Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was another boring morning.
Ling Ping’an ate his steamed dumplings and tofu pudding while listening to the morning news.
Today’s news was also very boring.
It was basically a trivial matter.
Ling Ping’an wanted to yawn when he heard it.
After swallowing the last steamed dumpling and drinking the last mouthful of tofu pudding, he put down the chopsticksnand turned off the TV.
“I’m ready to work!” The young web writer rubbed his hands together.
He opened the system and looked at the data for today.
It was 123.
It seemed to be 92 before he went to bed yesterday.
“The improvement is very obvious!” he said happily.
Looking at the recommendation tickets, it had already reached 357. It had increased by almost 20 votes last night!
That was excellent news!
“As expected, gold will shine wherever it is!” Ling Ping’an was very happy. He felt that he had found the right path.
He believed that it wouldn’t be long before the entire online literature would be shocked by his sudden appearance!
Therefore, he immediately started to write a new chapter.
…
Han Li stepped on the soft grass.
By her ears, she listened to the chirping of birds again, and her nose smelled the fragrance of flowers and plants again.
Above her head was the brilliant galaxy.
It was night!
“I wonder how long I’ve been gone?”
She sensed the smell of psionic power in the air.
Compared to before she left, the psionic power density in the world seemed to have increased a lot.
“This is…” Behind Han Li, Xiao Ai curiously sized up this world. The psionic power density in the air was very weak, only about one-tenth of the main material world’s. It could not be compared to the heavenly realm at all.
However, Xiao Ai’s talent allowed her to easily sense the number of souls that existed in this world..
This was a world with hundreds of millions of people?!
Xiao Ai was stunned.
The main material world probably didn’t have that many people, right?
In other words…
This place should be able to give birth to powerful gods, right?
But…
She couldn’t sense the astral plane, nor was there any trace of the existence of a divine kingdom.
So…
Was this a desert of faith?
If the gods knew about this, all the gods would probably go crazy!
“This is my world!” Han Li turned around and looked at the guest that she had brought back. She extended her hand. “Welcome to the civilized world!”
This trip to the Abyss had not only allowed Han Li to complete one of her most important goals. She had also drunk the freedom potion and freed herself from the shackles of the Abyss.
More importantly, Han Li had built up the confidence to defeat the Abyss!
Were the Abyss Demons strong?
Of course they were strong!
But they too had a fatal flaw: Their civilization and organization were too low.
Every level of the Abyss was an independent force, and they hated and attacked each other.
If mankind could combine their own civilization, technology, and the arcane civilization from Netheril, the hope of reversing the Abyss would be greatly increased!
At least, they could have the ability to protect themselves.
But now..
Han Li had one thing to solve.
What time was it now?
When she went to the Abyss, Han Li already knew that the time flow in the Abyss was different from that on Earth.
Even in the Abyss, the time flow in each level was different.
It was likely to cause time disorder.
Desperately, she wanted to find the nearest city.
Holding Xiao Ai’s hand, Han Li walked out of the forest and came to a seemingly abandoned highway.
On both sides of the highway, vehicles that had been abandoned for a long time were parked haphazardly on the roadside.
Many of them were even stuck on the road.
In the vehicles, white bones could be seen.
These were the unfortunate people who escaped during the apocalypse back then, right?
Han Li walked to an abandoned car with its door open. There were white bones in police uniforms scattered in front of the car door.
Obviously, this police officer was maintaining order during the apocalypse.
However, an unarmed police officer who didn’t even have a gun was only slightly better than a civilian in such a disaster.
Han Li squatted down and found a document that was wet and blurry from the rain in his decayed underwear pocket.
Most of the words on the document could no longer be seen clearly, but the steel seal on the document was still very clear.
“Am I in the Northern Metropolis?” she thought.
The northern Metropolis was an industrial city southwest of Donglin City.
During the apocalypse, because it was located inland, it did not receive timely support from the country’s armed forces, resulting in the loss of the city.
As a large number of civilians fled in all directions, the country had no choice but to bear the pain and give up on the city.
Since then, this area had basically been abandoned.
Behind Han Li, Xiao Ai looked at this unfamiliar world. She looked at the remains and bones all over the ground.
