Chapter Eleven: Expressionless

“This virus outbreak in this small town is called the Progenitor Virus? But it’s much weaker than the Progenitor Virus in Resident Evil, and both the zombies and Wesker are pathetic by comparison.” Li Zang’ai wasn’t exactly a gaming enthusiast, but as a street punk, he relished anything that got his adrenaline pumping. Resident Evil was just the kind of thrilling game he’d played before.

“If only I could become a superhuman as powerful as Wesker… No, once I become a World Tuner, I’ll definitely reach that level, maybe even surpass it!” The thought roared savagely in his heart, a ruthless glint flickering in his eyes.

All he needed was enough strength…

He shot a sidelong glance at Tang Tianjie, that perpetual winner at life, and snorted. As a maverick who had broken through human limits, he wasn’t about to play second fiddle to anyone, much less serve as a foil for so-called elites.

Chu Qingfeng caught every micro-expression and flicker in his gaze. As a psychologist who had transcended human boundaries, aside from Yan Luo, everyone else’s inner thoughts might as well have been laid bare before him.

“These files must explain why the town turned into a zombie haven. The Dr. Smith mentioned is certainly a key figure—alive or dead, who knows? But it has nothing to do with us.” Without a change in expression, Chu Qingfeng slipped the papers back into the diary.

“Yes, yes, exactly,” Zhu Xiaoyong, the overweight otaku, hastily agreed. After surviving in this zombie-infested world for so long, he was at his limit. The sooner they could go home, the better. Please, let nothing go wrong at the last minute.

Tang Tianjie’s face darkened slightly. He wanted to probe the truth behind this world, maybe even encounter the boss—but unfortunately, the novice mission’s two-day survival requirement was almost up; a day and a half had already passed.

“By the way, is the Guide still around? Not a peep from him.”

As dusk fell and midnight approached, a portal would appear at their entry point, allowing everyone to return to the surface world.

Among them, Tang Tianjie was undoubtedly the biggest winner of their first “world within”—Li Changxin had earned the title “Meat Grinder” and gained a gene unlock material: Virus; Yan Luo had harvested plenty of emotions. But for everyone except the chuunibyou girl, the most important gain was the courage and backbone honed through fighting zombies.

“Once we complete the main quest and return, there’ll be a settlement. I wonder what kind of rewards we’ll get?”

“Bio-energy, probably gene points too?”

Chatting quietly, they began to settle down to rest before heading back to the villa where they’d first arrived. At that moment, Zhu Xiaoyong happened to glance over and suddenly spotted a figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop, drawing closer. He cried out, “Someone’s there!”

“Is it the boss?”

“No, it’s the Guide—Mu Bai.”

The figure landed among them. As a black man who had transcended human limits, his facial expressions were usually hard to read, but now, the excitement and joy radiating from Mu Bai’s face were so obvious that even the micro-expression expert Chu Qingfeng, not to mention the chuunibyou girl Ye Li, could see it.

“Everyone, get a good night’s sleep and recover your strength. When the sun rises tomorrow, I’ll take you to do something big.”

Lawful good to the core, Mu Bai was genuinely delighted for the luck of these nine newcomers.

“Uh?”

Wang Dongwei, the self-proclaimed loser, was a little confused. “Don’t we just have to survive the night to complete the main quest and return?”

“In the novice world, the main quest is to survive two days, after which a portal appears. Don’t worry—leaving a bit late won’t be a problem, as long as you don’t overstay by more than a day. If you do, the system will forcibly eject you to the surface world, and you’ll lose all main quest rewards.”

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll lead you to fight the boss!”

Mu Bai couldn’t help but recall the shock he felt upon seeing the garden’s boss earlier. But shock aside, for a boss of that level, the newcomers actually stood a chance of taking it down. Defeating a “world within” on the very first novice mission!

The benefits of such a feat…

Even if it was dangerous, it was worth a shot for newcomers.

“You’re taking us to fight the boss?”

“No, to be precise, you’ll fight—the boss; I’ll take you there. I can’t make a move. If I did, you wouldn’t get any drops, and you’d miss out on the benefits granted for beating the boss during mission settlement—it’d all be for nothing.”

“The boss… Can we not fight it? I just want to go home,” Zhu Xiaoyong wailed. Battling zombies had been hard enough, and now they had to fight a boss too? Why, when the main mission was just to survive two days and return to the real world?

“Hey.”

Mu Bai’s expression darkened. He’d gone out of his way to help these newcomers search the town, and now, hearing complaints, of course, he was annoyed.

