The strongest intermediary in all realms

A stream of silvery-gray light carried Zhou Ming through the barrier, landing on the familiar grassland of the continent of Elderland. Two suns hung in the afternoon azure sky, and pale purple wildflowers swayed gently in the breeze.

There was still some distance to the watchtower, but Zhou Ming could see from afar that there were no lights in the windows at the top of the tower—the place looked much quieter than it had been the night before.

"System scan initiated," Xiao Qi's voice came through. "No one is patrolling outside the watchtower. The energy fluctuation intensity of the basement teleportation array is zero; it's completely offline."

Zhou Ming quickened his pace. He reached the north outer wall of the watchtower, where the iron bars of the ventilation shaft remained in the same position he had pried open the night before, indicating that no one had entered or exited through there recently. He climbed down the same way he had come and entered the basement.

The light pattern array on the ground lay lifeless, like faded old embroidery. The top of the central stone pillar was empty; the crystal sphere had been removed.

At one corner of the array's edge, a stone slab embedded in the ground stood out—its surface was engraved with dense coordinate symbols, somewhat similar to the boundary coordinate map he had seen in the Shenxiao Ruins.

"The boundary marker disc," Xiao Qi confirmed. "Destroying it will mean they'll lose their coordinates for Plane Twelve forever, unless they re-map the entire plane's spatial anchor points—that would take at least several months, or even longer."

Zhou Ming crouched down and took out the remaining attack talisman from his backpack. Although the fire-attribute talisman was not very powerful, it was more than enough to destroy a rock. He stuck it to the surface of the stone plate and took a few steps back.

"Xiao Qi, get excited—"

He had just opened his mouth when a dull tremor suddenly came from above the basement, followed by hurried footsteps and the clanging of metal—someone was coming.

Zhou Ming's expression changed. Without thinking, he ripped off the attack talisman and stuffed it back into his pocket. He then dodged into the shadows behind the stone pillar and held his breath.

The footsteps grew closer, and the basement door was suddenly pushed open, with two people rushing in.

It wasn't the man in the black robe.

They were natives of a magical world. Two guards in leather armor, one of them covered in sweat, shouted, "Quick! Get the spare energy box from the teleportation array base! The man in the gray cloak just sent a message saying there's a problem on their end and they need to restart it, so we need to use the spare box to hold out!"

Another guard rushed to a hidden compartment at the edge of the formation and found a small metal box. The box had patterns similar to those on the crystal sphere base and was a backup low-power energy source.

Zhou Ming's heart tightened. The Cleaners had actually prepared backup energy in the twelfth plane! Although it wasn't as powerful as a crystal sphere, it was enough to support one or two low-power transmissions.

He had to destroy the boundary marker immediately, otherwise they could continue delivering goods once the spare box was installed.

He had no time to hesitate.

Zhou Ming rushed out from behind the stone pillar.

The two guards were loading the spare boxes onto the stone pillar when they heard the noise and turned around sharply. Before they could even see who it was, Zhou Ming had already slapped the attack talisman onto the surface of the stone plate.

This time, he activated the talisman himself—pressing his palm on the talisman paper, he sent out a pulse of spiritual energy, and orange-red flames exploded on the surface of the stone slab.

boom!

Rock fragments flew everywhere, and the boundary marker slab shattered into more than a dozen pieces. The shockwave pushed Zhou Ming back two steps, his ears ringing.

Startled by the sudden explosion, the two guards dropped the spare box and tumbled to the ground, the metal box rolling to the corner of the wall.

"Who goes there!" one of them shouted, drawing a knife from his waist.

Zhou Ming didn't reply. He bent down, picked up the spare box that had rolled to his feet, put it in his backpack, and turned to run towards the ventilation duct. Behind him came the shouts of the guards and the footsteps of those chasing him. He crawled into the narrow ventilation duct on all fours, and a knife slashed at the duct opening from behind, sending sparks flying.

He strained forward with all his might, but the narrow pipe prevented him from speeding up. He was practically digging his way forward inch by inch with his elbows and knees.

Curses came from behind him; someone tried to reach into the pipe to grab his ankle, but missed by a few inches.

