Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 186 - 177 visits young girl Lu Chan

Chapter 186: 177 visits young girl Lu Chan

The corridor was empty.

No guards, no Chen Long, and no passing researchers—it was a good opportunity to move out.

In a stealthy stance, I moved onto the corridor, recalling the route to the "special cell holding the young girl Lu Chan" that the senior researcher had previously mentioned to me, while quietly advancing.

Next, I would have to avoid engaging the guards as much as possible.

The real trouble wasn’t the guards but the likely arrival of Chen Long. It was possible that the mana fluctuations during my fight with the guards had alerted him to the presence of an "intruder, Zhuang Cheng," so I couldn’t expect him to treat me carelessly as just another demon hunter who had accidentally escaped their cell. He would definitely rush to the scene at supersonic speed.

Thinking about it, it seemed strange. Although his movement was swift, he should have had a more efficient means of movement—Shadow Transmission. If he had used that move just now, I wouldn’t have had the chance to hide inside the Iron Maiden; he would have caught me right there.

Was it because this independent reality space was difficult to enter and exit, making it inconvenient for him to use the space transfer method that used the Shadow World as a relay? Yet, when I was transported here, I didn’t feel any similar obstacles.

Also, since this base was heavily guarded, there had to be surveillance cameras or similar devices in places like the corridors and cells, but I saw none such thing. What then was going to happen? Would it be that because my subjective world had no surveillance cameras, the guards couldn’t capture me through them either, or could they monitor my movements as usual?

While moving, I used the Outer Path Impermanence Sword as a "Magic Wand" to summon several "Fireflies."

Some were tasked with scouting ahead, while others searched for Changan.

Sometimes I would encounter patrolling guards ahead. The guards were very tense, and it seemed like the base was in a state of martial law. Whenever I was about to encounter them, I would hide in a nearby empty room and then continue forward. Gradually, I started feeling a sense of déjà vu about the route.

Probably because this independent reality space was cut out from the space where the old Human Bureau base was located, although the "decor" was entirely different, the overall layout was exactly the same as the old Human Bureau base which I had meticulously explored before. I remembered seeing a room on the highest floor of the old Human Bureau base labeled "Director’s Office," likely the office of the person managing the facility.

Did that mean the room corresponded to the one where Dr. Silver Mask in this secret base was located?

Perhaps there were crucial clues related to the apocalypse in the Director’s Office, but it wasn’t wise for me to engage Dr. Silver Mask in battle now. Being a "possibility avatar" of Ying Lingyun just like me, Dr. Silver Mask might also possess achieved level combat abilities. If he had rich combat experience, I would likely lose against him if we were on the same level; even if he was as novice as I was, Chen Long arriving swiftly would defeat me if I couldn’t finish the battle quickly.

Even if I were annihilated here, I wouldn’t truly die—I would simply awaken through the body I left at the Luoshan Office, but that outcome would be too disgraceful.

Moreover, although it was just a conjecture, the Divine Seal Fragment which I sensed at the old Human Bureau base but couldn’t pinpoint might most likely be the one Dr. Silver Mask had on him.

After all, the old Human Bureau base and this independent reality space were fundamentally the same location, only the latter had been carved out by Ying Lingyun using miraculous means. I wasn’t quite clear on the current relationship between this independent reality space and the real world, but if there was still some kind of inherent connection between them, it wasn’t inconceivable that I could sense the Divine Seal Fragment here from the real world’s old Human Bureau base.

The Divine Seal Fragment was likely very important to Ying Lingyun himself, and the fact that he left it inside this secret base showed the extraordinary significance of this place.

Since the senior researcher mentioned "Reboot," I had been making associations. Although there were clear restrictions, no matter how you looked at it, this secret base possessed the "power of resurrection."

It’s likely that helping the Human Bureau hide the secret base was a secondary motive for Ying Lingyun; what was truly important to him was probably a deeper exploration regarding the theme of "reviving Yinyue."

The "Reboot" of this base, capable of tracing back up to eight months and requiring both the body and soul of the deceased to perform resurrection, of course, couldn’t revive Yinyue, who died over a decade ago. However, he might gain some insights and experience from it.

After avoiding numerous guards and researchers, I finally arrived at the door to the special cell holding the young girl Lu Chan.

This cell was distinctly different from the one confining me and other normal subjects.

