Chapter 56: I’m a Vibe of Delicate Weakness (25)
Jiang Zhiyan turned to look at Si Xu.
“Why isn’t she coming up, could it be that she’s really discussing with the others about eliminating you?” the system said.
“How is that possible?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at her.
Si Xu walked up to her and said: “Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Jiang Zhiyan didn’t react for a moment.
“Anywhere, just leave this place.”
Jiang Zhiyan suppressed her smile: “Are they still that against me?”
“What they think isn’t important.” Si Xu replied.
“Oh, so Senior, do you want to elope with me?” Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand.
“Yes.” Si Xu reached out to Jiang Zhiyan. “Let’s go now.”
Jiang Zhiyan took Si Xu’s hand, stood up, and threw herself into Si Xu’s arms.
Actually, she wanted to tell them to get lost, why should they leave? But after staying here for so long, she was also a bit tired of it.
“You’re leaving?” Qian Rongrong, hearing the news, dropped the brick in her hand. “I’m coming with you.”
Jiang Zhiyan: …
“No one told you how dangerous I am?” Jiang Zhiyan raised an eyebrow and asked.
“They did, but so what? They can say whatever they want, I can think for myself, am I so easily influenced?” Qian Rongrong said. “My brain still works, okay!”
Jiang Zhiyan gave Qian Rongrong a long look: “You know, the more you emphasize something, the less you have it.”
“Control your wife.” Qian Rongrong looked at Si Xu.
“Hmm?” Si Xu looked up. “What’s wrong?”
Qian Rongrong gritted her teeth: “Forget it, I’m magnanimous, I won’t argue with her.”
Qian Rongrong said so, and there were others who thought the same way.
They had agreed to elope, but in the end, seven or eight more people left with them, most of whom were the same people who wanted to leave with them before.
Seeing the male lead also in this group, Jiang Zhiyan knew that this base was probably doomed. It was good that the male lead came along; otherwise, she figured he would probably die in the next round, activating his ability and fighting until his death.
Noticing Jiang Zhiyan’s gaze, Yu Wenyu moved behind the others. He didn’t understand why Jiang Zhiyan disliked him so much, even though he always avoided them. He suspected it was just bad luck.
“I know them, but we’re enemies, make sure you understand this clearly.” Jiang Zhiyan reminded them kindly.
They exchanged glances, but no one left.
Eleven people left in three vehicles, their destination a neighboring city. They didn’t have a specific goal, just to find a place to live.
Qian Rongrong looked back: “Their expressions were so scary.”
“We won’t be seeing them again.” Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand. “Senior, didn’t you tell them that those who survive the remaining two rounds are going to be new residents on another planet?”
“No.” Si Xu said.
“There’s such a thing?” Qian Rongrong’s eyes widened. “But our homes have been destroyed, and our loved ones have died at their hands. If we’re taken away, won’t we hate them? How can we live like that? Won’t it be chaotic?”
“After so many rounds, only a few thousand people will be taken away, a very small number. We couldn’t beat them when we first arrived, but by the time our physical qualities catch up to the average, and we get used to the life there, it’s difficult for one person to rally support, no one wants another fight, so most just accept it. Time heals all wounds, and maybe we’ll even have new families.” Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand.
“Most importantly, to conserve resources, they’re currently only deploying alien creatures, half of which are domesticated pets, the other half are food sources, but in a real war, they use mechs. Even with special abilities, it’s difficult for our physical bodies to fight against them, so resistance is basically impossible.”
“Apart from certain jobs, they all have a six-hour workday, three days on, four days off. Most of the work can be done by robots. They make people work just to prevent brain degeneration.” Jiang Zhiyan said. “Perhaps there are other reasons, I don’t know.”
Qian Rongrong: …
“Suddenly feeling complicated.” A former 996 office worker clutched their chest.
“Normal, most people feel complicated when they go over there. Quite a few go crazy.” Jiang Zhiyan twitched her lips. “But that was decades ago, I don’t know what it’s like now.”
Jiang Zhiyan continued, looking at their expressions.
“It’s not as good as you think either. The class division is clear, and social mobility is practically non-existent, so the probability of you climbing up the ladder is zero. No one cares if ordinary people die, of course they’ll give the public a perfunctory explanation.”
“So, what you said earlier is only for the upper class?”
“No, ordinary people… their working hours in developing areas might be longer, but I don’t know the details, I haven’t been there. I spent most of my time outside the central district, so I don’t know much.”
“Then what did you do? How long were your working hours? Why did you say you have enemies there?”
“Something’s following us.” Si Xu said.
