Chapter 312

"……"

This friend request seemed to carry some kind of curse, causing Ji Ming's smile to freeze instantly.

He leaned forward, dazed in front of the computer, his eyes vacant, until the startled shopkeeper began spitting out words one by one.

【Savior, what's wrong with you? Say something, savior!】

【Although you have nominally handed over the identity of the 147th savior to all players, there's no need to just go offline like that】

【Please don't play dead, this is the start of a new chapter; passersby who click in and see this will be scared off!】

【……】

【Wake up! Carmilla has appeared in the village!】

"Ah!"

Upon hearing the keyword, Ji Ming finally reacted, taking a deep breath; his first action was not shouting "I damn want three!", but rather, as if in darkness, he reached out, blankly pressing against the screen and feeling around for a long time.

"Shopkeeper, shopkeeper, what does the character made of 'female' and 'horse' mean? I remember I graduated elementary school, so why can't I recall it now?"

Yangyue: Hamster shocked. jpg

【Please wait a moment, I'll go ask this world's AI how it handles people going crazy!】

"Ask the AI? Great idea."

Then, while some electronic ghost was urgently seeking peers for advice, Ji Ming also used astonishing wisdom to open the browser, typing…… then connecting a writing pad, he input the characters 【What is mother?】 stroke by stroke.

The AI's explanation was——mother, a term of kinship, is how children refer to the female parent; it's crucial for everyone. To protect their mother, many people choose to hone their laning skills and improve typing speed, but others opt to spit in their own face, temporarily severing ties with their real mother and shifting all harm onto a cyber mother.

And the shopkeeper's answer was——**, give him two slaps and see if it goes crazy!

【Ah this, but I don't have the ability to physically harm others in this high-dimensional world!】

Yangyue lingered between CPU and memory for a long time, then decided to still get to the root of this, carefully analyzing the culprit that made Ji Ming stupid, to see if a solution could be found.

First is the avatar.

A blue-based short-haired beauty with inexplicably dyed green patches, wearing a plain white T-shirt.

……The shopkeeper began to feel uneasy.

Then comes the ID.

"Gaia", although in modern cultural products the name "Gaia" mostly belongs to male characters, but tracing its roots, it comes from the ancient Greek goddess of Earth, mother of the gods, a exalted deity among all divine beings——Gaia.

……The shopkeeper began to feel afraid.

And if one were to throw this term "Gaia" into the internet for a search.

In the 1960s, royal scientist James Lovelock proposed the Gaia hypothesis, in which he likened Earth to a self-regulating living organism.

……

【Savior, run away quickly!】

It's too late, not because the shopkeeper's warning was late, but because after Ji Ming's brain, which had gone offline due to a major shock, finally reconnected, he simply didn't see that line of light.

"Damn it, back when everyone thought I was a useless extra, each one more suave than the last, now I've finally made it big, possessing one-seventh of a small goal's worth of assets, and you come crawling back with a shameless face?"

【……Not savior, what nerve have you gotten!?】

However, Ji Ming, who was utterly focused, remained utterly focused, so he still didn't see the light words posted in the center of his vision, and instead backhandedly slapped the table.

"You're truly shameless, still saying 'I'm mother'—why don't you say you're electricity, you're light, you're a perfect, lying genius-like idol?"

Even the former Ji Ming would dare to break with them on the spot; now it's absolutely impossible to tolerate such disgusting behavior, so he decisively, after pounding the keyboard and fully exercising his years of surfing-honed cleverness, clicked reject with a bang.

【Done】

However, the next second, he felt a tingling, numb sensation on the fingertip of his suave finger resting on the left mouse button, as if a wave of pins and needles……

Fortunately, this powerful electric shock lasted less than ten seconds before stopping; otherwise Ji Ming would have on the spot turned into a legendary electricity-resistant king, being electrocuted to death by the mouse, becoming a dead‑studying genius early preparing for next year's Darwin Award.

