’Someone is praying?’

Zhou Chen immediately perked up. He closed his eyes, and his consciousness ascended to the Round Table Hall. The sound of the Prayer became clearer, echoing in his ears again and again.

He extended his consciousness along the Soul Link, descending into the real World.

The scene was a somewhat dilapidated room. The one praying was a foreign woman in her thirties, sitting cross-legged on a wooden plank bed. She had black hair and some freckles on her face. Despite being an Ascender, her skin wasn’t in great condition. It seemed weather-beaten, as if she didn’t pay much attention to skincare. In contrast, her fingers were long, slender, and free of calluses, clearly having been meticulously cared for.

On the bed also lay a small, sallow, and emaciated girl, who was asleep.

’Number Thirteen...’ Zhou Chen wasn’t too surprised. He had already expected this.

Number Thirteen’s real name was Calia. She was a Tier Three Ascender, and her Extraordinary Ability was "Limb Stitching." Its effect was to ignore rejection phenomena, allowing her to stitch together any limb or organ, whether it belonged to a human, an animal, or even an Abyssal Demon. She was a doctor by profession and ran a clinic in a slum of the North Carolina Republic.

She was once a core member of the secret society "Ninth Ward." It was a sizable Extraordinary Organization whose main goal was to research Abyssal Power, attempting to cultivate Abyssal Demons that were obedient and absolutely loyal. Their most infamous creation was the Tier Four Abyssal Stitched Beast—the Spider Demon—which caused over three thousand deaths in a small town in America seven years ago.

It was because of that incident that the Ninth Ward was annihilated by the Star Association. Most of its members were killed or injured, with only a handful managing to escape. They were listed as A-Level fugitives, forced to survive in remote Chaotic Zones far from bustling cities.

Calia was one of them. As a Tier Three Ascender and a former core member of the Ninth Ward, she now kept an incredibly low profile. She concealed her identity as a Tier Three Ascender, buried her entire past, and opened a clinic in North Carolina to work as a doctor.

Her previous claim in the Round Table Hall—that her dream was to banish sickness from the World and rid it of all plagues—was not a lie. It was a wish she’d had since she was a child. She had even joined the Ninth Ward to achieve this goal, hoping to find the path of "biological evolution" through Abyssal Demons.

Zhou Chen had made a Prayer to learn about the past of every member. Calia was a North Carolina native, born in the slums. Her father died in a steel mill accident when she was three, and the factory offered no compensation. Her mother, who was fairly attractive, soon remarried, taking a young Calia with her to live with a local policeman who had a relatively stable income.

While growing up, Calia’s playmates died one after another. Some drank contaminated water, some had wounds that became infected, some contracted venereal diseases after being assaulted, and others died in plagues... It was during that time that she developed the desire to become a doctor.

When Calia was thirteen, her stepfather was killed after being caught in a battle between Ascenders. This brought Calia a secret sense of relief, as her stepfather had begun to have ideas about her, and she didn’t want to be violated by that fat, ugly, disgusting old man. But new problems quickly followed. With her stepfather dead, the family’s income plummeted. To make matters worse, the textile mill began major layoffs, and her mother unfortunately lost her job. The family soon ran out of money.

With no other choice, Calia’s mother resorted to selling her body on the streets, taking on odd craft jobs on the side to pay for Calia’s education.

Yes, education. Even in such difficult circumstances, Calia’s mother insisted that she stay in school. It wasn’t because she wanted Calia to become some great person. She just believed that if Calia had some culture, she could marry a wealthy man and escape her poor fate. At worst, even becoming a mistress or a sex slave was far better than suffering in the slums.

When Calia was sixteen, her mother died of AIDS. Her mother’s agonizing experience with the illness and her blood-curdling screams before death seared themselves into Calia’s mind, becoming something she would never forget. It also solidified her determination to become a doctor. This intense emotional turmoil caused her to awaken, becoming a one-in-ten-thousand Ascender.

Two years later, while navigating the black market, Calia encountered members of the Ninth Ward and joined them. Within a few years, she had worked her way up to a core member position.

After the Ninth Ward was wiped out by the Star Association, Calia fled back to the North Carolina Republic. There, she concealed her identity and became a doctor, helping those tormented by disease.

