Volume 2: Winter’s End
The topic was successfully shifted, and Shu Xun continued to speculate about the LP Potion. “The LP Potion should be extracted from the Blue Amber Crystal. The Blue Amber Crystal is like a hive, a nurturing incubator for the Blue Butterflies, thus containing immense life energy. If nothing unexpected happens, the Blue Butterflies will eventually evolve into a new race with mental powers not weaker than the Phantoms. Therefore, the invaders should have high mental power, at least higher than the humanoid Blue Butterflies. The hatched Blue Butterflies and the evolved Blue Butterflies should be on par with the invaders because the blue light created by the Blue Butterflies freezes the invaders’ movements. Moreover, in the frozen state, it prompts the residents to break out of their cocoons. This is why there are almost no people in the vast city. As for why they didn’t freeze the planet from the beginning, I speculate that putting humanoid butterflies in a frozen state may not only halt evolution but also potentially lead to certain defects…”
With Shu Xun’s speculations, not only did everyone gain some understanding of the LP Potion, but they also formed certain conjectures about the indigenous inhabitants of this planet, the Blue Butterflies.
However, when it came to the mention of the invaders having extremely high mental power, the familiar faces subconsciously turned their gaze toward Nuan Dong. Nuan Dong, however, remained indifferent, maintaining that somewhat distant and aloof demeanor, showing little interest in offering any explanations.
After Shu Xun finished the analysis, the sky remained dark, with only the increasingly bright blue glow that was gradually becoming more apparent, and no other sources of light were visible.
Knowing that they wouldn’t die even if the absolute freeze descended, the group of people prepared for a brief rest in the empty apartment. Since they couldn’t find the conditions for clearing the game at the moment, they decided to follow Shu Xun’s suggestion of waiting for any clues after the absolute freeze. It was already late in the day, and after a day of activity, they all felt somewhat tired. They lit the fireplace, and the living room slowly warmed up. Despite their resilience to the cold, they found the warmth exceptionally comforting.
The two unfamiliar teams didn’t engage in much interaction with each other, each quietly organizing their supplies and finding a comfortable way to rest. Shu Xun also opened his small backpack and took out his sleeping bag and the flat stone modified by Nuan Dong. He found a spot near the fireplace, spread them out, took off his outerwear, and quickly crawled inside. During this process, he even yawned in his drowsiness.
In his dreams, Shu Xun seemed to have a peculiar dream. He dreamt that, while he was sleeping, he turned into a semi-transparent blue butterfly and disappeared. Due to the approaching absolute freeze, the temperature around him kept fluctuating. After lying down for just an hour, the strange dream and the low temperature woke Shu Xun up. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that most people hadn’t slept. Shu Xun realized that, although the Blue-Eyed individuals could survive in extremely low temperatures, they were not entirely immune to the cold.
What surprised Shu Xun was that the moment he opened his eyes, he unexpectedly found everyone’s gaze fixed on him. Instantly wide awake, Shu Xun sat up, tilting his small head, and asked, “What happened?”
However, everyone remained silent. Shu Xun suddenly realized that with so many people awake, it couldn’t be solely due to the inability to sleep in the cold. This situation seemed similar to the residents of Micro City, who had disrupted sleep patterns and dared not sleep. Realizing this, Shu Xun felt an intense chill. Connecting it to the dream where he seemed to turn into a butterfly, Shu Xun nervously bit down on his chubby paw. “Did something strange happen while I was sleeping? I can handle it, speak up.”
Lie Yang revealed a soothing smile, quite different from his usual trademark grin, looking strangely out of place. Just as Shu Xun was pondering the meaning behind Lie Yang’s somewhat bitter smile, a stumbling and hesitant voice of comfort sounded nearby.
“It’s okay, we… we’re here with you…” Shu Xun was about to nod his little head, reassuring that he wasn’t nervous when he horrifyingly noticed that Gray opened his wings. Notably, the unfolded wings had turned completely black, resembling a giant black butterfly. In a daze, just as Shu Xun was about to understand, the wings shattered in an instant, transforming into numerous small black butterflies sweeping over. Recalling the residents of Micro City disappearing into thin air amidst the chaos, Shu Xun immediately realized that once touched by the black butterflies, he too would vanish without a trace. The speed of the black butterflies was too fast, and in the blink of an eye, they were right in front. Just as the black butterflies were about to touch him, Shu Xun suddenly heard a loud noise, jolting him awake. He sat up from the sleeping bag, and it dawned on him that he had just had a dream within a dream.
Regaining his senses, Shu Xun looked towards the source of the sound – the door. At this moment, the door had already swung open, and the thunderous noise came from a man forcefully kicking the door open. To Shu Xun’s surprise, the man had incredibly familiar blue eyes and a face that looked remarkably familiar. Beside the man stood a long-haired woman with equally clear blue eyes, giving her a gentle appearance. Relying on Shu Xun’s memory, he recognized them instantly – the man and the woman from the toll station in Micro City. Seeing the woman who had come back from the brink of death, Shu Xun surprisingly didn’t find it unexpected. This confirmed his speculation – the Blue-Eyed individuals could indeed be revived from death using the LP potion. Or rather, the death of a Blue-Eyed individual was just a form of suspended animation that could be revived with a nourishment of abundant life force.
