Aberration Source

"Is that... an Aberration source?!"

Li Qinghe's exclamation cut through the air.

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, gaze fixed on the surging wall of green flame in the distance.

"So that's what an Aberration source looks like. It certainly lives up to the reputation."

Even he felt an unmistakable threat radiating from that Spatial Rift and the green fire pouring out of it — an unease that gave him genuine pause. *Whatever this is, it can't be as simple as a single Saint Grade Aberration.*

Shuangyue shook her head, her expression grave. "Something's wrong. We've been in the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin for a while now, and I've never seen an Aberration source with a range this vast. This one is... excessive."

Lu Yuan blinked. "The scale itself is abnormal?"

Si Tingyu nodded. "The two Aberration-source suppression operations we participated in before — neither was even a third of this size."

Lu Yuan went quiet.

*That big of a gap.*

Before he could speak, a series of thunderous booms and roars erupted from the distance. Aura after powerful aura shot out from the core of the Dark Night Forest, streaking skyward at speed. Lu Yuan looked up and caught blurred silhouettes tearing through the air — Gene Warriors, their presences immense and urgent, fleeing in every direction.

The four of them exchanged glances.

Si Tingyu's voice was tight. "With the Aberration source erupting like this, the number of Aberration Feral Beasts in that zone is going to explode — and those already there will grow far stronger. We could be looking at several Saint Grade Aberrations taking form. Anyone who was in the core zone is almost certainly making a run for it."

Li Qinghe's expression darkened. "Lu Yuan, we should leave too. If we don't, the Aberrations in there could overrun the entire Dark Night Forest — maybe even spill outside it."

Shuangyue considered a moment. "There's a city nearby. A Nightshade Race city. At this rate, it's going to be directly in the path of the Aberration Beast Tide."

Lu Yuan listened to all three of them, watching the green flames in the distance grow more violent by the second. After a beat, he spoke.

"Should we head to that city? If an Aberration Beast Tide is coming, we stand a solid chance of earning a lot of Merits."

The three women paused.

Si Tingyu straightened, expression serious. "It would definitely earn a lot of Merits... but an Aberration Beast Tide is dangerous. One mistake and you're dead for good. Are we really doing this?"

A gleam of barely-contained eagerness lit up Li Qinghe's face. "That's exactly what I was thinking. I want to be right there when it hits and clean up."

Shuangyue glanced at Li Qinghe, then smiled. "With Lu Yuan around, the danger shouldn't be too steep. I can accept those odds."

"Then it's settled," Lu Yuan said with a grin.

Si Tingyu held his gaze for a moment, then gave a small nod. "All right."

"Which direction is the city? We'll head there now."

Lu Yuan smiled, already preparing to carry them via spatial movement.

"That way." Li Qinghe pointed. "About 400,000 kilometers."

He nodded, wrapped his ability around the group, and they vanished.

They reappeared in the sky some distance away.

Not far ahead stood a city of breathtaking design — every structure elaborate and refined, a small work of art in itself.

The city wasn't large, perhaps thirty kilometers across. But its walls were extraordinary: nearly a thousand meters tall, and built thick enough to match.

A silver dome of light encased the entire city. Silver lightning crackled endlessly across its surface, radiating a pressure that narrowed the eyes.

Lu Yuan studied the barrier carefully. *Even I would find breaking through that genuinely difficult.* Whether they'd raised it in response to news of the Aberration source, or whether it was always active — he couldn't say.

"This Nightshade city has a queue to get in, and an entry fee to pay," Li Qinghe said, clearly familiar with the place. "Should we head to the gate?"

Lu Yuan spotted it quickly — a massive city gate not far off, with a steady stream of Gene Warriors descending from the sky and filing through.

The four of them dropped down and joined the queue.

Two squads of Nightshade warriors stood guard at the gate, all at Battle King Rank. In the Lower Layer of the Land of Origin, Battle King Rank qualified as mid-to-high-tier strength. Here in the Upper Layer, it was the absolute floor. The minimum requirement to enter the Upper Layer at all was Battle King Rank — anyone below couldn't pass the threshold in the first place.

