Time and displacement
Zhou Xun stuffed the last piece of clothing into the suitcase and waved to Rong Yu.
"Come and help me press the box."
Rong Yu put down the backpack in his hand and obediently held the box for Zhou Xun, but his eyes glanced at Zhou Xun's face from time to time, revealing an embarrassed expression.
"Just say whatever you want to say. Why are you still hiding things in front of me?"
"...Captain, is it really okay to go traveling with your family?" Rong Yu, whose thoughts were seen through, lowered his head and said sullenly, his delicate face full of anxiety and uneasiness.
After returning to Earth, Rong Yu has gradually gotten rid of the initial stress with the help of his classmates and Zhou Xun, and will no longer resort to extreme means such as "jumping off a building" to escape even when in the same room with strangers. However, this time he needs to face Zhou Xun and Zhou Ruo's most important relatives.
Although Rong Yu didn't say much, dozens of ideas already popped up in his mind.
Will the leader's family hate me? Will I be an eyesore? Will I hinder the leader's rare time with his family? What if I do something that annoys them...
"Captain, it's actually quite nice for me to stay in the dormitory alone..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhou Xun pinched Rong Yu's cheek and he gasped.
"First, I've already told you that it was my parents who took the initiative to invite you after they knew you were staying alone in the dormitory. Second..." Zhou Xun released his hand that was pinching Rong Yu's cheek, and stroked his soft black short hair twice, like petting a cat, making Rong Yu's head messy. With a pair of innocent cat eyes, he looked even cuter: "You're good, don't worry that they will hate you."
"...Oh." Rong Yu responded softly without any follow-up answer, but the upturned corners of his mouth allowed Zhou Xun to catch his joy.
Zhou Xun, who had raised Rong Yu for nearly five hundred years, knew the temper of the man in front of him. He smoothed over Rong Yu a few times and said, "You just need to follow me from now on. I asked my parents to book a room for us. Except for a few group activities, we can move freely most of the time. If you are really not used to it, you can let Zhou Ruo accompany them and you and I can act alone."
"Hey, hey, how can you bear to leave me alone to deal with such a terrible thing as my parents?"
Zhou Ruo just happened to walk in and heard their conversation. She said speechlessly, "I don't want to take care of your children!"
"Our Momo is obviously very well behaved!" Zhou Xun argued.
Zhou Ruo was too lazy to pay attention to him, and glanced at the red marks on Rong Yu's face. As an assassin, Rong Yu was used to living in the shadows, even when he returned to Earth.
Due to not being exposed to sunlight for a long time, his skin became frighteningly white. Any blue or red marks on his body would appear extremely exaggerated against the backdrop of his skin.
"Zhou Xun, are you bullying Rong Yu again?"
Zhou Ruo did not close the door when she complained. Before Zhou Xun and Rong Yu could clarify, Zhou Ruo's mother, who happened to be passing by the door, happened to hear her words. She braked suddenly and her burning eyes fell on Zhou Ruo.
Zhou Ruo: "...Mom, I was wrong. I shouldn't have called my brother by his name. I will apologize to him."
Zhou Ruo's mother Zhuo Jie: "......"
Zhou Ruo had already said everything in advance, and Zhuo Jie couldn't complain too much in front of Rong Yu. She could only curse "sharp-tongued" and left Zhou Xun's room.
Zhou Ruo changed to a well-behaved expression in a second, pulled Rong Yu to her side, rubbed his face distressedly, and said: "Zhou Xun is not interesting at all, let's play together and let him take care of the kids."
Rong Yu nodded obediently: "Okay."
Zhou Xun: “…”
For a moment, he didn't know whether to worry first about Zhou Ruo kidnapping Rong Yu in front of him, or to be upset that Rong Yu admitted that he was boring.
Zhou Xun said sullenly: "Am I boring?"
Rong Yu quickly comforted her: "It's just a little bit occasionally..."
