Chapter 37 The Gray Dome Tower (End) "Trying to Keep a Low Profile"...
"What way out?" Nanmen Jue's fluffy head popped up and asked curiously.
"I'll throw you down to lighten your load," Qin Yehan said without turning his head.
"You still have such thoughts? Who's really going too far here!" Nanmen Jue burst out laughing.
Qin Yehan glanced at her bright, sparkling eyes and smiled as well.
How could he not pick up some of the madness from being around such a crazy person? He now felt that the explosion was nothing.
Nanmen Jue wasn't worried about his skills at all. She gripped the handle tightly to maintain her balance, shouting and yelling all the way.
“This is much more exciting than a roller coaster!” she exclaimed.
Qin Yehan also shouted loudly: "What's a roller coaster!"
"It's a cervical spine corrector," Nanmenjue said seriously.
The two chased the wind and lightning, facing numerous dangers, but ultimately escaped unharmed by the terrible explosion, managing to escape safely with a car full of antiretroviral drugs.
Qin Yehan remained outwardly calm, though his back was soaked with cold sweat. He acted as if he wasn't the one who had just been laughing hysterically with Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue started to feel sleepy again, glanced at him and chuckled, "Pretty repressed flirtatious."
Qin Yehan didn't understand the word either, but he intuitively felt it wasn't a good word, so he didn't ask.
"I'll get some sleep," he said. "I'll catch up with the president and the others as soon as possible."
The gray tower had already exploded, with less than ten hours remaining before the radiation surge arrived.
Fortunately, the main force was on foot, otherwise they would never have been able to catch up even if they were beaten to death.
Nanmen Jue lowered his eyes and looked dejected for a while, then suddenly took out a syringe of antiretroviral drug from his pocket and handed it to the person next to him, "Do you dare to use it? It hasn't been tested."
Qin Yehan took it without hesitation and plunged it into his neck without even blinking.
Nanmen Jue's eyelashes fluttered, and a smile appeared on his face. "You trust me that much?"
Qin Yehan tossed the empty vial behind him, his eyes fixed straight ahead. "From the first time I met you, I've never doubted you. What are you still doubting now?"
When they first met in the car that was escorting Nanmen Jue, he was terrified that she would die, but he still believed her and let her go back to the Gray Tower.
Nanmen Jue recalled this period with a slightly dazed look in his eyes, "...It was only a little over two months ago. It feels like it was a past life."
In less than three months, so much has happened. She killed someone and nearly died several times. Everything is different now.
She fell silent, and Qin Yehan also stopped speaking. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently touched Nanmen Jue's head, just like his father would stroke him when he was a child.
"Take a break, you've worked so hard all this time."
Nanmen Jue curled up in his seat and closed his eyes.
Although she is not short, she is slender and has long legs. When she curls up like this, she looks like a tiny ball, which makes people feel sorry for her.
So fragile, yet so powerful, it inspires both reverence and tender care, as if afraid this proud rose might wither and fall.
Qin Yehan forcibly pulled his attention back, his eyes dark and soft.
...
Qin Yehan took a lot of oil from the Gray Tower and didn't rest for a minute along the way, catching up with the main force directly.
He had intended to be quiet, but the noise outside still woke Nanmen Jue. She looked around in a daze at the shadowy figures outside, and it took her a while to realize what had happened.
"We're here!" She sat up immediately.
"Don't rush, we're not far from another tower. The president said we should stop there," Qin Yehan said.
For a large group undertaking such a long journey, stopping could mean never getting up again, so every rest stop must be taken with care. Now that we are close to our destination, there is no need to take that risk.
Nanmen Jue stared outside, watching a series of pale, frozen faces flash by, their features obscured. When he reached the front of the line, he realized that there were far fewer people.
Gray Tower has a limited number of vehicles. The one Qin Yehan drove was specially left for the two of them by Lin Suwen. The car they drove away didn't have many people in it; it was used to store goods.
Arriving at the front of the convoy, Nanmen Jue saw Lin Suwen being helped along, walking unsteadily on the road.
Nanmenjue rolled down the car window. "President Lin, please get in."
Seeing them, Lin Suwen's tired face lit up with great joy. She shook her head and said, "Let those with bad legs go first. I can still walk."
Nanmen Jue said, "Your legs aren't very good. Come up here, I have something to tell you."
