A spring breeze rustled through the treetops outside the window, casting bright sunlight onto Lu Shizhen's back.
She was held tightly in Xu Shiyue's arms, as if boundless tenderness was falling upon her tense body. The wind and waves pounded against the ship, and amidst the ups and downs, a heavy anchor was finally anchored into a crevice in the deep sea, allowing it to remain motionless in the storm.
A clear mind finally cleared away the accumulated knowledge, letting the sunlight from the window shine into Lu Shizhen's eyes.
The chaotic and dark world finally brightened a little, and she finally felt the reality of the real world amidst the dizzying spin that was about to engulf her.
There was also Xu Shiyue embracing her and kissing her tenderness.
It was just an ordinary kiss, yet it seemed to have the power to turn the tide.
Their moist lips gently caressed each other, soothing her body's pain with each touch.
The tightly clenched nerves trembled slightly, the soft touch softening the tangled mess of knowledge in Lu Shizhen's mind, gently untangling it line by line.
Sunlight streamed into her half-closed eyes, making her feel both awake and confused.
Lu Shizhen was relieving the pain of system development with Xu Shiyue's light kisses. Amid her heavy and labored breathing, she could faintly hear a strange and childish voice coming from afar.
Do not go gentle into that good night, for the day is ending, but the twilight years should still burn and roar...
That was the voice of a child before she grew up and developed, tender and immature, but within that immaturity lay a composure and maturity beyond her years.
Lu Shizhen blinked her eyelashes lightly, the blurry sunlight breaking into beams, and in this intermittent light and shadow, she seemed to see a phantom.
The phantom sat upright, holding a heavy book in its hands, encouraging itself again and again in a calm voice: do not fear the pain, do not give up hope of life because of the pain.
Lu Shizhen knew this poem; it was written by Dylan Thomas for his critically ill father, encouraging him not to give up on life easily.
However, her knowledge was limited to knowing the name; she had never even read the entire poem.
But somehow, Lu Shizhen found herself instinctively echoing the words the child read aloud: "A serious person, at the end of life, with blurred eyes, sees that blind eyes can shine like shooting stars, leaping with joy..."
This unfamiliar poem lingered in Lu Shizhen's mind for a long time, refusing to leave.
The child's innocent voice intertwined with firm encouragement, creating a sense of incongruity yet inexplicably giving her the strength to fight against the pain.
Lu Shizhen slowly accepted the air that Xu Shiyue was pushing towards her, and gradually she had the strength to lift her hand.
Then, he slowly moved his hand towards Xu Shiyue's palm, slipped between her fingers, and intertwined his fingers with hers.
Winter has passed and spring has arrived.
The intense heat occurred within the gentle warmth, enveloping Lu Shizhen and summoning an invincible summer within her body.
The pain continued to surge through her body, cutting through her veins like a knife, but all she received in return was contempt.
Lu Shizhen silently responded to Xu Shiyue's tongue, which was pressed against her teeth, and slowly returned the kiss.
She fought against that "good night" with the utmost tenderness.
She didn't know if fifteen minutes had passed when Lu Shizhen suddenly heard the timer stop in her mind.
With a ding-dong, it was as if the delivery device had been disconnected, suddenly pulling away the last bit of pain from her body.
The system's flat voice then rang out: [Congratulations, host. The cheat program has been successfully developed, 0.01 seconds ahead of schedule, surpassing 99.9% of hosts.]
A layer of sweat clung to Lu Shizhen's back, a lukewarm feeling of exhaustion emanating from her.
Lu Shizhen looked like she'd been pulled out of the water, covered in sweat and with little strength, but as she listened to the system's announcement, she couldn't help but complain, "Why does it sound like a computer program is starting up? It's only 0.01, yet it's supposed to be stronger than most other people."
The grueling development process has finally come to an end, and the tension has eased.
Lu Shizhen leaned against Xu Shiyue's chest and looked up at her, saying, "Am I a little amazing?"
Sunlight streamed into the room through one of the windows, illuminating Lu Shizhen's bright smile.
Equally striking was the cold sweat clinging to her forehead.
Her upturned lips were moist but completely bloodless, frighteningly pale.
Xu Shiyue felt extremely distressed. She reached out to wipe away Lu Shizhen's cold sweat and nodded, saying, "Yes, you are very capable."
Lu Shizhen was like a dog that had been praised, and she was immediately happy and proud.
Before she could say anything more to Xu Shiyue, the man suddenly leaned into her arms.
"You almost scared me to death just now."
Xu Shiyue's voice was soft and filled with lingering fear.
As an outsider, the feeling of helplessness at being unable to do anything was probably even more unbearable for Xu Shiyue, who was always the one to turn the tide.
Lu Shizhen silently pulled Xu Shiyue closer to her, gently stroking the back of her hand with difficulty and care.
Then she noticed that Xu Shiyue's heart seemed to be racing, and the sweat on her back was just as much as her own.
As if she understood something, Lu Shizhen looked at Xu Shiyue with a dull gaze and said, "Didn't you just share my burden...?"
Before she could finish speaking, Xu Shiyue nodded frankly at her: "I could feel the resistance from that power, so I tried it, and I didn't expect it to actually work."
No wonder my pain lessened a bit when I kissed Xu Shiyue just now.
So that's how it is...
Lu Shizhen's eyes, which had remained calm until they welled up with tears, held Xu Shiyue's thin, fragile wrist with heartache and said, "Don't do it again next time."
Xu Shiyue raised her hand and gently touched the scabbed wound below Lu Shizhen's neck, reminding her, "You can't do it, and neither can I."
The wind rustled the branches outside the window, and the swaying light was reflected in their eyes as they looked at each other.
They remained steadfast and unwavering; neither could sway the other.