Jiang Zhiyan opened the car window and looked out. A small, white aircraft was flying behind their convoy, neither too close nor too far.
She took out her fan and threw it, slicing the aircraft in half. That was research from hundreds of years ago, she figured they didn’t bring any of their latest technology.
Jiang Zhiyan caught the returning fan and sat back down: “I was responsible for defending the southern border, flexible working hours, no days off, did that for two hundred years.”
Jiang Zhiyan’s expression didn’t change, but her resentment was evident.
“So you’re that old.” Qian Rongrong said, suddenly understanding. “Isn’t our seniority a bit messed up now?”
“I’m twenty-one.” Jiang Zhiyan said unhappily.
“Hahaha.” Qian Rongrong laughed.
“Senior!” Jiang Zhiyan leaned against Si Xu.
“Rongrong!” Si Xu called out.
Qian Rongrong: ?
The second round came just three days after the first. Jiang Zhiyan figured they were tracking her and wanted to deploy aliens to her area, but she had destroyed all the tracking devices, and her randomly assigned ability could conceal their presence. They also switched vehicles several times along the way, and the aliens completely lost track of her. During the second round, they didn’t see any aliens, and only knew it had started after Jiang Zhiyan told them.
“So, if we had split up back then, we might have actually avoided it?”
“Yes.” Jiang Zhiyan replied. “But we couldn’t have hidden for long, if they scanned again, they would have found us.”
They settled down in a luxury residential area, so everyone could live in the same house. Rich people probably had many houses. The house they found had all the amenities, but they didn’t see a single corpse, clearly, no one was living here when the apocalypse came. Although it was overgrown with weeds, after cleaning it up, it looked no different from before the apocalypse.
Jiang Zhiyan was very excited and glanced at Si Xu several times.
Although she didn’t say anything, Si Xu understood her meaning. That night, Si Xu didn’t refuse.
“Senior, you clearly wanted to too, you even replicated finger cots.”
“I… was just being prepared, um…” Si Xu snorted softly. “There, um, no.”
“Senior, it’s okay to be louder, they can’t hear us.”
Si Xu pinched Jiang Zhiyan’s waist.
While other places were experiencing chaos and bloodshed, they enjoyed their peaceful time.
They cleaned up the flower beds in the residential complex and planted rice and vegetables. When they didn’t want to eat them, they let them grow naturally, when they did want to eat them, they asked Si Xu to accelerate their growth, everything was perfect.
Jiang Zhiyan set up a swing in the yard and often cuddled with Si Xu on it. When they were there, usually no one would approach.
But the others also had their fun. The house had various game consoles, they just needed to plug them in. When they were tired of playing games, they would play board games together.
When those people came, they saw Jiang Zhiyan leaning against Si Xu, boneless, muttering something, occasionally shaking Si Xu’s arm, clearly acting spoiled. Si Xu kissed Jiang Zhiyan’s forehead.
The onlookers felt more awkward than the couple themselves, but they didn’t look away, staring intently at Jiang Zhiyan. They still couldn’t connect this person with the Jiang Zhiyan from before.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” Jiang Zhiyan glared at the two people standing there. “Isn’t your family known for being the most polite?”
“Who would have thought you would be here…”
“It’s even more unexpected to barge into someone’s house without knocking.” Jiang Zhiyan sat up straight. “What’s the matter?”
“Leaving the day after tomorrow, we’re here to tell you to board the ship.”
“The third round is over?” Jiang Zhiyan raised an eyebrow.
“It’s over, after all, the timing of the second and third rounds is up to us.”
Si Xu frowned, she still had a visceral dislike for these people. She didn’t like their condescending attitude, but they had the right to be condescending.
The other person smiled, appearing friendly, but his gaze was fixed on Si Xu.
Jiang Zhiyan knew what they were thinking, nothing more than believing she had a weakness now, but they underestimated both Si Xu and herself. But it was normal, these people had always been this arrogant.
“The Jiang family isn’t very willing to acknowledge you, their current status is thanks to you.” His voice was laced with a mix of pity and amusement.
“Oh, thank you for the reminder.” Jiang Zhiyan nodded, not caring.
The third round was brutal. Not many were brought back, she didn’t see anyone from the original base, they were all from other bases or survivors who had been hiding outside.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Si Xu worriedly.
“I’m fine.” Si Xu said. “I knew what would happen when I made the decision.”
“And, I don’t know when it started, but I don’t feel any sense of belonging to this place anymore, and I’ve lost the strong urge to protect them.” Si Xu didn’t know if it was because she had become cold-blooded, or for some other reason. She looked at Jiang Zhiyan and held her hand, now more worried about Jiang Zhiyan, despite her calm demeanor.
