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◎It’s not me who chose you, but you who chose me◎

Zhu Ning has never had any definitive evidence to prove whether she and the original owner are the same person, nor has she had any definitive evidence to prove whether her memories of the zombies are real.

Zhu Ning's first reaction was to contact Labao, and he got straight to the point: [Video.]

Labao: [Ningbao! Long time no see!]

It seems to be much more active this time. [I wanted to pack it for you.]

Zhu Ning: “…”

This little robot moves like squeezing toothpaste, the more you squeeze it, the more it moves. Labao also made a cute expression, as if asking for a reward.

Zhu Ning: [Give me as much as you have.]

Labao: [Please wait a moment.]

The model of Labao is too old and the network speed is very poor. It took a full ten minutes to send a video package. Zhu Ning leaned against the luxury car and waited for it.

There were more videos this time, almost 3TB of videos. Zhu Ning closed his eyes and searched through them. Last time he was lucky enough to get some results, but this time he found nothing.

There was another camera that captured the original owner entering the garbage room, but it was just from a different angle.

All in all it's a total crap movie.

Labao: [Is it useful?]

Zhu Ning: [Useless.]

Labao sent a distressed expression, and Zhu Ning was no longer going to fall for it.

Zhu Ning: [Do you have any more over there?]

Labao: [No more, I've searched all of them.]

Zhu Ning: [Didn’t you take any other photos of the garbage room?]

Labao: [The cameras over there are broken.]

Labao probably didn't lie. Zhu Ning: [Look again.]

Labao: [Okay.]

Zhu Ning asked it to look for it again but he knew it was futile. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but this time he did get something.

If she had only suspected it before, now she was half sure.

The original owner must have known there was a camera there and took a look deliberately, and all other frontal shots were destroyed.

These videos are not all waste. Judging from the limited information, the original owner was the only one who entered the garbage dump that day.

Unless the murderer destroyed other videos, the probability now seems very low.

Zhu Ning's second reaction was to contact the building manager, Mother Wei. She remembered that this person had said that he was crazy before. She had met Mother Wei twice. The first time was when she was reborn to ask for rent, and she didn't want to expose herself at that time.

The second time, someone from the cleaning center came to deliver a new employee gift. Mother Wei said she was lucky, and when she tried to look for her again, she couldn't find her.

Zhu Ning called but no one answered, and no one replied when he sent a message.

Zhu Ning got on his motorcycle and asked, "Are we going back to the Queen's Store?"

Zhu Ning lowered his helmet visor: "Go to the hive."

Zhu Ning has only returned to the Hive once since moving to the Noble Queen Store. She paid a year's rent here, so in theory this is still her home.

The charming big-wavy-haired proprietress downstairs is no longer here. Her store has been sublet and is now a small convenience store selling cigarettes and alcohol.

The beehive has no property management or security, and the frequency of this Mrs. Wei's appearances is puzzling. Zhu Ning asked a passing resident.

A bearded man got angry when he mentioned Mother Wei: "Are you looking for her? You can find her around rent collection day, but not at other times. It makes me angry just thinking about it. My roof is leaking, and I've been trying to fix it for a month, but she's still nowhere to be found. Don't let me see her."

He is most active in collecting rent, but almost disappears at other times.

The big man said: "Don't wait, I've been holding her for several days. If you see her, remember to tell her that the roof of 706 is leaking."

Zhu Ning: “…”

Zhu Ning and the big man added each other in their communication. They agreed that whoever saw Wei's mother would inform the other, forming a victims' alliance.

Zhu Ning didn't meet Wei's mother last time. She was too lazy to wait and it took too much time. She must solve this problem today.

Zhu Ning sent a message to Wei's mother: "I want to rent another room. When you have time, please reply. I will be waiting at home."

Zhu Ning turned off her secondary brain and returned to her home. She remembered that this was where she first met the staff of the cleaning center and received the so-called joining gift.

Inside was a complete set of standard weapons and protective clothing, and this was also where she walked towards the grave.

Zhu Ning opened the door. Her house was really too small. The wrinkled folds on the wall were still there, and there was a smell of dust in the house.

She was back to where she started.

This house only had traces of her life. Zhu Ning had moved out all her daily necessities, and the house looked empty.

