Chapter 344: He Yun

On the 100th floor of Holy Song Corporation, in Schultz's secret laboratory.

This is the highest-authorized area in the entire company, without exception.

Only the chairman himself can activate it; remote authorization is impossible, and it cannot be opened by key, password, or any other means.

Near the front square of Holy Song Corporation, Wu Chang and Ai Lin sat side by side, looking down below.

"I was sitting right here when I saw the Light Society invade the dimension, and Schultz transformed into a hymn, fighting the projections of three Light Society members without losing ground."

"Schultz is the second-smartest person I've ever seen across all dimensions. I always believed that even without the Omniscient Crystal, he would have achieved great things."

"I don't know what he saw in the Omniscient Crystal, but I can feel that while his arrangements target the Light Society, his imagined enemy isn't limited to the Rational Realm—it's something higher."

When Wu Chang mentioned the origin of the Omniscient Crystal, he had briefly described what happened in the Holy Song Corporation instance, but never in this much detail before.

Ai Lin observed the secret laboratory on the 100th floor; accepting the worldview of the real world had already strained her greatly.

Entering this future-tech world, everything around her was incomprehensible.

But with Wu Chang's explanations, she listened with intense focus.

"Pity I was stabilizing the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth then, unable to come with you to this dimension."

"If I had been here, perhaps I could have saved your cousin."

When Ai Lin mentioned her time stabilizing the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth, Wu Chang felt a pang of guilt—he knew he'd entered more than just the Holy Song Corporation instance during that period.

He said: "Maybe with you here, we could've saved Schultz together—but saving Schultz is unlikely."

"At best, we could preserve him in the Wasteland Realm, but once his plan begins, there's no stopping it. He'll elevate the instance dimension to the Rational Realm, and when the Light Society strikes again, he still won't be able to resist."

Ai Lin said nothing this time; she'd heard from Wu Chang that the leader of the Light Society, Joy, possessed power capable of withstanding divine authority.

Against an enemy of that caliber, even they couldn't win now, let alone Schultz.

Wu Chang sensed the groundwork was laid enough and ventured cautiously:

"During the time you were guarding the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth, many things happened. Though I didn't save Schultz, I saved others."

Ai Lin asked: "You mean the vice-chairman mentioned in the press conference?"

Wu Chang: "Uh…"

Women's deadly intuition was always this sharp.

"Yes."

Ai Lin didn't press further; she waited quietly for Wu Chang's next words.

Wu Chang crossed his arms over his chest, took a deep breath, and said:

"It goes back to when we took the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth from Revelation and guided the Administration to cleanse Wanghai City of Revelation—you remember how we let go of a leader named Yu Na?"

Ai Lin nodded: "I remember."

They had rescued Yu Na from the Administration's encirclement, and she'd even changed the woman's clothes.

Wu Chang continued:

"When I delivered Yu Na to Wanming City, I met the deity they worshiped, and from that deity, I learned of the Existence Pillars."

"He told me then that the fates of the Existence Pillars and the Wasteland Realm were already sealed, unchangeable—that if you and I got too deeply involved, we would die because of it."

"I said I didn't believe it."

"Soon after, my college roommate Fang Hui, born with Root Power, was abducted by cultists. To save him, I accidentally entered an Existence Pillar—it was called Underground Shelter No. 88."

Then Wu Chang recounted in full detail everything that happened inside the Underground Shelter to Ai Lin.

He had mentioned the Underground Shelter before, but only in a heavily edited version.

This time, there was no avoiding it—he had to reveal everything.

At the end of the story, he said:

"The Light Society's plan was intricately linked, incorporating both the Underground Shelter and the Mother of Desires, trapping everything in a time loop, forming an inescapable deadlock."

"The situation of the Underground Shelter perfectly matches Revelation's deity's words: the outcome was already sealed, unchangeable."

"I'm not the type to meddle in others' affairs, but I have a rebellious streak—I can't stand seeing others arrogantly decide the fates of others as if it were their right."

