My girlfriend died in the past

Chapter 341 The answer lies in the beginning.

Zero's gaze flickered slightly, then she straightened up, crossing her hands over her lower abdomen. "So, what is your choice?"

Zhuang Xiao didn't answer directly, but instead looked at the breathtaking sunset in the distance.

The setting sun seemed to have draped the horizon in an orange veil.

"It's so beautiful. To be honest, making a decision is really difficult."

Zhuang Xiao's eyes were unfocused. "I'm just an ordinary person in this life, and I'm also quite selfish. I've always felt that as long as I'm comfortable, that's enough. Don't have so much sympathy for others. Everyone has their own destiny."

The same applies to constantly rescuing Shu Die and the others.

Zhuang Xiao doesn't think he's constantly making sacrifices; others are making far more and greater sacrifices for him.

Moreover, he always believed that he did this so that he could live a more comfortable life.

"Actually, it's quite nice to stay here and live here. You take care of me no matter what I do, and I don't have to deal with annoying interpersonal relationships or worry about making money. I can just enjoy life."

"Or you could choose to escape back to 'Zhuang Xiao's World,' then pretend nothing happened, continue living the life of a rich person, with your parents still alive, your friends by your side, and you still not lacking money. Then you could leave yourself here to continue guarding the company and the servers, which doesn't seem bad either."

Zero didn't speak, but just looked at him quietly, as if she knew he still had a lot to say.

And Zhuang Xiao did indeed smile.

"But I always feel uneasy, as if I could have done something but didn't. That sense of guilt keeps weighing on my heart, making my life unhappy."

"Whether it's escaping or not wanting to face it, I'm already exhausted. I'll leave the rest to them after they wake up."

Zhuang Xiao stretched and took one last look at the orange-red sunset that was about to disappear into the sky.

At this moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

"So I think I want to be the savior who saves the world. In the past, I always thought that if the sky fell, there would be tall people to hold it up, so I just took it easy and lived each day as it came."

"But now I seem to have become the tallest person."

Zhuang Xiao no longer lingered on the beautiful sunset. He turned his gaze back and looked directly at Zero, who was silently watching him, with a calm and relaxed expression. "I only have one request: that they erect a statue for me in the future, so that everyone will know that I saved the world. That's enough."

Ling stared at him blankly for a long time before slowly speaking, "Are you really sure about this?"

“Of course I’ve decided.” Zhuang Xiao walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder. “Alright, just tell me what to do. It took me a long time to make up my mind. If I keep dragging this out, I’ll back down.”

Zero lowered her eyes, silently turned around and walked outside. "Please come with me, let's go back to the company."

"it is good."

Zhuang Xiao turned back for one last look at the smiling photo of her parents on the tombstone, and bowed to them.

"Dad, Mom, your son is going to start reading history books!"

The final farewell was uneventful; Zhuang Xiao cheerfully said goodbye to her parents and followed Ling's footsteps into the distance.

Behind them, the parents in the photo are still smiling brightly as they watch their son's retreating figure.

A gentle breeze swept by, seemingly the parents' final farewell to their son.

They traveled in silence, and after dark, the hovercar returned to "Dream Butterfly Company".

Looking up at the enormous building that stretched as far as the eye could see and pierced the clouds, Zhuang Xiao couldn't help but gasp. "Even if I looked at it again, this thing is still breathtaking. Could you take a picture of the company headquarters from space?"

Zero didn't turn around, but simply replied, "Yes, the satellite photos clearly show the company headquarters."

"zero."

"What can I do for you?"

"I've noticed you're becoming more and more human-like," Zhuang Xiao teased with a grin. "What, are you too lonely to leave me?"

Zero remained expressionless. "You seem to have an excessive sense of self-importance."

They remained silent the rest of the way. After returning to the company, Ling led Zhuang Xiao back to the hibernation pod with its own temperature and humidity controlled room where he had just come out.

Zhuang Xiao found it strange, "Why did you bring me here? Wasn't it supposed to be for an autopsy or something?"

Zero calmly replied, "Are you afraid of pain?"

Zhuang Xiaofei nodded quickly, "I'm terrified."

Zero then pointed to the hibernation pod, "So you need to go in and enter hibernation mode, so you won't experience any pain."

Then Zhuang Xiao understood.

