Chapter 42
The Other World
On this desolate land, Xiao Shengyun didn't know how long he had been walking. There was no vegetation on the ground, and occasionally strangely shaped little animals crawled by. In the sky were hundreds of stars emitting halos, or perhaps they weren't stars at all. The brightness of these things was far less than that of the sun, and the faint light made the visibility of this world very low. What lay before him was a blurry and chaotic scene.
This resulted in Xiao Shengyun being unsurprisingly hit on the ground when a living person fell from the sky.
Seeing a person in such a place, who could also be a humanoid being, Xiao Shengyun's first reaction was to be wary. But when the person got up from the ground and his face was clearly seen, he stared in astonishment: "Dean Zhou?"
It's quite a joy to meet an old friend in a foreign land, even though this "land" isn't exactly a pleasant place, and we've only known each other for less than a month.
What surprised Xiao Shengyun was not only encountering an acquaintance, but also Zhou Zhi's current form. His body was almost translucent, and from the outside, he looked almost exactly like a ghost in human society. At the location of his heart, a red light was faintly visible, and the aura emanating from this thing was so familiar that it brought tears to one's eyes.
This is his source core!
"How did you end up here?" he asked, his voice filled with worry, but a hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes.
This suspicion wasn't due to the discovery of any clues, but rather an innate sense of vigilance.
Zhou Zhi originally intended to use another A-level source core to destroy the mother tree, but the energy contained within it was greater than he had imagined. Amidst the chaos, the sky tore open a crack and directly sucked him in.
The Other World
Just like the initial assumptions about the lighthouse.
Xiao Shengyun snapped out of his daze, as if he had grasped a lifeline: "Dean Zhou, do you know where this place is? I was fighting that monster underground and got caught up in here."
"This is where the pollutants came from. Scholars believe that this place is called four-dimensional space, which collided and folded with our three-dimensional space, causing a gap to open and allowing the pollutants to enter the human world. Just now, in the battle against the S-class pollutants, the enormous energy caused space to fluctuate, tearing space apart, and we were also sucked in here."
Zhou Zhi explained, seemingly remaining calm, but his heart was pounding.
When he was nineteen, he mysteriously disappeared for a month, and then reappeared at the same location where he disappeared a month later.
He was very weak, but there were no fatal injuries, and then...
That memory was hazy in his mind, not because of the brain's self-protective mechanism, but for other reasons. Afterward, he searched extensively for relevant information, and after becoming the dean, he traveled to the Lighthouse under the guise of scientific exchange to consult it.
The lighthouse director found it strange, because these two fields are commonly referred to as geography and biology, respectively, but these research institutions do frequently exchange certain data, so he agreed.
There must be something about this place that attracted him.
"Everyone is still fighting outside, we must get out as soon as possible."
“No, we need to eliminate the contaminants from within. There’s a famous theory about the inner world called the ‘fragment theory.’ It posits that many powerful contaminants in the human world are merely a part of the main body. Because the main body is so powerful—so powerful that it’s instantly crushed upon contact with the passage between the two worlds—those powerful contaminants in the human world are simply a part of the main body in the inner world. Killing the main body will also cause the fragments to disappear,” Zhou Zhi explained.
"Are you kidding me? We can't even beat the fragments, how could we possibly defeat the main body?" Xiao Shengyun blinked.
"Not necessarily." Zhou Zhi's eyes revealed a calm and composed demeanor.
Who gave you your confidence? Are you a pollutant or am I a pollutant? Xiao Shengyun wondered. Another characteristic of his was that he was afraid of death. Sacrificing himself to save the world was too stupid.
Since entering the inner world, he could feel his power increase slightly, but not much, because the source core was in another person's body.
Not to mention Zhou Zhi's talent. Unless his ability is powerful enough to control S-level pollutants, but then Dean Zhou wouldn't need to keep doing experiments in the lab, he could pack up and prepare for ascension.
Visibility was very low, as if a thick fog had rolled in. Zhou Zhi casually took out a rope from somewhere and tied the two of them up.
Actually, no need. I can sense my own source core. Xiao Shengyun's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.
He cautiously touched the other person's arm, earning a puzzled look in return.
"What's wrong?"
"You actually have a physical form?" Xiao Shengyun remembered being scared to tears by ghost stories many times when he was a child. The ghosts in those stories were semi-transparent, untouchable, and some were just dark, indistinct figures.
Zhou Zhi was once again baffled by Xiao Shengyun's focus, but it seemed to be a good thing, at least better than those teammates who were scared and crying and dragging the team down.
Once the main body of the inner world is destroyed, the fragments outside will naturally disappear. However, without any navigation or tracking devices, finding the main body is also an important issue.
“We can read the memories of these creatures.” Zhou Zhi casually grabbed a mushroom-shaped mutated creature. “Contaminants of this level must leave traces in this world. Creatures at the bottom of the food chain will have memories related to their predators. Moreover, we have a lot of time, and the time flow is different in these two worlds.”
In that hazy memory, he had been in this world for almost a year, but only a month had passed in the outside world.
