The little girl collapsed to the ground amidst countless trembling gazes, the dull thud striking everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
Xia Li's gradually dimming eyes were filled with disbelief, reflecting Xu Xiaoyou's almost inhuman golden pupils, unable to understand why the doctor, who had always been so gentle and kind, would suddenly attack her.
She had promised her they would go together to see the flowers blooming in the ruins.
Strange, her body couldn't move.
It was so warm, even though her own blood was flowing, why did she feel wrapped in warmth? Was it because she could finally be free from this world?
Did the doctor do this because she could help him?
It was truly wonderful to be able to help the doctor one last time....
The little girl's eyes, covered in tiny scars, slowly closed, revealing a happy, warm smile, her withered dark red hair covering her increasingly cold body.
"Dr. Xu, what are you doing? This isn't what we agreed upon!" A law enforcement officer reacted, shouting as he raised his gun.
Xu Xiaoyou wiped the blood from her face with her thumb. "As you can see, I am the only one who possesses the antibodies now."
"Likewise, only I can develop the antidote and control the plague."
"What is this crazy woman trying to do?" another law enforcement officer gritted his teeth.
"Purifier." Xu Xiaoyou's lips parted slightly.
"Doctor, should they all be purged?" A red light flashed in the Purifier's eyes as it slowly lifted the heavy hammer from the ground.
"Data calculation complete. I have a 1.27% chance of getting you out of here."
At this, countless law enforcement officers quickly adopted defensive stances, a battle on the verge of erupting.
Unexpectedly, the blonde girl's next words once again caught everyone off guard.
"Commit suicide."
The Purifier's body visibly paused for a moment, then complied with the command, plunging its hand into its own chest the next instant, violently pulling its mechanical heart from its cavity, severing thick bundles of wires.
The Purifier, having lost its power source, knelt on the ground, shielding the blonde girl beneath it, resembling a broken statue from afar.
Xu Xiaoyou looked at the sunlight streaming in, her slanting figure appearing somewhat lonely, and sighed softly.
She began to disengage from the Oasis.
A bubble-like cocoon of light drifted past her vision, her consciousness continuously rising through the immersive ocean, surfacing from the sea.
Xu Xiaoyou removed the immersion device, a wave of dizziness washing over her. However, having experienced it twice before, she quickly adapted to the discomfort of her consciousness sea shifting.
Playtime was over; she had been forcibly logged out of the Oasis and likely wouldn't be able to return to the instance until evening.
She glanced at the itinerary; she had been immersed in the Oasis for nearly two days without realizing it, and the Kui-niu was almost at its destination. There was no use rushing now, and she planned to use this time to collect Sebas's remuneration left for her at the Northern Bank.
Xu Xiaoyou ran her hands through her messy hair. The scenery outside the window blurred as it sped past, golden light and shadow gradually outlining her form. Seeing her tired eyes, a faint, almost imperceptible curve touched her lips,
She let out a soft sigh of resignation.
Events always unfolded beyond her expectations.
She possessed no divinity, nor was she a precise calculator; there were always things she couldn't account for.
Rather than letting the Purifier fall back into the hands of the Traidy Commercial Alliance, to be scrapped or have its core logic altered, it was better to personally command it to self-terminate, allowing her to resummon it later through her mental power.
Xu Xiaoyou turned her head and saw Akabane Tsubaki, who had also put on a dream-wanderer at some point, leaning back in the leather armchair, a few cookie crumbs still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
Noticing the girl's slightly pained expression, which seemed off, Xu Xiaoyou's brows furrowed slightly.
Outside the Oasis, she forcibly logged the girl out, watching Akabane Tsubaki sit up with a horrified expression, her chest heaving violently.
Looking around and discerning the scene in the carriage, she confusedly touched the tip of her nose, discovering warm liquid flowing out.
Akabane Tsubaki's eyes were bloodshot, and she gasped for air, looking utterly disoriented.
This was one of the symptoms of severe consciousness sea deviation. Xu Xiaoyou pulled out a wet wipe and handed it to her.
Upon confirming her return to reality, Akabane Tsubaki let out a sigh of relief, her chest no longer heaving so violently. Wiping away the blood, she looked at Xu Xiaoyou with a hint of resentment for some reason.
"Why are you looking at me like that? It's as if I stabbed you," Xu Xiaoyou said, unperturbed.
A familiar scene made Akabane Tsubaki open her mouth, unable to speak.
The two exchanged silent glances, and the atmosphere fell into an eerie stillness.
Just then, a gentle female voice emanated from a speaker somewhere in the ceiling.
"Ding-dong, hello, esteemed passengers of the Kui-niu. The train will arrive in three minutes. The next stop is 'Asgard.' Passengers, please follow the crew's guidance, collect your luggage, and disembark in an orderly fashion."