“There was once the power of the abyss here… Although it was weak… I could smell it…”the Asura clan was extremely sensitive to the strength of the Abyss!
“Yes!” Han Li said, “They attacked our world…”
She thought of her teacher and the countless sacrifices she had witnessed.
In the past 23 years, the apocalypse had pushed billions of people into a desperate situation.
But it also united everyone.
The people who were united finally held on until the day of hope.
Thinking of this, Han Li held Xiao Ai’s hand and said, “Xiao Ai… Let’s go, I’ll take you to my hometown…”
Donglin city and Beidu City were about 400 kilometers in a straight line.
Along the way, there would be a few villages and towns occupied by the Obsidian Gargoyle and Harpy.
“I’ll get rid of them while I’m at it!” Han Li thought.
With the goal in mind, she held the hand of the little girl from the sky-piercer clan and walked along the road toward Donglin City.
…
Qin Keqing drove to the streets near the people she was going to visit the next day.
She drove slowly and soon arrived at the entrance of a school.
After parking the car by the side of the road, she got out of the car and looked at the school gate. It was a very ordinary school gate, and an iron gate locked the school inside.
Vaguely, one could hear the sound of reading aloud coming from the school.
The college entrance examination of the Federal Empire was derived from the imperial examination of ancient times.
Therefore, the examination system was very strange.
The examination would start at the end of August every year, and results would be released before September 10th.
During this period, the school had already finished the summer vacation and started school.
As for the college students, they would have to go to school in October.
In other words, the college students actually had less than two months for their first semester.
Just enough time for the new students to complete their military training.
Therefore, the educational world had always wanted to reform.
But the problem was that this matter had existed since Taizu’s reform.
So, the Conservatives, especially the old empires, firmly opposed it.
What was the reason?
The Old Empire could always find 10,000 reasons.
In any case, in these people’s hearts, the ancestor’s law could never be changed.
Especially this kind of system that had been established since the founding of Taizu’s era.
Whoever wanted to move, they would fight to the death with them!
Therefore, the college students of the Empire usually had a five-year system.
When they reached the school gate, there were already people gathering there.
Basically, it was the parents who were waiting for the results of the college entrance examination to be announced.
Looking at this situation, Qin Keqing couldn’t help but recall the scene of her college entrance examination back then.
Her parents had been waiting at the school gate two or three days in advance, waiting for the school to announce the results of the roll. Even though she had told her parents that she could get the answer immediately through television and the Internet.
However, people were still used to and enjoyed seeing the results at the school gate.
After all, this was a tradition that had lasted for thousands of years.
The title on the Golden Roll was the most glorious moment for every examinee and their parents.
Qin Keqing walked closer and heard the discussions of the parents.
“This year, my girl’s score is not bad… I just don’t know how many points she can get if she really opens the paper.”
“My kid is the same…” another parent said, “His grades are very good! I just don’t know if he can really get the same marks as when he opened the paper…”
When the people said these words, their faces were full of smiles and optimism.
Turning her head, Qin Keqing heard the discussions of another group of parents.
“My kid said that if he doesn’t get into the key points this year… Then he’ll repeat for another year. He’ll definitely get in next year!”
“It’s not easy for us to meet kids who work so hard and are so serious. We can’t miss it…”
Silently, Qin Keqing quietly returned to her car. She closed the car door and fell into deep thought.
This was the second high school in the east side of the city that she had visited.
From the results of her field visits, it seemed that there really was a black swan in this area this year.
The results of this year’s college entrance exam had shown a straight line upward trend in the two schools in the area!
It was to the extent that almost all the students had reached the first tier.
The focus rate was terrifyingly high!
Next year, these two ordinary schools would probably become the most popular schools in the entire Jiangcheng city and even the entire Guangnan district.
“It seems that the rumors are true…”
“This place has indeed become a blessed land like the shining stars of literature…”
Thinking of this, Qin Keqing’s beautiful eyes shone brilliantly.
Several times, she wanted to pick up the phone and call her alma mater.
But in the end, she still put it down.
This was both professional ethics and because she understood that it wasn’t her place to interfere in such matters.
