The year 4161, Observational Base on the Ninth Planet of Tianji Star, Longze East Road City Rail Station.
As Lin Rui followed the crowd to the exit of the city rail station, he subconsciously raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight reflecting off the surrounding skyscrapers.
He was planning to head towards the bus station when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a vibrant young girl with delicate and sweet features, and a petite yet well-proportioned figure, waving at him from the side of the road.
Feeling surprised, Lin Rui quickly crossed through the bustling crowd and approached the girl with a frown, "Lin Xi, are you skipping class again?"
This was his younger sister, Lin Xi, sixteen years old, attending the nearby Longze Girls' High School, and a problematic girl who gave her teachers endless headaches.
Lin Xi let out a 'pfft' of laughter, filled with disdain, "What's the big deal with skipping class once? I learned all that boring stuff they teach two years ago."
She glanced at Lin Rui with a look full of hidden meaning, then hopped onto the hover motorcycle parked behind her, passing him a safety helmet.
"I came all the way here to pick you up, and you're not even happy. Hurry up and get on!"
Lin Rui looked somewhat helpless.
He noticed that the box on the back of the hover motorcycle was filled with all sorts of fresh ingredients.
As Lin Rui got on the bike, he asked with a puzzled tone, "You bought all these groceries? Didn't you say we were almost out of money for the month?"
"It's to nourish your body," she said.
Lin Xi had already started the engine and merged into the traffic ahead, "Tomorrow's your school's Astral Energy Combat Assessment, that's a big day for our family. I need to make you a good meal, to support you in every way. I've been waiting for this day for a long time. As long as you pass the assessment, we won't have to live so tightly anymore."
After hearing this, Lin Rui fell silent.
If it had been the original owner of this body, he could have easily placed within the top three of the class in this assessment.
The problem was that Lin Rui was not the real Lin Rui, nor was he from this era.
His soul came from the 21st century, a regular student who tragically suffered from leukemia and passed away, only to transmigrate to this world and wake up inside this dying body ten days ago, inheriting the previous owner's identity.
Lin Rui only inherited fragments of memory, so he had been very confused from the moment he woke up until now.
Lin Rui was still adapting to this high-tech era two thousand years later, and the biotech martial arts 'Zhi Zhuang Wudao' of this time was a bit too advanced for him. Although he learned very quickly and worked hard, there simply wasn't enough time left for him.
With a silent sigh in his heart and a distant tone, Lin Rui said, "You have quite a lot of confidence in me. What if I don't pass this time?"
"Fail? That would be terrible." Lin Xi seemed not to have picked up on his probing, casually shrugging her shoulders in front of him, "You would have to move to the lower city district, and we would have to live apart for a while.
But that's almost an impossibility. You've been working so hard, and for the past few years, your scores have been in the top twenty of your grade. If even you can't pass the assessments, then probably no one from your school could. You have to hold steady this time; our family's future comfort all depends on you."
Lin Rui felt even more burdened.
He knew how much sweat and effort the original owner of this body had put into becoming an exceptional Martial Artist.
Although Lin Rui's inherited memories were incomplete, his smart terminal contained two thousand seven-hundred pages of study notes recorded by the original body, as well as five burst sandbags and seven damaged sparring robots at home, all evidence of the relentless effort left by his predecessor.
Lin Xi had also made tremendous sacrifices.
His sister started doing part-time jobs at the age of fourteen to supplement their income and allow Lin Rui to focus on his martial training. During the summer break, she even took on three part-time jobs.
Lately, Lin Xi had been dressing up as a ghost every night, just to ensure she'd be safe walking home from her night shifts.
The siblings were working so hard with the hope that Lin Rui could successfully pass the exam, so they could stay together without being separated and avoid being driven out of the inner city area of the base by the government.
How could Lin Rui be at peace with himself if he uttered the words 'I don't want to take the exam' or 'I can't pass'?
Before long, they arrived at a villa district where the siblings lived—one of the most upscale public servant communities of the entire Ninth Base.
They were assigned to live here by the government before their mother passed away, and according to federal regulations, they could stay here until they reached adulthood.
As they drove into the community entrance, both siblings noticed that in front of one of the three-story villas, there were five police cars and two ambulances parked with their lights flashing bright blue and red. A large crowd had gathered outside the cordon line, looking into the house.
"Isn't that the Xue family's house? What happened to them?" Lin Xi asked in surprise, parking the motorcycle outside the cordon line and peering inside.
Neighborhood relationships in modern communities are quite cold.
Although the siblings lived here, they didn't even know who lived across from them.
Lin Xi knew the surname of this particular household because its head, Colonel Xue, was not only the president of their community resident committee but also responsible for the security management of their neighborhood.
In his early years, Colonel Xue had a good relationship with their family.
At this moment, a group of people nearby was discussing the incident,
"It's really tragic; a family of five was murdered. Only their daughter who was working at the Second Research Base escaped this misfortune."
