Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 95 - 92 Night Talk 1

Chapter 95: 92 Night Talk 1

Zhu Shi first paused, then chuckled, "You’re asking now?"

I really should have asked sooner, and it’s not something that’s hard to notice. However, when emotions are in play, one’s perspective narrows.

Previously, my attention was entirely on Mazao, my mind preoccupied with the thought that without Mazao, I would be shut out from the abnormal world. Now that I’ve calmed down, my perspective has broadened to see other possibilities.

If the Impermanence were just like the past me, unable to normally interact with the strange, including things related to it, then they wouldn’t be able to rule over Luo Mountain.

In the past, I had encountered members of Luo Mountain such as Zhu Shi but failed to perceive her as a demon hunter, and she couldn’t recognize me as a supernatural power user. She had even suspected before whether I was involved with the strange. Had she observed me just once, with skepticism and curiosity, using "Buzhou Mountain," even just a single time, she would have immediately realized the truth that I was a supernatural power user.

But she didn’t, not even once. This indicates that the reason I couldn’t interact with the abnormal world wasn’t merely because "I was too strong for the strange to dare to approach me," something of a different dimension, but also due to influences on a destiny level. Thus, even those strange phenomena that merely existed as events, I failed to encounter.

Humans wielding the power of the strange are clearly under this influence, and Luo Mountain is a place where such humans gather. So, how did the Impermanence manage to interact with them?

Zhu Shi seemed to organize her knowledge on the other end of the phone, and after a few seconds, she replied, "Unfortunately, even the Impermanence do not have a permanent solution to such mutual repulsion with the strange."

"If it can’t be cured at the root, it means there is at least a symptomatic treatment?" I pondered, "Could it be that the Impermanence use the same method as me, forming connections with those who can attract the strange as a cure? Or do they possess items that can attract the strange?"

"How many methods the Impermanence have used specifically, I do not know, but there is one method they’ve certainly all used, and are still using," she said.

"What method is that?" I inquired, curious.

"It’s ’forming bonds,’" she answered, "Most of the Impermanence were not Impermanence from the start. They differ slightly from the past you in that they have all undergone the journey from weak to strong within the strange world. During this journey, they bonded with the inhabitants of the abnormal world, leaving their own marks.

"A ship wanting to dock must anchor itself. If the anchor isn’t strong enough, the ship will be swept away by the waves; conversely, if one has enough anchors, one can stay where one wishes to stay."

After hearing this, I quickly came to an understanding.

The repulsion effect would sever the Impermanence’s ties with the abnormal world, so if that’s the case, one should form more bonds than can be severed.

A brute-force approach indeed.

While it certainly wouldn’t be something achievable overnight, I perhaps should also put this method into practice.

My past self only thought of using Luo Mountain as a platform to interact with the strange, uninterested in participating in the internal activities of the organization, which might have been a flawed approach. If I wanted to anchor myself like the Impermanence, it was necessary to form enough bonds within Luo Mountain.

Could it be that the Impermanence established Luo Mountain for this very reason? Ancient Emperors could command masses to carve mountain paths and dig canals, a feat of human civilization. The god-like Impermanence were capable of manifesting such might on their own, seemingly without the need to assemble a group. However, if it was to prevent being expelled from the strange world, the necessity to assemble a group seems to emerge.

At this moment, a chilling possibility sparked in my mind—

Today, the divine seal’s power no longer interferes with the secular society and the strange world; the latter can influence the former at will and is even intensifying its influence. In other words, the abnormal world will eventually become indistinguishable from secular society.

However, the Impermanence’s effect of being refused by the strange world didn’t disappear, as evidenced by myself. The divine seal’s power vanished three years ago, and yet, up until this month before I connected with Mazao, I was unable to interact with the strange.

The past Impermanence losing their anchor with the strange world meant merely returning to secular society, losing only half of the world. In the future, should the Impermanence be cut off again, they might be entirely rejected by both human and strange worlds.

Reconsidering the question "Luo Mountain wants to dominate secular society" along these lines, it seemed possible to discern more beneath the surface.

And if really faced with total rejection, how would the Impermanence continue to exist in this world?

And how would I continue to exist in this world?

"Zhu Shi, have there been Impermanence in the past who lost their anchor?" I asked.

"There have been some. After all, not all Impermanence have compelling reasons to stay in this world, nor do all Impermanence like to form bonds with others. Over time, those Impermanence simply disappeared without a trace," Zhu Shi said.

"Do you at Luo Mountain still have ways to find those Impermanence?"