"He Yun, even trapped in the scheme, never stopped resisting—that sight drew me in, made me want to help her. Then, under the circumstances, we…."

After finishing, Wu Chang felt a heavy stone lift from his chest, and he exhaled a long, stale breath.

He had confessed everything he needed to; now all he could do was wait for Ai Lin's judgment.

Since no one else was here, he was ready—whether through pleading, begging, or sheer stubbornness, he would settle this today.

Although Ai Lin had only recently regained her complete soul, she'd watched plenty of romance dramas during that time and quickly understood the situation.

Her face showed no anger, no sorrow—only calm as she looked at Wu Chang and asked:

"Will you give up He Yun for me?"

Wu Chang shook his head: "No, and I also can't give you up."

"It sounds a bit shameless, but I've never had any shame—I want to achieve a perfect 'all-in-one' ending in this life instance."

Ai Lin didn't get angry; instead, a smile appeared on her face as she said:

"I'm glad you chose not to give her up."

Wu Chang, judging by his own standards, wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic, so he adopted a meek posture and listened quietly.

Ai Lin sighed, gazing tenderly at Wu Chang, and said:

"When I needed help most, you pulled me from the ashes, gave me new life, and took me to see a world broader than I ever imagined."

"Every good thing I've ever experienced as a human, I experienced with you—every memory I recall bears your shadow."

"Though I'm a little heartbroken, what can I do?"

Wu Chang opened his mouth; the apology lines he'd memorized from the Omniscient Crystal had been perfectly rehearsed, but now they stuck in his throat—he couldn't utter a single word.

Ai Lin said: "You rescued her from the time loop, helped her undo her past grave mistakes, and saved her only remaining relative."

"I believe that at the time, she thought of you as the irreplaceable person in her life, just as I do now."

Wu Chang finally put his heart at ease—he had passed this time.

Ailin shook her head slightly and said:

"But from now on, I'll always be by your side. If you ever meet someone who needs help, I'll assist them for you."

Wu Chang said nothing, maintaining his innocent expression.

The confession seemed to go smoothly, but he had actually leveraged Ailin's deep empathy and her feelings for him.

Though Ailin made no complaints or showed anger, the pressure from her guilt still made it hard for him to breathe.

He took a deep breath, rubbed his face stiff from smiling foolishly, and thought: no matter how it went, the outcome was good.

He had concealed nothing from either Ailin or He Yi, and abandoned neither side—he had achieved the hidden ending only a rule-breaker could complete.

After finishing her part, Ailin couldn't help asking:

"After telling me, have you figured out how to explain it to her? If you're struggling, I can pretend…"

Wu Chang suddenly embraced Ailin, cutting off her words.

He couldn't let her say any more—he'd be overwhelmed with guilt.

He looked at Ailin and said: "From the very beginning, I never intended to hide your existence."

He explained to Ailin that He Yi knew of her, and described He Yi's attitude.

He didn't know what Ailin had imagined, but from her gaze, it seemed she now understood He Yi a little better.

He shook his head, daring not to press further; but since the topic was out, he went on to tell Ailin He Yi's plan.

Ailin didn't place much importance on faith energy, and immediately agreed to He Yi's plan.

In a certain sense, Ailin, as a deity, was purer.

She did not view her followers as mere tools for harvesting faith energy; compared to reaping faith, she wished more to protect all her believers and help the world as much as she could.

Upon learning that the surface of the underground shelter's realm had died, and people could only live in endless darkness underground, her eyes filled with pity and sorrow.

Learning that He Yi's acquisition of faith energy could purify the surface and restore a clean world to the shelter's residents,

she even volunteered to give He Yi the faith energy from the Sacred Song Company's realm, to help her complete the surface purification sooner.

In her view, He Yi had done far more for the realm than she, as a deity, ever had—and was far more worthy of using the realm's followers' faith energy.

Wu Chang, seeing this, couldn't help shaking his head: compared to the Great Mother who had "created" Ailin, Ailin clearly deserved the title "Great Mother" far more.

