Chapter 183-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World

Chapter 183 Dialogue

Behind her, the Red House crackled and burned.

Zhu Ning had destroyed all records inside the Red House. These things no longer needed to be known.

She spotted two people in the snow. One of them looked familiar—the wavy-haired woman who'd "sold" her the motorcycle. Her appearance was particularly memorable.

Zhu Ning had hitched a ride with her to the Hao Zailai Hotpot Restaurant.

Beside her stood a tall, lean young man wearing a duck-tongue cap. His skin was a healthy wheat tone, his eyes bright. He looked the picture of health.

Ye Fei called out to her. "Boss."

Zhu Ning had once envied the Cheetah Squad for having teammates. This was the first time she realized she had teammates of her own. By any measure, these two had to be extremely reliable—and she must have trusted them deeply, otherwise Zhu Ning wouldn't have called them in for such a bizarre mission.

Being called "Boss" aside, Zhu Ning had virtually no memories related to them. Looking at these two was no different from looking at strangers.

Shen Xingqiao could tell from Zhu Ning's expression that she had no memories at all.

Ye Fei pointed at Shen Xingqiao. "The luxury vehicle was her doing. Nothing to do with me."

Shen Xingqiao: "..."

She elbowed Ye Fei hard, telling him to shut up.

Ye Fei yelped from the hit. The squad had good chemistry.

Zhu Ning couldn't tell what their abilities were just by looking. There was a subtle sense of distance.

Shen Xingqiao introduced them. "I'm Shen Xingqiao. This is Ye Fei."

So the wavy-haired motorcycle boss's real name was Shen Xingqiao. As for Ye Fei beside her—Zhu Ning truly had zero recollection of him.

Zhu Ning put on the air of a boss. "Hello?"

Even Ye Fei found it hard to laugh this off. Zhu Ning really didn't recognize them. They'd grown up together, but Zhu Ning had unilaterally lost all her memories. Ye Fei found it a little hard to accept.

The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment.

Zhu Ning broke the silence. "You're here to pick me up?"

She guessed these two would bring her the truth.

Shen Xingqiao gave a small nod. "Also worried you'd walk into an ambush."

The current Zhu Ning needed watching over. After all, she was weaker than before.

Zhu Ning asked, "What task did I assign you?"

Shen Xingqiao shook her head. "I can't explain it clearly. I'd be afraid of misleading you. You should let yourself explain."

Zhu Ning had set up a game for herself. The final destination was the Red House, and the reward was the information Zhu Ning had left behind.

Ye Fei said, "Let's talk in the car. It's freezing out here."

His nose was red from the cold. He'd driven over in a black hovercar. The car looked unremarkable, but Zhu Ning gave it a once-over—bulletproof glass, even an anti-surveillance system. It had definitely been specially modified.

Zhu Ning got in and felt a little warmer. After an entire night without rest, she was utterly exhausted.

She tended to her wounds in the back seat, injecting a Strong Healing Agent. Her legs had been saved thanks to the black slime bonding them together, but the injuries were serious. Healing would take time. Walking was painful.

Nobody spoke during the drive. Shen Xingqiao and Ye Fei sat up front, sneaking glances at Zhu Ning through the rearview mirror.

If Zhu Ning looked up, their gazes would dart away, pretending to look elsewhere.

They were equally curious about Zhu Ning.

Zhu Ning ignored the looks. Her mind was a mess right now—too much information to process.

After finishing the injection, she opened the Dead Post Forum. It showed the mission as completed. There had been no broadcast for this mission, meaning it was classified as a secret operation.

The Red House had no presence on the internet at all. First, because it was a place the world had forgotten—never officially registered to begin with.

Second, either she herself or Prometheus had likely scrubbed it clean.

The Dead Post Forum was in turmoil. Previously, the discussions had been about which big shot had cleared which Contamination Zone, or forming parties for a run.

Now, the focus was entirely on Non-Natural Humans. Panic was spreading internally. Everyone was questioning whether the existence of Demon Hunters even had any meaning.

Once all points of reference were gone, people easily fell into nihilism. The number of people accepting missions on the Dead Post had plummeted.

Whether it was the Sanitation Center or the freelance Demon Hunter squads—everyone was going through an ideological upheaval.

Zhu Ning closed the forum. Xu Meng still hadn't replied. She might still be unconscious.

Zhu Ning sent a message: [It's over.]

Then she shut down her sub-brain.

From entering the Red House to completing the mission, only two hours had passed. Two hours ago, she'd still been at the Sanitation Center.

Just two days earlier, Zhu Ning had accessed the Consciousness Cloud. In the span of two short days, she'd effectively entered two Contamination Zones. Once again, she felt like she needed to recover from jet lag.

Up to this point, Zhu Ning was still in a fog. All her previous assumptions might need to be thrown out entirely.

If she'd arrived in this world long ago—setting aside whether the zombie world truly existed—Zhu Ning had definitely awakened at the garbage dump.

