Free Web NovelChapter 344: Chapter 148: The Meeting between Zero and Jing Liu
Suddenly, a person unaffected by the laughter appeared, and Lin Rui felt there might be a breakthrough, but something seemed off.
Upon closer consideration, he realized that although this beautiful lady could resist the laughter, she was just an ordinary human being.
An ordinary human being could not possibly change the current situation.
"The dormitory area is too dangerous for you now, we need to move you somewhere else. The shelter is no longer safe, this laughter can devour the sanity of others," said Jiang Yimi.
Yan Jiu nodded her head, not wanting to cause any trouble for Bai Wu. Ever since Bai Wu saved her at the wedding, she had been waiting in the house like a little wife these past days.
She was still not accustomed to this place.
Jiang Yimi decided to move Yan Jiu to her own room first, while Lin Rui continued to head toward the heavily infected source of the laughter, searching for the true master of the laughter.
Just when the two girls were about to leave hand in hand, many students who had been knocked out by Lin Rui, now Evil Fallen, suddenly woke up.
They stepped back a few paces, eyes fixed on Yan Jiu, mouths still emitting incessant laughter.
Lin Rui reacted swiftly, ready to strike in an instant.
The student Evil Fallen brandished their claws, their faces still fervently smiling, but sensing the presence of two formidable opponents in Lin Rui and Jiang Yimi, they did not close in on Yan Jiu and instead kept laughing continuously.
To resist such laughter at such close quarters, Lin Rui also couldn’t hold out for long, but before he could make a move, he saw something strange.
Students in the dormitory area were continuously being infected by laughter, but it seemed they had also received some kind of instruction.
Under this directive, a large number of student Evil Fallen came out from the dorm area, surrounding Yan Jiu and the two others.
A dense crowd of people resembled a city full of zombies suddenly attracting the entire horde with a loud shout.
Breaking out was actually quite simple, Lin Rui was confident he could deal with these Evil Fallen quickly, but he noticed a problem—
"Strange, they’re all just staring at you!"
Lin Rui covered his ears with his hands; he was not afraid and even shouted loudly.
Jiang Yimi’s spiritual power was extremely strong, and she could withstand such laughter for a while.
She also noticed that these students had been bewitched by the laughter, seeming to want to do something, but even though she and Lin Rui were the most powerful beings here... the student Evil Fallen didn’t even glance at them.
"The girl that Uncle brought seems weak, but these students seem to have some kind of fixation on her, no... not the students, but the master of the laughter," Jiang Yimi thought, incredulous.
Yan Jiu’s face gradually lost its panic.
She could hear the laughter before but didn’t understand why everyone was laughing. Even up until a moment ago, she was quite puzzled why these people were laughing while frantically chasing her.
But now... listening to the successive waves of laughter, she seemed to slowly understand.
Lin Rui also remembered that he hadn’t encountered any animals chasing him at Baichuan Zoo, although when people spotted him, the laughter just became clearer.
The scene of a horde of Evil Fallen surrounding the three of them made him feel... like they were targeting Yan Jiu.
"It wants to make me laugh."
Yan Jiu suddenly spoke up, and as she did, the whole world seemed to go quiet for a second, even the sounds in Lin Rui and Jiang Yimi’s minds briefly disappearing at that moment.
But it was just for that moment. The laughter quickly resounded, and the clamor resumed inside Lin Rui and Jiang Yimi’s heads.
"They don’t mean to harm me... otherwise, I couldn’t possibly have escaped," she said.
Lin Rui also realized that this good-looking girl was clearly just an ordinary person, without any Innate Force.
The student Evil Fallen, even after transformation, couldn’t possibly be slower than her.
A large group of Evil Fallen were clawing behind her, and in that instant, both Lin Rui and the main person in question thought the Evil Fallen were going to attack... but now it seemed like they were doing something else.
Lin Rui didn’t consider himself an analyst; it was only because Bai Wu had once taught him to observe the situation carefully and lead everyone to make the correct judgment.
"I saw many marks on the animals at Baichuan Zoo that are only found in circuses... Although those three monsters... were bizarre, like they had been drinking nuclear waste water, they didn’t harm me, and when I approached, they just laughed louder."
"Their clothes also resembled those of people in a circus... Surrounded by mechanical animals, they seemed out of place, obviously because they had recently merged into this area."
"The essence of a circus is to bring laughter to people, but it’s very possible that this desire became twisted... and it turned into some kind of horrifying entry."
Jiang Yimi saw Lin Rui in deep thought and instinctively moved to protect Yan Jiu behind her. Yan Jiu slightly shook her head:
"They won’t hurt me."
"This laughter can make people violent. Without understanding the situation, I can’t let you get hurt. That’s the task the uncle left me with."
Jiang Yimi’s words seemed to remind Lin Rui:
"This ability seems to make people express their negative emotions through joy... But the girl brought by my senior is unable to feel joy..."
