Chapter 80-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 80
Bai Shan went to the outskirts of Hai City, and there, she finally understood why no one had ever successfully escaped.
"If you walk outward, the Game Panel automatically pops up."
"A lot of people collapsed nearby."
Choosing to leave within twelve hours meant the Game Panel would spring up without warning like a virus, triggering a rejection response. After twelve hours, ordinary people without Talent abilities couldn't take a single step in a world overrun by mutants.
Lin Huijun and Jiang Yusong stared at Bai Shan in disbelief — Jiang Yusong especially, her expression as horrified as if she'd seen a ghost.
"It pops up automatically? Then are you... okay?"
Bai Shan gave her a deadpan look. "No, I'm dead. What you're looking at right now is my ghost."
Jiang Yusong's expression grew even more terrified. Bai Shan's current appearance was rather convincing — deathly pale face, bloodless lips, hair still dripping water. She didn't look like she was telling a bad joke.
"As long as you keep the Light-Seeking Algae or any other weird Hai City stuff from touching the Game Panel, you'll be fine."
The two noticed the flashlight in Bai Shan's hand, and Jiang Yusong understood — she must have switched on the high-powered flashlight just in time to stop the Light-Seeking Algae from reaching the Game Panel, which was why she'd survived, just like Jiang Yusong herself.
Jiang Yusong thought this girl's luck was terrifyingly strong. If she hadn't known about the Light-Seeking Algae beforehand, if she hadn't picked up that flashlight — there was no way she could have come back alive.
And there was yet another demanding condition: when the Game Panel popped up, she had to be indoors.
The Light-Seeking Algae lived in water — the torrential rain from above, the standing water below, all teeming with their dense swarms, omnipresent as bacteria. If her Game Panel had appeared while she was out in the rain, she wouldn't have had time to switch on the flashlight before the algae closed in.
Bai Shan said nothing more. The two figured out on their own how she'd survived.
Learning the specifics, Jiang Yusong wasn't discouraged — she was actually more excited. "Then as long as we maintain high-intensity light inside the car, even if the Game Panel pops up, the Light-Seeking Algae will be annihilated by the light before they can reach it. We can leave Hai City safely!"
Bai Shan smiled and gave a little clap. The next second, her face returned to its usual expressionless state.
"It's not that simple."
"The Light-Seeking Algae do disintegrate on contact with light. They're fragile, with no offensive power. But their numbers are overwhelming — like you said, they're everywhere above and below."
Jiang Yusong's expression turned grave. "...What exactly do you mean?"
"What I mean is, using your method to leave is certain death."
"Hai City won't let you leave."
One hour earlier.
Before the Game Panel appeared, Bai Shan heard a sizzling sound scraping sharply against her eardrums. She raised the high-powered flashlight almost instantly, shining it forward. The beam struck the blue light screen that had suddenly materialized.
The Light-Seeking Algae's presence was so faint it was like air. If the light hadn't drawn them in clusters, Bai Shan wouldn't have even sensed them.
But at this moment, she didn't need to try. The surrounding air suddenly thinned, invisible pressure settling on her shoulders. A turbulent force gathered from all directions, swarming madly toward her and the blue light screen!
The flashlight instantly became a drop of water in a sea of fire — utterly useless.
The blue light screen flickered wildly in the downpour. Bai Shan watched helplessly as the data on the panel jumped and shifted — 50, 89, 50, 89...
Bai Shan's body burned. Her vision blurred. Her heart pounded as if electrified. The flashlight slipped from her hand and clattered onto the rooftop. She forced herself to stay conscious, staring at the flickering Game Panel — just like the day the game had first descended.
On the verge of losing consciousness, Bai Shan bit down hard on her tongue. Her unfocused pupils sharpened again, and a ferocious look crossed her face.
An arrow loaded with [Inextinguishable Sun Flame] appeared in her hand. She drove it viciously into the Game Panel!
[Inextinguishable Sun Flame] could burn through any target. Right now, she had to shut down the Game Panel — even at the risk of destroying it and her Talent ability along with it!
At the very least, she had to survive this moment!
The instant the burning arrow pierced through the blue light screen, the flickering panel finally vanished.
Bai Shan wasn't sure whether it was the effect of [Inextinguishable Sun Flame] or the game system simply returning to normal on its own.
The one thing she was certain of was that Hai City's anomalies were absolutely connected to the game Tomorrow's Dominator. This place was like a bug-ridden, abandoned zone.
Having just endured a near-death ordeal, Bai Shan didn't turn back. With a "well, I'm already here" mindset, she picked up the flashlight from the ground and pressed forward through the rain.
She didn't know if that point counted as the edge of Hai City. Soon she walked out of the downpour and into clear skies.
Clear sky on one side, torrential rain on the other. Bai Shan stood on the dividing line, feeling the sunlight and the fragrance of trees on the highway for a moment, before ultimately choosing to turn back into the cold rain.
"I don't understand — staying here is death too, so why not leave? At least there'd be a chance!"
The young concert performer grabbed Bai Shan's soaking sleeve, eyes desperate, tinged with a hint of hopelessness. "I admit it! I'm scared. I regret coming. My mom is right here in Hai City, and I don't even have the courage to look for her! All I can think about is running!"
Jiang Yusong idolized people like Lin Haiying. Whenever she saw such figures, her heart would surge as if playing the third movement of the Moonlight Sonata.
She had mistaken herself for someone capable of being like them.