Hearing her say that, Lin Suwen felt a little helpless, but she didn't have any objection to her almost commanding tone. She was helped to sit down in the back.
"I have successfully completed my mission," Nanmen Jue said.
Lin Suwen's tense jawline relaxed, she let out a long breath, and smiled through her tears.
There was still an hour before the radiation surge arrived, and the shadow of the giant tower had already appeared in the distance, attracting everyone's attention and eliciting continuous exclamations.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Lin Suwen said softly, “It’s exactly the same as our Gray Tower.”
Qin Yehan became increasingly nervous; his muscles trembled, and he hesitated to speak.
Nanmen Jue pinched his arm, turned around and said, "Qin Yehan said it's terrible inside, so everyone should be prepared before going in."
Lin Suwen nodded: "Ye Han already told me this before, but..."
But since I've never seen it with my own eyes, I can't imagine what it looks like.
They soon saw it with their own eyes.
The heavy door was pushed open, and Nanmen Jue's leg, which was about to step out, froze on the spot, unable to take another step.
The skeletons, covered in spider webs and an unknown slime, were piled up like mountains, layer upon layer, stretching from the floor to the sky. Every layer was the same, and the middle of the identical circular corridor was also full of decaying bones, piled up in hundreds of layers.
Qin Yehan's description echoed in her ears: "It's like opening... hell."
Hell—no word could better describe it.
The cheers abruptly ceased, followed by screams and vomiting. Nanmen Jue took two steps back and bent over to vomit as well.
No one could remain calm in this situation; everyone was terrified. Even Qin Yehan, who had experienced it once before, was pale. He patted Nanmen Jue's back lightly and looked away.
Nanmen Jue was in great pain, but he hadn't forgotten the important matter. He supported Qin Yehan's arm and struggled to speak: "Quickly send down the Reverse Retreat Sufen, or it will be too late."
Even if they were unwilling, people had no choice but to enter the gates of this hell to seek refuge under the threat of the impending radiation surge.
Otherwise, even if the radiation is suppressed, they still won't be able to survive the snowstorm.
Everyone knew the situation was urgent, and no one caused trouble. Nanmen Jue persisted until the last hour to produce a single vial of antiretroviral agent, and in the end, there was even some left over.
People gathered in the hall filled with corpses and injected themselves with resveratrol.
Nanmen Jue took out one separately and went to a stretcher, on which lay the unconscious He Ting.
Lin Suwen hadn't forgotten him; she had kept him in the car and brought him along.
"Will it work?"
Nanmen Jue didn't know the answer to this question either. She looked at the anti-retroviral agent in her hand and injected it into He Ting's neck.
One minute passed, then two minutes passed.
There was no response.
Nanmen Jue sighed softly, a gloomy disappointment spreading across his eyes.
"What does this mean?" she asked the crow perched on her shoulder. There were too many people around for the crow to answer her. She sat blankly on the ground, hugging her knees.
After a brief yet seemingly endless wait, the radiation surge finally arrived.
A cold wind howled, and in the sudden drop in temperature, something heavy was striking the tower's walls.
The crowd was in a state of panic and chaos for a while, but then they found that they felt no discomfort at all. The radiation had no effect, and the newly entered tower had sheltered them from the deadly wind and snow. Everyone wept with joy and loudly celebrated their new life.
Nanmen Jue pressed his face against his knees, turning his head to look at the lively scene. The background of this scene was piles of white bones, which was really quite terrifying.
She suddenly remembered something, opened the system panel with her mind, and sure enough, the side quest "injecting antiretroviral agents into fifty rebels" had been completed.
People from Qin Yehan's base were among this large force.
How ironic that this task was accomplished in this way.
Nanmen Jue glanced at it and then closed the panel. Tong Gu suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gave Nanmen Jue an expression that was both crying and laughing.
“South Gate…” he said in a hoarse voice, “We can survive, right?”
Nanmen Jue didn't say anything, but just reached out and patted him.
Whether they can survive depends on their own choices.
If none of them want to use her method, that's understandable, but once she's gone, she won't be able to control how the world develops.
She's gone, and Zhao Huai-ren is dead too. There are no machines, no raw materials, and the radiation continues to accumulate, but there will be no more antiretroviral agents. Everything needs to be rebuilt, and the mountains of corpses need to be cleared. How long can these people hold on?