She'd been alive in this world for at least eleven years. What could have happened to make her sacrifice all the health she'd accumulated?

"We're here," Ye Fei said.

Zhu Ning squinted. Before her lay a dead-silent scene—an abandoned neighborhood. Every shop along the street had its shutters down.

She'd expected to be taken to the Fire Seed Club. Instead, Shen Xingqiao led her into a shop deep within an alley.

The sign above had long since gone dark. It was a burger and fried chicken joint. A layer of dust covered the tables and chairs inside.

Ye Fei didn't enter the shop. He waited by the door—standing guard in case of an attack.

Shen Xingqiao led Zhu Ning through the back kitchen, feeling around near a boiler.

A blue glow appeared on the floor. A floor panel slid open slowly, revealing stairs leading downward.

Shen Xingqiao apparently wasn't going down. "My part of the mission is done."

Zhu Ning glanced back at her. This place looked like a trap. An abandoned street. An ignored burger shop. A secret passage in the back kitchen.

If Zhu Ning ran into an ambush down there, nobody would ever know where she died.

Shen Xingqiao probably felt it was a lot to ask, too. After all, Zhu Ning had no memories now, which meant no trust.

She expected Zhu Ning to at least ask a few more questions. Instead, Zhu Ning said nothing and walked straight into the basement.

Shen Xingqiao raised an eyebrow. It wasn't blind trust—Zhu Ning simply had confidence in her own abilities. She didn't think she'd get trapped underground.

Zhu Ning walked into the basement with a flashlight. From above came the creak of the entrance closing. Shen Xingqiao had sealed it shut.

Zhu Ning was completely locked underground. She kept descending. The path was much longer than she'd imagined—as if leading straight to the earth's core.

Her leg injuries hadn't healed, so she walked more slowly than usual.

The stairs stretched downward, step after step. After about twenty minutes, a door appeared before her.

Very strange. A stairway connecting only two doors at either end.

This door was even more bizarre. Not a single crack on its surface, yet it had a lock.

The lock and handle were purely decorative—no function whatsoever.

The door was connected to a self-destruct mechanism. Any forced entry would automatically destroy whatever was inside.

Because there was no traditional crack, this door couldn't be opened with a key.

Only a Master Key could identify it as a door. In other words, this space had been built exclusively for her.

It was even more suitable for storing information than Specimen 777—a place only Zhu Ning could enter. Perfect for safekeeping secrets.

Behind the door lay the truth.

Click—

The heavy door swung open. After Zhu Ning stepped inside, it slowly closed behind her.

The room held two sofas with a table between them. As Zhu Ning entered, she inadvertently triggered a blue light beam. The entire room activated.

An additional person appeared in the room. She wore a black trench coat. Hearing the noise behind her, she suddenly turned around.

She had a face identical to Zhu Ning's.

Zhu Ning's heart hammered. What she saw was neither an empty figment of imagination nor a mimicry construct created by Ant-Spiders.

Zhu Ning steadied herself and realized it wasn't truly herself—it was a holographic projection.

A small metal sphere sat on the floor. The holographic projection was cast from it.

"Did I scare you?" the projected figure said. "This is a kind of technology they have now—specifically for leaving last words. What you're seeing was pre-recorded. Think of it as my last will and testament."

Technology had evolved. The form of wills had changed with it. In the past, it was letters or video recordings. Now, there were simulated personas.

The immersion was uncanny.

Her mannerisms, movements, and tone of voice were all identical to Zhu Ning's own. The legendary mastermind behind the curtain—the person who had guided Zhu Ning to this point—had finally shown herself.

Zhu Ning had been given the chance to speak with her face to face.

The mastermind spoke: "Hello, Zhu Ning."

Zhu Ning looked her straight in the eye and replied: "Hello, Zhu Ning."

The speaker was Zhu Ning. The listener was also Zhu Ning. They had crossed every barrier. Two versions of Zhu Ning had achieved a true exchange.

"Want to sit?" she asked.

Zhu Ning didn't hesitate. Her legs were bothering her. She chose a sofa and sat down.

The projected Zhu Ning did the same, "sitting" across from her. The technology was truly advanced—the hologram's contact with the sofa looked perfectly natural. At a glance, you'd think a real person was sitting there.

Zhu Ning and she held each other's gaze for a long time. The feeling was extraordinary.

Zhu Ning was injured, her protective suit full of holes. The Zhu Ning across from her was intact—pristine. They looked like the relationship between a Defective and a perfect product.

"I know you have a lot of questions for me." The holographic Zhu Ning's gaze was sharper. Even just from her eyes, you could tell she was the stronger one. "What the so-called reboot is really about—I'll tell you everything."

She said calmly, "Before we begin, I want to ask one question. Do you think we're the same person?"

Now that was a philosophical question. Zhu Ning wasn't sure.

