Chapter 273: The Hunted Xu Dejun

Wu Chang waited a while longer in the lab, saw He Yun fully absorbed in her studies with no sign of stopping, and sighed before leaving.

Earlier, when the underground shelter was on the verge of collapse, He Yun hadn't revealed her side as a mad scientist; had he known, he'd have given her the hard drive before leaving.

Mistake. Big mistake.

Tch.

Thud.

Hearing the lab door open and close, He Yun paused her typing, glanced sideways toward the door, saw Wu Chang leaving with his head hung low, and slightly curled her lips.

Though she longed to claim Wu Chang for herself right away, now wasn't the time.

Since the events with the Goddess of Desire and Mercury, she understood the world wasn't confined to just one planet—or even one universe.

Whether leading the shelter's residents to survive the apocalypse or securing a foothold across countless worlds, strength came first.

She didn't want to relive the scene where she was toyed with by Mercury and powerless against the Goddess of Desire.

For this, she needed power.

Among the things Wu Chang brought, there was precisely the power she urgently needed.

Wu Chang's cousin was undoubtedly a great scientist; though the technological trees of the two realms developed differently, she quickly saw the potential in the hard drive's data and was astonished by the method of extracting divinity.

With Schultz having paved the way, He Yun, as a successor, swiftly grasped the principles and expanded upon them, devising multiple concepts based on the extraction of divinity.

She had a premonition: if she fused the method of extracting divinity with her expertise in mecha construction, she would create mecha surpassing gods.

She had no doubt she could realize this vision.

Even before these detailed theoretical foundations on divinity existed, she had cracked divinity and faith power herself, merging them with technology.

Now, with a complete and verified theoretical framework, her research would surge forward.

In scientific research, no one could surpass her—not even Wu Chang's cousin!

As for Wu Chang…

He Yun's gaze softened, then hardened again in an instant.

Since Wu Chang defeated the Goddess of Desire and Mercury and saved her underground shelter, she knew he was destined to rise higher and higher, to heights she could never reach.

And her rival was a pure, flawless Holy Maiden, born a god.

She could stay by Wu Chang's side, accompany him through one dangerous world after another, grow alongside him.

To avoid being left behind, she had to find a way to keep up.

But how could she keep up? And with what?

Previously, driven by inner unease, she'd desperately wanted to leave her mark on Wu Chang, to claim him as her own.

But now she didn't need to—this gift from Wu Chang would let her fully decipher the Desire Stele, even use it as a medium to crack and forcibly harness the Goddess of Desire's power.

And this was only the beginning.

Though it sounded unflattering, she'd realized Wu Chang wasn't smart—at least not in science.

In the future, as he traveled across worlds, he'd frequently acquire knowledge like his cousin's legacy, but he couldn't understand it—he'd have to give it to her.

As long as she possessed these cross-realm knowledge fragments, she could keep growing stronger, never falling behind him or that girl.

She would become Wu Chang's pillar, not his appendage.

He Yun opened the surveillance feed and watched Wu Chang greeting He Yi in the mecha training ground.

Wait a little longer. When my plan is complete, I'll reward you properly.

In the mecha training ground, Wu Chang felt a dizzying spin, turned his head, and found himself thrown to the ground by He Yi.

He sat up, looked at He Yi's excited face as the man shouted "One more round!", and gave a bitter smile.

The He siblings' talents were each more terrifying than the last; He Yun, needless to say, single-handedly designed the entire underground shelter's massive power system, and her realm ascension plan—if Mercury hadn't ruined it—might have pushed it all the way to the Third Abyss Layer.

He Yi was the opposite extreme—he wasn't nearly as smart as He Yun, his IQ only slightly above average, but his physical strength was absurd.

If you converted He Yi's physical stats into a panel, his strength and endurance were at least 150 points, his life and agility slightly lower but still over 100 points—this was his pure physical strength without mecha.

Now that the shelter's contamination level had dropped to zero, without the Blessing Master's enhancement, Wu Chang—without using his powers or class transformation—couldn't land a single hit on He Yi, even wearing training mecha.

