13 Lying Makes Me Feel at Ease

"Mad?" Zhou Bai stroked his chin, a hint of contemplation in his eyes. 

A moment later, Christina asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Zhou Bai shook his head, "Then what about this Divine Map? Can I increase it?"

Christina said, "Theoretically, you can only practice Divine Maps after your primordial spirit power has reached a certain level. You probably can't right now."

"Anyway, just increase primordial spirit power for now, until you can't anymore. This is called setting a solid foundation, which will make your future practice much easier."

Zhou Bai gave it a try and found he couldn't increase it. So he didn't give it any more thought, after resting for half an hour, he added another 5 points of primordial spirit power. 

Instantly, he felt his brain get dizzy again. He decided not to add any more primordial spirit power and just rest for the morning. 

"Right, I forgot to ask you yesterday, how did you get that gem? What does it do?" Zhou Bai looked at the white cat in his mind. A gem hung on her neck right now. 

It was the gem that Zhou Bai stole from the laboratory yesterday. 

Christina began wailing, "After you fell asleep last night, the gem came into your mind by itself. And that was my gem anyway. This gem is much more powerful than your stupid system. It's the standard of dimension and quality, the balance of the universe, the entanglement of cause and effect-- its significance exceeds the sum of anything you've seen by far, to the point where it cannot be described by the word 'significance'...."

"Yeah, whatever," Zhou Bai's mouth twitched, "Didn't you lose your memory? How can you brag so much still?"

"Hmph, the moment I retrieved the stone, I remembered all this." Christina deducted, "My memory will probably recover, as long as I come into contact with things I'm familiar with."

Zhou Bai: "So what does this gem actually do?"

Christina: "I don't know...but it's very important, super important."

Zhou Bai dragged Elsa to class in the morning. Halfway there, he saw Alice, who looked very nervous. 

The two of them glanced at each other, and both nodded slightly. Their operation yesterday and the moment they witnessed the outside world together made Alice trust Zhou Bai more and more. 

Elsa: "What's wrong, Zhou Bai? Why did you stop walking?"

Alice walked in front of Elsa, rubbing her head, "Good Elsa," she took out a cookie, "Sit."

Elsa sat down obediently. 

Alice put the cookie on Elsa's head and said, "Stay here, good Elsa. If the cookie is still on your head when Zhou Bai and I return later, you may eat it."

Zhou Bai: "..."

Elsa struggled and nodded her head, "Okay."

Alice pulled Zhou Bai a few steps to the side. She said, "Zhou Bai, Bando is…"

Zhou Bai interrupted Alice, "I know, let's not talk about this for now. If you trust me, then let us wait a few more days. I think of something by then." 

Although when they left the base and went to the outside world, everything seemed to be the same as Professor Zhuang described. 

There were still many suspicious points. 

The most suspicious of them all is the fact that there are two Bandos. 

There was one in the laboratory and one attending class and living upstairs. 

And whether it was due to negligence or some other reason, Professor Zhuang didn't explain the issue of two Bandos to Alice and Zhou Bai yesterday. 

He didn't even come to ask Zhou Bai about the cat or the gem as if he had something more urgent he was rushing to do. 

But Zhou Bai was happy about this, and he didn't want to think about those matters for now since his operation to the underground laboratory in level 5 allowed him to use the auxiliary system again. Given some time, he can strengthen very quickly. 

Once he became stronger than Professor Zhuang, naturally, he'll be able to find out the answers to all his questions regarding the base. Before that happens, Zhou Bai plans to keep quiet and not trigger the professor's attention. 

After comforting Alice, the two came back to Elsa and saw the cookie on her head had already disappeared. 

Elsa said frantically, "I didn't eat it! I just lifted my head to look, and the cookie fell on the ground and disappeared!"

Then the three of them went to class together. Zhou Bai switched between resting and increasing points. During the afternoon demon class today, Zhou Bai finally raised his primordial spirit power to 30 points. 

Degree of Taoification: 0%

Primordial Spirit Value: 30

Divine Map: Deva Nine Disasters

Laziness: 0

"I feel much stronger than before," Zhou Bai thought, "But in the Doomsday environment, with the so-called demons, I must be even stronger."

Zhou Bai thought, "The auxiliary system only told me one method, which is lying down. That means there are probably other ways to increase Laziness."

As Zhou Bai was thinking about this, with the rise in his primordial spirit power, he seemed to hear a quiet muttering. 

He went blank for a second, and then the muttering went away. 

Zhou Bai looked around at the surrounding demon sculptures. He somehow felt the sculptures seemed even more lively than before. 

The first time she saw these sculptures, Christina frowned too. Her voice rang in Zhou Bai's ears, "Don't look at those sculptures, there seems to be something off about them."

Zhou Bai: "What's off about them?"

Christina: "I can't remember. Just don't look. Your primordial spirit power increased abruptly, so your primordial spirit is very sensitive. Don't look at things carelessly."

So in the ensuing demon class, Zhou Bai no longer looked at the demon sculptures, and he didn't hear the muttering again. 

When demon class ended, Professor Zhuang said from the podium, "After organizing the resources last time, I made a count. We're depleting our food too quickly. From now on, everyone's nutrition gel and hardtack rations will decrease again…."

Hearing Professor Zhuang's announcement, the underground kids all looked disappointed. 

Elsa opened her eyes wide. It looked like she was starting to tear up. The news hit her like a thunderbolt on a clear day, and she was stupefied. 

Professor Zhuang sighed, "I believe everyone knows the resources in this base are limited. Although I often go out to seek new food sources, there are demons outside, so the food source is not stable."

"In order to keep the base running for longer, we can only cut rations for now. My own ration will decrease by half, and each of your rations will have to decrease by a fourth."

Seeing the children's concerned faces, Professor Zhuang consoled them, "No need to fear, everyone. Once I find a new food source, everything will get better." 

Hearing Professor Zhuang's words, Zhou Bai sighed to himself. 

Christina said, "You won't last like this. You have to find a way to increase your strength. I think higher level primordial spirit power can probably resist against the so-called Doomsday environment and help you avoid getting infected by polluted Spark. Staying here will only mean certain death." 

Zhou Bai thought, "In this situation, it's very hard...for humans to live…."

Zhou Bai sighed. Everything continued to be the same. At first, he thought Professor Zhuang would seek him out to talk about primordial spirit power and the cat and gem, but he didn't. Instead, Professor Zhuang left in a hurry as soon as class ended. 

That night, Zhou Bai lay on his bed impatiently. Although he was in Doomsday, seeing the Laziness increase point by point in his auxiliary system, he felt at ease.