That was precisely why only the truly powerful races maintained cities up here. Even routine public order required Battle King Rank warriors, and some races couldn't muster enough of them to guard a single city. Hiring from outside was an option, of course — but only if you had top-tier strength to keep hired warriors in line. Those with that kind of power were rarely freelancers; they almost always belonged to powerful races of their own.

The entry process was swift. A black scanning device swept each person, and then the fee was deducted directly from an Origin Bank card. The Nightshade warriors barely had to lift a finger. One specialist stood watch, sharp-eyed, ready to catch anyone trying to slip through without paying.

Perhaps because word of the Aberration source had spread, the volume of arriving Gene Warriors was unusually high. Even with the streamlined system, the sheer numbers made the wait stretch.

When Lu Yuan's turn came, he swiped his Origin Bank card and checked the deduction: one hundred Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals per person.

*A hundred Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals per head. If tens of thousands pass through in a single day, that's several million Sixth-tier Spirit Crystals — just from entry fees. And that doesn't even touch lodging, rent, and all the other revenue inside. Those are where the real money is.*

He couldn't help a quiet moment of genuine admiration. *Running one of these cities really is the ultimate business model.*

They passed through the gate.

The streets inside were clean and orderly. Patrol squads moved at regular intervals — Battle King Rank members led by Battle Sovereign captains.

Every last one of them was Nightshade Race: strikingly beautiful women, their formations moving through the streets with an elegance that drew every passing eye. Even Lu Yuan found his gaze drifting over — briefly.

*Their racial gifts really are something.*

Then he felt two icy stares lock onto him from either side.

He turned. Li Qinghe and Si Tingyu were both watching him, something distinctly chilly in their expressions.

When he met Li Qinghe's eyes, a knowing smile spread across her face.

"Well? Quite a sight, aren't they?"

Lu Yuan cleared his throat. "Ahem. They're certainly... attractive. Still a step below you, though, Elder Sister Qinghe."

A laugh escaped Shuangyue before she could stop it. She caught her breath and grinned at him. "What are you so nervous about? Even I'll admit those Nightshade women are beautiful. Nothing embarrassing about looking."

"Shuangyue, I swear—"

Li Qinghe shot her a glare.

Si Tingyu said nothing. She simply gave a quiet, dignified nod of agreement.

Lu Yuan was about to speak when a voice rang out ahead.

"Lu Yuan?"

He looked up. A small group of Nightshade women stood nearby, surprise written across their faces. He scanned them — and recognized two.

One was Xia Zhi, the Nightshade warrior whose slot he'd taken on the Prodigy Rankings. The other was Anastasia, whom he'd briefly encountered once before in White Cloud City.

These women were even more striking than the patrol squads — the kind of beauty that stopped passersby mid-step. Those nearby had already abandoned any pretense of not staring.

Anastasia commanded attention above all of them. Her dark-red eyes carried a cool, absolute confidence — the aura of someone who had never once questioned whether she belonged at the top.

She was the one who had called out.

*I didn't expect her to recognize me,* Lu Yuan thought. *Then again — King Rankings number one, former top of the Prodigy Rankings. The name gets around. And we're both from White Cloud City. It makes sense.*

Li Qinghe's eyebrow arched. The mischievous smile on her face deepened as she glanced sidelong at him, her expression asking the question without words: *And who exactly are these?*

Beside her, Si Tingyu's brow furrowed. She looked at Anastasia, then back at Lu Yuan.

Shuangyue's eyes lit with quiet delight. She settled in to watch with the composed air of someone with excellent front-row seats.

Lu Yuan noticed all three pairs of eyes on him and felt the corner of his mouth twitch. *I didn't know her. We met once. Once.*

He also hadn't expected a former top-ranked prodigy and high-standing presence on the King Rankings to be in a Nightshade city — but then again, this was exactly that. A Nightshade city.