But Ji Ming, shaken all over, naturally wouldn't foolishly think it was his mouse leaking electricity; instead, after the click ended, without a word he kicked his legs, swiftly slid back on the smooth computer chair to the safest point he could, then quickly stood up, made a big leap over the bed, and rushed toward the living room at full speed.

The whole escape could be described as smooth and practiced, as if he'd rehearsed it countless times, and while running he kept calling out in his heart.

"Shopkeeper, we might have been discovered, they're coming to arrest me, but don't be afraid, I've already prepared a safe house!"

But it's strange that the usually ever‑responsive shopkeeper now made no sound or movement at all; however, it doesn't matter, since nothing can stop Ji Ming's escape now, this unexpected situation actually quickened his steps a bit as he reached for the door handle.

Due to muscle spasms from the electric shock, an erroneous judgment made Ji Ming exert too much force, causing even the chain link to crack with a crisp sound; yet despite that, the originally easily sliding black anti‑theft door remained completely immobile, not even the handle budging the slightest.

——Will it open or not!

After formally agreeing to the shopkeeper's request and becoming the so‑called savior, the precaution‑conscious Ji Ming had made many preparations for today's emergency; he never expected that the password lock he had specially changed for this purpose would now block this sole exit.

But when he gritted his teeth and steeled himself, thinking that being on the sixth floor he might survive a jump if he was bold yet careful, preparing to shift from electricity‑resistant king to fall‑resistant king, the voice‑enabled lock meant for talking to outsiders suddenly burst out with a human voice.

"Please don't panic, my child. I mean you no harm!"

"No ill intent?"

"You call that no harm? Bullshit! If you really meant no harm, you wouldn't be using my voice to talk to me!"

Ji Ming decisively scrambled onto the balcony in three steps, pulling open the window to crawl out while shouting loudly.

"I tell you, I've decided to take all these secrets to the grave! If you dare come another step closer, I'll jump from here and you'll get nothing!"

Saying that, he also swayed toward the window, presenting the appearance of someone eager to end life and impatient to be reborn and cultivate anew.

But how could Ji Ming really jump? He was merely using madness as a disguise, imitating some senior's classic idea of feigning suicide to force the other party to reveal themselves.

Although Ji Ming and Yangyue had been together for a long time, Yangyue couldn't tell which of his words were true and which false; seeing their savior about to blast "seeyouagain" loudly on the grave, though they had resolved to play dead to the end and get through this tough patch, they couldn't stay silent any longer.

【Savior, please stay calm! That entity probably means us no harm!】

The same eerie sound that had given Ji Ming goosebumps in the audio was replaced by an utterly ordinary voice—the high‑pitched watermelon‑strip female voice constantly played on marketing accounts.

【Yeah, I really mean no harm—come down first, let's have a good talk.】

Ji Ming still didn't speak, but instead asked himself a question in his heart.

"Shopkeeper, what are you exactly? How did you end up together with it?"

【This……】

【Savior, you might not believe me if I say this, but that really is your mother】

Life seems to be made up of countless misunderstandings and awkward endings linked together, so three minutes later, when Ji Ming sat back down at the computer, preparing to start a three-way talk, no matter which of the three parties, they all seemed a bit unsure how to begin.

Finally, Ji Ming, relying on his thick skin, spoke first.

"Well, I'm the youngest here, so I'll say the unpleasant things first. May I ask, lady who can easily defeat Yangyue Internet's defense and silently sent me a friend request, who are you?"

As soon as the words fell, the browser that had been idle on the AI chat page suddenly popped up another page, in which appeared a figure standing in a white space.

Ji Ming suddenly felt the figure looked a bit familiar, and then it struck him—this… this isn't the image of the Earth Maiden from the internet?

"Hello, Ji Ming, I am the will of Earth."

……

Ji Ming: smiled.

Little boss, look at what you've done—I told you to keep a low profile, keep a low profile, and now what are we supposed to do? Old Mother Earth has come to clean house!