Zhou Xun: “…”
Zhou Ruo slapped the bed and laughed wildly.
...
After all the trouble, Zhou Xun's family of four, Zhou Ruo's family of three, and Rong Yu, a total of eight people, took advantage of the night to board the high-speed train to W City.
Zhou Xun's parents were so wealthy that they bought business tickets for everyone. In the spacious business car, the Zhou family took up almost all of the ten seats, and the only two remaining seats were located in the back row. The two young people sitting there closed their eyes and rested since they got on the car, and had no intention of communicating with the people around them.
"Xiao Yu." Zhou Xun's mother Gao Yingxin held Rong Yu's hand and said kindly, "Don't feel constrained. You are Xiao Xun and Xiao Ruo's good friend, and also their classmate. We all like you very much. Just relax and have fun."
Rong Yu was not used to having physical contact with people outside of Class Nine. He subconsciously shrank back and wanted to pull his hand away, but then realized that the person in front of him was Zhou Xun's biological mother and Zhou Ruo's aunt. He could not do such a disrespectful thing, so he could only bite the bullet and maintain this posture, nodding with a stiff body, like a frightened cat that dared not run away.
One of the two people who were resting with their eyes closed behind him suddenly let out a faint laugh, like a sneer, or as if he was mocking himself.
His voice was so low that only Rong Yu and the other two noticed it for a moment.
Although they thought the man's laughter was inexplicable, the three of them could not afford to make such a fuss over one laugh, and immediately put the matter behind them.
Zhou Xun quickly rescued Rong Yu from his mother and stuffed him back into his seat. The carriage instantly became quiet, with everyone playing with their phones or closing their eyes to rest, waiting to reach their destination.
Under the cover of night, the train sped smoothly across the earth until it entered a tunnel, at which point the cell phone signals of everyone in the car disappeared.
Signal loss in tunnels is a very common thing, and Zhou Xun's parents and Zhou Ruo's parents didn't care much about it. However, Zhou Xun and the other two, who were resting with their eyes closed, opened their eyes at the same time when the signal disappeared.
"Don't you think it's a bit too much?" Zhou Ruo sighed and said in a depressed tone: "It's not that I can't accept the existence of mutants, but we have to leave S Province first!"
Even though they've been running into trouble every few days since they returned to Earth, at least they don't waste their rare vacation time!
"Let's first see what mutant is causing the trouble and quickly solve it." Zhou Xun said.
"It's a pity that Lin Lang and Chen Qiting are not here. The three of us are all brute force. If we really fight, how can we hide it?" Zhou Ruo scratched his hair, feeling a little embarrassed.
Although Zhou Xun was a knight who practiced both guarding and discipline, he was better at defensive magic than barrier magic. Rong Yu was not to mention. Compared with Lin Lang, who was half assassin and half intelligence dealer, Rong Yu was a pure assassin, and all his magic and skills were born for assassination. Infiltration and killing with one blow were his specialties.
Zhou Ruo, the only one who could be considered as a "supporter", was a violent priest through and through. Like Zhou Xun, Zhou Ruo was also a dual-cultivation priest. Although most of his talent points were in healing, Zhou Ruo had a heart for output. He had learned the fighting style of the Discipline Priest thoroughly, but he had never seriously studied the various auxiliary techniques of the Life Priest other than healing. Anyway, there were too many people in their class who were good at supporting. If they really wanted to fight a team battle, Zhou Ruo would not be able to do this at all.
Therefore, Zhou Ruo felt at ease and extremely happy learning combat magic.
It just so happened that the two main output players and one output healer encountered a task that required assistance.
"Let's take it one step at a time depending on the situation." Zhou Xun said helplessly: "If it really doesn't work, I'll try to see if I can use the auxiliary."
He said this with great lack of confidence, and Rong Yu and Zhou Ruo felt very disappointed after hearing it.
