This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 261 Friends, Family

The moment Nie Weiyang completed the unlocking operation in the mind of the sage, a strange feeling swept through the consciousness of every human being on Earth.

It was as if a heavy, previously unnoticed shackle in their minds had been easily released. Immediately afterward, the system interface in everyone's field of vision lit up automatically, and a simple lock-shaped pattern symbolizing blockade and restriction appeared. Then, the lock popped open, and a simple yet majestic sword and shield emblem flashed by—the mark of the second administrator.

Before people could react, the pattern vanished as streaks of light; the whole process was brief and clear.

People from different races and cultures felt the same confusion.

"What was that just now...?"

"My system popped up by itself?"

"A lock? What lock was opened?"

"That badge... belongs to Administrator Number Two?!"

Around the world, countless people were briefly taken aback and confused.

They didn't understand the meaning of this change, but the sudden feeling of relief and the flashing of the second administrator's badge indicated that something had changed.

However, not everyone is confused or bewildered by this.

In the six continents, in the regions where [destruction from the origin of the stars] has just risen, in the dark areas that permeate the heavens and earth, the Star God cultists, their faces beaming with fervor and anticipation after the ceremony, are preparing to welcome what they call the arrival of the true starry sky.

They also felt that sense of relief, and some even cheered wildly, thinking it was a sign that the ceremony was a success!
But their cheers were cut short as soon as they began to ring out.

To their horror, they discovered that the lock-shaped pattern on their system interface, which had just been opened, was reforming at an even faster rate, locking itself firmly shut once more!
Even more so than before, the lock now had an extra layer of light, which was the outline of the sword and shield emblem!

"what happened?!"

"The lock...the lock is closed again?!"

"No! This can't be! Star God! Have we failed?"

"No, we succeeded! As for the lock... this lock... perhaps it is... uh..."

At the same time, the sky began to change strangely.

The once eternal and unchanging night sky now ripples like the surface of water tossed with a pebble, creating subtle yet clearly visible waves.

……

Zhongzhou, a medical camp temporarily cleared out.

Han Jiangxue's long eyelashes trembled a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

A wave of excruciating pain and extreme weakness washed over her instantly. Her heart had never felt so weak in her life. The agony of being on the verge of death was enough to make anyone tremble, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent.

"Oh my dear father, you're finally awake!"

Yi Jian's face immediately loomed closer, his own face still bearing scrapes, though much of the blood had been cleaned. He rambled on, "Do you know how scary you were just now? Wow, a super transformation! Ta-da—Little Dragon! Ta-da—Big Dragon! Good heavens, that was huge! Scales were falling off like crazy, sticking right up into rocks, and touching them was like touching ice. Blood was gushing out like it was free, and the icy mist that drifted out could freeze you solid. If the healers hadn't been desperately healing you, I'd be collecting your corpse today..."

After listening for a while, Han Jiangxue spoke expressionlessly, her voice hoarse from weakness: "Shut up."

Yi Jian: "?"

He leaned back dramatically: "Hey! I've been watching you for ages and this is your attitude?"

Han Jiangxue closed her eyes briefly, seemingly gathering her strength, before speaking again, her words concise and to the point: "You're noisy. And..."

Yi Jian clicked his tongue in annoyance, but still subconsciously lowered his voice: "And what?"

“I’m your father, you’re my buddy,” Han Jiangxue said coldly. “Not only are we genders wrong, but we’re also from different generations.”

Yi Jian: "…………? Then I can't exactly call you Mom! That's a very sacred word, okay? Besides, I don't hit tiles!"

"I'll hit you." Han Jiangxue's words were concise, cold, and ruthless.

Yi Jian was so angry he almost fell over. Han Jiangxue slowly sat up from the ground, her gaze sweeping over the busy medical staff and the wounded lying haphazardly around her, and asked softly, "Brother Nie hasn't arrived yet?"

“He hasn’t come yet…” Yi Jian shook his head, but his tone was unusually firm, “But he will definitely come. He must have other things to do right now.”

"Mmm." Han Jiangxue responded softly, this being the first time tonight that she genuinely agreed with Yi Jian's words.

Seeing that Han Jiangxue was conscious and able to argue back, Yi Jian felt much relieved. He plopped down on the muddy ground, not caring whether it was clean or not—his clothes were already filthy anyway.

Then, his social instincts kicked in again, and he tried to lighten the mood by casually asking, "By the way, why haven't I ever seen you transform into a dragon before? That skill has a pretty long cooldown, doesn't it?"

Han Jiangxue remained silent for a moment, looking at the increasingly obvious ripples in the sky, and said in a low voice, "That is my belief skill... It can only be activated when I am in extreme rage, when my consciousness is almost consumed by anger."

"Moreover... each use will permanently increase bloodline purity by 2%."

Yi Jian paused for a moment, then clicked his tongue: "Using it more often will make it less anthropomorphic? You're also an invincible, bloodthirsty little dragon? You went to university in Germany?"

Han Jiangxue slowly turned her head and glanced at him, but refrained from making a sarcastic remark. Instead, she continued, "...Moreover, my beliefs...are too extreme."