After acquiring the cheat code, Lu Shizhen didn't want to waste any time, but Xu Shiyue still forced her back to her room to sleep before she went to the company.
Fortunately, the pain was not in vain. Lu Shizhen easily accessed Lu Shien's highly encrypted computer and retrieved all of her data from the past few years.
Lu Shizhen used her powerful cheat code to analyze Lu Shien's information. Watching the program that kept refreshing and running, she couldn't help but sigh, "Our little En is really a powerful big shot now."
“Yes,” Xu Shiyue nodded in agreement. “She really misses you and wants you back. Although I haven’t told her many things, or even how these procedures relate to you, she has worked tirelessly all these years to find you.”
Lu Shizhen felt a little guilty, but also sighed, "Then she really trusts you."
Xu Shiyue, however, said, "It's because I want to see you that I'm willing to believe that even if I just say something simple like, 'I can bring you back,' I'm willing to believe it."
With a long sigh, Lu Shizhen lowered her gaze.
She was at a loss as to how to face the child, after all, she had only been her older sister for half a year, while her real sister's soul had long been crushed by the God of War.
If she knew that the person she found was the imposter sister, how would she react?
Will I hate myself?
Lu Shizhen was feeling down when she felt a gentle pat on her shoulder.
Xu Shiyue looked at her gently and said, "Xiao En told Shen Yanxing that she misses the last six months she spent with you. She said those were the happiest days she had with her sister, and she once thought those days would last a very long time."
"Don't be afraid to face her."
A warm current slowly flowed into Lu Shizhen's heart; Xu Shiyue always managed to soothe her bad mood at just the right time.
Even though she often didn't express these feelings aloud.
Lu Shizhen raised her hand and shook Xu Shiyue's hand on her shoulder, and the constantly updating program in her peripheral vision stopped.
The program that Lu Shien analyzed has finished loading.
Not wanting to waste time, Lu Shizhen immediately began her analysis.
This analysis didn't even take much time; she scooped out a regular and familiar code from the vast ocean of data.
0253.
Lu Shizhen had only heard this code once before, when she first met Qiuqiu. It was during its activation and self-introduction: "Congratulations, host, on successfully activating the system! Welcome to bind to the 'Give Me Another Chance' system! I am your exclusive system, System No. 0253!"
Qiuqiu's lively and vibrant voice, carrying the dust of time, rang in Lu Shizhen's ears again after a long absence.
She didn't even need to do any disassembly, elimination, calculation, or deduction to know that this was Qiuqiu's code.
She thought she needed to calculate the number, but she had never actually forgotten it.
Perhaps it was the high humidity in the room, but Lu Shizhen's eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
Then she sniffed lightly, consciously controlling her emotions, and began typing on the keyboard to extract the main system code from the USB drive.
Time passed second by second, and the sunlight cast the shadow of the girl sitting in front of the computer into Xu Shiyue's hand.
Finally, with the crisp sound of the Enter key, Lu Shizhen extracted the main system's code from the vast amount of data.
It was a line of numbers much longer than Qiuqiu's code. It might have a pattern, but it was like a cipher without a cipher notebook. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't guess it in a short time.
Having spent so many years with Lu Shien, Xu Shiyue has come to understand things to some extent.
She saw Lu Shizhen stop in front of a string of numbers and stepped forward to ask, "Is this the main system code?"
“Yes, that’s right.” Lu Shizhen nodded, her voice unusually calm.
She had just brought up the system notification box, and it was now hanging high in her mind.
She stared at the long line of code in the main system, her raised hand pausing again and again.
She knew that if she entered those numbers, Qiuqiu would have nothing to do with her anymore.
It's like a symbol being erased.
She has a new system, and Qiuqiu will disappear completely.
Memory is unreliable.
Slowly, it will be washed away and faded away by the constant influx of water over time.
A firm belief can become indecisive due to reluctance to let go.
Lu Shizhen stared at the blank box with a flicker in her eyes, and her hand holding the mouse felt a warm sensation as it fell.
Xu Shiyue said to her, "Qiuqiu will not be forgotten by us. Have confidence in yourself."
“That’s right, I can draw it, I can incorporate it into my comics, so that more people will know about it and like it. That way, even if I die, it will still be alive.” As Lu Shizhen spoke, the corners of her tightly closed lips curled up slightly. “That way, it will be so smug.”
After saying that, Lu Shizhen quickly entered the main system's code into the code.
It's like a quick and decisive battle, or perhaps a fear of changing one's mind.
[System code received from the host; sending a matching connection request to the system, 0, 1, 2, 3...]
The system's voice announced a successful match, and less than ten seconds later—the time it takes to send a request—the confirmation message arrived: "Congratulations to task participant 20251127, you have been successfully matched!"
And it was this sound that caused the misty fog to suddenly rush into Lu Shizhen's eyes.
Tears clung to her eyelashes, fragmented and blocking her vision.
The huge screen in her vision gradually blurred, and the flashing blue light spread out like small balls, as if her Qiuqiu had returned.
But her Qiuqiu is gone.
I wonder if it was the sunlight that turned the ball white.
The scattered, starlight-like spheres gradually gathered together, and a huge white light body appeared in front of Lu Shizhen and Xu Shiyue.
It was just a white, luminous object, yet it gave people a strange sense of oppression.
It hovered high in the air, its calm voice carrying a weight of composure: "Hello, mission taker 20251127, I am your new system, 206780101. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I am deeply saddened by 0253's departure, and I am very sorry that I could not be there in time."
Such words were somewhat polite, and Lu Shizhen didn't really want to hear them.
But what the main system said next made her swallow back her rebuttal: "I was fortunate enough to capture a small portion of the 0253 fragment, and it is currently being re-matched within my body."
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