"Goo-goo ga-ga!"
Hao Fan sucked in a sharp breath, his gait awkward as he walked.
The Earthsplitter he'd run into earlier had already been dealt with by Chen Qianyu—but the injuries from being repeatedly stomped and kicked were very real.
Even after several hours, the aches still lingered. This wasn't an online game where you could "regen by breathing."
For various reasons, Hao Fan had kept gritting his teeth through the pain. Only now—once he finally felt safe—did he stop trying to hide how badly he'd been hurt.
After learning what happened, Qin Jiangchi assigned an operator named Miguel to take him for treatment.
But they didn't go to the infirmary.
They went to a greenhouse.
"We're here. This is where we grow buckwheat flowers."
A white-haired, beast-eared man with glasses gestured toward the herb plot as he explained.
"Buckwheat flower powder is a common medicinal ingredient, and it's easy to make. You can harvest some yourself, then grind it with tools to release the plant's medicinal properties."
As he spoke, Miguel demonstrated the process with his own hands.
According to him, buckwheat flower powder was practically a holy grail for healing:
Taken orally, it restored vitality.
Applied externally, it stopped bleeding.
It wasn't quite "raise the dead, regrow flesh from bone," but the effect really was obvious.
At the very least, after Hao Fan swallowed a dose, the pain faded quickly, and even the bruising began to recede at a visible pace.
"This stuff is amazing."
Hao Fan clicked his tongue in wonder.
On Earth, there was nothing this immediate.
This really was another world.
Of course, if he wanted to keep harvesting buckwheat flowers here in the future, he'd need to go through an application process.
Or he could just go out into the wilderness to look for them himself.
But with his current "combat power: five," wandering outside alone would be suicide. If he ran into any random Earthsplitter, he'd be dead on the spot. Compared to that, staying in the Hub District Base was far safer.
"Doctor—this is your codename, right?"
Miguel watched the suspicious hooded man finish patching himself up, then prepared to escort him to a room where he could rest.
Miguel's instincts told him to stay wary of someone with an unknown background, but since Supervisor Qin had agreed to let him stay, Miguel wasn't going to argue.
Besides, Hao Fan hadn't officially joined the Hub District Base. He was only here to rest for a few days—strictly speaking, he was a guest.
So, in principle, Miguel should maintain a baseline level of courtesy—
"Bro, thanks for guiding me. Want some errand money?"
As an outsider, Hao Fan wanted to build rapport with the locals. He intended to use money to boost friendliness.
But the moment he pulled out a one-yuan coin—
he again, in front of Miguel, reflexively tossed it onto the ground, like an unprovoked act of disrespect.
"..."
At that instant, both of them stopped walking.
They stared at each other.
The vibe turned awkward.
No—super awkward.
At minimum, Hao Fan himself was so embarrassed his toes could've dug a trench into the floor. The hood's shadow just hid his expression so it wasn't obvious.
Miguel fell silent, looking down at the coin by his foot—like he was assembling the correct sentence structure in his mind.
Finally, deadpan, he asked:
"What is this supposed to be?"
"Making it rain."
"Why are you suddenly insulting me?"
"I'm making it rain."
"Yeah. I can tell."
"..."
In the space of a few lines, Hao Fan was already so mortified he wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
At the same time, he cursed inwardly:
What the hell kind of trash ability was this?
If the power was "pull money," then just pull money properly—why did he keep unconsciously flicking it onto the floor like an idiot?
That behavior was so aggressively making it rain it hurt.
Hao Fan could only think, close to tears.
And… was it just him?
His system felt wrong.
It had "Super Powerful Ability" in the name, but the actual output was pure clown energy.
"No—this has to be a fluke. The next ability will definitely be reliable!"
He cheered himself up, still blindly optimistic about tomorrow.
What he didn't realize was that Miguel's impression of him had already shifted—from "suspicious hooded man" to "suspicious hooded man, and also something is very wrong with his head."
Because what normal person "makes it rain" at a stranger they just met?
Maybe some rich weirdo would.
But if you're only throwing one coin…
that's not generosity.
That's a deliberate, in-your-face provocation.
Any sane person would keep their distance from a weirdo like this.
"Mr. Miguel, your eyes look kind of strange. Like you're staring at a dorky idiot."
"Ahem. That's just your imagination."
Miguel pulled his gaze away, guilty enough to change topics.
"Oh, right—what's your race? With the hood on, I can't tell."
"I'm human."
Hao Fan answered honestly.
Miguel's eyes went weird again.
Because under Arknights' setting, "race" referred to a group of humans sharing certain physiological traits or cultural traditions.
And by Terra's conventions, the human races on Talos-II were divided into three broad categories:
The Deities, The Ancients, and The Sarkaz.
The Deities and Ancients made up the majority population.
Their split largely came from early Terra history—social structures of "provision and protection" versus "rule and being ruled."
If you subdivided further by body traits and cultural tradition:
Typical Deities included Draco, Hippogryph, Lung, Qilin—overall fewer in number.
Typical Ancients included Feline, Liberi, Cautus, Kuranta—encompassing the vast majority of individuals.
As for the Sarkaz category—aside from a few exceptions like Durin—most could simply be referred to as Sarkaz.
Because compared to Deities and Ancients, they had independent ancestry.
Excluding the Ancients, the Sarkaz formed the second-largest population group on Talos-II.
