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Published at 29th of February 2024 07:04:44 AM


Chapter 40

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Though he argued vehemently, Li Xi was ultimately carried out by Duan Zhen and placed next to Xia Qirong to have lunch together.

Li Xi pouted unhappily.

“Li Xi, about what you guys were talking about earlier, is the Mermaid Kingdom really so fond of good-looking people?” Xia Qirong, being his usual laid-back self, perhaps intentionally trying to divert Li Xi’s attention, leaned in and asked, “They even wanted you to be their king. If you stayed there, wouldn’t you be able to choose a queen!”

“They might,” Li Xi replied listlessly. “But I’m not interested.”

“Why?” Xia Qirong was puzzled. “Having a harem is the dream of most men.”

“I’m not interested because they’re not as good-looking as me,” Li Xi glanced at him. “And besides, I like someone like Duan Zhen.”

Xia Qirong’s face twisted in discomfort, not because he had an issue with same-sex relationships—after all, same-sex marriage had long been legalized—but because he didn’t understand Li Xi’s taste.

“I admit Brother Duan is handsome and capable, and I absolutely admire him in battle,” Xia Qirong said, scratching his chin in confusion. “But when it comes to romance, it seems like he’s not even in the picture.”

“Now he is,” Li Xi said. “Anyway, Duan Zhen agreed to let me pursue him, so I’ll succeed sooner or later.”

He glanced at Xia Qirong. “Let’s not talk about that. What’s the personality of the psychic in your team? Duan Zhen said he’ll introduce us this afternoon, and I’m a bit nervous.”

“Dan Zuo, he has a pretty good personality, but he’s a bit aloof,” Xia Qirong rubbed his chin. “He’s a computer genius, always studying things inside the computer, even after coming here. He’s focused on the so-called system and world architecture.”

“A computer genius?” Li Xi repeated thoughtfully.

“Yeah, from what I’ve heard, his computer skills surpass ours by at least fifty years. I think he doesn’t interact with us because he thinks we’re idiots,” Xia Qirong spoke more. “Here, he only listens to Brother Duan.”

“Hmm, it’s normal, given how talented Duan Zhen is,” Li Xi listened attentively, casually complimenting.

As he said this, Xia Qirong remembered what had happened today and cleared his throat, whispering, “Do you like Brother Duan?”

“Yes,” Li Xi nodded openly. “But Duan Zhen hasn’t agreed to be with me yet.”

“What are you thinking, pursuing Brother Duan?” Xia Qirong teased. “Don’t you feel deflated seeing his cold face?”

Walking beside them, Sun Le nudged Xia Qirong, signaling him to be careful with his words since there were children around.

Being treated like a child, Li Xi squinted his eyes and suddenly smiled. “Actually, I’m not eighteen. I’m twenty this year. I lied to you guys before.”

“Huh?” Xia Qirong was stunned.

“You know I look young, and most people mistake my age. Brother Duan seemed to give me preferential treatment because he thought I was young, so I just said I was younger,” Li Xi lowered his voice. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Xia Qirong waved his hand. “With your previous appearance, even if you said you were sixteen, I would have believed you.”

“Brother Duan has rejected me many times because of my young age,” Li Xi said sadly. “I wish I hadn’t lied about my age.”

Two stifled giggles came from nearby.

Li Xi didn’t dwell on it: “I’ll confess to Duan Zhen later. Can you help me say some good things? I’m afraid he’ll be angry when he finds out I lied to him.”

“Brother Duan won’t be mad at you. I’ve never seen him be gentler, not even to his own brother,” Xia Qirong waved his hand.

Indeed, Duan Zhen spoiled his younger brother Duan Zizhuo, but due to his frequent absence from home and his cold demeanor, Duan Zizhuo and he weren’t particularly close. At least, Duan Zhen wouldn’t tolerate Duan Zizhuo’s petulant behavior like this.

“Did Duan Zhen’s brother not join the game?” Li Xi showed a hint of curiosity. “Do we resemble each other? Duan Zhen told me he used to see me as his brother.”

“No, you two are nothing alike. Brother Duan only said that because you’re close in age,” Xia Qirong said. “Duan Zizhuo has poor health and can’t be separated from the hospital. Brother Duan looked for him when he first arrived, but couldn’t find him. He probably didn’t join the game. It seems like people aren’t randomly pulled into the game; there’s a pattern. I haven’t seen anyone with particularly poor health join, not even idiots… Of course, it’s also possible they were eliminated in the first game.”

As he spoke, his gaze darkened.

