Life Game In Other World
Chapter 645: Knowledge That Changed the Era/New Copy Character (Two-in-One Mega - for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 645: Chapter 645: Knowledge That Changed the Era/New Copy Character (Two-in-One Mega Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

The bustling crowd traversed through the noisy streets.

It had been four days since Locklen Street was locked down.

By the third day of the lockdown, this street had already been unsealed, and pedestrians were once again frequent on the thriving street.

"Sir, your coffee."

The server carefully placed a cup of coffee beside the man who appeared to have a gentle demeanor.

"Just put it there, thank you."

Li Cheng looked up at the server, thanking them in Tia Empire language.

"Would you like me to add sugar?"

The server carefully set the coffee on the table, adding sugar while making small talk, "Sir, you’ve been here for the past couple of days. Are you waiting for someone?"

"Waiting for a friend,"

Li Cheng replied with a gentle smile. "Two cubes are enough, thank you."

"Didn’t your friend set a specific time to meet?"

The server paused their actions, asking with some confusion.

"He’s coming from a far place, so he couldn’t determine an exact arrival time."

Li Cheng maintained his gentle smile as he picked up the coffee from the table, "Thank you for the trouble."

"No problem, you’re welcome. Enjoy,"

said the server as they took the tray and slowly walked away.

Li Cheng gently sipped his coffee, the steam brushing across his cheeks.

During his coffee break, he glanced at the street, where the dense crowd was just as before, without any sudden addition of a person, nor any abnormalities.

People were still moving briskly along the street.

Everything was as usual.

He shifted his gaze back to the computer in front of him.

The screen displayed a summary report from those who had returned alive from the ruins this time.

The report mentioned that the ruins were significantly different from those of the past.

Firstly, the safe zone after arriving at the ruins had shrunk, as one would not have to venture far before encountering powerful exotic beasts.

Secondly, the strength of the exotic beasts near the safe zone had also noticeably increased.

In the past, D-level Explorers entering the ruins could mostly encounter E-level exotic beasts as long as they did not wander too far, and it was rare to find D-level beasts. But this time, they encountered a large number of D-level beasts and even several C-level beasts.

Many explorers returned with significant injuries, even the strongest among them, Transcendent C-level Ye Yun, had been seriously wounded.

In contrast, the chances of finding or obtaining powerful transcendent items in the ruins also increased.

It seemed as if some sort of "novice protection period" had ended, and the "difficulty" of the ruins had been substantially upgraded.

Of course, these changes were not considered the most notable aspect of the ruins this time.

The greatest change in the ruins this time was the alteration in the flow of time between the ruins and the main world, which shifted from 12:1 to 6:1, meaning explorers who normally could return in 6 hours now took 12 hours to come back.

In truth, the explorers had spent three days inside the ruins.

Although none of the major organizations knew what this change in the flow of time signified, almost everyone recognized that something abnormal had occurred in the ruins.

A portion of researchers proposed a theory suggesting that the discrepancy in time flows was related, in some sense, to the distance between the ruins and the real world.

This reduction in discrepancy indicated that the ruins were drawing closer to the main world.

No one could prove whether this theory was correct, nor could anyone refute it was wrong.

Nor did anyone know what it would mean for the ruins to approach the main world.

Because of this matter, researchers within all the major organizations were practically in an uproar.

And at that moment, Li Cheng was carefully reading through the various conjectures these researchers had proposed about the event.

Just then, the bottom right corner of his computer screen flickered, and a chat icon lit up.

He clicked on the icon, revealing a message from Liu Zhengyun.

Liu Zhengyun: [Moonlight and the World Tree have announced that they will add the transcendents who have not returned to the death list and start arranging compensation.]

Liu Zhengyun: [We should also begin the process. Logistics have urged us several times, and there are a few research projects here that need you to lead.]

Liu Zhengyun: [Usually, if someone doesn’t return from the ruins...]

