Yang Yuqi had calmed down slightly, but her heart was filled with a miraculous joy, especially since it had happened to Ling Yun. She was both excited and thrilled, and her previous sadness and sorrow had long since vanished. If Ling Yun truly possessed power beyond the mundane world, then perhaps all problems could be solved. The young girl thought to herself, her heart filled with unparalleled hope and joy.
"Yun, I've always felt you're no ordinary person. This is the real you, this is the hero in my heart." Yuqi's beautiful eyes were sparkling with excitement, like a little girl meeting her idol. She had just snapped out of her madness at wanting to offer herself to Ling Yun, and immediately fell into another kind of fervent worship. Tonight, Yang's gentle and elegant lady-like image had completely vanished.
Ling Yun was speechless for a moment. This could be brought up with heroes. It seems that this girl has been poisoned by romance quite badly. But no matter what, as long as she no longer insists on sacrificing herself, that is better than anything else.
He coughed twice and said, "Yuqi, actually, people with superpowers are just ordinary people. It's just that due to genetic mutations, they have superhuman strength. This is my biggest and deepest secret, and I've never told anyone before. You must keep this secret for me."
He spoke with utmost seriousness, as if he regarded Yang Yuqi as his most intimate confidante. Otherwise, why would he be so earnest? Upon hearing that her beloved was willing to share his most precious secret with her, Yuqi was overjoyed. Without even asking who else Ling Yun had shared this secret with, she nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice, agreeing incessantly.
“Actually, you are also a superhuman, you just don’t know it yourself.” Ling Yun finally waited for her to nod before slowly saying, “It’s just that your gene is recessive, and before it is triggered, everything about you is the same as a normal person.”
"What is a recessive gene? Am I also a superhuman? Oh my god, no way." Yuqi said in surprise, unconsciously cupping her face with her snow-white hands and rubbing her cheeks vigorously. The action looked both touching and cute, which made Ling Yun's heart flutter slightly.
Ling Yun then explained to her the differences between dominant and recessive genes, as well as the current distribution and influence of people with superpowers. Yuqi listened with sparkling eyes, only managing to nod and agree repeatedly as she gazed at Ling Yun. It was unclear whether she was captivated by her beloved boy or simply surprised by his explanation.
“Yuqi, this is my plan. You go to Hong Kong first. I have some things to take care of and will be there shortly.” Ling Yun said after a moment’s thought. “You must stay calm and don’t panic. Once you get to Hong Kong, first see what your family’s attitude is, and also see how your father’s condition is. We are thousands of miles away now and don’t know the specific situation there, so all plans can only be carried out after we get to Hong Kong. We’ll see how things go then. Don’t worry, Yuqi, with me here, you’ll be safe and sound. Even if your family abandons you, I will introduce you to a better place to work, and you don’t need to worry about your finances. I’ll take care of everything.”
His words were logically clear, well-organized, and logically structured, showing that he had thought of every step. Coupled with his serious and earnest expression, it made the girl's eyes light up again, and she almost shouted, "Ling Yun, I love you!"
"Yun..." Seeing that Ling Yun seemed to have nothing more to say after saying these words, the two stared at each other for a long time, and the air seemed a little awkward before Yuqi called out softly.
Ling Yun couldn't help but shudder. He desperately wanted to tell Yuqi to just call him Ling Yun, not just by his name, but the words, though on the tip of his tongue, wouldn't come out. He was afraid of hurting the girl's feelings. The young man thought with some annoyance, then suddenly remembered something and became terrified. What did this girl want from me? Was she going to offer herself to me again now that she had nothing to say…?
"Yun, after you get to Hong Kong, will you still appear as my boyfriend to help me?" Yuqi asked softly, her face flushed. She was usually gentle and generous, and spoke with quiet restraint, but for some reason today, since she had just intended to give herself to Ling Yun, asking this question now seemed perfectly normal.
"Maybe..." Ling Yun stammered, his heart inexplicably clenching. It wouldn't be impossible for Yuqi's boyfriend to show up, but how would he appease Xiao Rou? Ling Yun suddenly felt utterly troubled, even more so than when facing Captain Steel.