Once he entered the third layer of the Abyss, he needed to find the Great Mother and see if he could strip her of her divine title.

After the preparation phase ended, he took Ailin's hand and led her into the Underground Shelter Realm.

The Sacred Song Company's realm closely resembled the real world, and Ailin adapted to it easily.

But the Underground Shelter Realm, though also a tech realm, was far more novel.

As the two walked along the streets of the underground shelter, Ailin kept glancing around—the massive sky dome simulating day and night, the enormous city built beneath the earth—everything fascinated her.

Wu Chang asked: "What do you think of this place?"

Ailin thought for a moment and said: "Better than I expected. The underground environment hasn't harmed people much."

"It's clear the city's builders worked hard to improve people's lives."

"Thank you for the compliment." He Yi's voice sounded behind them.

Wu Chang and Ailin turned around and found He Yi standing silently behind them—neither had sensed her arrival.

After a brief surprise, they quickly noticed: He Yi's body looked no different from a real person, but upon closer inspection, her form was faint, her edges and facial details blurred.

Wu Chang asked: "Holographic projection?"

He looked around but found no projector; He Yi's projection appeared as if materialized from nothing, solid and real.

He Yi's projection smiled and said:

"A special application of the Underground Shelter's energy network. All the ambient energy in the shelter is under my control. Using it for direct attacks is difficult, but forming a simple holographic projection isn't hard."

He Yi extended her hand to Ailin and said: "Pleased to meet you, Pure Light of Purity, Young Lady Ailin."

Ailin reached out and clasped He Yi's hand—the touch felt as solid as flesh.

"Young Lady He Yi, I'm equally pleased to meet you."

From Ailin's demeanor, He Yi realized Wu Chang had truly told her about her.

She gave Wu Chang a look—"Well done, I'll reward you later"—then said:

"Young Lady Ailin, this is your first time in the Underground Shelter. As the city's administrator, I'll serve as your guide and show you around."

"Has Wu Chang mentioned to you our plan to establish the Yongguang Sect here and collect faith?"

Ailin nodded: "We came specifically for this."

He Yi smiled: "Perfect. My planned route passes by the former Paradise Cult temple—it's an ideal location, and the shelter's residents are already accustomed to praying there. A minor renovation will make it ready for immediate use."

Along the way, He Yi and Ailin conversed smoothly.

He Yi displayed the calm composure of a city administrator; Ailin, the solemn compassion of a holy maiden.

Nothing seemed amiss—but to Wu Chang, the atmosphere conveyed only one word: alien.

It was too formal.

The scene felt like a holy maiden, as religious representative, inspecting a city needing a church's presence, while the mayor personally welcomed her.

And Wu Chang, silent and trailing behind, looked like their little attendant.

He narrowed his eyes—he had to break this atmosphere.

Wu Chang stepped forward quickly, wedging himself between them, and grabbed both their hands at once.

The gesture shattered their poise—both flushed red at once.

But rushing ahead to "you're both my wings" was still too early.

His grip on both hands lasted only seconds—He Yi dissolved her projection, Ailin shifted into her divine true form, and withdrew her hand from Wu Chang's.

His attempt to connect them through himself had failed—but from the standpoint of easing tension, his action had succeeded.

When He Yun's main body arrived in an empty vehicle, the formal atmosphere of an official meeting between them vanished.

Wu Chang and Ai Lin stayed in the underground shelter for two days, during which the three of them remained together the entire time.

Ai Lin was born with a powerful charisma that made people instinctively draw close to her and feel no hostility.

As they spent more time together, He Yun and Ai Lin's relationship gradually grew harmonious, and their cooperation became increasingly seamless.

Under He Yun's promotion and organization, Ai Lin's missionary activities were highly successful.

All shelter residents, including He Yun and He Yi, joined the Yongguang Sect Sect.

The population of Underground Shelter No. 88 was not large, but a shelter that had nurtured two "Children of the Plane" seemed also to be a plane center.

