Chapter 227 - The Truth

Chapter 227: Chapter 208: The TruthLi Cheng took a drone out of his Backpack and flew it into the air, quickly locating the Task Battery emitting a faint golden light in a corner of the grass.

The battery itself still had 60% of its charge, which should be more than enough for the mission.

Indeed, as soon as Li Cheng retrieved the Achili Toy Factory Key and placed the battery into the blue recess on the right side of the duct, twisting the valve shut, a system notification rang in everyone’s ears.

The indifferent voice of the system was so reassuring that the Red Driver let out a long sigh of relief, covering his throbbing head with both hands as he shook his head with a bitter smile.

"That was close to death for me. The task wasn’t supposed to be so difficult, but there was a half-dead Lv30 Transcendent, who was proficient in both the Spirit Prophecy system and Spirit Enchantment System, scheming and manipulating behind the scenes, plotting his own resurrection."

The Red Driver’s expression was incredibly complicated. His head was filled with memories of death, and he knew all too well that he had died countless times.

After a pause, he offered a courteous hand gesture to Li Cheng, "Ant brother, I really owe you big time. Without you, the rest of us would have been played like a fiddle by the Mithril."

When he had encountered the Ant in the dark-themed amusement park, the Driver had only thought of him as an impressive player.

Now, he was genuinely impressed.

An Ant with Lv12 strength had arm-wrestled a Lv30 Spiritual Ability User with home-field advantage, outsmarting each other across the grass, and in the end, he’d come out on top.

No words could express it, his respect was heartfelt.

"Here, this is for you." The Driver pulled out a shining silver disc from the void and tossed it to Li Cheng.

"Eh?"

Li Cheng took the disc, flipping it over and inspecting it, then said with regret, "It’s not that kind of disc, huh."

"What’s there to be disappointed about!"

The Red Driver retorted: "Were you expecting the kind of little disc that two or three people can play out in a classroom, on a bus, in the subway, in a hotel, in a swimming pool, or in the wild?"

"It looks like you’ve watched quite a few yourself."

Li Cheng replied with half-closed eyes as he casually stored the disc in his Backpack, "Thanks."

Though it resembled a disc, the Skill Learning Device was actually a special item used by Pocket Monster Trainers to teach Pocket Monsters specific moves, similar to a Skill Scroll in some ways.

"Don’t mention it."

The Driver shook his head; the item was incredibly precious, and he had originally planned to save it for a higher-level Pocket Monster.

But now, using it to express gratitude for Ant’s lifesaving help didn’t feel like too much of a loss—it was like making a new friend.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be off first. We’ll meet again if fate allows, see you around."

With an air of nonchalance, the Driver waved his hand and teleported out of the killing field, along with his Pocket Monsters that had been resurrected as well.

Midnight Howl opened his mouth. He had died just as many times as the Driver, brainwashed by Mithril in Loop B, only to be killed by Ant.

The Driver had given a gift to express his gratitude for saving his life, and Midnight Howl teleported away without saying a word, which seemed somewhat improper.

Midnight Howl glanced at his Backpack, found nothing of value to give, and after hesitating for a moment, shifted into a werewolf form and gave a few mighty smacks to his own jaw with the size of a sandbag.

Crack crack!

All his teeth fell out and, wrapping the werewolf teeth in cloth and somewhat awkwardly, he handed them to Li Cheng, saying with a windy voice, "Ant brother, these are the teeth of a Moonchild werewolf.

Ordinary werewolf teeth contain werewolf virus that can infect and convert people into werewolves.

But the teeth of a Moonchild not only have the werewolf virus but also come with a degree of demon-repelling power that can harm ghosts, specters, and other spiritual bodies.

They can be used as weapons against demons."

Er... you didn’t have to go to such lengths by losing all your teeth, bro.

Li Cheng had a complex expression. He exchanged polite thanks and took the bundle of wolf teeth.

"Until next time."

Midnight Howl mimicked the Driver’s gesture, also leaving the killing field, eager to be gone in a second.

Then there was... Cliff.

This unfortunate brother from Mercury Alloy Guild had also been resurrected inadvertently.

A year ago, he was betrayed by his guild leader, brainwashed without a clue, murdered all his comrades in a dazed state, and then trapped here for countless years—a wretched mess, to say the least.

With Mithril’s complete demise, the effects of Cliff’s brainwashing were fading.

He looked tremendously worn and struggled, mustering a faint smile as he spoke to Li Cheng, "Ant, is it? Thank you."

Words were stuck in his throat, and he did not know what to say. After struggling for a while, he continued, "I don’t have much on me, but once I settle the guild’s issues, I’ll bring you a thank-you gift, is that alright?"

Mithril was dead, but the Mercury Alloy Guild still owed several loans to banks, and the families of the deceased teammates needed compensation.

Someone always has to clean up the mess, and thankfully the Mercury Alloy Guild still owned property on the shabby street, and the guild’s secret warehouse had some assets left.

After getting Li Cheng’s consent, Cliff, with a heavy step, took away the bismuth-yellow corpse and teleported away.

