Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

He walked to the observation window of the cabin.

Outside the window, there are layers upon layers of fungal carpet, turrets, floating fragments of the world, and further away, the void that is rapidly collapsing and merging.

The energy at the system's core is still decreasing, and at an increasingly rapid pace.

Seven percent.

There are less than five days left before the system completely shuts down.

The River of Souls surged toward the core, the City of Return to Ruins floated silently on the erased map, black-armored men and gray-uniformed men were produced in batches on the assembly line, Mr. Fang was waiting for a "reboot" in that tower, Old Chen was missing, Qingyuan was sleeping in the divine core, guarding a gate that Bai Xue could not speak of.

Now, half of the jade talisman has fallen into his hands.

Lin Yu never believed in any divinely ordained responsibility, nor was he interested in being anyone's savior.

He took on this task for one reason only: these things had already entangled him, and there was no way to escape them. So, before being swallowed up by them, he had to uncover the truth of the game and see it clearly.

He took one last look at the unconscious Bai Xue, then turned and walked out of the cabin.

The door closed behind them.

Lin Yu looked up at the area where the system core was located, a place that was so orderly and desolate, and his eyes gradually turned cold.

Mr. Fang, Guixu, and that "nothingness" above the ninth level.

You'd better pray that the restart comes slowly.

Because the next time I visit, it won't be as simple as just glancing at it from a distance.

……

With the order for Level 1 combat readiness issued, the entire divine body underwent a complete transformation within ten minutes.

On the surface, it was no different from usual; the fungal carpet was still breathing slowly, and the turret was still silently suspended inside the crystalline shell.

In Lin Yu's perception, all the Zerg combat units simultaneously entered a state of combat readiness. The eighteen legendary Zerg were in position, and all energy circuits were pressed to the critical point of "drawing but not releasing," like a bow stretched to its limit but making no sound.

This is a skill he honed through countless battles; a true killing formation becomes quieter the closer the battle approaches.

The enclosed cabin where Bai Xue was located was separated into its own.

The Queen Insect summoned three layers of silent flow fields, turning the chamber into a dead zone that could be seen from the inside but from the outside, where not a single wisp of energy could leak out.

The lock on Bai Xue's soul, which was still pulsating and trying to send out coordinates, was firmly pressed down by Ji Liuchang. The signal was wiped out as soon as it appeared, and not even a complete character could be sent out.

"[Overlord, external signals have been suppressed to the limit.]" the Queen reported. "[But this lock is stubborn; it keeps trying new frequencies, as if trying to break through our shield. At the current rate, we can trap it for about six days.]"

Six days.

Lin Yu remembered this number. The system itself had less than five days left, but this lock could last for six days, which meant that its level was higher than the system's current dissipated energy—the one that locked Bai Xue was not the dying system, but Guixu.

"How's the analysis of the two pursuers' bodies going?"

[The results are in.] Aura's neutral voice came in. [Both of these bodies were legendary high-level powerhouses in life. Their skeletons and energy circuits show that they were once real, independent lives, not created out of thin air.]

However, at some point, their original consciousness was stripped away, and a "control core" was implanted between their brain and soul.

Aura projected a grayish-white rune, about the size of a fingernail.

The runes were intricately structured, layer upon layer, with a symbol engraved in the very center that Lin Yu didn't recognize but instinctively felt uncomfortable with.

This control core, along with the command loop on the gray-uniformed soul and the soul-encapsulating core of the black-armored man, belongs to the same system at three levels.

Aura said, "The gray uniform is the lowest level; it strips you of your individuality and makes you do manual labor."

The black-armored man is intermediate-level; he crushes souls to make weapons.

These two are advanced—they retain combat effectiveness and some judgment ability, only replacing "loyalty" to act as executors.

I will tentatively name these three levels, according to your language, "civilians, soldiers, and officials."

People, soldiers, and officials.

Lin Yu stared at the rune without saying a word.

Lin Yu now understood what Mr. Fang meant by "order".

"What about the other half of the jade talisman?"

Aura switched the projection. The half of the white jade talisman, with its broken and charred edge and half of the character "衡" (heng) engraved on it, was magnified in front of Lin Yu.

I cannot decipher this jade talisman.

For the first time, Aura's voice carried a hint of confusion.

There is no matching material in my database. It is not a creation of the system, does not contain the system's original energy, and does not belong to any energy system I know of.

When my probe beam hits it, it is gently deflected by a warm, white force; it doesn't attack me, but it refuses to be read by me.

It is not a creation of the system.

Lin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly.

This is more important than anything else.

The system connects to 1,276 worlds. Almost everything in this world, when traced back to its origin, is within the framework of the system. Power is generated by the system, rules are set by the system, and even the ancient gods are "the first creations of the system".

However, this half of the jade talisman of the balancing organization is outside the system.

Can you tell what it's used for?

"[You can only see the shape.]" Aura said, "[It is half of something, and the break was forced open with great force. There are burn marks on the broken surface, which means that the person who broke it suffered a great backlash at the time.]"

It has an empty slot inside; the other half needs to fit in to activate it.

[Furthermore, on its outermost layer, there remains a sealed message, enveloped by the same white power, which can only be opened by a specific person and with a specific power. I tried, but couldn't open it.]

Lin Yu extended his hand.

The half of the jade talisman floated into his palm.

He tried to channel a wisp of source energy into it, but there was no response.

He then infused in a wisp of Samadhi True Fire and a strand of Innate Purple Qi, but there was still no reaction.

Finally, he remembered something and summoned a tiny, extremely weak trace of the True Lord's willpower.

The jade talisman lit up.

A warm, white light seeped out from the broken edge, condensing in mid-air into a blurry, flickering figure of an old man.

The figure was extremely weak, as if it might dissipate at any moment, but Lin Yu still recognized it at a glance.

Old Chen.

His work clothes were worn out, his hair was messy, but only half of his thick glasses remained. On the other half of his face, Lin Yu had never seen such weariness on his face before.

"Lin Yu, I know it's you." Old Chen's shadow spoke, his voice broken and filled with strong static.

"Time is limited, I'll only say it once."

"The system is about to restart; this time, it doesn't intend to leave any embers."

"The system intends to wipe out the world. According to our investigation, it has actually done this more than once, but each time it always leaves something behind: the remnants of the previous cycle, the bodies of ancient gods, and some of the truths I learned from these clues."