Zhou Xun and the other two didn't really care about the exposure, especially Zhou Ruo. It was no secret that she and Lin Lang were shuttling back and forth in the hospital, and the officials had basically determined that she was extremely powerful.
But the problem is, exposing themselves in front of the authorities is to show their strength and to increase deterrence. The authorities will not publicize their identities. They can just show up as "sages from the world" and continue to enjoy their ordinary lives while pretending to be cool.
But if you get exposed in front of your parents and relatives, that’s another story.
Apart from other things, the three of them would never get over this hurdle just because of their sense of shame. Especially Zhou Ruo, her parents were both teachers, and they were rather serious and it was difficult for them to accept new things.
Zhou Ruo couldn't help but imagine it. She stood in front of the mutant and said to her serious mother, "Mom, run quickly. I'm actually the saint of the Temple of Life. I'll take care of the enemy!"
——Zhou Ruo didn’t know what her mother’s expression would be, but she knew that she might be so ashamed that she might faint.
——More importantly, once their identities were made public, they would inevitably face questions about their identities and experiences. After returning to Earth, all of them deliberately ignored the fact that they had lived for 500 years in front of their families. With the identities and cognitions of high school students, they made themselves forget the bad things that happened in Parnaki and continued to be carefree children who could hide in their parents' arms and act like spoiled brats.
Coming out in front of parents means that they have to accept the huge age difference and the embarrassment and estrangement that is likely to come with it.
They are willing to give their parents pure trust, but in front of human heart, all trust seems so insignificant. Even though they are used to the ups and downs of life, they never dare to put it on the gambling table and start this big gamble that concerns the future.
"Anyway, I'll go check out the situation first." Zhou Xun said as he prepared to stand up from his chair, but before he could do anything, the two young men who had been sitting in the back row and remained silent suddenly stood up and said in a rather complicated tone, "I didn't expect you to be chosen."
Zhou Xun's father Zhou Hong, who was taking a nap, opened his eyes and looked at the two young men in some confusion.
The next moment, a cold electronic sound suddenly rang out in the car.
"Train D6666 is here to serve you. Here is the task for this game: Please find the only living person other than the player before the train arrives at the station. Penalty for failure: death."
Zhou Xun and the other two: "......"
"It's not what I imagined, is it?" Zhou Ruo asked in a complicated tone: "Infinite flow?"
Zhou Xun: "It is very likely..."
Zhou Ruo was speechless and said, "Are all mutants nowadays so versatile?"
The last time was "Rule-based Ghost Stories", and last time it was integrated into a variety show. This time, the classic novel theme "Infinite Flow" was directly pulled in.
It has to be said that the spiritual civilization of the earth is really rich. Even if Parnaqui is given a thousand years, it would not be able to come up with so many tricks - the mutants of Parnaqui have struggled for more than 10,000 years, and are still using the old tricks of ghosts and wraiths.
"Didn't it just say death? Doesn't this count as malicious intent towards humans?" Zhou Ruo coaxed, "Didn't we say that for these mutants that are determined to be harmful to humans, we can consider not taking them in, and just eliminate the harm to the people?"
Rong Yu, who had been silent all this time, followed suit: "I'll go and take care of him."
Rong Yu stood up. He spoke very fluently in the private channel, but when he saw the look from Zhou Xun's mother, he stuttered again: "Um, I...I'm going to the bathroom."
Zhou Xun's mother Gao Yingxin hadn't said anything yet. The young man who laughed first, seeing that no one paid attention to his words, sneered again: "How leisurely! You should first figure out what situation you are in, otherwise you will die without knowing how."
"Why are you talking so loudly, young man?" Zhou Ruo's father Zhou Hui couldn't help but frown and scolded: "You keep saying 'you' and 'die'. Speak with some courtesy. We have children here!"
"Uncle, I'm just reminding you kindly." The young man rolled his eyes and was about to sneer, but was grabbed by the young man next to him. After whispering a few words of persuasion, he pulled him behind him and showed a friendly smile to Zhou Xun and others: "I'm sorry, my brother's tone of voice was a bit too aggressive, but he really did it for your own good."
