Cheng Shuang was taken aback. "I don't quite understand!"
“This land of death was originally a planet with highly developed civilization and technology.” Li Lei sighed. “Myths and legends and ancient books have long been lost to the river of history. The natives have always believed in science. Some dungeons in the game are full of a lot of unscientific things, which actually come from the maintainers who broke in. After all, dungeons are not static. At least one dungeon I went to was a microcosm of a death zone that my companions and I had entered before.”
Cheng Shuang suddenly thought of the first reincarnation gate she and Du Jun had passed through together. On the cruise ship, several bodyguards protected Adolf Doyle, an old-fashioned nobleman who was still alive a hundred years ago, supposedly to protect the legacy from falling into the hands of wanderers.
The little girl instantly understood, "So homeless people survive by relying on some form imagined by humans?"
The wanderers in each land of death are different, all stemming from the different cultural backgrounds of each world.
The homeless need human civilization, yet they also need to live off humans.
"So what exactly are they?"
"I don't know!" Li Lei smiled bitterly, looking at everyone who was looking at him. "My rest stop companions and I didn't make it to the moment we learned the truth. I thought I had returned to the starting village when my score was zero, but in fact, I had already experienced it several times."
"Only now do I remember everything. The reason I wasn't completely consumed by the game is because I kept a super high-level card related to soul protection! My companions were unlucky and their scores reached zero before mine. Since my score was zero, their memories of life and death have been automatically formatted. Whenever I think of them, I think of us as just having gotten separated..."
“Contrary to what I told you before, the souls of the Maintainers are more appealing to this game system than the natives, and they are also more dangerous and difficult to deal with. Once they have the chance to touch a Maintainer’s soul, they will not let it go. The Wanderers are cunning beings; they leave the natives to devour them little by little, and countless Maintainers will walk right into their trap.” His expression was solemn and sad. “I am already very fortunate to have survived, but now I have lost my qualification as a Maintainer.”
Han Meimei held Li Lei's hand tightly, giving him the courage to keep going.
“Remember this, the rest stops are more important than you think. I feel that with the disappearance of my rest stop, I lost touch with my own world. This is the clearest sentence I can express, because that feeling is too abstract!” Li Lei forced a smile. “It was also a sentence mentioned by a veteran maintainer I met before he died. At that time, I didn’t understand…”
For some reason, Cheng Shuang and the other two felt a sudden heaviness in their hearts.
He said: "The rest stop represents a part of the world!"
These words lingered in the minds of the three, leaving them somewhat shaken. They watched as Li Lei, who had lost his skills, was helped back into the vast glass-enclosed space by Han Meimei. His figure was desolate, and he walked with the faltering steps of an elderly man.
He had nothing left to lose, so for this short time, he was willing to stay by Han Meimei's side and watch her and her companions slowly revive their planet.
Repeatedly resetting scores to zero not only erodes one's spirit, but may also have unimaginable effects on one's physical health.
Cheng Shuang felt that they were really lucky this time. Not long after entering the Gate of Reincarnation, they encountered Li Lei. His presence made them more vigilant and prevented them from taking their points lightly and wasting them carelessly. Otherwise, they would have followed the same path as other maintainers and easily fed kills to the game system's wanderers.
Fortunately, their decision was not wrong!
This land of death is not entirely without hope of salvation; humanity has not yet perished and possesses a wealth of valuable technological knowledge.
As long as our heritage endures, humanity and our planet will one day be reborn.
After many AI researchers awoke, they came to inspect the massive equipment supporting the game. They discovered a complete air circulation and filtration system, a water resource regeneration system, and a nutrient propulsion system, among others. This place, which was originally meant to protect the game equipment and the human body, could now become a base for human survival.
All around were broken walls and ruins, and the air was filled with smog and yellow sand. After opening the layers of protective doors, what appeared before the three of them was a steep mountain fault line, and countless similar towering cliffs in the distance. The Gate of Reincarnation was right in front of them, hanging on the edge of the cliff. With the slightest movement of a toe, pebbles and sand would fall down in a dusty mess.
Wearing a mask, Cheng Shuang breathed in oxygen from the air mixed with sand.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief, holding an umbrella in one hand and the basic martial arts techniques the old man had given her in the other, as she returned to the convenience store.
The little girl finally broke into a smile after seeing that there were no people missing in the convenience store.
Although Liu Juan and the other two had injuries, they were all minor injuries that would heal in a few days with some ointment, which is why they were reluctant to use pills for treatment.
As usual, the group first drank some nutritional supplements and ate a piece of chocolate. Once they had fully recovered, they began to exchange their experiences and observations from their journey.
After everyone dispersed, they checked their points and other earnings.
#
Name: Cheng Shuang
Age: 12 years old (?)
Identity: Station Master of Rest Stop No. C-BLD1
Points: 850
(Special note: 120 of the 220 points are an extra reward for destroying the Death Zone.)
Stamina: 46
Intelligence: 80
Mental Strength: 268 (Luo An's copied pseudo-treasure increased by 60)
Strength: 33
Martial Arts Skill: Basic Combat Techniques (Requires 500 points to install)
Badge: Earth's Darling Butterfly Wing Fragment *1
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