Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 558 - 524 Little Bowl Confluence

Chapter 558: 524 Little Bowl Confluence

Listening to the light footsteps of the person approaching, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia, guessing if it might be Little Bowl.

Most encounters with Little Bowl seemed to follow a similar pattern. Waiting at a specific location, listening to footsteps to guess if it was the little girl I was waiting for. But this time, the place I was waiting was no longer the Void Realm, but the real world.

A short figure clad in a worn-out black cloak, covering their face with a hood, approached me from afar, moving cautiously, seemingly trying to use the night and withered trees to hide their body and secretly observe me. Unfortunately, compared to the mysterious woman before, the newcomer’s stealth skills were not even in the same dimension. With my eyesight and hearing, the newcomer’s silhouette and movements were crystal clear to me.

"Is that you, Little Bowl?" I asked directly.

Upon hearing my voice, the person hurriedly shrank back behind a withered tree in the distance, as if playing ostrich and feigning ignorance. Shortly after, they seemed to belatedly react, emitting a child’s voice that was both tender and hesitant.

"Is it... Mr. No. 3?" she asked.

Because in the Void Realm we couldn’t distinguish each other’s appearances, my memory of Little Bowl was more based on her voice, so it was easy to identify that the visitor was indeed Little Bowl. Similarly, Little Bowl could likely identify me by my voice as well.

But perhaps the more crucial reason was the text inscribed on the map by the wandering soul, which probably had a brief mention that Zhuang Cheng was waiting here.

"It’s me."

To enhance my credibility, I summoned a fireball. The dazzling light illuminated Little Bowl’s figure in the distance, clearly startling her, as if she wanted to turn around and run away.

It was then that I realized my mana fluctuations seemed almost identical to the Catastrophe Demon’s, and Little Bowl was being hunted by the Catastrophe Demon. Displaying my mana fluctuations so abruptly would understandably trigger a reaction on her side.

Fortunately, Little Bowl had encountered my mana fluctuations when the Void Realm was destroyed, so she quickly calmed down, moved towards me, and removed her hood.

Her face appeared before my eyes.

Exactly matching the image I had verified in Mazao’s mind-written photos and identical to the young Zhu Shi I saw in Changan’s dream—the spitting image of Zhu Jiuxing.

Neat, clean, jet-black medium-length hair, fair and delicate skin, an adorable face... In reality, Little Bowl was like another Zhu Jiuxing.

Was Little Bowl’s true identity not really Zhu Shi’s Dream Avatar? I once again contemplated this notion.

I stood up from the stone I was using as a seat, then walked to Little Bowl’s side, saying, "Long time no see, Little Bowl... or should I say, nice to meet you?"

"Long time no see, Mr. No. 3..."

Little Bowl almost subconsciously muttered, then looked at my face with disbelief, saying, "Mr. No. 3, did you really travel to this era? Am I not dreaming?"

"This is reality," I said.

"Then, where is Sister Mazao? You were supposed to have a strong fate binding... Did she also travel to this era with you?" Little Bowl asked.

"Regrettably, she did not come with me." I looked towards another spot, "Didn’t the wandering soul’s letter mention that?"

Little Bowl followed my gaze, seeing the lifeless body of the wandering soul lying not far away. Upon seeing the body, Little Bowl first froze, then fell into silence, walking over to the body.

She sighed softly, then clasped her hands as if sincerely praying for the wandering soul’s spirit.

"He wanted me to tell you—’Thank you for fulfilling my wish,’" I said.

Hearing this, Little Bowl’s face showed a complex expression, muttering, "Thank me..."

"Now that you’re with me, even if the Catastrophe Demon attacks later, I can help fend it off. But how did you know that restoring the wandering soul’s memory would help you escape the crisis?" I asked curiously.

"I just had a vague intuition," Little Bowl looked at the wandering soul’s body, "’If I did this, things might take a turn for the better’—that’s about the extent of my foresight. I didn’t expect that Mr. No. 3 would travel through time and meet up with me as a result.

"I don’t know whether my actions were right, but deep down, I traded the wandering soul’s death from taking the Three-Life Stone Powder for my safety. And for this, I don’t feel much shame or guilt, but rather a sense of relief and joy that I could meet Mr. No. 3 and have the chance to continue surviving.

"Mr. No. 3, would you hate me for this?"

Her words sounded sentimental, and perhaps there was some genuine emotion in them, but maybe she also wanted to observe my reaction.

Little Bowl and Mazao contrasted in many ways. It wasn’t just that Mazao was clumsy and slow in many aspects, while Little Bowl was sharp and intelligent. Mazao appeared to be the alert and calm doomsday survivor, yet she had many overly naive and kind elements. This possibly stemmed from her possessing strong power and living away from people most of the time, without experiencing much deception and trickery.

Conversely, Little Bowl appeared naive and kind, yet had an alert and calm heart. This might be because she was weak and easily hurt, a slip-up could lead to her death. She knew how to find shelter in unfamiliar environments, skilled at understanding the thoughts of those around her, aware of how to portray herself, and seeing through the superficial words and actions of others.

