PSW - Chapter 156

Chapter 156

After sending them off, Zheng Yi glanced at the sky. She planned to set out under the cover of night and retrieve the meteor fragment before dawn.

Yu Yinan wanted to go too, but she couldn't get too close to the meteor fragment. Besides, getting there and back would likely be a hassle for Zheng Yi. After all, Zheng Yi would be much more efficient on her own. After considering everything, she politely declined Zheng Yi's invitation. "I still have a lot to write, so I'll stay here. You... be careful, and come back soon."

"Okay," Zheng Yi replied. She traveled light, heading straight out the door in the direction the Director had indicated, making for the meteor fragment's location.

A current of water took shape and floated through the air. Zheng Yi sat atop it, and just as the Director had said, it was easy to spot the fragment's location from the sky. The area where the fragment was located had been artificially enclosed by the people of Changping. This served as both a warning about the range of the meteor fragment's energy and a form of protection.

There were also sentry posts guarding the area outside these constructed walls. It wasn't that they were afraid someone would steal the meteor fragment, but rather that ordinary people might wander in by mistake and undergo mutation or die needlessly.

Zheng Yi easily bypassed them, approaching the fragment in the center directly from the air. She drew closer to the fragment, which was constantly emitting a faint blue light.

If she had felt some occasional discomfort when touching the first fragment, this time she seemed completely at ease. She landed gracefully, her fingertips touching the surface of the massive crystal. She caressed its mottled, rough surface, feeling the immense energy contained within.

Another fragment was in her hands.

She didn't immediately store the fragment in her space, nor did she leave right away. She just stood silently before it, her eyes slightly closed, as if recalling certain memories.

For a brief moment, the aura around Zheng Yi changed drastically. When she opened her eyes, they were filled with indifference, but that state of near emotionlessness quickly faded. Feeling a little bored, she casually stored the fragment in her space, slipped into the night, and headed back the way she came.

[You... You remembered something?]

'When I reached the current peak of power in this world, my memories naturally unlocked.' A slight smile touched the corners of Zheng Yi's lips as she said calmly, 'Zero One, among all the otherworldly gods you know of, what was the age of the youngest one?'

[...Uh, no, I... at my level, I don't have access to beings like that. Although I'm a Saint Growth System... I haven't cultivated a true god yet.] Besides, the path of a Saint... if it weren't for Zheng Yi's slick maneuvers, it didn't seem like a path that could lead to true godhood at all! A being with great love in their heart, sacrificing everything for the common people... such an existence was too rare, and it was too difficult for them to overcome their tribulations.

'At the tender age of sixteen, I ascended to immortality. Breaking through the world's boundary to become a god took only four years.' Zheng Yi chuckled lightly. 'Guess who I am?'

[?!!] Zero One was utterly shocked. Although it had had its suspicions, when Zheng Yi actually answered its question, Zero One was so stunned it dropped a pile of data. A... a young god? But... but it should be impossible for it to bind to such an existence, and Zheng Yi clearly had amnesia before... Wait, amnesia? If she lost all her power... [So, has it been a thousand years since You became a god? Are You currently undergoing a tribulation?]

[A system of my level doesn't have the ability to know the true names or even the revered titles of gods, so even if You were very specific, I... I wouldn't be able to... learn anything.] Zero One explained nervously. It frantically searched its data for knowledge on the subject, only to sadly find nothing.

Among countless continents and planets, all sorts of gods are born. Many of these are worlds that have truly hatched from the worlds within books, and these kinds of worlds are the most likely to produce new gods. Zheng Yi... Was Zheng Yi's original world a cultivation world? Ascended to immortality at sixteen? Became a god by breaking through the world's boundary four years later... so, at twenty? This appearance couldn't be Zheng Yi's true form, could it? Wait, cultivation... Did Zheng Yi renounce the secular world to cultivate? What world's immortality did she even cultivate, and what path did she follow? Her personality is nothing like an immortal's!

First, rule out the Path of Emotionlessness.

Zero One's head was about to explode. Its thoughts ran wild, drifting back to the topic of gods. Gods... After becoming a god, life isn't all smooth sailing with eternal life. After all, new gods are always appearing, and things like energy... are also an issue. In response to this, the tribulations unique to gods came into being, which are more akin to the concept of "reincarnation."

Generally, the first tribulation occurs a thousand years after attaining godhood, and this has evolved into an unbreakable rule. When the tribulation is near, the god themself will sense it.

...Losing their memories and power, their true body may remain seated eternally in the clouds, but their divine soul is cast into a random world to live again as an ordinary person. Only when their power reaches the peak of that world will all their memories be reawakened. At that point, there are generally no major obstacles to walking the path to godhood again and returning to their divine throne.

If they die midway, they reincarnate into the next life. There are seven chances in total. If they still cannot regain their godhood after seven tries, then that god will fall completely. Their divine body will turn into nutrients for heaven and earth, nourishing thousands of worlds.

Zero One tried its best to recall, but it didn't know any more details. However, judging from Zheng Yi's performance, although she had no memories and her power was erased... a divine soul is still a divine soul. The strength of her soul is still something that cannot be looked at directly, and she probably retained various instincts? As her power grew, she probably vaguely recalled some memory fragments? Probably... Zero One couldn't help but scream silently in the system space: It had bound a god!!!