Zhou Hong's father sensitively sensed that something unexpected seemed to have happened. He first glanced out the window. It was still a dark tunnel. Occasionally, dim lights flashed by the car window, but it did not make people feel warm. Instead, it made the atmosphere even more weird.
This tunnel is a bit too long.
Zhou Hong muttered in his heart and looked at his phone again - sure enough, there was still no signal.
After completing these two tasks, Zhou Hong looked back at the two brothers in front of him and asked, "What do you mean by 'being selected' and the broadcast just now? What happened here?"
"Infinite Flow, Lord God Space... Most of you older people have never heard of it... Hey, three little brats over there." The man standing behind his brother suddenly turned his gaze to Zhou Xun and the other two: "You should know this."
Zhou Ruo was a little displeased by her brother's blunt tone, but she suppressed her emotions temporarily, pretending to be timid, and nodded cautiously: "In simple terms, there is a guy called 'Lord God' who will give various tasks to the players he chooses. The players need to continue to complete the tasks until they escape the control of 'Lord God'."
"Now you have been chosen by the 'Lord God' to join its 'Infinite Game'." The elder brother said, "I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is An Ziwen, and this is my younger brother An Ziwu. We are both veteran players who have completed the 'Infinite Game' five times."
Five times already?
Zhou Xun and the other two were shocked.
So far, they have not heard any news about the "Infinite Game" from official channels or "Tower of Babel". Is it because they were not paying attention to it due to the previous monthly exam? Or is there another secret behind it?
Compared to the quick acceptance of Zhou Xun and his two companions, the acceptance of Zhou Xun's parents and Zhou Ruo's parents was obviously much lower.
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Zhou Hui frowned and said loudly: "Staff - where is the steward?"
"Can we call the police if there is no signal?" Zhou Ruo's mother Zhuo Jie also asked.
Although Zhou Xun's parents did not say anything, they reached out to protect Zhou Xun and his two companions, as well as Zhou Xun's sister Zhou Moran.
"Don't bother shouting." An Ziwen glanced at him and shrugged. "You'd better give up on this idea. Every time the game starts, the Lord will randomly select people nearby as players. Others will not enter the game."
"Then how did you know there would be games here?" Zhou Xun looked at him coldly.
"Of course it's the order of the 'Lord God'. Otherwise, do you think I would be willing to play this kind of death game?" An Ziwu said impatiently.
An Ziwen added, "Before each game starts, the 'Lord' will notify us to go to the next game location."
Zhou Xun suddenly realized that it was no wonder that An Ziwu sneered after his mother and Rong Yu talked just now - maybe he was not laughing at them, but at himself.
Other passengers were also on the train to reach their destination and start a pleasant journey, but their destination was a hell where life and death were unknown.
"Why didn't you call the police?" Zhou Ruo still looked timid, hiding behind Zhou Xun and whispering, "If there really is a 'Lord God', we should call the police directly and let them handle it."
An Ziwu looked at Zhou Ruo as if he was a fool and said, "Do you think the authorities will believe this kind of weird and supernatural stuff?"
"In fact, it's more because the 'Lord' forbids us to tell anyone. Once we leave the game, even if we want to tell people who are not players, there will be a mysterious force that stops us." An Ziwen said sadly.
The rumble of the train passing through the tunnel still echoed in my ears. It had been more than five minutes since they entered the tunnel. The road to W City was mostly flat, so where did such a long tunnel come from?
The business class passengers are the focus of the train crew's service. Upon hearing the noise, the crew came in to observe the situation, but now there is no movement at all.
Coupled with the strange subtitles constantly scrolling in front of him and the cold mechanical broadcast voice just now, everything the two young men said seemed to be true.
But Zhou Ruo's father still didn't believe it. He strode towards the carriage door and tried to open it.