"The laughter is terrifying, especially since I can also feel the violence slowly being awakened... It adds an evil aura to everything."
"The spread of this laughter even gives me a sense of impending crisis that it could cause a vast area to fall."
"But perhaps the owner of the laughter... didn’t harbor evil desires, and it’s just that the principle of the entry caused some side effects in the emotional transformation?"
Lin Rui knew very well that this was just his subjective conjecture. Perhaps the reality was far from what he had imagined.
"But no matter what, this laughter has already devoured everyone’s thoughts. We must address the source of the laughter!"
Indeed, there were beings in this world that were not inherently evil, but because their abilities were too strong and uncontrollable, they ended up committing a series of evil deeds.
Seven hundred years ago, Jiang Yimi was half such an example. The fusion disease outbreak affected certain areas of Baichuan Campus, as well as the surrounding areas.
Laughter had no effect on Yan Jiu, but the gathering of numerous students undergoing Evil Fallen Transformation could influence the surrounding area.
If Baichuan Middle School were to completely fall, the so-called shelters would be nothing more than a joke.
"We must find the source of the laughter, but to locate it... we may need to rely on this girl. If my deduction is correct, perhaps all those from the circus will try to approach her..."
Finding the owner of the laughter within the vast zoo was not easy, but because Yan Jiu couldn’t sense joy, she would not be affected by the laughter, thus interrupting the effect of the entry.
The people from the circus might try every means to make Yan Jiu laugh... thereby actively seeking her out.
This was Lin Rui’s idea, but everything was just speculation, and Lin Rui had his reservations. He finally decided to share his thoughts:
"Listen, there’s a difficult matter at hand. My earlier investigation revealed that the laughter originated from a circus in the suburbs. To find the source of the laughter, we have to go to that uncleaned area, infested with many mechanical Evil Fallen... and those Evil Fallen from the circus. They are stronger than ordinary Evil Fallen and represent a relatively dangerous presence."
"If we let the laughter spread, the entire city will fall, but finding the source of the laughter is very difficult, even though I’ve narrowed down the area."
Lin Rui glanced at Yan Jiu:
"But you are different... As it stands now, since you can’t sense joy, you won’t be affected by the laughter, and this trait has attracted the attention of the owner of the laughter. Maybe if we bring you to that area, they will come to you."
Jiang Yimi said:
"No, the uncle instructed me to protect her well."
Lin Rui did not speak, as this was what he was worried about. Everything was just his own speculation, and facing this kind of laughter, even he occasionally lost focus.
In such a perilous place, he might inadvertently put the girl in danger.
If it wasn’t for the urgent situation, the enigmatic nature of the entry related to laughter, Lin Rui wouldn’t even bring up this idea.
More and more students undergoing Evil Fallen Transformation lost their will to the laughter, gathering in growing numbers.
The small black cat on Jiang Yimi’s shoulder hid its tail, fearfully looking around.
Yan Jiu looked at Lin Rui, feeling the laughter spreading through the heavens and earth, and said:
"It’s okay, please... please take me with you. I’m willing to go."
Jiang Yimi was stunned, and Lin Rui was also surprised because, in his view, the girl was not very courageous:
"But I hope you know that going to that area is very dangerous... And everything is just my speculation. There’s also the possibility that my judgment is wrong..."
Yan Jiu shook her head, expressing her determination before Lin Rui could finish:
"It’s okay, I want to blend in here, I also want to do something for this place. Everyone’s efforts shouldn’t be in vain... If there’s a need for me here, it would make me very happy."
A fragile person speaking words full of courage always moved Lin Rui, this spirited young man.
What a kind person, Lin Rui thought, even though the girl had no idea what happiness was.
He nodded, patting his chest:
"Alright, rest assured, even if it costs me my life, I will protect you thoroughly!"
A golden energy vortex gathered at the feet of Lin Rui and Yan Jiu. Most of the time, to conserve energy, Lin Rui would not use large-scale spatial transfers.
He more often changed the temporal dimension to make himself faster, but the current situation was too urgent. He had to race against time and couldn’t care about much else, so he brought out his trump card.
The huge golden energy vortex completely engulfed Lin Rui and Yan Jiu.
Jiang Yimi could tell that Yan Jiu was actually very nervous. The girl’s face was pale, but not entirely because of fear.
People always think that once you have courage, you’ll fearlessly face difficulties... but the truth is, many times people are afraid while fighting difficulties.
The latter is actually more moving than pure fearlessness.
Lin Rui and Yan Jiu disappeared, starting their adventure to save Baichuan City.
Jiang Yimi stood still, suddenly finding the laughter around her so annoying, and she herself had become a bystander...
Recalling her last experience in the Food Domain, she showed a frustrated expression amidst the laughter:
"Ah... the girls around Uncle are all so good, I’m so inadequate..."
