GRMFBS CH99

At the very top of the Research Institute, a gap just wide enough for a person to fit through pierced cleanly through the multiple layers of protection.

Carrying thousands of tons of crushing force, the lightning slammed down, cleaving a blindingly bright rift of light through the night.

No one could see exactly what happened the moment the lightning struck. The chilling majesty of heaven was not something that could be looked upon directly.

After that earth-shattering boom, the night sky returned to darkness.

The structure of the Research Institute hadn’t collapsed, but under the glare of the lightning, it had turned semi-transparent for a fleeting moment. Vaguely, they could make out a figure floating amidst a sea of lightning, right in front of the “Apocalyptic Fragment.”

The director craned his neck upward, his mouth hanging wide open. “That which lightning strikes, none is not broken; that which thousands of tons crush, none is not obliterated…”

Inside the Research Institute, the terrifying, perilous, and insidious “Apocalyptic Fragment” was enveloped in a ball of dancing lightning. Countless murky shadows surged out from those picture-frame-like facets, only to be drowned by the tide of lightning.

When the lightning gradually dimmed, down at the bottom of the two-hundred-meter-deep pit, only a single, glass-like shard remained.

Through the gap in the ceiling fell a river of stars, and clear moonlight spilled in, illuminating the tranquil darkness.

Ji Yueming leaned down and picked up the shard.

This was its true essence, revealed after the lightning had burned away all external additions—a world fragment shimmering with magnificent, iridescent colors.

The “Apocalyptic Fragment” had originally been nothing more than a corner of an innocent little world.

The sea of lightning gradually retracted back into Ji Yueming’s body. Electric sparks still danced intermittently across her Tianshi robes. Lightning surged beneath her skin, and with every breath, she exhaled auras of thunder.

Ji Yueming reached out a hand covered in glowing lightning crests. A thin thread of lightning shot from her fingertips, seeking out the mask that had fallen in a corner.

Following the thread of lightning, the mask returned to her hand. As she fastened it over her face, the supernatural phenomena surrounding her gradually faded away.

“Phew…” She exhaled a long breath, the air crackling sharply in response.

After repeating this several times, her breathing no longer startled thunder into sounding.

Ji Yueming tilted her head up, allowing the night light from the distant sky to fall into her eyes.

She was currently standing underground, more than three hundred meters away from that gap.

Ah, I went a little too hard with my ultimate attack just now. I can’t use that much lightning aura to fly up right now; it’d be too easy to lose control. Better just take the normal exit.

Ji Yueming climbed up to the exit. Her control was still excellent; aside from the giant hole in the roof, the rest of the Research Institute’s outermost layer remained perfectly intact, including the combination lock.

The passcode… what was the passcode again? She had known it the last time she visited the Research Institute, but she couldn’t remember it now…

Ji Yueming tried three times in a row. Incorrect passcode.

The red alarm lights began to flash. The Research Institute’s automated defense system activated, rapidly deploying a complex maze array combining high technology and spells, trapping her inside.

Ji Yueming: “…”

Time to break it down by force!

I’m in a hurry to get home for the New Year!

Watching through the Gossip System, Zhan Yan was completely mesmerized.

Ahhhh, Boss Tianshi is so freaking cool!!!

I knew it! I knew there was no way the Tianshi would just warn me not to look for the Infinite fragments and then do nothing! The boss already had a plan in mind!

Just as Zhan Yan was getting hyped up, the Gossip System suddenly refreshed with another slip:

[While leaving the Bureau’s secret facility, the Tianshi was trapped in a maze array because she forgot the passcode. In her rush to get home, she is irritably tearing it apart by force.]

Zhan Yan: Pfft!

Right, today is New Year’s Eve, and the boss still isn’t home.

Sigh, it was a little over an hour until midnight, yet his mom still hadn’t returned. Her phone wouldn’t connect either, so she was probably on the plane.

The gossip slips didn’t indicate that his mom had encountered any problems, but he still couldn’t help worrying. His dad was checking his watch every few minutes.

The Spring Festival Gala programs rotated one after another, but no one was in the mood to watch.

Right now, a magic act was on. Zhan Suiru and Zhan Jinli casually guessed at the principles behind the tricks, getting into an argument over whether a certain object was a prop or not.

His curiosity piqued by the two of them, Zhan Yan opened the item description and was just about to look closely when the doorbell rang.

Zhan Yan leaped up and bolted for the door. “Mom’s back!”

Zhan Yunkai actually failed to beat him to it.

