By the seventh of September, students were bustling up and down the elevators all over Wuyi Academy.

They rushed from one classroom to the next as soon as their lessons ended, spending the entire day in a hurry—a sight rarely seen in the past.

From what Chen Chuan had observed during his half-semester at the academy, the vast Profound Palace Building was usually almost empty. Students spent most of their time off-campus, and even if they failed a course, they could simply pay a fee to pass.

However, the new regulation threatening to lower evaluation scores had thrown many into a panic. If they didn’t want to be sent to the fighting pits as test subjects, their only option was to study desperately.

In such an atmosphere, Chen Chuan’s leisurely demeanor as he came and went stood out as completely out of place.

After reaching the Third Limit, evaluation scores could no longer restrain him. Furthermore, Fighters of this limit had more channels to acquire wealth and also possessed a certain social status. If he had no further ambitions, his current situation would be more than enough.

But his own desire for an unrestrained life aside, the imminent world collision made it impossible for him to grow complacent. He had to keep climbing higher and gain enough strength—or, at the very least, the ability to protect himself—before the great collision arrived.

The Processing Bureau hadn’t finalized their plan of action yet, and with nothing but training to occupy his time for the past few days, he decided it was a good opportunity to visit the address left behind by this body’s parents.

He contacted Wubei in the morning, asking him to help mask his movements, and then drove a Gard Car out of the Profound Palace Building.

To ensure nothing went wrong, he didn’t go straight to the destination. Instead, he first drove to the stronghold outside the city he’d used last time and parked the car there.

Afterward, he left the city from the stronghold, then used his Second Self to obscure his Domain’s information before heading back in. This ensured that no one could track him.

The address didn’t appear on his Realm Token, but he found it marked on an old map. He walked for a little over two hours before arriving at the location.

It was a high-end apartment building located on the border of the Deep Unexplored District, with security guards patrolling everywhere.

’That makes sense, though,’ he thought. ’If this place had been uninhabited for a long time, or was located in some remote area, given the public security situation in Central City, it probably would have been broken into and looted or occupied long ago. There’d be no way to protect whatever was inside.’

He had no intention of revealing his presence, so he scaled the building’s exterior. His Second Self masked his movements, allowing him to slip inside easily without alerting anyone. He took the stairs up to the fifth floor and stopped in front of room 501.

He took out the key he got from the old house, stepped forward, and tried it. It was indeed the key for this room; it opened with a single turn. After stepping inside, he gently closed the door.

Just then, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming from inside the room, as if someone was walking around. He glanced at the dust on the table, remaining unfazed.

He sized up the room’s arrangement and felt that the furnishings and layout had many similarities to the house back home. It was clear it had been decorated by people with the same living habits.

After looking around the main living area and finding nothing, he walked into the nearest room. He pushed open the ajar door; there was no one inside, and the footsteps had long since vanished.

He roughly searched this room and the two adjacent ones but didn’t find anything useful. It seemed to be just a simple residence. The property deed was left behind, though, and it was still in his name.

’But this body’s parents wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble just to leave him an apartment in Central City, would they? There was no need to make things so complicated.’

’So there must be something else.’

He thought back carefully and suddenly remembered something from his predecessor’s childhood. He returned to the room, pulled the entire drawer out, and finally found a key taped to its underside.

He took it and examined it for a few moments. The character for "Wan" was engraved on it, along with a string of numbers.

’This is... a key to a safe deposit box at Wansheng Finance?’

’This must be the most important thing.’

He put the key in his pocket but didn’t leave in a hurry. He carefully checked inside and out one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then finally left, heading straight for Wansheng Finance.

Wansheng Finance had branches throughout most Central Cities in the world. They even had branches and exchange offices in Edge Cities and the Land of Chaos. It was one of the world’s top financial institutions to have risen from Dashun.

The Jibei Dao Central City branch was located in the Weiguang District. It not only possessed its own active Consciousness Body but also had an independent security system.

When Chen Chuan arrived, he presented the key, and a manager from the bank, Manager Lai, came out to receive him. Maintaining a polite smile, he didn’t ask for Chen Chuan’s name or background, instead saying, "Sir, the client who originally stored the item requested that, in addition to the key, the guest must also present a token."

After a moment’s thought, Chen Chuan took out the Black Card from the Original Man Company.

’This was the only thing that could be the token.’