Liu Zhengyun: [Even if that Hao Yi really is someone from inside the ruins, truly able to rush there, but with four days passed, he still hasn’t come back, it’s possible that by the time he arrives...]

Liu Zhengyun: [Sigh]

Li Cheng stared at these messages, falling into a brief silence before his hands moved to the keyboard, slowly typing a response,

[Let’s wait a little longer.]

Liu Zhengyun’s icon flickered, followed by a text indicating [The other party is typing...], and then it disappeared, only to reappear with [The other party is typing...], before disappearing once more.

After several times, Liu Zhengyun ultimately did not send a reply.

Li Cheng watched the chat box quietly, and after a short wait, as he was about to close the chat box, a new message popped up,

Wu Lan: [Director, hasn’t he come back yet?]

Li Cheng’s gaze moved up to Wu Lan’s previous messages.

The last one was from 2:30 this morning: [Director, Minister Yang is drunk, he said he wanted to come over and persuade you, but I stopped him.]

The one before that was from around this time yesterday, and it said, [Director, hasn’t he come back yet?]

Almost every day, there would be a message of the same content, and Li Cheng’s answer was also the same.

His hand slowly rose, preparing to send a reply to Wu Lan, typing in the response box.

Creak—

However, before he could send the message, a slight noise of a chair moving next to him sounded, followed by an inquiry with a hint of a smile, "How’s the taste of the coffee here?"

Li Cheng looked up at the seat in front of him, addressing the youth who had taken the liberty of sitting down across from him without any regard for politeness. He paused, sipped his coffee once more, and replied with a smile,

"It’s alright, but your cappuccino is better."

"You should trust my judgment in coffee,"

the youth shrugged.

"So..."

Li Cheng looked at the young man and tentatively asked.

"Director,"

At this moment, a figure walked out from behind the young man, smiling at Li Cheng in front of him.

"Back already?"

Li Cheng gazed at He Ao, his face still maintaining a composed and gentle smile, "It’s good that you’re back."

"Ah!"

He Ao hurriedly reached out, using his hand to catch the coffee cup that was sliding off the table, a few drops of coffee liquid scattered on the computer keyboard.

Li Cheng looked down.

The coffee cup he held, now, had only the handle left.

And the place where the handle connected to the cup had just been accidentally crushed by him.

"Looks like I’ve got to compensate for a coffee cup before I leave,"

Li Cheng smiled and raised his pitch.

He Ao put the coffee cup on the table, and at that moment, Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo also walked out from behind him.

"Everyone’s back?"

Li Cheng glanced behind He Ao and looked at He Ao, who was wearing a large coat to cover the blood stains, and gave a thumbs-up, "Good lad, well done."

"Director Li, shall we continue discussing the ’deal’ from earlier?"

At this moment, "Hao Yi" stood up.

"Just a moment,"

Li Cheng nodded, he closed his laptop, took out his phone and sent a message, then looked at He Ao and the others with a smile, "I’ve called Li Le, he’ll be here soon. Take a break and then head home."

"Alright."

A few of them nodded in unison.

"Oh, He Ao,"

At this time, Li Cheng suddenly remembered something and looked at He Ao, "Go contact Minister Yang. That old fellow hasn’t had a good sleep in days."

"Alright."

He Ao nodded gently.

Li Cheng discussed with the café, compensated for the broken cup, and then left with "Hao Yi."

Meanwhile, He Ao, along with Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo, settled down in the café.

Yasia didn’t join them; he had gone straight to seek out the Moonlight organization after returning.

Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo whispered something to each other and then both came over and told He Ao they needed to use the restroom, temporarily leaving the café.

And in the gap when the two left, Li Le, carrying a shoulder bag, hurried over. As soon as he saw He Ao, he immediately ran up with clearly reddened eyes,

"Minister He!"

He too had been through life and death with He Ao.

"It’s okay," He Ao patted his shoulder with a smile, "I’m back."

"Yeah."

Li Le nodded, then he opened his bag, "This is the spare phone the director asked me to prepare for you, I’ve booked the hotel and meals; shall we head to the hotel now?"