Zhu Ning walked and looked, and also did not leave any more clues.

She thought carefully about why she entered the cleaning center. The most important factor was that she was poor. She had no money in her account, there was a payment slip posted at the door, and Wei's mother came to collect the payment.

She wanted to find a job to make money, and then naturally became a cleaner, because the threshold for being a cleaner is lower than that of a demon hunter and it is easier to get started.

She was placed in a certain position from the beginning and then moved forward step by step along this trajectory.

To ensure there are no distracting options, no money in the account and no extra information at home.

Zhu Ning stared at the metal wall opposite. Now her metal control range was twenty meters, so she didn't need to put her hands on the wall to test her ability like before.

Such a small beehive is all under her control.

She frowned.

The wrinkles on the metal wall were manipulated by an invisible hand, as if someone was forcibly pressing it down, and the surface of the wall became slightly smoother.

It is impossible to restore a crumpled metal can to its original shape. There are still wrinkles on the surface of the wall, but they are not very clear in comparison.

It was not until night that Zhu Ning saw the shadow of Wei's mother. She waited for Wei's mother for five hours. It turned out that this matter was very time-consuming.

The little old lady walked slowly up the stairs with her cane.

Mother Wei seems to be over eighty years old this year, and it is only the 80th year in the New Calendar. It is unknown what type of human being Mother Wei is. Zhu Ning always feels that she is a survivor of the apocalypse.

She may have experienced radiation firsthand.

This was the third time Zhu Ning had seen her. Mother Wei's eyes were very gloomy, cloudy, and mostly white, making her look like an old lady from a haunted house.

Mother Wei: "You want to rent a house? I thought you didn't want to live there anymore."

Zhu Ning: "Yes, is there anyone next to me?"

Mother Wei took a look inside the house. At first glance, Zhu Ning seemed to be a very worry-free tenant. The house was well protected and the basic facilities in the house were complete.

Mother Wei: "You live in a very clean place, much better than those people downstairs."

Mother Wei looked away and said, "Someone lives next door. Why don't you move somewhere else? Room 16 on this floor is empty."

Zhu Ning: "All right, you introduce them."

Mother Wei went to get the key tremblingly. Zhu Ning followed her and asked, "By the way, why do you think I went crazy?"

Mother Wei was looking for her keys. When she heard this, she looked up and asked, "Are you really crazy?"

Zhu Ning remained calm on the surface, "What do you mean?"

Mother Wei: "When people go crazy, they become pollutants. If you want to go crazy, go somewhere else, not here with me."

Zhu Ning: "Tell me about it, so I can know what's wrong with me."

Mother Wei found the key and asked, "Are you trying to trick me?"

They are all thousand-year-old vixens. Mother Wei has been in the business for a long time and she immediately figured out that Zhu Ning cared a lot about the news.

Zhu Ning: "Of course you don't have to say it."

Mother Wei could clearly feel that Zhu Ning was different, and her temperament had changed a lot.

Zhu Ning didn't take out his weapon, nor did he show any difference. He just stood in front of her casually, and she could feel the threat.

Survival instinct told Mother Wei not to provoke her at this time.

Mother Wei immediately changed her tone: "It's okay. Just grab me one day and ask what year it is, what month and day it is, and where this is."

Zhu Ning was stunned. She thought she had misheard. After accumulating so many clues, the last piece of the puzzle finally fit in.

The notes found by Yixue, an abandoned experimental brain found by Hengsheng Machinery Company, and the video materials provided by Labao.

The last part is the oral account of Wei’s mother.

Mother Wei didn't notice Zhu Ning's expression and continued, "I told you to go see the deputy brain, but you made me tell you something. I don't know what you were so anxious about that day. You kept pulling me and wouldn't let me go. You almost broke my arm. Seriously, if you want to go crazy, stay away from me..."

Later, Zhu Ning didn't listen to what Wei's mother said, and the original owner asked what day it was.

The first thing Zhu Ning did after waking up was to check the date to find out what time it was.

So she wasn't the first one to wake up?

This is so weird, it sounds like... a rebooted experiment.

She was like a formatted machine that was reactivated. How many times had Zhu Ning been restarted?