But before he went in, there was one last thing he had to do: "Zero."

"Please give your orders."

Do you have any coins? Give me one.

Ling didn't ask why, but silently took out a coin and handed it to Zhuang Xiao.

Zhuang Xiao took it and looked at it. The coin looked similar to the one-yuan coin he used to have, but there were many differences in the details. However, he could still tell that it was a one-yuan coin.

The only difference is that the year engraved on the coin has changed to 2030.

"This is the last new coin issued by the country; there will never be another one after this."

After hearing Ling's words, Zhuang Xiao nodded slightly, then tossed a coin into the air and caught it in her palm.

After a few seconds, he released his fist, and there lay the coin face up in his palm.

Zhuang Xiao then tossed the coin nine more times.

Six times front view, three times back view.

It seems this is a normal world, so Zhuang Xiao can rest assured.

He intended to return the coin to Zero, but Zero refused, saying, "You can keep it as a souvenir."

"What's the point of leaving a memento when someone's about to die? Fine then." He was about to say something sarcastic, but Zero glared at him and stopped him.

After lying back in the hibernation pod, before the pod door closed, Zhuang Xiao showed a slight apology on her face, "Zero, I'm sorry, I made you have too much humanity."

Because there is so much humanity, there are so many superfluous emotions.

For example, loneliness.

It had stayed here alone for over a hundred years, but after developing feelings, it would be the only one left in the world until Shu Die and the others woke up.

With more humanity, it will begin to breed loneliness.

This is why Zhuang Xiao apologized to it.

Zero simply stood there and began operating the hibernation pod.

As the hibernation chamber closed and the nutrient solution began to be injected, Zhuang Xiao suddenly saw Ling smile through the glass.

That was definitely a human smile!
It's a smile that neither androids nor robots can learn!
It's the kind of smile that you can tell is genuine at a glance, definitely not an imitation!

Moreover, Zhuang Xiao was extremely familiar with that slightly sly smile!
Shu Die!

It's definitely her!

Zhuang Xiao's eyes suddenly widened!

Then, Zero's voice rang out in the hibernation pod, and the tone of his voice was very familiar to Zhuang Xiao.

"Brother Xiao, this was your own choice~"
"But don't worry, you won't die. In fact, we've been researching targeted drugs that can make the body produce antibodies ever since you entered the hibernation pod."

"But time became tight, so we shifted our research to 'Zhuang Xiao's World'."

"And not long ago, the drug was successfully developed."

"Originally, if you had chosen to continue living, I would have given up on extracting the drug and starting to manufacture it, sealed your memories of the outside world, and sent you back to 'Zhuang Xiao World' to live a normal life."

"But as expected, you still chose to sacrifice yourself to save the world."

"Then please return to 'Zhuang Xiao World' and find the location of the medicine. I will wait for you here forever."

Zhuang Xiao wanted to say something, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.

Soon the hibernation chamber was filled with nutrient cryogenic fluid until there were no gaps left, and Zhuang Xiao gradually lost consciousness.

Before falling into a deep sleep, all that came into view was Ling's lonely yet forcedly playful smile.
-
"Little Butterfly!"

Zhuang Xiao suddenly sat up in bed.

The sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows is just right.

He was still lying in that super king-size bed.

"What's going on?" Zero's image quickly flashed into Zhuang Xiao's mind.

That must be Shu Die!

Could it be that Shu Die uploaded her consciousness into Zero's body?

It's also possible that she broke through the underlying code and temporarily uploaded herself into Zero's body.

This point in time might be when Zhuang Xiao takes Ling to the main server to download data.

It was from that time on that Zero's more human-like tone and actions began to appear!

So this was all planned by Xiaodie long ago?
If I actually wake up, Zero will guide me to download data.

At this point, will Xiaodie also download her consciousness into Zero's body?

It's all possible.

But in any case, it is definitely not a zero imitation of Shu Die, but 100% Shu Die!

Then what she called "choice" must be true.

So what Zhuang Xiao needs to do now is to find where the drug is stored and then get it!

As for the other option, Zhuang Xiao didn't even consider it!

Living in a false world?

Are you just going to live your whole life deceiving yourself?

Although Zhuang Xiao often jokes that "it's dark when I close my eyes," closing her eyes doesn't mean it's actually dark.

