The journey back to the city was calm and uneventful. Even the ear-splitting roar of engines that had originally filled the urban districts gradually weakened. It was hard to say whether the Administrator had realized that searching for the Outsider wouldn't be easy, or whether it was simply trying to let the Outsider lower her guard.
But none of that was something they needed to worry about right now. Thanks to the bread and snacks she had brought along when she "ran away from home," Chen Xiyao at least hadn't gone hungry on her first day after crossing over.
Feng Xue, however, was sitting against the wall with his eyes narrowed slightly, pondering a question—
Could real-world humans use Phantom Objects?
And if they could, would he be able to teach the other person Bu Tiange?
Although only the General Outline was complete, even without the special effect that increased agility, the boost Internal Force provided to the body was still enormous.
If she could learn Internal Force, protecting her would become much easier, wouldn't it?
But this was actually something he could answer simply by trying. The reason Feng Xue was still thinking about it was mainly that he hadn't made up his mind.
Ultimately, he hadn't taken in this girl out of kindness. He had done it purely for his own sake. In this situation, he wasn't considering how to increase the girl's chances of survival, but rather what choice would be best for himself.
On one hand, strengthening the girl's abilities would greatly improve her ability to survive. On the other hand, keeping her weak would help raise his standing in her eyes.
After all, even though both were journeys to retrieve the scriptures, Sun Wukong's status in Tang Sanzang's eyes and Tang Shanzang's eyes was completely different.
It was somewhat despicable, but it was for the sake of survival.
Temporarily suppressing the stirrings of his conscience, Feng Xue looked at the shivering girl huddled in the corner and sighed helplessly. Today was only the first day. There was probably still a long time to endure ahead of them!
There was no dawn in Infinite City. It was as if someone had simply flipped a light switch, and the sky suddenly brightened. Under the influence of her Biological Clock, Chen Xiyao slowly awoke in a daze. Only after more than thirty seconds of confusion did she finally remember that she had crossed over.
Compared to the excitement she had felt immediately after crossing over, all that remained in her heart now was helplessness and fear. At this moment, she finally understood why most novel protagonists were orphans. At least orphans had long since grown accustomed to loneliness.
As for her, she only wanted to go home.
She knew that this seemed rather spineless for someone who had crossed into another world, but she still couldn't help missing the soft bed at home, the hot breakfast, and...
"You're awake?"
A slightly cold voice came from nearby. The girl turned her head and saw the other person holding a bowl of something strange.
Strictly speaking, it should count as food, but Chen Xiyao looked at the stuff that seemed like weeds boiled in water and felt that it was still somewhat distant from the human diet.
"See if you can eat it. If you can't, I'll have to think of something else." Feng Xue knew that this stuff didn't look edible, either. But ultimately, the only food that could be reasonably obtained in the Landfill Area was Bran Brick. Under normal circumstances, Feng Xue could have asked Old Li whether there was anywhere to get the ingredients for those "luxuries" he had seen in Old Li's house.
But given the current situation, Feng Xue knew that even without thinking too hard that all the places selling luxury food ingredients had already been placed under strict control. Even if a regular customer came knocking, they might still be thoroughly searched.
Chen Xiyao seemed to realize that this wasn't the time to be picky. She took the bowl, which looked as if it had been hastily carved from wood, and tried pouring the contents into her mouth.
The liquid part was fine. At worst, it was a little bitter, so she could treat it as tea. But the stuff mixed with bran and bits of straw was genuinely difficult to swallow. Even though Feng Xue had used an assassin-level Saber Technique and the sharpness of Disassembly Madonna to finely chop the brick into minced bits, it was still essentially no different from eating sawdust.
"If you can't eat it, don't force yourself. If you upset your stomach, it'll just become my problem." Feng Xue sighed and took out another plate of food. Compared to the bowl of sawdust porridge, this stuff unquestionably looked more edible. In fact, merely looking at it made Chen Xiyao feel her saliva rapidly increasing.
"Roasted meat?"
"Yeah. Conditions are limited, so there are no seasonings. I only heated it until it was edible—though of course, I haven't tried it myself. There are no parasites in Infinite City, so even if it isn't fully cooked, it should be fine."
Chen Xiyao, who had eaten only a few snacks the previous day, had no time to worry about whether it was cooked through. As she said things like "medium-well is the most delicious" to console herself, she took the plate and shoveled the meat into her mouth. Like the chopsticks, plate, and wooden bowl, the chopsticks had all been hastily carved from wood, but they were remarkably smooth in her hand. As Chen Xiyao chewed the meat in her mouth, she felt that it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. Even without any seasoning, it was still incredibly flavorful.
But after a few bites, reason once again suppressed instinct. She forcibly stopped herself and reluctantly pushed the plate toward Feng Xue.
"Why don't you eat some, too?"
"Didn't I tell you? People in Infinite City don't need to eat." Feng Xue hurriedly waved his hands. Seriously, although Chen Xiyao was eating it with such relish, to him, this stuff was no different from deadly poison.
Yes, this was the meat of the Omen Feng Xue had killed the previous night. Inside the mosaic sphere above the Omen's head, there had only been two elements: [Aquatic] and [Biological]. Feng Xue didn't know exactly how strong it was, since he had killed the thing by sneaking up on it and chopping off half its head with a single stroke.
Ultimately, biological Omens were far easier to deal with than corpse-type ones.
Seeing Feng Xue's expression, Chen Xiyao didn't bother being polite again. She simply lifted the plate gratefully and continued shoveling meat into her mouth.
There wasn't much meat, and Chen Xiyao soon licked even the grease from the plate clean.
Only after setting down the bowl and chopsticks did Chen Xiyao realize how rough her table manners had been. Her face flushed with embarrassment, but Feng Xue clearly didn't care. He merely took the bowl of bran porridge and began absorbing the [Shi] within it.
It wasn't as if he lacked that little bit of [Shi] now, but with a falling-out with the Administrator possible at any moment, if he weren't worried that buying a large quantity of Bran Brick would arouse suspicion, he even wanted to exchange all the Tower Coins in his salary card for bricks.
Of course, even if things really reached that point, Feng Xue wouldn't truly be out of options. After all, the farmland was just outside the city. If he were pushed too far, it wasn't as if there was nothing he could do.
However, Feng Xue's vacant expression as he held the bowl of bran porridge was clearly too conspicuous, to the point that Chen Xiyao's eyes began to turn again—
There was no doubt about it. This girl seemed to have misunderstood something again...
As for the map of Infinite City, if you can't picture it, you can find a relatively complex image of a snowflake and imagine laying that snowflake over a sheet of white paper.
The center of the snowflake is the Residential Area and the Tower of Babylon. Each of the branches extending outward ends in a Landfill Area, while the empty spaces between the Landfill Areas are the wilderness. Beyond the snowflake's perimeter lies an even larger expanse of open wilderness. However, Infinite City's main roads consist of only four routes extending from the four large Landfill Areas to the southeast, northwest, and northeast—there are simply more branches.
Before you continue