But why restart? Because the old version can't cope?

Zhu Ning felt the data in her brain flowing wildly. When she just woke up, only trivial memories remained in her brain, such as she was aware that there was a vending machine not far away, and she knew how to buy a powerful healing agent.

For example, she knows where her home is, and she can recognize Mother Wei.

She had always thought that she had traveled through time and space, and that this was the residual consciousness of the original owner, which could guide her to survive in this world.

But now it seems that she is just a robot that needs to be put into operation, and that is the basic information left to her.

What level of problems require a restart?

The end of the world is coming, and you and I are all ants.

Zhu Ning thought of these words again. Those were the words the original owner left for her.

Is the second apocalypse really coming? What's the connection between this and the statue in the deserted village and the Eternal Life Pharmaceutical Foundation?

Zhu Ning had said before that the countdown bell had already rung, and she was really racing against something.

…

Noble Queen Store.

Song Zhizhang was not in the store today. He sent Lin Xiaofeng to bed. For Song Zhizhang, Zhu Ning went out and entered the contaminated area yesterday and was away for only one day.

Zhu Ning said this morning that she would be back later, but she has not shown up since. Song Zhizhang replied to her message and asked when she would be back.

But Zhu Ning did not respond.

So Song Zhizhang kept looking at the chat interface. Zhu Ning didn't talk to him very often, so he looked back and forth many times, and then he felt that his behavior was stupid.

There was no light in the room. Song Zhizhang was sitting alone. The light from outside seeped in, making the whole room look very empty.

Boom boom boom——

At this time, the person who came to see him was usually the deputy store manager. He went to open the door, but just as he opened it a crack, someone suddenly pushed the door shut.

A cold wind blew in.

The door was pushed against by a huge force, and Song Zhizhang sensed who was coming so he didn't struggle.

"Zhu Ning?"

Zhu Ning was standing outside the door, wearing a dark rock sweatshirt that she rarely wore. Many people wore down jackets this season, but she was actually wearing too little, and her whole body exuded a creepy chill.

Zhu Ning strode into the room. Song Zhizhang felt someone push his shoulder and his back hit the door. Zhu Ning pushed his shoulder with one hand to trap him.

The other hand was placed on his temples. Song Zhizhang had been wearing a human-machine joint device on his temples, and now the blue light ring was not lit.

The person closest to Prometheus around her is Song Zhizhang.

"Song Zhizhang." Zhu Ning's fingertips fell on the aperture. She obviously didn't use much force, but people could feel the oppression.

Song Zhizhang's heart was beating fast. Zhu Ning came for Prometheus.

"I trust you quite a bit." Zhu Ning's voice sounded deep, and her eyes had switched to data mode, emitting a blue light.

She was like an eagle catching a rabbit, and Song Zhizhang was the rabbit trapped in her claws.

Song Zhizhang frowned. He could tell from Zhu Ning's tone what he was up to. He said bluntly, "I have absolutely never harmed you."

He was like a hostage eager to show his loyalty, "I didn't lie to you either."

He knew that human hearts were the hardest to test, so he nipped any misunderstandings in the bud.

Zhu Ning looked at him for a while, her fingers still pressing on Song Zhizhang's solar plexus, so that she could pull this thing out whenever she wanted.

Song Zhizhang: "You can't use this anymore. I've been wearing it for too long, and it's already connected to my nerves. If you forcibly pull it out, I might get brain damage. Plus, it contains remnants of my consciousness. Using it will make someone lose consciousness and go crazy. You can't connect to it."

Zhu Ning laughed. Song Zhizhang was indeed the store manager. He knew what Zhu Ning wanted to say without him saying anything.

Will it hurt if I pull it out?

Song Zhizhang has always been the medium between Zhu Ning and Prometheus. The two of them get along with each other by grasping the right degree. They seem to be very familiar with each other, but in fact, no one shares each other's secrets.

This is safe.

But Zhu Ning always felt that he and Song Zhizhang had a personal relationship, and even if he obeyed Prometheus's orders, he still had a friendship with him.

Zhu Ning likes to make friends when she goes out, and she trusts these friendships, so she will show her trust in exchange for the other party's trust.

She has been betrayed and trusted all along.

