ATDIWR Chapter 57

Chapter 57: The Curtain Falls, Rose from the Dead!

Ji An did not know where he was. As far as his eyes could see, it was all vast desert. He raised his head and looked into the distance; the horizon where the sky met the earth was still desert.

The entire world was left with only endless desert, without oases or water sources. As he walked within it, there was only death.

His lungs were so dry they burned with pain, his lips were covered in cracked dead skin. Ji An stuck out his tongue and licked them twice, but it didn’t relieve the pain at all; instead, they became dry to the point of aching.

Ji An continued to walk forward. His legs became increasingly heavy, and every step felt like it required all his strength.

He looked down and found that at some point, two sandbags were tied to his legs. The strange thing was that these two sandbags grew larger with each step he took, as if the sand inside was increasing the further he walked.

Ji An felt his arms also become extremely heavy, dragging him down, making it more comfortable to hunch his back and bend his waist.

It turned out that sandbags had also been tied to his wrists at some point, and these sandbags were similarly filled with sand that increased with every step.

However, despite this, Ji An still did not stop. He continued to move forward, dragging his heavy limbs.

Suddenly, the sky abruptly turned black, becoming so dark he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

Ji An looked around in confusion, wondering why the sky, which was bright a second ago, suddenly turned black the next second, so dark that there wasn’t even a single star in the sky.

After about a few seconds, Ji An saw a small light spot, the size of a firefly, appear from a very distant place.

That small light spot seemed to fly closer and closer, becoming larger and larger, and brighter and brighter.

In the blink of an eye, that small light spot arrived in front of Ji An. It was no longer a small light spot, but a large oval object as big as a millstone. Its entire body emitted dazzling white light, illuminating the entire sky as bright as day.

Ji An had to cover his eyes with his arm. Even so, Ji An’s eyes still couldn’t open completely; he could only half-squint them.

That oval object seemed to open a cover, and a humanoid being walked out from inside. Ji An didn’t know if it was a person; his eyes were exposed to the strong light, making it impossible to see clearly, only a vague shadow.

“Ji An, your time is up, you should go!” That humanoid being seemed to speak, and also seemed not to speak.

Its voice filled Ji An’s surroundings, seeming to come from his left, and yet also from his right, and also seeming to come from above the sky, and also seeming to emerge from the ground beneath his feet, omnipresent.

Ji An felt his body being pulled forward by an invisible energy, and his entire being instantly became lighter. He looked down and saw that the sandbags tied to his wrists and ankles had disappeared at some point.

He floated in the air, having to do nothing but follow that pulling force. It was especially easy, as if he had taken off a layer of heavy outer clothing.

Ji An floated leisurely and quickly arrived in front of that oval object. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it wasn’t the oval object itself that was emitting light, but rather it had a ring of strong lights on its body, which were emitting dazzling bright light, illuminating the entire dark night brightly.

“Come back.” The voice spoke again.

Ji An saw three steps appear beneath his feet, leading to a door. Behind the door was initially a dark, pitch-black expanse, unknown how far it went into the darkness. Suddenly, it became as bright as day, and its end was dazzling light.

Ji An lifted his foot and was just about to step onto the first step when suddenly, calling sounds came from behind him, one after another, “Ji An… Ji An… Ji An…”

That voice was full of lamentation, full of pain, as if heartbroken beyond words.

Ji An tilted his head, a look of confusion on his face. He felt as if this voice was one he had heard somewhere before, from a very familiar person.

Ji An couldn’t help but turn his head to look. Behind him was still an empty void; besides blackness, there was nothing.

“Ji An, do you still want to stay on this barren planet for a lowly life form?” The voice spoke again. It was omnipresent, seeming not to transmit information to Ji An through his ears, but rather directly communicate with Ji An through his brain.

It seemed it could control Ji An’s will, making Ji An go with it.

Ji An’s foot couldn’t help but continue to step onto the steps.

“Ji An… Ji An… Ji An…” That urgent calling sound from afar became closer and closer, closer and closer…

Suddenly, it arrived in front of Ji An. A bright light, coming from who knew where, shone down, illuminating a small area. Within the small circle sat a familiar man, holding someone Ji An was extremely familiar with in his arms.

That person was Ji An himself!

