Chapter 239

Chapter 239

A shaft of daylight pierced through an irregular gap in the glass window, casting the silhouette of a tall, slender figure standing steadily on the floor.

Eve dusted off the shards of glass clinging to her clothes. After smashing through the window, she had quickly rolled on the spot to absorb most of the impact. Though the move looked risky, she hadn’t sustained any serious injuries—the only drawback was her now-dirty clothes.

Only after doing all this did she have time to scan her surroundings.

This floor was a sky restaurant, located on one of the higher levels of the skyscraper. The restaurant was frozen in time from before the disaster struck: crimson checkered tablecloths were set with porcelain-white plates and metal cutlery, all now covered in a thin layer of dust. Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the perimeter—precisely why Eve had chosen to break in through here.

The skyscraper loomed, incredibly tall. Just facing this empty scene, one could imagine how, many centuries ago during the Old Era, people had sat facing each other here, enjoying fine food while taking in the urban landscape and the great river flowing far below from such great heights.

Eve wasn’t in a hurry to start exploring just yet. Instead, she first sent messages to Yan Ning and Qi Ying, who had entered earlier.

There had to be a reason why the map still hadn’t been updated after all this time, right?

What surprised her, though, was how quickly the two of them showed up.

Almost as soon as she sent the message, figures materialized right before her eyes.

Yan Ning released Qi Ying’s hand and rushed forward, trying to throw an arm around Eve’s neck. Eve tried to sidestep, but Yan Ning had anticipated it and succeeded anyway. Grinning triumphantly as she held the reluctant girl, Yan Ning chirped, “Eve, sis.”

“......” Eve’s gaze fell to their feet, and she couldn’t help but ask sincerely, “What’s going on with you two?”

She hadn’t even bothered to ask about the mission yet—a clear sign of how surprised she was.

“It’s a long story,” Yan Ning said, drawing a small circle in the air with her finger. “Do you know how tall this building is?”

Eve shook her head.

Basic information about a building was usually listed on the construction permit on the first floor, but she hadn’t passed through the first floor—she had “flown” in directly. Naturally, she had no idea.

Yan Ning hummed lightly. “Five hundred meters tall. Climbing that on foot would kill a person. So Qi Ying used his ability to digitize us. It saved a lot of effort. Our physical bodies are hidden somewhere else. Now, wherever we want to go, we can just teleport—fast and convenient.”

“If it’s that convenient,” Eve finally asked the question she had intended from the start, “then why hasn’t the civilization point been confirmed yet?”

She didn’t ask with any accusatory tone, merely feeling that, given Yan Ning and Qi Ying’s abilities—strength and means—plus Lin Cuimei, if even they hadn’t managed to secure the civilization point, there must be something unusual about this place.

But even though Eve was only asking out of curiosity, someone still couldn’t help but avert their eyes awkwardly. Yan Ning’s gaze shifted evasively. “...The target object here is a bit hard to catch.”

“Hard to catch?”

It couldn’t be a living thing, could it?

“Not alive, but almost,” seeing Yan Ning hesitate, Qi Ying took over. “Almost everything in this building can move. Sometimes, the mere act of opening a door means the items inside might have shifted positions or even been moved to adjacent rooms. The layout of the same floor can change suddenly, as if... the building itself is alive.”

He said gravely. “Under these conditions, it’s hard for us to find what we need. Lin Cuimei is probably in the same situation. When she first entered, she likely found a valid item in one of the rooms that could prove this is a civilization point, but for some reason, she didn’t upload it immediately. Now she’s returned and can’t find it anymore.”

If that were really the case, you could say Lin Cuimei was just unlucky, I suppose.

“If even you two, in your digitized forms, can’t keep up with the frequency of the floor’s changes, then it’s understandable that Lin Cuimei couldn’t return and confirm it in time. But I don’t think she’d make such an obvious mistake,” Eve rubbed her chin in thought. “I’m more inclined to think that when she arrived, this place was still normal, but some anomaly occurred afterward.”

Since the mission required exploring this deserted city, and the previous civilization points had been excavated without any issues, she didn’t really believe the anomaly here was set up by the organizers.

“...Speaking of which, during the pre-match briefing, did Chris say why this planet was abandoned?” Eve asked thoughtfully.

Qi Ying shook his head. “It’s one of the earliest origin planets—too ancient. The details of its rise and abandonment are already very vague.”

“Alright,” Eve reluctantly dropped the subject. “Let’s focus on completing the civilization point mission first.”

She took two steps forward, but the other two didn’t follow. Yan Ning leaned in and asked, “Aren’t you going to digitize your body too? We don’t have time to accompany you walking slowly, and digitization is much more convenient.”

“...Is there a good hiding spot nearby?”

Eve was tempted to try it—Yan Ning’s smug look suggested that digitization didn’t impose extra restrictions on movement. But after all, this was happening in reality, so she still had some reservations.

A blue light flashed twice. Qi Ying disappeared momentarily before reappearing, expressionless. “There’s a temporary staff breakroom on this floor. We can go there.”

The so-called staff breakroom was only about a few square meters in size. Several sets of waiter uniforms—white shirts and black vests—hung on hooks behind the door. A long table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by seven or eight scattered mesh-backed chairs. Cups of varying heights were placed on the table—evidently a place where restaurant employees changed clothes and ate.

