Lin Feng felt guilty and rolled his eyes. He hadn’t anticipated Lan Yu’s sudden visit, which had thrown him off, causing him to forget his daily morning ritual of tampering with the wound, thus exposing his secret. “Miracle, my foot!” he muttered to himself, thinking that had he not deliberately slowed down the healing process with his daily self-inflicted wounds, his forehead would have been perfect by now, and the doctor might have been cursing him for wasting hospital resources.
Xu Xiaoman, however, wasn’t particularly surprised; she just commented lightly on his recovery speed, attributing it to Lin Feng’s unique constitution due to his special identity. Lin Feng knew he could no longer pretend to be injured, especially with external events still unfolding. Moreover, he had just learned that Lan Yu had cleverly maneuvered her way into his family, becoming his step-sister. With such significant events occurring, hiding in the hospital was no longer an option, especially if it meant his mother might be brainwashed by Lan Yu to the point of disowning him.
Determined, Lin Feng decided it was time to leave the hospital. He couldn’t keep running away from his problems. It was his home, after all; why shouldn’t he return? If his mother spent too much time with the cunning Lan Yu, he might end up in conflict with his mother under the label of an unfilial son.
Another reason Lin Feng couldn’t continue to hide was his recent reflections during his time of supposed recuperation. He had come to terms with several significant issues, one of which was the strange occurrences in his consciousness after returning from the virtual world of the New Zone, involving his bound soul, Niu Niu, revealing many unsettling truths.
Niu Niu’s interface showed little change from before, yet the once barren background now had patches of green, and the function modules were no longer static. When Lin Feng meditated, merging his consciousness into the interface, it transformed into a world akin to the mythical Mount Sumeru, where each module seemed like a floating celestial mountain, ethereal and dreamlike. He was the sole entity in this surreal realm, feeling as if he was part of the void, and the void was another part of him—a sensation both profound and mysterious. However, since that day, Lin Feng sensed a fundamental change in Niu Niu. He couldn’t tell if it was for better or worse, but he felt she had lost something. Despite her occasional playful antics, the feeling of being watched, which used to make him feel uneasy, was gone. Additionally, Niu Niu now seemed somewhat less cunning, less worrisome, and more naively charming than before.
To describe it in a somewhat inappropriate way, the intelligence evolution of Nuonuo not only did not advance but showed signs of regression. If Nuonuo was previously a cunning and scheming girl, now she gave Lin Feng the impression of being more like a naive and innocent silly girl. These changes, while bothersome, were not earth-shaking enough to jolt Lin Feng from his self-deception. What truly shocked him were the horrifying discoveries like when an enormous amount of classified files suddenly appeared in Nuonuo’s data storage without any apparent reason. These included detailed plans, guidelines, and holographic instructional videos from the Special Security Team of the Ninth Bureau of National Security for training individuals with special abilities. Two of these videos were of the same individuals he had the privilege of witnessing during his visit to the secret base of the Ninth Bureau – one could run around the world carrying a ton of weight, and another could manipulate numerous objects with their mind to perform acrobatics. This major discovery weighed on him like a stone on his heart.
His entanglement with the Ninth Bureau only started after his return from Yuban Mountain. In that heavily guarded secret base, he distinctly remembered being subjected to a compulsory and completely free physical examination, nothing more. When he first discovered these highly confidential documents, his immediate reaction was to assume Nuonuo had acted on her own. He couldn’t fathom the purpose behind Nuonuo’s actions, and his questions went unanswered. Previously, when pressed, the sly Nuonuo would deflect with some excuse, but now, the innocent Nuonuo calmly dismissed his inquiries by saying her system integrity rating was not high enough, thus lacking the authority to provide answers.
If there was one thing Lin Feng least wanted to happen after acquiring Nuonuo, it was for her secrets to be exposed, potentially turning her into a lab rat in some mysterious experimental facility or being coerced by powerful state machinery into becoming a member of the dark world with no personal freedom. After viewing these confidential materials from the Ninth Bureau, the harsh reality became clear: he knew his meager strength could not oppose such a powerful and violent institution.
Recalling his return from Yuban Mountain, where he was mercilessly sent to the so-called Ability Assessment Office, and due to his deliberate manipulation, his abilities were deemed too comical, resulting in a cruel memory erasure by the red-cloaked cleaners. This chilled him to the bone. Later, when faced with the Lan family, despite their immense wealth, he didn’t succumb to their allure but nearly lost his life to the seductive female secretary, who was also an ability user, bound by neither state control nor personal freedom, yet serving the interests of power and money.
Even Xu Xiaoman, who came to rescue him with a full force, could only feign authority under the weight of absolute power. Facing the mad old man, Lan Siluo, and the flourishing Lan family of Yushan, and the flirtatious female secretary who could take his life with a flick of her wrist, Xu Xiaoman, armed though she was, still had to bow respectfully to an old man who could barely stand against the wind. Moreover, despite an apparent reconciliation, Lan’s eldest son could still command Xu Xiaoman’s immediate dismissal with just a word. If not for Xu Xiaoman’s good standing in the police force and the support from Bureau Chief Tian, backed by Wang Xiaoyun, she might have been stripped of her police uniform and imprisoned for abuse of power and unauthorized entry into a private residence.
Since acquiring the magical Nuonuo, Lin Feng had always envisioned using this wondrous treasure to live a carefree life, free from financial worries, mundane chores, or concerns about education and employment. He had imagined countless versions of a blissful life but never anticipated being caught in a vortex of trouble, unable to find peace.
Previously, he had always avoided trouble, subconsciously wanting to keep it at bay, passively dealing with the issues that arose, instinctively wanting to maintain the status quo, unwilling to change. But how did reality turn out? He didn’t want to provoke the school bully Cao Nan, yet the bully came looking for him with his gang, leading to Lin Feng’s first encounter with the police station and the dubious honor of receiving a shiny pair of handcuffs. Thanks to Nuonuo, he managed to navigate through the danger.
He didn’t want to be a hero, but his beloved class teacher’s high regard for him led to a wrongful accusation, pulling him into a gang fight. Again, thanks to Nuonuo, he managed to clear his name and stay out of trouble. He never thought he’d kill anyone, but there he was, having killed seven in his first encounter and losing count in the second. Fear gripped him, but escape was no longer an option. Now, another trouble loomed before him like an insurmountable barrier.
