Chapter 80 Closing Ceremony

In the endless darkness, the conscious soul floats in it, feeling the faint pull from the contract.

The black fog swallowed everything and corroded everyone's heart silently. All words related to "evil" can be included in Him.

But the young man was completely unharmed, just drifting quietly in this dead place, the heart in his chest beating steadily and peacefully.

He seems to be here, yet not here. The soul of the outsider is too unique. It has no traces of engraving, is not recognized by the world, and is not shrouded by the black fog. Only the aura floating on the surface covers him.

The two separate consciousnesses met at this moment.

Shi Xu raised his hand, grasped the ethereal body, and held the boy tightly in his arms.

This is him.

An inexplicable intuition, a strange attraction. When two people are close to each other, their divided consciousness seems to return to one, and a sense of closeness arises spontaneously.

This is him, and this is himself.

Vision and direction are no longer effective in the black fog, and one can only rely on feeling to return. The body in his arms had the warmth of a living person, and the young man's slightly cool skin touched it, and he subconsciously felt at ease, as if there was still someone walking with him in this endless black fog.

A very novel experience.

Shi Xu felt it carefully.

I don’t know if the light ball is awake now, or maybe it has fallen asleep due to exhaustion of strength, or maybe it is jumping around in the vest’s head now, wishing it could jump to another head.

The contract suddenly became hot, burning the soul and body, invisibly transmitting faint information.

Appears awake.

Shi Xu chuckled, but the laughter was swallowed up by the dead silence and did not make any sound.

He didn't care at all and just controlled his soul to drift in the guided direction, as if it was floating in the water, but he didn't feel suffocated because he was not afraid.

…

He opened his eyes.

The bright white wall came into view, and when I tilted my head slightly, the soft blanket brushed against my cheek, bringing a slight warmth.

It was a dream.

A sudden feeling of dislocation fell on his heart, and Shi Xu buried his face in the sofa. After intense work, leisure time is even more precious. He allowed laziness to sweep over him again, pulling his consciousness into a deep sleep.

Unfortunately, I’m destined to not be able to take a nap.

A familiar touch touches the forehead, and the light ball provides a wake-up service at the right time.

“Beep—”

A pseudo-electronic sound rang out, and it rolled around Shi Xu's only exposed ear. The soft fur rubbed against the auricle, causing some itchiness.

"If you sleep any longer, you won't feel refreshed. It will only make you feel muddled. Now is the best time to get up. Comrade Shi Xu, please open your eyes quickly. We are going to attend the closing ceremony!"

Um? Closing ceremony?

Shi Xu quietly opened his eyes a little, tilted his head slightly, and looked at the clock specially placed by the light ball.

One twenty-five in the afternoon.

I actually slept for so long... No wonder I feel lazy all over and my bones are numb.

"Oh..." Sighing reluctantly, Shi Xu struggled hard against sleepiness and finally gained control of his body and stood up from the soft and warm sofa.

The blanket slid down to his waist, and he stretched slowly. Under the accustomed sight of the light ball, he slumped calmly on the backrest, grabbed his phone and checked it.

The machine's temperature was icy cold when he touched it, and Shi Xu hissed softly. After the facial recognition screen was turned on, he hissed again.

Countless messages piled up in text messages, with dense red dots and deep resentment.

The young man hummed a song and chose to ignore it, and directly clicked on a message bar.

"Say no to overtime: you just slip away like that? Just slip away without caring about anything?"

"Say no to overtime: We agreed to swim in the ocean of overtime together. Why am I the only one running around crying? My phone step count is almost the first."

"Say no to overtime: OK, I made a mistake. I still miss you during my short break, but someone seems to be immersed in a peaceful sleep. It's really sad."

"Say no to overtime: the closing ceremony will go on as planned, and it still has to be you. Those old guys are probably going crazy with guessing."

………

"Say no to overtime: Oh, look at me, I almost forgot the most important thing. You must not remember the closing ceremony time, right? It's tomorrow afternoon at 1:40. Remember to come~~ this "only special guest designated by the government"."

This is the last sentence. It turns out that being busy can cure all chatterboxes.

