Edited by Jules
The room sank into silence, with only two people quietly embracing and nestling together.
Luo was silent by Xiao Lan’s side.
He understood that right now, Xiao Lan just needed someone to be with him.
Xiao Lan leaned against Luo’s shoulder and soaked in his warmth, a myriad of emotions flashing through his mind.
Xiao Chengyan had probably also wanted to protect as many people as he could.
Unfortunately, there were many choices in life which didn’t have a perfect option. Sometimes, one couldn’t avoid having to make a choice.
In the end, between his family and even more people, Xiao Chengyan could only choose the latter.
Xiao Lan tried to place himself in Xiao Chengyan’s shoes.
He felt that if he were the one who had to make this choice, he might not be any better than Xiao Chengyan.
Making a choice was always difficult; getting the best of both worlds was more often just a fantasy.
Meeting Xiao Chengyan this time not only allowed him to truly understand his father, it unexpectedly gave him a new understanding of his mother as well. It turned out that there was such a staunch and courageous person under that gentle appearance.
Unfortunately, both Xiao Chengyan and Wen Qi were no longer around.
Each with their own methods, they guided Xiao Lan partway down his life path; he could now only proceed the rest of the way on his own.
Xiao Lan was well aware in his heart that the Advent World was the true source of all the disaster, and it was still pressing down on everyone’s heads even now.
Wushe and Xiao Chengyan, who had devoted themselves to rebelling against the Advent World, were already no more. Luo, who was the Insurgent, was far from recovered enough to compete against that existence known as the Master.
The worse thing was, following the Advent World’s ceaseless restoration of the holes previously created by Wushe, some odd situations were already beginning to happen in the games. It seemed that the Advent World was attempting to return to its form from back then.
Who knew when the Master would implement his terrifying plan to make the Advent World encompass all of humanity.
The path ahead was still fraught with danger, and this time, there was no one blazing a new trail for everyone in front.
Now wasn’t the time to be disheartened.
Xiao Lan moved his head from Luo’s shoulder, and he gave Luo a smile. “Sorry for making you worry.”
Luo shook his head. “No need to apologise. I’m very happy to do anything for you.”
Xiao Lan had adjusted his mood, and he began to talk to Luo about his dream-like meeting with Xiao Chengyan.
Including what Xiao Chengyan had said about the origin of the Advent World and the Insurgent.
He took out the white paper which Xiao Chengyan had given him. “He gave this to me, and said that it’s something the Insurgent gave him.”
Luo took it and gently sent out his senses. “This… has the aura of my fragment; it’s been concealed and disguised.”
But he wasn’t able to directly absorb this fragment, so he just put it away.
Luo said to Xiao Lan, “Sir, it’s already late. You rest first ba; I’ll deal with it in a minute.”
Xiao Lan asked, “Aren’t you curious about what you left for yourself?”
Luo smiled. “Right now, ensuring that you rest is more important.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Coafg fcreglcu Wljb Ojc tjv kjrtfv tlr ojmf jcv kjr kgjqqfv eq lc atf yijcxfa, Oeb jqqgbjmtfv atf yfv jcv ifoa j xlrr bc Wljb Ojc’r ilqr klat ilutaclcu rqffv. “Xbbvcluta, rlg.”
Lf kjr kjs abb delmx, jcv Wljb Ojc kjrc’a uejgvfv jujlcra tlw, rb wemt rb atja tlr wlcv kjr yijcx obg j rtbga wbwfca.
By the time Xiao Lan returned to his senses, there was only that sentence left hanging in the air.
And the main culprit had long slipped out of the room.
He didn’t act the way the Insurgent should at all.
Xiao Lan stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes. “…”
How was he supposed to sleep like this?!!
The other side.
After leaving the bedroom, a contented Luo went to the balcony that was off the living room.
It overlooked the player hub below, and one could admire the fantastical nightscape that couldn’t be seen in reality.
Looking down below from here, all the living creatures just looked like ants.
Sitting down in a chair on the balcony, Luo took out the white paper which Xiao Lan had given him.
Slender fingers gently slid across the paper, breaking the disguise he himself had placed on it.
The white paper instantly twisted and changed shape, turning into a lump of pitch-black shadow. This lump of shadow was exceptionally dense, like a black hole which automatically absorbed all light around it.
