Finally, he murmured, “About my [Humanity]... You both mentioned earlier that it was unstable. What exactly does that mean?”
Chewie glanced pointedly at Li Wei, eyebrows raised. “Captain Li? Your plane, your territory.”
Li Wei accepted the user's manual responsibility with a patient sigh. “Eathan, you’ve felt changes within yourself recently, haven’t you? Especially when your [Humanity] drops below certain thresholds?”
Eathan paused, reflecting back on recent events. Slowly, he lifted a hand to the top of his head, remembering vividly how the ghostly warmth had shaped itself into pulsing antlers—antlers that belonged unmistakably to the Auspicious Beast. Anxiety tightened in his chest.
“No way.” He gaped. “Am I… becoming Qilin?”
“No,” Li Wei said, noticing his panic. “You’re not transforming. Not physically, anyway. But as Qilin’s vessel, a drop in [Humanity] may shift your appearance, though it probably wouldn’t transform you completely on a physical level. Rather, it pushes you further from who you are, toward who Qilin once was. It’s a spiritual shift—one that risks overwriting your individuality.”
Eathan swallowed. “Then this whole [Humanity] and [Integrity] thing… do either of you know where it came from? How it even works?”
He paused.
“In fact, just what is this [SYSTEM] inside me?”
At his barrage of questions, Li Wei shook his head. “Your [SYSTEM], no one is entirely certain where it originated. But as for your [Humanity], tell me, what’s your current percentage?”
Eathan stiffened, hesitating briefly. "Fifty percent.”
Li Wei nodded. "Think of your [Humanity] as an anchor. Like, a stabilizing weight for your mortal identity. Every time it dips lower, you’re not physically becoming Qilin; rather, you're aligning closer to the pathway Qilin had descended upon during the Null Incursion,” he said. “You’ve felt it, haven't you? Crossing below halfway becomes significantly more difficult to manage—like trying to steady a tipping scale."
“Yes, but…” Eathan’s brows knitted together. “Qilin’s essence?”
"In sealing the Yellow Dragon and halt the Null Incursion, Qilin willingly shed his original auspicious core, the very foundation of his being which guaranteed prosperity and fortune." Li Wei sighed. "When you lose [Humanity], you're pulled toward the path Qilin himself originally walked, one that ended in his own destruction.”
Eathan stared at him. “The Auspicious Beast… ceased to be auspicious?”
“We weren’t exactly alive to take notes on what exactly happened. That’s something only the Guardians or Qilin himself could fully explain." Chewie crossed her arms. "Another reason we should hurry up and rescue the boss.”
A heavy silence filled the cabin. Eathan grappled internally, trying to reconcile the image of Qilin he'd always known—a beast symbolizing fortune and protection—with this revelation of self-sacrifice.
“Then... my emotions, my control, my ability to stay ‘me’—” Eathan felt a chill down his spine. “It all depends on maintaining this [Humanity]?”
“Likely so.” Li Wei nodded. “And that’s why Taeril White was so fiercely protective of you. He feared precisely what you're facing now. He didn’t want you follow the past of Qilin.”
“That explains it. The protective runes at COZMART, the trainings and check-ins...” Eathan's gaze fell quietly onto his hands. “Then how about [Integrity]? You told me at the very beginning as how ‘whole’ I am.”
"Your [Integrity] is somewhat different. It’s more like progression bar measuring the growth of Qilin’s latent powers within you. You inevitably need it for strength and stability. But how precisely it connects to [Humanity]?” Li Wei shook his head. “Even Bai Hu never fully explained to us that relationship. They’re linked but not necessarily inversely correlated. It’s something only perhaps Qilin himself could fully comprehend."
Eathan exhaled shakily, feeling a weight slowly lifting from his chest. Understanding didn’t erase pain or uncertainty, but it brought clarity—enough to steady him.
“I understand now,” he said, looking between Li Wei and Chewie. “Or at least, I'm starting to.”
Li Wei leaned back with a nod. “Fifteen years ago,” he said, putting his glasses back on. “Taeril White contacted me personally. Told me explicitly that if anything happened to him, you were to be placed under Area 003’s protection. He also specifically wanted COZMART to remain operational under any circumstances.”
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Eathan glanced up, a flicker of hope kindling within. “You mean…he’d foresaw this moment? He knew something like this might happen?”
Li Wei shook his head.
“I don’t know. No one fully understands Bai Hu. Not even Qing Long, not even me,” he said, rubbing his chin. “But whatever he planned, whatever he might have foresaw, he staked everything on it.”
"So we need you focused, not drowning in stupid self-doubt,” Chewie said, redrawing his focus. “This isn’t about you. Or Qilin. Or your hurt feelings. It’s about saving the boss. The rest can wait."
Eathan absorbed her words carefully. He inhaled, straightening up from the seat.
“You’re right,” he said. “We have to find Mister White first. Everything else can be sorted afterward.”
Li Wei nodded while Chewie relaxed slightly, slouching back onto the leather seat. Eathan sank back into his seat, exhaustion finally surfacing, but alongside it, a newfound clarity.
