-55- Inheritance of Identity

Deep within the dark alleys of the Bayard District, the "Lorne River" meanders past like a gloomy, city-forgotten scar.

This is one of the most famous rivers in Akasha, having once witnessed the entire city's rise and historical development. Countless people visit annually to take photographs. Yet, only this particular stretch in the Bayard District is somewhat unsightly. The turbid river water shifts in bizarre, hallucinatory colors under the licking of neon lights from all directions, while dirty scum and unrecognizable industrial debris gather and drift upon the greasy surface, resembling little more than an oversized open sewer.

On the other side of the revetment, however, the direct opposite noise and bustle rush toward one. Bar signs flicker with bewitching halos, cheap motel neon boards blink on and off, and the crowded streets teem with eccentrically dressed people of all kinds. The air is saturated with a mixed scent of cheap perfume, fried food, and some vague exotic spices.

Judging from this, although its positioning is similar to the Blackwater District, one can still feel that the prosperity of Akasha is indeed much higher than that of Yishi City. Even the slums look rather exotic.

Yvette’s gaze swept over the pedestrians on the roadside, contemplating whether she should use her hacking abilities to steal some intelligence and further refine her subsequent plan. Unexpectedly, a few seconds later, a shuttle suddenly flew right in front of her.

Judging by its design, this was a steam-lantern-style shuttle driven by wind elements. Outside the bright yellow lampshade were black grilles, making it look as though it had traveled straight out of a fairy-tale magic school—quite adorable.

"This beautiful young lady," a clear male voice with a business-like friendliness came from within the lampshade, "we are the Akasha Police Department (AJSP), conducting a routine verification of illegal immigrant identities in the Bayard District. Please present your ID card. Thank you for your cooperation."

An ID card? Yvette looked calmly at the flying lantern before her, remaining silent. She didn't have an ID card, and even her digital currency account had been temporarily registered on a random platform; how was she supposed to prove her identity?

Crucially, she really was an undocumented person... At this thought, Yvette sighed internally, wondering if on her very first day of time-traveling, she was going to be deported by the New Eden government as an illegal immigrant, or locked away in a deep prison?

Running away wasn't entirely out of the question, but outrunning a shuttle would undoubtedly expose her side as a mage. And the identity of a mage would only heighten her profile at the police station, instantly elevating her from a one-star roadside nobody to a five-star general...

Thus, she decided to bluff first: "I lost my ID card."

"Lost? I see. In that case, young lady, please look at the camera. We can provide you with an ID card retrieval service. The official AJSP website is currently holding a promotion. Proactively replacing your ID card with a new generation version now can save you 10% compared to usual..."

The police officer operating the flying lantern seemed to have triggered some preset routine, suddenly reciting a series of commercial slogans until Yvette grew somewhat impatient. Only then did it emit a yellow scanning beam that swept across Yvette's face.

"Identity traced and confirmed! Hello, Miss Yvette Sienne, resident of Ishi Island, Yishi City, Blackwater District! Your identity has been verified without error. I can immediately apply for a new-generation ID card for you. Opening VIP now can exempt you from one additional month of built-in advertisements..."

The police officer's promotional sales pitch resumed inside the flying lantern, but Yvette was no longer paying attention. She was slightly dazed, thinking: Isn't this the exact same identity from her previous dream?

At that time—four years ago, to be exact—she had asked Welding Torch to help her obtain a new ID card through official police channels, but her name had remained unchanged, still Yvette Sienne...

It was still valid?

Why was it still valid?

Could it be that she had not entered a dream, but a real world?

Or perhaps she was capable of altering the progression of the dream world, introducing a new world-line?

"Um... Miss? I mean... what do you think?" Noticing that Yvette had been silent for a long time, the officer behind the flying lantern presumably felt a bit awkward and tentatively asked.

"...Fine, please trouble yourself." Recovering her wits, Yvette heard her own dry voice.

"Alright, please wait a moment. Your new ID card will be delivered to this location within five minutes!" the flying lantern said cheerfully.

After the flying lantern departed, Yvette stood beside the Lorne River, watching the ripples on the water surface shimmer like neon-colored fish schools. Before long, another drab-colored shuttle pierced the night, accurately dropping a lightweight small box. Yvette caught it expressionlessly, tore open the packaging, and revealed the metal card that bore her past credit.

She immediately pressed the ID card against her magitech terminal, smoothly entering her citizen account page to find her familiar identity name, along with the remaining twenty-odd thousand credits left unused from her last dream.

Aside from that, she also accessed her message interface and saw numerous astonished, shocked, and worried messages. The majority came from Mrs. Susan, Mary, and Hans, with a small fraction from Welding Torch—he had sold out all his remaining "Arcane Wind Blade" packages on hand and wanted to restock, only to find that the mage lady had mysteriously vanished.

After sending messages continuously for a while, Welding Torch finally gave up three years ago, leaving a message that if Yvette was still alive, she should reply to him, as many buyers were still eagerly awaiting them.

It seemed Welding Torch was quite reluctant to let go of the Arcane Wind Blade distribution business...

Yvette smiled faintly, thinking that at least her financial pressure was considerably eased now. She then replied to Welding Torch and the Hoffman family respectively, reporting her safety and confessing that she had encountered high-risk force majeure circumstances, which was why her identity had only recently been recovered.

As for what kind of high-risk force majeure circumstances could instantly evaporate four years, she didn't elaborate, trusting that neither Welding Torch nor the Hoffman family would pry too deeply into it.

Well, in another two years, Mr. Regar Hoffman would even be released from prison, so she could set up a scheduled congratulatory text message...

Were Hans and Mary still looking forward to playing with Rosalind? Hopefully they could do so one day, but counting the time, only four years had passed for them in the dream—they were still high schoolers—while Rosalind was already over two hundred years old. She wondered if they would still be able to hang out together...

Thinking of the events from two hundred years ago, Yvette's mood improved significantly, as if she had returned to that rainy night when she stood under her umbrella outside the Grony Clinic, watching the students walk out in a daze.

Next, she searched the internet, initially intending to check information regarding the Bayard District and mercenaries. However, after logging into a social media account using her real-name-authenticated ID card, an unexpected message caught her attention.

It was a message from three years ago, sent by an ID named "Firebringer," who said in a private chat: "Friend, are you interested in learning about our 'Civilization Continuation Society'?"

Yvette's eyes narrowed slightly at once.

During her previous dream, she had attempted to hack into the official website of the Civilization Continuation Society, only to be intercepted by a mysterious top-tier rune hacker. After a fierce offensive and defensive struggle, she had voluntarily given up, yet she hadn't expected the other party to have still caught traces of her.

In fact, it wasn't just a mere trace. Because the account was verified with her real name, being able to locate this account usually meant that her fake identity, "Yvette Sienne," had also been exposed along with it.

Then why send this via private chat?

A reminder? A warning? Or a provocation?

She pondered for a moment and replied: "I am very interested in the 'apocalypse' you claim to foresee, but I will not easily believe it. If the apocalypse is real, I hope to learn more details."