Jiang Zhiyan casually found a spot and sat down. Most people were standing, wary. They were all captured and hadn’t received any explanation yet, and those arrogant aliens didn’t intend to explain anything to them personally.
Some whispered among themselves, but most were observing.
Seeing Jiang Zhiyan sit down, others also sat down one after another.
In the end, over three hundred people were gathered in this temporary holding area. Perhaps because no one came to manage them, the discussions became much louder.
A holographic screen suddenly appeared in the center of the hall, explaining the current situation.
Everyone instantly fell silent.
A kind and gentle female voice spoke, of course, it wasn’t a real person, just an AI.
When they heard “assist evolution, help them transition to a better home, only outstanding humans can go,” many scoffed.
But when the screen showed the living environment there and introduced the various benefits they could enjoy after going, the murmurs decreased significantly. What they said was much more tempting than what Jiang Zhiyan described, after all, they wouldn’t reveal the negative aspects.
Many were tempted. The life described there sounded like paradise, but thinking about what they had done to Earth and humanity, they hesitated.
After the introduction, robots brought menus, all filled with human delicacies, free to choose from. Soon, the air was filled with the aroma of various dishes, and the taste wasn’t bad.
Not everyone ordered food. Some wanted to vent their frustrations and see the person in charge. A shot calmed them down. The person in charge, of course, wouldn’t meet them, it wasn’t appropriate. Their arrogant attitude would easily anger those who hadn’t been completely brainwashed. So, for the next period, only the AI interacted with the humans, using gentle service to make them quickly accept all of this.
Each human was given a room, or two people could share a room. Jiang Zhiyan strongly requested to stay with Si Xu, but Si Xu disagreed.
“I also want to have a good night’s sleep sometimes.” Si Xu said seriously. “We can sleep together every other day.”
Qian Rongrong, standing beside them, almost burst out laughing: “Young people, you need to know moderation… but isn’t this what they call ‘old love reignited’?”
Worried that Jiang Zhiyan would beat her up, Qian Rongrong ran off after saying that.
Jiang Zhiyan was very unhappy and requested to see the person in charge, not to vent her frustrations, but to exercise.
There were also quite a few who wanted to spar with her.
Human bodies were definitely not as strong as theirs, and they all wanted to take this opportunity to teach Jiang Zhiyan a lesson.
However, instead of teaching Jiang Zhiyan a lesson, they were the ones taught a lesson.
“Host, I think they’re definitely planning to kill you after we get there.” The system sighed. “How many skill cards will you need to buy?”
“Whatever, look at the plot progress.” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“Ninety-nine percent… no wonder.” The system forgot, this was the first part. “Then after you leave, what about the other Jiang Zhiyan?”
“They’ll soon find out that I’ve already left and then they won’t bother with her, it’s not a big problem. They’re at the highest level of arrogance, they won’t kill an unrelated person just to vent their anger.” Jiang Zhiyan said sarcastically. “I just hope they don’t come back…”
“Host, I’ve discovered another problem. So if this world isn’t considered buggy, will they take back the reimbursed money later?”
Both Jiang Zhiyan and the system fell silent.
“We’ll pretend we don’t know, insist it was a bug, I shouldn’t have been discovered in the first place.” Jiang Zhiyan said. “If I was discovered, it’s the world consciousness’s problem, it’s not our problem, and as long as it’s not our problem, then requesting reimbursement is perfectly fine.”
“Understood!”
Si Xu hadn’t left her room for days, her meals delivered by robots. She lay in bed, contemplating life.
Lately, when she woke up, she felt like she didn’t belong in this world. She would see a simple white room and hear Jiang Zhiyan’s voice, but strangely, she couldn’t hear what Jiang Zhiyan was saying.
Today was the day Jiang Zhiyan would sleep in her room. Jiang Zhiyan arrived very punctually, lay down beside her, and held her hand. This time, the system automatically disappeared without Jiang Zhiyan saying anything.
“Did we know each other before?” Si Xu looked at Jiang Zhiyan. “Not in this world.”
Jiang Zhiyan: !!!
“What do you remember?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“I saw a white room and heard you chattering, but I couldn’t hear what you were saying, it just felt like you were talking a lot.” Si Xu rubbed her temples. “I didn’t see you either.”
Jiang Zhiyan kissed Si Xu: “Anything else?”
“No, just the feeling that I don’t belong in this world.” Si Xu frowned. “So I transmigrated too? Are you here to find me?”