The light illuminating the familiar man was emitted by the man himself; it was strands of energy fluctuation drilling out from his brain.

They drilled out from the man’s brain and drilled into the brain of the Ji An held in the man’s embrace.

Ji An suddenly felt a sharp pain in his brain, as if thousands upon thousands of needles were simultaneously inserted into his brain.

“Ah!!!” Ji An clutched his head and cried out in pain! His foot instinctively pulled back.

“Despicable lowly creature, resorting to such means…” The omnipresent voice’s subsequent words turned into a string of strange sound waves that Ji An could not understand, hissing and grating harshly.

“Ji An… Ji An… Ji An…” The familiar voice tragically called Ji An’s name again, but this time, the voice did not appear behind Ji An, but echoed in Ji An’s brain.

“Szzzzzz…” At the same time, the omnipresent voice also sounded, but this time it only transmitted harsh, meaningless sound waves.

And Ji An had already remembered who the owner of the voice calling his name was.

Thinking of the owner of the voice, he remembered that handsome face, with a rugged and deep contour like a sculpted ancient Greek god statue, and sharp, prominent features.

Especially the pair of eyes on the stern face, which seemed indifferent but were inwardly cunning, like a vast ocean. Ji An was a small boat drifting within it, his heart fluttering with each wave.

“Gu Jinsheng.” Ji An finally spoke these three words. The round object as bright as day vanished abruptly, and the night reappeared.

But this time, the night was no longer pure black, so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of you. Starlight appeared in the night sky, then more and more, more and more. In an instant, tens of thousands of stars hung in the night sky, twinkling.

Like an inverted Milky Way, breathtakingly beautiful.

“Gu Jinsheng, look, tonight’s night sky is so beautiful, full of stars…” Ji An turned his head to point it out to Gu Jinsheng.

Gu Jinsheng looked up, and Ji An met a pair of scarlet, bloodshot eyes. Those eyes were completely red, and Gu Jinsheng opened his mouth, his expression filled with sorrow, “Ji An…”

“Ah!!!” For some reason, as soon as Gu Jinsheng called him, his head hurt so, so much, hurting as if it were about to split open.

Moreover, Ji An felt his body being intensely roasted by flames. He felt like a piece of meat on a hot plate, being fried inside and out. His chest seemed to be filled with rolling smoke, and his lungs felt like they were being smoked and burned.

Water, spiritual spring water, he had spiritual spring water.

Ji An turned his head to look for the spiritual spring water and found that the spring was right beside him. He endured the splitting headache and stumbled towards the spiritual spring, dragging his limbs which were again burdened with heavy sandbags.

Ji An scooped up a handful of spiritual spring water and gulped down a big mouthful. The burning sensation in his lungs and stomach seemed to lessen.

He thought that Gu Jinsheng, holding him, must also be suffering from the heat, so he wanted to scoop up some for him too.

Ji An scooped up another handful from the spiritual spring water. He stumbled to Gu Jinsheng’s side, but Gu Jinsheng refused to drink, only looking at the Ji An in his arms.

Ji An was a little angry. They were clearly the same person, and he was able to speak and move, yet Gu Jinsheng refused to look at him, only wanting the one in his arms.

Ji An became stubborn. He insisted that Gu Jinsheng drink the spiritual spring water in his hand. Gu Jinsheng refused, so he forced it into Gu Jinsheng’s mouth.

It seemed Ji An actually managed to force quite a bit down. Ji An laughed heartily with joy.

After laughing for a few moments, Ji An got angry again.

He had fed Gu Jinsheng so much wondrous spiritual spring water, yet Gu Jinsheng didn’t show any gratitude and still held the wooden dummy Ji An in his arms, refusing to even look at him.

Ji An felt wronged. He was not someone who would endure being wronged, not even if the person wronging him was himself.

Ji An reached out and tried to snatch the wooden dummy Ji An from Gu Jinsheng’s arms. Ji An then discovered that Gu Jinsheng was exceptionally strong; he couldn’t snatch it at all.

Ji An got angry and bit down hard on Gu Jinsheng’s arm, leaving a very deep tooth mark.

Looking at the neat row of tooth marks, Ji An was extremely pleased and smiled triumphantly at Gu Jinsheng.

