Chapter 11: Return
All the acting skills I had amassed throughout my life, I contributed at this moment.
Midel seemed to feel the emotional turmoil in Zhou Baiyu's heart, the conflict of being a human yet falling for a monster.
It seemed that all the tragic love stories in human history were related to class strife and misaligned social standings.
It was true for the Butterfly Lovers, and just as much for Romeo and Juliet.
But perhaps, the most romantic thing in the world is to cross the boundaries of clans, class, territories, and aligning camps, to overcome countless difficulties to love you.
Such profound love was accurately conveyed under the trait of an orator.
Midel was, for a moment... somewhat stunned.
Pristine tears fell upon Midel's snowy hair.
If it had been Zhou Baiyu's own ordinary face, he surely couldn't have played the part.
It was as though heaven favored him by granting him the identity of an attendant.
But in reality, he just utilized his initial resources to the utmost.
"I look forward to seeing you again, but I don't have the courage to face your hate when we meet."
"I thought... I would dress you one last time, for the very last time... and then, you may do with me as you please."
"I've said my piece, Midel, my queen, kill me now."
The Love Saint's intuition kicked in, the word "queen" appealed to Midel very much.
Her contradiction with the queen and her inner turmoil as a monster sparked a desire for rebellion in Midel.
However, Midel knew all too well the vast gap in strength between herself and Queen Reina.
She needed assistance.
Such assistance couldn't come from a succubus, not even from a monster, as monsters were all sycophants.
Midel didn't totally believe what Zhou Baiyu said, but she did believe seven parts of it.
And with the incentive of interest, she now believed nine parts of it.
Moreover...
Zhou Baiyu really could make her very happy, so Midel turned her head and took Zhou Baiyu's hand.
Zhou Baiyu also discarded the comb. Just before, the comb's durability had turned to 0/2.
He had also acquired another piece of intelligence.
"Is what you say true?"
"Yes, I'm probably already a disgrace among the forerunners. Instead of living like a walking corpse, causing you trouble and being hated by you... it's better to kill me, let me die in front of all the succubi, making them jealous and envious of you once more."
That's sufficient.
Zhou Baiyu saw Midel's pupils dilate slightly, and her grip on his hand tighten.
Purple nails etched trails of blood on Zhou Baiyu's skin.
Zhou Baiyu couldn't care less if there were viruses worse than rabies in the monster's body.
After all, he would be able to return in three hours, as long as he got past the current threat.
At the same time, he had assimilated the second message.
There existed in Linxiang City a powerful treasure, said to be associated with the divine.
Yet this treasure, despite monsters searching for 150 years, had never been found.
Zhou Baiyu suddenly speculated, had that treasure already been taken by a forerunner?
He contemplated a strange paradoxical question—
If this treasure, in an instance like 1.2, was discovered by a forerunner and taken back to instance 1.0,
Then after 1.2, in later instances, he certainly wouldn't be able to find it, because it had already been taken.
"But what if I traveled to instance 1.19? Could I then take the treasure?"
"But if so, would the treasure disappear from the one who took it in instance 1.2 after he returned to instance 1.0?"
This might sound complicated, but the principle was actually quite simple: an item can't exist in the hands of two different people at the same time node.
Of course, the problem was a bit complex, and Zhou Baiyu didn't think about it too much.
Because although he knew the treasure was a Divine Relic, even though he knew it was in Linxiang City, and he even knew the general area it should be in...
But he thought about it and realized he didn't know how many years spanned between instances 1.01 and 1.0, nor did he know whether later instances were determined by significant events or by a strict chronological order.
So, this treasure that the monsters cared so much about, Zhou Baiyu could only put aside for the moment.
But he kept it in mind.
At the same time, Zhou Baiyu also found out that in the world of monsters, there seemed to be many "gods."
These creatures, powerful to the extreme, were called gods.
And it appeared that after a great war, they were no longer able to appear. Thus, the gods began to game with one another in a different form.
The battlefield was the Blue Star.
Although there was much information, Zhou Baiyu digested it quickly.
He didn't know how the "invaluable information" mentioned in the notes was supposed to be so valuable.
But these two pieces of information, indeed, seemed useless in the short term yet actually were very important intelligence.
Having come back to his senses, Zhou Baiyu made an even bolder move.
He embraced Midel in his arms.
Midel thought this was the precursors' last desperate struggle, her sharp nails already piercing into Zhou Baiyu's flesh…
But soon, Midel realized Zhou Baiyu was just holding her and doing nothing else.
This human… was he really not afraid that such an action would get him killed?
Midel was greatly surprised.
Gradually, she accepted the embrace.
"I won't kill you."
Zhou Baiyu feigned surprise as he looked at Midel.
Midel said:
"Precursor, tell me your name."
[Warning, your identity is your umbrella, do not use your real name. Your performance in version 2.21 may attract the attention of one of the nine major professions' Voyeurs.
If your real identity is exposed, you may encounter many unnecessary troubles.]
Just as Zhou Baiyu was about to make up a false name, a note suddenly appeared in his mind.
Good, he had come to the same conclusion.
Since this was a very real game, much of the information he could obtain was presented in gaming format…
He couldn't completely immerse himself, he always had to think with a "player" mentality.
Having a body to mold, naturally, he needed a fictitious ID.
"Jiang Xianwu."
The attendant had a name too, but Zhou Baiyu did not plan to use that name.
"What a strange name. Jiang Xianwu, from today on, you are no longer a precursor belonging only to humans, I won't kill you, and I won't hate you, but I want your loyalty to me."
"It is my honor."
Zhou Baiyu was thrilled.
Wasn't this equivalent to permanently conquering an instance?
If Midel remained alive, then in versions 2.22, 2.23, he could even use Midel to help himself.
However, Zhou Baiyu suddenly realized something—the Voyeur existed among the nine major professions…
It sounded like someone who could spy on his actions.
So if he was spied on by the Voyeur in version 2.21,
And the Voyeur returned to version 2.20 and just happened to be a man of great stature and beauty... wouldn't that mean he could replicate his operations?
Then change history, and thus what he did in 2.21 would no longer exist.
Hiss…
Time manipulation was indeed a complicated game; this complexity prevented Zhou Baiyu from immediately calculating a proper solution.
But Zhou Baiyu felt that there should be a way to avoid such bugs.
The answer would be revealed after meeting "us."
Only a little more than two hours were left.
Having resolved the survival crisis and further increased the trust and favor, Zhou Baiyu knew well that there would be no more disturbances in these two hours.
Midel also didn't seem to worry about not seeing Zhou Baiyu; she seemed to have a special anticipation for the Precursor.
As if she was certain Zhou Baiyu would return here.
In the final ten seconds, Zhou Baiyu and Midel said a heartfelt goodbye.
Then he held Midel's hand, waiting for the countdown to end little by little.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five—
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…
[Performance Evaluation for Clearing: SS grade.]
[Unlocked Achievement: Love Saint (attained by 0.04% of precursors), Wish Fulfilled (attained by 3% of Mutators)]
[Summary: Congratulations, welcome to "us." For other rewards, please contact your intermediary, hmm… Though she is as unreliable as you, you should get along well.]