Akabane Tsubaki stood up huffily, not saying a word since waking from her immersion. She stretched to reach her luggage on the overhead rack, then turned her head to find Xu Xiaoyou staring at her with a stern expression.
"I can't reach," Xu Xiaoyou said sincerely. "Could you grab mine too, please? Thank you."
Leaving the platform and stepping onto the land of the Northern Realm, mist enveloped the world. A cold wind, laden with ice crystals, swept past their legs. The crescent-shaped platform, the steel dome, the towering concrete pillars, and the train passengers gradually vanished into the howling snow.
Vaguely, beneath the distant grey sky, a cross-sea bridge stood majestically. Kicked-up snow obscured the view, and the biting wind etched erosion marks onto its steel frame. Like the Rainbow Bridge connecting Asgard and Midgard in Norse mythology, the Gate of Triumph, nearly a hundred meters tall, stood proudly between heaven and earth. Thousands of steel cables pulled up its massive body, like a giant guarding this wintery Northern Realm, grand and magnificent.
Xu Xiaoyou and Akabane Tsubaki passed through the station and ascended in a capsule elevator. Through the translucent glass walls, they had a perfect view of the entire city below.
Asgard in the early morning was very tranquil. Majestic heavy industrial buildings rose from the ground, shrouded in swirling grey mist, monotonous yet powerful. Tall artificial cedar forests slept beneath the snow, and a business jet roared down onto the plain, juxtaposed against the steel peaks. Occasional scattered lights flickered, like bonfires of civilization rising on the plain when viewed from a grey-white Gobi.
Leaving the capsule elevator, bustling crowds passed by them. The two stood on an automatic moving walkway, dragging their luggage, as chain restaurants and convenience stores flashed past in their peripheral vision.
The ground they stood on was paved with polished marble tiles, bright enough to reflect light, and a soaring glass dome with steel structures supported the back of this giant.
Akabane Tsubaki walked along, then noticed the girl behind her was gone. Turning back, she saw Xu Xiaoyou standing in front of a brown sugar ciba shop, gazing at the glittering sign, her mouth slightly agape, unable to be budged.
"I want to eat that," Xu Xiaoyou pointed. "Buy it for me."
This small shop only accepted 'runes' issued by the Northern Bank.
Akabane Tsubaki's mouth twitched.
Arriving at the hoverport, the two sat on a platform bench, the sign behind them flickering with a steady yellow light of waiting amidst the vast grey-white.
"I."
"Just now."
Both spoke simultaneously, then silently turned their heads away. Akabane Tsubaki buried her face back into her thick scarf, while Xu Xiaoyou ate her ciba, soaked in brown sugar water, one bite at a time, a peaceful expression on her face. She hadn't expected to find her favorite food here.
"You first," Akabane Tsubaki exhaled softly.
"Weren't you supposed to help me keep an eye on our surroundings?" Xu Xiaoyou mumbled.
"Easy for you to say. I've been bored to death for two days straight," Akabane Tsubaki grumbled.
"You, on the other hand, practically want the whole world to know that the esteemed Dark Gold Rose has graced the Oasis with her presence. Now, the world forums are flooded with discussion threads about you."
"Oh, really?" Xu Xiaoyou said indifferently, asking casually, "What did you see?"
"Just out of curiosity, I spectated your match."
Akabane Tsubaki recalled the scene of the girl named Xia Li having her throat slit by Xu Xiaoyou, feeling an inexpressible gloom in her heart.
"Did anything come back to you?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
Akabane Tsubaki fell silent.
In that instant, she had indeed seen many things.
Many fragmented memories that weren't hers.
But after she woke up, she couldn't remember most of them, only vaguely recalling a few blurry, bloody fragments of memory.
She saw many people surrounding her, she was lying on a cold iron bed, the people around her were discussing something, the pale lights blurred her vision, and the whole world was spinning.
That heart-pounding sense of fear was still deeply etched in her mind, refusing to fade.
A land-air vehicle slowly pulled up in front of them, its low horn sound interrupting the girl's thoughts.
"Are those playmates of yours very memorable to you?" Xu Xiaoyou asked casually.
Akabane Tsubaki didn't understand why Xu Xiaoyou suddenly asked this. After thinking for a moment, she shook her head. "Are you talking about Owl and the others? I only spent two or three months with them during my time with the Night Walkers, and we haven't really kept in touch since the group disbanded."
Just as Xu Xiaoyou nodded and opened the car door, the girl's words sent a chill up her spine.
"Haha, in the end, I was the one who gave them those code names when I joined the Night Walkers. I don't know why those names just popped into my head back then."
Rate on N.U.
