I could barely stand.

Yangyang leaned against her sword beside me, smiling faintly. "She did it."

But my thoughts were elsewhere. The words formed in the back of my mind, heavier, sharper, and truer than anything I had ever admitted to myself:

My intuition was right.

She's the key to my survival here. She'll keep me alive.

"Yangyang! Rover! "

Chixia's shout came the moment the barrier shattered. She sprinted toward us, eyes wide with worry. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? "

Rover shook her head.

"I'm fine," I answered quickly, forcing my voice steady.

Chixia let out a heavy breath, clutching her chest. "Thank goodness… you scared me half to death! We could see that barrier, but we couldn't break through no matter what we tried! "

Yangyang lowered her blade with a faint sigh. "I'm fine too. Though… I've never seen such a formidable Tacet Discord before. Rover was able to completely defeat it."

I glanced at Rover and caught the faint gold in her eyes, steady and quiet. "We beat it together," I said, though the words tasted half-bitter in my mouth. I knew the truth—Rover had carried the fight. I hadn't done enough—but I wasn't about to sit back and let her shoulder it all alone.

Yangyang shook her head slightly. "I didn't do much. It was all thanks to you, Rover."

"A piece of cake," Rover muttered, eyes downcast.

Chixia's grin broke the tension. "Oh, come on! Don't be so humble! That last move looked cooler than Fiamma's finishing blow! I swear, one kick and that monster went poof! "

I smiled faintly, hiding the thought clawing at me. Not just kicks… She's the reason I'm still breathing. She saved my ass twice already.

Yangyang's expression hardened. "Strange. This place isn't usually this dangerous…"

"Anyway, come check this out! " Chixia crouched, pointing at the fragments of energy drifting like fading embers.

"An illusion," Baizhi murmured. "Left by the Tacet Discord? "

"And this is…? " I asked, tilting my head, pretending curiosity.

Yangyang's eyes sharpened. "Oh… this is an Echo."

Chixia's eyes lit up. "An Echo of the Elite Class! Someone's lucky today! "

I stayed quiet, though I already knew. Echoes… Reverberations… the system I remember all too well.

Yangyang faced Rover. "My apologies. We got carried away. Do 'Reverberation' or 'Echo' mean anything to you? "

Rover shook her head again.

Yangyang patiently explained. "Everything in our world is made of frequencies. Every sound creates a reverberation. Echoes are the lingering reverberations of Tacet Discords after they fall. Our Pangu Terminals can absorb them."

Chixia added brightly, "By Pangu Terminal, she means the gourd-shaped thing Resonators carry—Huanglong researchers made 'em! But you can't just absorb everything. Your gourd's got limits."

Yangyang nodded. "Absorption only works when your Data Bank level matches or exceeds the Discord's. Then it can convert into an Echo for battle."

Her expression darkened. "My Terminal warned me—that thing was at least Overlord Class. Rover, check your Data Bank level."

"No need! "Chixia jumped in. "Just try absorbing it! "

Rover lifted her gourd, light pulsing—then dimmed out.

"…It doesn't work," she said. "I'm Level 0."

Chixia puffed her cheeks, waving it off. "No biggie! You can practice on smaller ones. I know there are Baby Roseshrooms nearby."

I frowned, pretending ignorance. "What happens if she can't absorb it? "

Baizhi's voice cut in, calm but precise. "Then the reverberations fade. The Etheric Sea will vanish, and the Beacon signals will return. The Tacet Field will dissolve until it resurges again."

Her gaze lingered on me, sharp and weighing. I shifted under it.

"Jeff." Chixia's tone snapped me back. Her arms crossed, fire flickering faintly along her fingertips. "What the hell were you thinking? Charging in like that with just a Tyro pistol? You could've died! "

I swallowed, scratching the back of my neck. "…I didn't want to just stand there and watch. If I can't fight, then I'm useless to all of you. At least if I kept its attention for a second, I could matter."

