CHAPTER 1146: CHAPTER 883: THE NEXT GENERATION OF WARFARE

In a small compartment at the back of the second floor of the Weak Water Tavern, Bubble put down their luggage, laying a plastic waterproof sheet, with the dirty side facing down. They only ever cleaned the side they lay on.

They sat on the waterproof sheet. Grandma Bai Jiayi handed them an old video disc player. Xu Cheng checked the interface and luckily it had a slot for reading Separation Chips, so she inserted a golden chip.

"Quack." She sat back. It was one of the things Xu Yang left her, containing many films and animations from Xu Yang’s era, seemingly meant for Xu Cheng to understand the things Xu Yang once watched.

Xu Cheng pressed the play button, and together with Bubble, they continued from where they left off. The main discussion was about heroes departing from the Northern Archipelago to Alexandria Port to hunt vampires.

Bubble hugged her knees, temporarily putting aside the conflicts and displeasure of the real world.

"The vampire antagonists keep sending different cadres to obstruct the protagonist group. First, a group features cards, then nine have godly traits. Altogether, the protagonists defeated almost thirty enemies along the way. Why don’t the vampires send all thirty from the start? Wouldn’t that wipe out the protagonists in one go?" Bubble asked.

"Quack." Xu Cheng leaned against a cushion, holding a small hand, trying to imitate the anime protagonist inside, swinging her fist with precision to defeat the enemy. She wasn’t really concerned about what Bubble said; regardless of how many enemies came, the protagonists could always knock them down in one go. Isn’t that the attraction?

While the ending theme played, Xu Cheng took out her pilot licenses for a wipe. The two licenses: one for an A-level large passenger and cargo shuttle machine, and the other for a fighter jet. They were both her livelihood and her greatest treasures, each bearing photos of her at ages 12 and 13, self-obtained after leaving her father.

"Quack yay." With these, one should surely survive in this world. Xu Cheng tucked the two licenses into her pocket and then started the next episode.

Bubble pressed closely to Xu Cheng; they sat together, relying on each other for survival. Bubble wore a plastic outer garment, covering her green hair with a hood.

"What should we buy to eat, hmm?" Bubble asked.

"Boop boop." Xu Cheng opened a milk carton and drank milk.

Bubble’s stomach started to rumble. Torn between wanting to eat and not wanting to leave Xu Cheng, she leaned slightly toward Xu Cheng. Even if she ate nothing, being next to Xu Cheng would at least bring her some peace.

"Are vampires really dumb, hmm?" Bubble watched the next episode, still contemplating the vampires’ flawed strategic layout, where in the anime, the vampires behind the scenes sent their cadres to confront the protagonists one by one. If they had gathered all the card ability users and cadres from the start and trained them well, they could possibly completely block the protagonists.

"Mm!" Xu Cheng nodded. Vampires are all very dumb, nothing to fear.

Bubble’s presence gave Xu Cheng a sense of reality in this world. Overnight, more than 4 billion people worldwide died, drowned in a sea of blood, devoured by the starry sky. Xu Cheng truly hoped it was all just a nightmare.

The monsters from the stars included not only the peculiar stitched beasts but also buzzing monsters, clinging bugs, Burning Eyes, Mist Walkers, The Willow Prophet, and other freaks. Xu Cheng had seen them while traversing the restricted zone; they laughed, screamed, and invaded her dreams.

"Boop boop..." Xu Cheng leaned against Bubble, gripping Bubble’s collar. She didn’t want to sleep tonight because if she did, she would have nightmares. The illusion of the stars was especially intense at night, gradually driving people insane. At night, people rarely looked up; the sky was already a strange entity, as if they had entered another dimension.

Bubble watched the anime intently, where the protagonists always received positive returns for their efforts, like a prize coupon that guaranteed a prize with purchase.

"I hope we can safely get through all this, safely pick up the goods and deliver them to the Taixi Continent, to earn a billion." Bubble said softly, lowering her head.

Xu Cheng pondered, wishing she were stronger now, taller. She told every stranger she met that she was 16, as if that could add another 5 centimeters to her height, earning more respect. In reality, she was only 15, 1.55 meters tall, and weighed 44.9 kilograms—hardly impressive.

"Quack..." Xu Cheng felt she could be a bit braver. She thought about many things, mostly past memories; Nestor Corporation headquarters sounded like some place in another world now. Indeed, it used to be just a 4-hour risk-free flight from Jialong Slope to Shangjing. Now, it required a dangerous 10 to 20-hour trek through restricted areas.

Outside, the sound of glass shattering rang out; it seemed the back room on the floor below had been broken into. Grandma Bai Jiayi’s shouts echoed; Xu Cheng quickly scrambled up, pulling out a large handgun from her sleeping bag, gripping it with her right hand, her left clutching the Mini Black Blade. Bubble, too, took up an iron rod and gun, standing in front of Xu Cheng, shielding her as they stepped out.

They descended in sync; Cold Bay Seven Group’s thugs had already stormed in. A tall, thin assassin fired at Xu Cheng, no mercy, treating her not like a child. The bullets in front of them were deflected by the Repulsion Force. Xu Cheng fired a shot; her gun, "Well Tiger," inherited from Xu Yang, all black with an old style, fired brass bullets, hitting the assassin’s shield field, stirring a blue ripple. Bubble fired two more shots, grazing his leg.