Watching the mysterious person grow increasingly silent, Bai Yu felt his mood turn heavier and heavier. He even caught himself letting his imagination run wild again: if he really got into a fight with this mysterious man, what were his actual odds of winning?
After all, the other party was also a Level 5 top-tier esper, not some lackey he could deal with casually.
Yet at this moment, a deep realization surfaced in Long Chixuan’s mind.
He lied.
Espers could sense each other’s esper energy, yet no energy fluctuations could be detected from this man at all. In truth, however, the other party not only possessed esper powers, but powerful ones at that.
Furthermore, when espers registered by the Esper Association met, their holographic bracelets would trigger and display the other’s esper level. As a vagrant without esper registration, meeting someone wouldn’t leak one’s esper level. Moreover, to evade pursuit, vagrants would wear contraband biological waveband blockers, which concealed esper powers and biological genetic information, and alter their iris information to link to a fake identity.
If an esper from the Esper Association wished to conceal their powers, they would also wear such contraband, though mostly during special missions since contraband items were officially banned.
Yet this man looked neither like an esper from the Esper Association nor like a vagrant wearing contraband. All indications suggested that the other party was more like…
He was simply trying his utmost to maintain composure, putting on a calm and collected facade on the surface.
“It has already been many days,” Long Chixuan suddenly said, lost in thought.
Bai Yu was taken aback, completely unexpected that this mysterious person would bring this up with him.
His train of thought was momentarily derailed as well. Having returned to reality and then transmigrated back into the dream world, had so much time actually passed?
It seemed the Tian Gou skeletons and pus from earlier had vanished because the battlefield had been cleaned up. Since people in this world kept talking about ling infections and the like, clearing the battlefield was completely necessary.
Yet since the battlefield had been cleaned, why had this mysterious person remained here the whole time? Was he merely wandering around blindly in this area by chance, only to bump into him when he suddenly reappeared in this world?
That seemed unlikely.
Thinking along these lines, the other party’s motives grew increasingly suspicious.
If that was the case, did the other person really know some of his secrets?
Though he thought this, another bold idea suddenly popped into Bai Yu’s mind.
Regardless of what intentions or motives this mysterious person had toward him, or whether he truly grasped any of his secrets, he could seemingly utilize the other party to establish a foothold in this alternate world.
He needed to ask the other party for help and engage in an exchange of benefits.
Seeking help from strangers was also a gamble; why not choose someone whose life he had saved?
However, this also meant he would need to relinquish a portion of his own secrets.
After a moment of deliberation, he suddenly spoke up: “You… can you help me?”
Hearing this, a flash of fleeting astonishment instantly crossed Long Chixuan’s eyes. His gaze narrowed profoundly as he sized up Bai Yu once more.
Bai Yu allowed himself to be inspected, though the atmosphere between them seemed somewhat subtle. He grew increasingly tense while striving outwardly to remain composed, meeting the other person’s gaze with frank composure.
Yet after only a brief moment of staring, Long Chixuan withdrew his gaze. His expression grew deeper and more unreadable, making his thoughts impossible to guess.
The next instant, his gaze brushed lightly past Bai Yu before he turned and walked away directly, as if he had no desire to meddle in the other’s affairs, acting as though his proactive appearance before Bai Yu had been an illusion, completely unconcerned that the other person was his savior.
Seeing this, Bai Yu was instantly astonished. What on earth did the other person mean?!
If the other suspected him, shouldn’t they be probing to find out what kind of help he wanted to ask for in the first place?
Moreover, the other person had clearly been waiting for him like a hunter waiting by a stump; why was he suddenly turning around and walking away?!
Having no time to overthink, he hurried to catch up and call out, “Wait!”
Hearing Bai Yu’s slightly anxious voice, Long Chixuan flashed a dark glint in his lowered eyes. The corners of his mouth beneath his face covering curved slightly upward, though he did halt his steps.
Pausing for a moment, he turned around and looked deeply at Bai Yu, a subtle, profound smile flashing across his face, though he didn’t speak first.
Facing the mysterious person’s unfathomable gaze, Bai Yu frowned slightly, carefully running his words through his mind before breaking the silence: “I do indeed need your help, for the sake of me saving your life.”
At the mention of this, Long Chixuan’s expression underwent a subtle shift, though that trace of emotion was fleeting. Had Bai Yu not possessed sharp eyes, he might have missed it. Looked at this way, this mysterious person still cared somewhat about the fact that his life had been saved.