"The last time I used this skill was a long time ago. That time, I... actually ate a person."

This fact struck like a hammer blow in the wind, its echo a thud of heartbeats. Yi Jian's breath caught in her throat.

Han Jiangxue continued, her tone as calm as if she were talking about someone else: "Those people I saved... feared me, attacked me. Oh, I can understand, after all, if it were me in the past, I wouldn't have been fearless either."

Yi Jian opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He recalled Han Jiangxue's belief that "those who commit evil are not human, kill and eat them," and felt a chill rise up his spine. But after a moment of silence with his head down, he suddenly looked up, not showing any fear, but deliberately trying to scare her: "Aren't you afraid that we'll also fear you and attack you?"

Han Jiangxue did not immediately retort as she usually would.

She stared blankly for a while, looking at her temporary comrades around her, some sitting and some lying down, all covered in blood, and said softly, "Then I accept it."

Yi Jian was stunned, then panicked: "No, no, no! That's not what I meant! I was just joking! How could I..."

“I know.” Han Jiangxue interrupted him, turned her head, and looked directly at Yi Jian with her icy blue eyes. Although she still had no expression, she had lost some of her usual sharpness and gained a hint of gentleness that was hard to detect: “I mean, we’re friends. I believe you.”

Yi Jian froze, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin. He rubbed his arms exaggeratedly: "Holy crap! Who taught you to talk like that? Brother Nie?"

Han Jiangxue readily admitted, "Yes."

Yi Jian looked utterly devastated: "Holy crap, don't you dare copy him! His style is completely unsuitable for you! You'd better stay the way you are!"

Han Jiangxue said expressionlessly, "When I was talking to him like you, that's what he said too."

Yi Jian: "..." He was speechless for a moment.

The two of them, covered in blood and exhausted, sat on the muddy ground, engaging in this seemingly nonsensical chat.

All around, makeshift medical camps were being set up, their lights flickering on in the darkening sky. People whose injuries weren't fatal gathered together, supporting each other, sitting or lying down, resting silently, tending to their wounds, or simply gazing blankly at the undulating sky.

A sense of weariness and solemnity, akin to surviving a catastrophe, mixed with unease about the future, permeated the air.

But on this brutal battlefield, at least for now, there are friends around, people who can joke with each other, and people who... share a common belief and wait for the next breath.

Will we ever see the sun rise again?

In a remote part of the Central Plains, in a small camp hidden among the folds of mountains, Xu Fu held a baby in swaddling clothes.

She sat among a group of slightly older children, who were huddled under a giant mushroom. The campsite was surrounded by fairytale-like plants and colorful, glowing mushrooms, with small animals and sprites made of energy moving about, making the place seem like a fairytale wonderland.

But the children looked up at the starry sky, which began to ripple like water and seemed increasingly ominous.

Then one of the children asked a question.

When the question arose, the children were unusually quiet, with only occasional whimpers like those of small animals.

Most of them were dressed in rags, their faces bearing a precocious maturity and fear beyond their years: in this era, even the youngest children had already been forced to understand the meaning of death and destruction through displacement and the pain of losing loved ones.

The strange phenomena in the sky only deepened their inner fears.

The faint sound of crying carried far through the silent mountain forest. Xu Fu's gaze returned to the child.

It was a slightly older child, about seven or eight years old, the oldest here. He was positioned near the edge of the camp, his arms wrapped around his knees, the lower half of his face buried in his arms, his eyes fixed on Xu Fu.

"Mom," he said, "I want to live."

“…Hmm.” Xu Fu gave him a gentle smile and beckoned him over: “Come here, Xiao Yan.”

“I don’t want to go there,” Xiaoyan said. “They’re too noisy.”

“No, you must come here, Yan Jingyu.” Xu Fu’s expression turned serious, but she remained gentle: “The new world is dangerous. When facing danger, people must unite as one.”

"What if I don't want to?" asked the child named Yan Jingyu. "What if I just want to stay outside the crowd?"

“Then you have to be strong enough, strong enough to fly even when you're alone in the storm,” Xu Fu said.

"Then why do I have to be here?"

“Because we are family,” Xu Fu said, “even though we are not related by blood.”

Yan Jingyu was stunned for a moment; he seemed not to have expected Xu Fu to answer him like that.

In fact, he didn't truly mean it when he called Xu Fu "Mom"; he was simply searching for a way to survive...

But just as he hesitated, a rustling sound came from the jungle at the edge of the camp.

A figure emerged from the dense foliage. He wore a robe simply sewn from animal hides and tough plant fibers, carrying the scent of earth and vegetation. In his hand he held a gnarled wooden staff, and his heterochromatic golden-green eyes gleamed in the darkness like those of a feline.

Behind him, a giant tiger with flowing golden fur followed silently, its beastly eyes gleaming with a wary yet gentle light in the dim light.

This is a druid.

Like a frightened fledgling, Yan Jingyu staggered toward Xu Fu. He quickly shrank behind Xu Fu, tightly gripping the hem of her coat, before looking at the person who had come.

His gaze met that of the giant tiger. He shuddered and abruptly retreated.

(End of this chapter)