Sitting down on the sofa, Qiu Tu opened the cloth bag.
The first thing that caught his eye was a document so thin it only had two pages.
He set the document aside and checked the other items in the cloth bag.
One Aurora Stone, three Little Goldfish, and twelve Silver Yuan. These were all things Qiu Tu had given to Yan Chen yesterday, and now they were returned to their original owner.
Satisfied, Qiu Tu tucked the assets that his dozen or so brothers had scraped together into his bosom, and then he picked up the document he had placed aside to start reading.
The document was brief and rudimentary at best, but it was enough for Qiu Tu to glimpse a corner of the supernatural powers of this world...
However, the more he read through the document, the deeper his frown became, until at last he put the document down with a face so grave it seemed water could drip from it.
"If this document is true, then I've encountered the worst possible scenario..." he thought.
With that in mind, Qiu Tu also recalled the contents of the document:
According to the records in the document, the thirty years following the Cataclysm had transformed the entire world beyond recognition. A weird and mysterious force had quietly awakened, reshaping the veins of the world and the forms of life.
Among them, what was most hair-raising was the unusual mutations starting to occur among the creatures of the natural world:
For instance, the English ivy inexplicably began to swell and twist, its thickness rivaling the water pipes of the abandoned cities;
The common weeds by the roadside seemed normal in daylight, but under the moonlight they became as sharp as knives, radiating a chilling edge;
The ants, so small as to be unnoticed by most, had now grown as large as hounds of the night, wandering through the ruins and emitting deep, nightmarish growls...
At that time, humanity was struggling for survival and had no time to take heed of these bizarre life phenomena.
It was not until 15 years ago, when the first Sanctuary was erected and the elite of humanity gradually gathered there and began to venture into the outside world, that they were shocked to find the world had fallen into an even more bizarre state.
The mutated animals and plants not only saw significant enhancements in strength, speed, intelligence, and aggressiveness, but some individuals even acquired inconceivable abilities...
Humans speculated that all of this originated from the unprecedented Cataclysm, and thus the phenomenon was dubbed "Cataclysm Awakening."
Yet, what was utterly puzzling was that the entire world's biological community had undergone the Cataclysm Awakening, but humans alone did not show any change.
Thus, two hypotheses gradually emerged among humans regarding this phenomenon.
One was that humans might also be awakening, but due to the long life cycle and weak reproduction abilities, it would take several more generations before naturally born humans with mysterious powers would emerge.
The other was that humans were already at a high level of life and the Cataclysm could not fully awaken them. Thus, humans had to actively steal the mutated powers from other creatures to truly realize their own awakening.
These two hypotheses caused a continuous debate during the early days of the Sanctuary.
That debate was temporarily put to rest 13 years ago when a Pharmacist accidentally created a Cataclysmic Potion and successfully gave the test subject some bizarre power.
Accompanying the birth of the Cataclysmic Potion, the value of the Cataclysm Materials from various mutated creatures began to soar, and professions such as Pharmacists started to rise rapidly...
If the document had only recorded up to here, Qiu Tu's eyebrows might not have been so tightly knit.
What truly troubled him was the latter half of the document.
According to the records, humans couldn't attain mysterious powers with a 100% success rate after using the Cataclysmic Potion. On the contrary, the failure rate was over 80%.
And once it failed, those who took the potion would go through irreversible catastrophic mutations, turning into monsters with astounding destructive powers but no spiritual wisdom.
Even for the lucky few who came through, the direction of the Cataclysm Awakening was not fixed but varied from person to person.
This meant that apart from the moment of awakening, no one could predict how far they'd venture on an unknown path....
"Damn it.... I originally thought I could change my fate with supernatural power."
"But not only is the success rate low, the supernatural powers in this world are also of a peculiar kind."
"Who knows if such powers could have any side effects?"
While thinking this, Qiu Tu took a match out of his pocket.
"Scratch!" Accompanied by the sound of the match striking, a faint flame ignited the two thin sheets of information.
Watching the information slowly burn to ashes in the dancing flames, Qiu Tu also fell into silent contemplation....
"The path of resolving crises with supernatural powers is temporarily blocked."
"Yan Chen might possess some strange supernatural power, and running away without a plan is tantamount to suicide...."
"So, it looks like I have to make a trip to the Qin Family after all..."
Thinking this, Qiu Tu's eyes grew somber,
"However.... this might also be a good opportunity to interrogate that young pharmacist."
"Perhaps.... the information obtained from her might offer some unique insights?"
A moment later, the documents had burned completely. Qiu Tu stomped out the last ember and glanced at the Treasure Chest's timer in the upper left corner, which showed just over 8 hours remaining. Then he got up to look for Qin Shuman....
He did not have much time left....
[8:27:39 (Treasure Chest)]
....
Following the maid, Qiu Tu ascended two winding staircases and turned down two dim corridors before arriving at the door to Qin Shuman's boudoir.
At the door to Qin Shuman's boudoir, the maid took the initiative to step forward and tapped lightly on the door.
The next second, a voice as pleasing as a nightingale's sang from inside, "Come in."
Pushing open the door, they entered to see Qin Shuman in a pink cheongsam with slits, seated by the window. While sipping tea, she gazed out melancholically, resembling a canary yearning for freedom.
"Miss Shuman, Agent Qiu is looking for you." The maid courteously bowed towards Qin Shuman's back and spoke softly.
Upon hearing the maid's words, Qin Shuman quickly set down her tea cup, turned around with a look of joy that she could not hide, and exclaimed, "Qiu... Agent Qiu, you've come?"
As there was someone else present, Qiu Tu did not behave too affectionately. He just smiled and nodded, "Yes, Miss Shuman, I have something important to discuss with you."
After speaking, he gave Qin Shuman a meaningful look.
Qin Shuman understood immediately. She elegantly stood up and then demurely said to the maid at the door, "You may leave us. I want to chat privately with Agent Qiu for a moment."
"Yes, Miss Shuman," the maid replied, curtsying lightly before she turned and left the room. But after reaching the doorway, she intentionally left the door slightly ajar.
Qiu Tu glanced back but didn't comment. He gestured to Qin Shuman, and only then did he walk over to her side....
Approaching Qin Shuman, the faint, cherry blossom-like graceful fragrance unique to her wafted over to him....