Under Yan Ning’s chattering guidance, Eve efficiently broke the lock after locking the door from inside, then pulled out a chair and sat down. Qi Ying had already summoned his Spiritual State. A glowing blue spider crawled leisurely in mid-air for a couple of circles. Holding Eve’s hand, Qi Ying instructed, “I don’t have a physical body right now. Just channel your spiritual energy through your hand to me. Digitization will take a bit of time; dizziness is normal.”

“Okay.”

Eve nodded her understanding.

Yan Ning sat on the table nearby, idly twirling her pistol. Since even her current form was digitally simulated, the restrictions from the start of the match no longer applied—she could even project an ion cannon for herself without any trouble.

Though her hands kept busy with small movements, her eyes kept flicking toward the other two. Shortly after, seeing Eve’s body go limp and slump down, she quickly jumped off the table. “How is it?”

“Wait a moment. The scale of her spiritual energy is immense.”

The frequency of the spider-like Spiritual State twitching in mid-air was even higher than when he had digitized two people simultaneously earlier. Qi Ying frowned, veins bulging on his temples from strain, but soon, his expression went blank.

A sense of foreboding gripped Yan Ning’s heart. “Where’s Eve?”

“She was in the conversion process just now, but... a more suitable power source than ours forcibly yanked her away. I tried to hold her back, but I couldn’t,” as he spoke, Qi Ying seemed to remember something, his expression suddenly turning grim. “Damn, I forgot...”

—He had forgotten that in this match, she already had a simulated body generated by data fitting. If digitized, the system would automatically assign her to that more suitable body instead of creating a new digitized one.

Walk by the river often, and your shoes will get wet. Rely too much on shortcuts, and things are bound to go wrong.

Yan Ning still didn’t know that “Lu Qing” was Eve. Anxious at his half-explanation, she stomped her foot in frustration. “What did you forget? How could you lose a perfectly good person! Are you even reliable? Can you pull her back?”

“......”

It wasn’t really his fault, was it? Clearly, it was Eve’s own issue.

Qi Ying took a deep breath, deciding to be the bigger person and not bother arguing with Yan Ning. “Theoretically, it should be possible to pull her back. Let me try.”

He closed his eyes again. The spider-like Spiritual State slowly pulsed in mid-air. In the blue sea of data, a new body indeed gradually formed beside him, stretching into a tall figure.

The first to appear was the shimmering silver-white hair, followed by the slender torso and gradually defined face. Probably due to the struggle with the system, Eve’s digitization process seemed arduous. The area of her face was frantically shaped and reshaped by scrolling “1”s and “0”s, looking somewhat grotesque against the already clear torso. Fortunately, it finally stabilized.

Her long eyelashes fluttered, and then a pair of bright gemstone-blue eyes opened. She reached out, and a slender Tang blade appeared in her palm. The moment she gripped the weapon, the unique aura of “Eve” surged forth.

“Wow,” Yan Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re finally back. You scared me.”

Hearing this, Eve glanced at her faintly but said nothing.

The Spiritual State was immediately withdrawn. Qi Ying, as if drained of all strength and means, slumped backward with a thud. Whether it was his imagination or not, when Eve turned her head just now, he thought he saw two pupils in those light blue, beautiful eyes... But blinking, she appeared normal again—probably just a trick of the eye from exhaustion.

He coughed lightly. “Test if the functions are working properly. If everything’s fine, since you’re the team leader, we’ll follow your lead from now on.”

“It’s working. Feels even better than I expected.”

Rolling her shoulder joint, “Eve” curled her lips into a faint smile, one filled with an indescribable interest—like a child with a new toy or a beast just released from its cage. After a moment’s thought, she hung the Tang blade at her waist and said, “Then let’s head to the ground floor first.”

“Huh?”

Both Yan Ning and Qi Ying froze for a second. The ground floor was a place everyone passed through upon entry, and the two had already scoured it thoroughly. If there had been anything unusual, they would have noticed it long ago. Thus, they couldn't wrap their heads around why Eve had made such a request.

"I have my own matters to check," the silver-haired girl cut in, grabbed Qi Ying’s wrist like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Quit giving me that dumb look. Just do as I say."

-

Meanwhile, in the fading smell of disinfectant and the slightly chilly air, Eve opened her eyes.

It was an unfamiliar place, yet felt vaguely familiar. In the darkness, only a small "Emergency Exit" sign on the corridor wall was casting an eerie green glow. The mask and cloak hid Eve’s confused expression, allowing her to observe her surroundings discreetly.

She wasn't fighting alone; someone nearby was speaking in a hushed voice.

"That freaking thing... is still chasing us..."

"It’s not even the Zerg? How could there be living beings in the competition besides the contestants and the Zerg?"

"Damn it... I'm so done. It just won’t die. Every time we kill one, another splits off. It’s not even that strong, but it’s just plain creepy. We’re too scared to even fight back."

"Never mind that. Wait, it seems to be coming again. Quick, let’s find a place to hide!"

The group was visibly agitated, glancing around nervously until one of them spotted the only relatively large room on the floor: "There’s a morgue over there! We can hide inside!"

"But that’s a morgue..."

"At a time like this, we can’t afford to be picky!"

The one who voiced the complaint shrugged reluctantly. Soon, everyone had taken refuge in the new location, and even Eve, who was still trying to grasp the situation, was pulled inside.

With a click, the last person threw the bolt shut. Not long after the door was locked, a series of soft but creepy thumping sounds gradually grew louder, echoing from a distance.

Eve: "..."

She really wanted to know what Qi Ying had done to her, making her go from the downtown observation tower one moment to a hospital morgue the next.