Zhou Ming scrambled out of the ventilation shaft, sliding down the north wall onto the grass. Without looking back, he took off running towards the grass, continuing until his legs gave way.

He bent over, leaning against a tree trunk, panting. His ears were still ringing. Gravel had cut the skin on the back of his right hand, and blood was seeping out, but he didn't care about that anymore.

The spare box in the backpack pressed heavily against my back, like a hot iron.

"Huff...huff..." Zhou Ming straightened up. "The boundary marker stone...exploded?"

"It's blown up." Xiao Qi's voice was filled with relief at surviving the ordeal.

"There are at least thirteen fragments, beyond repair. Although you stole the spare box, they could still deliver goods once or twice if they had other alternative energy sources. The problem is, they've even lost their coordinates—without the boundary stone disc, the energy stored in the warehouse can't be delivered to Earth. The Elderland supply line is useless."

Zhou Ming looked up at the sky, where two suns, one golden and one orange, hung side by side above the treetops, filtering dappled light through the leaves.

He was breathing heavily, and the corners of his mouth slowly, very slowly turned up.

All the hard work along the way has paid off.

He straightened up, took out a water bottle from his backpack and took two gulps, then took out the spare box and looked through it.

Unlike the crystal ball, this metal box is smaller and has a simple, rough surface texture. Its energy storage capacity is only about one-tenth that of the crystal ball, but it is enough to drive the teleportation array for one or two low-power teleportations.

"Take it back and study it." He stuffed it back into his backpack. "Maybe we can deduce the design logic of their entire energy system from the structure of the spare box."

As the silver-gray passage tore open again, Zhou Ming glanced back at the distant watchtower.

The sunlight bathed the tower in a warm gold, making everything seem quiet and distant, as if the chase just moments before was nothing more than an afternoon dream.

It was already evening when I got back to the office.

Zhou Ming placed the spare box on the table, making it his neighbor to the crystal ball.

Gulu curiously circled around the two glowing little objects, its tail tip touching the crystal ball before retracting, shivering from the energy fluctuations.

"Two dimensions, two gains." Zhou Ming sat at the table, rubbing the wounds on his hands. "The Cleaners' supply line number twelve has been cut off, and I've gained two more research samples."

"Add Shen Qinglan's sheet music to the mix, and with these three things together—we finally have the leverage to confront the liquidators head-on."

Xiao Qi floated over and sat on the table, her legs dangling in the air: "So how are you going to use these?"

"If I successfully crack the score, I can develop the 'Musical Transcendence' business line. The crystal sphere and the spare box can help me examine the liquidator's energy technology. And what I need to do next—" He opened the notebook on the table, picked up a pen, crossed out an old task, and added a new one next to it.

"Expand the network. I need more clients, more dimensions, and more sources of information. The liquidators' reach spans countless realms. If I rely solely on my small circle in Yuecheng District, they'll eventually uncover my true intentions. I need to expand my business, reaching corners they can't reach."

As he closed his notebook, his phone rang. It was another unknown number.

"Feed?"

"Is this the Yorozuya?" A young girl's voice came from the other end, speaking so fast it was almost a continuous stream. "I'm the moderator of the Yuecheng District Transmigrator Forum! Someone anonymously posted on the forum saying, 'There's an agent at 87 Wutong Road who can handle interdimensional coordinates.' I'm just giving it a try—could you help me find some coordinates? Last week I found a sign in an abandoned passageway with a string of numbers engraved on it, but I'm not sure which dimension it corresponds to."

Zhou Ming glanced at Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi immediately nodded; the system was capable of parsing dimensional coordinate codes.

"Would it be convenient for you to bring the sign?" Zhou Ming asked. "It's more reliable to see it in person."

"I'm coming right now!"

Less than twenty minutes after the phone call ended, there was a loud knocking on the office door. A short-haired girl wearing a hoodie and cargo pants rushed in, her ponytail flying behind her head, her face full of excitement.

She slammed a palm-sized bronze plaque on the table, pointing to a line of numbers engraved on it.

Zhou Ming looked down and saw that the arrangement of the digital codes was very similar to the format of the plane coordinates stored in the system, but there were also some subtle differences.

