Huang Jiutian lacked Qin Xiaoxia’s formidable talent for self-hypnosis.

So, unsurprisingly, he lay awake all night.

He couldn’t stop thinking about his future, about "Dawn," and about what would happen if he acquired Magic Power.

He didn’t know if he could exercise the same self-restraint as Qin Xiaoxia. Having been an ordinary person for over twenty years, he was terrified that he might become one of those people from the movies who turn evil after gaining power.

Naturally, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou had no idea just how much drama was unfolding in Huang Jiutian’s mind.

If Qin Xiaoxia knew, he would surely roar, "Jiutian! You’re a perfect fit for Dawn! I’ll give you the mark right now!"

...

Su Su was frustrated. She’d barely slept a wink last night, forcing herself to stay on high alert so she could wake up and reply the instant a WeChat notification came through on her phone.

But expectations rarely match reality. She waited all night, but Qin Xiaoxia’s message never came.

Su Su felt a bit crushed, though she knew this sense of disappointment stemmed entirely from her own high hopes. After all, he’d never promised her anything.

Still groggy, she didn’t want to get out of bed. Su Su decided to catch up on some sleep; after all, her shift didn’t start until one in the afternoon.

"RING-A-LING~ RING-A-LING~~"

The ringtone of the phone on her nightstand suddenly blared.

Su Su shot up reflexively, snatching the phone. Only then did she remember that Qin Xiaoxia had only added her on WeChat; he didn’t have her phone number.

A glance at the caller ID showed it was an international call from her friend Jenny in Los Angeles. An image of an energetic, red-haired girl instantly popped into her mind.

She swiped to answer, and a torrent of rapid-fire English burst from the speaker.

"Hey~ Feiya, it’s Jenny! It’s morning over there, right? Hope I didn’t wake you! Hahaha, did you miss me? How’s work going?"

"Uh..."

"Oh, Jenny, so many questions! Which one should I answer first? Anyway, everything’s great over here~"

On the other end of the line, a red-haired girl was pushing a shopping cart through a large supermarket, doing some late-night shopping.

She held the phone with one hand, pushing the cart and browsing the shelves as she chatted happily with her friend in a faraway country.

"I’m telling you, Feiya, the strangest and most interesting thing happened here recently! You know Old Ode’s recycling yard in the suburbs? They discovered a crystal and gemstone deposit there! My god, how lucky can Old Ode get? Why does nothing like that ever happen to me?"

Girls are like dragons; they have a natural fascination with jewels and shiny things.

Hearing this, Su Su was immediately hooked.

She rolled over and flopped back onto the bed, phone in hand. Then she shifted again, rolling onto her stomach and propping herself up on her pillow. Her ample chest pressed against it, forming a graceful curve.

"Really? You’re kidding! At that junkyard? Didn’t he have the land surveyed when he bought it? If there was a Crystal Ore deposit, how could he be the one to get it?"

The red-haired girl smacked the handle of her shopping cart.

"Exactly! He’s the one who gets it! And get this, he hired an appraiser to check it out, and the guy was raving about the quality of the crystals in the pit. He even said it might be a previously undiscovered variety!"

"No way! That’s insane!"

Su Su started smacking her bed in excitement.

"Wait, it hasn’t been that long, has it? He’s already started excavating the pit? Are there any pictures? If we went to buy some Crystal Ore, do you think we could get a discount? Are there any big pieces?"

As a Crystal Ball Fortune-Teller, Su Su found the allure of a large, natural crystal far greater than that of other gemstones. Jenny knew this, which was why she’d made a special call to her, not just to share some fun news.

"That’s another thing I find weird. It’s like the pit was already there, and Old Ode just uncovered the opening. Oh, and Jack said the crystals inside are actually pretty big! I even heard some of them glow!"

At this point, Jenny quietly covered the mouthpiece of her phone and lowered her voice.

"Jack, Joseph, and the others are planning to find a chance to sneak in at night and take a look."

On her end, Su Su subconsciously covered her mouth. ’Those daring American kids.’

Oh, and by the way, Su Su’s nationality followed her father’s; she was a citizen of Hua Country.

God knows why so many people from Hua Country want to change their citizenship. She, for one, knew just how difficult it was for a foreigner to get a Hua Country green card without a father from there.

"Alright, Feiya, I’ve got to go. I need to finish my shopping. If Jack and the guys don’t get caught, I’ll call you back with an update, haha~"

After hanging up, Jenny was still smiling, but she couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

Up ahead, another group of people with several shopping carts were buying things.

The carts were mostly filled with bottled water and instant foods.

’Why are there so many crazies hoarding food lately?’

Yes, some people were always visiting sketchy websites and seeing all sorts of strange news. Who knew if some ridiculous doomsday prophecy was making the rounds again.

While the vast majority of people didn’t believe such things, you could find "preppers" anywhere.

That’s why you’d occasionally see shoppers hoarding supplies lately, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups.

And don’t ever think that panic buying is unique to the people of Hua Country. When foreigners get swept up in a frenzy, it can be just as terrifying.

This kind of situation was also a headache for the supermarket owner.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want the money. But when certain items were constantly bought out, other customers couldn’t get what they needed. This inevitably affected the supermarket, leading to a loss of regular clientele.

...

In a suburban community on the outskirts of Los Angeles, night had completely fallen.

Three white guys and one black guy—four young men in total—stealthily approached a scrapyard.

They crouched by the rusty chain-link fence, staring at the lights in the distance.

"Old Ode actually hired security?"

The area around the pit’s entrance was bathed in the bright glare of several floodlights. All the surrounding trash and scrap had been cleared away.

A simple, portable guard booth had been set up nearby, with several burly, uniformed, and fully-armed men patrolling the area.

"What do we do now? There’s no way past them! Damn it!"

The young black man stomped his foot in frustration.

Jack, the blond one, tugged at his collar before scrambling up the chain-link fence to get a better view.

"Looks like giving Feiya a Crystal Ball is out of the question..."

Just as Jack was about to climb down, Joseph, who was below, whispered urgently.

"Look!"

The other three, including Jack on the fence, all looked toward the mine pit.

Suddenly, the security guards on duty began stripping off their clothes right where they stood.

The scene was beyond bizarre.

"What are they doing?"

The four of them weren’t prejudiced against gay people, but they couldn’t believe the security guards would all be getting it on together...

They exchanged bewildered glances and decided to keep watching.

"It’s a shame we’re so far away. The phone camera’s too blurry. Otherwise, this would totally go viral!"

Joseph quipped.

Half a minute later, all four of them had fallen silent.

There were five guards in total. Their clothes were piled in the booth and on the ground, their weapons set aside at a distance.

And the men themselves, all of them stark naked, walked into the mine pit.

As if by instinct, the four of them crouched lower in the darkness. They wanted to leave, but an intense curiosity kept them there. They wanted to see what the guards were doing and when they would come out.

「Half an hour passed.」

Goosebumps prickled on their skin.

They hadn’t come out. There was no sound. No sign of anything!

"We should... get out of here..."

"Agreed!"

"Yeah!"

...

PS: Thank you to reader Blood Race Night Blade for the 1,000 coin donation, reader True Angel Earth Cloud for the 600 coin donation, readers Ye Xuchen and Danmei Wolf YY for the 500 coin donation, reader With the Tide of Flowering and Withering for the 200 coin donation, and readers Xiao Xiaozhi and Star 21640 for the 100 coin donation~