But even so, Gu Jinsheng still refused to look at him.

Too much!

Ji An was very angry, and the consequences were severe!

Ji An walked back to the spiritual spring water with heavy steps. He scooped up a handful of spiritual spring water. This time, he did not feed the water to Gu Jinsheng but directly poured it over Gu Jinsheng’s head and face.

Strangely enough, that small handful of spiritual spring water, when poured on Gu Jinsheng, turned into a torrential downpour.

In the rain curtain, Gu Jinsheng looked up and called out with bloodshot eyes, “Ji An… Ji An… Ji An…”

Every time Gu Jinsheng called out, that sorrowful voice echoed in Ji An’s head, like a small hammer. With each strike, Ji An cried out in pain, “I’ll go back into that wooden dummy right now, stop calling for my soul, my head hurts.”

As soon as Ji An finished speaking, he felt a powerful suction coming from the wooden dummy. With a swoosh, Ji An was sucked back into the wooden dummy’s body.

At the same time, the sky above the fire suddenly flashed with lightning and roared with thunder, and a strong wind blew. Dark clouds gathered, pressing down as if to destroy the entire Jing Shi Base city.

Thousands of kilometers away from the fire, Wan Xueying and Kong Zhongcheng’s expressions were heavy. Wan Xueying’s grave gaze looked at the dark clouds rolling in the distance. “Tell everyone to be ready, give it your all to defend. Boss’s Wind-type and Thunder-type dual Tier 6 abilities might be about to detonate simultaneously!”

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the simultaneous appearance of wind and thunder anomalies.

At this moment, Gu Jinsheng’s parents, Gu Lianyun and Dai Xin, as well as his younger brother Gu Jinlan, arrived simultaneously.

The Gu family had already learned what happened on the way. Dai Xin cried uncontrollably.

“Is Jinlan up ahead? Let our car go in, just our family’s car, we’re not afraid,” Dai Xin tearfully said to Wan Xueying.

“My apologies, Auntie Gu.” When Wan Xueying saw Dai Xin, she was always elegant and gentle, like a beauty from the Jiangnan region who had stepped out of a painting. In truth, Dai Xin was not from Jiangnan, but she possessed a unique charm.

At this moment, Dai Xin had lost that elegance, like a mother animal who had lost her young.

“Auntie Gu, look at the sky over there, full of thunder and rain, it looks like it’s about to rain any moment. But when we left, it was clear skies over there. This cloud and thunder appeared suddenly. I suspect it’s not naturally occurring weather, but an anomaly caused by Commander Gu’s dual abilities about to self-detonate!”

Almost everyone suspected this. “So, I’m sorry, Auntie Gu, I can’t let you pass. You might not even see Commander Gu before you are blown into dust by his self-detonating crystal core.”

Gu Lianyun held Dai Xin and kissed her hair. There was pain in Gu Lianyun’s eyes, but he still comforted his wife, “Wife, you can’t just think about Jinlan alone. It’s not fair to me and Jinlan. We are also your family.”

Gu Jinlan wasn’t really trying to vie for attention; he was just trying to persuade Dai Xin, “Mom, you still have me. You can’t just live for Big Brother.”

Dai Xin stopped insisting on going in. She covered her mouth and sobbed, “Ever since Jinlan came back from the military, he seemed like a changed person. The mischievous child who dared to run away from home when he was young came back a robot who was humorless and emitted coldness.

“At that time, I was worried, could such a person find a wife?” Dai Xin cried as she spoke. “Indeed, Jinlan became a robot, seemingly without emotions, only knowing how to work, and wasn’t interested in either sex.

“Then the Apocalypse arrived, and Jinlan became even colder. They secretly gave him a nickname, calling him a humanoid weapon. I heard all this, and it made my heart ache,” Dai Xin clutched her chest. “Later, I thought this child was destined to live like this his whole life, until he was about to die on that mission when he suddenly came home and asked us to help him swap residences.

“When he asked us to move into his villa and he moved into this small house, I knew he might have been moved, that he had fallen for someone. Sure enough, I saw Ji An.”

Tears unknowingly fell from Gu Lianyun’s eyes. He didn’t interrupt; he knew Dai Xin didn’t need him to respond, she just needed a listener.