"Wait a bit," He Ao looked in the direction where Zhang Yusi had left, "Two people haven’t returned yet."

—

"This sword is quite useful,"

The Velora once again sailed over the previously beautiful lake, the old-style wheels cutting across the water, creating faint ripples.

He Ao glanced outside the window, opened his hand, and the Shadowless Sword appeared in his grasp, "However, according to our prior agreement, I brought the person back, offsetting most of the payment."

"That’s as it should be; actually, I believe that you bringing those young men and women back already justifies all the payment,"

Li Cheng seemed in good spirits as he watched the scenery outside the window, speaking with a smile.

"Negotiating in reverse isn’t acceptable,"

He Ao smiled, knowing that Li Cheng was trying to further win him over, "I always care about fairness in my work,"

The Shadowless Sword turned into a shadow in his hand, and this vague shadow clung to the surface of the table, then slowly rose into two shadowy spheres, "I now have two pieces of knowledge that can serve as the ’final payment’ to tell you,"

He Ao pointed to the shadow sphere on the left, "The first is about ’talent,’ however, this knowledge is quite basic and won’t help much with the advancement of Higher Beings."

Then he pointed to the shadow sphere on the right, "The second is about ’Angels’."

He raised his head, looking at Li Cheng, "Which one do you choose?"

This was actually a simple choice: knowledge about ’talent’ would benefit the majority of people, while knowledge about ’Angels’ pertained to Li Cheng himself, who was currently the closest to becoming an Angel, and would benefit him personally.

Li Cheng looked at the two small spheres in front of him and, after a brief silence, said slowly, "I choose the first one."

The shadow sphere on the right, representing the knowledge about ’Angels,’ slowly sank into the shadows of the table.

He Ao placed his hand above the first shadow sphere, and immediately the sphere burst, and faint text began to form in the sky,

[’Talents’ are arranged in sequences, and their arrangement shows a cyclical pattern.]

This brief statement, in fact, encapsulated the profound explorations by the Transcendents of the Copy World during the era of great disasters.

According to the data held by He Ao, the discovery of the Talent Sequences periodic table may have also been one of the key factors that ultimately pushed the Original Federation to form.

This simple rule that could be summarized in a sentence signified humanity’s systematic grasp over superhuman powers.

"What does this mean?"

Li Cheng stared blankly at the line of text.

He could vaguely sense a tightly sealed door opening before him, but his current problem was that he couldn’t even find the edges of the door.

Until now, the main world’s definition of ’talent’ by the Transcendent organizations was ’an ability that could be awakened randomly, or acquired in ruins through taking special potions or consuming special items.’

Some people have connected similar-looking talents in their thoughts, but nobody had ever connected all talents together.

The talents discovered in the main world now vary widely, some diametrically opposed, others vastly different.

The existence of these talents is as normal as the sun rising from the east, part of the composition of the world, and no one had ever considered whether all talents might share some special regulation.

At this moment, Li Cheng felt as if God had laid the truth before him, but he could only catch a glimpse of it.

"Theoretically, according to the principle of our deal, I shouldn’t tell you more information, but out of respect for your sincerity,"

He Ao looked at Li Cheng’s eyes, a mix of bewilderment and excitement, "I can add some information as ’annotations’ to this knowledge."

He paused, then continued,

"I think you should have discovered by now that some lower-level Talent Sequences and higher-level Talent Sequences share a certain ’successiveness’,

"In fact, this is a pattern of the Talent Sequences periodic table, which means that Talent Sequences at a certain level can only be promoted from the corresponding Talent Sequences of the previous level, and can only advance to the Talent Sequences of the next level."

"For example, the Talent Sequence ’Bull’ at C-level, if it wants to be promoted, it can only be so from its corresponding ’Furious Man’ at F-level, and conversely, if ’Bull’ wants to advance to the next level, it can only promote to its corresponding ’Thug’ at D-level."