Tong Gu was called away to help, while Nanmen Jue squatted alone beside He Ting and asked in a low voice, "So, is this the anchor point?"
The crow nodded its head slightly.
Nanmen Jue breathed a sigh of relief; at least she didn't have to search anymore, she had no strength left.
There are still eight days until the day of rebirth.
The radiation surge lasted for several days, during which time everyone was unable to leave the tower. The main hall was simply cleaned up, and the corpses were temporarily thrown downstairs.
Nanmen Jue stayed by He Ting's side the whole time. She found a secluded corner for the two of them and ignored the uproar behind them.
She hid so well that it took Qin Yehan some time to find her.
"Have something to eat."
Qin Yehan placed the roasted potatoes in Nanmen Jue's hands and sat down beside her.
Nanmen Jue quietly chewed on his potato. Qin Yehan paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is this the place?"
He naturally remembered the anchor point that Nanmen Jue had mentioned earlier, and after receiving Nanmen Jue's affirmative nod, he showed an expression that was hard to tell whether it was fear or relief.
“People are very scared,” he said. Seeing Nanmen Jue’s gaze, he quickly explained, “President Lin didn’t explain much because this is really hard to explain. But such a transcendent power can only be explained by gods and ghosts.”
Gods and ghosts, how could they not be?
The exhaustion from nearly ten days of sleepless nights overwhelmed Nanmen Jue; she was too lazy to say a word, only nodding.
“But the majority of people agree,” Qin Yehan said, making Nanmen Jue tilt his head.
"...Because everyone can see the current situation." Qin Yehan's eyes flickered, and his voice was a little hoarse. "Everything is gone. We want to rebuild our homes, but we don't know if we can survive the gradually accumulating radiation."
"Will there be a house to live in after entering that world?" Qin Yehan suddenly changed the subject.
“There is fertile land and a safe environment over there, but everything still has to start all over again. If I choose this path, I will take this tower with me.” Each word felt like a razor blade cutting his throat, and Nanmen Jue shut his mouth again.
Qin Yehan's eyes widened slightly, and they even turned a little red. "It really is... a place that sounds wonderful."
Nanmen Jue remained noncommittal, saying that people who survived the apocalypse had very low standards for quality of life.
Qin Yehan said a few words and left, and Nanmen Jue leaned against He Ting and fell into a deep sleep again.
A few days later, when Qin Yehan came to see Nanmen Jue again, Nanmen Jue slipped the chip into his hand.
"Do me a favor," she said listlessly. "Take this with you until your rebirth."
She's been feeling drowsy these past few days and had completely forgotten about the task; thankfully, she managed to remember it.
Whether they want her to kill them or not, they've already come all this way, so they might as well take whatever they can get.
Qin Yehan stared at the chip for a moment, then didn't press for details. He simply looked at Nanmen Jue's pale face with concern, "Why are you getting weaker and weaker? Haven't you been resting at all?"
"Let's divorce." Nanmen Jue sighed.
She's been sleeping these past few days, but how could she possibly make up for the huge mental deficit? Luckily, she can't feel pain right now, otherwise that thing in her head alone would have driven her crazy with pain.
She felt dizzy and bloated, and even had difficulty seeing clearly.
"It's alright." Even though she couldn't see clearly, she could feel Qin Yehan's increasingly worried gaze, and she comforted him in a muffled voice, "It'll be alright as long as it's the day of rebirth."
Once her rebirth day arrives, her mission will be over. When she returns to the reincarnation space, she will have plenty of points to repair her body.
No wonder the reincarnators are arrogant, moving freely between worlds. No matter how severe their injuries, as long as they persevere until the mission ends, they can even have their brains replaced. How could they not be arrogant? How could they not feel superior to the natives? Besides, no one wants to believe it's true.
Nanmen Jue found it ironic and chuckled softly.
"On the day of rebirth..." Qin Yehan seemed to realize something, "If I hadn't been killed by you, you would have left by the time of my rebirth, right?"
Nanmen Jue did not answer.
No answer is an answer in itself.
...
With only one day left until her rebirth, Lin Suwen finally appeared before Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue lazily raised his eyes. "Have you made up your mind?"
There is no energy source in this tower; the light comes from a primitive fire. Lin Suwen stands with her back to the firelight, which delicately outlines her slender and elegant figure.
