Chapter 151: Things Have Gotten Even Worse Instead
Seeing that the narrator stopped speaking, Xu Zhi silently closed her eyes and lay on the bed.
Her conversation with the narrator suddenly placed a heavy burden on her shoulders—not the burden of saving the world, but rather the fact that she could no longer ignore the lingering questions she had avoided for so long. And now, when the fate of the world was so uncertain, how could she hope to survive in such a thick fog of confusion?
Xu Zhi truly had no ambition to save the world. She didn’t care at all about its survival. But if the world were to perish, how would she survive either?
Besides all the grim news from the conversation, Xu Zhi also caught a glimpse of something the narrator unconsciously revealed.
It had said that it was already prepared for Xu Zhi to tear apart her own soul.
But at that time, the game console was supposedly undergoing maintenance. This confirmed that the so-called maintenance was complete nonsense.
So why pretend that it was under maintenance?
It couldn’t be just to fool Xu Zhi. The narrator wasn’t the type to casually lie to her—it must’ve had a reason.
If it wasn’t for her benefit, then it was meant for someone—or something—that she also knew about.
Looking back, even during that maintenance, combined with what the narrator had just said, it was clear it had not abandoned her. On the contrary, it had been watching her closely, just under the guise of maintenance.
Was it hiding from something?
Was that why it pretended to be under maintenance?
Otherwise, what would be the point?
And if it was hiding—what was it hiding from? Why?
Maybe figuring out the answer to that would help uncover the true nature of the game console.
If this were before, Xu Zhi probably would’ve just waved it off—so annoying, I don’t care. But now, she couldn’t take things so lightly.
Even if it was troublesome, she had to keep thinking.
Right now, the most obvious problems were:
- When the game console was in the city center, it chose to hide itself—possibly to avoid something.
- The strength of these archbishops seems off. Even Xu Zhi’s acquisition of the “foundation” seemed abnormal. This might tie into a greater conspiracy shrouding the entire world.
- Problems began long ago—even the fog clustering around Cloud City was incredibly unnatural. Is this linked to the current archbishops’ unworthiness? Or is it all part of “His” grand plan?
- The ultimate question: What exactly is “He” trying to do, and how can it be stopped?
Lying in bed, Xu Zhi went over every problem and complication in her mind. Once she sorted everything out and figured out her next steps, she finally opened her eyes and picked up the game console again.
“Alright, now that I’ve finished thinking about all the annoying stuff… time for something fun!”
Not even a second spent mourning her uncertain future!
Time to draw cards!
Xu Zhi opened the Follower Selection screen. It felt oddly nostalgic—it had been a while.
As soon as she opened it, a prompt appeared:
[Please note: As your Life Level has increased, the Followers you can choose from will now be more unique.]
As before, three choices appeared on the Follower Selection screen.
But unlike the previous mutated animals, this time, all three options were strange, indistinct entities that Xu Zhi couldn’t immediately identify—and they were all Level 1.
“Is there seriously no instruction manual or anything?”
The narrator didn’t respond. It seemed busy.
Seeing this, Xu Zhi had no choice but to rely on instinct.
[1. Curse Speech Lv1]
[2. Bone-Eroding Lv1]
[3. Plague Lv1]
Judging by the previous “Nightmare” and its name and abilities, Xu Zhi could vaguely guess what these might do.
Among them, the one that intrigued her most was Curse Speech, so she chose it without hesitation.
[Warning: This Follower has special traits. Its form is unlike ordinary followers. Do you wish to proceed?]
“Special traits?”
“How special can it be?”
She had already seen the Little Aberrant species and the Nightmare. Now she was curious what made this Curse Speech so unique.
She clicked Confirm—only for another prompt to pop up.
[Warning: Due to the unique nature of this aberrant entity, it will be bound to you directly. Are you willing to accept this?]
Xu Zhi: ?
“Yes!”
[Please note: Due to the unique form of this aberrant entity, you will experience some discomfort during summoning. Do you wish to proceed?]
“You’re getting annoying!”
“YES ALREADY!”
Finally, no more prompts appeared.
Xu Zhi stared at the [Selection Successful] message on the screen with anticipation. Within five seconds, she suddenly felt exactly what the prompt had called “discomfort.”
A strange airflow—or perhaps fine, harmless barbs—seemed to appear in her throat. They crawled slowly, clinging to her insides like a parasitic presence. A strong foreign-body sensation settled in her throat, making her want to swallow and force it down. But the thing stayed motionless, latched on like a parasite.
So this was the discomfort they meant?
It was seriously uncomfortable.
It was like having a painless fishbone stuck in her throat.
This new Follower… was definitely weird.
It felt less like a Follower and more like a parasite.
Xu Zhi, frowning, opened its attribute panel:
[Follower: Curse Speech Lv1]
Mental: 0 (Due to its special nature, it is immune to direct mental attacks)
Physical: 1 (Its body will never grow and remains at 1)
Type: Moth
Traits: Parasite, Allure, Penetration, Secrets
Special Ability: Curse Voice
[Curse Voice]: Curse Speech dwells inside your body. You can consume a certain amount of supernatural energy to speak cursed words. The effect depends on how much energy you expend. As the Follower levels up, the range and intensity of curses will increase.
Currently, you can only curse someone to trip. If your curse exceeds its current capabilities, it will have no effect, and the energy will be wasted.
Curse Speech possesses penetration ability and can partially ignore mental defenses.
Warning: Protect your throat. Curse Speech resides there. If your throat is pierced, Curse Speech will die with it.
*
“Yeah… that’s definitely special.”
Zero mental, one physical.
Also, for the Mental stat, it said direct mental attacks wouldn’t work—but what about indirect ones?
Xu Zhi had no idea what counted as an “indirect mental attack” though.
From now on, she’d have to take good care of her throat.
“But here’s the real problem: How do I even feed it cores?”
[Due to this Follower’s unique nature, it…]
Suddenly, the game console’s screen flickered.
[It]
[…It]
[…It—It]
[—zzzzz…]
Xu Zhi frowned sharply, her expression turning serious. “What’s wrong with you?”
“CPU fried?”
The screen flickered again. The scrambled text vanished. The narrator returned.
[Xu Zhi, I’ve figured out what’s going on with Ye Yan. But… things have gotten even worse.]
For the first time, the narrator seriously called her by her full name.