Hearing He Ao’s narrative, Li Cheng did not speak immediately; he was trying to digest the meaning within He Ao’s words.

"Of course, you may not have grasped the concept of ’promotion’ yet,"

He Ao went on, "But with the information you have now, you should be able to understand this concept quickly, so I won’t explain it too much."

He spread his hands, "Let’s continue with the earlier topic. After understanding the concept of ’successiveness’, we can actually see that all Talent Sequences, if tracked forward, can be traced back to their respective most fundamental ’F’ level Talent Sequences. I believe you have already noticed, the lowest ’F’ level Talent Sequences, or ’Talents’, there are only nine."

"They are, Student, Farmer, Furious Man, Citizen, Reader, Notary, Audience, Onlooker, Hermit."

Li Cheng spoke slowly, he was thoroughly familiar with this information.

Over the years, the Research Institute had accumulated a considerable number of Transcendents, and there was a fundamental investigation and understanding of F-level Talents.

"Correct, but the order needs to be changed, the arrangement of these nine basic Talent Sequences,"

He Ao continued, "They are Talent Sequence 1: Farmer, Talent Sequence 2: Student, Talent Sequence 3: Reader, Talent Sequence 4: Citizen, Talent Sequence 5: Furious Man, Talent Sequence 6: Hermit, Talent Sequence 7: Onlooker, Talent Sequence 8: Notary, Talent Sequence 9: Audience."

This ordering of the nine basic Talent Sequences mainly came from the ’Talent Sequences periodic table’ ’diary’ that He Ao had previously obtained from Vianne.

However, the diary only explicitly recorded Student, Farmer, Citizen, Reader, Furious Man, and Audience, these six, with the specific order of Notary, Onlooker, and Hermit, the remaining three, unknown to him.

But he had encountered the Talent Sequences ’Onlooker’ and ’Hermit’ in two different places.

’Onlooker’ was the Talent Sequence taken by Roy in the Roy Copy World, whose corresponding pathways of E-level and D-level Talent Sequences were ’Mercenary’ and ’Assassin’ respectively.

And ’Hermit’ was the starting Talent Sequence of Jess in the Jess Copy World that had just ended.

Onlooker was 7, while Hermit was 6.

Knowing the order of ’Onlooker’ and ’Hermit’, He Ao was able to deduce that ’Notary’ was ’8’, though he had never come in contact with it.

So in fact, it was until the Jess Copy World ended that He Ao completely deduced the ordering of the nine F-level Talent Sequences.

However, He Ao showed no other expression on his face. He continued speaking to Li Cheng, "These nine Talent Sequences are the foundation of all Talent Sequences."

"There are nine Talent Sequences at E-level..."

At this point, Li Cheng was gradually catching on. He asked softly, "Are the following levels also composed of nine Talent Sequences? This is different from the data we’ve collected..."

"Different?" He Ao looked at him, smiling, "The Talent Sequences don’t correspond exactly one-to-one but branch upwards in a tree-like fashion. F-level only has nine Talent Sequences, but E-level has twenty-seven Talent Sequences, and D-level also has twenty-seven Talent Sequences."

"And C-level?"

Li Cheng asked instinctively.

This time, He Ao did not answer.

"Sorry, I got carried away."

Li Cheng also realized that his behavior had been a bit impulsive. ’Hao Yi’ had only mentioned up to D-level, showing that their trade’s ’information’ only extended to D-level; he had overstepped.

The normally composed head of the Research Institute showed signs of fluster for the first time in front of He Ao. He took a couple of deep breaths, "Sorry, the amount of information is a bit overwhelming, I need a moment to process it."

"Please, go ahead."

He Ao slightly raised his right hand, making a gesture that suggested the other was free to do as they pleased, then turned his head to gaze at the scenery outside the window.

After about ten minutes of thought, Li Cheng finally came back to his senses. He looked at He Ao, his words somewhat incoherent,

"Mr. Hao Yi, please allow me to express gratitude on behalf of all Transcendents for the information you’ve provided... It’s incredibly important, akin to primitive man kindling the first flame in the dark of night.

