"You are… Zane?"
The fat man spoke with a trembling voice. At this moment, more than anything, he wished the young man in front of him would flatly deny his guess.
But in the end, he had overthought it.
The young man showed a row of white teeth, bright and cheerful, smiling openly.
"That's right, I'm exactly the Zane you're thinking of."
The fat man, who had just been arrogant and domineering, immediately started trembling like a sieve upon hearing that name.
His body wrapped in fat shook violently, and his narrow, rat-like eyes were filled with fear.
"Zane… Lord Zane, please be generous and forgive a nobody like me. I was blind and failed to recognize greatness. I offended your girlfriend… please spare my life, just treat me like a fart and let me go."
Although he really wanted to tear this piece of trash apart, Zane knew clearly that what mattered right now wasn't how to punish this fat man, but Rover.
Ignoring the fat man who was lying on the ground begging nonstop, Zane turned his head toward Baizhi.
At this moment, Baizhi was still checking the testing device over and over again. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and a thin layer of sweat had formed on her smooth forehead.
Seeing her like this, Zane was startled. He quickly handed Yangyang, who was in his arms, over to the Doctor nearby and walked over to Baizhi, gently patting her shoulder.
The next second, as Baizhi turned around, Zane saw that her originally calm sky-blue eyes were now filled with bloodshot veins. The extreme mental strain and self-blame had pushed her to the brink of collapse.
Only after recognizing who it was did Baizhi seem to find something to rely on, and the tension she had been holding for so long eased slightly.
"What happened?"
Baizhi thought for a moment, then explained how she had invited Rover for a physical examination, and during the process, they entered the simulation field together, but then she and Yangyang suddenly lost contact with Rover.
'Could it be Aby…?', Zane thought to himself, then suddenly froze.
'Wait? Who is Aby?'
He didn't know why this name suddenly appeared in his mind. No matter how he searched his memory, he couldn't recall ever hearing it before, nor did he know why it came to him.
Looking into the simulation device, the figure who had been smiling mischievously like a little fox just over ten minutes ago was now lying inside.
Her originally rosy face had turned unnaturally pale. Her long eyelashes were tightly curled together, as if she were struggling against something in a dream.
Like a gemstone on the verge of shattering, beautiful yet tragic. It made people want to hold her in their arms and protect her carefully.
Perhaps out of some instinct, Zane felt that he should do something.
"Let me try connecting."
"But…"
Baizhi had just started to stop him, when she saw Zane smile and wave his hand.
"Don't worry, I'll just give it a try. Who knows, maybe I'll get kicked out the moment I go in."
Although he was smiling, Baizhi could still see the unquestionable determination behind it.
"In that case… then you… be careful…"
Hearing her reminder, Zane smiled, then took out the Pangu Terminal…
"Why aren't you connecting yet?"
Seeing Zane freeze the moment he took out the Pangu Terminal, Baizhi thought he had changed his mind.
Although the thought was a bit selfish, just thinking that he wouldn't have to put himself in danger made her feel a little relieved.
"Well… my terminal is broken… I need to borrow yours."
Zane scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
"What? This is already your fourth terminal this month! Even if Jinzhou City isn't short on money, you can't just…"
Although the strict Baizhi wanted to properly lecture him about the importance of taking care of the Pangu Terminal, when she thought of the figure who had stood in front of Yangyang and protected her as well, a warmth spread in her heart, and the rest of her words just wouldn't come out.
"Forget it… just use mine first."
What she didn't know was that four Pangu Terminals a month was far from Zane's limit. It was just the limit of what Jinxi could tolerate…
Taking the Pangu Terminal from Baizhi, Zane lay down in a simulation device right next to Rover.
"Hang in there, Rover…"
After taking one last deep look at the girl beside him, Zane slowly closed his eyes.
At the same time, the Doctor, who had been watching everything from the side, took a deep look at Yangyang and Baizhi, whose faces were full of worry.
She then glanced at the mass of flesh curled up on the ground, writhing in pain, as well as Chixia guarding him. Picking up Zane's discarded Pangu Terminal, she walked out.
Even though the terminal was broken, the identity data stored inside was still valid.
Everyone was focused on what was happening in the simulation room, and no one noticed that at that moment, a small girl holding a Pangu Terminal with the highest level of authorization quietly walked into the archive room…
———
As his consciousness gradually sank, Zane felt like a drowning prisoner. A strong sense of suffocation came wave after wave along with chaotic streams of data, gripping his throat tightly, as if trying to swallow him whole.
Strange and bizarre images kept appearing before his eyes.
