USB Drive

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ling finally calmed down. He spoke coldly:

"Commander Han Meng, if you're finished questioning me... please leave my home."

Han Meng said nothing more. He stood up in silence and walked toward the door.

He pushed open the front door, and fluttering snow drifted into the room. His black four-stripe trench coat stirred slightly in the wind... He paused for a moment and looked back at Chen Ling.

"Whether you believe me or not, I've always been carrying out my duty... If you truly think this world lacks justice, then become that justice yourself."

"You passed the Martial Trial as the top-ranked Reserve Seat. You're now an official Enforcer, and you can report to headquarters tomorrow."

"And..."

"The qualification to enter the Martial Way Ancient Treasury is yours as well."

After saying this, he stepped into the heavy snow, his black trench coat gradually vanishing at the end of the street.

Chen Ling's gaze swept across the empty room, his expression somewhat complicated... Once Han Meng had gone far away, he too left the house and headed for the back mountain.

Mass Grave.

Chen Ling carried the uncut cake box and slowly sat down amid the snow.

"A-Yan, I'm here." He looked at the uneven pit he had dug before him and spoke softly.

Bits of snow clung to the young man's temples, making him seem gray-haired. He removed the candles from the cake one by one and planted them in the snow.

"You already made your wish before, so I won't light the candles... I'll cut the cake for you."

Chen Ling took a plastic knife from the box and slowly cut the cake into two portions. He placed one neatly before the pit, then took his own portion out of the box.

Ice and snow blew across the cake's surface. Chen Ling took a bite, unable to tell whether he was eating cream or ice chips.

As he chewed, he spoke indistinctly:

"A-Yan, you know what?"

"This world is really a goddamn mess... This cake tastes awful, yet it costs two hundred copper coins. In my old world, a cake bought with two hundred bucks would've been bigger and much tastier than this."

"If I had the chance, I'd really like to take you back with me. Even though your brother here was just a corporate drone, I still earned enough to make sure you never lacked food or clothes."

"But then again, if you came back with me, you'd definitely live better than I did... You're good-looking, and you sing opera beautifully. You could casually become a short-video influencer and get millions of followers. You'd be a bona fide inheritor of traditional Chinese culture."

Chen Ling's face had been frozen red by the cold wind. He viciously took several bites of cake and looked up at the sky.

"But this place has good things too..."

"The aurora here is beautiful, whether it's day or night."

"But what use is beauty?"

"Just staying alive already takes everything I have..."

"The path you gave me seems incredibly powerful, but it also seems like it'll affect my mind... Is this the hardship you were talking about?"

"Han Meng wants me to join the Enforcers, but the 'World-Ending' Calamity on me is a ticking time bomb. Once it erupts, I'll become the target of everyone... Looking at it that way, if I join that society or whatever, wouldn't that be taking things all the way in one step?"

"Rather than let them discover me and arrest me, wouldn't it be better to stand against them from the start?"

"A-Yan... how do you think I should walk the road ahead?"

Chen Ling muttered to himself before the pit.

Plop—

Just then, something slipped from his pocket and landed in the snow.

Chen Ling picked it up. It was the little silver square Chu Muyun had given him earlier, ice-cold to the touch in the biting wind.

Chen Ling remembered Chu Muyun saying that this thing might help him understand them better... But how was he supposed to use it?

He fiddled with the small silver square for a long time. With a gentle push of his fingertip, a silver sliding cover detached from the main body, revealing a section of silver metal with several square holes. No matter how he looked at it, it resembled a standard...

"USB drive?!"

Chen Ling stared at the USB drive in his hand in shock, utterly bewildered.

Ever since coming to this world, Chen Ling had believed that its technological level was roughly equivalent to the Republic of China era in his original world—kerosene lamps, rickshaws, salt spread to melt snow, old-fashioned pistols... But the sight of this USB drive suddenly left him dumbfounded.

Was this thing... supposed to exist in this world?

Where would this world even get a computer?

Without a computer, where was he supposed to plug this USB drive in?

Question after question flashed through Chen Ling's mind. As if possessed, he picked up the USB drive and inserted it into the snow beneath him...

The next moment, a string of dark green code automatically appeared on the snow!

[ID: 129439]

[Reading...]

[Read Complete]

Chen Ling rolled his eyes back and fainted on the spot.

"Whoosh—"

The sound of rushing water rang in his ears.

Chen Ling abruptly opened his eyes. As though he had just awakened from a nightmare, cold sweat soaked his back.

At some point, he had already left the Mass Grave and arrived in a narrow, square space. The sound of a toilet flushing gradually faded, replaced by a hurried knock on the door.

"Bro, are you done yet? I can't hold it anymore..."

Chen Ling came back to his senses, his gaze rapidly sweeping across his surroundings...

"...A restroom?"

Chen Ling's eyes widened in disbelief.

It wasn't the shabby restroom in his Frost Street home, but a clean, brightly lit modern restroom. From the motion-sensor light overhead to the "TOTO" toilet behind him, everything gave Chen Ling an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

"Did I... travel back??" Chen Ling's eyes were full of confusion.

"Bro, if you're gonna put your pants on, hurry up. If you don't, I really can't hold it anymore..." The man outside sounded frantic.

Chen Ling immediately pushed open the restroom door. The man in the Polo shirt outside was instantly overjoyed. He slipped sideways into the stall and slammed the door shut with a bang, followed by a comfortable groan...

Chen Ling looked around, then subconsciously quickened his pace and walked out of the restroom.

The first thing that came into view was Heytea.

Beside it were KFC, MUJI, Zhouheiya, Auntie Dumplings...

Looking at these familiar brands and the pedestrians walking through the mall, Chen Ling's pupils contracted slightly... As if he had thought of something, he broke into a mad sprint, forcing his way through the crowd and rushing outside amid countless strange stares!

The instant he saw the towering skyscrapers with his own eyes, only one thought remained in Chen Ling's mind...

He had truly returned.

"Did I... have a dream?" Chen Ling held his head in both hands and muttered, "No, if it was a dream... why did I wake up in a restroom?"

"Just now, I was at the Mass Grave, talking to A-Yan... Then I inserted the USB drive into the snow, and then..."

"Was it that USB drive??"

Just as Chen Ling was muttering to himself, the giant screen on the building opposite suddenly flickered.

"We interrupt this program with an emergency news report."

"At nine this morning, a crimson meteor grazed Earth. At the same time, small-scale earthquakes erupted across the country..."

"In just three minutes, more than a hundred buildings cracked apart and collapsed, including the Meishang Grand Hotel, Jiangkou Football Stadium, and the Capital Grand Theater... According to incomplete statistics, the death toll has currently exceeded two thousand..."