Chapter 18: Keep Fooling

The conversation split into two parts.

When Zhou Baiyu opened his eyes again, he subconsciously touched the banana in his pocket, separated by a layer of pants from the carrot.

The moment he touched the banana, he finally felt at ease:

"I'm back. I'm finally back."

Lying on the bed, Zhou Baiyu realized his body... seemed to have no feeling of weakness at all.

He quickly began to delete his will and canceled the auto-send.

Meanwhile, his phone, having been without a signal for a continuous week, suddenly received a signal now that he was back among the living... Various messages began to flood in.

Time, seven days ago. Colleague Li Ping: Brother Zhou, a girl was looking for you today, the one who attempted suicide.

Time, five days ago. Colleague Zhang Qiang: Brother Baiyu, my god... You've missed two days in a row, and I can't reach you either, what's going on!

Time, three days ago. Dad: Son, your Aunt Liu has introduced a girl to you, a teacher. How about giving it a try? She has a nice personality, just a bit high standards, but I trust you, after all, you are my son.

Time, three days ago, Li Ping: Brother Zhou, did something happen to you! I sensed it, the words you said that day, seemed like a farewell! Don't scare me, Brother Zhou!

Time, three days ago, Li Ping: Brother Zhou, please please respond if you see this! Everyone is really worried about you.

Time, two days ago, Mom: Couldn't reach you on your phone. What's going on? Call your dad when you have a moment, and hurry up and reject that teacher. Let me tell you, you shouldn't marry public servants or teachers, they are very demanding, many don't have much merit, but because they've encountered many capable people, they think they are just as capable, acting all high and mighty with your old mother. If anyone dates my son, she needs to learn to be gentle and yielding. Mom knows you, I'll introduce someone else, not saying anything else, plays Hearthstone, enjoys Dark Duel, likes Blue-Eyes White Dragon, watches Kamen Rider, believes in the light, and most importantly, is lively.

Zhou Baiyu thought of his eccentric mom... and he truly feared that she would add "gender: male" next.

Thinking of this, he laughed out loud, and as he laughed, tears suddenly appeared in the corners of his eyes.

Looking at these messages, right up to the day before, a total of over one hundred sixty messages...

That was the breath of the human world. That was the fundamental reason why he loved life.

That was... the original world.

There were no dark, thick tentacles, no crimson eyes, humans remained the strongest masters of this world, deities lived only in human literature...

Indeed, this place lacked the tense excitement brought by a succubus, but here he had people who truly cared about him, people he cared about.

"It's really good to be alive, damn good!"

Feeling the air of the human world, Zhou Baiyu really wanted to scream at the top of his voice.

But in the end, he slowly quieted down, the joy in his eyes gradually disappearing.

"The things that have happened to me, current technology couldn't possibly do that... the attendant's memories also felt so real."

"I'm not some expert judge of customs in Otherworldly realms, I wouldn't have been set up with a succubus's dream."

Humanity is beautiful, but hell is real.

Thinking about how mankind might become incredibly tragic in the future, thinking about his parents, friends, perhaps one day they would endure pursuit by monsters, devastation by strange rules...

Zhou Baiyu's mood became very complicated.

Recalling his life, he had done bad things, but legally he was a good person.

He had done good deeds, but his heart always harbored some crazy desires for adventure.

After a long contemplation, Zhou Baiyu stood up, preparing to return to his computer desk to start searching for some things.

"From today on, my other identity is the Mutator Jiang Xianwu."

"Since from version 1.01 the world has been living through the apocalypse, then version 1.0... must have issues too, right?"

Zhou Baiyu pondered a question.

If we consider the apocalypse as a disease, the later it gets, the more incurable it becomes, but the treatment for a disease is always best applied as early as possible.

But why then, the later the version, the higher the benefits?

In many movies, to resolve crises from the apocalypse, people are often sent back to the past to solve problems using the grandfather paradox at their roots.

But this time seems different.

Zhou Baiyu speculated:

"Perhaps the source isn't in the past, but in the future?"

This was a question that couldn't be figured out in a moment, and Zhou Baiyu didn't linger, quickly moving on to the next issue.

"The Vanguard Forum is a way for pioneers to communicate at the transfer station. But most of the time, everyone is either in the Vanguard World or the Original World."

"So, how do people communicate when they are in the Original World?"

"Indeed, the rules state that one must not reveal anything about the version updates in the Original World, or they will be erased."

"But from what I've seen, pioneers already have a certain social system. There are already large guilds in existence."

"And it's clear that everyone has a strong notion of guilds. Humans are beings that continually overcome difficulties and break rules, and guild management is also extremely complex; it can't all rely on communication at the transfer station."

"The pioneers must have some way of communicating in the Original World as well."

Although Zhou Baiyu didn't consider himself particularly clever, he knew how to think.

If one person can't survive, then one must rely on the power of many people.

Though accessing guides requires paying a lot of vanguard points, there must still be a lot of free information that could be helpful.

So at this time, it was necessary to find an organization.

This matter... wasn't really difficult.

Because not long after Zhou Baiyu awoke, his phone rang.

Unknown number.

The caller ID showed that it was from Linxiang City.

Zhou Baiyu's memory was selective; sometimes he remembered things well, sometimes not so much.

This number, however, he recalled.

"The person who betrayed me is calling."

Before returning from the transfer station, Lin had explained about why he was transported to version 2.21 and about the rescue regulations.

He finally understood why that woman had suddenly awakened, and why that call was so strange.

Zhou Baiyu answered the phone:

"I'm Zhou Baiyu. Let's skip the small talk and get straight to the point. I saved you, but in doing so, I exposed my real identity. I hope you won't betray me by revealing my identity."

Zhou Baiyu got straight to the point, which left the woman on the other end somewhat baffled.

Ling Hansu felt that Zhou Baiyu, as a newcomer, seemed too adept.

"Ah... Oh, yes, Mr. Zhou Baiyu, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my name is Ling Hansu."

"Your real name?"

"Um..."

"You're a voyeur, right?"

"Eh? How did you know?"

Ling Hansu's impression of Zhou Baiyu had changed several times.

Initially, she was very impressed, then completely disillusioned.

Later, because the attendant was very attractive, it sparked some primitive desires. Finally, she was impressed again and even came to admire him.

In Ling Hansu's eyes, she had indeed made a mistake, but she wished wishfully that she would be forgiven by Mr. Zhou Baiyu.

After all, Mr. Zhou Baiyu was someone dedicated to saving others and preventing suicide crises.

Such a person... must be very gentle, right? She would definitely support him well in the future.

While Ling Hansu indeed wanted to atone, evidently, she still didn't fully understand the many facets of Zhou Baiyu.

Zhou Baiyu said:

"Okay, Ms. Ling, now let's talk about your attempted murder of me."