Zhao Yang suggested finding a secure location for the time being. Ultimately, they chose India.
Hours later, they boarded a flight headed there. The goal was to temporarily evade Herrons' pursuit and find a quiet place to regroup.
The Particle Man scrambled the flight records, Lin Lan masked their weather signature, Hu Hao dampened their psychic frequencies, and He Xuan adjusted the time residual differential. Chen Mo sat in the aisle seat, Zhao Yang by the window, Lu Ye closed his eyes to recover, and Cloud Ark remained silent.
The plane ascended; air pressure stabilized, and the magnetic field was calm. Everything seemed normal.
Until they noticed the person in the front row.
He sat near the emergency exit, his body unnaturally rigid, moving only minimally. A mask covered his entire face—no features, no holes, just a layer of gray-white material conforming to the skin. There was no visible breathing or trace of eyes.
His clothing was long, draped from shoulder to ankle. The gray fabric was wrinkle-free, appearing more like a structured layer plastered to his body. While the cuffs were wide, when his arm was exposed, the skin was clearly non-human in texture—it was gray, dry on the surface, with no pores or visible veins.
A scar ran down his right arm, from the wrist to the elbow. The mark was deep, looking like the residual trauma from a high-energy cutting weapon. The wound was healed, but the edges still carried a slight energy fluctuation, indicating a non-standard injury.
He hadn't moved, but the air around him had already begun to vibrate. The magnetic field subtly twisted, the temperature dropped, the World's Eye couldn't recognize his structure, and the Particle Man couldn't parse his conscious layer.
He didn't look at anyone, yet everyone felt his scrutiny. Not through sight, but through some higher-dimensional perception.
He didn't speak or make a motion. But the entire cabin's atmosphere had completely shifted.
Lu Ye opened his eyes, synchronizing the magnetic field, and lightly touched the edge of his seat with his right fingertip.
"World's Eye."
The identification system activated. The Particle Man provided auxiliary analysis, and the conscious layer expanded, scanning the figure in the front row.
The result flashed: ERROR · UNIDENTIFIABLE · ABILITY: NONE
Lu Ye frowned, his voice low: "It's not a failure to ID, it's being jammed." "He's actively disrupting the World's Eye."
But they could all sense it—he had power, and more than one.
Chen Mo murmured: "He's not a standard human." Cloud Ark: "He's not human."
Zhao Yang: "He's watching us."
The enemy didn't turn his head. But everyone felt his perception sweeping across the entire plane.
The Particle Man tried to analyze his conscious layer but couldn't lock on. The World's Eye couldn't identify velocity, structure, or ability type. The entire system briefly crashed.
"He's blocking the ID protocols," the Particle Man reported quietly.
Zhao Yang: "He knows we're looking at him."
The next second, he moved.
He didn't stand up; he simply vanished. No energy signature, no spatial distortion trace. It was as if he had never existed.
But on the floor, a mark was left behind.
It was a line of text, inscribed with gray energy:
"There are things on the Moon you haven't explored yet." "But your current capabilities are far too weak to go there." "I have faith in you—when your power is sufficient, I will appear at your side."
The Particle Man attempted to parse the inscription, but the energy structure didn't match any known psychic or supernatural system. Zhong Li recorded: "Unknown Entity · Gray Arm · Masked Face · World's Eye ID Failed · Ability Unknown · Message involves the Moon · Tentatively assessed as non-hostile · Current Status: Vanished."
The plane continued its flight; air pressure returned, and the magnetic field stabilized. But the team remained silent.
Zhao Yang: "He's not one of Herrons' people." Lu Ye: "Not a zombie either." Chen Mo: "And definitely not human."
Lin Lan: "Then what is he?"
No one answered.
He Xuan: "Our power isn't enough right now." Zhao Yang: "Then we go level up."
Hu Hao: "Where to?"
Zhao Yang: "The Hive Zone." "We find a high-tier zombie."
And so, they continued their journey.