“Yes.” Jiang Zhiyan hugged Si Xu. “You finally remembered a little. You don’t know how sad I was when you were so cold and distant towards me at first, because you used to be the one clinging to me.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You do, you’ve lost your memory, so of course what I say is accurate.” Jiang Zhiyan said. “After all, I remember everything, every detail of our time together, I remember it all.”
Si Xu looked at Jiang Zhiyan. Although she still felt it was unlikely, she didn’t argue, just hugged her back.
Jiang Zhiyan lowered her head and kissed Si Xu’s eyes and forehead, as if kissing a precious treasure, devoutly, without any lust.
“What was my original name? Why did I come here? I don’t remember anything.”
“Your name is Xie Liaoyi.” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“So your name really is Jiang Zhiyan?” Si Xu asked. The two names clearly matched.
“Yes.” Jiang Zhiyan buried her face in Si Xu’s embrace. “My name was meant for you. I don’t know why you came here, I always thought you were dead. I lived alone for a long, long time before I heard any news about you.”
Jiang Zhiyan held her tightly, as if wanting to merge with her.
No wonder… No wonder Jiang Zhiyan always wanted to stay by her side. Si Xu gently stroked Jiang Zhiyan’s back: “It won’t happen again.”
“I want to take you home, to our own world.” Jiang Zhiyan said, looking at Si Xu.
“We can go back?” Si Xu asked, surprised. “No wonder I don’t feel any sense of belonging here.”
“Yes.”
“Then what’s our world like?” Si Xu didn’t want to go to their current destination.
“Hell without you, heaven with you.” Jiang Zhiyan said.
Si Xu laughed: “Can’t you be more serious?”
“Just telling the truth.” Jiang Zhiyan sighed. “To find you, I renewed my contract with that black-hearted boss for many, many years. I hate working.”
“Can’t you break the contract?”
“No, it’s practically selling myself into servitude, but it’s fine, I’m free outside of working hours.”
Si Xu looked at Jiang Zhiyan’s expression and confirmed she was joking.
She rubbed Jiang Zhiyan’s hair, lowered her head, and kissed her forehead, murmuring, “So that’s what you meant when you said I was the only one…”
“Yes.”
“You knew what I was talking about?”
“Of course, I told you, I remember every detail of our time together. If you don’t believe me, I can reenact that night.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Si Xu.
Her nimble right hand moved tentatively, and Si Xu wrapped her arms around Jiang Zhiyan’s neck.
The little boat rocked for an entire day. Because they didn’t have to work, they didn’t have to wake up early, so Si Xu’s usual excuse didn’t work.
She could control her voice at first, but later, she felt like her mind and body had completely separated.
Jiang Zhiyan covered her eyes, depriving her of her vision, and also concealed her aura. Every unexpected touch made Si Xu tremble.
Si Xu clutched the sheets tightly.
“Senior, guess where I am, and what I’m about to do?”
“Senior, it’s here this time, you guessed wrong, adding more time.”
…
Standing at the door were someone who had come to fight Jiang Zhiyan, and Qian Rongrong, who had come to chat. These two hadn’t come out of their room for a long time, she was a bit worried. Although she knew they were having fun, they couldn’t skip meals!
Qian Rongrong, seeing the alien for the first time, was a little scared and wanted to run, but she controlled herself. When the alien knocked for the third time, she kindly reminded him: “They might be sleeping, if you wake them up, Jiang Zhiyan will go crazy.”
The alien looked at Qian Rongrong but didn’t respond.
From the alien’s look, Qian Rongrong knew he looked down on her. She inwardly rolled her eyes, then quickly moved away from the door to show her innocence.
The door opened, and a fan flew out, straight towards the alien’s face. Qian Rongrong, watching the show, was amused.
But knowing when to stop, she took a couple of glances and then ran away, even aliens were afraid of Jiang Zhiyan’s wrath.
“I knocked.”
“Not opening the door after knocking once means I don’t want to talk to you, don’t you understand?”
The door closed again, and the person outside looked very unhappy.
The system was also speechless. It felt like it had been muted for a long time. Weren’t these two tired? Couldn’t they do something else? There were so many entertainment facilities here!
When it was finally unmuted, it saw a pile of empty nutrient solution bottles on the table. The bed was clean, but the things on the windowsill were a mess.
Si Xu was lying in bed, fast asleep, looking exhausted, probably wouldn’t wake up for a while.
“Host, be a human.”
“Trying my best to learn how to be a human.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Si Xu and couldn’t help but say, “I can never get tired of looking at her.”
“Ha.” The system, seeing the red marks on Jiang Zhiyan’s neck, suddenly felt it had been meddling too much.
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