He really wanted to shout: I, Wu Chang, am a normal, law-abiding player; He Yi is the stat monster!

How the hell did a mere mortal train to achieve these stats? Are the He siblings' parents Kryptonians?

If you gave He Yi a physical class and a few decent skills, he could enter any Wasteland Realm instance and chase down bosses alone.

For the shelter's natives, wearing mecha granted them stats comparable to level 20+ players—but for He Yi, it only restricted his natural physical performance.

After training with He Yi for a while, Wu Chang promised to find him a cultivation technique if the chance arose, then walked into the rest room He Yi had prepared for him, his body aching.

Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, Wu Chang sighed and rolled over.

He'd expected a fulfilling night—ended up like this. Lights out!

In the darkness, Wu Chang thought about the All-Knowing Crystal's words and couldn't sleep.

Three pillars of the present world, three realms' faith power, jointly forming a vast hidden divine realm.

With only thirty-some days left until the world instance, completing all this wouldn't be easy; when he returned, he must discuss it with Ailin and plan ahead.

To gather faith, of course, he still needed Ailin, the Eternal Radiance, to take the lead.

As he pondered the All-Knowing Crystal's answer, he slipped into a half-dreaming state, unable to tell if he was awake or dreaming.

In a haze, a scene surfaced before his eyes.

In the scene, a middle-aged man in his fifties piloted a low-altitude flyer at high speed; behind him, three or four players in varied attire chased relentlessly, unleashing skills at him.

The man's face was pale, a piercing wound on his lower abdomen, the surrounding flesh rotting, preventing healing.

The severe injury forced him to flee without turning back.

But he couldn't escape long—his flyer took repeated hits, and its shield energy was nearly depleted.

At this rate, his flyer would be destroyed in under two minutes.

The scene shifted rapidly, following the man's escape route forward—where a closed realm portal lay.

Wu Chang saw the passage and, through temporary administrator permissions, learned it had once been the entrance to a tunnel leading to an underground shelter in the Rational Realm.

After turning Saint Song Corp into a private realm, his temporary administrator permissions in the Wasteland Realm were upgraded, allowing him to traverse between the Wasteland Realm and the Rational Realm via the Pillars of the Present World.

As long as he wished, he could appear instantly at the passage entrance in the scene and save the middle-aged man being chased.

But why should he save that guy?

The Rational Realm was Huanxi's territory; there, Huanxi could unleash his full power—was he going to walk straight into a trap?

Wu Chang opened his eyes, breaking free from the scene he had seen, and pulled out the Omniscient Crystal, finding it emitting a faint glow.

In the item effect section of the Omniscient Crystal, the "Revelation" skill also glowed faintly.

"Skill Description: The Omniscient Crystal randomly grants you revelations related to the answer you seek."

Was the Omniscient Crystal responding to his question?

Was the middle-aged man being chased in the scene connected to the question he had previously asked the Omniscient Crystal?

Wu Chang had no time to think further—he immediately donned his Disguise Mask and chose to appear at the passage revealed by the Revelation, fearing that any hesitation would let the middle-aged man in the scene die.

The scene before him shifted abruptly; when his vision refocused, he stood in a valley.

The valley was about three hundred meters wide, flanked by steep stone cliffs, with many irregular Shi Zhu standing within—each over two hundred meters tall, making the terrain extremely complex; flying through it risked instant collision.

The valley was desolate; on the grayish-blue stone mountains, only scattered plants and boulders the size of small hills could be seen—all of them, in shape and volume, were fallen Shi Zhu shattered by external force.

His Breakthrough Master did not trigger, and he sensed no pollution value in the air—it didn't feel like an instance; it felt more like the Crimson Courtyard.

Yet in the scene he had seen, several players were attacking the middle-aged man. Could these players break the rules of the Crimson Courtyard—or was the Rational Realm's Crimson Courtyard not a safe zone, where players could attack each other?

Before Wu Chang could figure it out, he saw a flying vehicle plummet from the sky, tracing a crooked path before crashing not far from him, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The middle-aged man he had seen moments earlier staggered out of the smoke, clutching his abdomen, drawing a large blade, ready for a final stand.

