Chapter 163: Leveling Up [Sending finger hearts to Zhou Yi! ❤️]

The wind was still howling past his ears, though it seemed a bit weaker now.

Zhou Yi opened his eyes and finally felt his feet touch the ground. A heavy stream of curses welled up in his chest, but seeing how agitated the Stone Egg was, it was clear that the events of the past still weighed heavily on its soul.

At this point, rushing it was out of the question, and as for comforting it, he didn't even know where to begin. Zhou Yi simply sat down and waited obediently. After an unknown length of time, a deep sigh drifted down from the sky.

"Ah... After that, Jiuyan was sealed in that room for a very, very long time. He didn't know if he was dead or alive, and unable to move, he could only watch the world change, witnessing with his own eyes the extinction of countless humans and the eternal imprisonment of so many others inside gaming pods.

"Wuyu led a group of people, searching the entire world for Jiuyan. When he finally laid eyes on that android who looked identical to Jiuyan, Wuyu knew instantly that this person was not his friend. Wuyu demanded to know Jiuyan's whereabouts and asked who he was.

"The android replied that Jiuyan was dead, having perished in some unknown game world—though these worlds were no longer called game worlds, having been renamed task worlds. Earth had been sealed off, and he, the android, was the true master of this reality: the Main Brain.

"Powerless to resist, Wuyu could only take his followers and hide in the cracks between various task worlds. Later, he established Wangqiu Mountain and began fighting the Main Brain for control of the task worlds."

Zhou Yi almost blurted out, *Weren't you locked away? How did you end up as the Stone Egg later on?* But just as he opened his mouth, he changed his question.

"And then?"

Silence.

The space fell silent once more. Whether the entity was lost in memory or simply refused to speak, Zhou Yi had to tilt his head back so far his neck began to ache.

"Later, the real Jiuyan wanted to escape, wanted to make amends for his mistake. When that Main Brain came to see him, Jiuyan tried to take it down with him, triggering a massive explosion. Since then, no one has ever known his fate."

Zhou Yi nodded, feeling as though he finally understood the whole story.

Should he sigh over the preciousness of friendship, or should he call the Stone Egg an absolute fool?

To create an android without setting up restrictive permissions—that was nothing less than digging his own grave.

Right now, the entity was probably existing purely as consciousness, parasiting inside the Stone Egg, and using its understanding of the time dilation across task worlds to continuously select viable humans and accumulate its own strength.

As for the Stone Egg, it was no longer a matter of wanting to overthrow the Main Brain's rule, but rather a desperate struggle to simply stay alive.

That so-called friend of his, Wuyu, was living quite comfortably at the moment; otherwise, he wouldn't have fathered a whole bunch of daughters, every single one of them acting like a princess.

On Wangqiu Mountain, Wuyu was a king, a presence capable of standing against the Main Brain. Over the past two hundred years, conflicts had been ceaseless, with victories and losses on both sides.

Zhou Yi wasn't a fool, nor would he ask something naive like, *Stone Egg, what is it that you want?*

Whether considering himself or the Stone Egg, the only viable path right now was to preserve their strength. To survive in the cracks while strengthening themselves—that was the key.

Whether his friend had betrayed him, whether the Main Brain would eventually be dethroned, and whether humanity could once again take control of the world—all of these were unknowns, not things that could be achieved by tossing around a couple of empty slogans.

Zhou Yi stood up and dusted off his clothes.

"Alright, it's time for me to wake up. Gathering more spiritual stones is the right path forward. We must preserve our strength, and I will raise my level as quickly as possible. Only when we can break away independently will we truly gain a measure of freedom."

No other sound came from the sky, but the Stone Egg seemed quite satisfied with Zhou Yi's attitude.

Though he could be a slacker at times, when it mattered most, he knew how to step up.

Zhou Yi simply felt the world go dark, and when he opened his eyes again, the beach, reefs, and stone-statue mountain were all gone.

The room was brightly lit, the view outside the window was illuminated as well, and a soft sound of breathing came from beside him. The moment he turned his head, Sophia sat up abruptly, looking at him with a gaze full of concern.

"You're awake! How are your injuries?"

Zhou Yi shook his head.

In truth, he had no idea how his injuries were, but having lain down for so long, his limbs felt somewhat numb.

