So, does that mean he passed the previous scenario?
This scenario is actually that simple?
He only needed to wait in the gazebo, and when the exclamation came from inside the house, he would run over and knock on the door. He didn't even know who the middle-aged couple were, or what had happened to them, and that was how it all ended?
This was a bit too smooth compared to the previous two scenarios, and Qin Chu still felt a little unreal.
If his choice is correct, does that mean that Levy also chose to knock on the door proactively back then?
Qin Chu stood still, momentarily unsure whether to be surprised by his current predicament or by the fact that Levi had actually made such an uncharacteristic choice.
What exactly is the relationship between this middle-aged couple and Levy?
The doubts deepened, but clearly no one could answer them now.
Qin Chu composed himself and began to ponder the current situation.
In the previous scene, he became Anthony, but Levy did not enter that scene. Instead, he remained in this space because "Qin and Chu" in that time period did not seem to encounter any special events.
This suggests that the mastermind did not fully grasp what he and Levy had encountered, or that, in order to conserve energy, the mastermind only selected a portion of the time periods and events it deemed appropriate.
At the same time, if one of them has an event that requires a choice, and the other does not, the one who does not need to make a choice should stay in such a space.
But what criteria did the mastermind use to select these events? And what impact will these events have on him and Levy?
The doubts from before resurfaced.
What special significance did the scene he just went through have for Levi that required the mainframe to single him out and make him try to go through it again?
He raised his hand and rubbed his temples.
As Qin Chu pondered this question, he walked forward, following the occasional streams of data that passed by.
He then thought of a serious problem.
Last time, Levi was trapped in such a space, but he still had the personal terminal left over from the first scene with him. So when he made a call to Levi, Levi was able to catch the data stream at that moment and find the exit of the space.
But he was still wearing Levy's military academy uniform, and had nothing else on him except the uniform, let alone a communicator or anything like that.
Without a communicator, Levy couldn't contact him, and he wouldn't be able to leave the scene.
Unless Levy successfully navigates this time period, he and Levy will enter the next time period together.
The situation is rather bad.
Although Qin Chu remained calm, this predicament, where he couldn't find a way out or even a breakthrough, still made him feel a sense of oppressive stagnation.
I wonder what happened to Levy.
Given Levy's capricious nature, it seems too much to ask him to handle the troubles he encounters.
Qin Chu always felt that Levi would get stuck at the crucial moment of making a choice countless times, trying back and forth, before finally making the right choice and passing the game.
If it keeps getting stuck and won't go through...
Is this guy planning to blow up this space?
As Qin Chu calmed down to check his consciousness and waited for the scene to change, he finally received a reply from Noah.
"Sir, according to my monitoring, you are gradually approaching the core of the mainframe. The situation you are encountering is more like a game level. Although you said there is no penalty for making the wrong choice, I still want to remind you to be careful."
This is good news; getting closer to the core of the mainframe means that things have progressed.
Just after Qin Chu received Noah's message, a data stream suddenly surged in the previously silent space. This data stream originated from a corner of the space and connected directly to Qin Chu's consciousness.
Qin Chu had an idea and walked towards the place where the data stream was connected.
As he approached, a blurry door slowly appeared, then became clearer and clearer.
Having learned from Levi's previous experience, Qin Chu didn't try to open the door in the conventional way at all, but instead kicked it open directly.
This seemingly ordinary door was extremely sturdy; Qin Chu couldn't even kick it open.
He kicked it again, and the door finally groaned under the strain before swung open violently.
Qin Chu took a step out, and before he could even see the scene outside, he heard someone exclaim in surprise, "Holy crap, there's someone in here!"
Then he heard Levy's voice: "Yes, my men."
Qin Chu: "..."
After a two-second silence, Qin Chu finally saw the scene before him.
He must have been inside a spacecraft that had apparently malfunctioned, causing the simulated natural light inside to go out, leaving him in complete darkness, with only faint light coming from the luminous celestial bodies outside.
Qin Chu glanced at the people standing around him, looked at their clothes, and roughly remembered that this was a mission he had received when he was in military school.
"Are you alright? Did we wait a little too long?" Levi asked.
"It's nothing." Qin Chu looked up at Levi.
This person is not wearing military protective clothing, but ordinary clothes, probably to conceal their identity during the mission.
Qin Chu's gaze fell on Levi's collar.
"What are you looking at? It's only been a short time, don't you recognize me already?" Levy said with a smile.
"Let's see if you've been switched out?" Qin Chu asked.
"Hmm?" Levi raised an eyebrow. "You can't recognize your own boyfriend?"
"..." Qin Chu pointed to his collar, "How come I don't remember you having the habit of buttoning your shirt all the way up?"