Xiao Qi scanned silently for three seconds, then displayed the results on the system panel: [These coordinates are the entrance anchor point of the high-level Xianxia world "Tianyan Realm". The annotation indicates that the coordinates are 'Tianji Pavilion Outer Gate Assessment Teleportation Point'. These coordinates are still active.]

Zhou Ming looked up at the girl: "Tianyan Realm, Tianji Pavilion outer sect assessment teleportation point. The sign you picked up is an 'admission ticket.'"

The girl's eyes widened: "The Heavenly Evolution Realm? That's the legendary sect that specializes in recruiting geniuses in formations?"

"The system displays this: the coordinate marker is active, indicating that this entrance is not closed. If you wish to go, you can pass through with this token—but the assessment is risky. The outer sect assessment of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is said to be a formation deduction type; failing it may result in being teleported back."

The girl jumped up and down excitedly: "I've studied formations for three years! The forums all say that the formation traditions of the Heavenly Evolution Realm are far superior to those on Blue Star! Mr. Zhou, could you help me confirm the specific details of this assessment? I'm willing to pay!"

Looking into the girl's bright eyes, Zhou Ming suddenly remembered something: the Tianji Pavilion in the Tianyan Realm was a Xianxia sect that specialized in the research of formations.

Formations, teleportation arrays, sealing markers, and boundary markers are all the same kind of knowledge.

If he could open up customer channels in the Celestial Realm, or even establish a cooperative relationship with the Celestial Mystery Pavilion, then the technical details of the Cleaner's teleportation system could be cracked by real professionals.

"I'll take this order," Zhou Ming nodded, "but I won't take your money. I have only one condition—if you pass the assessment and enter the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, you'll act as my intermediary whenever I need to consult the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion about formation-related issues."

The girl paused for a moment, then smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents: "No problem! My name is Fang Xiaotang, a forum moderator! Leave anything you need regarding formations to me!"

She shoved the bronze plaque in front of Zhou Ming and then ran off in a flurry.

When the door closed, the office was filled with the scent of shampoo and the vibrant energy unique to young people.

Zhou Ming looked down at the bronze plaque on the table. Xiao Qi beside him let out a meaningful "hmm".

"Three worlds," Zhou Ming murmured. "In the Condor Heroes world, there's Zhao Laosan's medicinal herb network; in the Heavenly Evolution Realm, there's the potential to open up the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's professional array channels; plus the energy samples from the twelfth plane and Shen Qinglan's musical time-travel technique—my business empire has expanded from a single street in Yuecheng District to three planes."

As dusk settled outside the window, the streetlights at the intersection of Wutong Road lit up one by one, their warm yellow light illuminating the way home for pedestrians. Gulu lay on the windowsill, its transparent body emitting a faint milky halo in the twilight, like a quiet little lantern.

Zhou Ming arranged the bronze plaque, the sheet music, and the crystal ball side by side, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a while.

The liquidators' supply lines were cut off, new business channels were taking shape, and the customer base was expanding—everything was moving in a positive direction.

But he knew in his heart that the supply line to the 12th dimension of the Cleaners had been cut off, and they had lost an important logistical line. They would definitely intensify their efforts to investigate the problems within Blue Star.

He destroyed the crystal sphere, blew up the stone disc, stuffed in a forged log, and burned down the tool shed. If these traces are connected by the other party, sooner or later they will point to the conclusion that "someone is systematically targeting the liquidators."

Therefore, the window of opportunity left for him is actually gradually narrowing.

He opened his eyes, sat up straight, and turned to a new page in his notebook. The pen scratched across the paper as he wrote:

"Next steps: Confirm the coordinates of the Celestial Realm and establish professional channels for array formations; decipher musical scores and develop new cross-dimensional business lines; find customer touchpoints in more dimensions and expand the intelligence network further."

He stopped writing after finishing, looking at the few lines on the paper. The evening breeze from the streets of Yuecheng District seeped in through the window cracks, causing the pages to flutter slightly.

The fluorescent light overhead hummed, and Gulu rolled over on the windowsill, letting out a satisfied "squeak".

The office is small, but it contains messages from three worlds and countless possibilities.

Zhou Ming closed his notebook, stood up, and stretched.

Tomorrow will be another new day.