Three Drops of Blood
Lin Nieran looked at Lin Yi as if he were looking at his past self reliving this scene.
When he was very young, Lin Yi was the Master of this body.
Lin Nieran's personality was actually born a long time ago, but at that time he had no name and no clear consciousness.
In other words, his dissociative identity disorder was not as severe at that time.
I don't know when he was born.
Children's memories are not very good to begin with. Coupled with the passage of time and their own malnutrition and delayed development, they don't remember what happened afterward very clearly. It's all hazy, as if veiled by an unclear layer of mist.
A moment later, 007's shutdown ended, and the little ball flew to Lin Yi's side. A mechanical voice that both Lin Nieran and Lin Yi could hear came from behind.
[A qualified candidate detected... Hello, I am System 007, and I bound you as my host at 4:44 AM today.]
[The binding is irreversible; if you die, I will also suffer severe damage.]
[We have detected that this world is on the verge of destruction for unknown reasons. Your vital signs are chaotic and weak. If you refuse the mission, you only have ten years to live.]
[Do you want to bind it?]
The young Lin Yi looked at the little fox with a blank expression, then turned his gaze to Lin Nieran, his face full of confusion and bewilderment.
It's all in Chinese, how come he can't understand it?
"So that's how it is." Lin Nieran looked at 007, who had triggered the automatic offline mode, and the memories in his mind gradually became clear.
"So that's how it is."
Lin Nieran smiled, patted Lin Yi's head, and said, "Promise it. It... is a pretty good system."
Lin Yi nodded, somewhat bewildered, and responded to 007 as instructed.
007 popped up a long contract interface. Lin Yi didn't recognize many words and couldn't understand what the contract said.
Lin Nieran said, "Sign your name."
Lin Yi hesitated, unsure where to begin, Lin Nieran took his hand and carefully wrote "Lin Yi" stroke by stroke.
[Congratulations, host, you have successfully bound yourself to System 007!]
[The system is currently in offline mode. A single mission is now available: Leave the Orphanage safely. Mission reward: Three drops of blood.]
Lin Nieran asked, "Isn't the reward for fulfilling the wish?"
After binding itself to a host, 007 returned to its normal demeanor and said, "[Host, this is a fixed program in offline mode. It will activate when a suitable host is found to prevent missing it. This mission isn't actually difficult, but the reward isn't that great.]"
Lin Nieran narrowed his eyes. "007, explain to me first, what exactly is going on with this mission and the host?"
"When!"
The heavy bell tolled at five in the morning, and all the children got out of bed and gradually got dressed and washed up.
Lin Yi also got up, put on his usual drab clothes, and went out with his friends in the cool March morning breeze.
The Corridor was dimly lit in the early morning, and the sun had not yet fully risen outside the window, but the Corridor was already bustling with children of different ages.
The Disciplinarian Director stood in the Corridor, dressed in a black uniform and thick, high-top boots, holding a thin, black pointer in his hand, his eyes scanning back and forth, watching every child coming and going.
"Hurry up, don't dawdle! You'll get points deducted if you're late!"
Lin Yi hurried towards the stairs through the crowd, while Lin Nieran followed leisurely behind him. The 007 little fox, who was on standby, also perched on Lin Nieran's shoulder, looking quite relaxed.
Lin Yi said enviously, "I wish I could be like you. I wish I could switch bodies with you."
Lin Nieran's relaxed expression faltered, his face turning complicated. "Really? I think your idea is dangerous. I'd better not."
"Didn't you say we're the same person?" Lin Yi asked softly, "Can't I give you my body?"
"Sure," Lin Nieran said. "So, are you going to give it to me?"
Lin Yi thought for a moment and asked him, "Can you pray? Can you recite texts? Cocoa Beans?"
"I can't, I'm too lazy." Lin Nieran frowned.
Lin Yi sighed like a little adult, "Then forget it. You're so stupid, you'll go hungry and cause me to lose points."
Lin Nieran:...
[Haha!] 007 laughs loudly.
"What are you laughing at?" Lin Nieran grabbed the little fox by the ear. "Tell me, what's going on here? Why are we encountering Lin Yi in this Instance? Is this Instance, or have we been transported to some spatial node?"
007 hesitated: [This doesn't really look like Instance... but the setting here does resemble Instance.]
"Didn't you record this data?"
[No, it's blank]
What use are you?
Although that's what they said, Lin Nieran already understood the current situation.
This is definitely not just a simple Instance. There shouldn't be a native like Lin Yi in the Instance, because the real Lin Yi and Lin Nieran are still in the Minchuan District.
I don't know which personality has taken over his body since he came here... I hope he doesn't cause any trouble; those personalities are all more troublesome than the last.
To put it another way, let's hope they remember to use his Item before doing anything bad.
As they spoke, Lin Yi had already descended to the Dining Hall on the first floor.
The Dining Hall was enormous, with an open ceiling. In the very Dining Hall stood a Statue whose face was obscured, holding a child in its Statue, and it looked very kind.
On either side of the Statue were numerous tables and chairs, which were now mostly occupied by children.
Lin Yi lowered his head and went to his seat, but today was different from usual; there was a chattering young man behind him.
Lin Nieran pointed to the table in front of him and said to the system, "007, look, isn't that Qin Rang and his men?"
[Yes, host, were they in this Orphanage before?]
"How could that be? They must have been sucked in, probably to Instance."
Lin Yi looked in the direction they were pointing and saw several children sitting at the table in front of him who seemed out of place.
They also looked sallow and thin, but their eyes and overall demeanor were completely different from others. Even though they deliberately hunched their backs and lowered their heads, you could still tell at a glance that they were alive.
[The Calamity Crossing Squad is streaming again! Come watch!]
They've all turned into little kids! So cute!
[Looks much weaker now, hopefully it won't crash again.]
[This is the Chocolate Orphanage Instance. Wasn't this Instance supposed to be expanded? The Calamity Crossing Squad really does go wherever there's danger.]
[Are there really this many people watching this live stream? I don't think it's a global live stream, is it?]
[Speaking of which, although it wasn't a global live stream, there seemed to be an unusually large number of entry points to the live stream this time.]
[They've reunited! Hmm? Tao Yuan and An Ying both chose to dye their hair black first!]
[Wow, so many kids! I haven't seen so many kids in ages!]
Why does this child look so much like Qin Rang?
[Wasn't Qin Rang imprisoned in Authorities jail? How could he be here? You must be mistaken.]
[He really does look like Qin Rang!]
"Do you think this is really the captain as a child?"