Under the faith of the underground shelter's residents, the Tree of Miracles rapidly took root and grew into a Pillar of the Divine Realm.

Wu Chang had originally believed it would take until just before or after the World instance began for the underground shelter to accumulate enough faith energy, but he never expected it to merge into Ai Lin's large Divine Realm in just two days.

After the underground shelter merged into the large Divine Realm, He Yun, as a believer within the Divine Realm, gained the ability to travel across its various planes after receiving Ai Lin's authorization.

He Yun was eager to perfect her research on condensing divinity and was especially eager to enter the Song Company's plane.

Thus, the moment the underground shelter merged into the large Divine Realm, Wu Chang brought her into the company to complete her induction ceremony as Vice Chairperson.

With the qualification instance for the World instance approaching, Wu Chang could not remain in the Song Company guarding He Yun forever; before leaving, he took her to the Psychic Energy Stimulation Department.

Psychenergy Stimulation Surgery is one of the Song Company's three core services.

Once the talent zone in the brain is fully developed, the subject's intelligence will increase dramatically, and special talents will awaken alongside it.

It is also the ultimate goal of Abyss Game players; those modified by Psychenergy Stimulation Surgery can unlock a transformation most suited to themselves.

If even Abyss Game players can be modified, then theoretically, even non-native humans of this instance must possess a talent zone in their brains.

He had always wondered: with He Yun's current mental capacity, she could already research Techno-Mysticism—what level would her brain reach if she underwent Psychenergy Stimulation Surgery?

Psychenergy Stimulation Surgery was also He Yun's primary research target.

In Schulz's research, Psychenergy Stimulation was the transition from ordinary to extraordinary, the beginning of unlocking human potential.

Whether it was Primordial Armaments, Degenerate Monsters, or the final Artificial God Project, all technologies were built upon Psychenergy Stimulation.

To fully decipher Schulz's research, Psychenergy Stimulation was an unavoidable step.

No research is more profound than experiencing it firsthand.

For the Vice Chairperson to undergo Psychenergy Stimulation Surgery, with the Chairperson personally accompanying her, created such an atmosphere that the entire Psychenergy Stimulation Department stood at attention.

To complete this surgery, Hughes, who had been promoted to partner and stepped away from frontline work, once again donned a white coat and served as He Yun's lead surgeon.

This was not only to demonstrate his respect for the two Chairpersons, but also to restore his reputation.

The last time he operated on Xiao En, his insufficient skill failed to handle the complex modifications of Xiao En's talent zone, nearly causing the surgery to fail.

Although Schulz ultimately intervened and cleaned up the mess, it was obvious his impression in Xiao En's eyes had been ruined.

That failure was the shame of his life; every time he recalled the panic of that moment, he felt humiliation—the alarm of the surgical anomaly echoed like his nightmare.

For a long time afterward, whenever he saw red lights flashing, he broke into cold sweats and trembled in every limb.

To prevent such an incident from happening again, he further improved the Psychenergy Stimulation Surgery.

As long as he did not encounter a brain as complex as Xiao En's, even if the talent zone was congenitally damaged, he had confidence he could compensate for the deficiency with technique.

This time, he would deploy all his lifetime's knowledge to perform a flawless surgery and restore his image in Xiao En's eyes.

His eyes locked onto the screen; every movement was done with extreme caution, striving for not a single error.

With his superior skill, more than a dozen tiny mechanical arms pierced into He Yun's nape and extended all the way to her brain, causing her not the slightest discomfort throughout.

Unlike Xiao En, the woman in the surgical chamber—He Yun—was, as expected of Schulz's student, extraordinary; her talent zone was naturally half-open.

With just a slight adjustment, he fully opened He Yun's talent zone.

But before he could fully observe the state of He Yun's talent zone, the surgical chamber suddenly flashed red, and a piercing alarm blared through the operating room.

"Alert! Unknown error occurred during surgery! Cease surgery immediately!"

Hughes stared blankly at the screen, his body suddenly drained of all strength, his mind reduced to just two words.

Done for!

(End of Chapter)