Historically on Terra, the Sarkaz had repeatedly fought major race conflicts with Deities and Ancients.
On Talos-II, that historical hostility had largely eased—but the Sarkaz now faced new problems they'd never anticipated on this new land.
In short—
Hao Fan's answer of "human," in Miguel's eyes, wasn't an answer at all.
It sounded like dodging.
What normal person introduces themselves as "human"?
Even if he didn't want to specify a precise race, if he'd at least named one of the three broad categories, Miguel wouldn't be looking at him like this.
This bastard…
he's practically not even human.
Miguel complained internally.
Then he gave up on conversation entirely and just led the way in silence.
Faced with the awkward atmosphere, Hao Fan wisely shut up too.
He'd realized that although he'd wanted to build goodwill, he was doing a phenomenal job at achieving the opposite.
Also—
The Chen Qianyu who had brought him to the Hub District Base had already left, apparently busy with other tasks.
Hao Fan had originally wanted to spend more time with Endfield's special ops operator—ideally become friends.
Because since arriving in this unfamiliar world, only his dorky savior had given him any sense of safety.
But now, it looked like that would have to wait.
"Sigh… I hope I'll get a chance to repay her someday."
Somewhere in a room.
Bright moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating the dim interior.
Hao Fan lay facedown on the bed, happily counting money—specifically, a stack of folded gold notes.
On Talos-II, this was widely used as a universal currency.
As for why he had several of them…
Naturally, it was thanks to his "make it rain" power—starting from nothing and building wealth with his bare hands—
pulling out one-yuan coins and tossing them into an abandoned cardboard box.
Repeat that for an hour, and you'd have a massive pile of small change.
Then, hand the pile to a visibly conflicted Miguel and trade it for larger bills.
Just like that, he was no longer broke.
From now on, when he "made it rain," he wouldn't be limited to one-yuan coins—
he could use large-denomination notes and flex hard.
Hahaha—
No, no, no. That was a weird thought!
Hao Fan hurriedly stopped imagining himself "flexing."
He wasn't going to waste money like that. He'd definitely spend these gold notes on something more important.
But even so… he didn't actually know what he should do next.
He stopped counting, gaze drifting toward the window, uncertain.
This wasn't Earth.
This was Talos-II.
And hanging in the sky wasn't the Moon—it was a gas giant, constantly reminding him he'd left his homeland behind, even crossed into another world entirely.
Everything felt unfamiliar.
So unfamiliar it made his heart tighten.
The only fortunate thing was—
He was an orphan.
So even if he disappeared overnight, he didn't have to worry about parents unable to find him…
because he didn't have any.
Wow.
That was a brutal joke.
Even Hao Fan couldn't help roasting himself.
"Whatever. Since I'm here, I'll live. Humans adapt—wherever you are, you can survive."
He stretched lazily, optimistic as ever.
As an orphan, his mental resilience was always maxed out—he was the kind of man who could theoretically run naked down the street and still keep living like nothing happened.
Of course, that was only a metaphor.
He wouldn't do something that stupid.
He wasn't a clown.
"Hub District Base… I'll stay here for now. Once I draw a few more abilities and become some kind of 'I don't eat beef' Superman, I'll be able to walk sideways across Talos-II."
He fantasized about a bright future.
He believed his gacha wouldn't betray him.
O.M.V. Di Jiang.
In a ward somewhere, a gentle Liberi girl quietly peeled an apple.
Then she noticed movement from the hospital bed beside her—where the black-haired girl wearing an eyepatch was finally stirring. She stopped what she was doing.
"You're awake, Administrator."
The Liberi girl's voice was calm—pleasant and clear, like a songbird.
With gloved, delicate fingers, she lightly held the Administrator's hand, as if physical contact could help her feel safe.
"It's okay. You're somewhere safe."
Looking at the strangely familiar Liberi girl before her, and the unfamiliar ceiling above, the Administrator sat up stiffly and asked hesitantly:
"…Where is this?"
"O.M.V. Di Jiang," the Liberi girl said softly. "Endfield Industries' base. It's our home."
"Di Jiang… Endfield Industries…"
The Administrator repeated the words under her breath.
They sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember anything.
When she tried to force it, a sharp pain stabbed through her skull—like something had been torn away.
"Please take a deep breath. Slowly."
The Liberi girl quickly urged her to stop trying to recall, her eyes shifting to the black eyepatch.
"This stabilizer helps keep your vitals steady. You've been asleep for ten years, and your condition is very unstable."
"…I think I've forgotten a lot."
The Administrator looked at the Liberi girl—someone who felt inexplicably close—and after a brief hesitation, she asked quietly:
"Who… are you?"
In that moment, the Liberi girl's expression changed in a way that made the Administrator feel like she'd asked something terribly cruel.
Otherwise… why would she look so gentle, and so sad?
"My name is Perlica."
Perlica smiled, her tone warm.
"I'm Endfield Industries' supervisor. Until you're used to this place, I'll be responsible for taking care of you… You might not remember, but all this time, you've been Endfield Industries' leader—and our most important partner."
"…I really can't remember anything."
The Administrator raised a hand to press her aching head, falling silent.
Seeing that, Perlica offered the peeled apple, trying to comfort her.
"But for you, maybe this new beginning isn't a bad thing. In any case…"
Perlica spoke a greeting that had waited ten long years.
"Welcome home, Administrator."
-------
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