"What exactly happened? Who would dare to mess with Colonel Xue?"
"Who knows? But before he retired, Colonel Xue was a high-ranking Martial Artist with the possibility of being promoted to Major General. The culprit was able to kill him in a very short time without alerting the neighbors; that's some serious power there."
Hearing this, Lin Rui looked at the villa's entrance in disbelief.
Colonel Xue is dead? But isn't he standing there, perfectly fine?
Standing at the entrance of the villa was a middle-aged man, around forty years old, dressed in the uniform of a senior colonel. He had a sturdy and upright figure, with sharp features and an imposing aura.
——If that wasn't Colonel Xue, who was it?
Lin Rui soon discovered that the police and medical staff all acted as if they couldn't see Colonel Xue, even walking right through his body.
A chill went down his spine and goosebumps covered his entire body.
Could it be a ghost?
Lin Rui didn't dare to look anymore, immediately turning away his gaze and also covering the eyes of Lin Xi in front of him, "They're bringing out the body now, this isn't something for you to see, let's go!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a string of text appeared before his eyes —— "Colonel rank war spirit detected, capture it?"
Lin Rui's eyes widened in shock. What was going on?
This wasn't a three-dimensional hologram projected by the smart terminal bracelet, it appeared directly in his own mind.
What was it that could directly generate textual information in his own mind?
Lin Rui's thoughts quickly turned to a skull ring on his finger.
This was a ring he had bought at a craft stall for ten yuan before he died of leukemia in the 21st century.
When he woke up in this futuristic sci-fi era after dying, he found the ring still on the hand of its original owner.
Strangely enough, no matter what Lin Rui tried, he couldn't remove the Skull Ring from his finger, and no one else could see it.
Lin Rui had always suspected that this thing concealed a great secret, and it might even be his golden ticket.
Unfortunately, in the ten days since he had traveled to this time, the ring had shown no activity, other than the fact that it couldn't be taken off, there was nothing magical about it.
At that moment, two more lines of information emerged in Lin Rui's mind —— "Colonel rank war spirit detected, capture it?"
Hint: The sooner the war spirit is captured, the more complete it will be,
Lin Rui raised an eyebrow and without hesitation thought, "Capture!"
In response to his will, the Skull Ring suddenly emitted a black glow, and a small vortex formed in its hollow mouth.
Soon after, the Colonel Xue in the distance was uncontrollably drawn over, turning into a stream of blood-red light that was absorbed into the Skull Ring.
In that instant, a list appeared in Lin Rui's mind.
Lin Rui was about to concentrate and take a closer look when Lin Xi pushed his hand away, "What's there to be afraid of?"
She started the motorcycle again and entered the alley ahead.
Lin Xi's voice carried a tinge of sadness, as if to express indignation over the Xue family's tragedy, "Brother, I just saw the body of Xue's second brother. His whole body was covered in blood, and his upper body bones must have been shattered, looking like a mashed mess. The murderer is not only brutal but also very strong! I wonder if the murderer is still in our neighborhood? I really hope the police can step up their efforts and catch the murderer quickly."
Lin Rui glanced at his younger sister in surprise at her words.
This sixteen-year-old girl had witnessed such a bloody scene and yet seemed completely unaffected.
He nodded slightly and said with an authoritative tone, "It's indeed dangerous. You shouldn't go to your night shift these next few days, you must come home before six o'clock."
The hover motorcycle slowly stopped in front of their three-story townhouse where they lived.
Before the vehicle entered the garage, Lin Rui jumped down, "I need to go back to my room for a bit."
He was eager to examine what the list of text that had appeared in his mind was all about.
After parking the motorcycle in the garage, Lin Xi also entered the house with groceries.
Then she stood gazing at Lin Rui's room door, lost in her thoughts.
Lin Xi's demeanor changed from before, her face gradually turning pale, and tears welling up in her eyes.
Her brother was clearly already dead! She had seen it with her own eyes.
Lin Xi activated her smart terminal with a thought and pulled up a video from the terminal's memory.
The video showed a dark alley where her brother, Lin Rui, was walking.
Suddenly, a black figure appeared at the end of the alley, wielding an electromagnetic revolver and firing three shots at the back of Lin Rui's head, nearly blowing it apart.
Watching the video, Lin Xi's eyes filled with tears. She felt sorrowful, perplexed, and horrified.
If her brother was already dead, then who was this Lin Rui who had been living with her for the past ten days?
What should she do next?
Lin Xi felt an indescribable loneliness and panic engulfing her.
Lin Xi then wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She walked over to the coffee table in the living room, picked up a fruit knife, and also their family portrait of five, holding them tightly in her arms,
The girl's eyes were resolute and cold, and she gripped the knife in her hand firmly.
She was determined to figure out the origin of this "brother".