Brat!

As soon as the door opened, the warm air from inside rushed out, and Ji Yueming found herself enveloped in a full-body hug from her youngest son.

“Mom… Ow!”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

“Mom, your clothes have static electricity!” Zhan Yan said, eyes brimming with tears.

That static shock had been so strong! It hurt enough to make him cry!

Ji Yueming instinctively wanted to rub his head, but her hand stopped mid-air.

She offered a warm smile to her family members gathering around. “Let me change clothes first.”

Without giving anyone else a hug, Ji Yueming headed straight for her room.

Taking off her coat, which had been soaked through by the winter night’s chill, Ji Yueming pulled at the collar of her turtleneck sweater, fishing out a silver-white pendant. This was a stabilizer disguised as a necklace.

She looked at herself in the full-length mirror. One second, two seconds… a spark of lightning suddenly flashed deep within her pupils.

Lightning still flowed beneath her skin, constantly exuding the majestic, indifferent aura of the heavens. In the face of heaven and earth’s power, human will seemed so fragile, as if it could melt away into the vast expanse of lightning at any moment.

Ji Yueming sighed.

It really is a bit hard to rein in. I just shocked Yan Yan.

She adjusted the stabilizer again, forcefully suppressing the active lightning within her body down another notch. Frowning, Ji Yueming practiced smiling at the mirror a couple of times before changing clothes and heading downstairs.

In the kitchen, Zhan Yunkai started cooking the dishes, with Zhan Jinli helping out as his sous-chef.

Zhan Suiru cheerfully cleared the fruit platter from the table.

Finally, time to eat! Because Mom hadn’t returned, Dad had been afraid the food would get cold and hadn’t cooked any of the hot dishes!

Zhan Yan sat in a daze, clutching the small silver lock on his chest with one hand.

Just a moment ago, he had been shocked by the static electricity on his mom, but the sensation of this shock felt different from before. Usually, a static shock was just a sharp sting at the point of contact. But just now, after the initial prick, it felt as though a tiny electric current had shot down from his chin, disappearing roughly around the center of his collarbone.

Zhan Yan’s item description had still been active, and he hadn’t had time to close it. He had instinctively glanced down, and the item description for the small silver lock had changed for a split second.

Previously, the item description for the small silver lock was:

[This is a silver lock brimming with blessings, with a silver content of 955.]

In that split second, he hadn’t managed to read the full item description clearly, but he faintly noticed that there seemed to be the word “Lightning” among the prefix adjectives for the silver lock.

But looking at it again now, the item description for the small silver lock was exactly the same as before, as if he had just misread it.

“Yan Yan, what are you doing?” Zhan Suiru asked, balancing three plates on one arm as steadily as an acrobat. “Hurry up and take Xingxing away!”

Seeing everyone suddenly start moving, the little creature thought they were playing with it. It cheerfully got in everyone’s way and was currently clinging to Zhan Suiru’s pant leg.

“Oh my, what a little kitten! When did you get it?” Ji Yueming asked, having just come downstairs.

Zhan Yan had barely managed to pry Xingxing off his sister’s pant leg when the little thing scrambled straight up onto his shoulder. Pressing against his ear, it looked curiously at Ji Yueming: “Meow!”

Ji Yueming: “Meow!”

Zhan Yan: …Pfft.

He could worry about his eyesight later. Right now, it was time for New Year’s Eve dinner!

The table was cleared off. Dead center sat Zhan Jinli’s “Blooming Wealth” fondant cake, surrounded by an array of dishes.

Zhan Yunkai’s cooking was beyond exceptional; even Xingxing scored a bowl of specially made crispy fish and beef-egg puree.

At their family’s New Year’s Eve dinner table, the main theme was praise.

Ji Yueming started by praising the eldest: “Jinli, this fondant cake is beautifully made. Your cake shop is definitely going to be popular.”

The Tianshi had been too busy to notice the tragic sight of her eldest son being mobbed in his cake shop a while back.

Zhan Jinli: …Mom, there’s really no need for this, Mom!

Zhan Suiru and Zhan Yan pretended to lower their heads to eat while trying to stifle their laughter.

She then moved down the line: “Suiru’s studio is doing better and better too. Mom looked it up—that director Ji Lele is actually a very impressive director! Since he used your sculpture in his movie, it will definitely be appreciated by more people in the future!”

Zhan Yan: “Exactly! I kept saying Older Sister’s sculpture is really good.”

Ji Yueming: …You don’t need to join in!