"Without you, we wouldn’t know how many detours we’d have to take to fumble our way to these laws. The world of Transcendents, before today and after today, will be completely different eras."

"I, too, am only standing on the shoulders of giants,"

He Ao shrugged his shoulders as the train entered the void, "These laws weren’t summarized by me."

The stars are always moving in the sky, and ripe apples will eventually fall to the ground.

A simple formula can summarize the laws of gravity in the low-speed macro cosmos.

And humanity took thousands of years to go from establishing the first city-state to the formula of universal gravitation.

Of course, telling the ancient slave masters about the law of universal gravitation would have been useless.

Knowledge that transcends eras can only exert its proper effect in the hands of those who are capable of understanding it.

Luckily, the laws of the Talent Sequences periodic table are far simpler than the law of universal gravitation, and Li Cheng is not an ancient slave master but a scientist with a background of learning and wisdom.

"You’re being modest," Li Cheng’s hands trembled slightly, "I can almost see the era changing in our hands. No matter what, your contribution to this world is unparalleled. The knowledge you’ve given me is far more important than what I’ve done for you."

He could hardly believe that just for such a trifle as crafting the ’Shadowless Sword,’ ’Hao Yi’ would share knowledge with him that could almost change the world.

Excitement almost filled his mind, and he was eager to dive back into the laboratory immediately to study the periodic laws of Talent Sequences.

"In my eyes, what you have done for me and what I’ve given you are equivalent."

He Ao smiled calmly, as the Velora emerged from the void and landed beside a secluded street, he gently lifted his hand, and the door beside him slowly opened, "I wish this world good luck."

"I wish this world good luck."

Li Cheng took a deep breath, "Mr. Hao Yi, the Research Institute will always be your friend."

He slowly stood up and moved towards the door.

Just as he was about to step out, He Ao suddenly called out to him, "Director Li, that ’young man’ of yours seems to have discovered something interesting. You might want to have a chat with him."

Young man?

Li Cheng was startled, he turned his head back only to see the doors of the Velora close and the train once again entering the void.

Was it He Ao?

——

"Minister He, shall we leave now?"

At the hotel in the downtown of Eren City, He Ao stood at the entrance, looking towards Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo in front of him.

Both of them had bought tickets for a flight back to Central Earth that evening. After going through so many events, they indeed should return home to rest.

He Ao hadn’t bought a ticket back.

His earlier suggestion that Rodan be co-governed by three Transcendent organizations hadn’t been implemented yet. He wouldn’t be leaving Rodan anytime soon, not until the matter was on the right track.

"Go back, your families must be missing you."

He Ao smiled and waved his hand at the two.

"By the way, Minister He,"

At this moment, Zhang Yusi suddenly stretched out her hand, pulled out a photo, and a pen from behind her. She looked up with a hint of red on her face, seemingly mustering tremendous courage, "Could you give me an autograph?"

He Ao lowered his head to glance at the photo, which was the very one Wu Lan had posted on the forum, "So that’s why the two of you left back then, to print this photo, huh?"

He smiled, took the pen, and signed his name on the photo.

Zhang Yusi had never declared herself a fan of He Ao, but she once, upon just entering aboard the Navigator, had sent He Ao textual information about the First District from her microcomputer.

It was then that He Ao saw her lock screen wallpaper.

However, Zhang Yusi had hurriedly hidden it, afraid that He Ao might see her wallpaper, so He Ao did not explicitly mention it.

Of course, the fact that He Ao was able to see the wallpaper did have a degree of inevitability, but luck played an important role as well.

"Minister He, I want one too!"

At this time, Yuan Guo beside her also took out a photo.

Zhang Yusi’s eyes instantly widened in disbelief as she stared at Yuan Guo.

She remembered that when they were printing the photo, Yuan Guo had sternly claimed that she wasn’t a fan of He Ao but thought the photo was quite artistic, which is why she had printed a copy for collection.