Gu Lianyun held Dai Xin with one arm and raised his other hand. A green ability shot out from his hand, joining the ability defense wall.

Gu Jinlan silently released his ability, his eyes looking at the lightning and thunder in the distance. He seemed to see his Big Brother Gu Jinsheng’s somewhat symbolic Thunder Dragon within the thick clouds.

Only Gu Jinsheng could conjure such a flashy, cool-looking Thunder Dragon.

Dai Xin also released her ability at this time, adding strength to the defense wall.

But she was still lost in her memories. “When I first saw Ji An, I was amazed by him. That child was truly beautiful, no wonder Jinlan fell for him.

Although at that time there was some fatigue and world-weariness in that child’s eyes, I didn’t pay it much attention, thinking he wasn’t having an easy time in the Apocalypse.

Later I found out how excellent that child was, why Jinlan liked him so much.”

“At that time, I was so happy, thinking Jinlan had finally found a life partner who could match him. But as happy as I was then, I am now just as heartbroken. I would rather Jinlan never met him, I would rather Jinlan wasn’t so deeply in love.”

“Wife, don’t say anymore,” Gu Lianyun cried silently, feeling the same pain. “They are about to embark on their journey together. They probably don’t want to hear your opposition on the way to the underworld. As things stand, just give them your blessing.”

Dai Xin’s ability couldn’t be maintained and broke. She covered her face with her hands and burst into tears, “Jinlan, may you be happy, worry-free, safe, and joyful from now on, no longer suffering the hardships of the Apocalypse, and hold hands with your beloved, for all eternity!”

“Rumble, rumble!” As if responding to Dai Xin’s words, the sound of thunder became increasingly mournful.

Kong Zhongcheng looked at the rolling thunderclouds in the sky. With such an anomaly, once the crystal core self-detonated, the fire combined with the tornado could instantly turn the Jing Shi Base into ashes.

“This battle can only succeed, not fail, otherwise the entire Jing Shi Base might cease to exist!”

“Yes, only success is allowed, not failure!” Almost all the Power Users participating in this joint resistance roared in unison.

Wan Xueying couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. “If the Jing Shi Base can safely survive this time, it will have survived a great disaster and will certainly have future blessings. Otherwise, there will be no otherwise!”

As if responding to Wan Xueying’s words, a deafening thunderclap sounded from the horizon, tearing a rift in the entire sky.

The water of the Milky Way from the nine heavens seemed to leak down through this rift. Rain poured down in torrents, sudden and without warning.

The Power Users below, who had prepared for certain death, were stunned for a moment, then followed by bursts of wild joy. Overwhelming cheers resounded through the sky!

A hint of a smile finally appeared in Wan Xueying’s eyes. “The Jing Shi Base’s fate is not to perish!”

Such water without a source was a natural counter to Gu Jinsheng’s Thunder-type and Fire-type abilities. Such heavy rain was enough to extinguish the huge fire Gu Jinsheng had released. Without the enhancement of flames, the danger of Gu Jinsheng’s Power User crystal core self-detonating could be reduced by thirty percent!

“Mmm…” A weak whimper, completely drowned out by the thunderous roar, sounded in Gu Jinsheng’s ear. It was a sound so small that one should have been unable to hear it even by listening carefully, but in Gu Jinsheng’s mind, it resonated even louder than the thunder from the nine heavens.

Gu Jinsheng suddenly looked up and saw that the person in his arms, who was clearly lifeless just moments ago, was now slightly furrowing his brows and showing a look of pain.

Gu Jinsheng could hardly believe his eyes. He tremblingly stretched out his fingers to check Ji An’s breath and felt that weak but definitely present breathing.

Gu Jinsheng’s trembling, disfigured fingers then touched the major artery on Ji An’s neck; it was also faintly pulsing.

“Ji An, Ji An…” Gu Jinsheng, who hadn’t shed a single tear no matter how tragically he had screamed until now, was now weeping, tears streaming down his face.

Thousands of meters away, everyone held their breath. Dai Xin cried uncontrollably, held in the arms of Gu Lianyun and Gu Jinlan.

“Look, what’s in the rain curtain?” Kong Zhongcheng suddenly shouted, pointing at the rain curtain ahead.

