Apocalyptic Disaster: I Hoard Billions in Supplies and Kill the Saint

141: Chapter 141 Reality and IllusionEveryone looked over.

From the crowd, a woman in a silver-grey uniform rushed out. Her skin was pale, her features sharp, and faint psychic patterns flickered across her forehead.

That was the mark of a psychic: perception beyond the norm, an explorer of the mental realm.

Her name was Shang Xu.

She had once been the deputy commander of the ”Psychic Projection Team” and was one of the first experimental researchers to arrive at the Luo Dechuan base with Zhou Xiao.

Her gaze locked onto Zhou Xiao, filled with irrepressible anger and anxiety:

”Have you forgotten how you survived last time? If I hadn’t forcibly severed your brain’s connection every night, you would have gone insane seven times over!”

”And now you want to go back in? Do you think I can pull you back out this time?!”

Zhou Xiao’s brows twitched, his tone low and resolute: ”This is not your concern.”

”You don’t understand.”

”I do understand,” Shang Xu gritted her teeth. ”It’s because of her.”

Her gaze quietly swept over Ye Nanxing, her eyes as cold as ice.

She stepped forward, suppressing her anger as she spoke: ”From the moment you saw her, your neural patterns began to fluctuate. I saw it clearly.”

”You’re not doing this for some mission, nor for revenge—you’re doing it for her.”

”You’ve forgotten who you are, Zhou Xiao.”

In the silence, Ye Nanxing spoke, her tone unexpectedly calm:

”She’s right.”

Everyone was taken aback.

Ye Nanxing raised her head, her voice unhurried, yet like fine snow falling on steel.

”We really... don’t need you to accompany us inside.”

”Yan and I—we’ve already been marked.” She looked down at the quiet boy beside her. ”We can’t escape; even if we leave the Rift, the dream will follow us.”

”There’s no need for you to risk this for me again.”

”This is not your battlefield.”

Zhou Xiao listened quietly, his expression unchanged, but he slowly raised his head in silence.

”I know you don’t need me.”

”But I must go.”

”You can run away this time, but what about the next? And the time after that?”

He looked at Ye Nanxing without flinching, as if seeing through her to the obsession he had long buried within himself.

”Some things must be faced.”

”And—” He paused, glancing slightly at Yan. ”He is the one we rescued. I saw with my own eyes how he shattered a ’Simulated Mental Mirror’ within the gaps of an illusion. He is no ordinary Child.”

”Also, I know you aren’t just what you appear to be, are you?”

”I don’t want to miss another chance.”

The wind stirred, the waves of fog moaned, as if countless whispers were slowly awakening beneath the firmament.

Shang Xu stared fixedly at Zhou Xiao, her eyes red, her teeth clenched:

”You madman...”

Zhou Xiao smiled, his eyes weary but carrying a hint of long-lost relief. ”Scold me, hit me—it doesn’t matter. This time, I chose this myself.”

Having said that, he turned, locked his pulse gun, and restarted his armor.

At that moment, his aura was like a hunting dog returning to the battlefield, his wildness erupting.

Shang Xu watched his back, her fingertips trembling.

”...Damn it.”

She gritted her teeth, and the next moment, she actually quickened her pace to follow him.

”If you die, I’ll be the one to collect your corpse.”

”If I can handle your madness, I can handle you being foolish this time.”

Zhou Xiao turned back, glanced at her, said nothing, and simply nodded.

Yan tilted his head to look at her and said calmly, ”Your psychic level is indeed very high, much stronger than those people on Luo Dechuan’s side.”

Shang Xu was stunned: ”...Can you speak like a human?”

Yan nodded seriously: ”This is human speech.”

Chu Yunting coughed lightly: ”Don’t be too direct.”

Ye Nanxing, however, smiled.

She looked at them, her eyes soft yet firm, and whispered, ”Since you have all decided, then do not look back.”

The fog receded, and the group continued forward.

Ye Nanxing walked at the front, but her brows furrowed slightly—the expected ”whispers” of psychic pollution did not arrive as anticipated.

There was no sense of tearing, no loss of control in resonance, and no hallucinations of the legendary ”re-enactment of nightmares.”

She subconsciously squeezed her palm; the ”stabilization anchor” hidden in her cuff showed no reaction, as if... it was not dangerous here.

The base appeared before them.

Then—they were all stunned.

It did not look like any experimental outpost in the ruins, nor like the twisted lair of those mad scientists.

It was a plain covered in lush green grass.

Neatly trimmed grass, air carrying the faint scent of fresh grass, and in the distance, even artificial white windmills slowly rotating, looking very much like some kind of medieval manor. Above, the sky was filled with blue sky and white clouds, and the sunlight fell softly on everyone’s shoulders, warm and peaceful.

Although it was clear that this blue sky was just a biomimetic projection, the natural atmosphere that greeted them was incredibly real.

It was as if they had stumbled into a fairy tale.

”Is this... psychic induction?” Chu Yunting asked in a low, subconscious voice.

”No,” Shang Xu shook her head after observing for a moment. ”It’s a physical modification. All the facilities are real.”

”It’s not deceiving you... It is truly beautiful.”

”Madman,” Yan whispered.

At that moment, familiar footsteps approached from the front.

Luo Dechuan, wearing his usual neat white lab coat, stood in front of what looked like the main gate of the garden, watching them with a smile.

He was even calmer than imagined, and even uncomfortably elegant.

His gaze fell on Ye Nanxing, and Luo Dechuan smiled lightly: ”You arrived... faster than I thought.”

”Miss Ye, we meet again.”

Ye Nanxing’s eyes were cold, but her heart trembled slightly.

—South City’s jade gambling street; she had not forgotten.

The man who stood behind the auction platform, staring at her with eyes like a snake.

”You recognize me,” Ye Nanxing said.

Luo Dechuan smiled and nodded: ”Of course. Miss Ye’s demeanor at the jade gambling market made it impossible not to notice.”

”It’s just a pity—later, the market in Myanmar was turned into a complete mess by you and Chu Yunting.”

He shifted his gaze to Chu Yunting, a flash of suppressed hatred in his eyes, but it vanished instantly.

”Myanmar was my trump card.”

”You forced me to stop ’researching’ Miss Ye in time, and even almost cut off the supply of my experimental subjects.”

As he spoke, he paused slightly, as if suddenly remembering something:

”But what surprised me even more was you.”

He looked at Chu Yunting, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

”Fully recovered?”

”That really is...”

His eyes were fixed intently, as if trying to discern something from Chu Yunting’s mental state, but in the end, he showed nothing, just a faint smile:

”This shows that my brass badge... is still not perfect enough.”

”What exactly are you trying to do?” Chu Yunting asked coldly.

Luo Dechuan raised his hand, gesturing ”please,” and led them toward the depths of the garden.

As they walked, his voice was soft and clear:

”I want you to stay.”

”I know the suspicions, doubts, and various traps and mental pitfalls you imagined on your way here, but none of that exists.”

”What you see now—is exactly what I want to provide for you.”