“What do you want me to help you with?” Long Chixuan asked after a moment of silence, still keeping an obscure, probing gaze locked onto Bai Yu, his tone carrying a trace of guidance meant to seize the initiative.
Bai Yu paused for a second before shifting to an entirely different topic.
“Why must this town pay protection fees to the Esper Association to receive protection?”
His brief impression of this alternate world, gene mutations, fusion, evolution or devolution, referred to by people as a return to the Classic of Mountains and Seas era, completely matched the theme of biological genetic contamination, acting practically as a true portrayal of biological genetic contamination in reality.
Especially upon learning that purging mutated creatures in the dream world could improve his physical body in reality, he always felt there must be some unknown connection between the two.
Asking the mysterious person this question proactively served two purposes: first, to gather more information about the alternate world; second, to subtly convey to the other party the fact that he was not an indigenous person of this place, while simultaneously testing how many of his secrets the other person actually grasped.
Right now, he was truly staking everything on a single throw, gambling that this mysterious person would treat his savior, who didn’t belong to this alternate world, with kindness.
Long Chixuan was momentarily surprised that Bai Yu would ask such a question, but quickly understood, catching the probing undertone in the other’s words. Still, he revealed no excessive emotion, nor did he ask why the other didn’t know such a simple fact.
He simply gazed at the other person and slowly spoke: “On the surface, espers eliminating mutated creatures is a high-risk activity, and they require compensation allowances.”
This explanation left Bai Yu instantly stunned and incredulous. Just that?!
Just like that, they could disregard the innocent lives of ordinary civilians?
This was far more cruel than the reality he knew. In reality, at least without crossing red lines, human lives were still considered precious.
Perhaps sensing that Bai Yu’s expression of disbelief was far too obvious, Long Chixuan paused, frowned slightly, and a ripple stirred in his heart. Weighing his words, he revealed another secret of the alternate world: “Behind the scenes, this is actually for an unknown population streamlining plan.”
Hearing this, raw shock appeared directly in Bai Yu’s eyes. A population streamlining plan?!
The alternate world was already plagued by crises; the rate of human birth was likely far trailing behind the rate at which human lives were snuffed out. Under such circumstances, they were actually implementing a so-called population streamlining plan?!
Disregarding human lives and holding high positions while idling away in idleness, such behavior was utterly shocking.
Bai Yu was stunned into a daze. Seeing him suddenly turn blank, as if his earlier vigilance and caution were an illusion, Long Chixuan couldn’t help narrowing his long, narrow eyes slightly. The probing in his eyes grew heavier, and a flurry of thoughts churned in his heart.
Frowning involuntarily, he didn’t know what possessed him, perhaps an excessive urge to probe, as he watched the other person’s expression shift to slight perplexity, prompting him to continue: “Because even if the human population is gradually dwindling, it is still too many for the upper classes, especially ordinary people. By executing the population streamlining plan, those who survive are individuals with superior genes, capable of better adapting to an increasingly harsh environment while reducing various operational and expenditure costs.”
Pausing for a moment, he fixed his gaze on Bai Yu and continued: “The slums possess a mecha self-defense force deployed by the government, capable of warding off Level 2 and below mutated creature attacks. In addition, there are first-line mercenaries who can also fend off Level 2 and below mutated creatures, forming the most basic defense system. However, as reality deteriorates further, mechas and mercenaries can no longer meet defense demands. Only by paying money to the Esper Association can espers be dispatched to clear out higher-level mutated creatures. If no money is paid, they must hold on bitterly; even if they are wiped out, nobody cares.
Moreover, espers eliminating mutated creatures can reduce ling pollution to a minimum, lessening the degree of post-battle human ling infection and lowering the medical costs of healing. If the ordinary population decreases, costs regarding mechas and medical care will drop significantly. In the long run, the result is exactly what certain classes are happy to see.”
Bai Yu hadn’t expected this mysterious person to explain so much information about this world to him like an NPC. Yet after hearing these words, he felt only a deeper shock.
This world truly did not treat humans as humans.
Or rather, it did not treat ordinary people as humans.
Bai Yu parted his lips slightly, wishing to say something, but words failed to reach his lips. His mood at that moment could roughly be described as cynical.
Seeing the expressions on Bai Yu’s cold and indifferent face shift back and forth, Long Chixuan furrowed his brow deeper, thoughts boiling more furiously within him as he pondered.
The other person’s outward display of emotion right now didn’t match the persona of someone who had been vigilant and guarded just moments ago at all. It was as if this person was unconsciously trusting him?