Once this year’s results were out, every inch of land in this area would be worth a fortune.
The top universities in the Federal Empire might also covet this area.
The reason was simple: Since even students could obtain good results here, what was the use of research institutions?
Those few cutting-edge physics laboratories were inevitably tempted.
And here, there happened to be a huge abandoned state-owned industrial park.
It was likely that the laboratories of all the top universities would fight tooth and nail to get a piece of land and build a branch office here!
Therefore, even if she had informed them beforehand, she would not be able to change the outcome.
Moreover, her alma mater would probably not be able to compete with those famous universities that had given birth to many prime ministers and even great protectors.
Qin Keqing started the car and slowly turned out.
At the same time, she dialed Crown Princess Rou’an’s private number through the phone in the car.
After a series of beeps, the call was connected.
“Your Highness… This humble subject is Qin Keqing…”
“Yes…”
“This humble subject is currently building Jiangcheng City’s third high school to the west of Jianshe Road…”
“Yes…”
“This humble subject will personally visit tomorrow morning…”
“Yes! This humble subject understands!”
After hanging up the phone, Qin Keqing heaved a sigh of relief.
She knew that she would have to face an unprecedented challenge tomorrow.
To represent the royal family and invite a possible powerful extraordinaire to the imperial capital.
However, she could not reveal the royal family’s intentions.
She could not let him discover the motive behind it.
Everything had to be decided by the Committee of Meritorious Children. It had nothing to do with the royal family, much less the blackguard.
On one hand, she had to convince him to be willing to go to the imperial capital.
On the other hand, she had to treat him like she treated everyone else.
Therefore, she was actually dancing in shackles.
No, dancing in shackles might even be easier than her.
What was more troublesome was that this matter had to succeed!
If it didn’t succeed, Qin Keqing knew that she might be eliminated.
She took a light breath and said to herself, “Go for it! Qin Keqing, you can do it!”
She, who was determined to become a cabinet minister of the Federal Empire, could not admit defeat!
Under no circumstances could she!
…
Walking on the abandoned highway, she kept moving forward.
Upon crossing a collapsed viaduct and a river, she saw groups of people.
Traces of farmland appeared on both sides of the road.
At this time, the morning glow also appeared from the east.
Looking at this beautiful morning glow, not only Han Li was happy, Xiao Ai was also happy.
“It’s so beautiful!” The angel who had been trapped in the Abyss for God knows how many years exclaimed.
“Yes!” Han Li said, “That’s why I’m sworn to protect all of this!”
She would never sit idly by and watch her world become a layer of the abyss.
It would become the nest of those demons!
At this moment, the roar of a motor could be heard from the road ahead.
Just then, a heavy tank appeared in sight.
The voice of a soldier could be heard as well. “We are the security forces of the periphery of Donglin city. Please identify yourself immediately! Please identify yourself immediately!”
The turret had already been raised, and the strong light of the searchlight shone over.
This was a necessary means of vigilance!
While Han Li was listening, she gently drew out her spirit blade and pressed a button on her wrist at the same time.
An enemy-friend identification radio wave was randomly sent out.
The tank immediately stopped when it received the radio wave.
Then, an officer came out of the tank. He saluted Han Li in the strong light, “Colonel Han Li, Welcome Back!”
“I am the first lieutenant of the Third Tank Battalion of the Security Department of Donglin City, Wang Qian!”
Han Li saluted back and asked, “When did Donglin city pull the cordon line to this side?”
“Reporting to Colonel Han, we pushed the base here a month ago!”
“Minister Wang is already in the process of arranging to take back Beidu!”
“A month ago?” Han Li frowned and asked, “What month is it now? How long have I Been Gone?”
The first lieutenant replied, “Report, according to the report, Colonel, you have been missing for four months!”
Four months?!
Han Li became serious.
If she remembered correctly, she had been in the Abyss for at most half a month!
In other words, the time flow in the Abyss was indeed different from Earth!
“Take me to minister Wang!” Han Li became anxious.
She began to worry that the flow of time between her and the fog would also create a gap.
If ten or even a hundred years had passed in the fog!
Then, there was no doubt that she would be facing the suspicion of the owner of the bookstore in the fog.
