“It’s probably unlikely, but I think it’s a direction worth trying.”
Ning Yu circled the two combined clues, highlighting them.
“What if it fails…?”
Ning Yu looked seriously into Shen Yiyue’s eyes.
“I’m more worried about how many more times you can start over.”
“Every time you restart, the burden on you increases, doesn’t it?”
Shen Yiyue wanted to avoid Ning Yu’s gaze, but Ning Yu gently turned her head back.
“It’s fine… and I have that notebook.”
Realizing she couldn’t hide it from Ning Yu, Shen Yiyue reluctantly pulled out the diary again.
“It’s easy to see. Every time you restart, you carry more memories, and the pressure on your brain increases.”
“That’s probably why you’re experiencing memory lapses.”
Ning Yu placed her hand on Shen Yiyue’s hair, gently combing through it with her fingers.
Shen Yiyue closed her eyes in comfort, like a cat, before suddenly realizing she was being petted.
She murmured softly:
“Really… nothing escapes Xiao Yu, does it…?”
“But it’s okay, I can still handle it.”
“And… Xiao Yu is standing right beside me, isn’t she?”
She grabbed Ning Yu’s hand, which was about to continue petting her, signaling her to stop.
“While we’re waiting for Xiao Xuan’s news, let’s check out this lead.”
Ning Yu pointed to the information she had just circled about the underground facility.
“We might need to ask Meng Yao to take care of Qianqian for a few days.”
Ning Yu’s gaze shifted to Shen Qianqian, who was still oblivious.
“Mm.”
Shen Yiyue nodded silently.
……
The night wind howled past Ning Xuan’s cheeks. She had turned off her normal temperature sensors; otherwise, she would have felt the biting cold.
The city below was eerily silent. Behind her, blue mechanical wings spewed energy, propelling her forward as she traced an elegant arc through the sky.
By her estimate, she would reach the checkpoint with about 20% of her energy remaining. From there, she could replenish her energy and quickly head to headquarters.
In the wilderness, a cluster of buildings stood out, surrounded by barbed wire and barricades, with various zombies wandering nearby.
But upon closer inspection, the zombies seemed to move in a certain pattern, almost as if patrolling, with no intention of attacking the area within the wire.
Ning Xuan glanced at the place, quickly descending from the sky. She checked her energy level: 21%.
Just about right. She still had to make it from the checkpoint to headquarters.
Some of the soldiers patrolling the base were gathered in the watchtowers, playing cards in small groups.
Others looked into the distance, yawning into the cold night air.
A blue light streaked across the sky, rapidly descending, immediately catching the soldiers’ attention.
“What’s that?”
“What are you looking at? Hurry up and play your cards. Don’t try to cheat… Holy crap!”
The previously lazy soldiers all stood up, aiming their guns at the blue light approaching from the sky.
As the light drew closer, they saw that it was a silver-haired girl, her mechanical wings glowing blue as she descended from the sky.
As she neared the ground, she adjusted her posture, shifting from a dive to an upright position.
Her mechanical wings slowly retracted, and prosthetic devices extended from her limbs, emitting flames that cushioned her landing.
“Who are you?!”
The patrolling soldiers surrounded her, their guns aimed at her, clearly on guard.
A middle-aged man’s voice suddenly came over the base’s loudspeaker:
“Everyone, return to your posts.”
Ning Xuan paid no attention to the soldiers’ guns. It was normal for them not to recognize her in this form, as she rarely showed it in public.
She landed on the empty ground in front of the main building and waited quietly.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
The hurried sound of military boots soon echoed from inside.
“Miss Ning Xuan, why have you returned so suddenly? How’s the mission going?”
A tall, burly man with graying hair emerged from the building, clearly surprised by Ning Xuan’s sudden return.
The soldiers, seeing the man, immediately averted their gazes and returned to their posts.
“There’s an urgent situation. I need to use the energy replenishment node here.”
The middle-aged man noticed the deep wounds on Ning Xuan’s body, recalling her retracted mechanical wings and her serious expression.
He quickly began piecing things together in his mind.
“It seems you’ve encountered unexpected obstacles?”
He tried to get more information.
“Hurry, I don’t have time to waste. I need to replenish my energy and head to headquarters immediately.”
Ning Xuan had no intention of wasting words.
“But… the squad heading to City A after you will also need…”
Ning Xuan’s eyes turned icy, and her right hand began to transform. A metal blade emerged, glinting coldly in the air.
“I have critical information to report. If you dare to stop me, the consequences will be on you when the higher-ups find out.”
It was a dual threat of words and force.
The middle-aged man glanced at the blade on the girl’s prosthetic right hand, which had claimed countless lives, and then at her injuries. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.
“Well… alright, I understand. I’ll report this to headquarters immediately as well.”
Of course, he didn’t fully trust Ning Xuan’s words, as this deviated from the original plan, but he wasn’t willing to gamble on the accuracy of her claims.
“25%… 35%… 100%. Energy replenishment complete.”
Ning Xuan had entered the building, standing in the center where a massive blue crystal module emitted a strange glow, though it had now completely dimmed.
Pipes at the base of the module connected deep underground, seemingly transporting energy from below.
She wondered where this power came from and wished she could go down to investigate.
She glanced at the module’s energy gauge, which now read only 12%. Most of the energy had been absorbed by her, and she had even deliberately wasted some.
This would delay the squad coming to capture Ning Yu, as the awakened ones with prosthetic modifications among them would be affected.
Her mechanical wings unfolded, the blue light within them flickering, signaling their full energy.
She wasn’t far from headquarters now. For the final stretch, she planned to use a spatial jump to speed up.
Every second she could buy for her sister mattered.
Her eyes lit up with operational patterns as she gazed at the starry sky, imagining her sister under the same stars.
With a whoosh, the silver-haired girl shot into the night sky and disappeared.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