Her frown softened into something that almost hurt worse. "…Idiot. You matter just by being here. Don't ever think that again."

Baizhi's cool voice sliced through the moment. "Enough. We'll report this anomaly to City Hall and the Academy. For now—let's go."

The Tacet Field faded, the violet haze bleeding into the pale glow of day. I followed in silence, Chixia's words and Rover's silhouette heavy in my thoughts.

The last fragments of the Overlord's body dissolved into pale motes, rising like embers into the suffocating stillness of the Tacet Field.

But instead of scattering, they curved—drawn to us.

A strange pull tugged at my chest, hot and cold all at once. The motes swirled, then split into two streams: one latching onto Rover's hand, the other striking me in the side of the neck.

I gasped, my knees buckling. Heat branded itself into my skin, burning a mark I could feel more than see.

"Jeff?! " Yangyang's voice cracked sharp with alarm.

Beside me, Rover staggered too, clutching her wrist as glowing lines traced across her palm like veins of molten light. Her eyes widened, breath hitching.

The fragments sank into us completely, the Tacet Discord's echoing cry fading with them. Then silence—except for the rasp in my throat.

And a whisper that wasn't mine:

Ughh… Hungry…

I'm starving…

The voice slithered inside my head. I knew that voice it's Abby. I pressed my palm to my neck, feeling the seared mark there.

Chixia's jaw dropped. She pointed between Rover and me like she'd just seen ghosts climb out of our skins.

"What… what kind of power is that?! " Her voice rose an octave. "Rover—Jeff—you two have been playing us for fools all along? "

"I—" My throat caught. "That wasn't… my Resonance Ability."

"It wasn't mine either," Rover added quickly, her tone steady but her brows drawn tight.

Chixia stomped closer, fire practically sparking off her fingertips. "Don't tell me this isn't Resonance! I've never seen anything like it. Are you saying neither of you has any idea what just happened? What's next—eating a whole Tacet Discord? Grilling Echoes alive for dinner?! "

Rover shook her head, still rubbing her wrist. "I have no idea what happened."

"I'm telling you the same." My voice was low, the mark on my neck still throbbing. "It wasn't something I chose to do."

What the hell, first the vision with the Sentinel? Now this, what the fuck is going on?

Yangyang studied us, frowning. "Could it be… related to Rover's lost memories? Did either of you recall anything just now? "

I clenched my jaw. If I told them I knew more, they'd see right through me. Not yet.

"…Nothing," I muttered.

Rover only shook her head again.

Chixia huffed, folding her arms. "Hmph. Still feels like you just ate it alive. Makes me wonder—what would a Tacet Discord even taste like? Sweet? Spicy? "

I raised a brow. "How does that relate to anything? "

"Cooking skills! " she shot back, grinning despite herself. "I heard folks actually cooked Gulpuffs once and made 'em a local snack! And hey—Gulpuff's a Tacet Discord too! "

Baizhi's dry tone cut her tangent. "Hardly the time for culinary debates."

Yangyang ignored Chixia's pout and stepped closer to Rover, her eyes worried. "Rover, are you alright? Any discomfort? " Then her gaze shifted to me. "Jeff, you too—what about the mark? "

I swallowed, resisting the urge to rub it. "…It's hot. Feels like it's carved into me, but… I can handle it."

Yangyang bit her lip. "Could this be a side effect from fighting that Discord? " She turned, urgency clear. "Baizhi, should we take them both to Huaxu Academy's Resonance Medical Department for examination? "

Baizhi's stare lingered on the glowing remnants on our skin—the Tacet Mark on my neck and the faint light in Rover's palm. For once, her calculating voice betrayed the smallest note of concern.

"…Yes. Whatever this is, it's not normal. They'll need a full check-up."

I lowered my hand, feeling the mark thrum faintly with each heartbeat.

Baizhi didn't speak right away. Her gaze moved from Rover's glowing palm to the heat still pulsing at my neck, then back again, like she was lining up an equation that refused to balance.

