A flock of white birds soared in the sky.
My Cloud Riding Boots stepped softly on the soft grass as I stared blankly at my surroundings. Where am I?
The bluestone slabs formed a smooth road on the plains that extended into the distance. On the horizon, there was a city floating in the sky. Silver light enveloped the entire city. On the floating rocks, I could see young girls walking and dancing like butterflies. They carried baskets of herbs on their backs and held bouquets of wildflowers in their hands.
Amidst the sound of horse hooves, rows of knights with bright swords and armor swept past on both sides of the road. The emblem of the kingdom on their shoulders shone with an intimidating light. The knights dismounted one after another and knelt on one knee on both sides of the road, their attitude abnormally respectful towards me.
I leisurely strolled forward. Soon, countless ghouls, liches, and hunters appeared on both sides of the road. These evil souls also prostrated themselves in my direction as if they were revering their king.
… …
At the end of the road, under the royal flag, a beautiful girl wielding a sword stood. She was none other than the master of Sky City, Karinshan. Karinshan smiled wholeheartedly and opened her red lips. "We are proud of you … Now, please swear your loyalty to Sky Empire once more, my dearest warrior …"
I slowly knelt on one knee and stabbed the Xuanyuan Sword into the grass. However, blood suddenly seeped out of the grass and seemed to devour everything in the blink of an eye. Even my fingers and cheeks were covered in blood. The entire sky was dyed the color of blood. In front of me, Karinshan and Sky City turned into smoke. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
… …
"Ah!!"
I woke up abruptly and slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was He Yi's beautiful face. However, her eyes were red and swollen as if she had been crying for a long time. Her haggard appearance made my heart ache indescribably.
"Eve, is that you?" I asked softly.
He Yi looked at me with tears streaming down her face. She nodded repeatedly. "It's me, it's me … Lu Chen, you're finally awake. Uncle Du, Professor Liu, come quickly, come quickly!"
Soon, two people wearing white chemical suits walked into the room. I recognized one of them. He was Du Thirteen's father and the director of a certain genetic research organization in Nanjing.
"Lu Chen, do you still recognize me?"
"Yes, Uncle Du. How are you …"
"Heh, don't talk yet. Someone, check his heartbeat, body temperature, and vital pulse …"
I lay there quietly and looked around. He Yi was the only one here. Li Chengfeng, Lin Yixin and Beiming Xue were nowhere to be seen.
"Eve, how long was I asleep?" I asked.
He Yi sat next to me and held my ice-cold hand. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as she said, "Four days and four nights. Thank god … thank god you woke up. If not, the doctor said you might never wake up again …"
I nodded and looked at the expert on the side, "Uncle Du, tell me the details. I have the right to know. I know that I will die. There is no worse result than this. Don't worry and tell me. Don't hide anything from me!"
Uncle Du frowned and said in a low voice, "More than a year ago, Lin Yixin's blood could indeed suppress the growth of the virus in your body, but it didn't last long. We knew that once the virus in your body developed a resistance, Lin Yixin's serum would lose its effect. However, the mutation of the virus was much faster than we expected. We thought it would take at least five years, but who would have thought that it would only take a year!"
I sucked in a deep breath and felt my body weaken. "Is there anything we can do now?"
"Not yet …" Uncle Du gritted his teeth and said, "The composition of this virus is far beyond our technology. In fact, we can't even analyze it completely. However, Xu Ning, the president of China's Eternal Moon branch, came by this morning and sent the blood samples to the USA, Japan, Canada, and other countries. We will do our best to develop a new antidote …"
"Eve, help me up …" I struggled to sit up.
Next to me, He Yi gently helped me up and said, "What are you doing? You need to rest more …"
I smiled. "This isn't a cold or a fever. Resting won't help."
As I spoke, I looked at Du Thirteen's father and asked, "Uncle Du, with our current technology, can we really not analyze the virus?
Or is there nothing we can do at all? "
"Yes, there is a way. We need to conduct many experiments to prove that the drug has the ability to suppress or kill the virus. However, according to preliminary estimates, it will take hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of simulations to complete. Moreover, we lack the best antigen, so we can't obtain the best experimental materials."
"What is the best antigen?"
"Someone who can endure the virus in your blood and produce antibodies on their own."
Me: "..."
After a moment of silence, I asked, "Uncle Du, how long do I have left?"
"One month …" He frowned and looked a bit pained. "Maybe even less …"
I also felt like a knife was twisting in my heart. I didn't think I would have so little time.
… …
"Eve …" I looked at He Yi.