Hai City was her proud hometown. But now all she wanted was to leave. She refused to die in filthy floodwater like her teammates!
Jiang Yusong gripped the sleeve and wouldn't let go. Bai Shan simply shrugged off her jacket and tossed the dripping garment into her arms. The cold moisture made Jiang Yusong's body jolt.
"The dark clouds dissipate on contact with light. They're most likely related to the Light-Seeking Algae."
Bai Shan spoke calmly. Her teeth chattered from the cold, yet every word she uttered remained clear and forceful.
"If we light up enough light sources in Hai City, we can stop this endless downpour."
"Once the sky clears and the sun comes out, the floodwater in Hai City will recede. Without a habitat, the Light-Seeking Algae will perish — and so will those aquatic mutants. They'll retreat to the rivers and seas."
If the storm continued, Hai City would eventually become an underwater city like in version 1.0 — a paradise for aquatic mutants.
Since Bai Shan was here, she was going to make this city see clear skies. Its current dreary gray appearance was an eyesore — this was the first time any place had given her this much trouble!
"Bai... that makes sense. Do you want to change clothes first?"
It was February. Bai Shan had been out in the rain for so long that even Lin Huijun felt cold just looking at her.
"Fine." Bai Shan was cold too. She headed toward the RV, but after a couple of steps turned back to the silent Jiang Yusong. "With your ability, you can safely open the Game Panel. The capital has people monitoring the Hai City Channel, right?"
"Tell the capital — Hai City needs power support."
Bai Shan had considered having Jiang Yusong handle it alone, but her Talent could clearly only protect herself. There was no way one or two people's light could dispel all of Hai City's darkness.
At a time like this, a much greater mobilizing force was needed.
Bai Shan returned to the RV, took a quick hot shower, changed into clean clothes, and ate a steaming bowl of instant noodles. She felt like a whole new person.
The survivors on the fifth floor stayed quietly together. No one dared go up to disturb her, silently observing Bai Shan's movements.
Bai Shan had no time for the fifth floor at the moment. Once she'd freshened up, she went straight back to the seventh floor. Lin Huijun and Jiang Yusong were still standing by that floor-to-ceiling window, heads together, staring at a cluster of pink light with grave expressions.
"You're looking at the Game Panel?"
The Game Panel was wrapped in pink light, keeping the Light-Seeking Algae at bay. Jiang Yusong had been nervous when she first opened it, but she found that as long as she prevented the mutants from touching the Game Panel, although the panel would warp slightly, it didn't seem to cause real harm.
Jiang Yusong used her light to share the blue screen with Lin Huijun. In Hai City's deserted channel, they sent the first message.
The only message in the entire Hai City Channel — impossible to miss once you opened it.
[I am Jiang Yusong of the Clear Sky Team.]
They received an immediate reply.
[Lv.20 Zeng Tianyi: You're still alive!!]
Seeing the familiar name, Jiang Yusong's eyes stung with heat. She'd finally grasped hope. She immediately posted everything she knew about Hai City's situation to the channel, including the request to supply power to Hai City.
She didn't mention Bai Shan or Lin Huijun. Lin Huijun had specifically asked not to reveal their names — she didn't want attention because of her mother.
Jiang Yusong understood. Ambitious second-generation kids were like that. As for the other one, Jiang Yusong didn't even know her name. Earlier, on the seventh floor, she'd heard voices from the fifth floor — Lin Huijun seemed to have called out the other person's name, but in her excitement she'd forgotten it.
Names didn't matter. What mattered was that they'd finally reconnected with the outside world!
But the conversation that followed sent Jiang Yusong's spirits plummeting again.
"Hai City's power is mainly supplied by thermal plants in East China and hydropower from the southwest."
Lin Huijun briefed Bai Shan on what they'd just learned.
"The thermal plants in East China are virtually impossible to restart. Thermal power requires massive human coordination — transporting coal, maintaining complex machinery. One broken link shuts the whole thing down... Unless East China fully restores human-led order, there's no starting those plants anytime soon."
Bai Shan nodded. "And the southwest?"
"The southwest has hydropower stations. They rely on natural water flow. The dams and turbines are structurally simple and robust — they only need a small crew to maintain and operate. In theory, they can be restarted. But—"
Seeing Lin Huijun trail off, Bai Shan raised an eyebrow. "But?"
Lin Huijun hesitated for a moment, then continued. "But there's a super-class mutant at the Southwest Hydropower Station, occupying it."
"Tang Long, formerly ranked 28th on the Leaderboard, was killed there."
"Currently, the only person in China with a reliable chance of killing that super-class mutant is Lin Haiying — but she's on a mission and can't break away for now."
"I see."
Having changed into dry clothes, Bai Shan's expression was finally less gloomy. A hint of lightness played between her brows.
"In that case, the Southwest Hydropower Station problem seems relatively easy to solve."
Lin Huijun frowned. "The Southwest Hydropower Station is at least a two-day drive from here, and we can't leave — can we?"
Bai Shan thought for a moment, then looked at Jiang Yusong. "Do you have any teleportation items?"
Jiang Yusong was speechless for a beat, then replied, "...I have a short-range one, but I've already used it."
A long-range teleportation item — Bai Shan had once owned one, but she'd used it during Tomorrow's Dominator version 1.0.
That item had been a reward for unlocking an achievement — killing five "Dominators," meaning five Level-50 mutants.
Author's Note:
And just like that, life turned Bai Shan into a high-energy person. I wish I could become a high-energy person too and write 6,000 words every day...
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