Chapter 346: The Fusion of the Civilization Cornerstone·The Unlocking of Ultimate Power

Zhao Jianguo's hand was still pressed against his chest, palm hot and burning, like an iron shovel just pulled from the stove. The triplets' hands remained stacked, not loosening; blue light circled the door frame in rings, neither hurried nor slow, as if stuck at '2' on the previous countdown, just hanging there, neither up nor down.

No one spoke in the room; even breathing was kept low. Zhao Xing's nose was still stuffed, but she didn't rub it, just tilted her head up to look at the door frame, her eye sockets a little wet but no tears fell. Zhao Chen's hand remained on her shoulder, knuckles white, palm sweating; a bead of sweat slid down his arm to his elbow, rubbing against Zhao Yang's cuff. Zhao Yang didn't tremble either, just stood there, hands back in his pockets, shoulders shrugging slightly, as if giving himself a pep talk.

Zhao Jianguo finally moved. He took his hand off his chest, fingers spread, paused half a second in the air, then slowly reached forward—not to touch the children, nor to feel the door, but aiming at the light screen, he lightly tapped twice, like patting dust off a kang mat.

The light screen had no response.

He tapped again, this time with a bit of force, his fingertip producing a faint whoosh.

The light screen 'whoosh' changed its text:

"Civilization cornerstone merging... Please confirm neural connection status."

Zhao Jianguo froze for a moment, then turned his head to glance at the three children. Zhao Xing blinked at him, Zhao Chen nodded, and Zhao Yang grinned, showing his teeth.

"Alright." Zhao Jianguo said, "Link it."

As his words fell, the tall arc-shaped door whose top couldn't be seen suddenly gave a 'hum'—not the earlier burnt-hum, but a clear tone, like someone striking a bronze bell far away. Immediately, the blue light at the door frame's edge began to contract inward, ring after ring, narrowing to a thin line, then with a soft 'pop' the whole door lit up, spilling a warm yellow glow from inside out, the same hue as the steam rising when lifting a pot lid in a Siheyuan on a winter morning.

Zhao Jianguo instinctively stepped back half a pace, his shoe sole scraping the seam of the metal ring with a 'scratch' sound. He ignored it, only staring at the door. The light grew brighter yet not glaring, warming faces like a brief bask in winter sun.

"Dad." Zhao Xing suddenly said, "I feel… like something's been added to my mind."

"I feel it too." Zhao Chen said, "Not like memorizing lessons; it's more like… we already knew it, just forgot."

Zhao Yang squatted down, hands on his knees, head tilted as if listening to something. "I hear a voice," he said, "not with my ears, but here—" he pointed to his temple, "it says 'Welcome Go Home'."

Zhao Jianguo neither laughed nor panicked. He straightened up and took a step forward, now closer to the children, one hand resting on Zhao Xing's shoulder, the other lightly supporting Zhao Yang's back, as if afraid he might really have gone daft and sit on the ground.

The light screen changed again:

"Civilization cornerstone merge complete. Detected three-generation neural resonance frequency synchronization at 98.7%, meeting the conditions for ultimate power unlock. Initiate?"

Below, two words appeared: 【Yes】 【No】

Zhao Jianguo didn't rush to click. He lowered his gaze to the three children. Zhao Xing lifted her eyes to him, bright enough to reflect the light screen's characters; Zhao Chen pressed his lips, though the corners turned up; Zhao Yang simply stood up, hopped once, and said, "Click yes! Click yes! I can't wait!"

"Don't mess around." Zhao Jianguo lightly patted his head, "This isn't like flipping a light switch."

"But I feel it knows us." Zhao Yang rubbed the spot that had been patted, still unconvinced, "Just now that voice called my nickname, saying 'Little Yangzi, don't keep your hands in your pockets, they're cold.'"

Zhao Jianguo startled, then almost laughed. He quickly straightened his face: "Nonsense, how could the system know your nickname?"

"It did say that!" Zhao Yang flared, face red, "You don't believe me? Ask it!"

Zhao Jianguo really wanted to ask, but he knew he couldn't. If the system could really chitchat, that would be spooky.

He raised his hand, about to press 'Yes', when the light screen suddenly moved on its own.

A new line of text floated up:

"Detected that the guardian has not signed the informed consent form. Unlock process paused."

Zhao Jianguo: "..."

He stared at that line of text, like looking at a stubborn piece of dog‑skin plaster that refuses to budge.

"What's an informed consent form?" Zhao Yang leaned in, "Do we need to sign and seal? My pencil writing is fine."

"No." Zhao Jianguo kept a straight face, "The system is just being difficult."

"It's been like this before." Zhao Xing suddenly said, "Last time we signed in for a lottery, they said the prize was a bicycle, but then they made Mom write a note 'agreeing to receive external supplies', and only after Dad wrote three words on a cigarette‑box paper did it accept it."

"Exactly!" Zhao Yang slapped his thigh, "Just write 'agree' and it's fine!"

Zhao Jianguo really pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, then produced half a pencil stub. He squatted, wrote two characters in the corner: "Agree." Then he blew on it and held it up to show the light screen.

