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Chapter 183 Abandoned Old City
Chen Xuan's understanding of this term was limited to the replica pedestrian street in Jiangcheng Window of the World.

At the entrance to the long street stands an ornately decorated concrete gate, which, according to the promotional sign, is a one-to-one replica. However, for Window of the World itself, its main function is to collect admission fees.

Chen Xuan had thought he would only ever see replicas in his life, but five minutes later, they found themselves standing before a massive stone ruin. The door frame above had collapsed, but the two square pillars on either side, along with the magnificent reliefs on them, spoke of its former identity.

Arc de Triomphe.

This is sufficient proof that the street it connects to is the Champs-Élysées—one of Paris's most famous landmarks.

Not only Elori, but Chen Xuan was also somewhat stunned as he stood in front of the stone gate.

The French capital...has become an abandoned place?

This should happen in the future.

But Lin Qing never mentioned such a future.

Even if a capable entity attacked a nuclear submarine, it would be targeting Britain, and a single nuclear strike wouldn't be enough to completely cripple a city with a population of over ten million.

"This is...my world."

Elori suddenly whispered, "There's a candy store at the south end of the street in the main square. It's decorated in all sorts of colors, making you want to go in and browse."

She pointed to a two-story house on the side of the street, surrounded by weeds and plants. Although its walls were severely faded, the red and orange colors could still be faintly seen.

Then she turned to the other side of the street, "There is a flower shop opposite it. I don't go there often, but the owner is a very enthusiastic person. Whether you buy flowers or not, she will carefully introduce the types of flowers. Once she starts talking, she can't stop."

Chen Xuan looked over and found that there was indeed an old house there, the roof of which had collapsed. It was impossible to tell whether it was a flower shop or not.

“I should have realized it sooner.” Elori’s voice choked with emotion. “The place we fell into was Concorde Park. I walk this road often… I know what kind of shops are in every building…”

"Was her home destroyed in this world?" Liu Shuyue asked Chen Xuan in a low voice.

“It seems so. But it’s unclear exactly how much time has passed; it could be decades, or it could be centuries…” Chen Xuan replied in a low voice.

He roughly understood what was going on.

Elori's world is highly similar to his own, with similar distribution of countries and cities. The only differences are in some details. This is why she was able to quickly familiarize herself with the situation, integrate into society, and even pass the recruitment process of the dimensional agency after she traveled here.

The same applies to demons.

The problem lies in that crack.

The out-of-control cracks not only transmitted the information to the wrong location, but also probably to the wrong time.

At this point in time, the world that Elori knew had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Chen Xuan coughed twice and explained his guess, "...I think the most important task right now is to find the way back. The changes that happened at this point in time don't mean they happened to your family and friends. As long as time goes on long enough, any world will eventually be destroyed."

After a moment of silence, Elori sniffed hard. "You're right... I panicked."

She rubbed her eyes, then rallied her spirits and said, "I shouldn't be sad. This is a new guidance from God—if we can find out the cause of the disaster, we might be able to stop it when we get back!"

After the girl composed herself, the three continued westward.

Elori instantly transformed into a guide.

"You want to find a big shopping mall? No problem, there are several shopping malls on the western section of the Champs-Élysées, people say it's a shopping paradise."

She also used honorifics when addressing Chen Xuan and Liu Shuyue.

Chen Xuan felt it wasn't necessary to do that, but she didn't change her mind.

"By the way, how did you realize that our world is different?"

“Actually, I didn’t recognize it at first.” Elori scratched her head sheepishly. “After locating the demon, my first thought was to call for backup. I was looking everywhere for a phone booth that could make international calls… but it seems like those things aren’t common where you are anymore.”

Phone booths... those were rare things that only appeared twenty years ago. "And then?" "Then I found a kind person to borrow my phone to make a call, but it was always a disconnected number. Later, I saw TV commercials for the government agencies, and since no one was wearing the Mind Ring, I realized something was wrong."

