"Stay hidden as much as possible! Gather information! Then stand by!"
After issuing instructions to his remaining puppets, Leilin entered the atmosphere as well.
In his current state, he was still cloaked in invisibility, and his target was minuscule—even if the original orbital satellites were still operational, they would be completely unable to detect his trail.
After passing through the thick radiation clouds, a bizarre continent materialized before Leilin's eyes, radiating the brilliance of civilization.
"Chip! Activate Pre-Planned Operation One!"
Leilin issued the command directly.
[Ding! Level-One Plan activated. Collecting gravity and atmospheric data… Recalibrating physical constants…]
The Chip faithfully executed Leilin's order, then presented a densely packed analytical chart before him.
"The air composition and concentration are suitable for sustaining large organisms, and the other physical constants haven't changed much… The only difference is that the energy particles have become more inert… They can only be absorbed through specific channels?"
He had to admit, the entire Shadow World gave Leilin a most wondrous feeling. Through a subtle probing of his soul sense, he discovered an enormous and terrifying magical
"Essentially the same as the Weave in the Divine World, only smaller in scale and lacking certain capabilities. It's also primarily powered by shadow energy. Perhaps… I should call it the 'Shadow Weave'?"
At this point, Leilin no longer harbored any confusion about the Night Lady who had defeated the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents and seized the entire Shadow World as an outsider.
Her true identity was clearly the Goddess of Shadow from the Divine World—the Night Lady,
"In the legends, Shar received the worship of certain Shadow Wizards and had also attempted to lay claim to the divine domain of [Magic]. Now it seems that was indeed the case…"
Leilin did not rashly connect to the Shadow Weave. After all, this was Shar's creation—there could very well be some special restrictions built into it, and one careless move could expose his identity.
"The most important thing right now is to integrate into it and gradually attempt to conquer the Shadow Weave, so as to gain some initiative!"
A sharp gleam flickered in Leilin's eyes. When it came to conquering a Weave, he had experience from the Divine World, which would drastically reduce the time needed this time around.
"Creak…"
Right at that moment, accompanied by a piercing whoosh through the air and the high-pitched roar of engines, a strange yet familiar massive object swept past before Leilin's eyes.
The object had a streamlined body design that minimized air resistance to the greatest extent possible. Two wings on either side maintained balance, and its high-revving engines provided tremendous thrust, allowing it to carry thousands of people through the sky.
"An airplane? I didn't expect them to have reached this stage either…"
Leilin let out a soft sigh. His True Spirit keenly detected thousands of faint soul-lights inside the aircraft—each one pitifully weak. A mere ripple from Leilin's True Spirit could extinguish them all. Yet it was precisely this combination of fragility and intelligence that had allowed them to conquer the skies!
"A similar technology-based path, and a comparable trajectory of development…"
A wistful look appeared in Leilin's eyes. He stepped directly onto the top fuselage of the aircraft and slowly sat down, as memories from his previous life slowly resurfaced.
"What's wrong?"
Inside the cabin, seated among the passengers, a girl with a ponytail looked anxiously at the brown-haired young man in front of her: "Brother! Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a flight attendant?"
"No! I'm fine, Jia'er! I just felt a sudden twinge of discomfort—that same feeling of heart-pounding dread. The only time I've felt anything like it was before that school bus accident when we were kids…"
The brown-haired young man forced a pale smile, though his hands were still trembling uncontrollably.
"School bus accident…" A shadow of gloom passed over young Jia'er's eyes. She knew very well that her brother Xavier possessed extraordinary gifts, particularly an innate psychic premonition of danger.
Back in elementary school, it was precisely this ability of his that had saved her from a serious traffic accident.
Recalling the horrific scenes from the news reports, and how not a single one of their classmates had survived, the girl's eyes reddened and tears fell unbidden: "It's all my fault… If I hadn't insisted on dragging you here…"
"Come on… Didn't I tell you? Don't worry, don't act as if a plane crash is about to happen any second…"
The young Xavier glanced guiltily at the surrounding passengers and quickly pulled Jia'er into a hug, flashing an apologetic smile to those nearby.
What he didn't say was that before boarding, his psychic sense had given him no warning whatsoever. It was only just now that a sudden jolt had ripped through him—a feeling of absolute certainty that he would die, and that no amount of struggling would make the slightest difference. That despair had burrowed deep into the boy's heart, leaving an enormous shadow in its wake.
Yet the feeling had come and gone just as quickly, leaving no trace by now, to the point where the boy nearly thought something had gone wrong with his mind.
