Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 89 - 86 Mutual Benefit1

Chapter 89: 86 Mutual Benefit1

Unlike Mazao, Zhu Shi was a person living in modern society and naturally had a certain degree of understanding of modern technological gadgets.

Of course, that didn’t mean that knowing about modern technology necessarily implied recognizing a GPS bracelet; one might mistake it for a regular smart sports bracelet. But since Zhu Shi specifically asked in that tone, it most likely meant that she had recognized it.

Now I truly understood the feelings of those villains in stories who were one step away from having their conspiracies exposed by the protagonist, yet could do nothing but watch helplessly.

"Are you talking about this? This is a gift from Zhuang Cheng."

Mazao touched the red GPS bracelet on her left wrist, and it seemed like she recalled the emotion she felt when she received the gift; her tense eyes softened for a moment.

She quickly regained her guarded stance and took a step back, intentionally or unintentionally hiding her left wrist behind her. She appeared to be suspicious of why Zhu Shi would suddenly ask about the bracelet and looked at me with puzzled eyes.

I made every effort to control my facial muscles. Zhu Shi first gave me a shocked glance, then turned her neck towards Mazao and asked in an inexplicably gentle voice, "Do you know what this is?"

At that moment, she seemed like a righteous female police officer dealing with a young girl who hadn’t yet developed a concept of the opposite sex but was violated by filthy adults; she wanted to understand the case deeply without tainting the girl’s pure heart as much as possible.

"Isn’t this just an ornament?" Mazao grew more puzzled, then seemed to think of something, "Could it be that in this era, giving this kind of bracelet has some special meaning? I think I saw on TV that giving gifts in this era has certain special customs, even giving flowers has specific meanings..."

I said with a hard face, "That’s right, it’s a bracelet specially given to friends who are leaving on a journey. Red is the color of courage, signifying a wish for a friend’s success in martial fortune."

"Senior Brother Zhuang..." Zhu Shi looked at me speechlessly, as if she were looking at a criminal deceiving an ignorant young girl.

"Why is she reacting so strangely?" Mazao was doubtful.

"It’s probably because she’s shocked that you are my friend," I said, quickly changing the subject, "Rather than this, let’s talk about the Doomsday Era first; that’s more important."

"Yes."

I had some experience in diverting Mazao’s attention, and indeed, she took the bait, refocusing her attention on the previous topic, "Since my power can’t prove the existence of Doomsday, what about the Sin Demon... that is, the monster? Monsters should only appear after Doomsday, transforming from humans. Why would they appear in this era?"

As she spoke, she shifted her gaze to Zhu Shi’s face.

I stealthily signaled to Zhu Shi with hand gestures.

Zhu Shi sighed deeply, as if temporarily setting aside the reckoning for my "crimes," then said to Mazao, "As far as I know, monsters are transformed by a mysterious person known as the Weirdo Maker, who is a member of the Human Bureau. The purpose of the Human Bureau is to create Extraordinary Soldiers who obey human society... All of this has nothing to do with the Doomsday you mentioned.

"If you say monsters should be a post-Doomsday phenomenon, but the facts prove otherwise, doesn’t that make your words even less credible?"

"Weirdo Maker? Human Bureau?" Mazao was utterly baffled.

Seeing her confusion, I explained these two concepts to her in detail before adding, "I know you want to investigate monsters to gather evidence of the impending Doomsday. As you’ve seen, we have more understanding about the source of monsters. Working together moving forward would be much more effective than you fighting alone. Don’t you think so?"

"But Zhuang Cheng, you and she don’t believe in the existence of Doomsday, right?" She clearly still resisted the idea of collaboration.

"What we should be discussing is not her and me, but you," I said with a decisive tone, "Do you truly want to prevent Doomsday? If you are sincere, you should seek more support. What lies before you now is the opportunity to uncover more clues.

"With me and Zhu Shi as intermediaries, you can have access to the massive force of Luo Mountain. There is no organization in this era that understands the oddities better than Luo Mountain. And yet you plan to reject this excellent opportunity because it ’doesn’t suit your temperament’?

"Or are you just playing house, pretending to be diligent when in reality, you never planned to truly prevent the coming of Doomsday?"

"Uh..."

Upon hearing this, she indeed began to waver significantly.

But I knew very well that to persuade someone as stubborn as her, these words might still fall short.

I had to press on further.

"I also hope you can act together with us," Zhu Shi chimed in, "I don’t know how you understand your current situation, so I must remind you that some forces are planning to envelop you in their grasp, disregarding human rights and morality.

"And regarding Doomsday, it’s not the first time I’ve heard about it, either. There are prophecies of Doomsday being circulated within Luo Mountain."

