Chapter 213

Chapter 213: Chapter 210: "You’re awake? The surgery was very successful"Noel, do you allow me to publicize the content about the next instance?"

Facing the video interface and looking at the smiling blonde boy, Su Ming’an said.

"Of course you can," Noel replied with a smile.

He seemed to still be playing, holding an ice cream cone in his hand, with the backdrop setting of a splashing fountain and a rabbit statue glowing uncannily amidst the colorful lights.

Noel looked at the screen, his smile warm as sunshine.

"How you use it, on whom you use it, whether you profit from it or not, that’s your freedom," he said, his eyes deepening slightly, "...and as for me, I’ve already fully obtained the benefits this information has brought to me."

"The benefit is teaming up with me?"

"Isn’t that a great benefit indeed!" Noel admitted unabashedly.

"..." Su Ming’an was silent for a moment, tacitly agreeing with this statement: "Thank you."

"There’s no need for thanks," Noel said. "Although, unfortunately, we cannot reach agreement in our views of the new world, I don’t dislike your Lighthouse theory. In fact, I am quite interested in it because, essentially, we only differ slightly."

"Do you prefer the Lighthouse theory before it changed or after?"

"It’s like you’re asking me whether I like the real Su Ming’an’s Lighthouse theory or the Lighthouse theory of the Number One Player that was created to cater to the public," Noel responded without hesitation, "Naturally, I prefer the original concept."

"...Thank you."

"I wish you great success in the Sixth World," Noel raised his ice cream cone towards him from afar, with a grace akin to raising a glass at a banquet: "Number One Player Su Ming’an."

With a ’click’, the video call was disconnected, and the screen returned to the system’s default interface.

Su Ming’an opened the World Forum, and the first thing he saw was a long string of discussions about the human future self-rescue conference.

It seemed, at the moment, this was the hottest topic. Many people had sorted out their conference records before the United Group did, classifying them and drawing conclusions, citing classics, and discussing them fervently.

The views varied greatly.

The conservatives wanted to reject all "gifts from the organizers", but there were also those who wished to "use power to fight power", to extract knowledge and skills given by the organizers for a chance to glimpse the Heavenly Light. Some wanted to embrace the High Dimensions and thus obey the organizers’ commands, becoming an "Agent" of the high-dimensional beings. Others tried to initiate dialogue directly with the organizers, aiming to negotiate survival terms through their wisdom...

He even saw that a few foreigners went to experiment, streaming live while imitating his chopping motion at the rabbit statue in the center of the square, hoping to get a chance to "have a direct conversation with the organizers" in front of everyone. But they directly violated the rules of the Main God Space, were instantly destroyed, and died without leaving a trace.

...One could say, they were different from him.

Not everyone could have the chance to converse directly with the High Dimensions unless they truly entered the sightline of the High Dimensions themselves.

He continued reading.

The next topic was about "the change of the Number One Player."

In these posts, there was joy over "the Number One Player has changed!" Although many lamented the fact it was a Cloning, for them, such an existence could lead the Number One Player to change his thoughts and become more qualified, and that was something to be happy about.

Seeing such perspectives, Su Ming’an was silent for quite a while.

During the time he was fixated on the screen, a crisp sound came from nearby.

"Meow~"

A white fluffy mass, akin to a snowball, settled on the desk beside him, with only a pair of Heavenly Sea-like eyes staring at him.

...This cat was just all over the place.

He had just sent his Cloning to pay attention to the follow-up situation with Qingqing and Moli, so his personal space should be empty except for himself. He had no idea when this white cat sneaked out again.

It moved slightly, as if gearing up to jump into his arms.

As soon as he thought of the cat’s weight, Su Ming’an immediately opened his backpack interface and dragged the cat directly into it to prevent it from disturbing him.

Then, he closed the forum post and looked at his forum avatar next to him.

Now, next to his forum avatar were many fancy things: a golden Number One emblem, a bright white Number One Player emblem, and four little stars representing Perfect Pass. These gold and silver items lined up together, very eye-catching.

He clicked on his avatar, only to see two posts he had made.

One was "."

As the first post he made, and at such a crucial moment, the popularity of this post was frightening, having soared to one billion.

Forum heat contains inflated figures; one billion heat does not really mean one billion people viewed it, but it does signify that this post is nearly a world-class topic.

And the other was based on Noel’s copy writing, "We’ve partnered up—".

This post had only been published for a short while, but its heat had already surged to four billion, with countless shares, and below it, the hottest comment was:

Below that were all comments looking favorably upon the situation:

After browsing for a moment, Su Ming’an began to draft his third post.

He copied the text Noel had given him verbatim, and then indicated that this was a clue about the Sixth World, obtained through a special status.

He posted it, and after a moment, he saw the post get bumped up to a hot topic.

...But after waiting for a while, he did not receive any system notifications.

He had originally thought that doing something akin to shaking an entire world—like committing suicide on the guild’s podium, or speaking at the human self-rescue meeting—would bring him some Achievement Points.

But apparently, not this time.

The method to obtain such achievements seemed not to be so simple.

He closed the forum interface and started to allocate his Attribute Points.

He first allocated his free Occupation Points to Strength, and Shadow was no exception. Holding the Sword of Yarman required at least 20 Strength Value, and he needed to stack up Shadow’s strength as well.