Outside the aircraft, the storm clouds began to clear, sunlight piercing through cracks in the grey turbulence. The plane continued onward, carrying the trio toward the lands of Area 003.
***
The drive from JFK to Maple & 8th was silent. The familiar streets of New York drifted past, gray buildings and street vendors blurring together beneath muted morning sunlight. Returning felt surreal, like slipping back into a forgotten dream. Eathan gazed through the tinted window, watching pedestrians hustle by, completely oblivious to the spiritual turbulence rippling just beneath their mortal world.
When Li Wei’s chauffeur finally pulled up to the curb, he stepped out onto the sidewalk and flinched. Maple & 8th—the street corner bustling quietly in its own rhythm—hadn’t changed. The laundromat and nail salon sandwiching the corner shop were still devoid of customers; street lamps bore malfunctioning LED posters for long-past concerts; pedestrians navigated sidewalk cracks like they had since the day he first wandered here, naive and confused.
“I have to handle some chaos back at HQ,” Li Wei said from the open car door. “Several rifts near Area 003’s borders have flared up again. We're feeling aftershocks from the White Tiger’s core dispersal. His qi’s potency has made everything unstable. My personnel have been scrambling nonstop."
Eathan turned slightly, a subtle pang of guilt tugging at him. "Sorry," he murmured. "This must have caused you considerable trouble."
Li Wei shook his head, blowing out a puff of smoke as he held the cigarette between his fingers. "It's no fault of yours. Area 002 refuses to help, Erlang Shen has become frustratingly cautious. We've had to absorb most of Area 001’s overflow ourselves. Honestly, at this point the Jade Deity might as well give us interim oversight—geography means nothing if the neighbouring commander won’t budge."
"Typical celestial official behaviour.” Chewie scoffed, hopping out from the back seat. “Let someone else handle the mess."
Li Wei’s mouth twitched. "Precisely. In any case, I'll return once we've secured the area. Try not to burn down the corner shop before that."
Eathan nodded slowly. "Good luck out there, Captain.”
The car door shut with a decisive click and drove away, leaving Eathan and Chewie alone beneath the faded COZMART sign, which was now OZMART as the “C” decided to go on strike since the last time he saw it.
The sight tightened something quiet within Eathan’s chest. Turning slowly, he approached the shop’s entrance.
The little bell chimed overhead as he crossed the threshold. The shop greeted them with surreal silence, perfectly stocked shelves untouched, neat rows of brightly packaged goods lined up like toy soldiers awaiting orders.
Yet despite the familiarity, every inch of the scene screamed of a certain absence.
Chewie climbed onto the high stool behind the counter, legs swinging idly as she surveyed the immaculate store with narrowed eyes.
"Is it just me," she said aloud, "or does OZMART look suspiciously tidy?”
Eathan only half-heard her, absorbed in the hollow ache within his chest. Before he could respond, his [SYSTEM] abruptly chimed, shattering the quiet:
[SYSTEM] NOTIFICATION:
[Side Quest (new!)]
Complete your daily shift at COZMART!
Reward: +30 Karma, +10 Qi Tokens
He stared at the notification. Two seconds later, a bitter laugh caught in his throat.
“Back to square one, huh?”
“Square or circle, shelves won’t stock themselves.” Chewie offered a shrug. “Get moving, Eathan.”
With heavy irony, Eathan began restocking, arranging snacks, adjusting receipt rolls, sweeping the floor—tasks he’d performed hundreds of times under Taeril’s amused, watchful gaze. Now, every movement felt hollow, an echo of a past warmth now void.
Chewie, perched on the stool, watched him silently. She yanked out the calculus notebook from a drawer and, despite the dust-filled surface, began to scribble wormy equations into the pages. Silence stretched thick, punctuated only by cans clinking into neat rows.
Eathan paused suddenly, examining a shelf with narrowed eyes. "Wait, someone definitely messed with these shelves."
He knew that Quine Long had taken care of COMZART briefly when he and Mister White first arrived in Shanghai, but the dragon had been with them ever since the Realm-Barrier Games. At least two weeks should have passed with the corner shop untended.
"That’s what I said." Chewie closed her notebook with a snap. "Someone’s been here. Recent."
Before Eathan could respond, the front door swung open, setting off the familiar bell. Eathan swerved, hope flaring irrationally in his chest.
But it wasn’t Taeril White.
Instead of the man’s familiar, nonchalant face, he found himself staring into the wide, baffled eyes of Emily Lutin and Sera Dream.
All four froze, blinking at each other.
Eathan and Chewie: ???
Emily and Sera: ?????
Silence stretched between them, heavy with mutual confusion.
"Eathan?" Sera blinked. "Chewie?”
Chewie and Eathan exchanged bewildered glances, matching perfectly the looks of the two girls standing awkwardly in the doorway.
"What," Eathan managed, "are you two doing here?"
Emily lifted an eyebrow.
"Funny. We were about to ask you the same."