[My binding to You, will it affect Your reincarnation? W-will this be considered cheating by the rules? Oh my god.] Its luck was just too good, wasn't it? To have so precisely bound to Zheng Yi in a vast sea of people! Oh, perhaps this was also the arrangement of fate?

'Perhaps the final tribulation to become a god will be a little harder,' Zheng Yi replied casually, stepping up the stairs.

When Zero One saw Zheng Yi push open the door and enter the room, it suddenly remembered Yu Yinan's existence. Zheng Yi has remembered everything, so what will happen to Yu Yinan?

Fortunately, this apocalypse wasn't over yet, and Zheng Yi hadn't completely... uh, hadn't ascended to godhood again yet. Although her power was currently at the peak of this world, there was still an insurmountable chasm between beings like humans and ability users and a true god. So, it was impossible for Zheng Yi to just disappear. But, but her feelings for Yu Yinan...

"Did everything go smoothly?" Yu Yinan, still holding her pen, finished writing the sentence at hand before looking up at Zheng Yi. For some reason, she felt a momentary daze. She felt that Zheng Yi seemed a little different again, but she couldn't put her finger on what had changed. Before Yu Yinan could think too hard about it, Zheng Yi, who had just entered, broke into a brilliant smile.

"Of course, everything went smoothly~ How about you, Jiejie? How much have you written?"

Was it just her imagination? Yu Yinan blinked. Then again, Zheng Yi was a master at switching between various roles and attitudes, so it was probably normal for her to feel that something was different now and then. "A little less than half... Although I could summarize, I want to reconstruct the full picture of everything you've done as much as possible."

"It would be great if I could make everyone approve of you and believe in you."

"It's getting late. Let's continue tomorrow." Zheng Yi walked over to Yu Yinan, seeming no different than usual. She affectionately pinched the soft flesh of Yu Yinan's cheek, then took the notebook filled with writing from her. Without looking at what was written inside, she simply closed it and set it aside. "It's time to rest."

---

Night fell in Zhongshan City. On a certain street, beside a bonfire.

The dancing flames lit up the area, while the bright moon in the sky cast down a silvery-white glow, providing a bit of light.

Exciting music rang out, spreading outward from the bonfire, passing through stretches of artificially cleared ruins before dissipating into the air.

In the clearing by the bonfire, a girl emitting a dazzling, brilliant golden light and wearing a rather peculiar and eye-catching outfit danced. As the familiar Pretty Cure theme song built to a crescendo, her movements grew more powerful, and she did her best to show a dazzling, optimistic, and brilliant smile to make her performance as accurate as possible.

"You should dance with more power. Relax your posture; don't look so stiff and strained. Your smile should also be more enthusiastic—enthusiastic from the heart." A man wearing a black cloak, his face hidden beneath a black hood, pointed out the shortcomings in a deep voice. "Forget it. Next act."

The brilliant light faded, and the cute and playful Pretty Cure instantly transformed into a pale, slightly thin young man. He didn't show much expression, only glancing with concern at the girl preparing nearby before quietly leaving the clearing and sitting down to the side.

"Where there is light, there is hope! Where there is light, there is salvation! Poli Guli!" Accompanied by a very distinctive entrance line, the Poli Guli Robot appeared out of nowhere. It came to the clearing and, without a word, began to perform a set of Poli Guli Robot boxing moves. After fiercely showing off thirty-six moves against the air, it emitted a wave of light unique to Poli Guli into the clearing.

"It's the same performance every day. Don't you have anything new?" the man, the sole audience member, asked in a flat tone. "Are you just going through the motions with me?"

The expressions of the robot on stage and the young man offstage changed drastically. After a moment of silence, the young man hesitated before asking, "Do... do you still have memories of... crosstalk from before the apocalypse? If you don't mind, perhaps my sister and I could perform some crosstalk for you?"

The man shifted his seated position on the ground slightly and pondered for a moment. "You may. But do it after you transform. And don't forget Pretty Cure's verbal tic."

"..." The young man's Adam's apple bobbed once, and he agreed in a low voice. He exchanged a look with the robot and was about to say something when he heard the man add.

"Your sister should also stay transformed and use the robot's tone of voice."

"...Yes."

Clearly, these were the siblings Xia Cheng and Xia Sheng, who had gone missing in Yongdu, and the one who had taken them... a mutated zombie.

Compared to a zombie, "he" seemed more like a person.

The siblings Xia Cheng and Xia Sheng had originally gone to Yongdu to find their relatives, but they never expected Yongdu to have become... like that. The only good news was probably that their parents had died in the early days of the apocalypse and hadn't been tormented by everything that happened later, nor had they witnessed the living hell of Yongdu.

As for them... they were ability users and had received some preferential treatment at the beginning. Later, because of their special transformation abilities... the siblings Xia Cheng and Xia Sheng became Si Haotian's exclusive performers, specifically using their abilities to perform plays, act out anime scenes, or put on song and dance numbers for him. The reason they were taken away by this mutated zombie was even more absurd.

Before the apocalypse, this guy had also been a loyal fan of Poli Guli Robot and Pretty Cure.

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