Feeling Zhang Yusi’s gaze, Yuan Guo looked somewhat embarrassed, "It’s just that Minister He is so famous, the photo will have a higher collectible value with an autograph."

Zhang Yusi squinted her eyes, somewhat skeptical.

He Ao smiled and signed his name for Yuan Guo as well.

"Thank you, Minister He."

Yuan Guo carefully tucked the photo into an envelope, then gingerly slipped it into her pocket under Zhang Yusi’s watchful eye.

With an awkward smile, she said, "Yusi, when I get back, I’ll treat you to dessert. There’s this really great dessert place in Dongdu..."

Zhang Yusi gave her a glare and held up two fingers, "Two times."

"Okay, okay, you’re the best, Yusi."

Yuan Guo and Zhang Yusi leaned on each other.

······

He Ao watched the two of them laughing and walking away, waving goodbye to him before getting into the taxi and leaving.

Vehicles rushed by along the roadside, leaving behind a clamor of horns.

Under the dim streetlights, passersby walked to and fro, some laughing as they passed him by.

The chill night breeze brushed his cheeks, and the trees beside him rustled in the wind.

A fallen leaf landed on his shoulder.

He slowly reached out and picked off the lone leaf.

"Minister He, sign a name for me too~"

Just then, a coquettish voice sounded from behind him.

He paused, turning around with a touch of surprise on his face.

Wu Lan, clad in a tight, fiery cheongsam, stood behind a slowly reversing old-fashioned sedan.

"They say only newcomers smile, but who hears the old ones weep,"

Wu Lan held an orchid between her fingers, her appearance feigning tears, "Brother He Ao has a new love and forgets the old. Now he even pretends not to recognize his sister."

He Ao opened his mouth slightly, ready to say something, when a figure, not particularly tall but upright, approached him. The figure’s face drew close, scrutinizing He Ao’s cheeks, "You little brat, you seem to have gained weight."

He Ao’s eyes widened as he recognized the figure before him, "Minister Yang? How come you..."

When he had called to report his safety earlier, Yang De had told him that he was on a mission and couldn’t pick up.

At that moment, the old-fashioned sedan finally parked, and Ji Po, smiling, descended from the driver’s seat. Scratching his head and smiling at He Ao, he said, "Just got off the plane."

"What, you don’t welcome us, host?" Wu Lan walked up beside He Ao, pulled out a magnifying glass from her bosom, and held it before her eye.

He Ao stood dumbfounded before the three of them, paused, and slowly a smile spread across his cheeks,

"Welcome."

——

Silent moonlight poured through the train window onto the long corridor.

He Ao’s Hao Yi clone leaned against the doorway of the first compartment, gazing at the moonlight outside the window.

In the compartment behind him, there lay the artificial intelligence, 8753, which he had taken back from the Boss’s secret base.

The Painter couldn’t have become a follower of the Evil God all of a sudden without any prior connection.

Either he was contaminated in the ruins,

Or something that came out of the ruins contaminated him through some means.

The night train dove into the heart of the mountains.

He Ao looked up at the sky.

The person behind the scenes, who had been continuously attempting to seize the temporal-spatial coordinates of the main world, seemed to care a lot about the main world.

It looks like he’s been "searching" for the main world,

For a very, very long time.

——Two days later——

He Ao locked the hotel room door and drew the curtains.

In the days after his return, he had been consuming the Transcendent plant and animal materials obtained from Moonlight and the World Tree, benefiting from the side effects of the ’Nutritional Canned Food.’

After eating all these materials, his Divine Sense increased by more than three paths, reaching seven.

And as the dust settled from the Navigator incident, he felt he was on the verge of fully mastering Super Memory.

Next, it was just a matter of grinding through the details.

He sat down on the bed in the room, as the countdown in his field of vision slowly reached zero.

[Game loading.]

[Welcome to the Life Simulation Game.]

[Matching you with a life role now.]

[Match successful.]

[Your role is: Cito, employee of the Grain Industry Group.]