"This city has no major rivers or lakes passing through. If we take precautions, there won't be any aliens. It's the most suitable city around."
The person had nothing to say.
"The city's power system is having problems. We'll have to find generators ourselves, and maybe build a power station later. But these aren't the most important things. Right now, we need to gather the people in the city. Starting from this building, we'll establish a safe zone."
"But the aliens appear randomly. They're just more likely to appear in water. It's not absolutely safe. Those people might not be willing to abandon their originally safe homes to come here."
Shen Chongyan's words were somewhat a retort to Zhu Yin, though he himself didn't notice it.
Zhu Yin glanced at him. "I'll have 007 help remind them. Whoever wants to come, can. Whoever doesn't, can't."
Shen Chongyan and she locked eyes for a few seconds before he lowered his head.
"What is 007?"
"That system. Codename 007."
"You gave him that codename?"
"I don't have that much free time."
"Then you..." Shen Chongyan wanted to say more, but Shen Qian grabbed his hand. "Xiao Yan, what are you doing?"
He had never seen these two confront each other like this since he'd known them.
Shen Chongyan quieted down on his own. Zhu Yin ignored him and turned to Jin Wen Ye. "You used to manage the company. Managing a few people shouldn't be a problem. From now on, when people arrive, you'll be responsible for recording them, including their special abilities. The power and communication systems are collapsing. 007 will soon be unable to interfere with those people, so we need to establish an independent communication system as soon as possible. You can ask 007 any questions. He's an artificial intelligence system from the future with relatively independent self-awareness, and he can be very helpful."
She didn't care if these people could accept it or not, spewing out everything she could and couldn't say. If the three thousand worlds weren't in such chaos right now, and the Heavenly Dao and world consciousness weren't missing, the system would have gone berserk first.
After giving them a few seconds to process, she continued, "You said just now that you can't guarantee that aliens won't appear. You're right. And even if we could guarantee it, people under prolonged negative emotional influence might turn into aliens. This possibility increases as the number of aliens grows. Therefore, there is no absolute utopia in this world anymore. Everyone, take care of yourselves."
She stood up. "I have something to do and will be away for a while. During this time, you must protect yourselves. Oh, and due to the R virus, a type of plant cell is rapidly dying. There are no healthy green plants anymore. If you encounter any, they are symbionts that feed on animal body fluids, like that vine. They eat people."
After she finished, she walked straight out.
Shen Chongyan belatedly chased after her, only catching up after she had left the house.
"Where are you going?"
Zhu Yin turned her head and waved him over.
Shen Chongyan quickly ran over and held her hand as they walked along the small path in the neighborhood.
"I'm going to find the reason why the world has become like this, and try to solve it if possible."
"...You're not taking me with you?"
Zhu Yin chuckled. "I wish I could, but Ah Yan, you owe a lot. You need to repay it. You have to stay here and be a savior, understand?"
"Why?" he asked. "Did I... kill many people before?"
"Yes," Zhu Yin didn't deny it. "So this is your destiny. You have to take responsibility for it yourself."
Shen Chongyan fell silent.
"It wasn't your fault. You were just seeking justice for yourself. But those innocent people who died were also not at fault. Everyone has to pay the price for their choices. What humanity is experiencing now is the result of their past choices. That's why I said no one can help them. Similarly, I can't help you. You have to do it yourself, understand?"
Shen Chongyan nodded sullenly. Sudan Novel Network
"I'll leave Jian with you. He will protect you for me. I'll be back as soon as possible. You wait for me here obediently."
"...Mm."
Zhu Yin pulled him in for a long, lingering kiss. Shen Chongyan slowly closed his eyes. When he felt the warmth on his lips disappear and opened his eyes, the person in front of him was gone.
"Hey," he called out, "Jin Yin, Ah Yin! Ah Yin..."
—
The void of the void was enough to devour anything that entered it. Just looking at it instilled extreme fear and emptiness.
The house she had seen a few times was now like an infinitely extending tree diagram, with protruding parts in every direction. The color and size of each protruding part were different, making it look like a computer-generated N-dimensional artwork, giving a sense of extreme unreality.
This was the result of space being constantly folded and replicated.
"Luan Yu."
The entire structure trembled. The protruding parts on its body quickly scattered, falling into the void and disappearing. Soon, it transformed back into the beautiful small Western-style house.
Luan Yu pushed open the door. As she walked out, the surrounding environment rapidly changed. The void outside turned into a wide road. Outside the door, a row of willow trees swayed in the wind, catkins dancing, and the scent of spring filled the air.
"You've finally arrived."
Zhu Yin looked at the out-of-place surroundings, a little confused.
Luan Yu smiled. "After all, I have a family now. I need to create some lifestyle aesthetics."
"It seems you're not in such a hurry either."
Luan Yu led her inside, saying, "What's the use of being in a hurry? It's just anxious rushing. As for you, you're much later than I expected."
The house was also a picture of warmth and beauty, as if stepping inside meant forgetting everything outside.
Dong Ling Sui greeted her and sat down to drink tea.
"Something delayed me."
Luan Yu led her into a room resembling a study. "Let's skip the pleasantries for now. I'll ask you about the human karma later. First, I'll tell you what I've found so far about the three thousand worlds."
"Okay."
Luan Yu drew a line in the air with her hand and said, "Let's assume this is the progression of time, a straight line. On this straight line, there are countless circles, representing different time periods of the worlds. This line has no beginning or end; it comes from the unknown and perishes into the unknown."
Dong Ling Sui also followed them in, watching quietly from the side.
She drew a few circles at both ends and in the middle of the line. Then, she drew a small circle on one of the circles. "This is a parallel world. These are just some of them. Any factor that can change a world will constitute a new world. Have you heard of Schrödinger's cat? This world is the white cat, this is the black cat, the living cat, the dead cat."
These were, of course, metaphors. The "cat" referred to factors that could make significant changes to the world. The existence of these factors meant that every world contained countless parallel timelines.