"True beauty lies in the bone structure, not just the skin; time never diminishes a beauty." Nanmen Jue squinted. "Aunt Lin, you also possess a captivating beauty."
Lin Suwen's worries and seriousness came to an abrupt halt. Looking at Nanmen Jue's slightly roguish smile, she couldn't help but chuckle.
“You’re such a chatterbox.” She crouched down, her voice filled with concern. “Nanmen, you look terrible.”
"I'm only surviving because of cheat codes now, otherwise I'd be completely wiped out long ago," Nanmen Jue said. "Never mind me, what's your decision?"
During the few seconds that Lin Suwen paused, Nanmen Jue's world was quiet.
“I’ve always believed in you, Nanmen,” Lin Suwen said gently. “I think everyone else is willing to believe in you too.”
The dust has settled.
Nanmen Jue smiled weakly and nodded. She felt this was a bit perfunctory, so she forced out a single word: "Okay."
Lin Suwen gently stroked the uninjured half of Nanmen Jue's face.
"Aunt Lin, I have a favor to ask of you." Nanmen Jue looked at her with somewhat unfocused eyes, "I heard that you used to be the number one singer in Gray Tower. On your birthday, could you sing a song?"
Lin Suwen paused, clearly not expecting Nanmen Jue to make such a request, but she did not hesitate.
"Okay, what do you want to hear?"
“That song… ‘Whale Fall’,” Nanmen Jue said, “the melody is so beautiful, I always listened to it on repeat when I was in the lab.”
"Okay," Lin Suwen replied.
On the day of his rebirth, Lin Suwen, Qin Yehan, and Tong Gu all came to Nanmen Jue's side. They were all very nervous, but Nanmen Jue seemed to be in better spirits.
"Are you sure we don't need to prepare anything?" Lin Su's facial muscles twitched slightly. "Just... just like that?"
“That’s it,” Nanmen Jue said.
Qin Yehan asked, "Will you come with us?"
Nanmen Jue looked into his eyes, "You already know the answer."
Yes, Qin Yehan already had the answer in his eyes. He asked the question with the answer in mind, and upon hearing it, he did not reveal too much emotion, but simply nodded.
"Then, will we," he paused, "see each other again?"
“That’s for sure,” Nanmenjue said.
They sat down in a row. Lin Suwen was slightly shy, but she still walked gracefully to the middle of the hall. Her beautiful, divine singing voice rang out, and everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her in awe.
Lin Suwen hadn't practiced her voice for many years, and coupled with her intense emotions, her voice was a little unstable, but Nanmen Jue thought it sounded wonderful.
Amidst this moving song, Nanmen Jue stretched out a hand, and a crow landed on her wrist. Countless fine, invisible threads spread from her hand, extending in all directions.
The man and the crow looked at each other. The crow nodded, spread its wings and cawed loudly, and a green dot of light appeared in the air.
Nanmen Jue stared at the point of light and slowly raised the sniper rifle that he had prepared.
Bang--
With just that simple, unadorned shot, the entire world came to a standstill in an instant.
Lin Suwen paused in her singing pose, tears welling in her eyes. She looked shy, but her expression was one of relief and redemption, as if she had finally found herself again in the last moment of her life.
Qin Yehan and Tong Gu stood on either side of Nanmen Jue. Tong Gu was looking at Lin Suwen, while Qin Yehan was looking at her.
Nanmen Jue wasn't a blockhead; she understood the emotions within. She raised an eyebrow and, before Qin Yehan could react, leaned in and kissed his forehead.
"Consider this your payment. Thank you for your hard work as a nanny these past few days, Xiao Qin."
Nanmen Jue stood up with a smile, the world swaying around her, peeling away like old, worn-out paint.
"Remember to bring this tower in," she reminded the crows, "otherwise they'll have nowhere to live."
Whether she saw it correctly or not, the crow seemed to roll its eyes at her.
Nanmen Jue walked outside.
A raging blizzard swept across the world, roaring as it receded. Nanmen Jue walked through it all, as if standing at the end of history, witnessing a destruction and rebirth.
A blinding light appeared, and Nanmen Jue closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the snow had stopped.
The sky turned completely black, not the kind of black that comes with night, but as if a layer had been peeled away, turning it into an inorganic, layerless black hole. Yet, it didn't affect visibility. When Nanmen Jue looked back, the gray tower she had come out of was gone.
