Inside the mysterious underground passage, as enchanting as a dreamlike forest, specks of eerie green light floated in the air. Swaying vines gently and tenderly bound her entire body, lifting her into the air, while the man who had escaped from the mechanical life support device...

With her long sword at his feet, he tenderly tried to half-embrace her.

As if lost in a beautiful dream, he murmured, "My consciousness has been wandering in this world for far too long."

"...Let me go."

Ruan Qing'an closed her eyes, her expression complex. She drew her Tang sword and distanced herself from Shi Yi. Seemingly satisfied after the hug, the man's grip on her was not strong, and even the vines dispersed again, allowing her to land lightly on the ground.

After Eleven emerged from the mechanical life support device, the mechanical arms and conduits were all crushed to pieces by the root system.

Sparks flew, and the mechanical device was reduced to a shower of debris.

The tall and slender Shi Yi landed on the ground, with swaying vines behind him, retreating as if guided by his own arm—he did indeed resemble Zhou Ziqi by six points, but he was exactly the same as the person in Ruan Qing'an's memory.

But who is he?

x09?

No, that system number is no longer valid.

Xie Huainan?

No, to Nguyen Thanh An, he was already dead;

The Supreme God?

No, it doesn't. Although it feels somewhat familiar, it's not quite the same.

Ruan Qing'an was unsure for a moment, but she gripped the Tang sword tightly with one hand and said in a deep voice, "You won't die, right?"

"You mean this?"

Shi Yi paused, looked down at his chest, where the simulated skin was pierced by a knife tip, revealing various intricate mechanical structures inside. He instinctively raised his hand to cover himself, his face turning somewhat pale.

Eleven frowned: "Sorry you saw it. Perhaps the people in the secret laboratory should install a blood circulation system on me, but their technology is not up to the level of the Bureau, so they dare not add it randomly."

"But for the organism, this is unnecessary."

Hearing Ruan Qing'an's words, he did not answer. Instead, as he tried to repair it with the mechanical arm, the dark green in his eyes darkened slightly.

Ruan Qing'an closed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "The mysterious machine found in the secret laboratory of S City before the apocalypse, 'codename: Eleven,' is inextricably linked to the apocalypse—who are you?"

"...So that's the problem after all."

Shiyi lowered her eyes: "Do you know what a fragmented world is?"

"What?"

Ruan Qing'an was slightly taken aback.

037 first explained: "Before we entered this small world, the main system gave us a prompt: 'Retrieve the fragment world.' If I'm not mistaken, this should be the fragment world."

At this moment, Eleven explained: "After we finished the mission in this small world, this world has special significance, so I extracted my previous memories and left them here. I also left your projection as a memento, through the contract between the system and the host between us."

"But for some reason, your projection disappeared, and this world is like a prison, leaving only my consciousness."

Shiyi lowered her eyes and said, "This world has gone through many cycles."

Until after hundreds or thousands of reincarnations—

She returned, the cage was opened, and her consciousness returned.

Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing'an's hand gripping the knife hilt stiffened, and he subconsciously lowered his eyelids to hide his complex emotions in his leaden gray eyes.

She knew about this—the Supreme God had said that they would record their past in these fragmented worlds, until these worlds were given to her as a gift, but…

Before the main god was completed, she and he broke up. Ruan Qing'an severed their contract, and from then on, he was the only one left in the fragmented world.

Ruan Qing'an calmed down again: "Then what should I call you?"

"I have always been Xie Huainan."

Shi Yi paused, and Ruan Qing'an's hesitation was clearly visible: "But for you, it doesn't seem to be the case. Just call me Shi Yi."

"Eleven..."

Ruan Qing'an was slightly taken aback. This was a name that was too unfamiliar to her. She murmured it softly, but suddenly noticed that the vines that had been spreading out were moving forward again, starting from her ankles and climbing up little by little.

She instinctively wanted to back away, but Shi Yi had already arrived in front of Ruan Qing'an, her dark green eyes narrowed as if in satisfaction.

The man's long, slender fingers tried to touch her fingertips.

“The vines can connect to my nervous system. I mean, just being able to touch you and feel you like this is already a great happiness.”

On that face, which resembled Zhou Ziqi's, lay a completely different expression. Shi Yi didn't seem to like smiling. When she lowered her eyes, her dark green eyes, which seemed to be filled with data, held a deep, twisted, and viscous emotion.

Ruan Qingan's hand trembled, and he instinctively stepped back: "...I can contact the Administration Bureau to reissue your system number."

Will it be x09 again?

"Won't."

"Will you still be my host?"

Before Ruan Qing'an could answer, 037 in her mind shouted: [Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I am her legitimate system! Even though you are the consciousness of the main god, you can't fire me!]

Although my ancestor has a terrible temper, yells at me, and is a super villain with a hundred schemes... she is my host!

Nguyen Thanh An: You're insulting me, aren't you? You are insulting me.

Her smile froze for a moment, but Ruan Qing'an looked away and said to Shi Yi, "No, I have my own system now."

“I can help you return to the Administration Bureau and become a new system. You will also be assigned a new host, which is better than staying here, since you know about the Administration Bureau.”

"Then forget it."

Eleven shook her head and said softly.

The tall, slender man had his eyes half-closed, his whole body radiating an unconcealable loneliness. He seemed to want to touch her, but dared not approach. Only the vines connected to his tactile nerve system gently brushed against her wrist, as if lingering on something.

Even his eyebrows and eyes seemed to be extremely tired.

Eleven said, "Host, you came to this small world to do a mission, right? I can help you—I don't need to go back to the Administration Bureau. Just put me into hibernation after you leave."

"I only need to accompany you on this final journey, that's enough."

He spoke in a low voice, as if it were his last wish, making it seem as if refusing him would be a heinous crime.

Ruan Qing'an couldn't help but turn his head away and close his eyes.

She didn't even know how to face this person. Xie Huainan almost killed her and then sealed her away, but now, with love and hate intertwined, Ruan Qing'an could only laugh at herself in her heart.

037: [Anyway, the goal is to win over the male lead. My goodness, if you don't agree, he'll definitely follow you. Why not just finish the mission and leave?]

"..."

Ruan Qingan then said, "Okay, you don't need to call me host."

Shiyi's expression softened a little, and even a slender vine that was rubbing against Ruan Qing'an's wrist perked up and swayed happily, as if conveying its owner's joy.

After resolving the matter here, Ruan Qingan had picked up another "person," but at least he could say that one of his worries was finally over.

She managed to free herself from the vines, but found that the one on her wrist was incredibly sticky. Shi Yi seemed very insecure, as if he needed to touch her at any moment to prevent her from disappearing.

Ruan Qing'an then simply let the vines wrap around him as a bracelet, and said, "In that case, let's go back to the Third Human Base first."

"Where is your mission? Qing'an..."

Shiyi said her name somewhat awkwardly, but when he lowered his eyes, a fleeting emotion crossed his mind, as if he were sighing softly.

Ruan Qingan was not paying attention and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from above, as if it came from the ground. Not only that, but soon the entire underground passage trembled due to the ground shaking, and even began to fall debris.

Startled, she instinctively ran towards the exit of the underpass.

"Run! This place is about to collapse!"

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