Chapter 204: Awakening
When Xu Zhi opened her eyes, she hadn’t even managed to make out her surroundings before one thought surfaced in her hazy mind— I’m… still alive?
Her thoughts were foggy, but not so much that she couldn’t remember who she was or what had happened.
She vaguely recalled—this wasn’t the first time she’d regained consciousness since leaving the Federation world. The last time she’d only been awake for a few seconds, maybe even less. The final thing she saw before blacking out was the silhouette of a woman.
When she’d fainted, countless grim possibilities had flashed through her mind—but not once had she imagined she’d wake up somewhere safe, cared for.
So now… was it that woman who did something to her?
Instinctively, Xu Zhi dismissed the notion that the woman had rescued her out of pure kindness.
Before she could think further, however, sharp pain and a wave of dizziness surged through her skull, warning her that now was not the time for deep thought. She needed rest.
But she couldn’t relax without knowing where she was. She tried to look around—and realized, confusedly, that she couldn’t see clearly.
At first, she’d thought her vision had been blurry that night because she was exhausted and half-conscious. Yet now, even fully awake, the world remained shrouded in a thick, milky haze. Everything looked like indistinct smudges.
She tried to push herself up, but the instant her hand pressed against the bed for leverage, pain exploded through her body. Her limbs gave out immediately, and she fell back onto the mattress without even lifting herself an inch.
Realizing her body was practically in shambles, Xu Zhi attempted to channel her transcendent energy—but the moment she did, searing pain tore through her skull. It felt like fingernails scraping glass, or knives grating bone. Cold sweat drenched her forehead. She stopped instantly.
Even then, the agony lingered for several seconds before fading. Xu Zhi finally understood: after passing through that “door,” both her body and mind had suffered severe backlash. Combined with her untreated injuries, she was now little better than a cripple.
There wasn’t a trace of transcendent energy left within her. And worse—having recklessly wielded two conflicting energy attributes at once, the delayed backlash of a fully stabilized world had torn through her inner circuits. Her unnatural ascension had been completely stripped away—perhaps even lower than before.
But the most pressing issue was her body itself. Without self-healing abilities, the wounds within her were festering, making even moving a single finger excruciating.
She really would need time—long, quiet time—to recover.
But…
What about my familiars?
Now that she was in a world with complete rules, she shouldn’t be able to easily merge with them. So where were they?
Xu Zhi concentrated. She couldn’t sense their presence within her body—they must have been separated when she crossed over. That was probably a good thing; otherwise, the backlash might have killed them all.
She could still faintly sense that most of her familiars were alive—but one of them… the little aberrant one—its signal was faint, flickering. As if it were slipping away, balancing on the edge of life and death.
What happened to it?
Xu Zhi immediately thought of the command she’d given it—to carry her through that thunderstorm. Had it been injured because of that?
Ignoring the stabbing pain tearing through her body, she tried again to move—but before she could do much, she heard the sound of a door closing.
Footsteps followed—drawing closer and closer. Someone was coming.
Xu Zhi lifted her head toward the sound, but her blurred vision made it impossible to see clearly. Everything was just a smear of color and shape.
A rare flicker of confusion crossed her face—just as Qi Yanxin entered and saw her like that.
“You’re awake?”
She stepped up to the bed, gaze falling on the cold sweat beading Xu Zhi’s forehead and the towel that had slipped to the side.
Qi Yanxin picked the towel back up. Xu Zhi, unable to see clearly, stared toward her with unfocused eyes and asked softly, “Who are you? Where is this?”
Qi Yanxin told her name first, then said, “This is the Plains Industrial District slum.”
When Xu Zhi still looked lost, Qi Yanxin asked, “Where are you from?”
She hadn’t been able to tell in the rain, but after cleaning the girl up, she realized the one she’d brought home was unnaturally beautiful—too exquisite to belong to a place like this. Like a young lady straight out of a screen.
And those pale gray eyes—so distinct and strange—marked her as anything but ordinary.
Qi Yanxin’s fingers tightened slightly around the towel. She realized she might have picked up a very big problem.
“Me?” Xu Zhi hesitated for a second before replying, “I… don’t remember.”
If she couldn’t say the truth, she could only lie.
“Don’t remember?” Qi Yanxin’s tone carried mild surprise. Xu Zhi couldn’t see whether her expression matched it.
A mysterious girl, found in the rain, her body covered in horrific wounds and her eyes an unusual shade—this was not the kind of trouble a scavenger like Qi Yanxin should be dealing with.
She sighed quietly. “Then forget it.”
“Today is September 13th, 3184. I found you at the junkyard. You were already badly injured and unconscious when I picked you up.”
“If you want to leave, I’ll pretend nothing happened—that I never saw you, never brought you here.”
“But if you don’t know where to go, and you’re willing to stay… then you can live here with me. I’ll treat you as my own sister, and take care of you as best I can.”
Her voice was calm, deliberate, and sincere. She looked into Xu Zhi’s dazed, beautiful gray eyes and asked quietly—
“How about it?”