"Is it over?" she asked.
"it's over."
"Is this what the world will look like after it's destroyed?" Nanmen Jue looked into the distance at the boundless snowfield.
“Every world is different,” the raven said, landing on her shoulder. “Get ready, your mission is complete, you’re about to be teleported back to the space hall.”
Nanmen Jue ruffled his hair and looked down at his deliberately chosen attire.
She wore the same combat uniform as Qin Yehan, a gray-white camouflage pattern that was extremely form-fitting, making her waist appear even slimmer, her height and legs even longer, perfectly concealing her already not very obvious gender characteristics.
"Let me see what this legendary reincarnation space is really like." She smiled, but her eyes were cold.
“Remember, once you’re teleported, don’t think about anything else. Let the God of War heal your body first,” the crow earnestly instructed. “With your injuries, if you don’t get immediate first aid, you’ll die before you even show your face.”
“I know. And then we need to make a prop to hide my name.” Nanmen Jue pointed to the top of his head. “This time I offended three guilds in one go. If I don’t keep a low profile, my life will probably be very interesting from now on.”
"I thought you didn't care about this at all."
"How could that be? I said I'm here to find someone, so of course the less attention I draw, the better." Nanmen Jue laughed and retorted, then frowned in dissatisfaction, "Why haven't we been teleported yet?"
“Alright, let’s try not to attract attention.” Crow agreed with her. “We’ll develop secretly. I’ll do my thing, and you go find your people.”
The man and the bird reached a consensus and even clapped hands amicably—they clapped their wings, of course.
"It's here." Xiao Nuo was the first to sense the fluctuating energy.
A flash of white light, and two figures vanished from the collapsing world.
Nanmen Jue felt like she'd been thrown into a washing machine. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and the pain that had been blocked out suddenly overwhelmed her. She immediately felt like she was on the verge of death and shouted, "Repair your body! Deduct points as you like!"
A warm feeling spread through her, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That was close! I almost died in the apocalypse, but I was going to die in the space hall.
Before she could finish complaining, she was thrown out and landed face down on the ground with a thud.
"..." Was this God doing this on purpose?
Just as she was about to get up, a strange voice rang in her ears.
"Dude, are you alright?"
Dude.
Nanmen Jue lay on the ground, a strange smile on his face.
Her plan succeeded; as long as she deliberately disguised herself, probably no one would be able to tell that she was actually a girl.
She got up decisively, and the moment she revealed her face, the other person was startled and even looked a little embarrassed.
"Ah... are you a newcomer? I mean, I've never heard of you before."
Nanmen Jue raised her eyes and realized that there were no names above people's heads here. That was perfect, since she hadn't bought any props yet.
She rolled her eyes and slowly scanned the entire hall.
Perhaps to enhance the sense of immersion for those who reincarnate, the hall was built much like a hotel apartment, except that the space was infinite. Some people were slumped on the sofa with blank stares, while others came and went in a hurry, and still others, like her, fell to the ground with a clatter.
So it wasn't targeted at all.
Looking up, you see magnificent floors, with a circular corridor resembling a gray tower, and the floors seem to extend indefinitely, encompassing various facilities and accommodations.
So the Main God Space is an infinite gray tower. Nanmen Jue thought to himself.
Before she could reply, the entire space suddenly darkened, and then red lights came on. Nanmen Jue immediately had an ominous premonition. How could this sound so much like the sirens of the Gray Tower?
The guy on the other end seemed shocked too, muttering, "What's going on?"
"Don't you know what's going on either?" Nanmen Jue asked.
"I don't know, I don't know, I've never seen anything like this before." Seeing Nanmen Jue's question, the man was extremely attentive. "But something big must have happened for the God to make such a big fuss about it throughout the entire space."
The next second, a blood-red banner appeared in the hall, ensuring that everyone could see it through some magical means.
[The reincarnator Nanmen Jue destroyed a reincarnation world. He is ruthless and insane, and is listed as the most wanted criminal. If a reincarnator can capture or kill him on the spot, he will be rewarded with 50,000 points and a choice of orange-level items.]
[A reminder: This wanted criminal is extremely ruthless. Please be extra careful.]
The man gaped, his face filled with astonishment. "Destroyed...destroyed the entire world? What kind of madman is this?!"
Nanmen Jue: "..."
Wait a moment! ?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com