Chapter 33: Free-Range Plan!

『Doomsday countdown: 2 days 16 hours 15 minutes』

In the blink of an eye, it was almost 6:00 a.m.

Dawn had not yet broken, and a hazy fog shrouded the view outside the window.

After eating a little, Su Ze used the coffee maker to brew a hot cup of coffee to perk himself up.

After all, the simulator’s cooldown was about to end.

If he was unlucky and failed to draw a gold- or purple-grade Talent, he might have to grind through many more hours of simulation.

“Squeak.”

Carrying the coffee, Su Ze went back and sat at his desk.

The computer screen on the table was lit, showing a map of Su City.

When he zoomed in, he could see the notes he had left on it.

In yesterday’s simulation, he had more or less figured out the distribution of Safe Zones in Su City after doomsday descended.

It might not have been perfectly accurate, but it should not be far off.

Among them, several Safe Zones had been highlighted by Su Ze.

Some of those Safe Zones were the starting points he picked most often, and the rest represented the official Safe Zones of Su City.

At this moment.

Su Ze’s eyes fell on the latter.

After doomsday arrived, those Safe Zones would represent Su City’s official forces.

Nothing else.

He was simply considering one possibility… the possibility of joining the authorities.

In yesterday’s simulation he had already joined the authorities, yet he had not taken part deeply in their operations.

Like the leaders of the other Safe Zones, he had only acted as a specially recruited heavy hitter for the officials.

The officials would summon these hitters only when they mounted a major operation or ran into an opponent that was hard to deal with.

With that level of involvement, there was no way to earn the officials’ full trust.

Therefore.

Whenever the officials obtained highly classified intelligence, they would not share it directly with those local warlords.

Yes.

Su Ze was thinking about diving deep into official operations solely to obtain more intel.

Although he had already reached the end of doomsday and seen the final scene of Falling Stars many times in the simulations.

There were still unknowns about doomsday itself.

For example, the mysterious “containment object”.

And whether there was deeper meaning behind the six spells.

Just like in last night’s simulation: only in the final few runs did Su Ze learn that the birth of a pollution source actually came from people’s nightmares.

If he joined the authorities, he might well be able to secure that kind of intel.

“Doesn’t seem too feasible.”

After thinking for a bit, Su Ze could not help shaking his head.

Because he remembered the information he had seen in the simulations.

The linkage between the official Safe Zones of Su City and other Safe Zones was actually very weak.

Put simply, the official intel of Su City basically came only from local Safe Zones, and there was no information exchange with the authorities of other cities.

Unless Su Ze could find a way to link all the official forces together.

No.

He should aim even bigger.

If there were a Talent that could help Su Ze connect to any corner of the world, to any Safe Zone.

“That would be a tall order.”

Even Su Ze felt the demand was harsh.

All he could do was run more simulations and hope to see more detailed intel in the text.

『The simulator’s cooldown has ended』

Soon, the simulator’s cooldown completed its final countdown.

Having waited so long, Su Ze quickly chose to start the simulation.

『Apocalypse simulation has begun…』

『Please pick one of the following three Talents as the inherent Talent for this simulation!』

『Ganfan Bucket (white): …』

『Vocal Mimic (white): …』

『Energy Sharing (green): You can share your own energy with others, and the Strength you share does not come from yourself but from the Starry Sky』

………….

『You have chosen the inherent Talent “Energy Sharing (green)”』

『Simulation start …』

『Day 1: Doomsday arrived right on schedule, and you chose SC-35 as your doomsday spawn point…』

『Day 2: The temperature plummeted and panic spread; many people braved the cold wind to go out and buy supplies. Chen Keqing dragged you outside, but because you could not compete with the other citizens, you came back empty-handed…』

『Day 3: …』

The familiar doomsday opening played out.

Su Ze had chosen SC-35 as his starting station many times already.

Originally there was nothing new to see.

But…

“Where is Qin Yushi?”

The question popped into Su Ze’s mind.

Logically, with his current mindset, he would have bagged Qin Yushi when doomsday came.

Just like he had brought Chen Keqing along before.

Yet there was no mention of Qin Yushi at all in the simulation text.

It seemed that the woman had not been traveling with him during doomsday.

“Did I change my mind?”

Lowering his eyelids, Su Ze fell into thought.

He had long known that the simulation included the world’s trajectory in the days before doomsday.

That meant…

In these final two days before doomsday, something might happen that would make him change his mind and not stuff Qin Yushi directly into his doomsday chariot.

“Not important.”

Su Ze did not worry about it and continued the simulation.

『Day 4: Water and power were cut off. You remained perfectly calm, but Chen Keqing ran around frantically, troubled over supplies…』

『Day 5: Many refugees appeared outside the complex…』

『Day 6: …』

『…』

『Day 8: An Awakener appeared in the complex…』

『Day 9: To steady the populace, someone inside the complex gave a speech…』

『…』

『Day 13: You intended to help Chen Keqing become an Awakener, so you gathered plenty of intel; while doing so you deliberately dug for news and heard that an Awakener had also appeared on the Su University campus…』

That Awakener’s name was Qin Yushi.

『Day 14: The news that Qin Yushi had become an Awakener took you somewhat by surprise…』

『Day 15: You took Chen Keqing out for a walk; fearing ill-intentioned Awakeners, Chen Keqing trembled as she followed behind you…

As expected, an Awakener coveted Chen Keqing’s beauty, so you dropped the act, revealed your strength, and killed many people to make a statement.

『…』

Well, well.

So the first Awakener to appear at the university was Qin Yushi.

That being the case.

In previous simulations he seemed to have come across similar text many times.

But none of those simulations had explicitly named Qin Yushi.

They had only stated in passing that “the first Awakener appeared”.

Apart from that point worth noting.

Su Ze also keenly noticed a shift in the simulation.

After learning that Qin Yushi had become an Awakener, the simulated him seemed to have changed plans on the fly.

He looked to be heading straight for the throne of the Safe Zone.

And the reason for doing so…

『…』

『Day 26: You continued to maintain order in SC-35 and cultivated some confidants, guiding them to become Awakeners…』

『Day 27: You met the Awakeners who had come from the university. Because one of them spoke disrespectfully, you killed him on the spot and let the others go』

『…』

『Day 34: You heard that the Awakeners on the campus side had been integrated as well, and now they had a full security team. Qin Yushi was one of its leaders…』