At the City Migrant Management Office, the employee responsible for receiving people entering the city listened to the woman in front of him, his brow deeply furrowed.
"You're saying that the rest of your camp went to that Forest Park to rescue someone?"
"Yes." The woman was none other than Sister Lin, who had run back to the city alone from the camp. Her luck had held, and she had arrived safely.
"I advised them against it, but they wouldn't listen!" Sister Lin paused, then added, "Could you please send some people to check it out? To see if they can bring them back?"
Having stayed in the same camp for so long, even though Sister Lin resented the others for not listening to her, she still had feelings for them. She knew that if Boss Xuan, Zhao Ming, and the others couldn't come back, then the few connections she had left in this world would be severed.
"That's highly unlikely," the management office employee said. "The plants are mutating more dangerously by the minute. Even many areas within the city aren't safe, let alone outside the city—especially a Forest Park teeming with vegetation."
Just then, another employee chimed in, "Yeah. Even if your camp members are being loyal, they can't just charge in blindly like this. They'll only get more people dragged into it."
"Your decision to come to the shelter was the right one. Register now, and in half an hour, a special transport vehicle will take you to your assigned shelter."
Sister Lin was stunned. "Don't you need to queue up to enter the shelter anymore?"
The two employees exchanged glances, their expressions tinged with bitterness.
One of them sighed. "In this era where the population only decreases, never increases, vacancies in the shelters only grow more numerous. Besides, after that Gambling Round rule ended... many people never made it back from that space."
Sister Lin suddenly understood.
Indeed, the [Gamble – Hunt for Lives] rule had killed many people. After death, shelter spots naturally opened up.
Just then, another person from outside the city arrived. After Sister Lin registered, she went to the waiting room, found a stool to sit on, and gazed out the window toward the direction she had come from, muttering to herself.
"I wonder how they're doing."
...
"I wonder if Sister Lin made it to the shelter."
On the road to the Forest Park, one of the camp members spoke to Zhao Ming, a note of poorly concealed envy in his voice.
Zhao Ming caught on and asked the man, "You want to go too?"
The man raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, then glanced at Boss Xuan walking at the front. "Honestly, it's not just me. Several people in the camp want to go to a shelter. It's just... sigh, no one has the heart to tell Boss Xuan."
Zhao Ming opened his mouth, understanding the man's thoughts.
Almost everyone here had been saved by Boss Xuan during one past rule or another. Out of gratitude for that life-saving grace, it was hard to voice objections, even if they had them.
"Sister Lin leaving like this must have really pissed Boss Xuan off," the man continued. "You came late, so you don't know. Sister Lin was saved by Boss Xuan way back during the Seventh Rule."
"The Seventh? You mean [Moment of Silence]?"
"Yeah. Sister Lin accidentally made a sound back then, and almost got killed by the 'Sound Hunter.' At the critical moment, Boss Xuan used his own weapon to torch that monster to death."
"...Huh."
Sister Lin did know that. Thinking about it now, she also realized that although Zhao Ming had said no one who wanted to leave could go, if Pinglu really did leave, it would undoubtedly hit him hard.
"I still think going after Tao is too reckless," Sister Lin said. "The only reason I'm not leaving is because Boss Xuan saved me, not because I think this operation is a good idea."
The man smiled and said nothing more. But Zhao Ming could see from that smile that the other man felt the same way.
Maybe that was true for most people in the camp. They were only agreeing to go to the Forest Park to repay Boss Xuan's help, not because they genuinely thought it was safe, or that Tao was still alive.
But if that was the case...
As Zhao Ming was thinking, a cry of alarm came from the front of the group.
"Look out, mutated plants!"
"Ah!!!"
"They're underfoot! My feet!!"
Everyone turned pale with shock. They saw a patch of low shrubbery near the entrance of the Forest Park.
This shrubbery looked no different from usual, as if unaffected by the rules at all.
This had let the group let their guard down. But as the first few people passed by it, dozens of root spikes suddenly shot up from the ground, instantly piercing the feet and legs of those people, turning them into a bloody mess!
Two of them lost their balance from the excruciating pain and collapsed to the ground. In the next instant, even more ground spikes shot up from beneath the earth, stabbing into the fallen victims from different angles, pinning them to the ground like meat on a skewer.
It all happened too fast, too horrifically. Those behind were so scared their hearts felt like they would leap out of their throats. Boss Xuan was at the front, but his reactions were lightning-fast. He instantly dodged backward, avoiding the spikes while shouting a warning.
But the others weren't as strong as he was; they couldn't react in time.
Zhao Ming watched the ground spikes, then looked at the seemingly ordinary shrubbery around them, and shouted, "It's a ground spike trap mutated from the shrubbery! Fall back quickly and destroy them!"
"Leave it to me!"
Boss Xuan used his flamethrower item, spraying wildly at the surrounding shrubbery. Waves of flame erupted, burning the shrubs to ashes.