“There’s no other way.” Levy raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t want to be on a mission with a gun pointed at me by my comrades, saying something’s wrong.”
Judging from the tone, it seems that the previous scenario has been exposed again.
The two became so familiar with each other upon meeting that the military academy students who were doing the mission with Levi looked at him in surprise and asked, "Qin Chu..."
When he called out that name, both Levi and Qin Chu looked at him.
The military academy student immediately fell silent.
Qin Chu quickly realized that he was currently just an "anonymous" person, so he looked away and let Levi explain.
“He is the secret weapon of this mission,” Levy said.
The military academy student looked at Qin Chu's school uniform and asked, "Our junior?"
Upon hearing this title, Levi's lips curled into a smile.
Strictly speaking, he enrolled relatively late, so Qin Chu should be his senior. Now, their roles have been reversed, and Qin Chu has become his junior.
"Yes, cute junior." Levi smiled as he looked at Qin Chu.
Qin Chu began to silently radiate coldness.
Having resolved Qin Chu's identity, the two separated from the other military academy students and headed towards the front passenger cabin of the aircraft.
"Still too inexperienced." Qin Chu glanced back at the military academy student's back, somewhat dissatisfied. "A stranger appeared midway through the mission, casually gave an identity, and they actually believed him."
“You’re just having this occupational hazard,” Levi started to laugh. “You’re not Instructor Qin anymore, you’re just a junior student.”
As he spoke, Levy reached out and ruffled Qin Chu's hair.
Qin Chu squinted at him: "Not going to keep pretending to be Qin Chu anymore?"
"Why pretend when the outsiders are gone?" Levi said confidently, and casually unbuttoned two buttons on his collar.
His fingers touched the tattoo on his neck, and as if he had thought of something, he turned his head and brushed aside the hair at the back of Qin Chu's neck to take a look.
Then Levy frowned: "Don't move."
His tone was somewhat serious, and Qin Chu immediately stopped in her tracks: "What's wrong?"
Levi ran his fingers along the back of his neck, his tone hesitant: "The tattoo... seems to be fading."
Chapter 130, The Sixth Story (14)
"Hmm?" Qin Chu turned his head and glanced at it. "Is it because the light is too dim to see clearly?"
But through Levi's open collar, Qin Chu quickly noticed that the tattoo on Levi's neck seemed to have faded a bit, and some details were even no longer visible.
Levi lowered his head and stroked Qin Chu's nape with his fingers for a while.
He didn't say anything, but he was clearly in a bad mood because of this.
Qin Chu's mood also dipped a little.
When they decided to get the tattoos, they didn't treat them as ordinary couple tattoos, but rather as more solemn and serious wedding rings. Although they both knew that these things only existed in this world, the tattoos still added a sense of reassuring comfort.
Since arriving in this world where the mastermind resides, although neither he nor Levi have said anything, they have both sensed a hidden sense of crisis.
This crisis does not seem to stem from its own safety, but from something else entirely.
These tattoos were simply an unconscious action they took to combat this sense of crisis.
Now that the tattoo is blurry, that vague sense of crisis seems to have become even more serious.
Qin Chu roughly understood where this sense of crisis came from, but he had never been very perceptive when it came to matters of the heart, and even if he had a vague feeling, he didn't know what to say.
After thinking for a moment, he told Levy the message Noah had sent him.
Levi raised an eyebrow, then said, "Be more careful in the future. It seems that the scene changes are affecting our consciousness, otherwise the tattoos wouldn't have changed."
"Yes, try to minimize mistakes," Qin Chu said.
Levy nodded, and the two continued walking towards the passenger cabin.
"By the way, I didn't have a communicator on me, so how did you manage to drag me out?" Qin Chu thought of this and turned to ask Levi.
Levy laughed: "Guess?"
"Is it related to Noah?" Qin Chu raised an eyebrow. "The space I was in remained unchanged until Noah sent a message, after which data streams appeared in the space."
"You guessed pretty accurately." Levi touched his nose, glanced at Qin Chu, and said, "Ahem, make a promise first, you're not allowed to hit me if I tell the truth."
There was no good answer to that, so Qin Chu lifted his toes and said, "That depends on what kind of truth you're telling."
"Let's talk this out. Put your foot down first." Levi raised his leg and touched Qin Chu's knee. "Otherwise, if you kick him, other people will think that the junior is being disrespectful and provoking the senior."
"Are you going to tell the truth or not?" Qin Chu was almost amused by his rambling.
“I’ve tampered with your AI again, so I can probably detect its presence and some of its activities. So when it communicates with you, my mental threads pinpoint the location of your consciousness and try to send a message,” Levy said.