Compared to Mazao, this little girl who looks only ten years old might actually resemble a more cold-hearted Doomsday survivor.

After all, I am someone who traveled from the modern world to this era, and she might think that perhaps I have a different set of values from hers and may have some opinions about her behavior. Although I have had quite a deep exchange with her on many matters in the past, and she does have a considerable understanding of me, that was all conducted in the detached and monotonous environment of the Void Realm through verbal communication. Now, we are truly beginning to understand each other.

"The wandering soul just wants liberation, you pointed the way, and he offers assistance in gratitude—it’s as simple as that, no need to dwell on it," I said. "Now, I’m planning to bury the wandering soul’s body, are there any customs for this in the Doomsday Era?"

"If you’re going to bury it, it’s best to cremate," Little Bowl suggested, "Not to mention the possibility of bizarre phenomena like the corpse coming back to life with earth burial, the body would also be eaten by maggots after a period of time.

"In the Doomsday Era, there are no normal natural animals. Maggots growing from corpses are a common bizarre phenomenon. They aren’t real maggots, they more like a phenomenon symbolizing the corruption of death. So those survivors who indiscriminately eat those maggots get infected with a curse, becoming weak at best, and dead at worst.

"I suppose Mr. Wandering Soul wouldn’t want his body to be devoured by such things after death."

Since she said so, I summoned flames to cremate the wandering soul’s body in one go, reducing it to ashes, then put the ashes into a wooden box.

This wooden box was made impromptu from nearby deadwood, using it as an urn under such circumstances is all I could manage. Initially, I thought about burying it on the spot, but then considered keeping it first. Perhaps in the future, I might find a beautiful place with clear mountains and water to bury the ashes, a worthy tribute to the wandering soul’s help.

It’s even possible that I might find a way to return to the modern world eventually. Since the wandering soul’s true wish was to go home, burying it in the modern world seems most fitting.

After handling it simply, Little Bowl and I moved on to the next topic.

"Mr. No. 3... How exactly did you come to this era?" Little Bowl asked.

"Before explaining... do you want to continue calling me ’Mr. No. 3’?" I said, "This isn’t the Void Realm, there’s no need to conceal our identities."

Moreover, I suspect all the Void Envoys already know my real name.

It’s not that I have any objection to the name "Mr. No. 3," rather, I quite like the style of that mysterious organization numbering. However, outside of the contextual background, it feels somewhat out of place. I might meet other people in the future, and using such titles might draw some strange looks then.

"Just like how I call you Little Bowl, just call me by my name," I said.

Little Bowl blinked and then tentatively said, "Then... Brother Zhuang Cheng?"

Being called that in her sweet and childish voice was a bit embarrassing, I said, "Just calling me Zhuang Cheng is fine."

"But I call Sister Mazao as ’sister,’ so naturally, I should call Brother Zhuang Cheng as ’brother.’" Little Bowl said.

It seems reasonable, and the thought of it matching with Mazao made it seem rather nice.

"Alright, let’s go with that." I nodded in agreement.

Little Bowl gave a slight smile and then said, "So Brother Zhuang Cheng, about the previous topic..."

"Yes, it’s like this..." I detailed the sequence of events that led me to enter the Doomsday Era.

After listening, Little Bowl displayed a serious expression.

"Sacrificing one’s life to banish you into the void’s Huang Quan, and the ’Firefly’ that appeared in the void..." she said thoughtfully, "Setting aside the former, the latter seems to sound more mysterious... Could the entity of this ’Firefly’ be the Catastrophe Demon?"

"I think that’s impossible," I said, "This ’Firefly’ has always been stationary, while the Catastrophe Demon has been incessantly pursuing you, right?"

"Yes, according to my intuition, the Catastrophe Demon is still constantly searching for where I might be," Little Bowl calmly said, "However, even if this ’Firefly’s entity is not the Catastrophe Demon, there should be some sort of connection with the existence in the Doomsday Era."

Also, to help organize my thoughts, I intentionally asked, "What makes you think so?"

"Because Brother Zhuang Cheng, it’s due to following this ’Firefly’ that you came to the Doomsday Era," Little Bowl said, "Since formally reaching the Doomsday Era, the degree of connection between you and this ’Firefly’ hasn’t deepened, which means the coordinates of this ’Firefly’ might not be within the space-time of the Doomsday Era.

"That being said, if it was simply in the void, it might not have guided you to the Doomsday Era.

"So I was thinking, this ’Firefly’, might it be in the border area between the Doomsday Era and the void?"

"Border area?" I hadn’t thought in this direction, "But even if your assumption makes sense, how should we verify it?"

"It’s quite simple, Brother Zhuang Cheng," Little Bowl said, "Next, I will strengthen the connection between you and this ’Firefly’, and you try to see if you can directly observe the specific scene where it resides."