The manager took the Black Card, asked him to wait a moment, then pulled a document from his briefcase for comparison. A red light flashed on his implanted Realm Token, and he nodded. He returned the items to Chen Chuan and rose from his seat. "Please follow me, sir."

Chen Chuan stood up and followed him into an elevator down to the underground vault. On the way, Manager Lai explained.

"This is our Wansheng Finance Class-C independent vault. It has sixty-four empty lockers with identical codes. Every three hours, the encoder regenerates a new sorting password.

"If they are not opened in the correct sequence, you won’t be able to find the right locker even with the key. After three incorrect attempts, all of them will lock down completely, and you can only try again after three days..."

Chen Chuan was led into the vault and brought before a separate bank of lockers. Manager Lai gave him some instructions, bowed slightly, and withdrew.

He waited for the manager to leave, then began opening the locker doors one by one according to the newly generated code sequence.

Even with the instructions, and despite his quick and flawless movements, it still took him about two minutes to complete the process. An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to do it in less than seven or eight minutes. He grew curious about what on earth his predecessor’s parents had valued so much.

As he inserted the key into the final locker, he heard a series of turning sounds from behind him. A drawer popped out a crack. He took two steps back, pulled the drawer open a little more, and saw a package inside, neatly wrapped in sealed paper.

After taking the item out, he went to a nearby table. He carefully unwrapped it, trying not to damage the original packaging. Inside was a small, sealed box with a combination lock that required a password to open.

’Password...’

He recalled the string of numbers he had received at the same time as the address, reviewed it in his mind, and entered it.

The password was undoubtedly correct. With a CLICK, it opened, revealing two glass injectors inside. One contained a red liquid, and the other, blue.

There was a note next to them. He recognized the handwriting; it was his body’s mother’s. It told him the blue one was a memory needle and explained its function.

It was a memory replication technology serum. It only worked between direct relatives and could be used to transfer and convey certain key pieces of information and memories.

Chen Chuan picked it up and injected it into his hand. ’This shouldn’t be a problem,’ he thought. ’Even if it is, with my Second Self, I have nothing to worry about.’

After the injection, there was no immediate effect. The transfer of memory information was a process; sometimes it took effect during sleep, other times it would emerge unexpectedly. It wasn’t instantaneous.

’But since he already had it, he wasn’t in a hurry. He figured he would find out everything in due time.’

As for what was in the other injector, the note didn’t say. He figured he would probably find out from the memories.

He couldn’t help but think that the items here used a memory transfer technology specific to direct relatives. ’If this body had truly died that day, and I hadn’t taken its place, then even if someone else had found this, the contents within might have remained a secret forever.’

He didn’t take the other injector with him. Instead, he put it back, relocked the box, and placed it back in the safe deposit locker.

He had already asked when he came down earlier. The service for this locker had started thirteen years ago, and the deposit fee for twenty years had been paid in one lump sum. That meant it was good until he turned twenty-five.

’Leaving it here was the safest option.’

He left the vault, greeted Manager Lai outside, signed a document, and then walked out of Wansheng Finance. Just as he stepped out of the main entrance, a scene flashed through his mind. From the perspective, it seemed he was standing at the bottom of the steps of Wansheng Finance, looking up, and then walking up step by step.

He knew the memory transfer was taking effect. He must have encountered a scene in reality that was identical to one in the memories, triggering a response.

Just as he was about to continue "recalling," a contact alert chimed from the Realm Token he had just activated.

He glanced at it. It was an invitation from the Cyan Bag Jade Workshop, asking him to continue testing their drugs. There was also a message from Fanqingshan, the supervisor he had met before:

"Mr. Chen, we are aware of your situation. Congratulations on becoming a Third Limit Fighter. In light of our previous successful collaboration, we will continue to provide you with our drugs at a discounted price."

Then, he added meaningfully, "The state of the world is changing rapidly, and everyone ought to find their place and path sooner rather than later. If you, Mr. Chen, are willing to join our Cyan Bag Jade Workshop after your studies, we will offer you generous compensation and terms. You can contact me anytime once you’ve made a decision."

BEEP. The voice message ended.

Chen Chuan stood on the steps, glancing at the flashing lights on the building’s projection screen and the endless stream of people and vehicles below. He looked up at the sky, then walked down the steps and started unhurriedly down the main road in a certain direction.

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