Luo curled his fingers, slowly absorbing this shadow.
A scene appeared in his mind:
It was an abandoned city, with dilapidated, towering buildings, and randomly exposed steel bars and pipelines.
A large portion of the city was dark, and only some scattered light persisted; it looked like it was devoid of all life.
This didn’t look like the real world, and was clearly inside some game.
A man in black sat alone in a study, flipping through the books left behind by its former owner.
His posture was casual and languid, as if he was sitting in the garden behind his house.
Moonlight shone in from outside the window, limning his figure in silver.
Suddenly, he paused in flipping the pages.
The man in black raised his head from his book and looked at the person who had entered the room.
Xiao Chengyan gave a token knock on the open door. “Sorry to intrude.”
The man in black looked at him, no displeasure at being interrupted apparent on his face. “Hello.”
Xiao Chengyan: “I have to thank you for helping my son.”
The man in black man closed the book. “You’re Xiao Lan’s father.”
It was a rhetorical question. After all, it was obvious after one glance at his face.
Xiao Chengyan nodded and walked into the room to stand casually next to the sofa. “My name’s Xiao Chengyan. Can I take up some of your time for a chat?”
The man nodded slightly. “Please sit, Mr Xiao.”
Xiao Chengyan sat down with a lackadaisical attitude. He bluntly stated his intentions. “I sensed a force on my son. Very oddly, that force could suppress the Advent World’s mark. Coupled with the rumours spreading among the players about your distinguished self… I used a lot of means before I finally found you.”
The man in black smiled slightly. “Mr Xiao isn’t a simple person either, since you were able to find this place.”
Being able to accurately find the instance he was in amidst countless others wasn’t an easy feat.
Luck, strength, and judgement were all indispensable.
That was to say nothing of how the fellow standing like this before him definitely wasn’t an ordinary player.
Xiao Chengyan asked, “Can I ask your reason for sending Xiao Lan away? You should know that this doesn’t conform to the Advent World’s usual style.”
The man in black leisurely pointed at the table. “With his strength, he basically had no chance of surviving in that game. Any bit of danger would easily kill him, and he himself didn’t seem interested in holding power. Such an interesting little guy dying just like that seemed too much of a waste.”
Xiao Chengyan stared at him with a piercing gaze. “But according to the current rules, he shouldn’t have been sent away.”
The man in black returned the gaze. “Does Mr Xiao wish for me to bring him back? As a father, aren’t you a little too strict towards him?”
Xiao Chengyan: “No. You should understand my meaning.”
The man in black curled his lip. “The present rules weren’t formulated by me alone; however, what does it matter if I alter them slightly?”
Xiao Chengyan also smiled. “How about we cooperate for a bit? What should I call you?”
The man in black man thought for a moment, with no intention of telling him the name ‘Luo’. “Hm… If we were to change his plans, given his temperament, he’ll probably be very angry. How about just calling me — ‘Insurgent’ ba.”
The memory ended there.
There was no record of the details of the conversation after.
After that was another scene.
This scene was a little blurry and distorted, and also flickered erratically.
It was a pure white world.
A person who looked like him stood before him, but unlike his black hair, that person was pure white all over; the only thing that was similar were his light gold eyes, which was the only colour on his entire being.
This was the Master of the Advent World, as well as the existence that he could consider a brother.
But right then, in that pair of gold eyes identical to his, there was an icy chill and no feelings to be seen.
Luo saw a cold, black needle run through his own chest.
This needle contained a force that came from the same source as he had. The energy didn’t stop destroying his body, almost tearing it into fragments.
The clearest feeling to him right then was pain, helplessness, and weakness.
The Master leant closer to his ear, speaking in an intimate whisper. “This is your first time seeing your core, right? Originally, I didn’t want to do this to you.
“This is your punishment for rebelling against me. I’ve said before that there’s a limit to my tolerance.
“Although we can’t completely kill each other, there are many ways to deal with you. Suppression and separation is also one way, right?
“Place your final hopes on the lucky ones ba.
“Why don’t you guess how many among those lucky ones can see you cry for help? And how many of them will be willing to help you?
“You who rebelled against me for their sake should try and experience the feeling of being ignored by those you tried to save.
“That’s… the feeling of stupidity.”
……
The scene disappeared, and didn’t record the outcome of this punishment.
