Chapter 180: Its Core (Major Revision, Please Start Rereading from Chapter 179!)

Lin Yifan didn't even need to think to know what Ruan Qingtan was thinking.

Speaking of which, when she first arrived in the Survival Realm, if Lin Yifan hadn't happened to need what she had in her hand and kindly traded her some food and water, she might have died then.

Although Lin Yifan doesn't know much about women, he's seen pigs run even without eating pork.

In that desperate situation, his small effort was almost a lifesaving favor for Ruan Qingtan.

So it's quite normal for Ruan Qingtan to have special feelings toward him.

However, under that special Illusion Realm of the Survival Realm, everyone is desperately struggling to survive.

So even if Ruan Qingtan knows her own fluttering heart, she could never say it out loud.

But now that this has happened, regardless of whether they previously had any feelings, things will inevitably be a bit different now.

And now is also the perfect moment to pierce the window paper; it's quite normal for Ruan Qingtan to want to ask for clarity right now.

But Ruan Qingtan didn't expect Lin Yifan to be so direct, so she couldn't help but blush.

But after biting her lip, she still firmly nodded:

"Yes, I just want to ask this question, so can you give me an answer?"

Lin Yifan fell into silence.

To say he felt nothing at all would definitely be a lie.

Even before experiencing the Illusion Realm, he likewise wouldn't dare say he felt nothing.

After all, in that situation where every second is spent struggling to stay alive, having a beautiful girl beside him who not only helps him but trusts him completely—if he felt no flutter at all, he wouldn't be a man but a bodhisattva.

However, having a bit of special feeling doesn't mean they have to become lovers, and besides, he already has a main wife!

Even if he really had ideas, there are some moral lines he still wants to uphold.

Otherwise, he fears he would lose his very humanity that day.

But he also didn't want to hide his true thoughts from Ruan Qingtan, so he spoke frankly:

"Ruan Qingtan, I admit, I do have some special feelings for you; I don't want to hide this from you. The two of us being drawn into this strange Illusion Realm might also be related to this."

"But I can't give you the answer you want now, because before entering the Survival Realm I had a proper girlfriend—she just isn't in our District."

"Our relationship back then was fairly stable; although we met through a blind date and hadn't been together long, we had already reached the point of discussing marriage."

"So, whether she's now offline or whatever, I and she must have an outcome acceptable to both of us."

"Before that, whether I have shifted my affection or not, I don't want to give up on her; otherwise it would be unfair to her and unfair to you, so I can't give you a satisfactory answer—I'm really sorry about that."

"But as long as you still trust me, we will forever be the best teammates and partners; I will stand before you, be the Captain and teammate you can rely on!"

Regardless, any special feelings between a man and a woman can't be one-sided; moreover, because of this matter they've triggered such a huge crisis.

So Lin Yifan doesn't want to evade his responsibility.

And Ruan Qingtan's attitude turned out to be beyond his expectation.

Her face showed no trace of disappointment; instead she laughed happily and said cheerfully:

"Oh! What's there to apologize for? My having a bit of special feeling for you is entirely my own business, it has nothing to do with you."

"Now that you can give me a sincere answer, instead of stringing me along like those scumbags and deceiving me into serving you, that's already very good."

"And now you also tell me that you have some special feeling for me, which shows I'm not just one-sidedly longing for you—how could that not be even better?"

"As for how far we'll go in the future, that doesn't matter! This broken world is basically today but no tomorrow; if the time comes, I believe we'll eventually get together; if not, we'll each just live well for now."

Although Ruan Qingtan's optimism surprised Lin Yifan a bit, he also couldn't help but admit it let him breathe a sigh of relief.

He quickly laughed: "You're right, I was too narrow-minded!"

"And what's most important now isn't thinking about those random things, but rather really thinking about how to get out of this broken world!"

Ruan Qingtan nodded heavily: "Exactly; according to my observation, this is the final layer of the Illusion Realm, but what we're facing this time is truly bizarre, beyond ordinary description."

"However, that tower—even if I guessed wrong and it's not the core of this Illusion Realm, it's definitely something vitally important."

"Whether it's the core or not, let's go storm it first and talk later!" Lin Yifan adjusted his gear and took the lead.

The two hurried toward the tower, and in the ruins increasingly many deformed transparent monsters began to appear.

At first these transparent monsters were frightening, but gradually their forms became more varied.

Some resembled humans, some resembled beasts, and some were utterly bizarre shapes, making it impossible to tell what they were!

But these transparent monsters are now all prostrate on the ground, kowtowing toward the tower, with no intention of attacking them at all.

"They're drawing power from the Red Moon." Ruan Qingtan lowered her voice, speaking carefully: "Don't startle them, or we might get into trouble."

Lin Yifan nodded, about to continue forward, but when he saw the monsters' faces, his expression instantly changed.

"No! They're not drawing power from Kong Yue!" He stared fixedly at those monsters, speaking solemnly:

"Look at their faces."

Upon hearing that, Ruan Qingtan immediately turned her head to look, her expression suddenly shifting—

She saw the monsters' faces frantically twisting and changing.

And ultimately, they all turned into the two of them's facial features!

Indeed, no matter what form the monsters took here, their faces became theirs!

However, although they were their faces, the expressions differed—anger, fear, obsession, even madness...

Each face was filled with a chaos that makes one lose oneself!

"These are our faces!" Lin Yifan's voice tightened, "No, can't say they're our faces; they should be said to be what we look like after falling in countless cycles of the Illusion Realm..."

Although Lin Yifan is quite certain he hasn't personally experienced those 278 cycles of the Illusion Realm,

but in those memories that were inexplicably stuffed into his mind, each Illusion Realm's end showed him degenerating into a Lovecraftian species.

Those faces that belonged to him yet carried emotions utterly foreign to him make him feel nauseous whenever he recalls them, involuntarily.