"It's alright! Stop crying, Jia'er!"
Xavier comforted his sister with helpless exasperation, his mind still replaying what had just happened.
"That feeling of certain death, followed by its sudden disappearance… What on earth was that?" The thought prompted him to pull out a pendant from beneath his collar—a black snake-shaped rune strung on a vivid red cord. "Could there really be a power in this world capable of destroying a massive aircraft in an instant? Or is war about to break out?"
"Ha ha… A plane crash? What a joke!"
A middle-aged man reading a magazine nearby set down his book and pushed up his glasses: "Let me educate you kids today… Twenty years ago, plane crashes were indeed difficult to prevent. Whether it was a malfunctioning aircraft component or an unlucky bird, any of them could cause such a disaster. But in this modern age of advanced Shadow Energy—especially now that every aircraft is linked to the Shadow Weave—each one is equipped with [High-Grade Shadow Armor] on its surface. You could crash straight into a prehistoric dragon and nothing would happen…"
"Exactly, exactly… I've been on so many flights and I've never heard of any danger!"
A curly-haired auntie nearby chimed in with a rambling monologue.
"Really?" Jia'er was still just a child, and hearing this immediately stopped her crying. Tear drops as large as beans still glistened on her rosy cheeks, making her look all the more pitiful.
"Absolutely!"
Seeing Jia'er in this state, the previously speaking middle-aged man felt his inner lolicon soul ignite with a furious blaze, erupting on the spot!
"Don't worry, look at this!" He raised his arm, pulled back his sleeve, and revealed an elegantly designed electronic wristwatch on his wrist. On the silver-gray casing, there was a black crown emblem.
"That's…"
A collective gasp rippled through the surrounding passengers: "The latest [Swift Shadow] series! My goodness…"
"A [Swift Shadow] Type Five! That's the portable Weave-connected terminal developed by Chief Scientist Lilian of the Imperial Royal Academy of Sciences! Because it uses the latest two-dimensional point-link technology, it's shed the old terminals' limitation of only being able to download zero- to second-level spells—it can now support the storage and downloading of third-level spells and above… But casting mid-tier spells requires precise control from the operator, so it's currently only available to imperial undergraduates and fifth-rank technicians and above! I can't believe you're actually someone of such distinction, sir!"
The boy's eyes filled with undisguised envy and admiration upon seeing the man's wristwatch, and he rattled off the specifications without hesitation.
"See? Satisfied now? Even if the aircraft were to go down, the [Shadow Armor] and [Levitation Spell] I pre-purchased and stored would be enough to protect you both…"
The middle-aged man spoke with smug satisfaction, then tucked away his wristwatch amid a chorus of flattery and envious murmurs from those around him.
"Thank you, mister!" Jia'er called out sweetly, whereupon the man sat back down with a contented expression.
"He's right… I've just been too tense, haven't I? When has anything supernatural happened in this day and age? The records in our family are practically mythological—they're obviously fabricated…"
Young Xavier also let out a long breath, questioning his own beliefs and convictions for the very first time.
"Young man!"
However, at that very moment, a young man in a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses unbuckled his seatbelt and approached with a solemn expression.
"I think you're absolutely right!!!"
"Could you also be…?" Young Xavier's excitement surged.
"Mm! Even though the government has mandated shadow protection for every aircraft, accidents can still happen anywhere…"
The suited young man spoke in a stiff, measured tone, and Xavier nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"This world is far too dangerous. You could get hit by a maglev car just walking down the street, not to mention the rampant proliferation of Shadow Weave access devices and minors misusing spells…"
The suited young man was drifting further and further off course. He pulled a glossy advertisement from his briefcase and placed it in front of Xavier: "Therefore, for the safety of yourself and your family, insurance is absolutely essential! Our company has just launched its most up-to-date coverage, which includes Weave radiation damage protection and air accident coverage. Take a look—if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Here's my card…"
"An insurance salesman, after all…"
A vein throbbed on Xavier's forehead, and Jia'er beside him burst into giggles, her tears gone in an instant.
"Well… I'll think about it, but the flight attendant is coming…"
Xavier shrank back in his seat and pointed down the aisle, where a long-legged stewardess was approaching with a smile.
"Please do consider D'Ai Insurance. Choose D'Ai, choose a beautiful future…"
The suited young man nodded, spoke with utmost gravity, and returned to his seat.
"Oh dear… Young people these days…"
An elderly woman in the seat behind sighed, making Xavier wish he could bury his head in his chest….