King Arthur did not question Guang Ling's judgment and immediately went offline, leaving the conference room.
Lin Qi wasted no time either. He estimated that the Door's cooldown was about to end. It was time to prepare to head to the Doomsday World.
The image of the conference room vanished from his retina, and Lin Qi found himself still in his workshop.
All communication within the conference room was conducted via brainwave signals transmitted by the Intelligent Brain. At Lin Qi's side was the "briefcase" he had prepared in advance.
When the Door pulsed within his Sea of Consciousness, Lin Qi immediately responded.
With a shift between light and darkness, Lin Qi had arrived in the Doomsday World.
The broadcast that was playing before he left had not yet finished and was still continuing.
"This is the Modu Rescue Command Center. We ask all survivors to cooperate with the rescue operation. Before rescue personnel arrive, please do your best to clear out any nearby Zombies. I repeat, please do your best to clear out any nearby Zombies."
"In approximately 24 hours, an unknown energy tide is expected to sweep through for the second time. It is possible that the threat level of the Zombies will increase."
The broadcast startled Xia Chu from her sleep. She first glanced at the phone acting as a radio, then looked at Lin Qi.
Lin Qi was frowning.
The briefcase hadn't come with him.
'Was its volume too large?'
'Or can I only bring items that are in direct contact with my body?'
'I'll have to run some tests the next time I come to the Doomsday World.'
The only silver lining was that the small, newly-built Crimson Crystal Stone collection robot attached to his arm's Exoskeleton had made it through.
"You're awake."
Xia Chu reached out to touch his face, but Lin Qi deftly moved aside to avoid her.
"According to the broadcast, I need to clear the Zombies in this building as soon as possible. There are still two units left," Lin Qi said, then prepared to head out.
Xia Chu stood up and asked, "Can you take me with you?"
Lin Qi paused for a moment before shaking his head. "It's too dangerous."
Xia Chu bit her lip and gave a slight nod.
"Continue absorbing the Crimson Crystal Stones for now," Lin Qi instructed. "When I get back, I'll teach you something."
'Brushing Xia Chu off wasn't a sustainable solution.' Lin Qi decided to find something for her to do.
'Perhaps he could let Xia Chu try her hand at an Extraordinary Profession.'
'The Doomsday World was rich with Spiritual Particles, and Extraordinary Items were plentiful. It was the perfect environment for the Extraordinary to rise.'
'To maximize his gains in this world, Lin Qi needed more power.'
'He hadn't been able to bring the "briefcase," so his plan to build a Cyber Legion was unfeasible for the time being. However, he could introduce Extraordinary Professions to this world.'
'Of course, this was all contingent on the person who became Extraordinary not betraying him.'
'Xia Chu was the perfect candidate.'
'He believed that once she had an Extraordinary Profession, Xia Chu would at least stop thinking about... well...'
'The desires of young couples were a terrifying thing.'
'Lin Qi was worried Xia Chu would initiate another "matching" request.'
Xia Chu, oblivious to Lin Qi's thoughts, simply gave another slight nod.
Lin Qi left the room and took out his weapon.
He stepped out into the hallway.
The apartment building was an old design, and there were no passages connecting the different units.
They were separated by the building's load-bearing walls.
But a reinforced concrete wall couldn't stop Lin Qi; it would only take him a few slashes to get through.
Lin Qi cut a hole in the load-bearing wall and stepped through to the adjacent unit.
Cutting a hole in a top-floor load-bearing wall was a shoddy thing to do, but it wouldn't make the building structurally unsound overnight. At worst, it would shave about ten years off its lifespan.
But this was the apocalypse; no one would care about such things. Lin Qi was only focused on clearing the building more efficiently.
Lin Qi didn't know how the higher-ups in this world knew when the new wave of Spiritual Particles would arrive.
But he knew their prediction was correct.
The arrival of the Spiritual Particle wave would make the Zombies much more dangerous.
Right now, the Zombies weren't even as strong as an ordinary person with a weapon. But after the coming change, they might reach M-Class—the equivalent of someone with rudimentary Prosthetic Body modifications, or the entry-level of an Extraordinary Profession.
At that point, they would be beyond what ordinary people could handle. Even shoddy doors and windows would likely fail to provide effective protection.
Lin Qi moved quickly. Aided by the collection robot, he no longer had to personally gather the Crimson Crystal Stones. All he had to do was cut down Zombie after Zombie.
In just over three hours, Lin Qi had cleared all the Zombies from the entire building.
Meanwhile, the collection robot gathered all the Crystal Stones and piled them up outside Lin Qi's room on the top floor.
Xia Chu, inside the room, had been hearing rustling sounds from outside the whole time, but she hadn't dared to open the door and check.
Fighting her way upstairs to find Lin Qi had already required all the courage she could muster in her life.
It wasn't until Lin Qi returned to the room that Xia Chu asked, "Lin Qi, there's been a strange noise outside this whole time. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
He scratched his head. 'When I programmed it, I forgot Xia Chu was still in the room. I didn't think the collection robot's movements would startle her.'
He showed her the collection robot and explained reassuringly, "This is a robot I designed before. It just so happens to be perfect for moving Crimson Crystal Stones."
Xia Chu's gaze was filled with suspicion.
'Lin Qi came up with such an outstanding design?'
'A robot of this caliber had to be among the best in the world, didn't it?'
'Is Lin Qi really that skilled? It can't be real.'
But even though it was hard to believe, the proof was right in front of her.
Xia Chu had no choice but to believe him.
"You said before that you'd teach me something when you came back," Xia Chu asked. "What is it?"
Lin Qi cleared his throat, his expression turning very serious. "Xia Chu," he asked, "do you believe that the Extraordinary exists in this world?"
'Extraordinary?'
'What's that?'
For a moment, Xia Chu didn't even register the word Lin Qi had used.
After a moment, a strange look crossed Xia Chu's face. "Kung fu? Cultivation? Ultraman?"
Lin Qi nodded.
Xia Chu shook her head. "I don't."
"What if I told you that it really does exist in this world—"
Lin Qi stopped abruptly, mid-sentence.
The reason was simple: the Spiritual Particles were fluctuating wildly!
The wave of Spiritual Particles predicted on the broadcast had arrived!
It had come so quickly!
Barely more than three hours had passed since the broadcast.
Xia Chu's gaze also shifted to the window.
It was in the small hours of the morning, still some time before sunrise.
Outside the window should have been the darkness of pre-dawn; without the glow of city lights, there should have been only the faint glimmer of the moon and stars.
But now, the world outside was bathed in a blood-red glow.
"Lin Qi, look at the sky."
He followed her gaze.
High in the sky, the moon, which should have been reflecting the sun's light, was now slowly rotating and emitting a crimson glow.
The principle of tidal locking had become a joke.
The far side of the moon was slowly turning to face the Earth.
In his Spiritual Vision, the Spiritual Particles were in an uproar as a massive deluge of them rained down from the sky.
These Spiritual Particles were very similar in composition to the Crimson Crystal Stones.
Beyond the range of his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi's perspective was the same as anyone else's, though his eyesight was much sharper.
"Xia Chu, turn around and close your eyes!"
The moment Lin Qi saw a sliver of the rotating moon, he hurriedly pulled Xia Chu close. Without even a moment to consider the feelings of his parallel self in this timeline, he buried her face in his chest.
High in the sky.
The far side of the moon revealed itself, and a gigantic pupil hung high in the heavens.
The pupil held not a trace of emotion, only endless chaos and madness.
It could not be looked upon directly.
Every survivor who looked directly at the moon in that instant died. Less than two breaths later, they rose to their feet once more, a low moan rumbling from their throats.