"I can’t find them, and I can’t even confirm whether they’re alive or dead," she seemed to shake her head, "But most of them should still be alive. The great typhoons that swept across the globe in the past years, or the inexplicable major earthquakes... those natural disasters are considered to be the doings of some Impermanence that lost their anchor."

From Luo Mountain’s subjective perspective, it sounded as if the unanchored Impermanence were less like humans and more like an unfathomable divine might of ghost gods themselves.

Just as the ancients personified unpredictable natural disasters as gods to be worshipped and adored, when such "anchors" were lost, the gods reverted to pure natural calamities.

In the past, Zhu Shi said that the Impermanence were prototypes of some gods in mythological tales, but I had never really felt it to be true. Now, I actually felt the Divinity of the Impermanence from such a bizarre angle.

With this inexplicable sense of wonder, I relayed all my previous speculations to Zhu Shi.

After listening, she fell into a long silence, then said, "...It seems that my previous considerations were too superficial."

"What were you considering before?" I wondered.

"I was originally planning to persuade you to give up your association with Mazao after this incident. Unlike us, you have the condition to completely retreat from the abnormal world unscathed. I knew you would probably disagree, which is why I hesitated on how to speak to you..." she sighed, "But if it turns out that you’re being rejected by both the weird and human worlds, perhaps I should instead persuade Mazao to stay by your side and help you establish a firm foothold on Luo Mountain."

"Persuading Mazao..." It felt as though my own train of thought had suddenly cleared.

I had felt that being rejected by both the weird and human worlds was a huge crisis, but often a crisis can also be an opportunity.

I had thought before about whether I should imitate Broom Star Physique No. 2 and make Mazao feel I couldn’t live without her, but given the peaceful society we live in, I struggled with how to play the part convincingly as a physically capable man. But wasn’t this situation the best excuse? I didn’t even need to lie; I just had to tell the truth!

I could even package it as my initial motivation for taking her in... No, that still wouldn’t do, because I didn’t know about the weird world before I met her. And the above method also had to be based on the premise that she believed I wasn’t a bad person... The issue of trust had to be resolved before we could talk about what comes next.

If I were to simply embrace her waist and say "How am I supposed to live without you," it would seem like a waste. Maybe I should ask Zhu Shi to say it in my place? Or would it be better to first explain the prerequisite information to her, and then subtly guide her to come to this conclusion on her own?

There was no need to rush into playing this card. I could think it over more and consider how to maximize this opportunity.

After a few more exchanges, I wrapped up the call with Zhu Shi and plated the prepared food, bringing it to the dining table in the living room.

Mazao was sitting on the couch, examining the finger of the Shadow Swapping Monster we had obtained earlier. Seeing me carry out the fragrant dishes, she immediately put away the ominous finger and hurried over eagerly.

She sat down deftly across the table, picked up her bowl and chopsticks, and ate with me. It’s incredible, just by having an extra person sitting across the table, it felt completely different.

In the past three days, I couldn’t even bring myself to cook, at most ordering a few takeouts to make do. But now, I had this indescribable feeling as if I hadn’t really eaten a proper meal in the last three days, and only now was I finally enjoying a hot meal.

After the meal, Mazao showed a contented expression. It seemed that just to see this look, I found the motivation to cook again.

"Is it good?" I asked.

She nodded vigorously, saying, "Delicious!"

After washing the dishes, I returned to the living room. She sat back down on the couch, once again inspecting the finger of the Shadow Swapping Monster.

"Last time you took that charred finger from my place, was it also to use your powers to track down the monster?" I asked.

"Hm? Yes... come to think of it, that charred finger must be the body part of the ’human turned into a monster’ you mentioned on the roof of the abandoned building, right?" She appeared confused, "Initially, I wanted to use that charred finger as a clue to investigate the monster, but after examining it with the blessing power, I could only see that the original owner of the finger was wandering around this city, with no useful clues."

Agent Kong was likely to have assigned all the monster’s actions to his puppet, while he himself was merely responsible for the agent’s work.

"When you first found the charred finger in my house, you didn’t know I was a supernatural power user, did you? Didn’t you have any doubts about the origin of the charred finger?" I asked.

"Doubts... not really," Mazao seemed to recall her emotions at the time, "I thought you were probably just influenced by my Broom Star Physique, and it wouldn’t be strange at all even if you picked up something inexplicably from the outside..."

I didn’t even know what to say to her.

Considering she solely relied on her Broom Star Physique to investigate the monster previously, could it be that although she seems very vigilant about many things, she’s actually a person who believes "the bridge will straighten itself when the boat gets to it"?

"Have you found anything from investigating this finger now?" I asked.