[Main Quest: "Utterance of Marvels - Part 2" has been activated.]
[Quest Description: The Remnant has already begun to resound… Follow its guidance, and you will seek your own past, embarking on a brand-new journey into the unknown.]
[Completing the main quest "Utterance of Marvels - Part 2" will grant rewards: Radiant Tide ×20, Lustrous Tide ×10, Astrite ×1600, Shell Credits ×100000.]
"No way, bro!"
On the road back to Taoyuan Vale, Noah silently flipped through the quest module on his panel with his mind, waves already crashing inside his head.
"How exactly is this quest judged?"
"There's not even a quest marker—how did 'Utterance of Marvels - Part 1' get completed?"
"I didn't even catch a glimpse of Rover!"
Noah vented inwardly for a while, but the panel showed no change.
The content of the main quest "Utterance of Marvels - Part 2" was relatively simple, at least.
In the game, Rover chatted with Yangyang and Chixia while strolling, and the quest naturally completed once they reached Jinzhou.
But now, the situation inside Jinzhou was unknown, and Rover was nowhere to be seen. It was unclear what exactly would count as completing this main quest.
Noah thought for a moment, then gave up and opened his inventory instead.
Twenty gold orbs and ten blue orbs lay in the bag, radiating the tempting urge to pull immediately.
But—
The [Convene] tab only had the two permanent banners. Blue orbs could be used, but gold orbs couldn't.
The feeling was like having three thousand beauties in the harem yet being a eunuch—utterly frustrating.
After brief consideration, Noah guessed that limited banners would probably open later, but the exact timing and conditions were still unknown.
A burst of static sounded—Yangyang's terminal had received a communication request.
"It's Baizhi." Yangyang explained the caller's identity, then accepted the call.
Baizhi's urgent voice immediately came through:
"Yangyang, hurry back to Taoyuan Vale. Help Jianxin and the others evacuate the villagers immediately—go now!"
"What?"
That single sentence instantly filled the three of them with heavy unease. Chixia asked anxiously:
"Baizhi, are you okay? What's happening in Jinzhou? Why do the villagers need to evacuate Taoyuan Vale?"
"There's no time to explain, Chixia. General Jiyan is leading a group of Fractsidus members toward Taoyuan Vale. Get the villagers to flee—as far away as possible!"
Hearing this, Noah's brain blanked on the spot.
Jiyan, leading Fractsidus, telling Taoyuan Vale villagers to run far away?
He understood every individual word, but together they made no sense. How could Jiyan be involved with Fractsidus?
Had Jiyan defected? How did the plot collapse this badly!
"What!"
Clearly, Yangyang and Chixia were equally shocked.
"I'll try to delay General Jiyan as long as I can, but I won't be able to hold him for long. Just do exactly as I said!"
Baizhi dropped that final line, and the call cut off. Yangyang tried to call back, but the other side never picked up.
"Damn it, how could this happen…"
Yangyang clenched her fists tightly, teeth grinding, her expression a mix of fury and worry—or perhaps both.
"Though we don't know what's happening on Baizhi's end, let's do what she said for now—move!"
"Calm down, Yangyang! Baizhi must have already notified Jianxin. Jianxin and the others are organizing the evacuation in Taoyuan Vale right now—don't panic."
Noah soothed her:
"The distance from Jinzhou to Taoyuan Vale isn't that great. Even if the villagers evacuate quickly, they'll definitely leave traces that can be tracked."
At that, Chixia stomped in place anxiously:
"Then what do we do?"
"Help me find one more Overlord-class Echo, then I'll go fight Jiyan."
Hearing this, Yangyang and Chixia both froze, as if the folds in their cerebral cortex had been instantly smoothed flat, stretched out, bringing a moment of relaxation—like strolling through a Norwegian forest…
"Noah… you think you can beat General Jiyan?" Yangyang asked skeptically.
Noah shrugged:
"If I can't beat him, I'll just run."
"How will you run?"
"Turn into a Gulpuff Echo and jump into the water."
Gulpuff was, in fact, one of the Echoes he had obtained on this trip to Yunling Valley.
In reality, Noah didn't think he would lose to Jiyan. Mentioning the Gulpuff escape was just a joke.
That was the confidence granted by Rover's abilities and combat experience.
His odds of winning—around ninety percent.
Time rewinds to half an hour earlier.
Within the Sonoro Sphere.
Ordinary Fractsidus members, also called Artificers, are normal people without resonance ability. By fusing Tacet Discord limbs through technology, they gain combat power surpassing ordinary humans.
The price is constant influence from the fused limbs—sanity and appearance gradually deteriorate.
Taoqi panted as she shook blood off her long blade, looking toward Yuanwu, who was picking up his battered round hat on the other side:
"Your fist style is pretty strong."
"You're not bad yourself."
Yuanwu tried to put on the half-ruined hat that had been blasted by gunfire, but the hat completely split. He could only smile bitterly and toss it aside:
"Let's go. The commotion we just caused was too big—we definitely can't push deeper now. We'll head out and report the situation."
"We haven't gathered any useful intel yet. Going out like this—I'm not willing."
Taoqi shook her head, pointing meaningfully at the Fractsidus members lying on the ground:
"Anyway, ordinary Fractsidus members all wear uniform clothing and masks. I have a bold idea—"
Yuanwu instantly understood her intent:
"As expected of the Rearguard affairs officer—I get it!"
Soon, the two changed into Fractsidus clothing and put on masks.
"Um…"
Yuanwu glanced at the noticeable bulge on Taoqi's chest after cross-dressing as a man, hesitating to speak.
"Strange."
Taoqi, however, didn't feel anything was off. She picked up a black-purple stone bracelet with a puzzled look:
"I've dealt with Fractsidus before, but they've never had standardized bracelets like this. And this bracelet gives an uncomfortable feeling."
"If it feels uncomfortable, don't wear it. No one will particularly notice a bracelet anyway."
The two didn't dwell on it. After checking each other over, they headed deeper.
Passing beneath a bleak sky and massive floating boulders, they finally reached the other edge of the Sonoro Sphere.
In view were the hollow, numb faces of countless Jinzhou citizens. At this moment, numerous Jinzhou citizens were lined up in long queues under the supervision of other Fractsidus members.
The arrival of the two didn't draw attention from the other Fractsidus members, who were all focused on the outcome at the end of the queue.
Seeing the end of the line, Taoqi couldn't help exclaiming:
"Magis—"
Yuanwu quickly covered her mouth, preventing the full "Magistrate" from coming out.
"What are you shouting for."
At the end of the queue, Scar turned his head impatiently and snapped.
Seeing only Yuanwu and Taoqi return, displeasure flashed in his eyes:
"Seven people went out, only two came back, and you still didn't capture those two rats alive. Useless!"
But he didn't pay further attention to Yuanwu and Taoqi, instead focusing even more intently on the Whisperin Erosion.
At this moment, a sturdy ring of high-voltage electric netting had been set up around the Whisperin Erosion. Inside the netting were roughly a hundred Jinzhou citizens huddled and wailing.
Some civilians couldn't endure the murmur erosion and frantically tried to escape outward, only to be shocked back by the high-voltage net upon contact.
"Aaaaaah!"
Amid heart-wrenching screams, one man's body began to mutate. In mere seconds, black-purple patterns crawled over his entire body.
With a final wail, the man's figure vanished. In its place stood a Tacet Discord—Judgment Warrior.
"Live conversion into a Tacet Discord with only a one-percent success rate."
Scar gave a light scoff, clearly very dissatisfied with the experiment's results.