Yuqi blinked her bright eyes, her smooth, flawless forehead slightly furrowed, as if she wanted to ask something. Lingyun was worried that she would ask an embarrassing question that he wouldn't be able to answer, so he quickly said, "Yuqi, it's getting late. You should rest first. Just make do on the sofa tonight, and I'll take you back to school tomorrow morning."
Yang Yuqi glanced at the sofa, then at the living room and Ding Hao and Zhou Ping still lying on the floor. She didn't see a bed, and the floor was covered with shiny Meiya flooring, which was not suitable for sleeping. So she asked softly, "Then where will you sleep?"
"If it's inconvenient... we can squeeze together on the sofa. I don't mind sleeping with you." As soon as she said this, Yuqi's face turned red. Even she herself realized that her words were quite ambiguous, let alone Lingyun. Fortunately, she had already said some intimate things earlier, so saying them again now wouldn't be a big deal.
Ling Yun was immediately annoyed by her burning gaze and hurriedly said, "No, no, I don't need to sleep. You should rest. Tomorrow is not the weekend, and you have to go to class!" With that, he fled like a mouse seeing a cat, running away as fast as a command.
Yuqi watched Ling Yun rush out the door and couldn't help but chuckle. She gently touched her slightly flushed face, slowly walked to the sofa, and sat down, half-reclining and half-sitting. She hugged a thick sofa cushion to her chest and began to think about the dreamlike experience of the night. Recalling Ling Yun's hasty escape, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but then she sighed softly with a complicated expression. Ling Yun's attitude was obviously very clear. If he liked her, he wouldn't have adopted such an evasive attitude. Yang Yuqi was smart enough to know all this.
I wonder what kind of girl he has in mind. How can I make him truly like me...? Yuqi thought with a touch of resentment, her consciousness quickly fading. A quarter of an hour later, the girl finally closed her eyes, sweetness mingled with sadness as she drifted into a deep sleep. Even in her sleep, the corners of her mouth remained turned up. Perhaps only the boy in her dreams truly belonged to her...
Ling Yun silently walked in from outside the door, took off his shirt and gently draped it over Yuqi, then sat down to the side, closed his eyes, and meditated, while also planning his trip to Hong Kong.
Ling Yun wanted to try to return before the Spring Festival, because the Spring Festival would be right after the winter vacation. He hadn't been home to visit his parents all semester, and he rarely even called them. Even when they did communicate, it was just an occasional text message to his father or mother. Thinking of his parents with their graying temples, Ling Yun couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. With his current strength, the gap between him and the world was widening, and Ling Yun even felt a sense of alienation from the world. But no matter what, the bond with his family would never break, so he would go back home for the Spring Festival this year. He would go back as an ordinary son to wish his parents a Happy New Year, visit relatives, watch the Spring Festival Gala, and have a lively New Year. Isn't that what life is all about?
For Lingyun, who had lived a peaceful life for eighteen years, this peace now lingers. Often, especially when he has achieved a great deal, he feels a deep longing for the ordinariness of the past when he is alone in quiet solitude.
Back then, he had many worries, such as poor academic performance, bad exam results, and mediocre friendships. But compared to now, these worries were just warm memories of the past. Now, although he is powerful and stands above the world, he can no longer be as carefree as before. Even in peaceful times, Ling Yun has to constantly cultivate his power. He is often filled with a very bad premonition, as if the prosperity and peace of this world will not last long, and soon a disaster that will affect everything will come. What he has to do is to become stronger and stronger before the premonition erupts, until he is as strong as he can be, strong enough to protect everything he wants...
The night passed quietly.
The next morning, Ling Yun woke up the sleepy Yang Yuqi, and the two left Zhou Ping's apartment. They randomly hailed a taxi on the highway and returned to Jinghua University. After a night of thinking, Ling Yun had a plan in mind, so he told Yuqi the details of his plan. Although Yuqi hadn't slept well the night before, she slept very soundly this time because her sweetheart was with her, and she was even more energetic than usual. She secretly memorized Ling Yun's plan.