An Ziwu and An Ziwen's faces changed immediately, and they subconsciously wanted to stop Zhou Hui's recklessness. But the doors of the business class were all sensor doors, and they would open automatically once a living person approached.
Along with the sound of the door rubbing, a group of "passengers" with translucent bodies that made it difficult to see their faces in the first-class carriage outside the cabin all raised their heads and looked in the direction of Zhou Hui and others.
Zhou Hui’s face turned pale and he staggered backwards.
The door creaked shut again, but at the moment it closed, everyone could clearly see that the "invisible people" sitting in the front row were trying to pounce towards the business car.
These "invisible people" are not as transparent as they appear on the surface, as if they have no physical souls. For some reason, they cannot trigger the sensor door of the carriage, and can only wander outside the carriage again and again, making incomprehensible murmurs.
"It seems that they can't get in!" An Ziwen was delighted, and An Ziwu's expression was also very happy. Obviously, this sensor door that prevented the "invisible man" from passing through was completely beyond their expectations and was an "unexpected surprise."
"Could it be that these 'ghosts' are unable to trigger the sensing device?" An Ziwen reasoned.
Zhou Xun and his two companions, who used their coercion to isolate a group of "ghosts" from outside, said: "......"
"In short, don't be so reckless! Otherwise, if something happens, we won't be able to save you!" An Ziwu frowned again and threatened viciously.
Zhou Moran was so frightened that he immediately threw himself into Zhou Xun's arms. He carefully picked her up and held her in his arms.
Although Zhou Xun's parents and Zhou Ruo's parents were also frightened to the point of turning pale, they still suppressed their fear and protected their two children behind them.
"I remember that in this kind of 'infinite flow' game, every player is in a competitive state. Why do you want to protect us?" Zhou Xun asked tentatively.
"Do you think we're happy with this?" An Ziwu was still impatient, as if he was going to jump up and punch Zhou Xun if he asked one more question: "The more people who survive each game, the more rewards the players will get."
At this point, An Ziwu sneered: "Even if we old players try our best to protect you, newbies like you will still commit suicide every time you play the game - if only one out of ten newbies can survive, you should be lucky."
Gao Yingxin let out a low cry, her hands that were protecting Rongyu trembled slightly, and her eyes turned red uncontrollably.
"...What is the mortality rate of this game?" Zhou Xun asked.
"Seventy percent, and most of them are veterans who survived." An Ziwen said.
"How many players are there in each game?" Zhou Xun asked again.
As long as these "newcomers" don't have to worry about it, An Ziwen doesn't mind answering Zhou Xun's question: "The number of players pulled in each time is not fixed, but the number of players is at least more than 30 each time."
“What is the frequency of the game?”
"Why are you asking this? You may not even survive the first time, and you're already worrying about the future?" An Ziwu said irritably.
But An Ziwen still answered sincerely: "At least once a week."
At least once a week, that is to say, the game involving these two brothers alone involved at least 150 players and caused hundreds of lives.
This is no longer a question of whether it is highly aggressive or not.
"Just destroy it." Zhou Xun said coldly: "Find a time when it won't be noticed. There's no need to contain such a mutant."
"Yes." Zhou Ruo and Rong Yu said in unison.
The three of them couldn't help but quietly raise their palms, with magic power surging, ready to reveal their identities at any time and cast magic to eliminate the mutants.
At this moment, the sensor door was opened unexpectedly. Amid the sudden changes in the faces of the two brothers An Ziwen and An Ziwu, a voice filled with surprise sounded in everyone's ears.
"Zhou Xun, Zhou Ruo, and you are... Oh, Rong Yu!" Wan Feng carried his sword on his back and waved to the three of them cheerfully: "Long time no see, what are you doing..."
He looked at the three men's half-raised hands.
Zhou Xun and the other two: "......"
They quickly put their hands behind their backs and shook their heads frantically: "Nothing!"
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