But now, he had to take responsibility for raising this newborn.

Roland, yawning, climbed out of bed. The ladder used for the descent was still leaning against the wall, and the blinds let in a bright light.

He was wearing clothes when he fell, but now he was only in boxer shorts. Was this due to subconscious inertia? It seemed his detachment would continue to linger for a while, until he fell asleep normally, ensuring each entry into the dream was precisely when he woke up... This was too formalistic!

He decided to try detaching at midnight this time, to see if he could eliminate this sleepwalking-like unconscious action.

In addition, the aftereffects of not getting enough sleep had arrived. Roland felt nothing like someone who had just woken up from a dream. His eyes were dry, his forehead felt swollen, and he couldn't stop yawning – counting the time over there, he hadn't closed his eyes for over twenty hours.

Perhaps he needed to take a nap later.

Putting on a short-sleeved shirt, he walked into the living room and saw that small figure again.

"Why are you up so early today?" Jie Luo seemed surprised. "I haven't started making breakfast yet... Wait for me in the living room for a bit, I'll go make it now."

It was clear she had also just gotten up, her long, white hair, not yet styled, scattered messily over her shoulders, with a few strands sticking up, a stark contrast to her usual neat appearance. She was still wearing that light cyan dress and white stockings. If he remembered correctly, the little girl hadn't changed her clothes for three days – judging from her clean and tidy bedroom, it definitely wasn't because she was lazy or didn't mind being dirty, but simply because she didn't have many clothes to change.

For some reason, Roland suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

Not just for her, but for himself as well.

Thinking about the three hundred... no, two hundred and fifty or so yuan in his wallet, he found it unbelievable. One was the main trigger for the dream, the other the creator of the dream world, both of them, practically creators of the universe, had been reduced to this state. The word "miserable" didn't even begin to describe it.

Things couldn't continue like this. Whether it was buying books or exploring this world, money was essential. He had to find a way to obtain a stable income, otherwise, two hundred yuan, after deducting food and utility costs, wouldn't even be enough to take a taxi.

Just as Roland was thinking about how to make money, Jie Luo was already busy.

She deftly lit the stove, heated the pan, added oil, and cracked an egg with one hand, pouring the flowing egg mixture into the pan. Although she wasn't strong enough to toss the pan, she used a small spatula to stir it up and down, achieving the same effect as shaking an iron pot.

With the sizzling sound of the hot oil, the tempting aroma of fried eggs quickly filled the living room.

Due to the limited living expenses, the breakfast hadn't changed much. This time, he was served two fried dough sticks and a fried egg, while Jie Luo's portion was one fried dough stick less.

"Were the fried dough sticks bought yesterday?" Roland took a bite and noticed they weren't as crispy as they used to be.

"Of course," Jie Luo muttered, "Buying the last batch when the stalls close at night is especially cheap. Sometimes the老板 even gives me the leftover dough, and I can make several fried dough sticks out of it."

He asked in surprise, "Was it like this when you were at home?"

"Sort of," the little girl shook her head, not saying much, seeming unwilling to mention her family. After finishing breakfast, she tidied herself up a bit, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked to the door. "Same as usual, Uncle, I won't be back for lunch. It's your turn to wash the dishes."

"Ah, go ahead, be careful on the road," Roland nodded.

Jie Luo couldn't help but pause, and after a moment, she responded with an "mm" and closed the door behind her.

Alright, now it was time to properly take stock of his assets.

Roland returned to the bedroom and turned the bedside table and wardrobe upside down, sorting out all his belongings.

First was his wallet. Apart from two hundred yuan or so, there was an ID card and a bank card, as pathetic as could be. Of course, he threw the expired lottery tickets directly into the trash – even if they could win, they had already exceeded the redemption time, and besides, he didn't believe such a low-probability event would fall on him.

Next was a cell phone. The contact list was empty, and the only valuable information was the bank card's income and expenditure alerts. It could be seen that at the end of each month, Jie Luo's family would transfer a living allowance of fifteen hundred yuan. Now there were only twelve yuan left in the card, and there were still four days until the next remittance date. He wouldn't starve to death, but there was no surplus to do anything else.

Finally, there were a few pieces of jewelry. The material looked like gold, but he didn't know if it was real or fake. Maybe they were prepared for a wedding? Selling these to a jewelry store would probably fetch around a thousand yuan, which would be a bit of emergency funds.

These were all the assets he could freely dispose of.

It was completely useless in his current situation. Roland sighed and turned his attention to the furnishings in the storage room.

He opened the door at the far end of the apartment and surveyed the old items placed inside.

The dust-covered and spiderweb-laden bicycle and sewing machine could probably be sold for thirty or forty yuan combined, since they were made of iron, especially the latter, which was difficult for even one person to lift. As for that large iron door, if sold as scrap iron, it could probably fetch over a hundred yuan. He normally wouldn't have cared about this amount of money, but now it was precious.

If he bought outdated textbooks at a used bookstore, a hundred yuan would be enough to buy a complete set of textbooks for all subjects.

Thinking of this, he decided to do just that.

Roland remembered seeing a small advertisement for waste recycling posted in the stairwell, but before that, he had to wipe these items clean.

If they looked a little cleaner, maybe he could sell them for a little more money.

After panting and wheezing as he dragged the bicycle and sewing machine into the living room, he noticed something was wrong.

That thick iron door didn't seem to be leaning against the wall of the storage room, but was actually built into the wall!

What the hell? Which bastard did this? This wall was the outer wall of the residential building. Was the door installed here to make it easier to commit suicide?

And there was even a lock hanging on the door as if it were a real door!

Wait... he remembered that there were indeed two keys on the keychain?

Roland immediately retrieved the keys and inserted the other one into the lock, and it fit perfectly.

With a click, the rusty lock popped open and fell off the bolt.

He didn't bother to pick up the broken lock, pulled out the bolt, and forcefully pried open the iron door.

A gust of cold wind mixed with snowflakes rushed into the room, causing him to shiver in his short-sleeved shirt and boxer shorts.

Behind the iron door was actually a snowy landscape!

Against the backdrop of distant, rolling snow-capped mountains, a gray-brown city was faintly visible. It was built along the mountain walls on both sides, enclosing itself in a large gap. A majestic building stood in the center of the city, towering like a pillar reaching the sky in the howling cold wind.

Even though it was the first time Roland had seen it, he immediately realized where this was.

Hermes New Holy City.

A fortress city built with the help of a fracture in the Impassable Mountain Range.

It was also a symbol of the Church's strength and unyielding spirit.