Looking around, apart from the poker-faced Ye Qian, Shu Xun noticed that everyone else had a bewildered and startled expression upon being awakened. A trace of contemplation flickered in Shu Xun’s eyes for a moment, but soon he lifted his little head again, crawled out of his sleeping bag, and walked to the vicinity of the door with a gentlemanly invitation.
“Won’t you come in and have a seat?”
The man with blue eyes lowered his head, seemingly surprised, raised an eyebrow, and then grinned, revealing a slightly sharp smile. “Sure.” With that, he entered the room, protecting the woman by his side, and found a spot near the fireplace without hesitation.
Everyone in the room had already taken their seats. Shu Xun and his group instantly recognized the man’s identity, realizing that they would soon learn some explicit information. While Bai Ya’s team didn’t recognize the man, the blue eyes seemed to be a symbol that made them aware that the man’s identity was not ordinary.
Shu Xun returned to his small sleeping bag, squatting down to roll it up and intending to put it back into his backpack. Unexpectedly, the man with blue eyes looked at the smooth stone under the sleeping bag and spoke with a hint of surprise, “Warm Winter Stone, not bad, quite rare.”
Shu Xun’s movements in arranging the sleeping bag froze for a moment. Lie Yang, in particular, looked utterly bewildered. “What did you say?”
The man with blue eyes casually swept his gaze over everyone, ending with a light chuckle. “Warm Winter Stone, an extremely rare and special mineral. It can maintain a comfortable temperature as long as it’s near a heat source. Currently, only a very small amount has been found in Micro City. However, it hasn’t been developed for any substantial functions yet, so its popularity isn’t high. Still, it has some uses after the Winter Chill, albeit being extremely scarce.”
The room fell into silence. The members of Bai Ya’s team remained quiet, not daring to ask about the unusual situation when they fell asleep, as everyone felt the eerie and terrifying atmosphere, along with low pressure.
Shu Xun silently rolled up his sleeping bag and put it into his backpack. Then, with determined little steps, he walked over to Nuan Dong’s side and kicked him in the foot. “You liar!”
Nuan Dong lowered his head, looking at the angry little ball of fur at his feet, and suddenly burst into laughter. It was the same warm smile as before, seemingly melting the winter snow. However, his eyes were moist. Closing his eyes for a moment, Nuan Dong resumed his indifferent tone. “So, it’s just a coincidence. There’s actually a mineral with the same name as mine1Nuan Dong’s name can be translated as Warm Winter. This…”
Lie Yang’s face darkened, Ye Qian remained expressionless, and Gray looked completely bewildered. Shu Xun, with a stern little face, interrupted Nuan Dong’s words. “The Warm Winter Stone was just an initial probe, a test to see how much we, the people in this world, understand about it, about Micro City, about Winter’s End. After realizing that we misidentified your identity, you decided to go along with the mistake. Micro City maintenance, learning how to drive icebreaker ships at the dock, all these tasks that seemed to rely on extremely high mental power were actually just because you were originally born in this world. Qu Yan, facing the same end as you, they live completely differently. ” Shu Xun pointed to the man with blue eyes sitting next to the fireplace.
Upon hearing the name Qu Yan, Nuan Dong, who had lowered his head, suddenly raised it. Obviously, Shu Xun’s accurate identification once again surprised him. Nuan Dong, or rather, Qu Yan, deeply sighed. “Is it the rabbit on the icebreaker?”
Shu Xun gently nodded his little head. The blood-red eyes rabbit that suddenly appeared on the icebreaker was identical to the one found near the Micro Lake Villa area. Shortly after leaving Micro Lake, they encountered Nuan Dong. On the icebreaker, the only one who knew about the rabbit and had been following them all along was Nuan Dong. Shu Xun had speculated that after Qing Mo’s death, Qu Yan returned to the villa and destroyed his traces. Although Nuan Dong had a high IQ and almost no flaws during the journey, the moment Shu Xun saw the rabbit on the ship, he realized something was amiss. Maybe the sudden addition of Gray and the White Moon squad put too much pressure on Qu Yan, or maybe there was a moment of relaxation just before reaching the destination. In any case, with meticulous thoughts and extreme caution, he still made a mistake. Shu Xun couldn’t figure out how Nuan Dong managed to make the rabbit appear and disappear suddenly until he drank that potion and the dream he just had. It was then that Shu Xun touched upon a bit of the truth.
Sure enough, under everyone’s gaze, Nuan Dong’s eyes slowly turned blue, eventually transforming into a clear icy blue. Nuan Dong lowered his body and patted Shu Xun’s little head. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to deceive you. I just don’t want to trust anyone anymore, not even myself. When I left Micro Lake, everyone promised to take good care of Qing Mo, and I also promised to come back soon. But everyone broke their promises, including myself.”