The difference was obvious from the door panel itself; while our cells had mere ordinary iron doors, the special cell holding Lu Chan used a super thick metal hatch door resembling those found in bank vaults. However, the material was still black iron, covered in rust as if it had been soaked in seawater for countless years. Even the handle resembled a ship’s rudder.

There was also a keyhole. By common sense, the key matching such a large-sized hatch couldn’t possibly be the same as those for the iron doors. Yet, considering the anomalies I had experienced, I still pulled out my extremely shabby iron key and poked it into the elaborate hatch’s keyhole.

And it actually went in.

Could it really open? I tried turning the iron key. Despite both key and keyhole being rusty, it turned smoothly without feeling gritty or getting stuck, and I even heard the sound of the lock core being activated inside.

The exceedingly heavy hatch swung slightly ajar, as if inviting me inside.

I looked around. The two "Fireflies" that had led the way earlier had now switched to sentinel duty, guarding the corners of the hallways on both ends. No one seemed to be approaching the area for the time being.

I forcefully pulled the hatch open. It felt less like opening a door and more like pulling a loaded cart, with a strong sense of inertial heft. I managed to open it just enough to slip sideways through the gap.

Like the cell I had been in before, this special cell lacked lighting too. Upon reflection, it was unusual not to have lights on in a laboratory; surely the fault was in my perception. Fortunately, the dim red glow leaking through the iron-mesh floor allowed me to make out the specifics of the place.

The room was devoid of a plethora of torture devices, and there was no blood plasma or rotting smell—just emptiness. Apart from the usual old rust marks and dust seen around this secret facility, the special cell was fairly clean.

A lone cross stood in the center of the cell—perceived by the inhabitants here as some advanced "restraint device"—and upon it was bound a beautiful young girl about fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in a white restraint suit.

Her long black hair, delicate features, and skin as finely pale as if she had been raised in a greenhouse, reminded me of a female student from some noble school.

She was awake. Naturally, in this desolate space, she could not have missed the considerable noise from the door. Her gaze fixed on me, seemingly in a calm assessment of the newcomer.

Despite being the one who had initiated the visit, I found myself unsure of how to proceed next.

Honestly, visiting Lu Chan did not directly relate to my main objectives; she seemed unlikely to know the apocalypse-related clues, probably didn’t know the whereabouts of Changan, and hoping that she could inform me on how to assist Lu Youxun and Luo Mountain in attacking this secret facility externally was a far reach.

She merely bore a familiar name, akin to an eerie anomaly on this terrifying stage, and could potentially pose a danger. Maybe it was better to cautiously avoid her.

But I had almost come here without any thought.

No, that is exactly why I had to come here—

I couldn’t bear the thought of missing out on such a mysterious encounter.

Unexpectedly, she was the first to speak.

"Zhuang Cheng... right?" The mysterious girl pronounced my name.

She knew me? Or did she recognize the "identity" I assumed here? Unsure of her intentions, I decided to address my question directly, "Which Zhuang Cheng are you referring to?"

"Supernatural power user Zhuang Cheng, Outer Path Impermanence Zhuang Cheng, Great Impermanence Qualifier Zhuang Cheng..." she murmured softly, "I know you’re not the innocent twelve-year-old child who accidentally witnessed the Human Bureau’s combat scene while walking at night, and I know the purpose of your intrusion into this secret facility is to save your friends and destroy this place. I’ve come to understand all this through the me outside."

"I didn’t quite understand at first," she continued, "until you returned to the real world halfway through and communicated with another me about your activities here. Then, I finally resolved the distorted cognition and grasped the truth."

"The you outside?" I felt she was revealing something significant, "Are you Lu Youxun’s ’possibility avatar’?"

"’Possibility avatar’..." She seemed nostalgic and then shook her head, "Not exactly. To put it precisely, I am his relic."

"Lu Youxun isn’t dead yet," I pointed out, "If you’re not his ’possibility avatar’, why can you understand things through him? Who are you really?"

Her expression became slightly sorrowful.

"I am the past he abandoned, forgot, and dreaded. I represent his passion, his faith, his naivety, his weaknesses. I am what he loves the most, and also what he hates the most."

"I’m sorry, I don’t understand—can you simplify that into ten words or fewer?"

Her words felt like a cryptic poem to me.

After a moment of thought, she summarized succinctly, "Put simply, I am Lu Chan."

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