195: Back at the apartment.

Pushing open the apartment door, a familiar scent mixed with a faint smell of dust rushed toward him.

Shen Mingyuan closed the door behind him, set his luggage down in the entryway, and leaned against the doorframe, letting out a long sigh of relief while stretching his shoulders and back, which were stiff from the long drive.

“It still feels like home,” he whispered to himself, even though this “home” was more of a pit stop and an armory.

Without a moment's pause, he changed into his slippers and walked straight to a corner of the living room.

A professional constant-temperature egg incubator sat there, its operation indicator light emitting a soft green glow, showing stable internal temperature and humidity.

Through the observation window, the giant milky-white egg he had taken from the “Dragon Tree” in the laboratory stood quietly on its dedicated tray, looking no different than when he had left.

Shen Mingyuan crouched down and studied it carefully for a moment. The shell's surface was smooth, showing no cracks or signs of life. After a moment of hesitation, he carefully opened the incubator's transparent cover, reached out, and gently tapped the shell.

Thump, thump.

The sound was dull and solid, with no discernible response from within.

“Could it be a dud?” The thought popped into his head involuntarily.

But he immediately shook his head, remembering the clear, life-related throb transmitted by the armband's orb and the faint warmth he felt when he touched it.

“It shouldn't be... something given to me under those circumstances shouldn't be meaningless.”

But how long would it take to hatch? Were the incubation conditions exactly right? What exactly was inside?

“Forget it, there's no use rushing. I'll know when it hatches,” he muttered, gently closing and locking the cover. “I'll let it incubate a while longer.”

Shen Mingyuan came out of the bathroom, drying his hair. His gaze swept over the quietly running incubator in the corner of the living room once more. The egg remained motionless.

He walked over to the sofa and sat down, picked up his phone, unlocked the screen, and scrolled quickly through his wechat list, finally stopping on the only contact with a starry sky profile picture and the nickname “.”.

After a moment of thought, he tapped the screen and sent a concise message.

Lu Jianchuan: Do you know what the “The Fellowship” is?

【Consciousness Space】

Endless data streams and complex energy structure models swirled, collided, and dissipated before Han Chengyu's “eyes.”

He was fully focused on trying to construct an unstable mathematical model for “Time-Limited Stimulation,” but the critical “Decay-Stability” conversion node was like a jammed bearing, causing waves of simulated dull pain in the depths of his consciousness.

Just then, a special notification from an external communication protocol arrived.

【External Information Access Request. Source: Aptitude Holder Shen Mingyuan (shadow)】

【.**: Do you know what the “The Fellowship” is?】

Han Chengyu's attention was forcibly pulled away. “The Fellowship?”

He repeated it subconsciously. He had been completely immersed in armor design these past few days and hadn't had time to sort out what Shen Mingyuan had encountered. “System, what is this? New trouble for Shen Mingyuan?”

【Searching information... Keyword ‘The Fellowship’ matched.】

【Search complete. This term appeared during the most recent external information synchronization. Associated combat record: Aptitude Holder Shen Mingyuan encountered and engaged a highly intelligent abnormal biological entity in the deep layers of the ‘Main Garden’ laboratory. This entity identified itself as being associated with this organization.】

【Based on existing combat data and biological signal comparisons, this organization can be temporarily labeled as the ‘Fourth Active Power’.】

“A fourth power?” Han Chengyu felt his head ache even more. “Is there any record of this in official files?”

【Accessing GUPA (GUPA) core archives (District 7 Mirror)... Access permission confirmed. Deep keyword search in progress.】

【Search complete. ‘The Fellowship’ has records in GUPA internal threat assessment archives. Security Rank: Top Secret / Limited to Director-Level.】

“You actually ‘saw’ through their entire database?” Han Chengyu was somewhat stunned, although he had long known the System was incredibly capable.

【Logical Prompt: 99.8% of the 17,300 core papers and experimental data, such as the ‘Basic Theory of primordial evolution factors’ and ‘EVO Particle Metabolism Hypothesis’ that the host initially received and learned, originated from non-public access to the secure databases of GUPA and thirty-seven related research institutions worldwide.】

【Conventional information channels cannot obtain such strictly blocked knowledge.】

【Since binding with the host and first accessing this world's network, this System has executed deep information penetration protocols. Current estimated coverage of accessible official and non-official databases: 87.3%.】

“...Fine.” Han Chengyu accepted this premise; after all, he was currently an “illegal existence” himself. “So what do the official files say? What's the deal with this ‘The Fellowship’?”

The System pulled up a highly encrypted but already cracked archive summary, its cold electronic voice reciting:

【Official Characterization: Extreme Terrorist Entity. History: Traces of this organization's activities can be traced back seventy years. It has caused multiple large-scale, indiscriminate massacres and destruction events worldwide. Motives are often manifested as pure destructive desire and the elimination of ‘lower life forms’.】

【Its core members include both humans and highly intelligent evolved animal individuals, but their ideology is fundamentally different from the ‘New Federation’ (striving for animal rights/living space) and ‘Prometheus’ (active evolution/human reshaping).】

Han Chengyu listened intently.

【Core Philosophy: Racial extremism based on ‘Mythological Form Worship’.】

【Members of this organization generally pursue and have partially achieved evolution into biological forms from various myths and legends on Earth (such as Western Dragons, Behemoths, Fairies, etc.). Based on this, they firmly believe they are an ‘Advanced Race’ or ‘Divine Beings’ that transcend the existing biological Systems of Earth.】

【Behavioral Patterns: Anti-social, anti-civilization, anti-life. Their killing behavior often lacks the survival competition logic of the ‘New Federation’ or the experimental purpose of ‘Prometheus’; it is more inclined toward practicing their philosophy of ‘eliminating inferior beings,’ demonstrating power, or simply for ‘pleasure’ and a ‘sense of dominance’.】

【In GUPA records, its danger and unpredictability are both listed at the highest Rank.】

【Historical Combat Records: Approximately twenty-five years ago, due to its activities being too rampant and its inability to be reasoned with, the organization triggered a rare joint operation by major national supernatural response agencies. It suffered targeted heavy blows and annihilation, and was once thought to have been disbanded.】

【Current signs indicate it may have been revitalized.】

The archive summary ended. Han Chengyu remained silent for a moment, digesting the information. An extremist organization that worshipped mythological forms, considered themselves gods, and took pleasure in killing and dominance... This was much more troublesome than “Prometheus,” whose actions still followed some logic, or the “New Federation,” which had relatively clear goals.

“Mythological forms... Advanced Races...” he murmured. Thinking of the talking black dragon with the bizarre defense that Shen Mingyuan had described, everything clicked. This was definitely bad news.

“System, organize this intelligence and send it to Shen Mingyuan after review,” he ordered. “Emphasize its extreme danger, its lack of communicability, and... that they might view him as a special case among the ‘lower beings’ that need to be eliminated, or... an opponent worth ‘collecting’.”

【Instruction confirmed. Integrating intelligence... Starting information security review...】

(Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!)