The moment this thought emerged, Long Chixuan felt a jolt of surprise, his thoughts growing even deeper.
“Is there anything else you want to know?” he took the initiative to ask again, lowering his gaze to mask the profound depth of his desire to probe the man before him for more information, waiting very patiently for the conversation to continue.
Bai Yu hadn’t expected the mysterious person to ask him this. Snapping back quickly from his previous shock and daze, and realizing how he had just let down his guard and lost his composure before someone he ought to have been wary of, he felt a surge of internal regret and alarm.
Why did I suddenly drop my guard against this man? Could my favorable impression of him possibly outweigh my crisis instincts regarding survival?!
Furthermore, he had always been introverted and reserved, rarely revealing his thoughts at a glance. Yet before this mysterious person, he had unconsciously turned exceptionally different. It was truly bizarre.
Thinking this, Bai Yu hurriedly reined in his exposed emotions, not letting a shred of his self-reproach show as he managed to steady himself and put on a cold, aloof expression once more.
The mysterious person was asking him what else he wanted to know…
Even though his intuition told him there was an alternative motive behind the question, Bai Yu paused before voicing another doubt in his heart.
“You are also an esper; why would you show up to clean up mutated creatures in a town?”
Long Chixuan remained silent for a moment, giving Bai Yu a deep look before answering: “I am a vagrant, distinct from the espers of the Esper Association. Because the town hadn’t paid enough money yet was on the verge of peril, I came voluntarily to clean up the mutated creatures.”
As if calculating that Bai Yu wouldn’t know what a vagrant was, he continued to explain: “Every city has a wealthy district and a slum district. For the slum district to have espers eliminate mutated creatures, they must pay money to the Esper Association. In reality, however, this money is carved up by the ruling classes of the Asian, European, and American sectors, leaving ordinary people to live in dire straits and gasp for breath.
Under these circumstances, a batch of vagrants was bred, those who refused to join the Esper Association or defected from it, who voluntarily clean up mutated creatures for poor, endangered slums. Naturally, such vagrants are wanted by the Esper Association.”
He had come to this town to offer help. While scouting the situation, he had run into a group of Level 4 Tian Gou preparing to attack the town. Ordinarily, the battle would have been without suspense, but a sudden malfunction in his body had caused him to fall victim to the Tian Gou’s delaying esper power, gradually putting him at a disadvantage. Fortunately, he had been saved by the man before him, averting a fierce battle.
Hearing these vital pieces of information about the alternate world, Bai Yu developed a more profound understanding of this dream world, but simultaneously grew even more secretly alarmed.
Sure enough, in this world, there was only cruel and crueler.
Right now, two paths lay before him: one was to become an esper of the Esper Association; the other was to become a vagrant.
Yet no matter how he chose, becoming a vagrant seemed his only viable path; the Esper Association reeked of bottomless corruption no matter how he looked at it.
Pausing for a moment, Bai Yu confessed candidly: “I am actually an unregistered person.”
Hearing this, Long Chixuan was quite surprised, not because Bai Yu claimed to be an unregistered person, but because the other person would be so candid with him about it.
His brows furrowed even deeper, and a trace of doubt surfaced in his eyes. He couldn’t understand why the other party could be so bold in front of a stranger, completely exposing their own soft underbelly.
Such behavior was a million miles away from his projections, deepening the shock and suspicion in his heart and making him increasingly feel that the other person was putting on a flawless disguise. After all…
“So, the matter you want my help with?” After another moment of silence, Long Chixuan finally spoke. Though he asked this, he already held the answer in his heart.
Bai Yu remained oblivious to the myriad emotional storms raging in the person opposite him, speaking in a calm tone: “I need an identity. For certain reasons, I must have a fake identity.”
He paused. “My name is Bai Yu. You?”
Long Chixuan slightly lowered his eyelids, swiftly masking the deep contemplation toward Bai Yu that had just surfaced in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he spoke: “Phil.”
With that, he raised his head again to look straight into Bai Yu’s bright, attractive eyes. Hesitating for a tiny fraction of a second, he finally cast his esper power subtly toward the other person.
Yet the moment his power was cast, Long Chixuan’s pupils constricted in absolute shock, and he quickly lowered his eyelids to conceal the shock and loss of control raging in his heart.
It took a good one or two seconds before he fully snapped back to reality.
He had never encountered such a situation before.
His mind-link had actually failed to connect to the other person’s brainwaves this time.
This esper power was secretive and powerful; no esper had ever been able to escape it. Yet now, for the very first time, it had hit a wall against a man who did not belong to this world.
