Chapter 164: The Trials of Xyl (Part-29)

There was a long pause in his mind.

“Also, let Tiamat do whatever it wants. I barely acquired the qualifications to upgrade the system to rank 2. It will be a while before I get to rank-3. So, I need Tiamat in emergencies more than anyone,” Lin Fang added quietly. “If you ever sense my thoughts slipping into something dark because of Tiamat’s influence… just don’t forget to warn me. I’ll listen.”

Another pause. This one lingered.

“Alright,” Alpha finally replied.

“Lin Fang…” “Brother Lin…”

Wang Jie called his name twice, then a third time, loud enough to cut through the noise of the safe zone. Lin Fang blinked and finally came back to himself.

“Huh?” he said.

“You spaced out again,” Wang Jie said. “What’s wrong?”

Lin Fang shook his head lightly. “Nothing. I’ll be back in a minute. I forgot the submission.

He turned and walked toward the reporting desk.

Nianxi was already there, standing straight with both hands on her dimensional bag.

One by one, the staff pulled out monster heads and called out the tiers. Elite. Commander. Another Elite. Uncommon core. Each call added points to the screen in front of her. She followed Lin Fang’s instructions carefully. No high-tier monsters. Just enough to secure Silver class without drawing a spotlight.

Lin Fang stood beside her quietly. When her submission finished, he stepped forward and placed a single Commander-tier monster head on the counter. Nothing more.

The military instructor frowned slightly when he checked the bag. He flipped it once, then again. Empty. He looked up at Lin Fang and then at his bare shoulders. “No backpack. No extra materials. You lose your things on the way?”

Lin Fang shrugged. “You could say that.”

The instructor studied his face for a moment. “You want to file a report? If anything was taken by force, we can investigate.”

Lin Fang shook his head, lying straightforwardly. “It’s fine. I don’t want any trouble. I lost the materials fair and square. No complaints as long as I could pass.”

The instructor nodded once, already losing interest as Lin Fang wasn’t the only one who claimed to have lost his valuables. It was a recurring scene they saw every year. “Alright. Your contribution is recorded. License will be sent to your registered branch within a week.” His tone shifted automatically, flat and routine. To him, Lin Fang was just another cadet who lost things on the way.

Lin Fang and Nianxi turned to leave. As they stepped away from the desk, another officer approached from the side and leaned in. “How’s it going, Captain? Any good ones?”

The instructor tilted his chin toward Nianxi’s retreating back. “That girl. Silver class. Solid.”

The officer followed the direction of his gaze, then flicked his eyes to Lin Fang walking beside her. “What about the guy with her?”

The instructor shook his head. “Empty bag. Claimed to have lost everything. But he seemed completely unharmed without a bruise or an injury. Probably just survived to get the license.”

The officer frowned and pulled the digital record closer. His eyes narrowed as he scrolled. Then, suddenly, he stiffened. “Cadet… 23?”

His gaze snapped up to Lin Fang’s back. His expression changed instantly. “That’s him?”

The instructor blinked. “You know him?”

“I don’t,” the officer said slowly, already straightening up. “But Commander does.” He turned sharply on his heel. “I need to report this.”

After a while;

The megahorns wailed through every sector at once, long and heavy, rolling over the wilderness like the closing note of a war drum.

In the safe zone, people straightened from their seats, cups were set down, and chatter died mid-sentence.

The captain stepped onto the raised platform near the portal site and lifted his hand for silence. The crowd of hunters slowly gathered in, armor dented, clothes torn, faces tired but alive.

“The trial is officially over,” the captain announced. “From this moment on, late submissions will still be accepted for the next three hours, but points will be reduced. Anyone who has already submitted and entered the safe zone is not allowed to leave.”

Low murmurs spread through the group. Some looked relieved. Others looked tense.

The captain continued calmly, “The return portal will be opened shortly. You will be transported back to the Rest Zone. You may return to your homes afterward, but we recommend staying in the Rest Zone for the day. In twelve hours, all results will be finalized, and the rankings will be announced. Rewards will be distributed accordingly. If you choose to leave early, your rewards will be sent to your registered branch office.”

He paused and glanced over the crowd. “That includes the unlicensed hunters from Camp 2. If you survived, your licenses can be collected from your local Hunter Association branch.”

He raised the round device in his hand. “Now, get ready to—”

He pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

“Hmm?”