The pouring rain formed a water curtain, making it almost impossible to see clearly with open eyes.

But as the figure in the rain curtain walked closer and closer, everyone could see clearly who was walking out, holding a person?

“Boss!”

“Jinlan!”

“Commander Gu!”

“Mr. Ji!”

“Researcher Ji!”

“Brother Ji An!”

The last voice was Little Stone’s. Various calls rang out, but they were all calling out to those two people.

Gu Jinsheng and Ji An!

Dai Xin pushed away her younger son and ran out, “Jinlan, Jinlan!”

Gu Jinsheng seemed to have regained his clarity at this moment. He gave Dai Xin a weak but joyful smile, “Mom, Ji An is awake!”

Gu Jinsheng’s words didn’t make Dai Xin feel happy; instead, she felt goosebumps rise all over her body and chills run down her spine.

Gu Jinsheng hadn’t self-detonated his Power User crystal core, but it wasn’t because he suddenly came to his senses at the critical moment, but because the shock was too great and he had gone mad!

Dai Xin covered her mouth but couldn’t help letting out a whimper.

Gu Jinsheng seemed not to notice Dai Xin’s strangeness. He held the person and stumbled through the crowd, searching, “Where is Xiang Tongxin? Come here and help me examine Ji An.”

Xiang Tongxin, who was called out, was the person who had previously repaired Ji An’s body. No one knew Ji An’s condition better than her. Ji An was dead!

Wan Xueying gently pushed Xiang Tongxin. “Don’t be afraid, I’m with you. Later, you just need to go along with what the Boss says. Just tell him Ji An is alive.

The Jing Shi Base can withstand a crazy Commander, but it cannot withstand the self-detonation of a dual Wind-type and Thunder-type Tier 6 Power User’s crystal core, do you understand?”

“Y-yes, I understand,” Xiang Tongxin said tearfully.

“Boss, Xiang Tongxin is here, hand Ji An over to her for treatment,” Wan Xueying brought Xiang Tongxin over, her voice trying to maintain a normal and ordinary tone, so as not to stimulate Gu Jinsheng’s nerves.

Gu Jinsheng saw Xiang Tongxin and smiled, something rare. Joy could actually be seen in his eyes and on his face.

This was not Gu Jinsheng. Their Boss was a humanoid weapon. Robots had no emotions, how could they have human expressions? So this Boss who was smiling at her must be insane. Xiang Tongxin was almost one hundred percent sure. It was precisely because she was sure that her three souls and seven spirits were scared out of her body.

A crazy humanoid weapon was much more terrifying than a humanoid weapon without emotions!

Xiang Tongxin resisted the urge to turn and run, slowly shuffling to Gu Jinsheng’s side. Although she was one hundred percent certain that Ji An was dead, in order to soothe Gu Jinsheng’s emotions and prevent him from going further into madness, Xiang Tongxin still extended her hand towards Ji An’s nose again.

Then Xiang Tongxin could no longer hold back and let out a scream of extreme terror: “Ah! Ah!!! Ah!!!”

The scream scared Wan Xueying so much that she almost used an ability to knock Xiang Tongxin away. She glanced at Gu Jinsheng’s expression through the rain curtain while simultaneously covering Xiang Tongxin’s mouth.

Wan Xueying whispered in Xiang Tongxin’s ear, “I know Ji An is dead, but wasn’t I telling you not to shout? What if it stimulates the Boss…”

Xiang Tongxin’s mouth was covered, preventing her from speaking, she could only make whimpering sounds. She kept shaking her head, the fear in her eyes almost overflowing.

Wan Xueying finally realized something was wrong. She released her hand covering Xiang Tongxin’s mouth.

She saw Xiang Tongxin stretching out a trembling finger and pointing at Ji An, “Ji, Ji An rose from the dead!”

“What?”

Everyone was completely taken aback by this. They rushed forward, all going up to check on Ji An.

Only Gu Jinsheng was seriously emphasizing, “It’s not rising from the dead, Ji An is not dead, he was just in a state of suspended animation just now, now he’s alive again.”

No one listened to Gu Jinsheng’s long explanation. Everyone confirmed one thing, and that was that Ji An had really risen from the dead! No, in Gu Jinsheng’s words, he had come back to life!