The net of heaven is vast, yet nothing escapes it! I am order, I am the law; I am the patrol of all realms, I am the enforcer of all realms!
The net of heaven is vast, yet nothing escapes it! I am order, I am the law; I am the patrol of all realms, I am the enforcer of all realms!
Chapter 1: Zheng Mu and the Sky Net System Zheng Mu’s favorite song is Xiao Huangqi’s “You Are My Eyes”; Zheng Mu’s favorite essay is Helen Keller’s “If I Had Three Days of Sight”; Zheng Mu’s favorite fictional characters are Ke Zhen’e and Xie Xun from Jin Yong’s works. Zheng Mu—a man whose name differs by only one character from that of the father of the most beautiful woman of the Spring and Autumn period—is a man who blinded himself. Zheng Mu is twenty-four years old this year. It has been exactly one year since he graduated from college, and it has also been exactly one year since he lost his sight. Since going blind, his interests have shifted dramatically, as evidenced by the three favorites mentioned above. It wasn’t always like this—before, Zheng Mu’s favorite song was “Let’s Live It Up,” and his idols had shifted from the emperors of the Qin and Han dynasties and the emperors of the Tang and Song dynasties to the Flying Bat and the Golden-Haired Lion King. As for essays, he hadn’t read one in over ten years before going blind, he had last read *If I Had Three Days of Sight* back in elementary school. At that time, he was still young and naive, with a romantic soul. As he grew older, he realized that the path of a literary youth wasn’t for him, so ever since high school, he’s stuck to reading novels. Speaking of novels... oh, let’s not even go there. His eyes—they were ruined because he never put down his phone, day or night, leading to chronic fatigue, retinal detachment, and ultimately blindness. It’s all tears when I think about it! I hope all book lovers will take this as a lesson! Does Zheng Mu regret it now? That’s a no-brainer—of course he does! From now on, he’ll have to say goodbye to Ms. Aoi, Ms. Ryuzaki, Ms. Hatano, Ms. Ozawa, Ms. Muto, Ms. Iijima… Long legs and all that are out of the question for him now. He’ll never feel the cool breeze of summer again—he’s kicking himself so hard he could turn green! But Zheng Mu is a deep-thinking person. No matter how much pain he feels inside, he’ll never let it show on the surface. So, in the eyes of his parents, their son is a strong, optimistic, and cheerful young man, always smiling and never complaining about his lot in life. Right now, Zheng Mu was sitting in his rocking chair on the balcony as usual, hands resting on his knees, earbuds in, staring blankly at the sky beyond the security bars. His body swayed back and forth with the music, moving the chair slowly and unconsciously. “…The black before my eyes isn’t black. What kind of white are you talking about… white… white? Holy shit! I’m blind, aren’t I? How can I see a white light…” Just as Zheng Mu was humming a tune out of boredom, a flash of white light suddenly appeared before his eyes. Before he could figure out why his eyes—which had lost their ability to perceive light—could see a white light, everything went black again, and then he lost consciousness entirely, plunging into total darkness. On the balcony, a single rocking chair remained, swaying back and forth with a phone playing music on it. Zheng Mu, who had been lying on it, had somehow vanished. He didn’t know how much time had passed when Zheng Mu, shaking his dazed head, slowly crawled to his feet. He looked around curiously; by now, he was certain he was in an unfamiliar environment—well, at least compared to the rest of Earth. As for why he was so sure, if you had X-ray vision and could see the bruise on his thigh beneath his sweatpants, you’d probably understand. However, Zheng Mu was a man of few words. No matter what he was thinking, he didn’t let it show on his face. He believed that whatever the mastermind’s motives were, they would tell him eventually. Surely they wouldn’t go to all that trouble (? ) to bring him here only to abandon him afterward? So, he wasn’t in a hurry. Suddenly, a look of surprise flashed across Zheng Mu’s face, and he let out a soft “Hmm.” He had noticed something he’d nearly overlooked: he could actually see! Even for a man as stoic as Zheng Mu, he couldn’t suppress the joy and excitement surging within him. In that moment, he decided that, since the other party had healed his eyes, he would do his utmost to fulfill any request—as long as it didn’t cross his bottom line (being exposed to light would kill him). After all, he possessed the noble quality of repaying kindness! Then, he quietly waited for the other party’s instructions. When boredom set in, he began wandering around the square— let’s call it a square for now—he began to wander around the square, observing the exotic scenery around him with great interest. The place he was now in was a vast, square plaza suspended in the starry sky, built entirely of an unknown material resembling white marble, snow-white and crystalline throughout. On the plaza, aside from a thick, towering pillar at each corner—whose purpose remained unknown—there was only a single structure with its doors tightly shut… well, Zheng Mu didn’t know what it was either; a hand? Beyond the plaza, in every direction—up, down, left, right, and ahead—lay the endless night sky, teeming with countless twinkling stars. Zheng Mu was certain that if he were someone with trypophobia, he would go mad in less than ten minutes. Well, it wasn’t just people with trypophobia; in fact, anyone in this environment of absolute silence and absolute solitude would eventually go mad. At the very least, Zheng Mu considered himself to have strong mental fortitude; it felt like ten minutes had already passed, yet he remained perfectly at ease. Out of sheer boredom, he even dared to venture to the edge of the plaza to look down, but to his dismay, the plaza was shrouded in an invisible membrane. The moment he tried to stick his head out, he was mercilessly bounced back. “I suppose that makes sense. Without a protective barrier, the air would have leaked out long ago!” Zheng Mu gave a self-deprecating chuckle, then turned his gaze toward the palm-shaped structure and muttered under his breath, “It seems the only way to break this deadlock is to figure something out with you…” He had no choice. The mastermind behind this had far too much patience, and Zheng Mu conceded defeat. He didn’t want to waste any more time like this. No matter how stoic a man might be, he was still human—and no human could endure such a deathly silent environment. Not to mention, he had no idea how long he’d been unconscious… He was hungry! Zheng Mu walked step by step up the stairs, coming to stand beneath the palm-shaped structure. He slowly pressed his right hand against the door and gave it a gentle push. “Squeak!” The door, which looked quite heavy, swung open at the sound, right before Zheng Mu’s astonished eyes. Gazing into the pitch-black interior, Zheng Mu hesitated for a moment, then his expression hardened with resolve. He clenched his teeth and muttered, “Whether I stick my neck out or not, I’ll get a knife to the throat. Kill me or skin me—let him do as he pleases!” As soon as he stepped inside, Zheng Mu promptly collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep, unconscious slumber once again. “Target meets minimum requirements…” “…Initiating binding: 1%, 2%, 3%… 60%, 61%… 97%, 98%, 99%… 100%! Binding successful!” “Sky Net system activated!” “Scanning host information…” “Name: Zheng Mu. Race: Earth Human—East Asian—Han Chinese. Age: 24. Gender: Male. Combat Power: 1.” “Displaying system’s current capabilities…” “Capture Range: 0 meters. Detection Range: 0 meters. Reconnaissance Range: 5 meters.” “Displaying current merit points…” “107 points.” “Will awaken the host in ten seconds…” “10, 9, 8… 3, 2, 1…” “Zzzzt…” “Ah…” Zheng Mu, lying on the ground, suddenly shuddered a few times, then struggled to open his eyes. With one hand trembling as he pushed himself up from the ground to sit, he used his other trembling hand to cover his forehead, his eyes filled with confusion.
