Hidden in the shadow of the sloping roof, Angelina glanced coldly at the black-haired girl below. She recognized this person named Bai Youyou, that Three Wings, no... now she should be called a Four-winged Investigator. Why was the other party appearing in Chichu Heaven?

The other party shouldn't be here because of their business. If the Association knew the location of the "Abyssal White Flower" and the "Dark Gold Rose," they would never just send a Four-winged Investigator here. At least several combat teams would be dispatched, enough to flatten Dragonfly Town's armed forces.

Thinking of this, Angelina leisurely weighed whether to let Xu Xiaoyou know about this. As if thinking of something interesting, the corner of Angelina's mouth lifted, and she let out a sinister smile.

...

New Era Calendar, January 16, 533.

Ten Unsolved Mysteries of the World

— Where exactly does the Cleaner Association Headquarters' Light Chasing Tower stand?

No one knows, just like in the Ancient Dark Forest where humans' ancestors mustered immense courage to raise their torches, stepped out of their caves, and glimpsed the dangerous and insane world outside. No one knows how many generations of wisdom humans wielded in the Golden Era to erect this towering structure.

Scientists in white lab coats walked through the corridors, observing the world outside the observation windows as a scene of gray decay. No bustling city skyscrapers, no land or ocean, no signs of any living activity. There was only the towering structure beneath their feet, rising straight into the atmosphere, its silhouette penetrating the near-star orbit, appearing clearly as a monumental entity.

The clouds, heavy as lead, rolled continuously, dark red inside, with storms flashing faintly. Thousands of degrees of convective storms destroy everything; wherever they rage, everything becomes an absolute forbidden zone for life.

Much like in sci-fi films, the Light Chasing Tower resembles a pin deeply embedded in a celestial body, its top infinitely extending into the atmosphere, with no one able to glimpse its summit. Below is a massive steel torrent, and its extremely high-density Nest City structure makes it appear like a deformed giant, emitting a cold gleam within the dense red clouds.

Researchers once calculated that when the Light Chasing Tower reaches full power and enters the Fireseed Plan, this tower can simultaneously accommodate twenty-three billion people living inside. The simulated ecosystem would overload and collapse after operating for one hundred twenty years, while food and energy are sufficient for people to traverse two centuries.

At that time, all external threats will cease to exist, and no one knows the precise coordinates of the Light Chasing Tower. Some speculate it rests somewhere in the Wastelands, others speculate it resides on an Extraterrestrial planet. Only the heads of the Association and the Tower Master of the Light Chasing Tower are granted access to the tower's depths and permission to converse with the ancients.

The ultimate goal encompassing all humans, be they strange or subhuman, remains singular — to endure the long, survival winter until the arrival of the next spring...

— Excerpt from "If the World BE · Dawn of Lindong"

Outside, the simulated sky transformed into a turquoise blue, the light-blocking curtain automatically lifted, and cold daylight shone into the room as a beam of light illuminated. Bai Youyou returned to the Light Chasing Tower, and outside the plaza, the clock on the giant tower's roof chimed gently, heralding the morning arrival at Chichu Heaven.

As an investigator for the Association, she had the right to teleport back to the Light Chasing Tower three times a week, with the time and weather in her area corresponding to Chichu Heaven, designed for these Wings, Eyes, and Palms members to adjust their time zones and physical conditions. The Association had established different simulated regions within the Light Chasing Tower for seventy-three Nest Cities to replicate local scenes, placing Chichu Heaven at the forefront of the list.

Leaving her messy room, Bai Youyou did not have the habit of tidying up her room.

She needed to personally deliver the investigation report to her superior, a woman by the name of Yargha, whom Bai Youyou had never seen. When interfacing, she only ever encountered a linear representation of wavering sound waves.

Who knew what situation the woman found herself inexplicably in — she was unreachable via the curtain.

Walking along the simulated streets of Dragonfly Town, the voices of a few Association members discussing reached her ears: "Heard things are really bad over at the Star of Art."

"A world-class ghost story artist?"

"These years, the world-class ghost story outbreaks have been way too frequent. First, the 'Red Dance Shoes,' then the 'Abyssal White Flower,' now the 'Artist.' In the last hundred years, nothing like this has ever happened, it's really unsettling."

"The outside world probably doesn't know yet, but I heard the Association dispatched all personnel from Lesson One to Three, plus two Prism Tier Cleaners, just to 'resolve' that world-class ghost story. Residents of Starlight Dao in King's District were all turned into notes during that battle..."

"Don't gloat. Chichu Heaven isn't much better either, remember what happened in Octopus Tower City."

Recently, many things have been troubling Bai Youyou. Although her physical examination reported everything as normal, she felt peculiar in this body, often performing unconscious actions, like suddenly making a gesture to hug someone, or inexplicably smiling. Her mind would unexpectedly be filled with fragments of memories that didn't belong to her, scattered from numerous angles of strangers she had never met, and she didn't know what was happening to her.

Suddenly, she stopped, her gaze focusing on a Green Leaf Store named 'Mint Green Leaf'; in Dragonfly Town's Red Light District, such cultural stores are ubiquitous.

Here she was again, performing another unconscious action. The command she issued to her body was to head to residential area B23-A, so why did her eyes subconsciously drift towards a Green Leaf Store?

She had no interest whatsoever in such low-level, primal, and dull desires like carnal love, which even disgusted her. Her sight should instinctively avoid such cultural stores.

Yet, this unconscious behavior of her body often helped her to uncover hidden clues or avoid sudden attacks, catching a traffic light just before it changed, etc. Though she never adhered to any rules, she only pursued efficiency in her actions.

Could this be another reminder from her body?

Would this Mint Green Leaf bar have someone with whom she shared some connection?

Bai Youyou temporarily put down her thoughts, shaking her head, hurrying to submit the report to ease her doubts. The Order Court hoped she would hone her performance well in Chichu Heaven, so she couldn't let her mother down.

With this thought, Bai Youyou formed a serene smile and quickened her pace.

...

Star of Art, the large-scale performance concluded not long ago.

The members of the Association who arrived were horrified. Corpses scattered everywhere was inadequate to describe the current scene. The souls of thousands transformed into notes continuously hung high on the fleshy music sheet, pulsing and flowing, playing a sweet and warm melody, as silent death spread into people's hearts.

A Butterfly Shadow sat solemnly at a grand piano, with a neat suit and emitting a mournful aura, playing a requiem. Pure white gloves alternately caressed and fiercely struck the piano keys, as the body rocked with the sound.

Hundreds of armed personnel stood ready, their nerves taut, none speaking while their gaze fixated on the Butterfly Shadow performing on stage. Heavy and solemn mourning gripped these battle-hardened Cleaners, leaving them breathless.

Just now, they had received intelligence indicating the second revival of the artist, now descending upon musician Chafins' concert, directly resulting in three thousand deaths, while the piano sound indirectly drove hundreds in the surrounding area into madness, thirty thousand suffered mental disorders, undergoing psychiatric treatment.

More Cleaners were rushing over, including the two Prism Tier Cleaners stationed at the Star of Art, Que Ling and Disaster Whale!

"There's no mistake. This monster is the newly born artist; kill it!!" someone shouted, overwhelmed by tension.

Their taut strings snapped one after another, as everyone surged forward.

In the eyes of countless spectators, Butterfly Shadow slowly rose from the piano, with its massive black-winged patterned butterfly flapping, the black and white guns crossed at the shoulder at one point, the White Spear pointed at the living, the black gun at the deceased.

"A funeral requires only solemnity, no need for showiness."

"It is you who offended these innocent deceased, leaving them none able to rest in peace."

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