The bearded man pulled Lin Jie and his sister into the truck.
It was a large cargo truck, with plenty of room inside.
"Go on in. Your friends are inside too."
"Friends?" Lin Jie looked inside in confusion.
There were two familiar faces.
"Lin Jie? Come on, get in!" the man inside called out.
"Lin Jie, you're here too!" The girl was also delighted.
"Xia Qu? Chen Li? You're on this truck too?" Lin Jie and his sister sat down across from them.
The bearded man smiled. "I knew you knew each other! I'll head up beside the driver's seat. Come find me if you need anything."
The bearded man got up and entered the cab at the front.
Xia Qu asked in confusion, "Lin Jie, weren't you going to join the Administrators? How did you end up on a Resistance Army truck?"
Lin Jie shook his head. "Something unexpected happened. Anyway, Xia Qu, what's going on now? And what is the Resistance Army?"
"I only just figured things out myself," Xia Qu said. "At the time, Master Chen and I were getting ready to take part in a new game, hoping to earn some lifespan."
"But before it could start, someone blasted through the wall and rescued us."
"They called themselves the Resistance Army. They're opposed to the Administrators."
Lin Jie pondered this. "So these troops in white armor are the Resistance Army?"
"More or less," Xia Qu replied. "There are many resistance armies. They're called the Realm of Life, one branch of the Resistance Army."
"The Resistance Army's goal is to break the Administrators' monopoly on lifespan, so everyone can gain lifespan and return to reality."
Lin Jie thought it over. "So where are they taking us?"
Xia Qu shook her head. "They said they would take everyone to their base, then make proper arrangements for us there."
"I don't know any more details."
Things had changed so drastically. Lin Jie had originally been about to join the Administrators, but now he was on a Resistance Army truck.
His immediate priority was to ask the bearded man about the situation.
After a moment of silence, Lin Jie stood up and went to the cab door.
He raised his hand, about to knock.
The door opened with a bang.
The bearded man stood in the doorway and beckoned him in.
"I knew you'd come. Find a seat. Sit wherever you like."
Lin Jie sat down on a small chair in the cab.
Stroking his beard, the bearded man said in a deep voice, "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Zhou Yun. I'm a general of the Realm of Life."
Lin Jie spoke as well. "My name is Lin Jie. I'm a newcomer who only just arrived."
The bearded man smiled. "You don't need to introduce yourself, Lin Jie. I know who you are."
"Our leader repeatedly told me to make sure I rescued you safely and got you to our destination without a hitch."
"Now my mission is halfway done, more or less."
Lin Jie frowned. "Your leader? Specifically asked you to rescue me? I don't remember knowing anyone in the Realm of the Dead."
"And what do you mean by rescuing me?"
Zhou Yun laughed heartily. "You'll know once we get there!"
"Our Oracle also told me you would react this way!"
Oracle?
Lin Jie remembered that Fox had used that word too, before fleeing.
Zhou Yun looked at Lin Jie. "You seem to have a lot of questions. Don't hold back. Ask away!"
Lin Jie spoke. "You're the Resistance Army? Who are you resisting?"
Zhou Yun stroked his beard. "Our organization is called the Realm of Life. A pretty nice name, wouldn't you say?"
"As for who we're resisting, naturally, it's the organizers of the death games-the Administrators."
Lin Jie continued, "Xia Qu told me you organized this resistance to break the Administrators' monopoly on lifespan?"
Zhou Yun's expression suddenly grew peculiar. "That young girl's name is Xia Qu, right? Actually, to spare the newcomers, we didn't tell her the truth."
"In fact, these so-called lifespan rewards are nothing but a lie made up by the Administrators."
"No one who has entered the Realm of the Dead has ever truly left."
Lin Jie raised his eyebrows. "That can't be right. I've returned to reality myself."
Zhou Yun shook his head. "That was an Illusion. The Administrators recreate events from reality within an Illusion."
"But in fact, you never went back at all, nor could you affect reality."
What?
Lin Jie could hardly believe it. "Why would they do that?"
Zhou Yun said quietly, "I can't say much more. Once we get there and you meet our leader, you'll understand everything."
"So by 'rescuing us,' you mean saving everyone from the Administrators' death games?"
Zhou Yun nodded. "Yes. After all, as I just said, the claim that participating in death games lets you return to reality is nothing but a scam."
Lin Jie was still unconvinced.
I never went back? How is that possible?
He had carried out the theft, bought a drink at the gas station, and personally shot the gunman who had killed him.
He had also watched his sister die before his eyes.
All of that was just an Illusion?
Then why did my sister still come to this world?
Without betraying anything, Lin Jie asked other questions. "You're called the Realm of Life? What kind of organization are you, exactly?"
"And what was that battle just now about?"
"Where is this truck headed now?"
Zhou Yun smiled.
"We're just a group of ordinary people who came to the Realm of the Dead, like you. We joined forces for one shared goal-"
"To return to reality from the Realm of the Dead."
"As for that battle just now, you saw it yourself."
"Those animal-people we attacked were Administrators."
"Those little buildings we blasted open were the places they used to hold death games."
"You took part in a death game in that building, didn't you?"
"And it wasn't just you."
"There are lots of those little buildings. Every day, many newcomers come here from the black houses."
"They die in reality, and as soon as they arrive in the Realm of the Dead, they have to meet the Administrators and take part in all kinds of games that can get them killed."
"The Administrators also recruit newcomers who perform exceptionally well, having them put on masks and become new Administrators."
Lin Jie recalled what Fox had done.
At first, Fox had tried to swindle him out of his ring. Later, after discovering how well Lin Jie performed, he had single-mindedly tried to get him to put on a mask and join the Administrators.
"So our attack this time was meant to rescue the newcomers from those Administrators."
Then Zhou Yun changed tack. "But rescuing newcomers wasn't our only goal in this operation."
"We had an additional mission: rescue Lin Jie."
Lin Jie was puzzled. "You know me? But I'm just an ordinary newcomer too."
Zhou Yun laughed heartily. "You're anything but ordinary. We even knew you would kill an Administrator and take a trip through an Illusion created by Fox."
"We also knew that if we were a step too late, you would put on the Stag mask and join the Administrators."
"That was far too close. Luckily, we arrived in time."
Lin Jie frowned. "Impossible! How did you know all that?"
"You even knew I would choose the Stag mask?"
"There's no way you could have been there at the time!"
Zhou Yun seemed to have anticipated Lin Jie's reaction. "It's only natural that you're confused."
"We didn't need to be there."
"We knew even before you came to the Realm of the Dead."
"Because we have the Oracle."
The Oracle again.
Lin Jie had heard this word more than once now.
Before Fox fled, he had said that the Oracle had told him they would meet again.
And now Zhou Yun said the Oracle had told them that Lin Jie would come to the Realm of the Dead, that he would win the games, and so on.
The Oracle could even foresee that Lin Jie would choose the Stag mask.
Was this Oracle really that powerful?
Lin Jie spoke. "Who exactly is this Oracle you're talking about?"