November 1, 2101. Clear skies. Yunchang City.

After years of technological development, every industry in Huaxia had made tremendous strides.

Compared to the past, cities everywhere had taken on a far more futuristic look, brimming with technology.

At least the transportation network now included entirely new routes through the air.

Not routes for planes flying high above the clouds, but routes through the airspace over the cities themselves.

New satellites in space laid out these routes with perfect precision, as if invisible corridors had been built in the sky.

Hovercars traveling along the aerial routes followed the paths laid out by the satellite system. The moment one went off course, it would alert the relevant authorities, and an investigation would soon follow.

Just like the traffic system on the ground.

That wasn't all. Artificial intelligence had advanced just as rapidly, and it had become an essential part of nearly every industry—and even everyday life.

Most ordinary people lived their lives as usual in this strange new world. As for the few “little” anomalies, hardly anyone paid them much attention.

At that moment.

Two young men and a young woman leaned against the railing of a pedestrian overpass, watching the people and vehicles pass below as they chatted.

All three were young: one girl and two young men.

At five-foot-three, the girl looked petite between the two men, who were both around five-foot-eleven. She could've passed for their little sister.

The young woman had beautiful silver-gray hair and delicate features. She was gorgeous enough to be the belle of any school, and her unusual uniform—who knew where it was from—made her stand out even in a crowd.

But the unhappy look on her face gave her the air of a melancholy beauty.

The silver-gray-haired girl hadn't said a word, but the two people beside her had already started complaining.

“I'm done. I'm so done. A whole week has gone by, and everything's been perfectly normal! No good news from the other cities, either. I've been on edge every single day—I'm about to lose it!”

The speaker was a blond young man. He was quite handsome, but looked like trouble.

Cai Xun ran a hand through his blond hair, looking utterly worn out.

“Noob, is this really all you've got? Back in my day, I pulled a whole month of back-to-back shifts and spent weeks lost in a bizarre space without even breaking a sweat. You've been patrolling this little city for one week and you're already worn out? You should just retire and enjoy your golden years.”

The black-haired young man beside him looked utterly provocative, his taunt delivered with maximum disrespect.

Cai Xun's mouth twitched. “Bu Jie, I'll say it again: my name is Cai Xun, not Noob! Are you illiterate? You can't even read two characters?”

“Oh, plot twist! I did it on purpose.”

“You lousy punk!”

“You're the lousy punk!”

The moment Bu Jie heard his own nickname thrown back at him, he completely lost it.

Just as their argument looked like it might escalate, the girl between them finally spoke.

“Stop arguing. Keep it down.”

As soon as she spoke, Cai Xun and Bu Jie shut their mouths.

They knew that the melancholy girl was far more concerned about this anomaly than they were.

The Transcendent Star—the Wish Machine. If it went out of control, it would become a Supernova Star-Eclipse.

This kind of power was called a “Supernova” because, if it went out of control, it would bring about a massive disaster. Even after it was contained, its effects would linger in the affected area for a long time.

That was what a supernova was like. A single explosion in space could light up an entire galaxy, and it might take weeks or even months for its brilliance to fade. It was terrifying.

The last “Supernova” outbreak was called the Doll World. Its vessel lost control, sending the power into a rampage and affecting every ordinary person in an entire city.

Their minds rapidly turned doll-like. They played the roles they'd been assigned according to a doll's way of thinking, as if someone were pulling their strings.

Only a few anomalous individuals could just barely avoid being affected.

The Night Watchers, for example—the ones who specialized in dealing with this kind of thing.

Who knew how terrified the Night Watchers involved in that operation had been when they saw an entire city full of people wearing unnatural, stiff smiles, with no emotion in their eyes and every movement utterly bizarre?

Everyone had the exact same personality. They were all kind, peace-loving people. Everyone was equal, and no one ever fought. It was like some fabled utopia.

The Night Watchers couldn't communicate with the “dolls” normally, which made it very hard to find a solution.

Worse, the Night Watchers themselves gradually began to be affected, slowly turning into dolls just like the ordinary people in the city.

This phenomenon lasted for a full month.

The Night Watchers paid a terrible price before they finally managed to resolve the whole incident.

But even after it was resolved, the people in the city didn't fully return to normal. Their minds had been damaged, and they needed a long time to recover.

That was what people meant by the lingering effects.

Many Night Watchers had to retire early because of the incident, and the loss of manpower was enormous.

So now that a new Outlier-level ability had emerged, every Night Watcher was carrying out their duties with utmost care, determined to keep the tragedy from happening again. They were all on edge.

No one knew what kind of city-shaking impact the Wish Machine would have this time. Hopefully, they could find its vessel before it erupted.

That was the Night Watchers' job, too.

But some people wanted to find the vessel for their own reasons—not to stop the “Supernova” from erupting.

As far as Cai Xun and Bu Jie knew, the girl beside them had her own “impure” motives.

Cai Xun fell silent for a moment.

“Bai Tu, do you want to find the Wish Machine and try making a wish?”

“Mm. There's one wish I have to make come true.”

Bai Tu nodded. Her voice was calm, tinged with a faint sadness.

Cai Xun and Bu Jie exchanged a glance. They could both see the helplessness in each other's eyes.

As companions who spent every day together, they had a pretty good idea who Bai Tu's wish was about.

Fate sure had a cruel sense of humor.

The three fell silent. After a little more rest, they'd have to go on patrol again.

Just then, Cai Xun glanced casually to the side and suddenly noticed something.

“Holy crap! What is that?”

......

Five minutes earlier.

Ye Lan stepped onto a nearby street, giving off an eerie aura.

“Whoa, my heart's beating so fast.”

Ye Lan could feel their heart racing. It seemed to be from nerves.

It was like a guy dressing in women's clothes for the first time and walking down the street, nervous that someone might recognize him.

But... was there a little excitement mixed in, too?

“Mm...”

Ye Lan suddenly realized their sense of shame had gone completely off the rails.

A faint sadness washed over them.

“Whatever. I should test whether everything I said before going to sleep actually came true.”

Right. Ye Lan wanted to test their speed and find out just how fast they could run.

It was a workday, and people were still at work. This wasn't a busy part of town, either, so there weren't many people around. It was the perfect place to show off.

Ye Lan got into a running stance, then took off.

Whoosh!