Shortly after the two left, Zhou Ping and Ding Hao woke up one after the other. After a night of unconsciousness, they had not only lost all their memories, but their intelligence had also regressed to the level of infants. After babbling for a while, they started fighting like children over a sofa cushion toy. The damage caused by the two strong young men was naturally beyond what children could do, so the property management was quickly alerted. After discovering the strange behavior of the two, the police were also alerted. After a flurry of activity, Zhou Ping and Ding Hao's parents were finally notified.
Upon seeing their beloved son in this state, Zhou Ping and Ding Hao's parents were extremely angry, wishing they could tear the culprit to pieces. They even spent a lot of money to hire both legitimate and underworld forces to investigate the person who did this, but all the investigations came to nothing. The culprit left no trace, as if he had appeared out of thin air and disappeared into thin air.
After careful examination, the city's largest and best hospital finally gave Zhou Ping and Ding Hao's parents a tactful final opinion: the two had suffered irreversible brain damage, losing all their memories and regressing to the level of a four-year-old. Current medical technology could not restore the damage they had suffered, nor could it determine the cause of the severe injury.
………………
Gu Xiaorou has been undergoing the fourth stage of simulated training for a week and has not yet emerged. Ling Yun is not worried at all. This is a necessary part of the training process. Moreover, after energy crystallization and Ling Yun's adjustments, the fifth-level barrier's simulated training now has a time difference of twice that of the outside world. This means that Gu Xiaorou will experience twice as long in the fourth stage of simulated training as in reality. The longer she trains, the more power she will gain after she emerges. With her current strength, after the fourth stage of simulated training, she can directly approach the level of a captain.
Ling Yun has never entered the sixth level of the segmented array simulation. Although it is also a segmented array simulation, the segmented array simulation of the sixth level of the barrier is vastly different from that of the fifth level. As far as Ling Yun knows about the control of the barrier, there is only one segmented array simulation of the sixth level of the barrier, and once you enter, you cannot come out for a month. The time experienced in the segmented array simulation is shortened by a terrifying twelve times compared to real time. In other words, one month in reality will be equivalent to one year in the segmented array simulation of the sixth level of the barrier.
As for what he would encounter in the segmented simulation of the sixth layer of the barrier, Ling Yun had no idea. Even though he had seen through every characteristic and structural point of the barrier, the sixth layer of the barrier was always in a state of change similar to the Earth's rotation, and he could not see it clearly no matter what. After trying for several hours, Ling Yun finally gave up on this almost impossible task.
The sixth-level barrier simulation automatically tests the strength of those with superpowers who enter. If they do not meet the standard automatically determined by the barrier, they cannot enter. Although Ling Yun is the controller of the Yellow Book barrier, the barrier's judgment is still a self-contained and independent system. With his current strength, comparable to that of a major, he still does not meet the qualifications to enter the sixth-level barrier simulation. This aroused Ling Yun's great curiosity. He wondered to what extent his strength had increased before he could gain the recognition of the sixth-level barrier simulation.
Yang Yuqi had already gone to Hong Kong as agreed, leaving her contact information before leaving. Ling Yun, waiting for Gu Xiaorou to emerge, had nothing to do, so he spent his days at Bingyan Cafe. His arrival surprised and delighted Su Bingyan and Chen Jiaxuan, who practically accompanied him every day. Ling Yun felt both happy and somewhat sad; happy to have two beautiful women by his side, but sad because Gu Xiaorou was about to be released, and his carefree days were coming to an end.
The mysterious Lin Naimei had been nowhere to be found these past few days. Ling Yun hadn't forgotten this beautiful female psychic with extremely strong mental abilities and had secretly inquired about her. Unexpectedly, Lin Naimei had also taken leave and disappeared somewhere. She was like a phoenix that flew out of an unknown mountain valley, shining brightly at Jinghua University before vanishing again. Unable to find any trace of Lin Naimei, Ling Yun had no choice but to give up the investigation. Anyway, he had other things to deal with now, so he wasn't in a hurry.
