Chapter 322: Life and Death Crisis?

“How much longer until we reach the Red Dust Realm?” Chen Ling opened his eyes and asked Chu Muyun in a low voice.

Chu Muyun pushed up his glasses. “The Red Dust Realm is in the east, while the Aurora Realm is in the far north…… At our speed, it will take at least five days.”

Five days??

Chen Ling’s heart skipped a beat.

According to his calculations, if he remained in this extremely boring situation, the audience expectation would drop by 1% every four or five hours. Before they even reached the Red Dust Realm, the expectation would drop into the negatives!

And that was the ideal scenario. In fact, once the expectation dropped below 20%, the rate of decline would be even faster. He would likely not even survive three days.

“Don't worry, there is enough water and food prepared on the vehicle for us to reach the Red Dust Realm.” Chu Muyun comforted him, seeing Chen Ling’s ugly expression.

Chen Ling couldn't explain his current predicament. He never expected that after surviving the Aurora Realm with such difficulty, he would be suffocated to death by the word "boredom"…… Chen Ling couldn't accept such an absurd way to die. He had to find a way to change the status quo.

Jump off the car? But even if he jumped off, the surroundings were all endless gray and disasters, with no place to create conflict…… Could it be that he had to stage a palace drama among these few members of the Twilight Society? No, he was counting on staying in the Twilight Society in the future.

Just as Chen Ling was sweating and struggling to think, he suddenly thought of something and reached into his pocket……

A USB drive appeared in his palm.

Ever since the Red King gave him this USB drive, Chen Ling had only used it once. After all, this thing could only be opened once a month, and only for one hour at a time. He had been too busy in the Aurora Realm to have time to read the save file…… But now, this thing had become his only lifeline.

He couldn't create excitement in this era, but he could return to the modern era. He just didn't know if the audience expectation would follow him?

“Era save file, huh……”

A voice came from the side. Chen Ling turned his head and saw that Plum K had opened her eyes at some point, looking at the USB drive in his hand, seemingly a bit surprised. “The third copy, it’s actually in your hands.”

When Chen Ling got this USB drive, Chu Muyun had said that there were three such USB drives in total, with the Red King and the Gray King each holding one. Now, the one in his hand was the only one left in the world.

“Does the senior have any advice?” Chen Ling tried to probe for more information about the USB drive.

Plum K shook her head. “I haven't experienced this thing, so I have no advice…… The only thing I can remind you is to keep it safe. It’s best not to let any outsiders see it, and it must not be snatched away.”

Plum K’s tone was unprecedentedly solemn when she said the last two sentences. Chen Ling nodded immediately.

“Also.” Plum K hesitated for a moment before adding, “Every time we recover a ‘Lord,’ its usage duration increases. Now, it should last for 12 hours at a time.”

Chen Ling froze for a moment, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes.

When he got the USB drive last time, it was once a month for one hour. Now it had extended so much…… It seemed his guess was right. The Red Star components recovered from the Aurora Lord’s body were likely all used on the era save file. The USB drive in his hand was the key for the Twilight Society to restart the world!

Chen Ling scanned his surroundings. Except for Plum K and Chu Muyun, everyone else seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

He took a deep breath and inserted the USB drive into the surface of the tin cargo bed!

The next moment, familiar deep green code automatically appeared before his eyes:

【ID 129439】

【Reading……】

【Read complete】

Chen Ling closed his eyes, and his head drooped down.

……

“Ding-dong——”

“First floor, arriving.”

A gentle female voice sounded from inside the elevator, and the elevator door, reflecting Chen Ling’s shadow, slowly opened.

Chen Ling looked at the first floor of the apartment building, filled with electric scooters and bicycles, and the modern security door directly in front of him. For a moment, he felt a bit dazed…… The destroyed Aurora Realm and the butt-bumping tractor felt like a dream, and he had returned to this era he was most familiar with.

Chen Ling remembered that the last time he disconnected, he was in the elevator. It seemed that this time, when he reconnected, he returned to the same position. This was undoubtedly good news. Otherwise, if he reconnected in a shopping mall bathroom stall every time, wouldn't he become Zhang Wei? That would be too troublesome.

Chen Ling walked out of the elevator before the door closed and skillfully opened the security door. As soon as he stepped out, the bright sunlight shone on him, and his whole body felt warm.

He hadn't felt this warmth for a long time.

Vroom-rumble——

Just as Chen Ling was lost in thought, a truck drove from afar and stopped at the entrance of the building.

“Is this the building?”

“Yes, this is it. Hurry up and move them……”

Several figures jumped off the truck and skillfully handed out wreaths and white cloth. They carried these things toward the security door, but their path was blocked by Chen Ling.

“Brother, excuse me, please.”

“Oh, okay……”

Chen Ling stepped aside, and the men placed the wreaths in order at the entrance of the unit. A black-and-white photo was placed in the center of the wreaths. As they tidied up, their peripheral vision swept over the photo, and they couldn't help but sigh.

“Sigh…… so young?”

“Yeah, I heard he was the only son of a couple, just over twenty years old this year, hadn't even gotten a wife yet.”

“How did he die?”

“Wasn't there an earthquake before? He worked in a theater and was crushed by a spotlight.”

“A pity, truly a pity…… he looked quite clean-cut.”

“Hiss…… this face, why do I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere just now?”

A man suddenly frowned, as if thinking seriously about something, then suddenly turned his head, revealing a ghost-seeing expression!

The road in front of the unit door was already empty.

“Holy…… crap?!”

“What’s wrong? Why are you making such a fuss?”

“The, the person in the photo…… isn't that the one who was at the door just now?!”

“Ah?!!!”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s faces turned pale. They remembered the young man just now. Although they only glanced at him casually, he was indeed exactly the same as the one in the photo!

They worked in the funeral industry themselves, but this was the first time in so many years they had encountered something so eerie. Even with a scorching sun overhead, the backs of several people were instantly soaked with cold sweat……

“Don't, don't panic……” The leading man swallowed his saliva. “Maybe…… he just missed home and came back to take a look.”

“Yes, yes, yes, we didn't do anything wrong…… it shouldn't be……”

“Amitabha, Amitabha……”

……

【Audience expectation +3】

Seeing this line of small text float out, Chen Ling’s eyes lit up slightly.

The fact that expectation could enter the save file meant that his urgent problem had a solution…… It’s just easier to get expectation in places with many people.

At the same time, the sound of television news came from the balcony on the first floor next door:

“……Currently, the Red Meteor has safely missed Earth and entered another perihelion orbit. Astrophysicist Lu Xun has calculated that there will be no risk of collision within the next three hundred years……”

“……The fragments of the Red Meteor that were shot down have been confirmed to have fallen in the Shennongjia region of our country. Currently, a team of scientists led by astrophysicist Dr. Lu Xun is heading there for exploration and investigation……”

Hearing this, Chen Ling stopped in his tracks.

He suddenly realized a problem.

The start time of the era save file was the moment the Red Star streaked across the sky. In other words, at this point in time, many things had not yet happened…… For example, the nine scientists had not yet approached the Red Star fragments, nor had they absorbed the energy within the fragments to become the Nine Lords.

If…… if he caught up with the time the nine scientists arrived at Shennongjia, did it mean he could witness the origin of everything with his own eyes?

He could see what happened after the nine scientists discovered the fragments, how the Nine Lords were born, and he could even get close to the Nine Lords…… He could see the living Aurora Lord, Yang Xiao, again!