Welcome to Ability Store

Until the next morning, the alarm at the outpost was lifted.

People cautiously emerged from the subway entrance to find that the relentless sandstorm seemed to have calmed somewhat. The air was thick with the smell of sulfur, and the ground was dangerously hot.

Overnight, the surroundings looked as if they had transformed into another world entirely. Everywhere, one could see black metal spikes standing on the surface, some as tall as a person, others comparable to three or four-story buildings. These were fragments that splashed off the nano-living bodies, forming stalagmites after melting and cooling.

As for the original houses and buildings... most were leveled by this fiery rain.

The road signs, watchtowers, and turrets outside the subway station were not spared either.

Fortunately, the fragments that landed in this area were not large, similar to bullets, with the largest being about the size of a car and did not damage the steel-reinforced concrete protective layer below the subway station.

"It was the Celestial Patrol that protected us..." someone murmured.

These words quickly gained everyone’s agreement.

The Celestial Patrol had not fallen.

It still stood towering above everyone.

The hole where it was pierced was clearly visible, and due to the sandstorm being compressed to ground level, people could see the long-missed blue sky through the holes in it. Uncovered morning light poured down through the opening, bringing a beam of hope to the dark and oppressive Jiang City.

"Without it, Binjiang Garden Station would probably be done for..."

"Thank goodness for the Celestial Patrol’s protection..."

"Long live the Celestial Patrol!"

The celebratory sounds of surviving a disaster echoed at the subway entrance.

Meanwhile, Lin Qing, Honglian, and Abigail had long slipped away from the crowd and headed to the location where the spaceship wreckage was.

The situation here was more frightening than anticipated.

"If this thing hit something... anything would be doomed," Honglian whispered as she looked at the giant tower not far away.

It was at least two hundred meters long, inserted into the ground at an angle. The surface cooled down, reflecting a unique metallic glow, while below were buildings ground to dust.

"It’s so hot here; I feel like my lungs are burning," Lin Qing frowned. "Is Chen Xuan okay?"

"Don’t worry, it’s only fifty or sixty degrees; his endurance is much more than that," Honglian replied confidently.

"Hey, over here!" suddenly someone shouted, "Come quickly!"

It was Chen Xuan.

He poked his head out from the spaceship hatch, waving at everyone.

The group quickly ran inside the spaceship, discovering that the temperature inside was surprisingly pleasant, completely unlike being inside an oven.

"No wonder it’s a high-tech thing capable of flying straight into space; its heat endurance is simply different," Honglian marveled.

"Spaceship?" Abigail suddenly realized something was off, "Wait a minute... the thing you want me to fix, it’s not this, is it?"

"Didn’t they tell you the details last night?" Chen Xuan spread his hands.

"I asked, but they kept tight-lipped," she complained, glaring at Honglian.

"Sorry, I should have told you earlier," he apologized decisively. "I do need you to fix this spaceship, although its technology surpasses our world... but your ability likely doesn’t care about that.

"I can help, but at least let me know what you plan to do with it, and what exactly is going on in this world."

Seeing that she didn’t say she couldn’t fix it, Chen Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, "It’s the year 2108 here..."

"I know. Future Jiang City, right? I heard someone mention it while chatting yesterday," Abigail interrupted. "Different world trajectories are different, and time flows unevenly. I have a basic understanding of that."

Chen Xuan and Lin Qing exchanged a glance.

A world cannot invade itself; this is the iron rule of intrusion points.

But they came here not because of an intrusion point but because of the power of the Ability Store.

Abigail couldn’t imagine that this was the future of the world they were in. It wasn’t an invasion, more like a time travel.

Chen Xuan thought for a moment and decided to continue along her line of thinking, "Right... this world is quite close to the one we are in; it also has the Evangelical Association and the Dimensional Limit Mechanism. The things that fell last night weren’t meteorites, but shells fired by the mechanism from the Moon."

"Mechanism... attacking Earth from outer space?" Abigail exclaimed, "This doesn’t make any sense!"

"There is sense to it, but it’s the mechanism’s logic," Lin Qing took up the conversation, "They lost to the Evangelical Association... or rather, to these malformed artificial monsters like nano-living bodies. When they couldn’t hold their ground on Earth, they naturally chose indiscriminate destruction. As long as they could prove they could eliminate the nano-living bodies, they didn’t mind taking a city full of people down with them. Isn’t this the usual way the Dimensional Limit Mechanism operates?"

As she spoke, she kept her gaze fixed on Abigail, the implication clear.

The usually calm Abigail also showed a hint of annoyance, "You talk as if you understand the mechanism so well!"

"Of course I do, because I used to be an agent of the mechanism."

"You?" Abigail was stunned.

"Of this world," Lin Qing shrugged.

"Alright... maybe something went wrong, and the mechanism here completely changed," Abigail shook her head, then looked at Honglian in confusion, "Then why do you call her senior? Is there also someone named Honglian in this world?"

Honglian rubbed the back of her head, "There seems to be."

"I see," she suddenly realized, "The relationship between Wanderers is indeed complicated. If I can find myself in this world, maybe I can understand the reason for the mechanism’s change."

"It’s probably quite difficult, especially since it’s already the 22nd century now."

"The reasons don’t matter; what matters is they no longer regard Earth as a home needing protection," Chen Xuan said indifferently, "Of course, I’m not saying the nano-living bodies are on humanity’s side, but the situation is quite clear now: if the Celestial Patrol falls, Jiang City will be destroyed."

Then he briefly explained the mechanism’s plan.

"I must go to another world to stop the corruption released by the mechanism, or both sides will be harmed by the mechanism. This spaceship is key to the plan, and currently, only you have the ability to fix it."

After listening quietly, Abigail’s expression became somewhat complex.

Although Honglian constantly nagged in her ear before that not all Wanderers were lawless villains; her first adventure cooperating with them felt quite pleasant. Yet now, learning that Wanderers not only didn’t exploit their talents to wreak havoc across worlds but also tried to save them, the gap with her original impression was too vast!

In that case, the mechanism that captures and restricts them wouldn’t be on humanity’s side?

But thinking carefully, doing so indeed carries many risks... If not handled well, it might even lead to the world’s early destruction.

Perhaps only individuals and small organizations with ideals can freely implement their concepts.

She suddenly felt a bit envious of Honglian.

But Abigail wouldn’t let such emotions show on her face.

Just as she said before, staying within the mechanism makes it easier to correct problems from the inside.

"I roughly understand," she said slowly, "In that case, let me lend you a hand."