"Fixed… but how the hell did I fix it?"
Hao Fan looked up at the communications node—now restored to normal—and couldn't help sinking into thought.
The Administrator, watching this "I-just-thought-it-into-being" style of miracle repair, also looked blank. It was obvious she didn't understand what had just happened either.
Because… it made no sense.
If the Administrator's repair method was to move Originium circuit components into their correct module slots, then the Doctor's method was more like cramming everything in at once—a chaotic, spaghetti-code "pile of crap" solution.
And yet it still ran. As if the machine didn't care about elegance or logic—it worked, so shut up.
So even Hao Fan himself didn't know how he'd done it…
Whatever. It was fixed. That was what mattered.
He didn't overthink the details.
After all, the guy didn't even know where the edge of the universe was—why would he understand this?
As an aside:
The side effect of his "eating rocks" ability was Sanity loss, but it wasn't so severe that it dropped straight to zero.
As long as he controlled the amount—say, just one chunk of ore—he wouldn't fall into full-on brain-melt.
What happened earlier was simply because he'd overdone it.
And now, even if he did overeat again, he had Miguel's Sanity Recovery Fluid.
Plus, when leaving Andre's underground lab, Hao Fan had also asked for a piece of Pure Originium.
His gut told him that this wouldn't reduce Sanity—in fact, it might restore it, and even temporarily boost the output of Originium Arts. The quality difference compared to raw ore was… not even close.
Family… we're finally getting fed.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
The repaired communications node rebooted successfully—but immediately displayed a flood of unread messages, completely filling the screen.
"Huh? Why are there so many unread messages?"
Chen Qianyu froze. Something felt off.
Then the terrified, panicked plea for help on the screen proved her bad feeling right.
"Help—save us! Valley Fortress—so many Groundsplitters, save—!"
Before the sentence could finish—
A Groundsplitter appeared, shaped like a black colossus, towering like a giant. It casually killed the work-crew member on camera and faced the screen.
"Quiet. You domesticated trash."
The next moment, the communications terminal was destroyed—ending the final unread message.
A heavy silence settled over everyone.
"…Looks like the Valley Fortress has already fallen."
Perica spoke grimly.
They'd originally wanted to contact the Valley Fortress and ask about the repeated abnormal energy fluctuations. Now there was no need.
Clearly, the Bonegrinder clan's Groundsplitters had used the Anchorfall chaos to seize the shortest route toward the power-supply highlands.
As for the work-crew members stationed there…
Their odds were not good.
"That Groundsplitter… was he taunting us?"
Chen Qianyu's brows drew together—she looked genuinely angered.
Those masked bandits didn't just wreak havoc in the Nexus area. They'd attacked other sectors of Valley Four too—arrogant beyond belief.
Qin Jiangchi, meanwhile, recalled the damage report she'd read earlier—
A black colossus of flame. A smoke-spewing titan.
The unknown enemy described in the report was almost certainly the one now on screen.
Bonegrinder's Fist — Rhodan.
Qin Jiangchi didn't know much, but she did know that before the Bonegrinder clan was unified, this man was considered one of their leaders—not someone to underestimate.
"The intruder who slipped into Andre's underground lab… the attackers at the Originium Byproduct Center… and now this group…"
Perica's expression hardened as she put the pattern together.
This chain of attacks might all be about buying time—or concealing a deeper objective.
Qin Jiangchi shared the same view.
"It seems that while our communications system was down, many key locations across Valley Four were attacked simultaneously… I'll have the comms team keep monitoring."
"…Groundsplitters are usually disorganized. Coordinated strikes like this are absolutely not something they could pull off on their own."
Perica's mind went to the mysterious leader who had unified the Bonegrinder clan.
Even now, she couldn't confirm that person's identity—only that since their emergence, Valley Four had started to feel wrong.
"We need to do something."
Hao Fan suddenly spoke up.
Even though he desperately wanted to find the red-haired girl who saved his life, the Bonegrinder threat was more urgent.
Especially that Groundsplitter on screen—Hao Fan's instincts screamed danger. Far beyond anything he'd faced so far. And that was before considering the unknown leader behind it all.
"We have to seize the initiative. We can't keep reacting."
As a member of the Crisis Response Team, Hao Fan believed it was time to go on the offensive.
Perica agreed.
"Right. We need to move."
"Then… we strike back?"
Chen Qianyu looked eager, practically itching to go teach the Groundsplitters a lesson.
After all—when you get openly provoked, you don't just swallow it.
But Perica told her not to rush.
"Before we came to the surface, I sent messages from the Dijiang to all nearby operators, calling for support."
In a crisis like this, Perica believed they needed more allies first.
"Among them is a 'Groundsplitter expert'… his last known location is nearby. We'll rendezvous with him on the way to the Valley Fortress."
Hao Fan glanced at her, puzzled.
From Perica's tone, "Groundsplitter expert" sounded like it could mean two things—
An expert at dealing with Groundsplitters…
Or someone who is a Groundsplitter.
Come to think of it, Perica had mentioned before that Endfield had a reliable operator with Groundsplitter origins.
Was that who she meant?
Hao Fan silently guessed so.
Just then, Qin Jiangchi seemed to remember something.
"Wait—Administrator. Before you depart, you need to take this too."
She had someone bring over a set of integrated light armor plates.
This was Endfield's own industrial product—simple-structured, modular light protective gear made through the integrated industrial system, meant to improve combat performance.
Its biggest selling point was how flexibly the plates could be assembled and configured.
"Security and the workers recovered some stock. The specs aren't great, but it's better than nothing."
Qin Jiangchi spoke apologetically, as if she thought this gear didn't match the Administrator's status.
But the Administrator didn't see it that way—she accepted the gesture gladly.
Then Qin Jiangchi turned toward the hooded man.
"Doctor. About that underground space you found—aside from the Subterranean Qiu-beasts' bodies, Eric also found what looked like an old storage box. Inside was something like a crown. He wanted me to pass it to you."
As she spoke, she produced a gift box designed for valuables.
Hao Fan looked confused.
He didn't understand what she meant by "crown," and honestly didn't care much.
Even if it really was an antique crown, what practical use could it possibly have?
But the moment he casually opened the box—
And saw the strangely familiar jet-black crown—
He went rigid on the spot.
"Continuance of civilization… Amiya's Black Crown?"
He reached out in disbelief.
And under the influence of Originium Arts, he faintly received fragmented information—
The continuation of life, the continuation of civilization—leave your mark here.
A solemn voice from a distant past seemed to echo across time inside his mind.
In that instant, Hao Fan even felt as though he were sinking into boundless darkness—and instinctively rejected his earlier assumptions.
"No… this is a trace of continuance."
....
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