The Walking Infection Source (Bonus Chapter 1)
Yu Xing "floated" out of the moving truck bed, supported by the black mist, preventing him from suffering any impact damage.
He slipped into the dense weeds on either side of the dirt road, his eyes following the truck as it continued to move forward, watching it gradually shrink as it headed towards the low hill outside the city.
There was a magnificent modern building on the mountain, hidden by layers of green trees, with only its roof visible. Yu Xing knew that it must be the Base 51 Survivor Base.
Base 51 warm, kind, and proactive.
The hills seem to be thriving, lush and green without the deathly stillness and pervasive eeriness of the city. Clearly, the mountains are much safer than the city.
Yu Xing became even more determined not to go to the base yet. At the very least, he could not openly enter and become a member of the base. Even if he wanted to go to explore in the future, he would be able to do so in a more free manner.
There was one person missing from the truck. Apart from the Little Curly whose memory had been deliberately influenced by Yu Xing, everyone else would definitely notice.
Yu Xing knew very well that no one would care about this, because everyone in the carriage was asleep and wouldn't know when he left, and the two people in the driver's cab who should belong to the base didn't know his identity either.
Even if he needs to enter the base later and happens to meet someone who has seen his face... firstly, he can say, "I'm used to being a lone wolf and don't want to enter the base, but thank you for your kindness," and secondly, he has the Rose Mask.
Yes, besides the most commonly used Sheqing Dreamscape, he has also retrieved the other sacrifices—the Role-Playing Certificate, the Rose Mask, and the Cage—from the ruins. This world has no restrictions, so even if he loses the Absurdity System and his binding relationship with these sacrifices changes, it doesn't affect his ability to use them.
It can be said that... Yu Xing is currently at his peak, a level he has never experienced before.
"Why aren't you coming along? Don't you want to go to the base?"
With no one else around, the dagger Yu Xing had put in the pocket of her "new uniform" began to stir, and Yi Qing's thoughts clearly came from the dagger.
Yu Xing seemed lost in thought, and subconsciously rubbed the hilt of the dagger through her pocket, without answering immediately.
A thin wisp of blue mist immediately dissipated, playfully wrapping around Yu Xing's fingers. The excessively cold and eerie temperature, deliberately manipulated by Yi Qing, seeped into the gaps between her fingers, startling Yu Xing and bringing her back to her senses.
"What are you doing?"
He looked at the blue mist and found it somewhat amusing. "Come out if you're bored."
As if he had been waiting for these words, the traces of control over the green mist suddenly dissipated, and the next second, a transparent figure appeared out of thin air above and to his side, accompanied by wisps of light mist, and slowly drifted down like a feather.
In just a few seconds, the transparent substance rapidly solidified. When Yi Qing had fallen to almost the same height as Yu Xing, only slightly higher because he didn't want to step on the ground, his body had completely solidified, exuding his usual elegance and lightness.
He wore wide robes and had long sleeves, and his hair was as black as ink. Each time he floated in the air, the ghostly aura around him would cause the blue hem of his robes, sleeves, and hair to flutter, making him appear very large and occupying a large area of the air.
"You've been asking me all the way, and that noisy child has been talking the whole way too. Do you know what situation we're in now?" Yi Qing produced another jade fan, and the jingling crystal ornaments on her chest were gone, but a jade pendant with a blue pearl pendant appeared at her waist.
Yu Xing glanced at the jade pendant a few more times and deeply felt that Yi Qing had a very high level of aesthetic taste and was also very wealthy.
He looked away, straightened the uniform he was wearing—a uniform left to him by some kind person at the base—and replied, "That's about it. What happened while I was asleep?"
"Nothing unusual, except that a guy who was supposed to be very strong collapsed as soon as he stepped out of the spatial passage, which really made me feel ashamed for him." Yi Qing covered the lower half of his face with his fan, leaving only his smiling eyes.
"Stop with the useless taunts. Don't think I didn't notice." Yu Xing didn't care at all and turned to walk towards the city. "I just arrived and I've already run into the system, haven't I?"
The system has always been something that cannot be seen, touched, or detected; it is more like a conceptual entity. Yu Xing cannot sense any trace of the system's existence in this space.
However, coincidentally, when he came out of the spatial passage, his state should have been between a concept and a physical human. So, by some twist of fate, he collided with the system, which was the barrier he sensed, and took advantage of the chaos that small part of the system was in with him to enter the barrier.
Yi Qing was somewhat surprised. "Oh dear, I thought you were completely unconscious..."
The implication was not one of denial.
Therefore, Yi Qing had already anticipated that they were not entering the real world, but rather a simulation game.
"Did you recognize the system the moment I bumped into it?" Yu Xing hadn't forgotten that this guy only stayed by his side because he was cooperating with the system. He knew Yi Qing's moral bottom line. If Yi Qing found it interesting, he would definitely do it.
So when he said this, his tone was natural, without any hint of blame, only a touch of sarcasm. "Not telling me, and trying to distract me by mocking me to cover for the system... what kind of wicked plan are you hatching?"
"I'm innocent! I just wanted to see if you had any memory of that time..." Yi Qing circled halfway in the air. There were so many places for him to float, but he insisted on floating behind Yu Xing, half a body length higher. Taking advantage of his spiritual weight, he placed his hands on Yu Xing's shoulders, pretending to be a spirit playing behind her.
"I recognized the absurdity, but it didn't recognize me, and we didn't communicate. Otherwise, why hasn't it pulled you back into the system yet?" Sheqing Ghost said logically, but whenever he was thinking of an idea related to Yu Xing, he stopped using the flowery "this humble one" and directly referred to himself as "I".
He definitely wasn't telling the whole truth.
Yu Xing laughed. He couldn't be bothered to expose Yi Qing for hiding behind him; wasn't it because he was afraid to let him see his expression and have his lie exposed?
He asked abruptly, "Is it disadvantageous to me?"
Yi Qing blinked, realizing that Yu Xing was actually asking, "Are you hiding something to harm me in collusion with the system?" But Yu Xing trusted him and left the answer to him.
It was as if, having received the answer, Yu Xing truly stopped pursuing or pondering the question.
Yi Qing's eyes darkened, she chuckled softly, and said with a sigh, "Absolutely not, you really are..."
He didn't say anything more about what it really was.
Instead, he readily changed the subject. "Where are you going? Are you heading into town?"
Yu Xing deliberately skipped the topic and said, "Yes, the city looks dangerous, but there must be a lot of information there. I'll go and build rapport with the ghosts first, and then I'll deal with the people at the base."
"Do you think there's something wrong with the base?"
In any case, it's certain that Yi Qing has no information about this world, and he doesn't like to think about other things; he just likes to ask questions.
Yu Xing clicked his tongue twice. "Ghosts are a virus in this world. The base doesn't know what methods it has to detect and eliminate them. And you, have you forgotten your true nature?"
"Yiqing, have you ever considered that in this simulation... you might also be a virus?"
------Aside------
This is an extra chapter for the Alliance Leader! Thank you so much, thank you all for your generous donations! There's more than one extra chapter; the rest will be released today.