Hanging up the phone, Chen Xiaolian sighed softly, his expression a little melancholy.

"What's the matter? are you still worried about your teammates?" Miao Yan looked at Chen Xiaolian with a smile.

Where the two of them are now is a small water bar with an obvious Arabic style, and Middle Eastern-style music is playing on the speakers. Outside the window, it was dark at night, and there were not many customers in the water bar. The two occupy a corner, each with a glass of freshly squeezed juice in front of them. On one side of the table is a large hookah.

"Nothing to worry about. Whether I'm here or not, Meteorite Sentai is a Meteorite Sentai team. Chen Xiaolian shook his head and smiled: "I know my team members well enough." ”

"Then what are you sighing for?" Miao Yan raised her eyebrows: "Is it because of ...... Separated from your girlfriend?"

"yes, can't you?" Chen Xiaolian had a natural expression: "If you were going to leave your boyfriend for so long, wouldn't you even ......sigh?" I forgot, you're from the upper world. Maybe...... You're actually a big guy in that world. ”

Chen Xiaolian smiled, and looked up and down Miao Yan's body: "Do you know? When I play online games, the characters I build are always women. After all, the guy on the screen is what I'm going to watch all the time. A beauty is better than a big man. Shouldn't you ...... too?"

"If one day you had the chance to go to the upper world, you would know. Miao Yan smiled, as if she was not annoyed by Chen Xiaolian's words at all, lowered her head and took a sip of the juice in the cup: "It tastes good, but unfortunately there is no wine." ”

"Alcohol is banned throughout the country. It's possible to buy it secretly on the black market, and if you want to find a bar or something, don't even think about it. Chen Xiaolian smiled, took out a cigarette holder with a leather tube from the hookah, and handed it to Miao Yan: "Although there is no wine, try this, the famous Arabic hookah." ”

"I don't smoke. Miao Yan frowned, looked at the cigarette holder handed by Chen Xiaolian, and shook her head.

"It's not the same as tobacco. Chen Xiaolian shook his head: "Trust me, try it." This pot is cardamom flavored and should suit you well. ”

Miao Yan glanced at Chen Xiaolian, reached out and took the cigarette holder in disbelief, took a puff gently, closed her eyes and slowly spit out a smoke ring.

"Taste...... Not bad. Miao Yan reminisced for a while, opened her eyes and smiled: "Okay, let's get to the point." What happened to you since that day's farewell? ”

"Do I have to answer you?" Chen Xiaolian raised his eyebrows.

"Definitely. Because you owe me one more question. Miao Yan pinched the cigarette holder with two slender and slender fingers, bowed her head and played: "When we came out of Zero City last time, we agreed that each person could ask each other three questions—I only used two. ”

"Your memory is really good...... Chen Xiaolian laughed, "But the answer to this question may be very long." ”

"It's okay, I have enough time. Miao Yan smiled.

"A lot has happened since then. Many, many, many things. He thought for a moment: "I went to the end of the world, found Jojo, and ......"

"Have you been to the end of the world?!" Before Chen Xiaolian could continue to finish speaking, Miao Yan's eyes suddenly widened and looked at Chen Xiaolian: "How did you get there?!You don't have the seeds of the World Tree at hand!At least...... There are no seeds of the entire World Tree!"

"Entering the end of the world has nothing to do with the seeds of the World Tree. Chen Xiaolian shook his head: "All the awakened will enter there after death. Merely...... If you want to come back from there, you just have to make some preparations in advance. And the seeds of the World Tree, they're actually something else. ”

"What is it?" Miao Yan leaned forward slightly a little nervously, staring at Chen Xiaolian.

"Why do you care so much about this thing?" Chen Xiaolian smiled: "You...... Want them?"

"Can't you?"

"Absolutely. Chen Xiaolian shrugged: "I'm just curious, how do you know that I don't have the World Tree seed at hand?"

