Chapter 370: Rollback

Chapter 370: Reversal

Three hours later.

The negotiations with Ji Xing had concluded, the computational limits were lifted, and Lin Yu found himself once again in that more “real” world.

Opposite him, Lin Xi wore a gentle expression; he had clearly already retrieved all the data concerning the negotiations.

Yet, regarding the “laxity” Lin Yu displayed during the talks, he showed not the slightest hint of displeasure.

“It’s all right, you’ve done well enough.”

Lin Xi said.

“I know you still harbor a trace of resistance toward us.”

“But every resident here has, at some point, walked this very step.”

“When they first entered this space, they would reminisce about the days when they still belonged to the true world.”

“We even gave this condition a name.”

“Homesickness‑phobia.”

“Much like wanderers who have left their hometowns to strive elsewhere, they long for everything that belonged to the real world.”

“Such emotions are often triggered by an image buried deep in the subconscious, one we have yet to understand.”

“Perhaps a dish, a fragrance, even a cigarette, a sip of uniquely flavored fresh water.”

“We gradually resolved those issues, and homesickness‑phobia faded away.”

“You are now at the same stage.”

“We can take it slow; you will always adapt.”

When Lin Xi’s words fell, Lin Yu exhaled a heavy breath.

After a long silence, he finally asked:

“Why can’t we… be like Ji Xing?”

“Enter this city when needed, and leave when we no longer need it?”

Having spoken, a faintly amused smile flickered across Lin Xi’s face.

“Then, when you enter this city, who guards your body?”

.I don’t know.

Lin Yu shook his head and retorted:

“Perhaps you have a way?”

.At first, we indeed considered such an escape route.

“We stored many bodies, freezing them in cryogenic pods.”

“If the Nüwa Project failed, we could still return to the real world.”

“But compared with the so‑called ‘mind‑upload’ technology, the cryogenic pod technique is far less mature.”

“A dreadful accident almost annihilated the entire cryogenic storage chamber; every flesh was destroyed.”

“Since then we have wholly abandoned that shortcut.”

“After all, as long as the flesh exists, we can never stop others from leaving the virtual city, and the rate of entropy increase remains forever uncontrollable.”

Having heard Lin Xi’s explanation, Lin Yu fell into silence for a moment.

Cryogenic pods destroyed?

It sounds like an accident.

But it feels more like a conspiracy.

Could it be that someone deliberately shattered those so‑called pods, cutting off the mountain‑city dwellers’ way out?

Lin Yu stared into Lin Xi’s eyes, and the latter immediately shook his head.

“I have never done such a thing.”

“In fact, I never had the authority to do so.”

“For a long time we investigated, and indeed found many doubts surrounding that incident.”

“But now that it’s come to this, pursuing it further is pointless, isn’t it?”

.Exactly.

Lin Yu sighed again and turned to say:

“There’s no need to linger on irrelevant topics—let’s talk about the negotiations.”

“You have already accessed my memories, so you should see that the talks were not smooth, right?”

“No.”

A thought‑provoking smile blossomed on Lin Xi’s face.

“On the contrary, the negotiations proceeded remarkably well.”

“For the first time, they were willing to step into our world and take a look.”

“Even that alone marks a tremendous leap forward.”

“You indeed did not reach any substantive agreement, nor did you receive any pledge from the Huaxia forces.”

“Yet, based on the information we have, they are intensely curious about us.”

“They are also fascinated by the Ring.”

“And the knowledge we possess is unique in the entire world—unique—singular—”

Lin Xi suddenly stalled in place.

The unfinished words repeated over and over, eventually turning into a harsh, high‑pitched screech.

His visage twisted, his body vanished and reappeared in an instant, flickering like a burnt‑out bulb.

Then the delicate hues abruptly merged into angular blocks of color, and Lin Xi, in a heartbeat, shifted from an incredibly lifelike “human” form into something whose shape could not be discerned.

Clay sculpture?!

Lin Yu stood rooted, his mouth agape.

At first he thought he was hallucinating.

But he quickly realized.

The entire mountain city he now occupied—was it not a mere illusion?

This world

is collapsing??

He tried to rise in terror, only to find he could not command his own movements.

His soul seemed to detach from his body once more, drifting into the air; what he saw then was...

...a humanoid figure twitching on the ground like a dehydrated fish.

And that figure was piercing through walls in an impossible manner, plummeting toward the floor.

In a moment that followed, I was suddenly hurled into the high sky.

It's over!

Lin Yu's mind was instantly flooded with terror.

He tried to flee, yet within seconds the very meaning of the word “flee” slipped from his memory.

At that instant he felt as if he were the last breath before sleep.

Everything was blurred, everything absurd.

The void began to gnaw at him, and just then a voice pierced his ears.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The darkness receded, and Lin Yu seemed to awaken from a dream.

He rose, a little disoriented, eyes wide as he scanned his surroundings.

But he discovered he was no longer within the “Mountain City”.

He had returned to that meadow— the meadow beyond the village!

"Lin Xi!"

"Lin Xi!"

Lin Yu shouted, though he could not fathom why he did so.

Yet in this virtual metropolis, the artificial intelligence called Lin Xi seemed the only thing he could truly rely upon.

"I'm here,"

Lin Xi's voice resonated from the void.

"Do not panic,"

"We have only a minor glitch,"

"The Huaxia troops, through Ji Xing, injected malicious code into us, briefly disrupting the operation of Mountain City,"

"But rest assured, I have already fixed it,"

"I long knew they would not concede easily, and indeed, they have proven themselves unkind,"

Lin Yu exhaled a long sigh.

A feeling of surviving a calamity washed over him.

Yes, he had prepared himself for death.

Yet, when death truly loomed, he found himself momentarily unable to accept it.

Fortunately, this was not the end.

He sat upon the grass and then asked:

"So, will the negotiations with them continue?"

"This counts as an 'attack'; will you choose to forgive them?"

"Of course,"

Lin Xi replied:

"I allow them some reckless actions in certain matters, after all, they— they— after all— they—"

A sharp high‑frequency noise rang again.

Lin Yu stared, dumbfounded.

In the next instant,

an even sharper sound erupted.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

(End of chapter)