The moment the above-ground shrubs were incinerated, all the underground spikes emerged, lying on the ground like rows of sharp fangs, making everyone's scalp crawl with terror.
"Hey, wake up!"
"Come help!"
"He's still breathing!"
The others rushed to tend to the wounded. Among the dozen or so people in the group, the two who had fallen were dead, stabbed through by the spikes. Two more had their feet and calves pierced, unable to walk.
Boss Xuan clenched his fists. "What the hell is with these ground spikes?! Do they just pop up whenever someone gets close to the shrubbery?!"
"...Pressure. Yeah, pressure." Zhao Ming stared at the spikes on the ground for only a few seconds before looking up at Boss Xuan.
"Boss Xuan, these shrubs must have mutated a network of root spikes centered on them and spread throughout the surrounding underground. These root spikes normally hide underground. Once a person or animal steps on the ground above, sensing the slightest surface depression, they instantly shoot the spikes out to attack."
Mutated plants attack animals and steal energy—this was something the authorities had announced on the very first day the rules were released.
The mutation method of these shrubs was exactly for predation, specifically targeting animals that stepped on them.
Boss Xuan and the others were momentarily stunned into silence. They never would have thought a shrub could mutate a gravity-sensing trap like something a human hunter would set.
"Ah... Boss Xuan, my foot hurts so much..."
A camp member whose foot had been pierced by a root spike cried out in pain. Boss Xuan hurried over, crouched down, and pulled some healing items from his Storage Box, shoving them at the two injured men. "Use some of this. Take out the painkillers and give them some! See if they can still walk after recovering a bit, and then—"
"And then go into the park to get ourselves killed?!"
Boss Xuan was stunned. He turned to look at Zhao Ming.
The others were also shocked by the young man's sudden outburst.
"Boss Xuan, we haven't even reached the park yet, and we've already got two dead and two seriously injured! If we keep going, everyone is going to die! Everyone!"
Boss Xuan slowly stood up.
"Zhao Ming, didn't I already say? Any of you can leave anytime you want. I won't stop you. But those who choose to stay have to follow me to rescue people."
Zhao Ming looked at Boss Xuan's calm expression and suddenly understood something.
"...Boss Xuan, from the very start of this rule, you insisted on camping outside the city, and you insisted on hunting in the Forest Park. Right now, is this really about saving people? Or is it about giving yourself a reasonable excuse to die?"
"..."
For the first time, a flicker of stunned surprise crossed Boss Xuan's face, but it vanished almost instantly.
"Zhao Ming, you little brat, what are you talking about? Why would I actively seek death?"
"Yeah, Zhao Ming! Don't talk nonsense! Boss Xuan isn't the kind of coward you're making him out to be. He's the one who saved us!"
"Boss Xuan is the strongest-willed person I've ever met. There's no way he wants to die. If you're scared, Zhao Ming, then go on your own. Don't slander Boss Xuan!"
The others glared at Zhao Ming indignantly, but the latter didn't waver in the slightest. He just kept his eyes on the man opposite him.
"Boss Xuan, please, give it up. I don't know if you're just too tired, or if the accumulated psychological pressure has finally reached its limit. But right now, you need to find a safe place and get some proper rest."
Boss Xuan was silent for a moment, then walked over and patted Zhao Ming on the shoulder. At that moment, Zhao Ming saw a hint of something complex in the other man's eyes.
The next second, Boss Xuan's fist slammed into Zhao Ming's abdomen!
The searing pain made Zhao Ming double over instantly, slowly crouching down as even breathing became difficult.
"Zhao Ming, get the hell out of my sight!" Boss Xuan roared. "And take those two injured with you! We can't carry people who can't walk and still rescue anyone!"
With that, Boss Xuan turned and strode away. Apart from the two with pierced feet and legs, the others exchanged glances before silently following.
"..."
After a moment, Zhao Ming finally recovered. He slammed his fist hard into the ground, then gazed deeply in the direction Boss Xuan and the others had gone, as if looking at a fork in the road of fate.
"Zhao Ming, what do we do now?"
"Boss Xuan really abandoned us..."
The two injured men looked lost. The camp had always acted together, and this sudden separation left them at a loss.
"I'll take you to the city shelter," Zhao Ming said.
"And what about Boss Xuan and the others? Zhao Ming, we know you don't talk much, but you've got a good head on your shoulders. You figured out that mutated shrubbery trap after just a few glances... Were you telling the truth? Is Boss Xuan really just looking for an excuse to die because he doesn't want to live anymore?"
"I don't know... But I'm going to use the Countermeasures Research Office's special talent contact channel. I'll ask them to send people to intervene. There might still be a chance to save them."
"Special talent channel?"
"Boss Xuan's exclusive item—you all saw it. Its flames are more effective against mutated plants than normal fire. In this rule, that's very valuable to the authorities. So the Countermeasures Research Office might send someone..."