"Guess. Miao Yan replied without hesitation, "After escaping from Zero City, you still don't know what the seed of the World Tree is. It's only been so much time, and I don't believe you can collect all seven. Is there something wrong with this logic?"

"It sounds reasonable, too. However, I prefer to believe another explanation-" Chen Xiaolian propped his elbows on the table in front of him and looked at Miao Yan closely: "In your hand, there is at least one World Tree seed!"

The two men looked at each other as if they were clash in the air. After a while, Miao Yan suddenly smiled: "That's right, I do have." But it's not a shameful thing, so there's no need to hide it from you. ”

"Tell me, what are you going to do collecting it?" Chen Xiaolian withdrew his arms and leaned back against the soft cushions.

"Let's talk about you first. Miao Yan smiled slyly: "You haven't finished answering my question just now." ”

"Okay. Chen Xiaolian rolled his eyes: "After leaving the end of the world, I ...... Well, it took a little more trouble to really get Jojo back. Then, I was forced to take it to City Zero and attend a meeting. Well, a meeting of some really big shots. ”

"Big shots?"

"The first batch of loopholes in this world. Including Chen, is also one of them. There, I learned a part of the truth about this world and gained some ...... Well, a power that I couldn't have imagined before.

But the problem now is that Tatsumi wants to do something, something that makes all of us disappear completely. So in order to stop him, the old monsters turned their faces with Chen and fought.

In the end, those old monsters were all sealed in the collapsed Zero City. But the problem is that Tatsumi is too strong, even if Zero City collapses, it will not be possible to trap him for a long time. Before he leaves, I have to do something else, something else that will allow me to stop him!

I escaped before City Zero collapsed. But because I can't control my newfound power for the time being. So...... If I just leave City Zero and return to the Overworld, the development team will definitely find me soon. ”

"So, you hid yourself in the dungeon first?" Miao Yan thought for a moment, "But the system still found you." The red danger warning in that dungeon is supposed to be due to the detection of an abnormal state on you. ”

"Yes. Chen Xiaolian nodded: "When I left Zero City, I chose an ongoing copy, threw myself into it, and improvised a copy of my personality to control my body. My own personality was used to merge with the singularity. ”

"Singularity?" Miao Yan repeated the word.

"It's the foundation of City Zero. Or rather...... is part of this world template. Chen Xiaolian smiled: "Fusion takes a certain amount of time, and during this time, the system may discover the singularity at any time." But if it's in a dungeon, with an extra layer of barrier, it will be more difficult for the system to detect me. Even so, it's possible for the system to locate my presence. So the effect of that personality copy is actually to make me die once.

Of course, I can't allow myself to die too quickly, because it will take me some time to merge with the singularity. So- I reclaimed all of my powers, as well as most of the offensive items, leaving only one piece of equipment of a defensive nature. Well, it's the armor you wore when you saw me.

Although I don't have this memory, the other 'me' did a good job. He delayed enough time to finish the fusion when he was killed. ”

"Go on. Miao Yan listened intently to Chen Xiaolian's narration: "So what now?"

"Everyone, whether it is an ordinary person or an awakened person, has a unique mark in this world. You can ......" Chen Xiaolian thought for a while: "Understand it as the number of your ID card." Even our vulnerabilities are in the system's records. ”

"Including the loopholes?" Miao Yan frowned slightly: "If the system has marked you, then how can you not be found?"

"If it was like I did, it would be really hard for the system to find us. Chen Xiaolian thought for a moment: "For example, you are alone, standing on a huge, boundless square. And in the square at your feet, hundreds of millions of ants crawl. Even if you've made notes on a few of these particular ants, and even painted them in different colors, it's still hard to spot them at a glance when they climb back into the other ants. All you can see is the black pressure under your feet.

But what if one or more of the ants suddenly became bigger than their kind? An ant the size of a dragonfly might still be hard to spot at a glance. But if it continues to grow and becomes the size of a cat or a dog, or even a cow or a horse, it will be difficult to see it even if it is deliberately trying not to see. ”

"So...... After gaining that power, you have become an ant as big as a cow and a horse?" Miao Yan smiled.