The price of free Attribute Points had soared to 10 Points each, but each point should be stronger than before.

Then there was the so-called "Equipment Refinement" system.

This system was commonly seen in games as "Equipment +1, +2..." mechanism, where players could spend Points to enhance each of their nine pieces of equipment. The maximum enhancement level for each piece of equipment was ten levels, and each level up required 20 Points.

Su Ming’an had guessed that this was probably a way for the organizers to recycle Points, equivalent to a new system that required a cash input to increase Combat Power, and it was a necessary one.

He enhanced all nine pieces of his Equipment to +2, spending 360 Points and had 206 Points left.

...Skill Advancement.

Su Ming’an had originally thought that advancing to Third Rank would unlock another Skill slot.

But it seemed that was not the case.

He pondered for a moment, then chose to advance Erasure.

This skill had accompanied him for a long time, from the very beginning until now. However, the Blue Level standard seemed to be somewhat lagging behind.

After advancing Erasure, he saw that its system interface had changed from blue (Fine) to red (Epic).

The skill description for Erasure remained unchanged, but in actual combat, it should be much stronger.

He checked again to make sure nothing was forgotten, then opened a brand new interface...

Under the bluish-purple sky, specks of light danced like fireflies.

People flowed and converged like a river, shuttling through the fragmented pathways divided by buildings. Drunken mercenaries hugged women with bright red lips, laughing as they shared recent tales from the forest.

Fortune tellers in black robes leaned against their stalls, while various small animals scurried through the streets.

Under the spring sun, all things were reviving.

In the center of the square, the fountain water tinkled.

Around the wandering minstrel holding an old lyre, a crowd of children gathered.

Although their clothes were worn, their hands bore vivid patterns, and their eyes shined with clarity as if lit from within.

"Today Ge’er will play a piece composed by a Sage Master from the Continent, called ’Scenery’..."

As he spoke, his fingers plucked the strings, and the sound of the lyre flowed like water. Those around couldn’t help but show smiles of admiration or enchantment.

Behind him stood a tower so tall it seemed to pierce the clouds, rooting firmly into the land like a column of light, a stark beam stabbing straight into the sky.

Atop the tower, a girl in red and white attire leaned her hands, gazing at the thriving scene.

"Welcome back, traveler from another world," she said with a tilt of her head and a smile:

"Thirty days have passed since you last departed."

Still in his Qin Wang-like appearance, Su Ming’an looked at the crowd below: "The flow of time here is ten to one; it’s not too fast. Fortunately, I didn’t come back to see a continent covered in snow."

"Reconstruction is underway, and all is going well," Hui Shuhang said.

"I’ve already left blood in the laboratory. It might be several tens of days before I return," said Su Ming’an.

She bent her eyes: "Are you setting off on another journey?"

... Yes, to a new world," Su Ming’an said.

Hui Shuhang looked at him, her tranquil eyes reminiscent of a lake at the beginning of spring, breaking through the winter of the North Country.

She seemed frailer than when Su Ming’an last saw her, her exposed skin almost translucent in the light, as striking as a snow lotus atop a mountain, an elf beneath the light drawing all eyes to her.

She reached out and took his hand, her familiar warmth gradually spreading into him.

"May you have smooth sailing."

She smiled, her lips so pale they were nearly clear.

Latter, Su Ming’an went to see Dan Shuang.

He pushed open the heavy doors and entered the hall.

He saw the spiral staircase before him, the ice-white walls and floor; holding on to the railing, he ascended and caught sight of a bright spot on the second floor landing.

A girl bathed in light stood silently on the second floor, perched at the window sill, turning her head to look at him.

"You like the light as well?"

"Who doesn’t?" Dan Shuang didn’t seem surprised by his arrival, merely sipping from the gourd: "I really didn’t expect that the Ming Light Formation set by Hui Shuhang would go from being used by Holy Initiation to me..."

She took a sip of her drink, not seeming sad at all: "But, I’m much better off than him. I’m not uncomfortable, and I can go out at night. It’s just that I can’t go out during the day..."

As she said this, she suddenly turned her head.

"You are leaving again?"

"I’ll stay here for about a day, then leave," Su Ming’an said. "They say traveling can improve one’s spiritual state."

"A little more than a day." Dan Shuang nodded: "Then I can be your guide."

"A night tour?"

"I think it has a special charm."

"Then let’s go," Su Ming’an smiled. "Consider it a rare rest before troubles come."

Dan Shuang looked at him, then jumped down from beside the window.

The halo of light fell upon her ponytail, the bright red hairband fluttering like a butterfly.

"Ding-dong!"

White light appeared.

Su Ming’an, who had his mental state adjusted, stood in the middle of the street with his eyes closed.

Behind him, fireworks burst into the low sky.

The sense of his body slowly dissipated as if sinking into sleep.

The sound of fireworks exploding faded from his ears, to be replaced by the ticking of clocks.

He seemed to smell an odd scent, like disinfectant, like a hospital’s permanent smell.

As the darkness receded and consciousness slowly returned, with a vivid red health bar and blue mana points appearing in the upper left of his vision, he felt the state of his body. It seemed he was lying down, with the soft touch of a blanket underneath his hands.

Before he even opened his eyes, he heard a faint voice:

—"Are you awake?"

The voice paused for a moment, then followed up with:

—"Don’t worry, the surgery was very successful."