...
...
To successfully establish that ethereal refuge, the heroes of Baichuan City, brought together by Bai Wu, were all trying hard.
But in fact, if one does not consider the living environment, there is indeed a region in the world that meets the basic needs of a refuge.
Mechanical City.
The huge Mechanical City had been damaged in a battle not long ago, affected by the fight between two top powerhouses, with numerous buildings collapsing.
But the efficiency of the Mechanical Race was extraordinarily high, especially the lord of Mechanical City, who seemed to have returned to his strongest moment in seven hundred years.
During the most critical time for Mechanical City, it welcomed Jing Wu.
As Mechanical City gradually prospered, it welcomed another guest with the character "Well" in their name.
Inside the Mechanical Temple, Zero looked at the woman in front of him wearing a cloak, a face he was not unfamiliar with.
Very long ago, he had already met her.
Jing Liu.
Outside the Mechanical Temple, Jing Liu’s servant, Shen Shuyue, was also present.
Since the secret about Hei Wu was discovered from the black box, Zero had always been trying to prevent himself from forgetting...
What humans could not do, he could actually accomplish because he could digitize memories.
He just didn’t know before that this memory would disappear... but now that he did, he naturally prepared for it.
Zero thought the other party had come for the contents of the black box.
"Are you here for the things in that box?"
"My powers are no longer sufficient to calculate things that are too vast. I’m here for something else," denied Jing Liu.
Zero furrowed his brow; the last time they met, he was quite weak, and this woman had not yet been deeply eroded by the Power of Causality.
This time, the situation of the two of them had reversed.
Zero had become stronger than ever before, while Jing Liu gave off a very weak impression.
"You defeated one of my brothers, which is a good thing but also a bad thing."
"What’s wrong? Have you come to give a warning this time?"
"You could say that. I can’t make many prophecies anymore. Various scenes of the world present themselves before my eyes without any chronological order. It’s like a wall of information made up of countless screens, but every time I try to receive these messages, a part of my body disappears."
Zero furrowed his brow. If Jing Liu told the truth, this woman... might be close to death.
At least compared to Jing Wu, she seemed quite fragile.
"A new city will emerge, a city just like your kingdom. The world from seven hundred years ago will reappear, but with the arrival of things that never existed before, like you, like Bai Wu, like the refuge. The sleeping leviathans will also gradually awaken."
Zero furrowed his brow:
"Leviathans?"
Jing Liu spoke with a heavy tone:
"My older brother will not rest until he has done what he wills, and he will unite the forces of other brothers to launch an attack on Baichuan City. You’ll be swept up in it too."
"A new order and power are destined to be born from extinction. It’s just a pity that I can no longer know if they will last as long as your Mechanical City, as Black Gold Island, as the farm, becoming another leviathan."
"All I can do is to let you prepare in advance."
Jing Liu could give that black box, a secret unknown to all; Zero was certain that Jing Liu was truly an existence that transcended other lives.
Now that she appeared here with crisis from the refuge, from Bai Wu, it could not be a common crisis.
But regarding the refuge, regarding Bai Wu, Zero quickly saw the logic in it. He even showed a smile:
"The refuge, huh? He really came up with an incredible thing. No wonder he turned down my invitation."
How could those forces, silent outside the tower for centuries, tolerate humans taking root?
One could imagine that if the refuge truly appeared, as it expanded, it would inevitably go through a grueling battle for survival.
"But why should I help him? I hate humans, you know that."
Jing Liu smiled, said nothing, and just quietly looked at Zero. After a while, Zero shook his head:
"Don’t you think a life like this is meaningless? You can see all my reactions. You also know that I won’t refuse to help Bai Wu."
Despite hating humans, he didn’t hate Bai Wu.
That was Zero’s true answer. Therefore, when the refuge encountered a major crisis, he would step in to help, as only he could handle beings of the Well Level.
All this Zero didn’t articulate, but Jing Liu knew all the same. She shook her head and said:
"Such a life, for me, is full of joy. You owe me a favor."
"You have always helped Bai Wu because you saw some kind of potential in him?" Zero asked. freёwebnovel.com
"Yes. One day in the future, I will die from peeking into causality. When that day comes, you’ll need to repay my favor and complete the task I left unfinished."
Zero knew that this woman liked to speak in ways others couldn’t understand, but perhaps it wasn’t deliberately cryptic; her thought process was just different from that of normal people.
He asked another question:
"The crisis you mentioned, coming from the refuge, how soon will it arrive?"
"Very soon."
"How soon is very soon?"
"They have already begun to gather."
"It seems that this force will be even stronger than the one that invaded Mechanical City."
"Yes, Bai Wu and his friends will each have their own opportunities, and his growth will be faster than you think."
"So if this battle is coming soon, why can’t you see the outcome?" Zero asked.
"Because it involves a presence beyond my ability to see through causality."