“Of course, there’s a pattern to pulling people into the game. It’s not worth the effort to pull in those who would die anyway,” Li Xi commented casually. “Sorry, I’m off-topic. What’s his personality like? Since I’ll meet Brother Duan’s family in the future, I want to get to know… Oh, if you can’t say, it’s okay.”

“We’re teammates now, so it’s okay,” Xia Qirong said nonchalantly. “Duan Zizhuo is very quiet. We haven’t met many times, and he doesn’t seem to talk much. He’s not particularly close to Brother Duan either, and that’s about all I know.”

Li Xi blinked. “I see. Thank you.”

It seemed that Duan Zhen initially treated him as a brother because his personality at the time was somewhat similar to Duan Zizhuo’s. But later, he changed his strategy.

But now, that wasn’t important. Li Xi pursed his lips, running his tongue over his slightly dry lips.

When he first noticed Duan Zhen’s team, he only paid attention to Duan Zhen himself, not the other team members. He didn’t realize there was someone here studying the system.

For Li Xi, who had always been in the magical world, technology was like a foreign language, especially computers. He had tried to teach himself, and while he could understand the basics, deeper understanding was difficult.

If he really dedicated decades or even centuries to research, maybe he could uncover the true nature of the system. But with that time, he might as well destroy the game world and build a new one faster.

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice Xia Qirong and Sun Le exchanging a glance.

Xia Qirong shook his head slightly.

They had just judged Li Xi’s danger level. Seeing that he was only interested in matters related to romance and not prying into Duan Zhen’s family affairs, they lowered their guard somewhat.

After lunch, Li Xi went straight to Duan Zhen’s room. He knocked on the door and soon saw Duan Zhen behind it.

“Duan Zhen, have you had lunch? I didn’t see you in the dining hall,” Li Xi asked eagerly.

“I have,” Duan Zhen nodded, stepping aside to let him in. “Come in. Dan Zuo is in the room.”

Li Xi smiled and didn’t act inappropriately toward him for once. Instead, he quickly passed by and looked around the room.

Duan Zhen felt a bit uncomfortable with his attitude but quickly said, “That’s Dan Zuo, another psychic. He’ll be joining us on the next mission.”

“Mhm,” Li Xi nodded, his gaze falling on Dan Zuo.

Dan Zuo was a slender young man with pale skin, slightly disheveled hair, and a pair of black-framed glasses perched on his nose. Upon hearing Duan Zhen’s words, he looked up at Li Xi, his eyes flashing with a hint of surprise.

“Hello, I’m Li Xi,” Li Xi leaned over to greet him. “I heard you’re studying the system. Any progress?”

“Just a little,” Dan Zuo pushed up his glasses and turned his laptop toward Li Xi. “I’m analyzing its signals and trying to determine the basis of its commands.”

Li Xi looked at the flashing lines of code on the laptop screen, tilting his head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

Dan Zuo nodded as if it were nothing and turned the laptop back.

“What I really want to know is, can you eventually find the system’s location?” Li Xi blinked. “I’m very curious about how it controls the power of this world, assigns tasks to everyone, and even provides us with props.”

The existence of the system’s store was quite mysterious. Li Xi had bought things a few times and keenly felt the energy fluctuations when items appeared. He realized that these things were all created by the system’s energy, which could almost be called divine.

But obviously, if the system could truly create something out of nothing like a deity, it wouldn’t need to seize their game world.

“Assigning tasks is simple. Each of us has a smart wristband, which acts as a signal receiver. The system only needs to issue instructions, and we receive them,” Dan Zuo explained. “But I haven’t figured out how it provides us with props yet.”

Li Xi pondered. “Can it be destroyed?”

“Of course, it can, but it’s very difficult,” Dan Zuo nodded. “The system isn’t invulnerable. It even needs this thing to issue tasks, indicating that it hasn’t reached a point of being intangible. So as long as you find its core point and destroy it, it can be done. It’s just that it’s hidden very deeply. I’ve been looking for it since I entered the game but haven’t found it.”

“Is there a tangible form…” Li Xi turned his eyes around and suddenly saw Duan Zhen standing nearby watching them. He quickly withdrew his thoughts and patted the seat beside him. “Duan Zhen, come over here.”

Seeing that he wasn’t bringing up the topic again, Dan Zuo remained silent and went back to looking at his screen.

Since Li Xi came in, he had noticed some changes in the data he collected, but they were subtle and hard to discern at the moment.

The author has something to say:

Duan Zhen: It seems like I’m falling out of favor (alert)

Lol, Duan Duan, are you getting jealous for once?

Thank you for reading




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