The light screen remained silent for three seconds.

Then it popped up: "Handwriting recognition failed. Please use a standard electronic signature."

Zhao Jianguo crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it out. The paper ball flew half a circle, hit the metal ring with a 'pop', bounced back, and smacked Zhao Yang right on the forehead.

"Ouch!" Zhao Yang covered his head, "Dad, what are you doing?!"

"The system is bullying people." Zhao Jianguo stood up, hands on hips, glaring at the light screen, "Let me tell you, don't think you're something just because you have a screen. Back when I filled out eighty‑eight forms at my unit, I'd never seen you this troublesome."

The light screen moved again:

"Suggest enabling voice authorization. Please speak the authentication code."

Zhao Jianguo: "... What should I say?"

Light screen: "The fire of civilization begins from a faint light."

Zhao Jianguo nearly choked: "Is this a radio drama line?"

"The authentication code cannot be changed." The light screen replied coldly.

Zhao Xing whispered a reminder: "Dad, just say it, it's no trouble."

Zhao Jianguo took a deep breath, holding back his anger, and enunciated each syllable: "Wen — ming — zhi — huo, shi — yu — wei — guang."

The light screen paused.

Then it gave a 'ding', like the cafeteria meal bell.

"Voice authentication passed. Ultimate power unlock procedure restarted."

Below, the 【Yes】 character began to flash, flashing in a way that made hearts race.

Zhao Jianguo didn't rush to press it. He turned back to look at the three children—none missing, all present. Zhao Xing stood straight, Zhao Chen's hand still rested on his sister's shoulder, and Zhao Yang had both hands back in his pockets, but this time his toes were tipped, as if ready to jump at any moment.

"Ready?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

The three nodded in unison.

Zhao Jianguo reached out and pressed down.

At the instant the 'Yes' was pressed, the whole door 'boomed' to peak brightness—not blue, not yellow, but an indescribable color, like the purplish‑gray on the horizon before a summer thunderstorm, lit from within. Immediately, three beams of light shot from the door's base, even and centered, enveloping the triplets completely.

Zhao Xing stood on the far right; as the light hit her, the red hair‑tie on her head suddenly came undone and slowly floated up, as if blown by a wind that wasn't there. Zhao Chen, in the middle, felt the light sweep over him—the steel pen in his clothing pocket 'popped' out, its cap opening automatically, tip pointing down, suspended in midair without a single ink drop. Zhao Yang on the left, as the light washed over him, the hands in his pants pockets were thrust outward, as if something were pushing out; looking closer, they were the glass marbles he had hidden in his pockets as a child, each one drifting up and circling his head.

Zhao Jianguo stared without blinking. He didn't step forward or back, just stood there with his hand hovering in midair, as if ready to catch any child who might fall.

The light beams lasted about half a minute, then 'whoosh' withdrew back into the door. The light on the door frame dimmed, returning to its original warm yellow, neither glaring nor cold.

The triplets didn't move.

Zhao Xing touched his head, the red hair tie was tied properly again. Zhao Chen picked up the pen, screwed on the cap, and slipped it back into his pocket. Zhao Yang watched those marbles slowly fall back to the ground, one after another; finally he bent over, picked them all up, and stuffed them back into his pants pocket.

The Light Screen flashed once:

Ultimate power unlocked. Ability type: Civil Empathy·Cross-dimensional Coordination. See the User Manual V3.2 for details.

Then it went out with a pop.

The door didn't make a sound either.

The room suddenly grew so quiet that the faint clack of Zhao Yang's marbles knocking together in his pocket could be heard.

Zhao Jianguo finally let out a breath, his shoulders slumping as he almost sat down. He steadied himself by holding Zhao Xing's arm and grinned: "Did we make it?"

Zhao Xing nodded, her voice trembling a little: "Yeah... I can... feel what they're thinking." She pointed at the two younger brothers.

Zhao Chen said: "Not just them. I seem to hear... other voices, like many people talking, but it's not noisy."

Zhao Yang closed his eyes and murmured: "East Wing Room, Dad's smoking, Mom's slicing cucumbers, Second Uncle's shouting in the courtyard, 'Bring in the laundry!'"

Zhao Jianguo startled: "How do you know that?"

Zhao Yang opened his eyes, gave a hehe smile: "I just knew."

Zhao Jianguo looked at him, then at the door, then at where the Light Screen had vanished, and suddenly felt a bit dizzy—not a headache, but a dazed feeling that 'this really happened.'

He raised his hand, tousled Zhao Xing's head, patted Zhao Chen's shoulder, then pinched Zhao Yang's cheek: "All right, you guys are awesome."

Zhao Yang grinned: "Of course! We're——"

Before he could finish, Zhao Jianguo suddenly raised his hand, making a 'shush' gesture.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the top part of the door frame.

There, where the metal surface had been smooth, a thin crack had appeared sometime—about an inch long, slightly darker than the surrounding metal, like a crack in old wood.

But that crack... seemed to have moved a bit.

Like it was breathing.