Catherine and Mendoza, two ordinary people, it’s hard to say whether they were lucky or unlucky, also survived.

After thanking Li Cheng profusely, they too chose to teleport back to the real world.

In the tall grass, only Li Cheng, the bandaged man, and Zhao Zijing were left.

"...They’ve said all the thanks for me."

Zhao Zijing’s expression was bitter; she had done the most during this mission, displaying proactive initiative.

Assassinating an A Loop Driver, stealing the A Group Task Battery, resurrecting Mithril, destroying and bringing down the B Loop hot air balloon, using the B Group Task Battery to further charge Mithril...

Strictly speaking, every step she took was not a mistake; all were in accordance with the GOC operatives’ guidelines.

But objectively, it was exactly her professionalism, her thoroughness, her ability that led to a sudden increase in the mission difficulty.

Everyone had to become a stepping stone for the resurrection of Mithril—if it weren’t for the Ant’s extraordinary effort.

In an infinite loop, Mithril kept accumulating Task Battery energy, waiting to be resurrected,

The Ants from both loops, at the cost of their own lives, turned the valves over and over, chasing that glimmer of hope.

The calculations and struggles of both sides could be called a fight of deities,

As for Zhao Zijing...

Well, if it were in an online game, Zhao Zijing herself felt that she had been pressuring her teammates the whole time, purely negatively impacting to the extent that their entire family’s registration booklets might not survive a barrage of criticism.

"I was wrong, utterly wrong. I’m sorry."

Zhao Zijing sighed deeply, her voice laden with shame and regret: "I personally, and GOC, will offer you compensation, and I hope you won’t mind."

"Not a problem."

Li Cheng waved his hand dismissively, then curiously asked, "Aren’t you going to teleport away?"

"Not for the time being."

Zhao Zijing shook her head and said, "This pipeline might, perhaps, probably leads to the Hidden Room·Retrospection Room, which is quite valuable. I’ll place a marker here first and later call other GOC colleagues to come and take a look."

Zhao Zijing planted a metal rod-shaped positioning device in the grass, then boarded a small one-person aircraft and left the area.

With the mission completed, her friend’s communication function could also be used. Flying consistently in one direction, she was bound to find GOC companions, or a GOC base, and thus locate the coordinates of this grassland to bring people back later.

Once Zhao Zijing had left, only the bandaged man remained at the scene.

He was silent for a long time, then with a hoarse voice said, "Mr. Ant, could you help me check my family’s information?"

"Are you sure?"

Li Cheng frowned slightly, knowing from previous mentions by the bandaged man that his family was not well-off, with his wife and children sick, all depending on his salary to get by.

Having disappeared for four years, it was likely that his family’s situation wasn’t good.

"I’m sure."

"Alright."

Seeing the bandaged man’s determination, Li Cheng took out the Eyes Communication Headset and asked the customer service representative on the other end to help locate the whereabouts of the bandaged man’s relatives in the real world.

The answer was very realistic.

Two months after the bandaged man’s mysterious disappearance, his wife and children lost hope in life and committed suicide by jumping off a building. It had been four years since.

Unexpectedly to Li Cheng, the bandaged man did not wail in despair; instead, he merely dropped his head, remained silent for a moment, and then hoarsely said, "Mr. Ant, does this pipeline really lead to the Retrospection Room capable of turning back time and rewriting the future?"

"It should."

Li Cheng guessed what he was thinking, and immediately said, "But most pipelines are buried deep underground; it’s impossible to find the Retrospection Room just by following the pipeline.

Besides, with so many strange occurrences in the killing field, the pipeline might just break off midway and somehow remotely transmit energy."

"I know, but, there is one more prophecy that hasn’t been fulfilled."

The bandaged man slowly took out a prophecy painting from his bosom, the painting showing him being struck by some kind of energy fluid and shattered to pieces.

He placed the paper on the ground and poked his head into the crack of the pipeline.

"If I were to be swept into a temporal maelstrom, could there be a slight chance I could return to four years ago? At least, let me say goodbye to them."

The bandaged man pleaded in a muffled voice, "Please, Mr. Ant, this is my final request."

Hearing the determination and resolve in his words, Li Cheng slowly nodded, then backed up with Gray Rain about a dozen steps before raising his hand and slamming it against the nearby pipeline.

In the pipeline, where the gate had been shut, there were likely still a few strands of temporal turbulence left.

Struck by Li Cheng’s blow, the energy flux churned and boiled, emitting a loud noise, gushing up from deep within the ground.

"I wish for your wish to be granted, that you may return to the past and successfully save them and yourself."

Li Cheng sincerely spoke, "By the way, what player name will you choose for yourself?"

"Name? I haven’t thought about it."

The raucous noise of the temporal turbulence drew closer, and as the bandaged man watched the dazzling golden light approaching rapidly in the distance, he muttered something softly.

The next second, like the remaining glow of a dying star, the golden energy engulfed his entire body, leaving not a trace behind,

Only his last words still echoed in the air.

"How about ’Side of Truth’ for the name?"

(Author’s note: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)