Chapter 279 I Pick Up Trash on the Battlefield of National Fortune 35
Zhou Jue sent a private message to the bounty post on the forum.
[I've accepted the bounty you posted, ID 1024.]
Almost instantly, the other party replied, faster than someone in a high-ranking NPC would.
[Quartermaster-007: Location: Central Main City, Seventh Logistics Warehouse, Office Number Three. Waiting for you.]
No unnecessary words, just concise and to the point.
Zhou Jue put away the bracelet and his figure disappeared into the night.
The air in the seventh logistics warehouse was filled with the smell of engine oil and metal.
Zhou Jue pushed open the door to office number three. A middle-aged man in a smart uniform was standing with his back to her in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the night view of Nexus.
Quartermaster-007 slowly turned around. His face was chiseled, and his eyes were sharp. He looked Zhou Jue up and down: "You're 1024?"
“It’s me.” Zhou Jue’s hoarse voice rang out in the empty office.
"Can you repair soul damage?" he asked, his tone filled with undisguised skepticism.
"Many people have tried it, including pharmacists, healers, and even some players with special abilities."
"They all failed."
Zhou Jue did not rush to defend himself, but simply stood there quietly, letting the other party scrutinize him.
Quartermaster-007 didn't seem to need her answer; he was talking to himself, or perhaps recounting a long-standing ailment that had troubled him.
He raised his hand and pressed it against his temple, a look of pain on his face.
"I feel that my head is always in unbearable pain from time to time."
"It's like something is tearing my soul apart inside."
His voice lowered, and his imposing aura weakened, replaced by a deep-seated weariness and confusion.
"After each bout of pain, I always end up in tears."
"An indescribable sense of loss will engulf me completely."
"I feel... I seem to have lost some very important memories." He looked at Zhou Jue, and for the first time, a pleading look appeared in his sharp eyes: "Can you really repair my soul?"
Zhou Jue's mind trembled violently beneath his hood.
This symptom...
Why does it look so much like... the awakening of memories from a past life?
"Brother Tongzi!" she immediately called out in her heart.
The system was also somewhat bewildered: [Host, this...this isn't right! NPCs can awaken? I've never heard of that! Wait a minute, let me check the database!]
A moment later, the system's voice sounded again, carrying the surprise of discovering a new continent.
[Host, we've found it! This is a theoretical possibility!]
Just like how players unlock the last page of items after accumulating a certain number of points.
When an NPC accumulates massive wealth and data weight through their own efforts or other means, the residual underlying data left behind when they were formatted by the system may be activated!
[This has never been done before! No NPC has ever done this before! This guy is the first!]
"Can we find out his identity from his past life?" Zhou Jue pressed.
[This is simple! Every extracted data fragment has an original archive.]
Soon, a message entered Zhou Jue's mind.
It was an ancient world with low martial arts, where the land was shattered and war raged everywhere. A general clad in heavy armor stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, holding a long spear. Behind him lay the fallen capital. He fought to the very last moment, until the entire planet was completely swallowed up by the national destiny system.
A general who brought about the downfall of his country!
Looking at the quartermaster in front of him, whose brows were furrowed and who was tormented by pain, Zhou Jue hesitated for a moment.
Should we help him repair it?
If he were to recall the memory of that period of national subjugation, the pain of watching his homeland crumble and his compatriots perish, wouldn't that be even more cruel than the headache he's experiencing now?
Perhaps, an NPC who is instilled with new ideas and only knows how to complete tasks and accumulate wealth will be happier.
She was silent for a moment, then her hoarse voice rang out again: "I can help you."
The quartermaster's eyes lit up.
“But I have two options.” Zhou Jue held up two fingers.
"The first option is complete repair. I will help you find the root causes of your pain, and you will remember everything. However, I cannot guarantee that you will not be in more pain than you are now after regaining your memories."
The quartermaster paused for a moment.
“The second way,” Zhou Jue continued, “I can use another method to make you never feel pain again, but those memories that make you feel lost will also be completely erased. You will become a complete and brand new you.”
"You can consider which one to choose."
Silence fell over the office. The quartermaster lowered his head, the neon lights outside casting dappled shadows on his face. Zhou Jue did not urge him, but waited quietly for his choice.
“I choose the first option.” The quartermaster suddenly raised his head, his eyes sharpening again, even carrying a do-or-die determination.
"I think those things are more important to me."
"More important than pain."
Zhou Jue nodded slightly: "Sit down."
The quartermaster did as instructed, sitting down in the chair in the center of the office, his body ramrod straight.
"Brother Tongzi, block the signal here, so we don't get monitored by the national fortune system."
Don't worry, host! Leave it to me!
Zhou Jue walked behind the quartermaster, slowly raised his hand, and hovered his palm above the quartermaster's head.
She closed her eyes, mobilized the power of merit within her dantian, and the golden power flowed down her arm, transforming into a warm, gentle stream that slowly seeped into the depths of the quartermaster's soul.
"Um……"
The quartermaster's body trembled violently, letting out a suppressed groan. He felt a gentle yet domineering force washing over his chaotic mind.
Those shattered fragments of memory that gave him a splitting headache seemed to be forcibly pieced together by an invisible hand.
The pain of repairing his soul was far more intense than he had imagined.
But what hurts even more than that are the gradually clearer images.
Clashing swords and iron horses, smoke signals rising everywhere.
The blood-red setting sun on the city wall.
The faces of my comrades lying in pools of blood.
And then... that final, overwhelming, irresistible despair.
"ah--!"
He could no longer hold back and let out a painful roar.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from his tightly closed eyes, veins bulged on his face, and his breathing became rapid and labored.
Zhou Jue didn't stop. She could feel that the other person's soul was like a piece of porcelain full of cracks, and her power of merit was the most skilled craftsman, gradually mending those cracks.
After an unknown amount of time, as the last wisp of golden light merged into the core of the other's soul, Zhou Jue slowly withdrew his hand.
The quartermaster remained seated in his chair, head bowed, shoulders trembling violently, suppressed sobs echoing in the empty office.
Zhou Jue didn't disturb him, but just stood quietly to the side.
After a long while, the quartermaster slowly raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was streaked with tears. The authority and coldness that belonged to Quartermaster-007 had disappeared, replaced by a deep sorrow that came from having experienced the destruction of his country and the loss of his home.
He looked at Zhou Jue with a complicated expression.
He didn't speak, but silently raised his wristband, and a transfer notification sounded.
[Ding! Received 1,000,000 points.]
The money and goods were exchanged.
Just because the other party could help him repair his soul, he immediately judged that this number 1024 and that executioner system were definitely not on the same side.
“How…” he began slowly, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded.
"Only then can we bring it down?"
Zhou Jue looked at him and said, "Wait."
"Don't give anything away, just continue being your quartermaster."
“I understand.” The quartermaster… no, the general of the fallen kingdom, nodded heavily.
The transaction was complete, and Zhou Jue turned to leave.
"Master!" A voice called out to her from behind.
Zhou Jue stopped and looked back.
The quartermaster had already stood up. He solemnly gave Zhou Jue an ancient military salute that Zhou Jue couldn't understand, but could feel the weight of.
His expression was serious: "I have some friends who... are like me."
"If they also need soul restoration, may I ask if you can still accept another quest?"
Zhou Jue's gaze, hidden beneath his hood, fell upon his eyes, which burned with the flames of revenge.
"certainly."
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