Chapter 1 The Western Fortress in the Distant Mountains

The western fortress in the distant mountains was like the light of dawn at the end of darkness. The towering pillar of orderly light dispelled the knights' fatigue and frustration of many days. Encouraged by the radiance of the "Beacon Tower," everyone's injuries seemed to vanish completely, and each person couldn't wait to sprint to the foot of the mountain bathed in light.

But Veronica had not yet lost her composure. She ordered the knights to set up a temporary camp to rest in the open space outside the Shadow Jungle, preparing to head to the fortress after the next weakening of the chaotic forces.

This seemingly "wasteful" rest was actually quite necessary, because the knights had been active in the area where the chaotic forces were at their peak for too long. Even with the protection of the holy artifacts, everyone had been more or less eroded by the chaotic aura. This erosion had not yet changed their bodies, but it had already left a deep shadow in their spiritual world—a shadow that was not obvious in the darkness, but would be exposed in the light, turning into scars.

People who have stayed in a chaotic environment for too long cannot directly return to a land of order, because the overly powerful protective forces of the land of order will indiscriminately purify everything that has been eroded. In humans, this manifests as the collapse of the mind and the loss of control of magic within the body. In the early days of the war, soldiers returning from the chaotic frontlines would often commit suicide after returning to their barracks. This was the result of the eroded mind experiencing an overly strong sense of guilt and fear when returning to the realm of order. Today, people already know how to deal with this deadly psychological problem: simply spend a short period of adaptation in the buffer zone between chaos and order.

The knights rested in the temporary camp, and these battle-hardened veterans finally had a chance to catch their breath. They gathered in twos and threes, some eating, some discussing topics related to the war and their hometowns in low voices, and others simply staring at the campfire in a daze, waiting for Princess Veronica to issue the order to depart. Hao Ren also found a place to sit down. On the surface, he was in a daze, but in reality, he was testing a new mental communication link.

This channel had been activated earlier today: he had suddenly received a brief connection request from the Data Terminal. Although the connection was immediately interrupted, it left behind this information frequency. If he was not mistaken, this frequency should be the only loophole in the full-band interference layer that enveloped the outer reaches of the Colo world. At this moment, he was constantly fine-tuning his mental frequency and strengthening the call intensity. The response signal coming from the depths of his mental connection was gradually becoming clearer. If all went well, perhaps he could restore contact with the outside world today.

While he was immersed in his mental world, a knight walked over from the side. Hao Ren looked up and saw a young girl with flaxen curly hair and freckles on her face standing in front of him, blinking her curious eyes as she looked at him.

Hao Ren thought for a moment before remembering that this should be one of the two guard knights who often followed the standard-bearer. In the Colo military hierarchy, the standard-bearer was even more important than the basic commanders. They possessed considerable combat power themselves, allowing them to wield the Golden Radiance Banner while also repelling demonic creatures. Moreover, they also had their own exclusive guard knights. These guard knights were also combat experts, and their only mission in the army was to guard the battle flag. When the situation was urgent, they were even allowed to watch the commander die without offering assistance—because the army might not be completely annihilated after the commander fell, but once the standard-bearer's heartbeat stopped, the entire unit would instantly be swallowed by chaos.

The plain-looking girl in front of him was the guard knight responsible for protecting the standard-bearer in the team, but Hao Ren had never spoken to her before, and he didn't know what she suddenly wanted.

"Hello," Hao Ren tried to greet her. "I remember that you guard the battle flag, right? Your name is La... something?"

"Lavinia, Mr. Guardian," the guard knight showed a very happy expression when she heard Hao Ren take the initiative to greet her, but she also seemed a little nervous. "Ah... I didn't mean to disturb you, it's just... just..."

"Just what?" Hao Ren couldn't help but smile when he saw the freckled girl shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she spoke. He knew from Veronica that guard knights were the best of the best among the knights. Not only were they skilled, but they were also well-educated, usually from noble families, and were very much admired and respected by ordinary soldiers in the army. But the Lavinia in front of him really didn't seem to fit those characteristics. "Relax, I don't bite."

"Oh, oh," Lavinia nodded quickly, not knowing if she had heard him, and then asked with an expectant look, "Lord Guardian, is it true that you have lived for a thousand years?"

Hao Ren suddenly felt a little awkward, but thankfully, he could be considered half a swindler, so the keratin layer on his face still held up at this critical moment: "Um... probably... although I can't explain it clearly, I'm definitely not from your generation."

