It might not be traveling through worlds, but rather through timelines, which is good news for Cheng Ye.
It means his roots are still on this planet. Maybe one day, when he has the ability, he can return to the ruins of Sheep City where he lived, find the rental apartment he once stayed in, scrape out the change hidden in the mattress seams, and see the motivational posters he wrote on the wall for his graduate exams...
Of course, after eighty years, with the evolution of extraordinary powers, who knows what the ruins have become.
Perhaps everything has turned into something unfamiliar to Cheng Ye, but isn't living all about a bit of hope?
"According to the normal timeline, even if I managed to get a stable career right after graduation, I probably wouldn't survive the S-1 virus seven years later."
"But the apocalypse... Could the Mayans have even predicted the visit of extraterrestrial beings to Earth?!"
Cheng Ye sarcastically dismissed the idea, preferring to believe it was a beautiful coincidence.
Returning the Infection Origin book to the shelf, he pulled out the second book to start reading.
Extraordinary Diary
It's a firsthand account of an Extraordinary, documenting the entire mental journey from being an ordinary person to suddenly acquiring extraordinary items and reaching the peak of life.
Although the words don't have the intense impact of video, Cheng Ye can still see two characters in between the lines:
Eat people!
To become an Extraordinary, you must tread on the corpses of others to rise.
You must compete and seize opportunities, otherwise, you'll never see the light of day.
It's precisely because of this, that some Extraordinary people with deep obsessions and unique abilities, after losing their sanity to the S-4 virus infection, became something like Earth-bound Spirits.
They're hard to trace, difficult to kill even if found, and any contact would lead to infectious spreading.
Hence, humanity simply erased these areas from maps and history, isolating people from exploring them.
Turning to the third book, Original Infection Source Distribution, it indeed wasn't a Shelter City's distribution map provided at the checkpoints but rather a world map Cheng Ye was familiar with, albeit missing many sections.
For instance, Japan and the entire Antarctica section.
On the domestic map, Cheng Ye's eyes hardened as he saw one pitch-black area and four orange-red blocks.
"Does pitch-black mean inaccessible, and orange-red indicate extreme danger?"
Like a dry sponge suddenly thrown into water, Cheng Ye greedily absorbed this hard-to-find wasteland information.
The rustling rain outside served as the best white noise, perfectly isolating the chaos of the Buffer Zone.
No one knew how much time had passed.
The rain gradually eased, thick clouds dispersed, letting through a thin ray of sunlight.
The Defense Communication device on the table suddenly vibrated, delivering a message, snapping Cheng Ye back to reality.
"It's already half-past six?"
He had only entered the library at nine o'clock. In the blink of an eye, nearly nine hours had rushed by.
On the wooden table, there were three and a half stacks of books as high as half a person.
Gwen allowed this because Cheng Ye read so fast and with such focus.
After randomly testing Cheng Ye with a couple of questions and confirming that he wasn't skimming, Gwen happily agreed to let him take multiple books at once to save time walking back and forth.
"Mr. Cheng, are you hungry? We have Nutrient Paste for sale here at the same price as outside."
Gwen peeked out from behind the bookshelf and waved.
"Or if you have any other needs, don't hesitate. The Survival Library will provide the utmost advantages to wise and eager-to-learn guests like you."
"Hmm..."
Glancing at the Defense Communication device, Cheng Ye shook his head with a smile, "Sorry, my work has come calling, thanks for the hospitality. I'll be back here to read again tomorrow."
"Alright, the rain had already stopped at four o'clock. I helped dry your raincoat hung by the window and put it in the bag at the door. Just bring the bag to me when you come back tomorrow."
"Also..." Gwen walked over, and it was only then that Cheng Ye noticed her left leg was a bit disabled, with a limp, no wonder she was always curled up on the small bed.
"You can go now, I'll help put these books back, and I'll record the ones you haven't finished."
"Thank you very much!"
Cheng Ye nodded, knowing this was Gwen's way of investing in him, much like Uncle Dong's gift of Nutrient Paste in the morning.
The real wasteland...
As long as you show the value the other party cares about, you can receive the best treatment.
Perhaps at some point, these investments will return tenfold, a hundredfold, changing the course of life.
Leaving the library, the sky indeed had shifted from lead gray to a clear brightness.
The heavy clouds receded mostly, leaving lazy, scattered clouds like crumpled cotton on the horizon.
Beams of sunlight pierced through the gaps in the clouds, one ray landing directly on the bluestone slab in front of the library, blending with the unique freshness after the rain.
Cheng Ye took a deep breath, feeling the congestion in his chest swept away.
"So refreshing!"
Compared to his pre-transit body which had been wrecked several rounds by academics, his current body felt frighteningly strong.
The stiff neck, slightly rigid back, and numb calves needed just a little movement to immediately return to normal.
However, seeing the rolling clouds on the horizon, Cheng Ye understood that the current downpour was only temporarily retreating.
As long as no new cyclone forms to push the warm air current forward, the line of heavy rain will continue to hover over this line in Chuan City.
滴,滴,滴...