Nor was there any need to record it.
Luo reached up and massaged his temples. Experiencing the agony once more made him a little unwell.
The feeling of his soul and body being forcibly torn apart wasn’t something he could get used to no matter how many times it happened.
Fortunately, there wasn’t the same unbearable feeling from when he accessed this sort of memory fragment for the first time. His body nearly broke apart at that time, and he couldn’t even maintain his human form, and could only have Xiao Lan bring him out of the game.
According to the Master’s plan, the Insurgent’s power would be scattered as fragments across countless instances.
The main part that contained his consciousness was sealed in a darkness where time and space was frozen; that place was called the black prison.
And the door to the black prison was set in an envelope.
Later, this envelope was randomly tossed into a newcomer’s game by the Master, and also disguised to look unremarkable.
The newcomers that came and went would all walk past him.
They looked for clues around him, scheming against each other and experiencing death and betrayal.
But they couldn’t see any of the information he left behind.
He could only futilely try and attract their attention time and time again, up until his remaining energy was consumed and he would no longer be able to call for help, and wouldn’t even be able to retain consciousness.
If he relied on just his fragments’ instinct to engulf each other, he might not be able to recover his original form even after several centuries.
And even if he recovered, the person who only had instincts left probably wouldn’t be the original him any longer.
Fortunately, he finally met Xiao Lan.
The youngster he had released on a whim back then later became his final hope.
And fortunately, Xiao Lan didn’t reject the shadow of unknown origin inside the envelope.
Everything seemed unintentional, yet also predestined.
Luo slowly opened his light gold eyes, a dangerous light in them.
He looked at the fake sky above him, and he curled his lip. “Are you ready to welcome my return? My… brother.”
The author has something to say:
Little Theater ruining the mood:
A long, long time ago.
Luo: Sir, do you care if your future partner is older than you?
Xiao Lan: I don’t ah, age doesn’t really matter.
Luo: Then… What if… it’s several thousand times older (conservative estimate)?
Xiao Lan: The fuck! Wouldn’t that be a mummy?!
Luo: …
An author who insists on remaining anonymous rapidly flees the scene on a tricycle with only one wheel remaining.
Main story: 😣🥺
Little theatre: 🤣🤣🤭
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
The power of the author to be able go ride such a thing……
The great Laoshi deserves a big round of applause 👏👏👏👏
Author probably got inspired by Poverty with that tricycle, very fashionable as Xiao Lan says
+1 brother/sister I’ll agree with you on this one 😂😂😂
I think that even mummy can’t be that old. Maybe a fossil 🤔
Thank you for the chapter
You aren’t making it better ahahaha.
Oh my-🤭😂😂😂
Lmfao 😂
Thank you for the dose’! 😘💕💕🌹
Hahaha, I liked it that Luo wouldn’t tell others his new name. It’s special, eh? And only XL can call you that. At least it feels like that :3
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Thanks for the chapter! I guess things are going to get serious…
Unicycle!
Baobaomei, Thanks for the translation!
Jules, Thanks for the editing!
Author, Thanks for the main story & little theater! 💖
😮
things are about to get Intense!! All the little building blocks will finally come together for the big climax!
I hope we see more players working together again new kids plus our faves like the Wang bros, Doctor-ge, beautiful Wu Ting (who we haven’t seen in forever and I miss T_T), traumatized half-diciple Cheng Wenyi and his company slaves, and of course can’t forget the Xiao-ge support group lololol
Thanks for the translation!!
yep i miss their devoted mess😂
light bro, you are the idol of us older siblings!! 🙏🙏
Facts💯 😂
thanks for the chapter <3
Thanks for translating the arc! It always feels good to read the whole thing non-stop~~ ♥️
Thx for the chappy
Thanks for the chapter :3
That’s a interesting setting…..i also think luo’s brother is experimenting with him…..because he took the complicated path(to seal luo, put a key to free him in a common place, etc)… If the white ball is really a cold researcher he probably wants to see if luo’s finding will be true….but he did used a ruthless way to do it(and also choose to teach his younger brother a lesson) 😂😂
Now the question I have is….will xiao lan turn into a god or will luo turn into a human in the end??
no puedo con ese autor del triciclo 🤣🤣🤣
Isn’t the author who wants to remain anonymous just riding a unicycle?