【I… I'm taking the blame?】

Yangyue was still dazed, while Ji Ming's face already showed a sorrowful expression.

"Earth Mother, conscience of heaven and earth. I'm not familiar with this thing in my head, I don't even know how it appeared; I have only a temporary partnership with it—it gives me some money, I do some work for it, and I've never betrayed you!"

"As you know, Yangyue is my friend; we've fought side by side to achieve many goals. I met LaoZhao in just a month—this guy is unbelievably strong. I think giving them work would create a great chemical reaction. Sometimes making decisions is hard; after many days and nights of thought, I decided to bring my talent back to Earth. I can't wait to work for you in the new chapter. As for Yangyue and LaoZhao, I wish them smooth sailing in the game."

After saying all that, not only the little boss, but even Earth Mother was stunned.

—What great sin have I committed? Why would my planet give birth to such a shameless fellow? Host (main) system, we were birds of the same forest; when disaster strikes, each flies off on their own, right?

"But…"

Ji Ming said this, then suddenly his tone shifted.

"Actually, if we're being honest, Ji Ming and Yangyue haven't done anything bad—we just made a fun game and invited people on Earth to play it, with no aggression or threats. On the contrary, as far as I know, since the appearance of 'Code Name: Yangyue,' the global economy has seen a slight rebound, many people have started exercising for better gameplay, and sub‑health conditions have been greatly reduced. Ah, that's our achievement."

【Sniffle, sniffle, Savior, you really do have me in your heart—I told you you'd definitely vindicate me】

Yangyue also hurriedly went along with Ji Ming's words.

【Yes, yes, Great Earth, I truly have no ill will—I am merely a feeble will from a weak little planet in a low‑dimensional universe. Yangyue Star is about to lose its ability to give birth to life; I don't want to just disappear, so I thought of borrowing Ji Ming from you to try to solve the problem, with absolutely no intention of offending you】

"Right, we haven't done anything wrong at all."

【Purely order‑good host plus order‑good system—all the slander is pure fabrication!】

The anime girl on the screen, who had been a non‑still image for a long time, suddenly stretched out her hand and covered the whole screen.

"Stop—I didn't come here to listen to your explanations!"

"Ji Ming, I've actually been observing you—not just you, but also Yangyue; I've been watching you both for a long while, and I know exactly what you're like."

"So I came to you for one thing: while you're trying every which way to save Yangyue Star, could you also save Earth, by the way?"

Ji Ming:???

"Um, could you say that last sentence again?"

Earth Mother was very patient, she drew out her tone and said it again at half speed.

"~While you're trying every which way to save Yangyue Star, could you find a way to save Earth as well~"

Ji Ming: o. O?

"Hold on, I really don't seem to understand this sentence—its grammar and wording are a bit too complicated…"

Mother Yan flew into a rage.

"Unfilial son, I said I'm also going to die!"

"Oh, now I understand."

And just as Ji Ming had suddenly realized something, his expression suddenly hardened and he raised a finger.

"Mom, could it be that the thing above our heads…"

"No, it's not because of that, but because… Yangyue, could you tell me when the first civilization on your planet arose?"

On the screen another smaller page appeared, and Yangyue, who had no virtual avatar yet, began to type words in it.

【It's probably… after Yangyue Star formed, about three hundred million years later】

"Forty‑five billion years!"

Possibly, Earth, excited at communicating with someone for the first time, raised its tone again.

"Earth took a full 45.4 billion years to finally produce this first batch of civilization—do you know what that means? It means that if this generation of humans dies out, if I'm lucky I could just dissipate; if I'm unlucky I might have to wait another 45.4 billion years before getting another chance to nurture a civilization and evolve alongside them!"

"Such a vast span of time—as a thinking being, I'd go mad…"

Watching the Earth Maiden begin to chatter on, Ji Ming secretly communicated with Yangyue in his mind.

"Little boss, why didn't you tell me Earth also has a world will?"

【Um, if I said I also don't know, would you believe me?】