"Doomsday?" Mazao was astonished.

"You’re saying... the prophecy that Doomsday will descend soon, that all life and matter will be reduced to nothingness?" I recalled the prediction about Doomsday mentioned in the Mist Dream Realm by Number One.

Having been preoccupied with searching for Mazao after awakening from the dream, I had forgotten to ask Zhu Shi to confirm that prophecy.

"You’ve also heard of it?" Zhu Shi was surprised.

"Agent Kong told me," I replied without hesitation.

"So someone had already foreseen Doomsday in this era?" Mazao frowned, "Then why hasn’t anyone paid attention?"

"Because there’s no evidence," Zhu Shi said, "Anyone can claim that the world is about to end, even ordinary people who know nothing about oddities could predict that the Earth will become uninhabitable for humans due to global warming; but convincing everyone that the world will be destroyed within ten years, that requires compelling evidence."

"...I know of something, although I’m not sure if it could be used as evidence, nor do I know where it is now..." Mazao murmured after a moment, "In this era, it should also be well-known, although you might not call it the same name I know. But it should be somewhat recognized by you. Based on the intelligence I had during the Doomsday Era, the key to causing Doomsday’s arrival should be it."

I had a vague premonition of what she was getting at and deliberately asked, "What is it?"

Mazao slowly said, "The divine seal."

It was indeed the divine seal!

The past Fan Tian Incident and the future’s Doomsday—

The divine seal was at the center of it all.

Zhu Shi froze for a moment, then looked at me. She must have associated it with my recent inquiries about the divine seal "for some reason."

"I once had the privilege of seeing a fragment of the divine seal in the future," Mazao continued, "Legend has it that the complete divine seal possesses the power to overturn heaven and earth, it could either destroy the world or save it. In the Doomsday Era, some believed that Doomsday was a catastrophe caused by the divine seal. I cannot confirm whether this is true, I only know that the arrival of Doomsday is closely related to it.

"If so, then it only needs to be brought under management; even if not, we could harness its power to eliminate the source of Doomsday."

Upon hearing this, I thought about taking out the Divine Seal Fragment from my pocket to show her that I was actually ahead in investigating Doomsday. In doing so, she who hopes to prevent Doomsday’s arrival would probably be less likely to leave my side.

But seeing Zhu Shi by my side, I still controlled the urge.

I trust Zhu Shi, but what I trust is her as a person. In reality, she represents not only herself but also a faction within Luo Mountain that stands in opposition to Extraordinaryism.

She probably doesn’t believe in the existence of the divine seal right now, let alone believe that the Fan Tian Incident was caused by it. But if she becomes aware of the real existence of the divine seal, and even discovers that I have a fragment of it in my possession, the nature of the situation would be completely different.

The divine seal is a Divine Artifact capable of changing the world, and its fragments also have the potential to affect the destiny of the world. Precisely because Zhu Shi has a very strong sense of justice, she definitely wouldn’t keep this information to herself.

Similarly, although she said she would not report to Lu Youxun and her faction about finding Mazao, considering that Mazao’s existence is related to the hope of curing countless soul loss patients, she will most likely still report to her own faction afterward.

I actually don’t care much if the information about the Divine Seal Fragment is leaked, nor do I mind getting involved in the ensuing chaos. However, once information is released, it’s hard to retract. Whether to disclose the information about the Divine Seal Fragment is undoubtedly a very significant decision. Even I need to think carefully about the impact this could have on Mazao and Zhu Shi. Now that I’m not under a time constraint, like in Room 1501, I can take my time to decide the right moment to share the information.

Yet, I still need to increase the stakes to ensure Mazao is fully committed to staying by my side.

What bargaining chip do I have?

I quickly thought of one.

"Mazao, do you still remember the friend from the Doomsday Era you mentioned to me?" I asked.

Mazao was puzzled, "Why bring this up all of a sudden?"

"I’ve met her recently," I said, "Does she call you ’Sister Mazao’?"

"You’ve seen her!" Mazao was first shocked, then skeptical, "No, that’s impossible..."

She had already told me that her friend from the Doomsday Era was a girl around ten years old. It wasn’t impossible for me to guess correctly that the girl called her "Sister Mazao." Although it made no sense for me to risk bluffing this nickname, she would definitely think it more likely that I had guessed, rather than believing I could communicate with someone from the Doomsday Era.

So, I put in some extra effort to describe Number Two’s personality and the way she spoke in my memory.

And as my description increased, Mazao’s skeptical expression gradually wavered, as if she was slowly leaning towards believing me.

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