"Then do you know what the world looked like a thousand years ago?" Lavinia seemed even happier. "I heard that the Chaos Tide a thousand years ago was the most powerful one in history, but the mortals at that time were also the most powerful mortals in history. The humans at that time even had eternal life, and they could build castles floating in the sky to attack the chaotic realms. There was a castle called 'Hodir' that fell on the Gray Sea. The rumbling sound in the Gray Sea is the sound of the castle's magic-powered furnace constantly restarting..."

Hao Ren thought to himself, how would he know which corner of the world the Gray Sea was in, but he still maintained a smile on his face and nodded—at this point, he could see that this Lavinia was probably just a starstruck fan. She had been guarding the Golden Radiance Banner for so long that her mind was full of worship for the forces of order. At this moment, she probably regarded him, the "guardian from ancient times," as some kind of idol.

But after Lavinia spent a while expressing her longing for the ancient era on her own, she suddenly changed the subject and asked somewhat abruptly, "By the way, Lord Guardian, do you have any plans after you come to our country?"

Hao Ren frowned: "Hmm? Why are you asking that?"

Lavinia smiled embarrassedly: "Um, just curious..."

Hao Ren thought for a moment and said half-truthfully, "First... I'll look for someone."

"Look for someone?!" Lavinia suddenly looked as if she had seen a ghost. "Who are you looking for?"

"A friend, from... my team," a fluffy tail flashed through Hao Ren's mind. "She was separated from me, but I don't think she would have run too far. She's probably somewhere within your country."

Lavinia looked at Hao Ren with a strange expression: "Lord Guardian, I must remind you—it's been a thousand years, the person you're looking for..."

She obviously regarded Hao Ren's current state as a long-term sleep-induced time imbalance syndrome, and her words even contained a little sympathy and pity. Hao Ren had expected her reaction, so he didn't mind at all, and just smiled: "I know, but I'm sure she's still alive. Didn't you just say that people from our last generation were immortal? So if they didn't die on the battlefield, wouldn't they still be alive now?"

Lavinia was immediately a little embarrassed: "But..."

Just then, a voice suddenly rang in Hao Ren's mind, interrupting his conversation with the guard knight: "...Respond, Terminal calling Hao Ren, please respond if you hear, Terminal calling..."

Hao Ren was stunned, then overjoyed: Communication had finally been restored!

He waved his hand vigorously in Lavinia's puzzled gaze, and then immediately calmed his mind: "Received, received—I can finally talk, what's the situation outside now?"

"Connected, connected!" Hao Ren first heard the Data Terminal's noisy voice from the other side, seemingly reporting the good news to others. Then he heard a burst of chaotic shouting from the channel, with Izhaks' loud voice being particularly refreshing: "Quickly ask him about the situation over there!"

"Partner, everything is normal on our side. Nothing happened in space after you disappeared. We've been floating in place for more than a week," the Data Terminal temporarily muted the voices of the others. "What's the situation on your side?"

"I'm fine too. I fell into a strange place called 'Colo'... I don't know if it's a planet or a different dimension. There's a war going on here. The solo difficulty is a bit high, but I'm teaming up with the locals," Hao Ren said quickly. "But I got separated from Lily—the spatial turbulence blew us apart."

There was silence on the other side of the communication link for a few seconds, seemingly as the Data Terminal was adjusting the direction of the life sensor. After a moment, the voice sounded again: "Don't worry, her life status is completely normal, um... it feels like she's even healthier than when she was at home."

Although the Data Terminal couldn't directly communicate mentally with anyone other than Hao Ren, it could monitor the vital signs of everyone on Hao Ren's team—this was a function that Hao Ren had specifically added to it after several group missions, just in case. Now it seemed that this function had really come in handy.

Hearing the Terminal's words, Hao Ren immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He had originally worried that Lily had fallen into the chaotic realm, but now that he heard that her health status had not declined but had actually improved, he didn't need to worry so much: that husky spirit was probably dropped in a place with no enemies and plenty of food.

She couldn't be healthy without plenty of food...

Just then, a burst of static suddenly rang in the channel.

"What's going on? I suddenly heard static."

"The communication link is not very stable yet," the Data Terminal's voice was somewhat distorted, and its tone was quite urgent. "This is a temporary signal... needs to be recalibrated several times... can't break through the spatial blockade yet, your side..."

Hao Ren immediately became anxious: "Hey, wait, I still have something to say..."

But the Data Terminal's voice was becoming increasingly faint, and soon it was almost impossible to hear anything. At the last moment before the communication was about to be cut off, Vivian's voice interjected without warning: "Hao Ren! Take care of yourself! Remember to run if you encounter something you can't beat!"

Hao Ren was stunned, and immediately said: "Don't worry, I know..."

The communication was cut off at this moment.