This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 175 Administrator Number Two: Yes

"Brother Nie!"

Yi Jian smiled and strolled over to Nie Weiyang's side, politely greeting Wei Lan. Han Jiangxue silently walked to the other side, quietly lowering her eyes, staring without saying a word at a point in the air.

Nie Weiyang greeted Yi Jian, then asked Han Jiangxue in a low voice, "How are you?"

Previously, Han Jiangxue was borrowed by the city government to deal with a piece of land contaminated by some kind of parasite.

The method involves first letting Hanjiangxue experience a heavy snowfall to lower the temperature in the area below minus 15 degrees Celsius. Then, a team specifically responsible for burning and purifying the land rapidly heats up the area, burning away moisture and drying the soil. While eliminating hostile targets, this process also embrittles the rocks in the soil, making it easier for subsequent reclamation.

This wasn't the first time Han Jiangxue had done this job; in fact, she was quite good at it—her profession wasn't actually called 'Extreme Cold Mage,' it was just a kind of disguise inherent to the profession.

Its real name... is not something that normal people would know.

"Smoothly," Han Jiangxue replied.

Her gaze shifted, appearing somewhat vacant. But Nie Weiyang received a multitude of thoughts from her mind: observations and assessments of strangers, considerations of the current situation, a review of her own work, hypothetical scenarios of battle… These thoughts were mixed and intertwined, running in parallel, and she even took a moment to think about what to have for breakfast.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Han Jiangxue asked.

—She only asked the most trivial questions.

No, this was truly number one in her current information priority list—she couldn't be bothered to care what these people in front of her were talking about; whatever they were, they were justified, and she would fight when the time came.

Although he knew that was her personality, Nie Weiyang still felt somewhat helpless every time he actually experienced it.

"Soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns—both meat and vegetarian options are available," he said. "I bought them on the way here."

—He actually kept up the conversation! And then, with practiced ease, he pulled out a paper bag containing soy milk and fried dough sticks from his backpack!
Yi Jian stared at the two of them with wide eyes—no, they're not buddies, this is a military camp, and Pingdu's men are still here, and you two are already sharing steamed buns??

"Is it good?" Wei Lan peeked over, looking curious, and her stomach growled twice at just the right moment.

"It tastes good, but I can't give it to you," Nie Weiyang said. "It's not that I'm afraid you'll get sick from eating it, it's just that the cooks are preparing food for you."

He was serving soy milk to his two teammates with a tea mug, a vegetarian bun dangling from his mouth, creating a subtly comical scene. Han Jiangxue, standing nearby, took a big bite of a meat bun, devouring most of it instantly. Then, she cried out in pain from the heat, and tried to take a sip of the soy milk—but couldn't—because it was too hot.

“Cook…” Wei Lan frowned.

Yes, the cooks prepare meals in the canteen.

However, that place is more than a hundred meters away from here.

Is this a deduction? Since they just arrived and are travel-worn, the cook must have prepared food for them?

Or……

“Oh, so Lao Liang really did tell you I have mind-reading abilities,” Nie Weiyang said.

He took a sip of soy milk, his face kind and even his eyes smiling.

"Don't be afraid, I don't have any mental problems. And yes, I can hear."

"You can hear it? From that far away?!" Wei Lan's expression changed drastically.

It was discovered that there were already several of these skills in the game, and Pingdu was no exception. But soon, people realized that this extremely cheap skill was simply malicious intent from "New World".

Sometimes, harmony between people stems from an illusion, a delicate balance, and if one could read other people's minds, the world would seem too clear.

The human heart is best viewed through a fog; seeing it too clearly can drive you mad, and thinking too deeply can lead to death.

Moreover, most people find it difficult to control themselves and not use this power for personal gain or even to harm others. "Are you sure... you don't have any mental problems?" Wei Lan asked cautiously.

It wasn't impolite of him to ask that question directly. On the contrary, he was being overly polite.

“At least the people in the old city didn’t think I had mental problems…” Nie Weiyang said, then suddenly laughed: “Well, not now.”

As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something and took out a star stone from his backpack.

"Have you ever seen this before?" he asked briefly.

“Starstone? I’ve seen it before,” Wei Lan said. “We dug up quite a few when we were digging sewers. I don’t know what they’re used for, but they’re all kept in the national treasury.”

"Okay." Nie Weiyang breathed a sigh of relief.

The New World's treasury consists of a massive, terrifyingly secure vault, along with several secret chambers.

The storeroom contained various valuables, but the most important items were kept by a special person in a secret room.

Those who willingly choose to reside there permanently must display their backpack interface and then completely empty their backpacks before entering the treasury.

Normally, their backpacks only contain dangerous items, but in the event of an emergency, they will immediately pack away important items, preferring to die to take them permanently out of the material world rather than let them fall into the hands of the enemy.

Items like star stones are usually kept in these people's backpacks.

“So, Star Stone…” Wei Lan asked cautiously.

"It's not a great thing, but it's not too bad either," Nie Weiyang said.

He introduced the information about the Star Stone to them, and finally, he lowered his voice: "...The Netherworld Explosion, you may have already witnessed it, or even used it. Think about it, since such a phenomenon exists, how could it not be weaponized?"

“And weapons… will be targeted for defense,” Wei Lan murmured, “just like people use water to put out fires, or look for an antidote when they encounter poison.”

Both of them knew perfectly well what their unspoken words meant.

When a conflict reaches a certain scale, both sides will inevitably have to consider the Netherworld Shockwave and countermeasures.

The way to counter the Netherworld Explosion is to disrupt spacetime... How could a civilization that has mastered such technology still be wandering around its home planet?

It's likely that almost every high-intensity battle/war, even massacres and exterminations, leaves behind starstones. And starstones can only originate from such situations.

the most important is……

“…The previous civilization migrated here,” Wei Lan murmured to himself. This information was no longer a secret among those at the forefront of the battle. “Migration across space, the ability to reshape planets, the power to interfere with reality…”

How could a previous civilization not have a countermeasure against Netherworld Explosions?

So--

Where did the star stones from the pre-civilization era go?

Wei Lan's expression turned somewhat grim. He was filled with speculation, but ultimately realized that Nie Weiyang might have the answer.

Nie Weiyang's expression was serious and solemn.

“I don’t know the answer,” he said, “but Administrator Number Two might know. What do you think?”

(End of this chapter)