Seconds later, four low-flying vehicles descended from above, surrounding the middle-aged man from four directions.

Among the pursuers, the leader was a player dressed as a future soldier, wearing tactical goggles and a smart exoskeleton.

The future soldier hovered his vehicle in midair, looking down at the middle-aged man below, saying, "Old man, surrender quietly and come with us—maybe we'll let you live."

The middle-aged man sneered, gripping his blade tighter. "The Light Society sent only you four to hunt me? How little they think of me. You should've investigated me before coming—instead of wasting breath trying to make me surrender, just bring back my head."

The future soldier shrugged. "I actually thought the same, but orders say they'd prefer to take you alive. If you won't cooperate, we'll have to break your limbs and carry you back."

No sooner had the future soldier finished speaking than the player opposite him—dressed in form-fitting leather armor and a leaf-camo cloak, a jungle assassin—vanished.

He reappeared behind the middle-aged man, crouching and slashing at his Achilles tendon.

The middle-aged man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head—he spun and swung his blade backward the instant the assassin appeared. The great blade fell like an iron gate, infused with all his strength, attacking without defense; if struck, the assassin's slender frame would likely be cleaved clean in two.

!

Four against one, even a wound was a loss—the assassin wouldn't trade his life for a scratch and immediately retreated.

This probe failed to take down the middle-aged man, but it revealed his resolve—he was prepared to die, killing one was no loss, killing two was profit.

The four pursuers frowned, none willing to be the first to charge the middle-aged man.

After a moment of stalemate, the future soldier raised a hand signal, ordering all four to attack simultaneously and capture the middle-aged man.

The atmosphere turned solemn; just as they were about to move, a half-orc player pointed toward the valley floor. "Boss, who's that over there?"

They followed his gaze and saw a stranger sitting calmly atop a boulder the size of a small hill, watching their battle.

The stranger's aura was hidden; had the half-orc not used his skill to summon a beast soul and seen the stranger through its eyes, none of them would have noticed his presence.

Who was he? How long had he been there? What did he want?

Sweat beaded on the future soldier's forehead; he aimed his gun at the stranger. "Who are you?"

Wu Chang, facing the black muzzle, waved his hand. "I'm just a passerby watching the show. Ignore me—carry on."

Could they just ignore him?

The future soldier and the others abandoned the middle-aged man and moved toward Wu Chang.

"I'll ask again. Answer. Leave. Or die."

Wu Chang remained calm, asking in return, "Who do you think I am?"

The future soldier fired immediately—the shot was a command. The other three followed, locking onto Wu Chang and unleashing their lethal skills.

They acted like Bai Ta police—once they fired, they emptied their clips; one skill wasn't enough, so they kept firing, obsessed, each unleashing at least five skills, reducing the boulder to rubble before gasping to a stop.

Before they could catch their breath, they saw the stranger standing behind them.

Wu Chang sighed. "Why so violent?"

No sooner had he spoken than the tip of a dagger protruded from his chest—the jungle assassin had slipped behind him and struck.

The assassin, as the attacker, now had bloodshot eyes, muttering, "Kill you, kill you…"

The assassin pulled the dagger free, preparing to stab Wu Chang twice more, when the half-orc plummeted from above like a living meteor, crushing Wu Chang and the assassin beneath him.

The half-orc, fused with his beast soul, had grown into a five-meter-tall minotaur, swinging his battle-axe wildly, hammering the ground as if he'd seen Wu Chang's red underwear through X-ray vision.

The future soldier pulled out a charged energy cannon and fired at Wu Chang and the two others beneath him.

Blinding light flared, followed by a deafening boom filling the valley.

As the roar faded, the future soldier looked at the crater—only two severely wounded allies remained; the stranger was gone, reduced to ash.

He exhaled in relief, smiling with satisfaction.

But the next moment, that familiar voice spoke again—this time from above.

They looked up and saw the stranger standing atop a nearby Shi Zhu, looking down at them.

Behind the stranger, a mysterious rune, the size of a human, pulsed with purple ripples—ominous and foreboding.

Wu Chang raised a hand in a stop gesture, telling the future soldier and the others to hold their attack, then placed his palm to his ear as if listening. "Do you hear anything?"