Before Xiao Shengyun could say anything, Zhou Zhi swiftly and efficiently formulated an execution plan.
Why is this person so familiar with the Otherworld?
S City
The former building is now nothing but ruins. The concrete walls are scattered all around, the mother tree's massive root system has been pulled out, leaving a 100-meter-deep pit in the middle. Ye Ting is frantically directing the security department to dig the executors out of the ruins.
The source core carried by Zhou Zhi severely injured the Mother Tree. After the fierce battle, Zhou Zhi himself disappeared, while the Mother Tree and the Sect Leader escaped in the chaos.
The three Awakened Ones were at the edge of the pit, using their talents to clear away the mud and rocks that had fallen from above. As they cleared, more and more executors were pulled up from below by cranes.
The more pressing issue is not cleaning up the scene, nor arresting the cult leader as soon as possible, but how to explain the situation to the general public.
Some were infected, while others unexpectedly awakened their talents. This incident has affected nearly a million people, and it's impossible to erase everyone's memories one by one.
Ye Ting stood at the edge of the giant pit, his expression growing increasingly grim as more and more people were hoisted up.
"Coo coo"
"Gurgle..."
On the green grass, two colorful mushrooms were chatting intimately, completely unaware that behind them, a half-meter-tall clump of grass was parted on both sides and a black tentacle extended from the middle, quickly coiling around a mushroom like a snake, and then eating it in a few bites.
"Gurgle?"
Seeing its companion suddenly disappear, the mushroom was puzzled. The next second, it too rose into the air.
Xiao Shengyun finished his afternoon dessert in a few seconds and casually retracted his tentacles.
This is their fifteenth day here.
Because he encountered various pollutants along the way, he had to consume a lot of source matter, but Zhou Zhi was right next to him, so he couldn't eat openly.
Xiao Shengyun was so hungry every day that he was dizzy, while the people around him were full of energy.
The thought that the other person was so energetic because of his own source core made him even more depressed.
He thought viciously, "If I really can't hold on any longer, I'll eat this food reserve."
In recent days, by reading the memories of a large number of pollutants, they have roughly confirmed the location of the mother tree. As they suspected, due to the mother tree's powerful strength, most of the northeastern area is covered in vines. It has even formed a small ecosystem, with large amounts of pollutants accumulating around it, acting as a food storage facility.
When Zhou Zhi returned, he looked exhausted. A model worker is a model worker no matter where he is. These days, he had spent most of his energy searching for useful information from the memories of hundreds of pollutants.
He returned with a few wild, red fruits in his hand.
"I've tried it, it's not poisonous."
Xiao Shengyun looked at the person in front of him, slightly moved for a moment, then took the fruit and took a bite—
So sour!
Not being poisonous does not mean it is safe to eat.
His face scrunched up from the sourness, and he couldn't help but ask, "Don't you think this tastes a little off?"
"The taste... is alright." Zhou Zhi didn't think there was anything wrong with the fruit. To him, the sourness of the fruit was like what some people call "not spicy".
However, seeing Xiao Shengyun's furrowed brow, he became uncertain and guiltily looked away.
"Why don't you make do with this for tonight, and we can find something else to eat tomorrow?" he suggested reasonably.
Make do...
Xiao Shengyun realized that he hadn't eaten for three days on the surface, and in order not to arouse suspicion, he swallowed the few fruits with tears in his eyes.
Ugh, it's so sour.
Zhou Zhi felt a pang of guilt. He was a few years older than Xiao Shengyun, who was a newcomer, so he should have taken better care of him. But it was clear that he hadn't taken good care of him.
He added a note to his mental notebook: "I'll go find food tomorrow."
In this world where day and night are irregular, they decide whether to rest based entirely on their physical exhaustion, taking turns keeping watch during their rest periods.
"You can sleep a little longer." After Xiao Shengyun opened his eyes, he saw Zhou Zhi leaning against a large rock with his legs bent. His figure was a little blurry, but he could see his clearly outlined profile in the light from who-knows-where.
"I've had enough rest."
He hadn't intended to sleep at first. In the Otherworld, pollutants were like wild beasts in nature; he had to contend with attacks from various predators and unexpected climate changes, keeping his mind constantly on edge. But just now, with his eyes closed, Xiao Shengyun felt a gaze fall on his face and then move away. A faint heartbeat traveled through the air to his ears, and he felt a strange sense of security.
He had a feeling that as long as he didn't reveal his identity, Zhou Zhi would protect him to the end out of that damned sense of responsibility.
"You go to sleep, I'll keep watch for a while, nothing will bother you," Xiao Shengyun said, adding to himself that if anything did bother him, he could just eat it as a midnight snack.
"Hmm," Zhou Zhi said without further ado. He was extremely exhausted, both physically and mentally, and was only holding on by sheer willpower.
"If anything happens, wake me up immediately. Don't try to handle it alone," he added before going to sleep.
Too fussy and nagging.
Xiao Shengyun watched as Zhou Zhi closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a shadow beneath them. The moment he closed his eyes, his face suddenly softened.
This scene made Xiao Shengyun feel dazed for a moment, as if he had experienced it countless times.
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