The faint hum that usually followed never came. No light. No portal. Just the quiet rustle of wind passing through tents.

The captain frowned and pressed it again. Still nothing.

Confusion rippled through the crowd. A few people shifted uneasily. Someone muttered, “What’s going on?”

The captain lifted his walkie-talkie. “Control, this is Safe Zone 64. The portal device is not responding. Confirm status.”

Static crackled faintly.

At that exact moment, both voices exploded inside Lin Fang’s mind at once.

“Careful.”

His heart skipped hard. Before he could even lift his head, the world seemed to tilt.

An invisible weight slammed down on everything.

The ground crushed into his knees as if the air itself had turned into iron.

Around him, people cried out as they were forced to the ground. Armor clanged. Weapons slipped from numbed hands. Several hunters hit face-first into the dirt with dull thuds.

Lin Fang felt his lungs compress. His breath came out in a strained hiss. It felt like the sky had dropped onto his back.

A sharp system notification flared in front of his vision.

*Ding!

[Warning: Environmental gravity has been forcibly altered.]

He gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up. His muscles screamed. Even lifting his head felt like dragging a mountain.

Around him, panic broke loose.

“What the hell is this?!”

“I can’t move!”

“My legs—!”

Nianxi was only a few steps away.

She was on one knee, both hands pressed to the ground, her face pale as she struggled just to stay upright. Lin Fang reached out, but even stretching his arm felt like it weighed hundreds of kilograms.

The captain was kneeling on the platform, one hand digging into the metal edge to keep himself from collapsing flat. His voice came out strained through the speaker. “All units… emergency status… gravity-type suppression field confirmed…”

The air itself felt wrong. Heavy. Pressing. As if something enormous and unseen had wrapped the entire safe zone in its palm and was slowly tightening its grip.

Inside Lin Fang’s mind, Alpha’s voice dropped into a low, tense growl.

“This pressure… It’s not a device.”

Tiamat’s voice followed, quiet but sharp with interest. “I didn’t expect Z’s power in this timeline, in this place… What a fate…”

And then someone walked into the safe zone.

A woman in a crisp suit, hair tied back, wearing tinted glasses like a business executive who took a wrong turn into a battlefield. Except the dozen robots marching behind her made it very clear she wasn’t lost at all.

Myra stepped forward with an easy smile, boots clicking against the hard ground as if she owned it.

“Good morning, hunters,” she said sweetly, as though she hadn’t just crushed the entire camp into the dirt. “From this moment on, all of you are our hostages. Please cooperate.”

The robots spread out in a semicircle, metal feet sinking into the earth with each synchronized step. Sleek mana blasters rotated toward the crowd.

Lin Fang didn’t move.

The instant Myra appeared, a familiar ding chimed in his vision.

*Ding!

[Emergency Quest: Neutralize the Invading Hostiles.]

[Objective: Defeat the enemy, the wielder of Gravity, and capture her. Reward: Skill Point.]

He quietly dismissed the window.

“For a mere skill point, I should face this girl and those robots?” Lin Fang scoffed inwardly.

Not this time.

Half the camp had seen him flying, killing monsters, or standing beside a resurrected serpent.

Pulling off some dramatic “hero moment” now would destroy whatever anonymity he had left. And one skill point isn’t worth the risk.

So Lin Fang stayed exactly where he was, hands relaxed at his sides, head lowered, containing his aura.

Let others make the first mistake.

Meanwhile, Myra continued in her pleasant tone, as if hosting a seminar.

“Now then… everyone, please group together. No need for anyone to panic and cooperate with us…”

“Dismiss…”

The second the gravity suppression faded fully, giving everyone room to breathe from the suppression, three hunters near the front bolted.

“You damn bi*ch…”

One summoned a fire blade and lunged.

Another hurled a spear of compressed ice.

A third activated his bloodline ability, muscles bulging as he charged.

Myra sighed softly, shaking her head. “Every time.”

Her robots reacted before she even blinked—mana blasters fired in thin, clean lines. The three hunters’ attacks evaporated midair. Their bodies followed a moment later, with a hole in their chests and collapsing like puppets with their strings cut.

Screams erupted behind Lin Fang. Someone cursed. Someone else threw up.

Myra gave a light shrug, as if apologizing for spilled tea.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t enjoy killing random people,” she said, voice calm and polite. “But noncompliance is… inconvenient.”

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