"So there's only one answer left, isn't there?"

Zhuang Xiao smiled.

His biggest fear is having no goals.

Now, he has one last goal, a goal that can solve everything once and for all.

If he can find the location of that drug, he can save the world!

Although there won't be many people still alive in the world by then, and although the reconstruction work after people wake up will certainly be busy and arduous.

But at least, people still have hope.

And this is the test that Xiaodie has set for herself.

The final test.

She probably still hopes to give up and then live with her for the rest of her life.

But she also knew what Zhuang Xiao truly wanted to do, so she gave him this test after making her own choice.

"I'm sorry, Xiaodie, but I will definitely find it."

Zhuang Xiao smiled.

But he quickly calmed down.

If Xiaodie doesn't want to find the location where the medicine is stored, then that place will definitely be very difficult to find.

But given her personality, it's impossible for her to put it somewhere she really can't find it.

So, the first step...
"First, we need to confirm the current time and contact other people."

Zhuang Xiao glanced at the three-fold cigarette paper on the pillow, then picked it up and quickly unfolded it.

上面显示的时间日期是【2024年9月5日，早上7点32分】！
Is it this day again?

However, judging from the large flat I'm in right now and this three-fold detached house, this shouldn't be the timeline of a working-class person.

It should be a timeline that starts with "1" or "2".

Zhuang Xiao first looked through the phone book, and only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Shu Die's and the others' phone numbers.

Then he immediately called Shu Die.

The call went through!

But no one answered the phone!

"Is he still asleep?"

Shouldn't.

Shu Die wasn't the type of person who could be easily woken up once she fell asleep; her sleep was always very light, unless someone was right next to her.

Something is wrong!
Nine out of ten something is wrong!
After the call automatically ended, he immediately called Dong Zeyu again.

The call connected, but no one answered!
Zhuang Xiao's expression turned serious; he realized that something was really wrong.

Although Dong Zeyu looks fat and is lazy and prone to lying down, he is always serious about his work.

As for the police, unless there is a real emergency, they will get up to answer the phone even if they are sound asleep in the middle of the night!

Not to mention it's morning now.

He always answered when I called him at this time before!

Zhuang Xiao then immediately called Dong Weirui, Gu Shiyue, and An Lan respectively.

The result was the same; the calls all went through but no one answered.

After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Xiao did not panic.

No matter what happens, stay calm first, and then think things through.

The problem now is that they can all get through on the phone.

This means that they still exist at this point in time.

In other words, none of them died in the past.

But none of them answered the phone.

That means something must have happened, and something really happened to them all. They might even have encountered the same thing that prevented them from answering the phone.

What's the matter?

Because at this moment they are not in the core "Zhuang Xiao World", but in the outer world?
Zero. Or rather, Zero, who possesses the consciousness of Little Butterfly, doesn't want anyone to help her?
Is this a test that only you can complete on your own?
Zhuang Xiao thought for a moment, then got up, found a one-yuan coin, and tossed it ten times.

All of them are facing up!

So he had indeed returned to "Zhuang Xiao's World".

So, is this the outer world?
No, it won't.

The timeline in the outer world is several decades in the future, so it cannot be September 5, 2024.

Since thinking doesn't provide a clear direction, let's take action!
Zhuang Xiao quickly washed up, got dressed, grabbed her phone, and went out.

The first thing he did was drive to a chicken farm in the suburbs.

But after he arrived, he looked around but found no clues in the warehouse or basement.

There is absolutely no trace of anyone having been here.

Furthermore, there is no mechanism in the basement leading to the secret chamber hundreds of meters underground.

Therefore, this place is different from Zhuang Xiao's original "Zhuang Xiao World"!
Zhuang Xiao seemed to have thought of something. He hadn't seen a single car or pedestrian along the way!
He hadn't paid much attention before because he was in a hurry to get somewhere, and it was still early, plus the area was in the suburbs.

But now that I think about it, from the moment I left the large apartment until I got here, I don’t think I’ve encountered a single person or car on the road.

So this world is a world specifically used to store that medicine?

Zhuang Xiao closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Then he opened his eyes, his gaze filled with unwavering determination.

Then let me find it and save the world.

This time, he will have no teammates and no help.

Everything depended on him alone.

(End of this chapter)