For some reason, the four were drawn in—they truly tilted their heads to listen.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

They heard a deep, accelerating heartbeat—familiar yet strange, as if it were their own.

The weakest of the four, the fourth pursuer who had never even gotten the chance to make a move, said instinctively, "Is it my heartbeat?"

The four Future Warriors looked down at their chests and suddenly noticed a layer of purple ripples covering their bodies, the frequency of the ripples matching the rhythm of their heartbeats.

Seeing the ripples, they grew flustered and short of breath, dizzy and nauseous, feeling they had to destroy something to make themselves normal again.

Wu Chang gave an encouraging clap and said, "Correct, but unfortunately there's no prize."

The sound of the applause interrupted the ripples on the four Future Warriors' bodies; the ripples stopped, and their hearts stopped with them.

Without the slightest warning, the four pursuers' eyes bulged and they dropped dead on the spot.

Wu Chang on the stone pillar shook his head — the fact that they were members of the Light Society was already reason enough for them to die.

This scene, eerie enough for a horror film, stunned the middle-aged man the four had abandoned. He couldn't even be bothered to press the wound on his belly as he muttered, "What happened?"

Wu Chang, who had been staying by the middle-aged man's side, ready to take him running at any moment, deactivated his Social Anxiety Disorder and Elite Stealth and struck up a conversation:

"I don't know either. These days the work pressure is high; dying from overwork is perfectly normal."

Not knowing whether the four pursuers had truly died from overwork, the middle-aged man was startled into a shudder when Wu Chang appeared soundlessly at his side, nearly giving himself a heart attack.

Unsure for the moment whether to clutch his heart or his belly, the middle-aged man looked at Wu Chang and said, "Many thanks. If not for your help, sir, I should have died here today."

Wu Chang accepted the gratitude calmly and said, "Just remember you owe me a life. I heard you say they were Light Society members, which is why I stepped in to help you."

"Who are you, and why are the Light Society fellows after you?"

In the Abyss game, strength was king. The man before him wielded means beyond ghost or god, his power unfathomably deep. Though the middle-aged man was no spring chicken, before this person all he had was that extra age.

"This old man is Xu Dejun, a Grade-2 Patrol Officer of the Administration Bureau. The matter of being hunted by the Light Society involves private affairs of the Administration Bureau and is truly not something I can disclose to outsiders. I hope you can understand, sir."

Wu Chang said, "That won't do — I just love hearing that sort of thing. Don't forget I just saved your life."

Xu Dejun was a veteran of the Administration Bureau, one of the first batch of members to join. Because of his strength, he had stopped at Grade-2 Patrol Officer, but his actual standing within the Administration Bureau was far higher than that of an ordinary Grade-1 Patrol Officer.

The people he usually dealt with, whether in the Abyss or in reality, were all figures of some standing; their speech was always proper and dignified. Suddenly running into someone who talked like Wu Chang, he didn't know how to respond for the moment.

"It's Administration Bureau private business. Knowing about it won't do you any good, so why must you press the point?"

Wu Chang bared his teeth in a grin. "Whether it's good or not isn't for you to decide. I forgot to tell you — my name is Peace. To be precise, we're still in a state of war with each other. Inquiring into your enemy's intelligence — how could that not be good for me?"

Xu Dejun fell silent. Just as Wu Chang was preparing to keep applying pressure, unexpectedly Xu Dejun spoke up and asked:

"Are you the Peace who broke through the Grade-B rampage instance in the trial dungeon before, seized the Pillar of the Present World half a month ago, and repelled the Joy avatar at Sacred Song Company a couple of days ago?"

Wu Chang nodded. "That's me."

Xu Dejun pressed on, "You obtained two Pillar of Reality and the temporary administration authority within them?"

Wu Chang nodded again, not knowing what Xu Dejun before him was after.

Xu Dejun let out a long breath, as if to say thank goodness it's Peace, we're saved.

"Mr. Peace, I have a matter I beg you to help with. Only you can accomplish it. Please, you must agree."

Wu Chang:?

(End of chapter)