Chapter 45: A World Turned Upside Down

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In a fleeting moment of haze, Chu Zhu’s consciousness gradually sharpened, and familiar roaring sounds reached his ears. Still the underground base. On the screen, “The Three-Body Problem III” was still playing.

“Nüwa Seventeen, tell me the current time!” Chu Zhu rubbed his temples. Although he had technically stayed up all night in the dream world, since he had entered the real world before, after this reset, his state could be described as fully refreshed—just like having rested and recovered energy.

“It is currently 7:08 a.m. Beijing time.”

“That’s the time now? But why is it Beijing time this time?” Chu Zhu was momentarily taken aback and shook his head ambiguously.

Most often, the moment he was reborn after death was at six o’clock in the morning, but this was not absolute. Sometimes it could be seven or even later... but the reset time could never be earlier than six! Six o’clock was the starting point for the random 24-hour reset—in gaming terms, the save point.

This was also why, after seeing Zhou Ze’s death and realizing he couldn’t make it in time, Chu Zhu never repeatedly committed suicide to experiment again and again.

“If nothing unexpected happens, Uncle Li should be here soon!” Chu Zhu yawned. “Nüwa Seventeen, change the movie! Show me a domestic sci-fi blockbuster, something really thrilling!”

Then...

He looked and saw it was already 7:47.

“This isn’t right!” Chu Zhu suddenly stood up. Li Kang usually arrived at the base no later than around 7:30, right? How could it have dragged on until 7:47?

Moreover, this time he had obediently sat and watched the movie without going out. Even with the butterfly effect, in theory, it shouldn’t have affected Li Kang’s arrival at the base.

“Nüwa Seventeen.” Chu Zhu frowned, issuing a command as usual, “Clear all background data, restore the interface to normal, and open the base gates.”

However, the moment he stepped outside, Chu Zhu’s breath caught.

“...What the hell is this?!”

The exit was not the women’s restroom!

Before him lay a wasteland—or rather, wilderness.

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Countless vines, grass, and green shoots covered the entire land. The skeletal frames of tall buildings could vaguely be seen, but under the vegetation’s embrace, everything before him looked more like the ancient nuclear facility ruins he had seen before.

“Damn!” Chu Zhu cursed rarely. Countless pieces of information collided in his mind as he sorted out his thoughts. “This must be caused by the communication with the state.”

That was the only possibility!

Although he only wanted to test what the butterfly effect would produce and hadn’t truly decided to hand over everything to the government, the results of this experiment were so absurd that Chu Zhu didn’t know what to say.

A future civilization flourishing—he could understand that. Even if China lasted until some unknown distant year, even if dynasties changed, Chu Zhu would be pleased... and perhaps it would be easier to research past history.

Maintaining the previous state was also understandable. History has inertia... that was normal!

But like this...

“No, no, no, calm down! It could be that the original site of Jinghai City was abandoned due to a large-scale war triggered by the butterfly effect caused by my actions! Maybe human civilization built cities elsewhere.”

Chu Zhu forced himself to calm down. “And even if that decision led to the extinction of human civilization... I just won’t communicate with the state after I go back! Next time, it should reset to normal... no big deal.”

Just as Chu Zhu was about to turn and reenter the underground base, his ears twitched. He thought he heard the sound of leaves—was it the wind?

He turned his head in confusion, eyes widening sharply. What was that?

The dense vines had been quietly moving all along! The moment Chu Zhu noticed, the vines suddenly stiffened, transforming into vine-spears that violently thrust toward him.

“Damn!” Chu Zhu flipped backward with a backflip, dodging, then kicked away three vines that had reacted and kept stabbing. He swiftly moved sideways and rushed back into the underground base.

“Nüwa Seventeen, close the door!”

With a thunderous boom!

Green sap splattered everywhere. The vine-spears trailing Chu Zhu were severed at the waist, writhing on the ground like living earthworms before softening and turning back into ordinary vines.

“This is a big problem...”

Chu Zhu closed his eyes, then stood and pressed his ear to the alloy door of the underground base. With his keen hearing, he could hear sounds of scraping and collisions.

The outside was still attacking!

He grabbed a vine behind him and gently stroked it, quickly noticing something unusual: “It’s not a branch! This texture is closer to flesh?”

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Hesitating for a moment, he tore off his sleeve, dipped a piece of cloth into the sap on the ground, and sniffed it lightly at his nostrils. “As expected, it has the metallic stench of blood! This is not a plant—or rather, not just a plant.”

“Nüwa Seventeen.” Chu Zhu turned around quickly and reentered the hall, expressionless. “Explain how I entered the base before.”

“Beginning information search and in-depth analysis... The authorized user entered yesterday, activated standby #@*%$, and the system restarted!”

“?” Chu Zhu fell into deep thought. So, on this timeline, the captain’s office didn’t exist... No, worse, whether human civilization or humankind itself existed was questionable!

His entry was actually the first activation of Nüwa Seventeen! This was utterly absurd...

“I finally understand why it’s Beijing time now!” Chu Zhu sighed deeply. The imperial capital? On this timeline, the imperial capital probably no longer existed.

He continued, “Nüwa Seventeen, is there still human life in this world?”

“Initiating deep analysis: Yes, it exists!”

“Yesterday, four individuals were present in the Seventeen Seed Base along with the authorized user.”

“Oh, so that’s the full name of the base. Wait! Four people?” Chu Zhu realized. “Project the faces of these four people!”

Then, Chu Zhu looked at the familiar four and fell into long silence.

Li Kang, Ning Linglong, Guan Fei, Bi Xuan...

“They’re still alive? So that’s how it is.”

“In other words, although the timeline changed... yesterday, I was still with them in the underground base. Yet now, it should be their first time entering the Seed Base as well... So even though many things have changed, some things remain unchanged?”

“Correction: According to yesterday’s communication, the four have long resided in the Seed Base that had not completed system reboot... The leader among them connected the authorized user to the base, after which the authorized user completed the intelligent system reboot.”

Chu Zhu: “...”

Well, that settles it!