The Defense Communication vibrated again. Since Cheng Ye had already turned off the Do Not Disturb mode, this time it went straight from message to call interface.
It was Luo Xiaoxue.
"Hey, Sister Luo, I was just in the library... Okay, okay, I'm on my way!"
After hanging up, Cheng Ye didn't wait two minutes before easily squeezing onto the bus heading back to the main district.
As the heavy rain receded, the lockdown in the main district also ended. The carriage was filled with workers in overalls, chattering about the special plants they encountered during today's reclamation.
Cheng Ye instinctively thought it was those kinds of plants that could grant humans extraordinary powers, but after eavesdropping for a while, he shook his head with a chuckle, thinking to himself that he must be confused from reading too much.
After the S-4 virus outbreak, even the extraordinary plants weren't spared. Most died, and only a small portion formed a symbiosis with the infected bodies.
Just like what Gwen previously called 'special infected bodies.'
These special infected bodies retained plant characteristics. Although they could move, they wouldn't actively attack humans and were widely distributed across the various plates of Blue Star.
Rumor has it that their plant parts could still grant humans extraordinary powers without any risk of infection, so there has always been a crowd on the wasteland scouring for them.
It's just a pity that after all these years, no one has heard of anyone actually finding them and striking it rich.
And now, the discussion of mutant plants among this group of workers was somewhat akin to modern discussions of the lottery, where everybody knows in their hearts that these aren't the magical special infected bodies, but they still harbor a sliver of hope for fortune.
"This is extraordinary power, who's not tempted?"
One must admit, after understanding the might of the extraordinary, Cheng Ye was, in fact, also eagerly enthusiastic in his heart.
After all, compared to ordinary people on the wasteland who at most heard tales of the extraordinary's prowess, he had "witnessed" such power himself.
Of course, it was in movies and anime.
Hiss——
The nearly bald tires screeched sharply on the slippery road surface, and the station announcer precisely chimed in with "Happiness Bank station has arrived."
Cheng Ye stepped on the pedal and got off. This was his second time here.
The last time was the second day after crossing into the wasteland, to sign for the inheritance left by Cheng Long.
"Cheng?"
Cheng Ye was squinting his eyes to examine the bank building in the distance when a gentle female voice suddenly came from beside him.
He turned his head.
Only to see Luo Xiaoxue coming over with a middle-aged man with a slicked-back hair, looking at him quite surprised.
"Haven't seen you for two months, how did you get so buff?"
"Ah? Did I?"
Cheng Ye scratched his head, directly attributing it elsewhere, "It's all Brother B's doing. He's been keeping an eye on my training every day. Even if I slack, it should show some effect."
"Really?"
Luo Xiaoxue looked him up and down with some skepticism.
Back then when Cheng Ye came out of the high wall, she and Liu Bi were there to pick him up.
The Cheng Ye in her memory was thin, pale, and always hanging his head without uttering a word, like a gourd.
Unexpectedly, two months later, the young man in front of her had shoulders that almost filled out the collar of his shirt, forearm muscles clearly defined, exuding masculine vitality, and when he smiled, his eyes were bright and crisp, a sharp and decisive air emanating from his very bones.
"Sister Luo, if I was still like before, Brother B wouldn't trust me to guard both southern and northern gates alone, would he?"
Liu Bi is 35, Luo Xiaoxue is 34.
With the original body being only 19 now, calling 'sister' might be a bit abrupt, but before crossing, Cheng Ye was already 26, so not too far in age.
"That's true..."
Luo Xiaoxue examined for a while longer before finally suppressing the odd feeling in her heart, then turned around to introduce: "This is your Uncle Song, one of the administrators at the Public Works Bureau, familiar with both your dad and Liu Bi. He will first help you rotate some contribution points, and you won't need to hurry to repay. I'll have Brother B cover for you first."
"Thank you, Uncle Song!"
Cheng Ye immediately called out, and the middle-aged man with slicked-back hair gave a kind smile.
"No need to be polite with me, I was comrades with Cheng Long too. Cheng Ye, if you have any issues in the future, just come find me at the Public Works Bureau."
"I wouldn't dare trouble Uncle Song. Getting a loan of contribution points today is already a big help!"
Exchanging polite words, the three entered the buffer zone branch of the Happiness Bank.
The structure was akin to a modern rural credit cooperative, with four service counters inside, none occupied at this time.
Not surprising.
Unlike the freely circulating Happiness Coins, contribution points are strictly controlled within the sphere of influence in Happiness City. Every point of expenditure must be documented, clear for investigation, so ordinary people rarely visit here.
Similar to Cheng Ye as an Intern Inspector, the borrowing limit every six months is only 100 contribution points.
And that is the main reason Liu Bi agreed to lend out 100 points.
"Inspector Cheng, please note: borrowing others' contribution points requires a legitimate and reasonable purpose, and is limited to personal use. If post-investigation reveals that the borrowed points circulated in other manners, you will face fines of two to ten times the amount, depending on severity."
As Cheng Ye signed, the counter staff reminded him.
...