Construction of Vanguard City is in full swing, with many wanderers joining in, and everything is progressing rapidly.
Xu Xiao needs to get up at five o'clock every morning to work, doing the most basic physical labor, taking a one-hour break at noon, and not being able to rest until about six o'clock in the evening.
They seem to only work 12 hours a day, which is better than some entrepreneurs before the apocalypse, but it doesn't mean they are kind-hearted.
The problem is that most of the homeless are malnourished, and since Vanguard City is not yet fully built, all construction work can only be carried out during the day, and basic electricity is not provided to the surrounding areas at night.
This kind of life continued for more than half a year. As he watched Vanguard City rise from the ruins, Xu Xiao had become somewhat accustomed to it.
It's tiring and undignified, but at least I can live safely.
But whenever he wakes up in the middle of the night, especially after waking up from those bizarre dreams, Xu Xiao always feels a sense of emptiness.
'Life shouldn't be like this!'
'I shouldn't be living like this!'
'I feel like I've forgotten something, but why can't I remember?'
Xu Xiao grabbed his hair and ruffled it haphazardly, then tapped his head in frustration.
Unfortunately, this action did not help him recall any other information, so he could only helplessly bury his head in the pillow and continue sleeping.
Three years have passed in the blink of an eye, and Xu Xiao is now a seasoned veteran at the Vanguard City city base.
Despite being only 20 years old, he already exudes a sense of weariness, living numbly in a life where he can see the end from the beginning.
After its construction was completed, Vanguard City officially got on track, and in the past three years, it has driven away or wiped out all the wild mutated beasts in the vicinity.
In particular, several neighboring major cities have successfully eliminated most of the risks after multiple punitive missions.
As the reputation of Vanguard City spread, the number of wanderers in the outer bases also increased, making the competition more intense.
After completing his original task of building the city, Xu Xiao joined the outer city's cleaning team and became a professional scavenger.
They were responsible for entering the city ruins, where most of the mutated beasts had been driven away, to collect supplies.
Whether it's electrical appliances, data, or metal medicine, you can exchange them for contribution points in Vanguard City, which can then be used to obtain basic food and energy supplies.
At this moment, Xu Xiao stood at the window of the recycling center in the outer city, quietly waiting for the evaluation inside.
"This trip was alright. These boxes of medicine haven't expired, and I can take these few pieces of gold for you, but the rest is out of the question."
As they spoke, a chubby hand reached out from the window and pushed some of the items back.
It was a broken media player and several USB drives.
"I've looked at everything. There's not much data on the USB drive, just some old movies and TV series. It has no recycling value whatsoever."
"That player is broken too, and there's not much point in repairing it. I can't exchange these for contribution points for you, so please take them back yourself."
The people inside the window were quite polite to Xu Xiao, after all, Xu Xiao was a veteran of Vanguard City and one of the cleaning team members who often brought back a good haul.
He just doesn't know how to flatter or has any connections to help him, which is why he's always been a scavenger in the sanitation team.
Xu Xiao silently handed over his ID card, waited for the contribution points to be recorded, and then took it away along with the returned items.
Carrying his pile of unwanted junk, Xu Xiao traded it for some food and returned to a corner of the outer city.
The hut, made of a few broken planks and some industrial waste, looked dilapidated, but at least it could provide shelter from the wind and rain.
Xu Xiao casually placed unwanted junk in a corner of the room, then slowly chewed on his food, his eyes vacant.
After he had eaten and drunk his fill, and was still not very sleepy, he suddenly had a whim and picked up the pile of junk again.
After examining it carefully for a while, Xu Xiao rummaged through a corner of the small room and found some tools, then began to disassemble the machine.
'Let's give it a try. If it's fixed, I should be able to exchange it for contribution points. If not, I'll take out the good parts and save them up to exchange for supplies.'
Having survived the apocalypse for several years, Xu Xiao is not one to miss any opportunity to extract resources, and he begins to dismantle things using the knowledge he has gained over the years.
Whether it was good luck or a genuine talent for repair, the player was successfully fixed after more than two hours.
Feeling somewhat satisfied, Xu Xiao connected a power cord to the room and then plugged in a USB drive.
Having not witnessed traces of past civilizations for a long time, he also wanted to watch films and television shows from the past to soothe his barren Mind Stone.
However, when the player was turned on, the image that appeared was of Xu Xiao himself, dressed in Hagoromo.
The moment their eyes met, it felt like the Big Bang in Xu Xiao's mind.
A powerful sense of cause and effect pulsed around him, and images that had only appeared sporadically in his dreams began to surface in his mind.
Chronicle, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and the Return of the Condor Heroes, Marvel, Lucy, Limitless...
Images flashed through Xu Xiao's mind, and an aura erupted from his body.
"I remember now! I remember! Haha! Is this the illusion of the inner demons?"
His once unwavering eyes were now full of life, and Xu Xiao's dejected demeanor vanished, replaced by a strong sense of confidence.
As his memories returned, his true spirit, which had been clouded by his inner demons, shone brightly once more. Although he was still in an illusion, he was no longer the scavenger Xu Xiao, but the immortal Xu Xiao!
"Damn it! It still didn't work!"
Another Xu Xiao walked in from the perimeter of the camp, his face showing some annoyance.
"A very clever method. It uses my original cause and effect to trigger the memories of my true Spiritual Power, thereby creating an illusion that mirrors my original destiny."
"If I hadn't condensed the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit and been constantly correcting this future, and hadn't used the power of the World-Crossing Gate to conceal myself within the process of inevitably obtaining a cheat ability, I might have fallen into your trap."
Xu Xiao smiled as he looked at the other person, expressing his appreciation for their methods.
The inner demon Xu Xiao's anger subsided slightly, then he stopped as if resigned, standing in front of Xu Xiao.
"You win. My chances of winning were already slim, and now it seems I really have no chance at all."
"However, we are one, and even now we still cannot see through the origin of this World-Crossing Gate. You'd better take care of yourself."
As he spoke, the figure of the inner demon Xu Xiao vanished, and the illusion began to collapse on its own.
Xu Xiao's spirit was freed from the gloom, and when he opened his eyes again, he was already in the Tushita Palace.
"Even as it was about to dissipate, it still had to disgust me one last time. It's true, inner demons are truly incurable."
Xu Xiao had certainly suspected the origins of the World-Crossing Gate, but that was in the past.
Now, with his broadened horizons, he has completely let down his guard against it.
"It's already lucky that such a treasure and opportunity, which I couldn't even see through, ended up in my hands. Whether it was destined or a scheme by a powerful being, I can only enjoy it peacefully."
"Are we going to throw the baby out with the bathwater and worry about something we have absolutely no control over?"
"It's boring; improving myself is the most important thing."
Xu Xiao's eyes gleamed, and the illusory Dao Fruit floating behind his head gradually solidified, then slowly began to merge with him.