"Baizhi? " Yangyang asked, quiet but insistent.

Baizhi exhaled. "Absorbing Echoes with the human body is… not entirely unprecedented."

"With the human body…? " Yangyang's eyes sharpened. "I remember a passage in the Comprehensive Mirror for Historians, Huanglong section—"

She slipped into recall, voice even. " Celestial beings descended, commanding the Qiankun's (Universe) boundless power. Assuming mortal forms, they condensed the primordial essence, creating Pangu. Cleaving heaven and earth apart, they aligned the celestial and terrestrial; their radiance encompassed the four corners…"

I lifted a hand, brow tight. "What does that mean—in plain words? "

Chixia jumped in, eager. "There was this super strong person way back—held the whole world in their hands, y'know? No terminals back then, so they grabbed a Tacet Discord with their bare hands and turned it into the first Echo—bam. Then used that power to fix the rules of the world and kick-start Huanglong's history."

Yangyang nodded, then added, "Some versions mention two figures, not one—paired, complementary. But the texts don't agree."

Chixia scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Don't get the wrong idea—I'm no historian. That's just the story my parents told me, kinda like the Sentinel Appointment tales. Yangyang's the one who can recite the dusty stuff." She winced. "Please don't keep reciting it, I'm begging you. Brings back school trauma."

I managed a small huff. "So… legend and Myths. Not a manual."

Chixia shrugged. "Pretty much. It's an old tale from before Jinzhou even existed."

Rover's eyes lingered on her palm. "What if I am that person…? " she said softly—more a thought escaping than a claim. You have idea how right that statement is.

Chixia held up both hands. "C'mon, that was eons ago. We Resonators live longer, sure, but not that long. Known history runs at least a thousand years. You'd need, like, a dozen lifetimes."

Then her gaze flicked between us, mischief breaking through her worry. "Unless… you two are the great-great-great-great-great grandparents of everyone in Jinzhou."

Baizhi cut in, cool as a scalpel. "Let's not jump to conclusions without data. Also—two individuals absorbing the same Echo simultaneously? " Her eyes landed on Rover's hand, then my neck. "I've never seen a reliable record of that. As far as our research goes, this is unprecedented."

Yangyang looked between us. "Rover… Jeff… you both felt it. The resonance split. As if the Echo recognized you as a pair."

Inside, something twisted. A pair. Ancestors. Celestial figures. No. I'm not the root of this place. I'm a combat medic, a complete nobody from another world, trying not to bleed out on a myth I don't belong to. Whatever the stories say, they aren't about me. And if there's a name buried under my skin—Solaris—I don't know it, don't want it, and won't claim it. Not here. Not yet.

"Pangu? Qiankun? " I asked, keeping my voice steady.

"They're the names your tools inherit," Yangyang said, gentler now. "Pangu Terminal, Qiankun (Universe) Data Bank. Myth bleeding into tech."

Chixia elbowed me lightly, relief peeking through. "So if it is true, hey—thanks, Granddad." She grinned, then softened. "But seriously—reckless move back there. You scared us. Don't do that again."

"I did it to avoid being useless," I said, the words scraping out more raw than I meant. "Standing still gets people hurt."

Baizhi inclined her head, accepting the truth without approving the method. "Intent noted. Outcome… concerning. We'll need a full work-up at Huaxu Academy's Resonance Medical Department and a formal report for the City Hall and the Academy. Shared Echo absorption changes the risk calculus."

Her attention shifted, precise as ever. "Rover."

Rover met her eyes, steady. "I'm listening."

"And you as well, Jeff," Baizhi added, finally including me by name. "Until we understand what you two share, neither of you is to engage with unfamiliar Echoes alone. Understood? "

I nodded once, feeling the brand at my neck thrum in reply. Unprecedented or not, legend or not—we were in it now. And I'd keep my secrets, keep my distance from their myths… and keep moving forward.

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