The projected Zhu Ning continued: "Theoretically speaking, we've lived different lives. Until you've figured it out, you can keep calling me the Original, or the Initial Instance."

Initial Instance? That label really did reduce a person to a thing.

"I'm guessing you have two questions," the Initial Zhu Ning said, raising one finger. "First, whether the reboot happened at all. Second, whether the temporal reboot and your individual reboot actually took place."

Her tone was steady. "Let's start with the simplest part—the individual reboot. The individual reboot is real. Everything about you was arranged by me."

She even paused after saying it, as if giving Zhu Ning space to think.

Hearing this, Zhu Ning felt no surprise, no anger—only a kind of relief.

For so long, a massive question mark had been hanging in her mind. Now someone had given her the answer, plain and clear.

"Let's talk about something we both share—the system." The Initial Zhu Ning continued: "I've been using the system for many years. I've figured out some things about how it works."

"I'll mention what you already know. The system operates on two pillars: first, precognition; second, absorption."

Zhu Ning had guessed this the moment she first learned she was a test subject. Before entering a Contamination Zone, the system would give her corresponding prompts—meaning the system could foresee roughly what was inside.

After she purified a Contamination Zone, the system would grant corresponding rewards—rewards that felt like absorbing the contamination source's power and converting it for her own use.

That was the system's operating logic.

They had to reach consensus on this point before the conversation could continue.

The Initial Zhu Ning asked, "What are your current Purity Points and health?"

This really was a conversation with herself. Zhu Ning never discussed Purity Points with anyone else.

The person across from her was the one who understood Zhu Ning best in the entire world—and the one Zhu Ning trusted most.

Zhu Ning had just contained a B-rank Contamination Zone. Her system reward was 5,000. After that, she'd collected 5,230 from Contamination Spores—totaling 10,230.

Her health had originally been at 186. She'd used the Rotting Fish Head acceleration for 3, two uses of invisibility for 20, skin hardening for 20, and memory reading for 50. She now had only 93 left.

Zhu Ning: "Purity Points: 10,230. Health: 93."

The Initial Zhu Ning was only a pre-recorded projection and couldn't respond precisely. "At my absolute peak, my Purity Points were 1.2 million."

1.2 million. How many zeroes was that? Zhu Ning nearly depleted hers every time she entered a Contamination Zone. The Initial Instance was an absolute powerhouse.

Facing her was like a failing student suddenly seeing a top scorer's report card.

The Initial Zhu Ning: "Have you noticed that past a certain point, the system mostly upgrades existing talents rather than granting new ones?"

Zhu Ning had noticed this over her recent missions. Early on, mission rewards were generous. Later, new rewards dwindled. Now it was more about upgrades.

For example, she'd upgraded the range of her Danger Precognition and Metal Manipulation.

"Think of it like a game. When you create a character, the game asks you where to allocate your base skill points. The system works the same way—it distills a primary skill based on what you've already obtained."

The Initial Zhu Ning: "My primary skill is called Absolute Precognition."

Absolute Precognition? What kind of godlike talent was that?

If she possessed this ability, she would be infinitely close to a god.

Zhu Ning's previous assumptions were overturned. With a talent like this, the Original didn't necessarily need to have entered every Contamination Zone to know the rewards for each mission.

She could see it all through precognition alone.

With Absolute Precognition, the entire world was transparent to her. She could stand at the origin point and perceive the infinite possibilities of all things.

This was a god-tier talent. Could a person who possessed such an ability even still be called human?

Her way of thinking must have been entirely different from an ordinary person's.

No wonder the holographic Zhu Ning could "converse" with her—she'd foreseen Zhu Ning's questions and approximate reactions.

Hearing this only deepened Zhu Ning's confusion. The Initial Instance had such overwhelming power. Why didn't she stop things herself? Why did she need to reboot?

What was the purpose of this current version's existence?

The Initial Zhu Ning: "I'll retell this story from my perspective."

"I first woke up at the garbage dump. Then came the Red House, then the Fire Seed Club. An ordinary life—nothing grand by this world's standards. A bottom-rung person doing reasonably well." She said, "If you're seeing this projection, it means you've already lived through everything I did."

"After I joined the Fire Seed Club, I spent the first two years as a competitive shooter. In the third year, I encountered contaminants and became a freelance Demon Hunter. Driven by the system, I frequently entered Contamination Zones, upgrading myself, until one day..."

She looked up at this point, staring directly into Zhu Ning's eyes. "My Danger Precognition activated. I saw the apocalypse."

The Initial Zhu Ning's surface flickered with a ripple of static, as if the image had lagged. "I took measures to try to avert the apocalypse. But my efforts were meaningless. No matter what I did, I couldn't prevent the inevitable death. I only accelerated my own."

"I died millions of times in my precognitions."

Zhu Ning had "lived through" the apocalypse firsthand. She had even "experienced" it millions of times.

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