Chapter 35
Xia'er took a deep breath and turned to the next page.
**[June 19, Year 741 of the Holy Era, 12:30 PM]**
**[I don’t know if it’s because my blood sample has raised alarms in the Aivina family, but a large number of soldiers wearing gas masks have begun to set up checkpoints at every exit of the Bell Tower Alley, inspecting the status of everyone trying to leave.]**
**[Now, I have to fill my backpack with water bottles before I can step outside. Just to be safe, I exchanged 125 gold pounds to buy a large supply of clean water and juice, storing them at home.]**
**[The streets are filled with anxiety; the military has tightened the blockade. The last time something like this happened was during the Black Death, nearly two hundred years ago during the plague.]**
**[I have no direction for my investigation; my lungs are starting to hurt, and I can’t stop coughing, as if all the moisture has been squeezed out of me.]**
“Crash—”
Xia'er turned the page.
When she saw the date, she paused for a moment. The gap between the two entries was significant, and the handwriting had faded considerably, with more scribbles than before. If it weren’t her own writing, she wouldn’t have recognized what it said.
**[June 25, Year 741 of the Holy Era, 12:30 PM]**
**[The military blockade has become even stricter; no one is allowed to leave the Bell Tower Alley. Except for a few who sensed something was wrong and managed to escape earlier, the vast majority are trapped here. Every day, many dehydrated individuals are being escorted into the Bell Tower Alley—it's like an open-air prison.]**
**[The Church of the Savior has mobilized a large number of carts, continuously delivering supplies to the Bell Tower Alley, barely maintaining order. Yet even among the nuns and priests, many have begun to suffer from cracked, peeling lips. Every day, more priests and nuns from other regions come to take over their duties—no, I should use a different term; they seem eager to come, fully aware of the high risk of infection here.]**
**[I believe at least 80% of the people here are the “Servants” mentioned in Du Wen's notes. They have come here to endure suffering for the sake of their lives; regardless, they are indeed doing good work.]**
**[I finally caught a glimpse of Yulisi. It was just a hurried glance, but I saw her rushing out at 11:31:51... Remember this time; she will pass by the Bell Tower Church then.]**
**[Aside from the Church of the Savior, I also saw several unfamiliar figures on the street—dressed in black robes, wearing raven-feathered cloaks, and sporting brass beak masks. I have a feeling they are connected to this massive outbreak.]**
**[Yet they occasionally work alongside the Church of the Savior, transporting and burning corpses, treating the wounded—I transformed into No. 2 and removed one mask, revealing the terrified face of an ordinary young man, his lips cracked. They are not related to dehydration.]**
This was the key information about Yulisi; thankfully, I recorded it.
Xia'er continued reading.
**[July 4, Year 741 of the Holy Era, early morning...]**
**[The number of people committing suicide by jumping into the river is increasing. No, they aren’t committing suicide; they are jumping in to survive.]**
**[The day before yesterday, I recorded something I didn’t want to write down.]**
**[In the tent area where I was forced to go, I saw Dean Jenny. She is dead, her body lying on the ground, dragged away by the raven-masked figures... Tell me, I didn’t infect her.]**
**[I no longer have the strength to walk. The room is filled with water, and now it’s almost all gone... My throat feels like it’s on fire.]**
**[I transformed again; 5 destiny points can buy me 30 minutes of health. I began to recklessly destroy the unvisited, deserted areas, but found no useful information.]**
**[This is definitely the work of the extraordinary...]**
**[It’s starting to rain again. I’ve run out of destiny points and am now lying in bed.]**
**[Did I really simulate the future? But my destiny points haven’t decreased at all. Have I not been simulating the future? If I did, why hasn’t anything ended?]**
**[After setting goals and tasks for myself, have I not simulated at all?!]**
**[Has this always been reality?!!! Am I not paving the way for my simulated self?!]**
**[I have no points left; I can’t conduct another simulation!!!!]**
**[Damn! Damn! Damn!!!]**
**[I...]**
**[I don’t want to die...]**
By the end of the notebook, the handwriting had become frantic, and the final words were nearly illegible.
In this suffocating text, Xia'er could feel a deep sense of despair that made it hard for her to breathe.
These were the last moments of writing before death. If she hadn’t used the save file to enter, she would have dehydrated and died shortly after entering the simulation.
Xia'er took a deep breath, slowly closed the notebook, turned, and looked out the window at the mist and the hazy rain.
---
**Chapter 37: Extraordinary Attack (Part 1)**
“System.”
Xia'er silently recited in her mind.
The familiar interface unfolded before her. Aside from the "Warehouse" interface lighting up, the other interfaces were dim and unclickable, just like when she first entered the simulation—she could only check the time.
If it weren’t for a contract she had exchanged for in the warehouse, it might not have been usable at all.
The self in the simulation... had gone mad?
Xia'er quickly searched the usual hiding spots but found nothing—no guns, no gold pounds, no potions, no notes... nothing remained.
Pushing open the door, she descended the wooden stairs and found the place in disarray.
Metal water cans and wooden barrels were scattered everywhere, along with a thick layer of glass shards and pottery piled in the corner. Some were used to store drinking water, while others once held various wines, the air thick with a nauseating smell of alcohol.
Drinking to quench thirst... is this really something I would do?
A sudden buzzing overwhelmed her, and Xia'er stopped in her tracks, pressing her hand to her forehead.
She could hear various cries of despair echoing in her ears, swirling like whispers in her mind, but her emotions began to be dominated by excitement.
**[Calm Thinking Lv.1]** suppressed this impulse, and Xia'er wore a puzzled expression.
What’s going on?
This doesn’t seem like a symptom of dehydration...
As the ringing in her ears subsided slightly, she looked toward the door.
Xia'er spotted her familiar canvas bag carelessly hung on the door. She approached and opened it; fortunately, two potions and two notebooks lay quietly inside.
Xia'er donned a black cloak for rain protection, slung the canvas bag over her shoulder, pulled up the hood, and pushed open the door, stepping out into the street.
The overcast weather blurred the line between day and night. The streets were devoid of any movement; even the factories that had been roaring day and night were silent. Only rainwater collection barrels and clay pots lined the streets, eerily quiet.
A shadow tiptoed behind Xia'er, hands raised above her head, seemingly trying to shield her from the rain.
Xia'er decided to head to the Church of the Savior to test her luck.
With such a significant event occurring, the workers in the Bell Tower Alley were the Church of the Savior's foundation, yet in her notes, the high priest Yulisi had only appeared once in a hurry.
This didn’t seem right.
What about the higher-level extraordinary beings in the Church of the Savior? Why were the notes filled with those who hadn’t even stepped into the extraordinary path, instead of those coming to suffer and digest potions—as if treating this place like a trial ground?
Aivina had made a deal with her, promising to protect Liqi, but then she went silent. What were she and her family thinking?
Investigating the Bell Tower Alley alone was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Xia'er wanted to understand the thoughts and actions of the known extraordinary forces regarding the current situation.
As she brainstormed, she walked toward the Bell Tower. Strangely, the closer she got to the Bell Tower Alley, the louder the buzzing in her mind became.
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.
A phantom appeared before her, like a beam of moonlight pouring directly into her knee!
The silent moonlight instantly pierced through her knee! It embedded itself into the black stone pavement behind her!
No pain?
Prophetic vision!
Just a brief moment of shock, and Xia'er rolled sharply to the right. The next second, a silver flash shot down from above, piercing the spot where she had just been, embedding itself in the ground.
That thing was almost completely buried in the pile of black stones, leaving only a bright silver handle exposed.
A scalpel?
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