He Yi also looked at me with her big red eyes. "What is it?"
"I want to go home …"
I almost burst into tears as I said those words.
He Yi turned away and wiped away her tears. She turned to me with a smile and said, "Mn, then go home …"
Uncle Du gave his tacit approval and said, "Give me a blood sample every day. I want to have firsthand data to deal with any changes … Also, Lu Chen, you have to be careful. Your body will grow weaker day by day, and your senses may be greatly affected and weakened. So … you must have someone by your side to take care of you."
I nodded. "Got it …"
He Yi helped me put on my clothes. Although my steps were still steady, I could clearly feel that I wasn't as strong as before. In fact, I didn't even have the strength to clench my fists.
He Yi wrapped my arms around her neck, and I hugged her as we walked out. A large group of people were gathered in the hall of the research building. Xinran, Beiming Xue, Lin Yixin, Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, and the rest were all there.
… …
"Big bro …"
Xinran and Beiming Xue stood up together. I smiled and hugged them. "It's fine. Let's go back to Suzhou?"
Lin Yixin walked up to me and asked with red eyes, "Are you really fine?"
He Yi said, "Yiyi, don't ask. Let's go back to Suzhou?"
"Mn."
I tugged at my scarf to hide the terrifying purple stain on my neck. It was like a curse that could explode at any moment and take my life. However, when I looked at the group of brothers and girls around me, it seemed like I would have no regrets even if I died.
… …
A large bus took us back to Suzhou.
I quietly sat in the corner and lifted my sleeves to check. Purple veins also appeared on my arms. It looked like my meridians were about to explode. This situation wasn't different from the time I got livor mortis. This was what I was worried about the most.
Everyone was silent. Xinran was the only one who sat next to me and hugged my arm. She looked at me with red eyes and asked, "Big bro, why … why is everyone crying?"
I reached out to touch her face and smiled. "Because big bro is sick. Now that he's discharged, everyone is happy …"
At the side, Du Thirteen suddenly leaned against the back of the seat in front of him and cried.
… …
I let out a cough and patted Du Thirteen's shoulder. "Mind your image, Thirteen. It's not a big deal. I've accepted it since a long time ago. Some things can't be stopped."
Du Thirteen turned away and wiped his tears. "Fuck, only idiots cry!"
I laughed. "That's right, why are you crying?
Come, let's talk about something happier … "
"About what?" Du Thirteen asked.
I thought for a moment before answering, "About what happened in the game. I slept for four days, so I don't know anything. How many cities did we conquer?"
"I don't know …" Chaos Moon murmured.
I glared at her and said, "You're not allowed to not know! Hurry up and report the situation to me!"
Chaos Moon's eyes were bloodshot. "Cyan Earth City, Seven Star City, Titan City and Burning City were conquered by us. Swallow's Ear County was abandoned, and Hero City was saved by them. The Northern Alliance has completely collapsed, and after losing Titan City and Seven Star City, Vienna's Sorrow took the blame and deleted his own account. Hero Alliance and more than 200k players deleted their accounts in the past three days …"
I was shocked. "Oh my god, Vienna's Sorrow is a real man. I didn't think he would do something like this … Oh right, I didn't know the reward for the Nation War after I fainted. Was I the MVP?"
Li Chengfeng replied, "Pangu's Axe is in your bag, but no one should be able to touch it."
"Pangu's Axe …" I grinned. "Very good, it's one of the Twelve Divine Armaments. It's worth it …"
He Yi pursed her lips and looked at me. "Are you going to log back in after we get back?"
I nodded. "Mn. I can't let Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls' business go to waste because of me. Even if I'm gone one day, you must keep your promise and let the iron hooves of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls roam the continent. I want everyone to know that we are brothers!"
Gui Guzi clenched his fists. "Don't worry, Boss Broken Halberd!"
"Oh right …" Li Chengfeng said, "The registration for the second season of the WEL is about to start. Hehe, how are you going to form a party?
Are you still going to be a part of the Frost Cloud workshop? "
Li Chengfeng squeezed out a smile. He was a smart man, and he knew that happiness and sorrow were two separate days in a row. He would rather live his life to the fullest.
I nodded. "Mn. I'll form a party with Eve, Beiming, Little Xin, and sis."
Lin Yixin asked, "What are you going to do with your Pangu's Axe, Lu Chen?"
"Give it to High Fighting Spirits!" I said decisively.
High Fighting Spirits looked surprised. "Won't that be a waste?"
"Waste my ass! Just grind and ascend!"
"Mn!"