"Pretty much. It's just a metaphor, and it doesn't have to be so precise. Chen Xiaolian spread his hands: "So, I have to make some preparations to keep my huge ant from being discovered." ”

"You just said that you died once in this dungeon. It's equivalent to ...... You tore up your ID?"

"Yes. Chen Xiaolian looked at the smile on Miao Yan's face, and laughed himself: "Now I am a black household." But correspondingly, although it is difficult for the system to find me again, once it finds me...... The consequences will be even more severe. So, I can't be with my former teammates anymore for a while. ”

"It does smell good. Miao Yan picked up the cigarette holder, took another puff, and nodded with a smile: "So...... What exactly is the power you get, and how strong is it?"

"That's the second question, right?" Chen Xiaolian raised his eyebrows.

"Don't fool around. Miao Yan glanced sideways at Chen Xiaolian: "What I'm asking you is, what happened since then, of course, this is also included." ”

"Okay. Chen Xiaolian shrugged his shoulders and thought for a while: "Actually...... This is a question that is really not easy to answer. ”

Miao Yan didn't answer, only looked at Chen Xiaolian seriously.

Chen Xiaolian pondered carefully for a moment, and said slowly: "Strictly speaking, my ontological strength is probably only about A-level. Don't worry—"

Seeing Miao Yan's eyes widen, Chen Xiaolian smiled, waved his hand and said, "I haven't finished talking yet." The ontological strength I refer to is that only the part of the power obtained from the system is counted, including skills, attributes, and equipment. But there are other than that, there are some other things.

I got two pieces of equipment in City Zero. Although the guy who gave it to me didn't have any detailed instructions, according to my estimation, these two things must not have been produced by the system, but by his own power. With these two pieces of equipment alone, I should be able to reach the S-rank level. ”

"Equipment?!" A wave of surprise flowed from Miao Yan's eyes: "Just by equipment?"

Among players and Awokens, there is basically a consensus - in order to be recognized as S-rank, at least two of all attributes must be S-ranked, and equipment is not counted among them.

But according to Chen Xiaolian, relying on these two pieces of equipment alone, can his strength cross A+ from A-level to S-level level?

"In addition to that, I also got a part of the initial template of this world, as well as ......" Chen Xiaolian thought for a moment, and for a moment did not know how to describe the ability to read the world code obtained from Angel Wings: "In general, I have a better understanding of how this world works than I used to be. Now I'm able to take advantage of the rules. Even with it, my understanding of pure 'power' is much deeper than before. So even if I don't use those two pieces of equipment now, an ordinary S-class shouldn't be my opponent. ”

"Exploit ...... Rules?" Miao Yan chewed on the word that Chen Xiaolian said: "In the copy just now, you made all the electronic guards invalid, is it because of this power?"

"Yes. Chen Xiaolian nodded: "If it's a 'battle' in the real sense, although I'm not afraid of electronic guards, but with such a number, it's not so easy to kill them all." However, although the electronic guard is something created by the development team, it must also conform to the laws of existence in this world after all. So it's still easy to solve them. ”

"So ...... Let's get it straight. Miao Yan blinked her eyes twice: "Who else is a threat to you now?"

Chen Xiaolian thought for a while and said slowly: "First of all, that guy Chen, I definitely can't beat it." Now he has reached the point of rewriting the rules. And the other old monsters, like Mr. Umbrella, are afraid that they are enough to choke. Although they are on the same level of using the rules as me, the gap in proficiency is too great. But ......"

Chen Xiaolian paused: "If I just want to save my life, I should still be able to escape." ”

"So, what about the copy?"

Chen Xiaolian put on a relaxed expression: "Whether it's the monsters in the dungeon or the electronic guards, they're just things set up by the development team. These things are no longer a threat to me. ”

"So...... You can be considered a monster now, too. A little monster. Miao Yan looked at Chen Xiaolian deeply and said slowly.