Sophia cradled Zhou Yi's head, slipping two pillows behind his back. After this flurry of movement, Zhou Yi finally felt like he was truly alive.

He raised his arm and tested it. There seemed to be no pain in his chest, and the wounded area had already healed.

"It feels like all my injuries are healed. What time is it?"

Just as his voice trailed off, a loud *bang* echoed from outside the window, followed by two more muffled thuds. Zhou Yi paused for a moment, unable to figure out whether this was a mining site blasting rock or something else entirely.

However, seeing the smile on Sophia's face, it was clear that nothing bad was happening outside.

"Today is New Year's Eve, and you've been unconscious for seven days!"

This statement stunned Zhou Yi.

He had merely been discussing life with the Stone Egg, and the Stone Egg had just reminisced a bit—how on earth had seven days passed?

"Seven days?"

Sophia nodded. A massive chest sat on the floor beside the bed. She pointed at it and said:

"Every day, I used spiritual stones to repair and absorb energy for you. Among the spiritual stones dug up by the water rats, the high-energy ones I kept here have been absorbed almost entirely, and I've already thrown away several crates of the low-energy ones."

Internally, Zhou Yi cursed a violent profanity. *That clumsy Stone Egg, couldn't it have been a bit more economical?! All those memories and conversations were just a tactic to buy time!*

He had finally managed to accumulate some emergency rations, and now they were completely wiped out in one go.

For a split second, Zhou Yi felt physically ill. After all, his only childhood memories were of growing up in an orphanage; if he wasn't exactly lacking in food and clothing, he had certainly never received any preferential treatment.

That upbringing had forged his hoarding habit. Unless a piece of clothing was literally worn to shreds, he rarely threw anything away. To see so many spiritual stones squandered away like this made his heart drip with blood.

Still, as long as he was alive, that was what mattered. His next step would still be to acquire more spiritual stones.

"After absorbing the energy of so many spiritual stones, I figured you should have reached Level 2 long ago. Even with multiple attributes, you can still level up. Sense it yourself!"

With that, Sophia fished out the colorful optical disc and placed it in Zhou Yi's palm.

Then she raised her scepter, and a white protective dome materialized. Even in a place like this, Sophia remained cautious; after all, no one could guarantee whether another existence like the monkey-creature was lurking around.

A stream of multicolored light shimmered. Zhou Yi relaxed his body, and the colorful disc in his hand began to spin. A wave of exquisite comfort nearly made him moan out loud, and soon he was enveloped by a warm glow.

There was no other sensation—just sheer, unadulterated comfort.

Sophia couldn't hide the smile on her face. Seeing the radiance disperse, she quickly put away the colorful disc, raised her scepter, and chanted a string of obscure incantations, weaving an invisible barrier of light over Zhou Yi's body.

Then Sophia waved her hand, and the white dome vanished. At this moment, Zhou Yi was still a bit clueless, but seeing Sophia so excited, he knew it at least wasn't bad news.

"Through all these worlds, we haven't stopped, nor have I checked on you properly. But right now, you've actually reached the peak of Level 2 and will soon hit Level 3. Your individual attributes need improvement too, though. I suppose it was actual combat that allowed you to advance so quickly."

Sophia paused, seeming a bit hesitant, which wasn't like her usual self. Zhou Yi frowned slightly.

"What's wrong with you? If something's on your mind, just say it."

Sophia stared into Zhou Yi's eyes, a hint of worry in her heart.

"When you were injured, I tried to open your control panel to find a few of those colorful stones you gave me earlier. I thought that since you were badly hurt, those would be more effective. But the moment I touched it, a voice shouted: *Don't move!*

"The pressure carried by that voice was countless times more powerful than Waldner's. I was terrified at the time and didn't know why. Later on, I wondered if it had something to do with the mark on your body? Could it be that the mark provides an extra layer of protection for you?"

Zhou Yi paused. This question was truly difficult to answer. It seemed it was the Stone Egg that had shouted. It had been way too anxious—just telling her not to open it would have been enough; why did it have to roar like that and leave him at a loss for how to explain?

Seeing Zhou Yi hesitate and seem to struggle for an explanation, Sophia instead lost her previous suspicion.

"It's fine. I was just curious, and I figured you probably don't understand it either. If we get the chance later, we can check it out at Spacetime City. I think Dr. Laura might be able to shed some light on it. She and I have met once before."

"You know Dr. Laura?"