Please don't question multi-week players

Chapter 226. Extraterritorial Pollution
After bidding farewell to the two, Jiang Jianxin stepped on her long sword and broke through the sea of ​​clouds, the fierce air currents lifting her long hair.

The clouds churned beneath our feet like cotton wool, casting a hazy, gray-white filter over the chaotic scene of Dawn Base.

What are you patrolling here for?

As the intuitive handwriting resurfaced in her mind, she hovered behind a natural barrier formed by cumulonimbus clouds.

From this height, the burning base looked like a lantern model overturned by a child, and the armored forces of the Reinforcements Army were nothing more than a swarm of crawling fireflies.

The storm caused by the masked man formed a spiral-shaped hole under the clouds, creating a tremendous spectacle.

Jiang Jianxin circled repeatedly on his sword above the clouds, his gaze focused on the army below, not on the masked man.

I am counting the number of demobilized veterans.

Jiang Jianxin replied in his mind.

[I originally intended to assess the masked man's strength, but when I actually flew high into the sky... I discovered something even stranger.]

【oh? 】

Intuition asked.

[I suddenly remembered that Black Pupil Pharmaceuticals airdropped 8,000 units of Genius Medicine to Changhe City.]

Jiang Jianxin's flying sword made a sharp turn in the air. She squinted, trying to confirm the size of the army formation below through the gaps in the clouds.

After a moment, her voice became even lower:

But after roughly estimating the number of people below, it doesn't seem like there are only eight thousand.

Where did these extra gifted individuals come from?

Intuition fell silent, but it gave the answer:

[There are indeed more than 8,000 people below; the total number of veterans deployed this time is over 30,000.]

[Blind student, you have discovered the highlight.]

Jiang Jianxin placed her hands behind her back on the sword, racking her brains to try and explain its rationale:
[Could one bottle of the Genius Potion awaken the powers of several people?]

She had taken medication in the past when it was divided into several doses, so Jiang Jianxin was unsure of the dosage of the Genius Potion.

Intuition, however, provided a definitive answer:

[The Genius Potion can only awaken the power of the Genius Potion in one person at a time. The extra 20,000 people out of the original 8,000 did not awaken their powers through the Genius Potion.]

Jiang Jianxin gazed at the surging army and fell into deep thought:

[...wasn't it awakened by a genius drug?]

This was a very unexpected answer. Jiang Jianxin couldn't understand what other way there was for ordinary people to awaken their talents besides the genius potion.

The initial pollution outbreak period has long passed. Without that devastating rain, it's no exaggeration to say that for ordinary people, turning their lives around is harder than climbing to heaven.

Do you remember what we chatted about when the super AI talked to you about peace?

My intuition told me.

Jiang Jianxin began to try to recall, but that casual chat obviously did not occupy a significant place in his memory.

She thought for a long time before stammering:
[It seems they've mentioned a potential riot in the south.]

That's right, but it's not comprehensive enough; it's clear you genuinely forgot.

Jiang Jianxin smiled awkwardly and instinctively added:
[The AI ​​named Ayu told you that the rift in the Land of Divine Descent opened in the south, and the extraterrestrial pollution seeping out from it infected a large number of gifted individuals in the south, even causing a faint trend of rebellion in the south.]

A sudden realization triggered by his intuition led Jiang Jianxin to recall everything from back then.

At that time, Wen Yu sent A Yu to discuss peace matters, and the artificial intelligence chatted with her about some recent changes in the situation. As a behemoth that had long resided on the virtual network, A Yu had access to a significantly larger and more comprehensive amount of information. It talked about the recent anomalies in the south and explained that they were caused by the cracks in the land where the gods descended.

Jiang Jianxin was very vigilant at the time, but later, because the rift in the Land of Divine Descent did not cause any trouble, she forgot about it.

Today, his intuition rekindled his memories, and Jiang Jianxin keenly guessed its meaning:
[You mean... in the Restoration Army's rebel legion, besides the eight thousand gifted individuals awakened by the genius potion, there were also gifted individuals infected by the Divine Descent Rift?]

Yes, the extra 20,000+ people who attacked Dawn Base today were actually infected by the Divine Descent Rift.

Intuition slowly explained.

You didn't take it to heart back then, but it never disappeared. Today, it has become a new force, merging into the surging tides of this world.

Jiang Jianxin remained silent. She hadn't expected that the information she had obtained from a few casual conversations would turn out to be a harbinger of the turning of history.

[So, this uprising in Changhe City wasn't just caused by the Cangjiang epidemic, the instigation by Hei Tong Pharmaceuticals, and the escalation of the Yuzhi Family incident, but also by the actions of the infected individuals?]

Jiang Jianxin asked in his mind.

Yes, a combination of factors has led to the current era of war and conflict.

"Intuition tells me."

[Actually, you can tell just by looking at that masked man that such powerful talent, and the ability to use it skillfully, is definitely not at the level of a newly awakened talent user who only awakened a few days ago.]

Jiang Jianxin squinted at the masked man.

This person's appearance was strange, and his abilities were even stranger—the only person I could recall with such power in controlling wind was Feng Shiman, but this person had also achieved it.

—A newly emerging wind-based war giant?

This was the first possibility that came to Jiang Jianxin's mind.

She doesn't control the wind; she's just pretending to be the one who does.

Intuition slowly gave her this hint.

Jiang Jianxin stared at her smooth, snow-white mask and suddenly realized:

"So it was just acting. I knew it. In which war would someone go to the battlefield without wearing a mask that doesn't have eye sockets? Wasn't she afraid of not being able to see the enemy?"

She was on the side of war, and the wars she knew were all very simple and honest; she had never heard of anyone going to the battlefield and doing all these fancy things.

—If it weren't for war, it would be easy to explain; being flashy is a necessary part of their behavior and plot.

Jiang Jianxin circled the clouds above the masked man a few more times, and suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

That person...doesn't he look a bit like Chen Xinran?

She recognized her at a glance as the little girl in the white SUV at the very beginning of the apocalypse.

Perhaps because she was the first girl he met in the apocalypse, Jiang Jianxin had a deep impression of her. He also knew that she later went to Zhenbei City alone, and in the new sword tomb created by the Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Sect, she wanted to find a sword and embark on her path of sword cultivation.

[Wasn't she in the north? How did she get involved in the uprising in Changhe City?]

Jiang Jianxin asked in confusion.

Intuition answered bluntly:
[How long has it been since you last saw her? People are adaptable and change according to their needs. If she had a need, it's perfectly normal for her to move from Zhenbei City to Changhe City.]

Why don't you take a closer look at her?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jianxin looked down carefully and saw that the girl in the white dress was wielding two swords and was fighting against thousands of people. She was at the forefront of the battle, and the people around her seemed to be protecting her.

She then asked in surprise:

Wait a minute, could she be... the leader of the rebels?

Sorry it's a bit late, my darlings (╥_╥)