If the other party were inherently immune to this power, he wouldn’t have known upon their second meeting that the man didn’t belong to this world.
Such a scenario likely pointed to only one possibility: the other party had seen through his power and executed effective defense while continuing to put on a calm facade as if nothing had happened.
For the other party to pull this off implied a terrifying reality: their esper power might be at Level 6, or even surpass that maximum tier.
Furthermore, his own esper type was extremely rare, possessing the ability to modify biological genes. For such a person from another world, belonging neither to the Esper Association nor to vagrants and lacking any identity, setting aside why he had suddenly appeared here or what unknown purpose he carried, one could directly conclude that he was an excessively extreme and dangerous individual.
He had almost been deceived by the other’s outward display of vulnerability and fallen for the lie that the other might subconsciously trust him.
Long Chixuan’s mood turned icy cold instantly, a brewing tempest gradually gathering in the depths of his sharp pupils.
Yet the more out of control he felt, the calmer he appeared outwardly.
Silent for a moment, he lifted his eyes once more to look at Bai Yu, who was gazing at him earnestly. His expression was calm and profound as he spoke in a coaxing tone: “I can help you.”
Hearing this, Bai Yu felt a wave of delight; he hadn’t expected this mysterious person named Phil to agree so readily.
Thinking for a moment, he said, “Thank you. If there is anything you need my help with, I will definitely not hesitate to do whatever I can!”
Though it seemed he had nothing he could offer to help the other party with right now, just in case.
Long Chixuan narrowed his eyes slightly, calculating inwardly, while letting a hint of a smile surface on his lips as he spoke lightly and breezily: “A mere trifle. Just don’t cause trouble for me; I don’t want any more meddling.”
His smile made Bai Yu pause internally, unconsciously arousing a trace of guardiveness against him. He realized that this mysterious person was profound and dangerous, far more complex than merely displaying a powerful aura on the surface.
Yet this thought was fleeting, vanishing faster than he could grasp it. Bai Yu hurriedly offered reassurance: “Rest assured, I am a very measured person. I will definitely listen to you.”
Hearing this, Long Chixuan felt a trace of internal irony despite a slight sense of surprise. He cast a meaningful look at Bai Yu without speaking further, merely turning around to continue walking forward.
Seeing this, Bai Yu froze, then hurriedly followed.
Yet the powerful aura radiating from the other person’s body instantly receded, suddenly turning gentle and harmless. Staring intently at the other’s back, Bai Yu fell into a momentary daze before feeling secretly alarmed.
How can a person have such a massive contrast in the blink of an eye? This mysterious Phil was already impossible for me to figure out, and now this inscrutable feeling is even deeper. Being able to freely retract one’s aura and disguise oneself into a suitable persona according to the situation, such a person is definitely dangerous.
The other party had refreshed his impression of them once again. Which one of them was his true self? He had truly never understood this man!
Bai Yu frowned slightly, his mood growing heavier. He could only hope he wouldn’t end up as an enemy to this mysterious person, and that he wouldn’t be deceived by him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Long Chixuan watched Bai Yu walking behind him with a cold, thoughtful expression. Masking the complex, tangled emotions in his heart, he returned to absolute calmness and nonchalance. The black hood blocked the sunlight, plunging his entire face into shadow and making his expression unreadable.
He was as elusive as the wind, just as he himself had no clear reason for lingering here until he finally managed to catch Bai Yu.
Bai Yu followed closely behind Long Chixuan. Noticing that the other was intentionally slowing his pace to match his own, he felt a bit surprised and instantly grateful. Yet immediately afterward, he felt some self-reproach for once again dropping his guard and baseline vigilance in front of the other person. This is a dangerous man!
Suppressing his emotions, he stepped up to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with the other, turning his head toward Long Chixuan to ask, “Are we heading straight to the town?”
Long Chixuan lowered his gaze slightly to look at Bai Yu beside him, his pupils holding a smile tinged with profound meaning as he gazed far off toward the town and replied, “Those Tian Gou were merely lackeys. Deep in the forest, a king is likely lurking.”
Hearing this, Bai Yu froze instantly, his pupils constricting.
Damn it? This calm and placid forest doesn’t look like it’s hiding any even more terrifying mutated creatures at all!
Yet he couldn’t help recalling Jiang Jin’s mention of Guting Town and the latter’s speculation.
At that moment, the man in front of him spoke again: “This turmoil is likely to trigger a full-scale offensive by the Tian Gou. It’s going to get even more dangerous.”