Xia Zhen hadn't returned to school yet, seemingly still at the Superpower Headquarters. Thinking of this school beauty, Ling Yun felt a pang of guilt. Xia Zhen was deeply in love with him, but his feelings were unrequited. If Xia Zhen hadn't confessed, their relationship would have remained unchanged, unaffected by Ling Yun's outburst at the Superpower Headquarters. But now that he and Gu Xiaorou had embraced in front of Xia Zhen, it undoubtedly showed his choice. Ling Yun couldn't imagine what he would say when he saw Xia Zhen again. Fortunately, Xia Zhen hadn't returned, saving him the awkwardness of a future meeting.
Perhaps we will never see each other again. Recalling the memories of the past for a moment, Ling Yun couldn't help but feel a little sad. Some people and some things, once missed, will never come back.
During this time, Lingyun also went to the dean's office. In addition to canceling his leave, he naturally needed to apply for leave again for his trip to Hong Kong. Poor Lingyun had spent a whole semester at university, but he hadn't attended many of his regular professional classes. He was always running around outside and had hardly participated in any school activities except for applying for leave.
The dean, already considering him a national intelligence agent, readily agreed without hesitation. He also assured him not to worry about exams, as the school would provide special consideration. Ling Yun was both amused and exasperated. To avoid this special treatment, this fake agent answered a third-year university exam in front of the dean. After being reviewed by other unsuspecting teachers, he received a perfect score. The dean was astonished, praising Ling Yun as a genius and inquiring if he had any intention of becoming a part-time teacher after graduation…
Several days later, Xiaorou finally escaped from the fourth simulation. After discussing with Lingyun, the two began to prepare to set off. They would fly directly from Beijing to Shenzhen, and then take the subway to Hong Kong. Their passports and Hong Kong and Macau travel permits had been processed through the dean's connections. Everything was ready, and they could depart at any time.
At night, Ling Yun and Gu Xiaorou, like ordinary students going out to stroll through a Beijing night market, left the school gate one after the other without bringing anything. They hailed a taxi at the gate and sped away.
The taxi quickly disappeared into the vast traffic.
At this moment, a young girl's figure slowly emerged from beside the arched pillar of the main gate of Jinghua University. Her face was somewhat haggard, and after many days, her beautiful features had become even thinner. However, her elfin appearance was still incredibly captivating. It was Xia Zhen. At this moment, she was staring blankly in the direction the taxi had gone, motionless. After a long while, tears seemed to well up in her eyes, which were like autumn water.
"Yun, you must be careful..." the little girl murmured to herself.
Chapter 212 The End of the World
"This is my first time flying," Ling Yun said absentmindedly, sitting by the window in the first-class cabin of a McDonnell Douglas MD11 medium-sized passenger plane, gazing at the thick, dense, cotton-like white clouds outside. Actually, he had flown once before when he came to Beijing to attend Jinghua University, but that time he was on a private helicopter belonging to the Sihai Group, a completely different experience from this commercial flight, especially since it was first class, with a spacious and comfortable sofa seat.
The first-class cabin wasn't very crowded; many seats were empty, and most passengers were resting with their heads propped up on the sofas, eyes closed. This resulted in an unusually quiet first-class environment. Slender and attractive flight attendants occasionally hurried back and forth, serving juice or coffee to some of the more portly passengers. At the end of each aisle was a 42-inch plasma LCD projector, which could play television programs or the latest movies according to the passengers' needs.
Gu Xiaorou leaned against Ling Yun's shoulder, closed her eyes as if she were about to fall asleep, and whispered, "What's so strange about flying? The feeling of stepping on the clouds will be truly amazing once you learn to fly yourself."
"Flying?" Ling Yun suddenly turned to look at her. "Do you know the art of flying? I can't master it yet. At most, I can hover in the air for a few hours, and I can't go too high, otherwise the consumption of my mental energy field will double."