### Chapter 4: Supernova
November 1st, 2101, sunny weather in Yun Chang City.
After years of technological advancement, various sectors in Huaxia have made tremendous progress.
All cities look more sci-fi and techy compared to before, with futuristic touches everywhere.
At least now there are new aerial routes being established in every city.
These aren’t your traditional flight routes; rather, they use airspace right above the cities.
This airspace is mapped out by satellites, so it feels like invisible highways floating in the sky.
The hovering cars cruise on these paths as guided by satellite systems, and if there’s a malfunction, they instantly send alerts to relevant authorities. So, just like with ground traffic, you’d see a follow-up investigation pretty quick.
And you can’t forget about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. AI is everywhere now, playing an indispensable role across industries and daily life.
Most folks live their lives under this strange sci-fi backdrop, shrugging off “little” abnormalities. Not that anyone really cared.
At that moment.
A trio—two guys and one gal—are lounging on a pedestrian overpass, watching passersby and vehicles go by, chatting as if nothing was amiss.
They were all young; one girl, two guys.
A 160 cm tall lady between two blokes who are around 180 cm, she looked like a little sister sandwiched between her big brothers.
She had stunning silver-gray hair and an exquisite face—you’d take her for a school idol. Dressing up in some unique uniform that stood out even in a crowd, she wore a melancholic air of someone unamused.
Before she could say anything, her male companions started complaining.
“Man, we’re fried! It’s been a week, everything seems normal. Other cities haven’t reported good news either. We’re just waiting for something bad to happen every day.”
He was a guy with yellow-tinted hair, quite charismatic but obviously shady. Cai Xun scratched his sandy hair and looked utterly worn out.
“Cao Gou, you’ve had it easy. Back in my day, I pulled a month straight shift in a weird space, got lost for weeks—no breaks. Now you’re already fading away just after a week. You might as well resign and retire.”
The black-haired youth next to him was provoking him, clearly ready for some trash talk.
Cai Xun twitched, frustrated.
“Bu Jie, I’m telling you again, my name is Cai Xun. Not ‘Cao Gou’! Are you illiterate? Can’t read those two simple characters?”
“Oh, snap. That was intentional.”
“You’re out of luck!”
“You’re the one who’s out of luck!”
When Bu Jie heard his nickname called out, he blew up immediately.
But before things could escalate further, the girl in the middle finally chimed in.
“Shut up and be quiet.”
As soon as she said that, Cai Xun and Bu Jie shut up like it was a reflex.
They knew she was far more concerned with the oddities than them, especially the “Supernova” — known as the [Wish Machine].
Why call such a high-ranking ability “supernova?” Well, this thing can cause massive disasters if it goes rogue, and even when contained, its aftermath could last ages.
Just like a supernova in the universe, a single explosion can light up an entire galaxy and take weeks or months to fade away.
Back then, the previous “supernova” called [Doll World] was unleashed by a carrier losing control over their abilities. It turned an entire city’s regular folks into dolls—like marionettes controlled by someone else.
Only a few peculiar individuals could escape this doll-like influence. Like the Night Watchers who were specially trained to handle such situations.
Imagine the night-watchers witnessing the city’s masses wearing unnatural smiles, eyes hollow, actions bizarre. They couldn’t communicate normally with the “dolls,” making problem-solving nearly impossible.
It got worse: the night-watchers themselves eventually succumbed to the same fate, becoming just another puppet.
This bizarre event lasted a month.
The night-watchers had to pay a huge price to finally quell it all. Yet, after it was over, the city’s residents didn’t fully get back their wits, suffering mental damage that required long recovery periods.
Such prolonged effects caused many night-watchers to retire early, depleting valuable resources.
So now, as a new high-level ability emerges, to prevent such tragedies, the night-watchers are taking their duties very seriously. They’re all living in constant fear.
Nobody knows what the [Wish Machine] will do. Hopefully, they find the carrier before it causes trouble.
That’s what a night-watcher’s job entails.
Of course, some people want to find the carrier not to stop the supernova but for their own selfish reasons.
As for Cai Xun and Bu Jie, they already know the girl among them has ulterior motives.
After a moment of silence, Cai Xun asked the girl with his eyes narrowing.
“Bai Tu, you want to find the [Wish Machine], right? What do you plan to wish for?”
“Yes, there’s one wish I absolutely must fulfill.”
Bai Tu nodded, voice flat and tinged with sorrow.
The boys exchanged looks, both seeing the despair in each other’s eyes.
Companions as close as a kn*fe, they already suspected whose name Bai Tu was wishing for.
It’s just fate being cruel, isn’t it?
All three sank into silence. After a short rest, they would start patrolling again.
Cai Xun glanced around and noticed something peculiar.
“d*mn, what the heck is that?!”
…
Five minutes prior.
Night Lan arrived at a nearby street, a bizarre aura enveloping her.
“Ahh, my heart is racing.”
Night Lan felt her heart pounding fast, probably due to nervousness.
It felt like when drag queens first walk down the street, nervous of being exposed.
But… there was excitement too?
“Yup…”
Suddenly, she sensed her ethics and morals slipping.
Then came the faintest hint of sadness.
“Meh, just trying to see whether the stuff I wished for actually came true.”
Exactly. Night Lan wanted to test her speed to see how fast she truly was.
It was a workday and still business hours. Not a busy area, so it was perfect to show off.
Night Lan assumed her sprint pose and took off.
Whizz!
Whizz!
Whizz!