The message has been marked as read. I wonder when the officer on the other end will notice it. Shi Xu exited the page and casually flipped through other messages.

"Random note: After the employees came out, the screen suddenly became garbled. No one knew what happened at the time, and what cards you showed. The expressions of the top management were very complicated at the time, but considering your identity in there, you should not be subjected to endless interrogation."

"Just a note: I thought the best that could happen with this cult attack would be a small number of casualties among the psychics. I didn't expect you to be able to do this... Although you don't need it, I still want to express my gratitude to you. Without you, Bai Ye's psychic team might never return. Thank you."

"Just a note: The contract symbol is very effective. While it lasts, I will help you as much as I can."

Following is a series of intelligence documents. It seems that Lin Du has changed to a suitable cooperative attitude and no longer tries to extract any clues from Shi Xu.

Well, that's a good thing.

Shi Xu was in a much happier mood, and even the black windbreaker on the hanger looked pleasing to the eye.

He walked over, brushing his fingertips along the smooth lines of the windbreaker, stopping at the spot where the blood had been stained, and rubbing it gently.

"Hehe, I've cleaned it up for you. It's rare to find a partner as considerate as me." The light ball floated over lightly, proudly asking for credit, "A qualified behind-the-scenes mastermind can't wear dirty clothes!"

"A qualified behind-the-scenes mastermind shouldn't wear only one set of clothes all year round."

Shi Xu raised his eyebrows and teased. With a force of his wrist, the windbreaker fell off the hanger and drew a sharp arc in the air. With just a raise of his hand, by the time it fell, the young man had already dressed neatly, with the hem of his clothes hanging down slowly.

In the blink of an eye, the temperament suddenly changed, Shi Xu was no longer there, only "daylight".

The light ball dodged the windbreaker's attack expertly, hesitating and swaying in the air: "Well, this is not to make the comics more distinctive... Next time, next time I'll give you a new style!"

"Ha, thank you very much, Xiaoguang."

Bai Zhou chuckled and lowered his head to straighten his slightly messy cuffs. The light fragrance he smelled at his nose replaced the remaining smell of rust.

It smells good, and should be able to replace my next dream. He thought so.

"Well, you can go to the closing ceremony now."

Everything is ready and there are five minutes left until the closing ceremony.

Bai Zhou tilted his head and spoke slowly.

——

Under the familiar stage, the audience seats were packed.

Just like the opening ceremony, the contestants took their seats in the audience, looked up at the upper seats, and waited for the closing ceremony to begin.

Equally familiar is the still empty seat, standing upright among the high-rise buildings, attracting great attention.

"What about Bai Zhou? Didn't he receive any news?" Looking at the number that was about to arrive, the old man asked holding his breath, trying to maintain a relaxed and natural expression on his face.

"It looks like he received it." The officer smiled and replied, tapping the word "read" on the phone screen. "But whether he will come to participate... I'm not sure."

The old man snorted and glanced at the first prize that was protected by layers of protection.

"We don't intend to take credit for his work." Still feeling a little pained, he turned his eyes away, "If you don't come, someone else will do this job."

"I didn't expect you to think of me like this."

Suddenly, a clear and elegant voice was heard, accompanied by a burst of exclamations from the audience. A force patted the old man's shoulder, and patted him twice as if moved.

Bai Day appeared out of nowhere like a ghost beside him, and his smiling face met the old man's turned head. The relaxed expression suddenly went out of control, and the old man jumped up in shock, almost flying off his seat.

"Oh, I can't do such a great honor."

The force on the shoulders increased, pushing the old man back down. Bai Zhou showed a moved expression. When the other party's expression turned ferocious, he immediately withdrew his hand, turned around and walked towards the only remaining seat.

"Ahem, it's good that you're here, it's good that you're here! The closing ceremony is about to begin, please take your seats."

The officer tried to smooth things over by holding back his laughter, showing touching concern for the old man's heart, while winking at someone who was yawning.

"Such an important matter will come naturally." Bai Zhou greeted the enthusiastic audience.

