This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 210 Anchoring Information
Something's definitely wrong...

What's happening now is like a long surveillance operation, a terrifying experiment in primitive civilization, with beings acting as cameras walking in human form, interacting with people, and obtaining useful information.

Unconsciously, Nie Weiyang even began to doubt the profession of 'crime trafficker' itself.

Last week, everyone believed that the professions in "The New World" were purely derived from legends and professions that existed in previous civilizations. Even the professions under the Sky-Crossing Demon that manipulated spirits were essentially things that objectively existed in the cultural information of previous civilizations.

But those who traffic in crimes seem to be different.

First of all, almost all professions have positive names, and even some criminal professions will certainly embellish themselves in their names and descriptions.

Who would tell a qualified candidate from the outset that this is a profession related to 'sin'?

Secondly...

What standards were used to determine this 'crime'?

Unlike the word "holy" in "holy" knight, which is purely related to attributes and temperament, the word "sin" in "sin trafficker" requires objective standards to determine whether "this behavior is sinful".

That standard is called 'law'.

Patriarchal law, religious law, or the most common 'law' in modern society.

The name 'criminal trafficker' is practically a blatant declaration that 'I exist to break your law.'

This question was raised last week, but the pressure of survival and the problems plaguing the entire new world quickly made people forget about it...

Nie Weiyang pondered for a long time, and no one knew what he was thinking. Half an hour later, he suddenly spoke up: "I'm leaving now. No one needs to come with me."

"Yi Jian, Han Jiangxue, when you return to the old city, you must keep a close eye on Ping Xingdou and Fu Nian." He placed his hands on their shoulders, his face serious: "I believe in you!"

After giving his instructions, Nie Weiyang didn't linger. He turned and headed alone towards the entrance of the Chaos Refuge deep within Xunshan, which had already been taken over. Wei Lan followed behind, asking, "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry, I'm going to Pingdu," Nie Weiyang replied. "I'll set off as soon as I leave the shelter."

"We can..."

“You don’t need to come along,” Nie Weiyang repeated.

As for the reason, he said, "You can't keep up with me."

Wei Lan: "..."

Wei Lan opened her mouth, then accepted reality with a strange expression.

Yes, judging from the speed Nie Weiyang displayed in today's battle, they really couldn't keep up with him... especially if he were riding that incredibly powerful motorcycle, they wouldn't even have a chance to be left in the dust...

The entrance to the Chaos Sanctuary remains open, but this time, it is besieged by an army of thousands.

As Nie Weiyang approached, a simple system prompt automatically appeared in his field of vision:
-
[T6 Chaos Sanctuary (Central Continent Node 3)]

Status: Active
Current number of individuals seeking refuge: 3715
Warning: This area is protected by rules, and external forces cannot forcibly intervene to extract specific individuals.
-
More than three thousand people.

Most of them are probably remnants of the former religious sects.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, they fled into the shelter in a panic, crowding together like cockroaches in the parallel, undisturbed personal spaces, hoping that the patience of the besiegers outside would run out before their health points, until the blockade was lifted.

There isn't really a good solution to this at the moment.

The reason why the shelter is still called a 'shelter' even after it has mutated into a copy is based on this ironclad rule: once an individual enters, external forces cannot actively bring them in. They can only surround them or wait for them to come out on their own.

Nie Weiyang stepped into that glimmer of light.

After the familiar sense of time and space shifting, he once again stood in that vast and desolate circular hall. The floor was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the cold, silvery-white dome. In the center of the hall, the sleek black pillars still stood silently.

However, something changed on the stone platform.

The token numbered [Artificial Fate 0361] had disappeared from the groove on the tabletop—Nie Weiyang knew it was lying in his backpack.

Instead, suspended above the groove is a stone about the size of a thumb, with a rough surface, a dark color, and an appearance as if it had been subjected to intense burning and friction.

It floated there quietly, silently, and unremarkably ordinary.

Nie Weiyang's gaze fell on it, and his brows furrowed slightly involuntarily.

Although it was a keepsake he made himself, and the stone was something he picked up casually, there was a moment when an extremely subtle sense of déjà vu struck him.

The shape of this stone, its deep color, and the sense of loneliness it exudes as it floats alone here...

...making it look almost like a meteorite model frozen in time...

It traverses the stars, and everything that is happening now is just one stop along the way.

Nie Weiyang stood before the floating rock, not immediately triggering the instance—he needed to confirm some things first. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers crisply.

The surrounding space seemed to freeze for a moment, and at the same time, the scarlet cloak fell down and touched the ground.

The second administrator reappeared, and in his field of vision appeared a simple and cold panel, representing all the permissions he could use to access this chaotic refuge.

After searching for a while, Nie Weiyang found an option called "Information Retrieval and Lock".

His attention was focused on the past.

This feature allows him to guide or even anchor the story direction of an upcoming instance within a certain scope.

This is good news, meaning he may be able to dig for secrets and information more effectively.

As for why this feature wasn't available before...

In fact, he had already seen this feature when he first connected to a vault. However, at that time, it was still locked, and the unlocking requirement was 'connecting to 5 or more vaults'.

He immediately conducted several information searches.

Search keywords: [Sinmonger], [Netherworld Crystal], [Star Stone]

【Searching...】

No relevant valid information node found. This may be due to insufficient permissions or the relevant information not being included in this format.

The second administrator was operating the shelter, so it's impossible that they didn't have the necessary permissions; the problem is that no relevant information was recorded there.

Search keywords: [Golden God], [Planetary Parasite], [Civilization Extinction]

【Searching...】

[A few fragments of related information were found, such as: [Golden Night], [Golden Gift], [Tower of Light], [Tower of Light Destruction]... However, the information density is low, the connections are weak, and it is impossible to form a stable narrative anchor.]

It seems that the information recorded here can corroborate the information from the previous shelter.

But why does it mention the Golden Gift?

Nie Weiyang glanced at his backpack, took out the Golden Gift and examined it, turning it over and over for a while but couldn't find any important information.

However, the Golden Gift is a rare item rather than equipment, and it is not limited by the user's class or level. Even the second administrator can use it, which is quite good.

Search results: 【渡空魔】, 【讯山】.

【Searching...】

A large amount of relevant information has been found.

[High information density, strong correlation, can form stable and multi-branched story segments.]

Should we lock the keywords?

Sure enough.

Nie Weiyang understood.

The information recorded in this chaotic refuge was indeed closely related to the Void-Crossing Demon and Xunshan.

This also explains why, whenever a Chaos Sanctuary exists in the area, Xunshan always appears in a location that overlaps with that of a Chaos Sanctuary.

The Void-Crossing Demon, having crossed the void, likely needs this special medium that records 'absolutely true information' as a stable anchor point for Xunshan's existence in this world.

While it cannot be confirmed with absolute certainty, this is currently the most reasonable speculation.

Without hesitation, he chose to [lock].

[Key narrative keywords identified: 'Crossing the Void Demon', 'Xunshan', 'Beyond the Heavens', 'Starry Sky'.]

[Instance environment generation in progress... The probability of stories highly related to keywords forming has increased by 65%.]

After doing all this, Nie Weiyang exited the administrator status as the second administrator.

He took one last look at the keepsake, which resembled a miniature meteorite, and without further hesitation, reached out and touched it.

A familiar pulling sensation came, and the surrounding scenery began to distort and disintegrate, with a new scene rapidly constructing before his eyes.

This time, he might get closer to the truth about Du Kongmo and Xunshan.

(End of this chapter)