When the Crystal Disease first broke out in North Carolina, Zhou Chen had a feeling that Number Thirteen, Calia, might ask for help. As expected, she now had.

...

"Lady Calia, are you in trouble?"

The Lamp God’s gentle, calm voice suddenly echoed in Calia’s mind, making her tremble. It reminded her of a believer’s prayer to a God and the God’s subsequent response. She hadn’t expected the Lamp God to actually answer her.

’A God... Since he calls himself the Lamp God, perhaps He’s a Demigod...’ The thought flashed through Calia’s mind, and she hurriedly replied, "Mr. Lamp God, do you know about the Crystal Disease?"

"The Star Association just sent down the Rain of Life. How could I not know of it?"

The Lamp God chuckled. "Lady Calia, do you want me to end the Crystal Disease?"

Calia chose her words carefully. "I did have that thought, but I know it’s not realistic. You once said that you follow the principle of ’equivalent exchange,’ and I cannot afford such a great price."

The number of infected in North Carolina had already surpassed ten million. To restore them all to normal and completely eradicate the Crystal Disease, how much Prayer Value would that require?

Calia didn’t dare to imagine it, because her own Prayer Value had yet to even reach double digits.

Zhou Chen, on the other hand, was quite curious about this question. He split his focus and made a Prayer to ask.

The answer he received was: one Tiny Miracle.

This greatly surprised Zhou Chen. He had only performed a Tiny Miracle once, and his understanding of it was still limited to resurrection. But now, it seemed a Tiny Miracle could do much, much more—it could even instantly restore tens of millions of infected people to normal...

That was something not even a Crowned King could accomplish. If it were to happen, it would undoubtedly be considered a "divine miracle"!

"Mr. Lamp God, I used a ’Prayer’ to help one infected person, but that has brought me trouble. People now think I can cure the Crystal Disease, and both the gangs and the Government Army in North Carolina are looking for me..."

Calia paused for a moment. "Could I ask you to help change my appearance, and that of the child with me?"

"Oh? Just change your appearance?" The Lamp God seemed a little surprised. "I thought you would ask to be moved to a safe location."

"I want to stay in North Carolina to continue my research on the Crystal Disease and find a cure," Calia said in a solemn voice.

North Carolina was her homeland. Although her memories of it were far from pleasant, filled only with Darkness and gloom, she was still a citizen of North Carolina. Years ago, after seeing the world outside, a fire had been lit in Calia’s heart—she wanted to change this fucked-up country.

Unlike the struggling poor, Ascenders were beings who wielded Power, capable of deciding their own destinies and doing as they pleased. Of course, this Power was minuscule in the face of a nation. No matter how brightly the fire in Calia’s heart burned, she couldn’t just go and overthrow the oppressive rule of the higher-ups. But she could do her best to make life a little better for the poor at the bottom, even if only by a little.

With the Crystal Disease ravaging North Carolina, she felt she had to do something.

Because she was a doctor, and healing the sick and saving lives was her duty.

After a brief silence, the Lamp God seemed to nod, agreeing to Calia’s request. "I can change your appearances."

"Thank you for your mercy. I will pay with Extraordinary Materials of equivalent value." Calia thanked him profusely as the great weight in her heart was finally lifted.

She possessed a Storage Artifact, from which she retrieved an Extraordinary Metal called "Gold Foil Stamping" and uploaded it to the Prayer System’s repository.

Immediately after, Zhou Chen made a Prayer to temporarily alter the appearances of Calia and the little girl beside her. This didn’t consume much Prayer Value.

"Lady Calia, the Crystal Disease was developed by the Poison Master of Fallen Paradise," the Lamp God reminded her. "If you encounter any members of Fallen Paradise in North Carolina, you can trade information on their whereabouts with me. I will grant you a wish of equivalent value."

’Fallen Paradise...’ Calia was startled. ’They’re the ones who created the Crystal Disease?’

After a moment of shock, she replied solemnly, "I understand. I will keep your reminder in mind."

With that, Zhou Chen severed the mental link, and his consciousness returned.

The situation in North Carolina wasn’t his problem to worry about. ’It’s more useful to think about what to have for breakfast tomorrow than to worry about this.’

’Of course, I should still keep an eye on Calia. After all, she’s a member of the Round Table Hall. The company is just getting off the ground; it would be bad luck for an employee to die so soon.’