"What is the Ring of the Mind?" Chen Xuan asked curiously.

"It can prevent people from being tempted by demons. For example, if you wear the ring while sleeping, demons cannot invade your dreams."

Liu Shuyue couldn't help but ask, "So this demon... is he considered human?"

“Before becoming demons, they must have been human.” Elori nodded. “No one knows how they became demons, just as I don’t know why I became an angel…”

"Pfft." Chen Xuan couldn't help but chuckle.

Elori blushed. "I know it's weird to call myself an angel, but everyone calls me that, so I can't help it."

"So one day you suddenly realize you're a..." He paused involuntarily, "...an angel?"

“Yes, that’s how it is!” Elori muttered, looking down. “It’s like I heard a divine call, and then I gained the ability to hunt demons.”

Chen Xuan couldn't help but exchange a glance with Liu Shuyue.

"What did you think of?"

"It's a bit like the moment a cultivator awakens their Qi-sensing ability," Liu Shuyue whispered.

“Indeed.” Chen Xuan shared the same view. The moment a cultivator senses Qi, they know they have connected with the spirit of heaven and earth, and from then on will become extraordinary.

Those who possess abilities, as defined by the Limiting Organization, are usually unaware of their abilities and need a specific, opportune moment to use them.

Add to that the so-called demons and angels, and this proves that not only are the names of abilities different in different worlds, but even the forms in which they are realized are slightly different.

"Who created the Ring of the Mind?" Chen Xuan asked again.

“The ring is just an ordinary receiver; its power originates from a wondrous object we call the Flawless Crystal. A single Flawless Crystal can cover the entire continent of Europe, and other continents also have their own Flawless Crystals, all heavily guarded by their respective national powers. They are arguably more important than nuclear weapons,” Elori explained earnestly.

Wow... the angel world has quite a few secrets.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, it's a complete world, and its path is completely different from our own. There must be many new and interesting things there.

Wait a minute, an idea suddenly popped into Chen Xuan's mind.

Lin Qing once mentioned that the Vision Agency had gained control of a crucial intrusion point by the end of 2025. This control further enhanced the agency's already advanced technology, ultimately creating a situation where it could completely overwhelm existing technologies. Training Jiang Siqi to join the agency was precisely a preparation for investigating the secrets of this intrusion point.

Could it actually be this world?

He didn't think of it that way at first because the Dimensional Agency was initially targeting the Wanderers and hadn't mentioned the Corruption at all.

If he's right, this is undoubtedly good news!

Since the people from the organization can get in, then the people inside can definitely get out. Even if the barcode scanner can't be repaired, as long as they find the eroded area, they can return to Jiangcheng.

Moreover, Chen Xuan and Lin Qing had originally planned to enter this world. Their original plan was to wait until the mechanisms discovered the intrusion point and hadn't yet attracted attention, then use Jiang Siqi, acting as an "insider," to pinpoint the location and sneak in unnoticed. Who could have imagined that, by a twist of fate, he and Liu Shuyue would arrive here even faster than the mechanisms themselves?

“The commercial area is those buildings in front,” Elori said.

Chen Xuan also saw them. They were among the few tall buildings on Champs-Élysées, each about a hundred meters high, and should have been considered landmarks before they were abandoned. But now, these buildings looked like lifeless steel frames, with their glass curtain walls almost completely shattered, and thick vines growing between the floors.

"If Building 99 hadn't been surrounded by rocks, it would probably be just as magnificent," Liu Shuyue remarked. "It's such a pity that they built such a tall building only to have to abandon it in the end."

"Stop for a moment." Chen Xuan suddenly frowned. When he used his divine eye technique to look into the distance, he saw some movement in the upper floors of the building. Moreover, the building closest to them was quite strange. Its upper part had many honeycomb-like hexagonal structures, which almost completely filled the space between the floors.

This is clearly not a structure that comes with the building itself.

(End of this chapter)