“Yan Yan, Mom saw that you square dance very well. This is a great hobby! At your age, you should cultivate more lively hobbies like this.”

Her daughter’s aesthetic sense was already a lost cause, but her youngest son still needed saving!

Zhan Yan was actually quite happy to go square dancing; those aunties and uncles were amazing at dishing out gossip!

“I go whenever I have time! The more people there are, the more fun it is to square dance. Mom, do you want to come with us?”

Ji Yueming: “…I’ll pass. It’s great if you kids go together.”

Zhan Yunkai: “Ahem… I’ll pass too. It’s great for me to just go grocery shopping with them.”

Zhan Jinli, Zhan Suiru: “…”

Zhan Suiru forcefully interrupted this dangerous topic. Pointing her chopsticks at the Spring Festival Gala, she gestured, “Hey, isn’t that… isn’t that…”

The Gala had progressed to a singing segment. Zhan Suiru forcefully pivoted the conversation, but for a moment, she couldn’t remember who the singer was.

Zhan Yan looked up. “Is that Lan Xiqiao? The one who sings Meihu opera!”

“Oh! The one our company sponsored before.” Zhan Suiru remembered.

Shoude Corporation had previously sponsored a Meihu opera tour, and later, one of the stars entered the entertainment industry. It was this Lan Xiqiao.

Zhan Suiru had a pretty deep impression of him. Back during the Meihu opera tour, she had been dragged over to act as the face of the company for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Remembering nothing at all, Zhan Jinli also nodded vigorously.

Square dancing was even more terrifying than his cake shop going viral! That crowd asked about everything!

Watching them enthusiastically communicate through eye contact, Ji Yueming found a shrimp ball—symbolizing reunion—placed into her bowl by Zhan Yunkai.

Fireworks exploded in the distance, blooming across half the sky.

Ji Yueming smiled silently. The deep winter chill melted away, and the majestic lightning settled. The piping hot, warm current surged back into her heart, the stabilizer no longer needed to suppress anything, and everything returned safely below the danger line.

“This is wonderful!” she said, taking a bite of the shrimp ball with a beaming smile. “Old Zhan, your cooking is getting better and better.”

Zhan Yan held his phone up to the window.

There was a fireworks show at the “Big Heart” in the city center. The expensive new fireworks were high and massive, shifting in both color and shape, visible from across half the city.

Zhan Suiru leaned over to look at his photos and burst out laughing. “What are you photographing? The ‘Big Heart’ exploding?”

“You take it then.” Zhan Yan unapologetically shoved his phone at his sister.

Zhan Suiru adjusted a few camera settings and handed the phone back. “Try it now.”

The photos came out normal this time. Taking pictures, Zhan Yan gave his sister a thumbs up. “Jie, you’re awesome!”

Zhan Yan secretly sent a photo of the fireworks to Gu Jiancheng.

Zhan Suiru leaned back over. “How did it turn out? Post it on your Moments, yours is definitely the best shot!”

Zhan Yan’s hand jerked, and he hurriedly backed out of the chat interface.

[Zhan Suiru did not notice that you were secretly sending photos to your boyfriend just now.]

Zhan Yan breathed a sigh of relief internally. Without changing his expression, he laid on the praise: “Of course! The settings my sister adjusted are amazing!”

It wasn’t until after midnight, when he returned to his own bedroom, that Zhan Yan dared to resume his phone call with his boyfriend.

“I saw the fireworks you photographed,” Gu Jiancheng said with a tender smile over the phone. “Where was that?”

“At the ‘Big Heart.’ There’s a fireworks show, but I didn’t go over there.” Zhan Yan puffed out his chest proudly. “I took a good shot, right?”

“Extremely good,” Gu Jiancheng said with genuine sincerity. “It would be great if we could watch them together next time.”

They didn’t talk long before Zhan Yan began to feel sleepy; it was already several hours past his usual biological clock.

After the two hung up, Zhan Yan felt a slight burst of energy, and his fingers involuntarily tapped into their chat interface.

The newest message was Gu Jiancheng’s reply, praising the fireworks he had photographed as beautiful, sincere, and deeply earnest.

But Zhan Yan felt something was off about the thumbnail.

He tapped on the photo he had sent earlier to take a closer look.

He had sent the wrong one! He hadn’t sent the photo with his sister’s adjusted settings; he had sent the one he took before!

In the photo, the fireworks were a blurry, exploding mass of light, surrounded by smoke, looking exactly like something was on fire!

And you could still find it in yourself to praise this!