He lit a cigarette, his tone unfriendly: “Fat slob, you want to go home? I busted my ass scouring the town for you, found the boss at the heart of this garden—the world within’s singularity—and you can’t even show some appreciation? Do you have a death wish?”

Feeling the cold, overwhelming pressure gathering around him, Zhu Xiaoyong nearly burst into tears.

“All right, I’ll go… Guide, could you maybe drop the ‘dead’ in ‘dead fat slob’ next time?”

“No problem, dead fat slob.”

“Mr. Guide,” Chu Qingfeng interrupted the exchange between the black man and the overweight youth, coming to Zhu Xiaoyong’s aid. He had caught the key point in Mu Bai’s earlier words and asked, a little puzzled, “You mentioned a singularity? A garden boss?”

Mu Bai took a long drag on his cigarette, finishing it in a single pull.

“Fine, I’ll give you the intel. You’re bound to learn it sooner or later—if you don’t die in some world within, that is.”

“Worlds within can be vast or tiny. Destroying one brings enormous benefits—though I don’t know exactly why. If it’s a massive world within, with complete rules, it’s akin to a section of the real universe, or even a multiverse. How could you possibly destroy that?”

“For smaller worlds, there’s a chance…”

“Especially in certain worlds within, the world’s fate, theme, or truth is concentrated in a single nexus: that’s the singularity.”

“For example, if anime and game worlds existed as worlds within, say, the Super Mario World, the singularity would obviously be Mario. Kill the plumber, and the Super Mario World collapses—the world within is destroyed.”

“Of course, that’s just an analogy. There aren’t anime or game worlds within, and the singularity isn’t always a person. It could be something else. Suppose in one world, a single pillar holds up the heavens and the earth. Then that pillar is likely the singularity—destroy it, and the sky falls, the world shatters into chaos—world within broken.”

He flicked the cigarette butt to the ground and lit another; clearly, his nicotine addiction was strong.

“A garden is the smallest kind of world within and, among all worlds within, the easiest to break. Especially when the singularity is concentrated entirely in a single boss—no puzzles to solve, no need to deduce or change world rules or elements, just one thing: kill the boss.”

In his heart, Mu Bai couldn’t help sighing. Of all the countless worlds within, this was his first time encountering a garden.

As their Guide, he could at least guarantee every newcomer’s survival; even in failure, no one would die.

How lucky were these newcomers!

“Then… a boss of that level must be extremely powerful, right?” Zhu Xiaoyong couldn’t help but ask.

“Obviously. If the singularity is a boss, it’s the strongest being in the entire garden!” As soon as he said it, Mu Bai realized he might be intimidating them too much. His expression shifted. “Enough talk. Go eat and rest. You need to be ready to fight the boss tomorrow, dead fat slob!”

“Okay, boss, but could you please just leave out the ‘dead’?”

Zhu Xiaoyong was truly crying now.

“There’s really a boss? I knew I was the protagonist!” Tang Tianjie was overwhelmed with joy; his eyes sparkled with excitement. Destroy a world within? He still didn’t fully understand the mechanics, but the promise of huge benefits was clear enough.

The strongest creature in the world?

He was the one who’d broken through the limits of human luck!

If he had to, he’d detonate his “destiny talent.”

“A garden boss, huh?” The punk Li Zang’ai clenched his fists. His combat talent was strong enough to kill the other eight newcomers with ease! Too bad the Guide was here, forcing him to suppress his murderous urge. It looked like his talent would finally come in handy.

Zhu Xiaoyong wiped away his tears and sat quietly. His eyes were full of struggle and indecision, yet from time to time, a flash of resolve shone through.

Li Changxin lowered her head slightly, letting her bangs cover most of her face. Her fair, adorable face was open-mouthed in a silent, delighted laugh.

Wang Dongwei, the self-acknowledged loser, looked deeply worried and uneasy. Ye Li, the chuunibyou girl, was still as giddy as ever. Xu Han, the mortician in his sober black suit, had been low-key and serious for over a day; his face was grave, the pressure clearly immense.

Chu Qingfeng took all of this in. The psychologist reasoned and deduced silently, casting his gaze at the final member.

Learning that defeating a world within brought immense benefits, but also meant facing the so-called “strongest creature in the world”—the garden boss—what kind of expression would this cool, unflappable one wear?

He watched with anticipation.

Chu Qingfeng: “…”

He saw Yan Luo standing to one side, calm as ever.

No expression at all!