*She hasn't broken through to Battle Sovereign yet. As a Battle King Rank prodigy, coming to the Upper Layer to train is perfectly reasonable.*

Anastasia met his gaze, her confidence undimmed.

"I'm Anastasia. I trust you know who I am." A slight smile touched her lips. "I didn't expect to find you in Dark Night City."

"Miss Anastasia, of course," Lu Yuan replied easily. "I came to the Dark Night Forest with my Elder Sister Qinghe, my guide, and this spectator over here to hunt Feral Beasts."

Li Qinghe's lips curved into a soft smile as she slipped her arm through his. Si Tingyu couldn't quite manage a gesture that openly familiar — but she drifted closer to him all the same, close enough to make the point.

Shuangyue blinked.

*...The spectator?*

She worked her jaw for a moment.

*...Actually, fair enough.*

Anastasia's gaze shifted to Li Qinghe, then Si Tingyu, then the self-appointed spectator. Her dark-red eyes flickered briefly, and she gave all three a polite smile.

"Welcome to Dark Night City."

She turned back to Lu Yuan. "I heard you broke through to Battle Sovereign. I'd like to see what you're capable of. The Aberration Beast Tide is coming — I hope we get the chance."

"There'll be an opportunity," Lu Yuan said.

Anastasia nodded, said nothing more, and led her group off in another direction.

Li Qinghe watched her go, then turned to Lu Yuan with a smile that was sweetness itself.

"Not bad at all. Another Nightshade woman charmed already? My little Lu Yuan really does have a gift."

The smile was so warm he might have believed it — if not for the steadily increasing pressure of her hands on his arm.

His mouth twitched. "Elder Sister Qinghe, I didn't know her before today. I genuinely have no idea why she called out to me."

He thought about it for a moment, then mused aloud, "Maybe I really am just that impressive. She was overwhelmed by my existence?"

Li Qinghe's expression went flat. Si Tingyu looked like she was developing a headache. Shuangyue dissolved into laughter.

"Lu Yuan, you are honestly the most self-absorbed person I have ever met."

Lu Yuan looked at the three of them — exasperated, baffled, laughing — and spread his hands. "Then what else explains it?"

They fell into momentary silence, collectively at a loss for words.

Finally, Li Qinghe sighed. "Let's move. We need to find somewhere to stay."

As the group walked on, the onlookers who had been watching Anastasia — and inevitably, Lu Yuan's group alongside her — dissolved into murmurs behind them.

Elsewhere in the city, Anastasia's group was deep in their own conversation.

A Nightshade woman with glossy black curls was practically trembling with excitement.

"I can't believe Lu Yuan is here in Dark Night City! What are the odds? When the Beast Tide hits and we're fighting side by side — do you think something might spark between them?"

Xia Zhi rolled her eyes.

"Nina, come back to reality. Lu Yuan was King Rankings number one — undisputed. Everyone on this continent knows how talented and powerful he is. You seriously think he'd look at you?"

Nina glanced down at herself — her figure gave her no reason to complain — straightened up, and shot back, "My talent isn't bad, either. Battle Emperor is still within reach for me. And it's not like my looks are lacking. Why couldn't I have a chance?"

The rest of the group broke into barely-suppressed laughter, eyes glinting with amusement.

One of them managed to keep a straight face long enough to say, "Nina, if you're so taken with Lord Lu Yuan, why didn't you go introduce yourself? Maybe get his contact information?"

Nina's cheeks went pink. She looked away.

"If he'd turned me down right there in front of everyone, that would've been mortifying."

"Please." Xia Zhi's tone was flat. "The fact that you already pictured yourself getting rejected tells me you already know the answer."

She let that land, then glanced toward Anastasia, who had been quiet throughout — her expression composed, unreadable.

"If anyone here is going to catch Lu Yuan's eye," Xia Zhi said, "it would be our Princess."