In a daze, he seemed to see a figure leap into some kind of device. Behind that figure, another dark silhouette silently watched everything.
A glimmer of tears slid down from the corner of the eyes of the lone figure standing beside the device…
Bang!
Just as Zane tried to see the scene clearly, he suddenly felt like he had hit something. In front of him, it was as if there was an invisible wall blocking him from continuing downward.
Just as Zane thought he would be kicked out of the server like Yangyang and Baizhi, he suddenly felt his body lighten, and then he fell to the ground.
Although he didn't know why he was able to get in, Zane wasn't the type to dwell on it.
He just wondered whether the person who designed this simulation field had some weird preferences.
Even though it was supposed to be a combat field, there was actually a pool of water right in the center. Stepping on it even caused splashes.
If someone accidentally slipped during a fight…
Is this simulation field supposed to be a special filming set? Fight and wash your suit at the same time?
While complaining about how ridiculous this simulation field was, Zane quietly took out an empty bottle, crouched down, and filled it with water…
'A perfect bottle of soup stock, acquired!'
Carefully putting the bottle away, Zane finally started observing this somewhat special simulation field.
Under normal conditions, perhaps to save memory, the entire sky would be gray and hazy, as if covered by a curtain…
'What kind of person saves memory just to fill the battlefield with water!?'
But at this moment, the entire sky in the simulation field was covered by a strange dark purple color.
Within this purple sky, a massive moon almost filled the entire view. Beyond the moon, faint flickering frequencies could be seen shifting between real and unreal.
And in the center of the battlefield, a somewhat familiar figure was kneeling in the water…
"Rover!"
But Rover, collapsed in the water, seemed not to hear him at all, still keeping her head lowered. Her black hair fell over her face, and the shadow of the moon cast an inescapable darkness around her.
"?"
Looking at Rover sitting in the water, Zane frowned.
Logically speaking, Rover wouldn't just sit there in cold water like that. Not to mention whether a girl sitting in cold water in a skirt would get a stomachache, just the "wet clothes fanservice" alone wouldn't happen to Rover.
If anyone was getting soaked, it would be Rover making someone else soaked.
This wasn't like her at all.
Filled with confusion, Zane slowly walked toward the center of the water. But the closer he got, the worse the ringing in his ears became.
Feeling the distorted, piercing noise by his ears, Zane suddenly had a realization.
"She's not overclocked, is she!?"
So-called overclocking was when a Resonator's mental state and abilities exceeded their limits, causing the energy in their body to overflow. In short, going berserk.
At the thought that Rover might have overclocked, Zane no longer hesitated and rushed toward that figure.
But just as he was about to touch her, Rover sitting in the water suddenly changed, transforming into a Remnant in the shape of a human woman with black wings.
The Remnant clearly noticed Zane's presence. It stood up from the water, and a massive black scythe formed in its hands.
At the same time, Zane felt like he could hear countless Remnants howling. The chaotic and disordered sounds echoed endlessly in his ears like the whispers of an ancient god.
"…Leave… mother…"
The inhuman frequency could somehow still be understood by humans, which itself defied logic.
'Mother…' Zane stared at the Remnant that resembled a human woman, frowning deeply.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and his brain kicked into gear.
'Since when does Rover have a kid? And such an ugly one?'
"But thinking about it… why did I mistake this thing for Rover? Sure, those wings look a little cool. It wouldn't be bad to catch it and keep it as a guard Pokémon."
"But compared to Rover, it's still way worse… Did I mistake it for her because I've been jerking off too much and started hallucinating?"
Whether it understood his words or not, the female Remnant immediately raised its scythe and slashed fiercely toward Zane.
"Whoa! I only said a couple of things, why are you so mad? If you're unhappy, just say it. If nothing else, you can curse me… what? You won't? Then I'll start cursing you."
Zane lightly tapped the ground with his foot and flipped backward, dodging the incoming scythe.
Although he couldn't understand what the Remnant had been babbling about, based on experience, he could tell it probably contained a lot of insults involving mothers.
The Remnant, shaped like a human woman, kept roaring. Its black wings spread behind it, looking like it was ready to devour him.
Seeing this, Zane grinned.
"Hey, even though you're ugly, can't speak human language, your voice sounds awful, and you've got a bad temper just like Rover… at least you're not scary, right? After all…"
"Can you be scarier than my ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend both being my roommates, and my current girlfriend also being my ex-girlfriend's friend?"
The chaotic frequencies around the Remnant seemed to fall completely silent at that moment.
With its limited thoughts, the Remnant tried to process what it had just heard. Compared to the humanoid creature in front of it…
Maybe it was the one that seemed more human?