She was good at judging people. What Song Zhizhang said must be true. He had never harmed her or lied to her.

Zhu Ning: "Please pass on a message for me."

Before, Zhu Ning wanted to bypass Song Zhizhang and talk to Prometheus directly, which was safer, but now she has changed her mind.

Zhu Ning asked: "Why did you choose me?"

Zhu Ning has been being led around by Prometheus, and she wants to know why he chose her.

This sentence was not directed at Song Zhizhang, but at Prometheus. Zhu Ning wanted to have a conversation with Prometheus.

Her anger was not directed at Song Zhizhang. This time, she really became the medium of handover.

After Zhu Ning asked this question, there was silence. The two forces were deadlocked in the darkness, and Song Zhizhang became Zhu Ning's hostage.

If Prometheus didn't answer, Zhu Ning might just pull out the human-machine combination device from his solar acupoint and crush it.

A minute later, the blue circle on Song Zhizhang's temple lit up.

Prometheus is online. It looks like there are only two people here, but a third person is always present.

The blue halo appears very abrupt in the darkness, emitting a cold light.

Song Zhizhang was stunned for a moment, then looked directly into Zhu Ning's eyes and said Prometheus's reply: "It wasn't me who chose you, but you who chose me."

The author has something to say:

Don’t worry if you don’t understand! I’ll explain it later! Trust me!

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-12-07 19:45:49 and 2022-12-08 19:41:02~

Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: melody, you @ 1;

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 2 fried fish for daily lunchboxes; 1 Yueyuan, Mrs. Song, Qibao, Partridge, Hongxia, Don't Move Here, Cousin, Tangxin, Orange Cat, Baboon, and Emo;

Thanks to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Echo 190 bottles; Bamboo in the Wind 140 bottles; Tranquil and Unfailing 103 bottles; Cute Thirty is Always a Silver Fox (Is it?) 100 bottles; Right Wood 72 bottles; Mikong 70 bottles; Xixi 66 bottles; Late-stage Procrastination is Incurable 57 bottles; Haosheng, It's So Hard to Pick an ID Series, zHe_JUN, Ming, Little Weeping Snail 50 bottles; Zhizhi 40 bottles; Boommm 37 bottles; What Should I Call You, Forever Duck, Yanyue, Fairy, All Legs Below the Neck, Real Pear, Frost 30 bottles; 34664950 28 bottles; Xiao Zhao, It Doesn't Matter 666, Wan, Change the Name After Thinking of It, Yi, Tomatofrog 20 bottles; Guizaijiu, Xiao A Xiao Qingbai 17 bottles; Today's Statement, lydia1212 15 bottles; Guli Guli 12 bottles; Shi Yi, Ai Yin Si Dun, Wan Huan, The Story of Chen Shiliu, Ying Shi You, Fa Fa, Tang Xin, Wu Xiaoxi, Gardenia, Beef Noodles, Want to Raise a Red Panda, Pei Zhi, Let or Not Let, Tian Yuan Mu Ge, Qing Jian, 30125695, Bei You Liang Cheng @, Unforgettable Dream Shadow, Ding Ding Dong, Wei Xiu, Allen Zuo Langni, White Moonlight, Fang Renye's Little Sun, Yan Qi, I Have Nutrient Solution, My Wife Will Give Me More 10 bottles; Shi Li, Jin Jin 9 bottles; Chen Rou Minced Meat, Momo 6 bottles; 39184700, Yu Hui Shuo Shuo, A, Durian Mango Doesn't Sell Sugar, I Don't Know Which Mountain It Is, Gu Cheng, Successor of Communism, Little Happy Child, Special Encounter, Big Yellow and White Cabbage Flower, Little Deer, Go with the Flow, Wu Shang シ Cat, 47057935, Bu Xi Zhou 5 bottles; She Yu 4 bottles; Mind Your Own Business, Chloe 3 bottles; melody 2 bottles; 49407315, I Hate Spring, soft Zhejiang Fen Di, Must Sleep Well, Nothing, Water, Metal, Earth, Fire, Wood, Earth, Heaven, and Sea, Alluring Little Lion, Master Manman, Ruan Ruan, Zai, Aju, Donglv, A Round Round, Xie Yixiu 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!