Gu Mian quickly explained the situation to Chu Changge and 007 in the group chat, informing them of the world resetting and the fact that it had reset five times in a row.
Before the two could react, Fatty jumped out anxiously.
[Fatty]: What? Doctor, your world reset? What do we do now? If your side keeps resetting, wouldnât that make it impossible for Doctor, Brother Chu, and Miss 007 to reunite?
Then he began to worry heavily, imagining Gu Mianâs group unable to reunite due to the resets, forever trapped in Paradise World, until he himself grew old with a white beard before they ever came out.
Thinking of this, Fatty felt sad and began to lament in the group.
[Fatty]: Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
[007]: I just took a closer look at the information Gu Mian sent. This world reset five times in a row yet only moved time from tomorrow back to today. Thatâs somewhat strange.
[Gu Mian]: I think so too.
The two chatted back and forth in the group, completely ignoring Fatty sobbing in the background.
Gu Mian, after sending the message, turned to look at the pile of ruins surrounding the statue.
The reset should have been a one-step process, going directly to the desired save point.
Yet this world reset five consecutive times, without even a momentâs pause for breath.
This seemed like a bug when resetting, unable to return to the desired save point, so they kept trying multiple times without giving up.
He knew Paradise Worldâs reset was controlled by Earth, and these five consecutive attempts were clearly Earthâs handiwork.
"Is Earth trying to revert time to before we entered Paradise?" Gu Mian guessed as he looked at the ruins. "Trying to see if they can kick us out?"
But due to an unknown bug, Earth tried many times and could only reset time to after they entered this world, and eventually had to give up.
Before he saw the statue, everything was calm here; the world showed no signs of resetting.
Right after he saw the statue, Earth started resetting madly in succession, trying to reset him to another place.
Earth seemed unwilling for them to find this statue.
"Is there some secret on this statue? A secret Earth doesnât want people to know."
But no matter how Gu Mian looked, he couldnât see anything special about it. He could only go find Slaughter to make him talk about the statue.
But first, he had to reintroduce himself to Slaughter.
Thinking so, Gu Mian glanced at the group chat again, where Fatty and Xiao Qiao were chatting aimlessly about useless things, and after 007 finished communicating with Gu Mian, she hadnât sent any more messages.
Chu Changge hadnât spoken since reporting his location.
It was the same last time. Back then, Gu Mian told Chu Changge to go to Game City and meet up with 007, and Chu Changge only responded much later with a single "okay," seemingly busy with other matters and unable to reply in time.
As Gu Mian didnât mention him by name in the group this time, he didnât even send an "okay," and one wonders what heâs been busy with.
Gu Mian thought for a moment and typed in the group chat.
[Gu Mian]: Chu Changge, youâre close to 007âs location. Walk south for a while and youâll see Crazy Game City, itâs safe there, go and meet with 007.
Just after sending this message, he heard hurried footsteps coming from above.
Gu Mian lifted his head to look up, his head turning half a circle along the spiraling staircase, and saw the person making the footsteps on the opposite side.
It was Slaughter, dressed in a suit.
Probably due to hurriedly going down the stairs, the once neat suit had a few creases, but he was completely unaware.
At this point, he had already seen Gu Mian directly across and widened his eyes, glaring at the stranger who had appeared inexplicably: "Who are you?"
In a dim room, Chu Changge was looking at a few photographs on the table in front of him.
The photo showed a boy with normal skin color, under ten years old, looking nervously at the camera, although possibly unfamiliar with cameras, his gaze was slightly shifted upwards.
Chu Changge was already in the room when he entered.
This is an empty old room, unused for a long time.
On the ceiling walls of the room are irregular dry yellow marks, with patches of moldy green showing through, suggesting frequent water seepage from the roof, wetting then drying, over and over.
The surrounding walls appear to have been repainted, covering some dripping watermarks, but the new paint couldnât ultimately fix the leaking ceiling, as a series of long watermarks flow down from the ceiling corner, almost hitting the ground when stopped by the bed-head at the corner.
Itâs a worn-out wooden bed, its bed-head and legs faded, showing its age. A bed leg seemed slightly short, propped underneath with a thin wooden plank.
Apart from that, there was just a window and a table in the room.
The table was the one before him, with three photos of the boy on top.
Heavy dust settled on the photos and the table, like draping them in a dust-colored tablecloth.
Chu Changge immediately recognized the boy as Jiang Yang, now he no longer goes by Jiang Yang, having given himself the name Bai Wuchang, always shown in a black cloak.
Heavy curtains covered the window, making the room seem suffocatingly oppressive.
Chu Changge took a few steps forward to the curtains, lifting a slit to glance outside.
This is the second floor, offering a view of crooked, dilapidated buildings outside, looking down to find cracked street pavement, the classic lower-class residential area. But now, this residential area is devoid of people, eerily quiet.
Sunlight seeped through the curtainâs gap, illuminating dust floating in the narrow room air.
Chu Changge lowered his eyes, gazing at the deserted street for a moment, then let down the curtain and turned to check the roomâs setup.
Though rundown, the room is quite a luxury for lower-class people.
Upon arrival, he thoroughly checked the room, discovering nothing but a few photos on the table.
"Seems like last time." Chu Changge already saw in the group chat the reset matter, including Gu Mianâs message instructing him to go to Game City and meet with 007.
Though lacking memory from before the reset, he could guess some things from Gu Mianâs message.
Last time, he must have safely reunited with 007 in Game City, hence Gu Mian didnât ask about anything before sending him off this time.
From here to Game City is indeed safe; the residential area contains no one, and walking outside earlier, he spotted an upper-class residential area not far from here.
Gazing there, he had a hunch he must have ventured in last time.
Understanding oneself best, Chu Changge knew the world reset, so he started mentally deducing his previous action trajectory.
"Following last timeâs trajectory should lead safely to Game City and 007 reunion." Chu Changge returned to the window, glancing at the nearby upper-class residential area, noticing some flyers scattered on its grounds.
"Itâs possible to make a rough guess of the trajectory, but perfect timing matching last time is impossibleâonly approx." He surveyed the upper-class residential area closely. "Such a nearby upper-class areaâI wonât miss a chance to dig for clues by entering. But not now; first, must familiarize with geography and patterns."