There were even more enthusiastic cheers from the audience. It seemed that the government had done a very good job in appeasing the people. The complete success of the plan not only did not leave an indelible psychological shadow on the people, but also gave them unprecedented confidence in their preparations for the next battle.

The scene that is completely opposite to the original world line is the most objective proof, proving that the ending of this world has changed. The road to destruction has finally been pried open with a crack thanks to the efforts of everyone.

At this point, it is a completely new world line.

"After all, I don't accept an ending without a beginning or an end."

The smile on his face deepened, and after a brief pause, Bai Zhou chuckled and said.

——

The clocks are ringing and the bells are ringing.

It announced the opening of the closing ceremony on time and the complete end of yesterday's cult attack.

This is not only the closing ceremony of the Battle of Zhuolu, but also the first victory over the evil camp. The situation in the future will be more difficult, but since we are gathered here, there is no reason to retreat.

Will the dawn come?

Ye Yunhe looked up at the stage, and the lady in a suit above him spoke with a smile, which overlapped with the scene of the opening ceremony not long ago.

Looking around again, the faces I met in the competition, whether familiar or unfamiliar, were all excited and not discouraged at all.

She turned her head and looked beside her. The seat was empty. The boy who should have been sitting there was now asleep. He still looked calm as he lay on the hospital bed, with his eyes closed, and it was unknown when he would wake up.

“…”

It was as if he was watching that tiny figure being silently swallowed up and disappearing into the black fog. Even though his throat was torn in pain and he shouted his name many times, he could not stop it.

His thoughts gradually drifted away, his hearing became increasingly hazy, and Ye Yunhe pursed his lips.

…

"...Then, I declare that the champion of this Battle of Zhuolu is——"

"The superpower team consists of Lin Muyu, Ye Yunhe, Si Yu'an, and Qi Heng!"

"At the beginning of the team competition, they took the lead with an absolute points lead. In the final stalemate, they also tried hard to compete with other teams. In the end, they had a slight advantage and remained absolutely calm from beginning to end."

"After the competition fell into chaos, they still held their ground. Even when they were swallowed by the black fog, they woke up and joined in the support, contributing their strength to our victory. Their tenacious willpower deserves all our applause!"

"Let us give the warmest cheers to the champion of this Battle of Zhuolu!"

The deafening, ocean-like applause and cheers are enough to bring back the souls of all those who are distracted.

Without being reminded, Ye Yunhe came back to his senses with his eyelashes trembling. Under the gaze of everyone, he walked onto the stage with his teammates and stood side by side.

One after another, teams stood up to the applause, waiting in the audience and offering their most sincere wishes to this year's champion. Karint and Qin You secretly vied for the first place, with the helpless Yun Paopao and Ji Linfeng, who had his usual expressionless face, behind them.

The twins seemed to be in good condition and watched the show quietly from the back. A few hours of thrilling moments brought them together into new partnerships. The topic of life and death always dilutes other thoughts, including their obsession with the leader.

Of course, after learning that the protagonists woke up shortly after coming out of the black fog and joined the support, their remaining resentment was completely annihilated, and they were left with only admiration for this iron will.

In addition, there was another person mixed in the team, standing with his hands on his hips, looking very proud.

Fu Ling, this supernatural being who can be called lucky S, is not very capable but is very good at judging people. Although her team was composed of cultists except her, she was able to survive to the end thanks to the traps that fell from the sky and got a good ranking.

The joy of my friends always makes me smile unconsciously. Ye Yunhe and his teammates looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.

"Although I thought about competing for the first place, I didn't expect to really become the first." Si Yu'an ended his interaction with the audience, covered his chest and exclaimed, "Great... I can brag for three years!"

"Yeah, things are unpredictable."

Lin Muyu responded and looked towards the senior management seat from afar, and was suddenly blinded by a bright light.

It is the protective cover of the dagger, with a crystal clear texture and a hard shell that protects the treasure inside. The afternoon sun was shining brightly, and all the light that fell was reflected.

Raising his hands to block his eyes, he looked through the dim light and spoke in a gentle voice:

"When the prizes for first place are handed out, let's take them together."

"Since Xiao Heng is not here, I will send it to him personally. We should share this honor together."