Zhao Ming's voice grew softer and softer, showing he wasn't entirely confident himself.
He didn't finish. He helped the two men up. "I'll take you somewhere safe first."
---
"I remember there used to be a few trees planted in your courtyard... Too bad they've all been dug up because of this rule."
In Shi Jingyi's courtyard, Guan Tong looked at several deep holes in the corner of the yard. The trees he had seen during his previous visits were all gone.
Under the strict requirements of the authorities, no one within the entire Pinglu city limits was allowed to keep any plants. Even academy lecturers had no special privileges.
Shi Jingyi, dressed in a white tracksuit, stood to the side and nodded. "Yeah. I don't really mind, though. But Teacher Zhu at the academy has been crying for days. Did you ever see Teacher Zhu during the few months you were substituting?"
Guan Tong thought for a moment and still had some impression of this "Teacher Zhu." "The one whose office was full of flower pots?"
"Yeah. She's a true flower lover. She liked them even before, but after entering the age of Doomsday Rules, she started treating flowers as a spiritual refuge, spending all her spare time on them. But now, with this rule in effect, she had no choice but to personally destroy the flowers she had poured her heart into cultivating."
After Shi Jingyi finished speaking, she noticed Guan Tong's gaze was vacant, his attention not fully focused. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. Teacher Zhu must be really heartbroken."
"Yeah. She's been going around crying to people these past few days. Dean Zhou was worried she might do something drastic, so he arranged for a psychological counselor to talk to her."
After saying that, Shi Jingyi studied Guan Tong carefully. "How have you been lately? Has 'Shadow' been acting up again?"
"No, not recently. As long as I keep my emotions in check, there shouldn't be any problems. By the way, I heard the academy's practical combat classes have turned into real combat now?"
"Yeah. That's the biggest change in this academic year's curriculum. The main instructor, Duanmu Feng, is an elite Ascendant sent from the Countermeasures Research Office. I heard he's participated in multiple Joint Force campaigns against parasitized forms. His practical combat experience is very rich."
Guan Tong nodded.
Seeing that Guan Tong was distracted, Shi Jingyi cut to the chase. "Guan Tong, I'm guessing you didn't come back to Pinglu just to chat with me. Just say whatever you want to say."
"Nothing special. I just wanted to see a few friends in Pinglu. It's been a while since we last met." Guan Tong then added, "After that, I plan to go to Suroma to take care of some business."
Upon hearing that Guan Tong was going to Suroma, Shi Jingyi's expression shifted slightly.
She didn't say anything. She knew very well that Guan Tong would eventually go. The two of them had made that very clear when they met at Cangying Ridge last time.
She didn't think the somewhat impassioned words Guan Tong had spoken then were false. On the contrary, sometimes what people blurt out when they're emotional is something that has been brewing in their hearts all along, just waiting for the right moment.
Especially since she knew in her heart that Guan Tong himself must have felt this trip to Suroma could be dangerous. That's why he wanted to "see friends" before he left.
"I'll be going now."
"Wait, you..."
Shi Jingyi called out to him, wanting to say something, but she held back. Instead, she brought up another matter.
"Silver Fox came to see me a few days ago."
"What did she come to you for?"
"She said she wanted me to pass along a question. She wants to know if you helped her during the Gambling Round rule."
"..."
As Shi Jingyi brought this up, a hint of curiosity also appeared on her face. "She said the things she lost came back to her after the rule ended. Was it really you who helped her?"
"Yeah." Guan Tong nodded in acknowledgment. "It was me."
"Then it seems the disappearance of that 'Life-Hunting Demon's' main consciousness is also connected to you."
"...Shi Jingyi, do you believe that our universe is caught in a cycle of recurrence?"
Guan Tong's sudden, somewhat inexplicable question left Shi Jingyi puzzled.
"What?"
"For example, the descent of the Fire Thief, the appearance of the Doomsday Rules, my meeting you, even this conversation we're having right now. Do you believe that all of this is predetermined by fate?"
...
Shi Jingyi looked at Guan Tong's serious expression and knew he wasn't joking.
She thought for a moment, then said, "If you're asking if I believe in fate, I don't."
"Why?"
"For me, fate is just an excuse to avoid making choices." Shi Jingyi stared into Guan Tong's eyes. "Guan Tong, I don't know what you've been through, but you've never been this hesitant before."
Guan Tong's heart jolted.
Ever since he had seen that memory of the Life-Hunting Demon, he had indeed been influenced by the mysterious gambler's words about the "Cosmic Cycle," constantly turning the question of fate over in his mind.
But hadn't that mysterious gambler also said that one civilization had broken the cycle?
Even if the universe really was cycling, even if fate truly existed, since one civilization had been able to break the cycle, why couldn't humanity strive toward that same goal and become the master of its own destiny!
In an instant, Guan Tong felt a surge of spiritual renewal. Letting his inner impulse guide him, he spread his arms and hugged Shi Jingyi.
"I understand. Thank you."