Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

“There are some things we didn’t want you to know so soon, but you figured it out yourself, so we have no choice but to be honest with you.”

Chu Xiao sighed and said frankly, "Actually, we are not only from Earth, but also directors of the Space Administration Bureau, which is responsible for handling abnormal events that occur in various universes."

"Space Administration Bureau?" Upon hearing this name, Li Zheng felt a slight unease, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

It wasn't something I heard after arriving at the Matrix; rather, this title existed in the original owner's memories that had been implanted into me.

“Yes.” Chu Xiao continued, “We know your identity because you are also a director of the Space Administration Bureau, and you lost contact after entering this place a long time ago…”

Before he could finish speaking, Li Zheng suddenly laughed and said, "Are you trying to fool me? You don't think you're the only ones who like reading novels, do you? This 'Cosmic Administration Bureau' is just a setting from a terrible novel written by Yue Luo Hong Ying! If I hadn't happened to have read it, I would have been fooled by you."

"Ahem..." Chu Xiao scratched his head awkwardly: "You've read such an obscure novel? I heard from Yue Luo Hong Ying that the book only has three subscribers, one is him, one is me... the third one wouldn't be you, would it?"

Li Zheng smiled slightly and said firmly, "It wasn't me, I watched a pirated copy!"

"Is that book called 'The Anomalous Containment Facility'?" Ye Kai raised his hand and said weakly, "If so, I should be the third subscriber."

"Good heavens!" Ye Yuan exclaimed, wide-eyed. "You can't even remember who the author of Journey to the West is, but you can remember the title of a flop novel that only has three subscribers?"

"To be honest, I traveled through time the instant I finished reading that book," Ye Kai stammered. "During the time travel, I saw Li Zheng in a kind of spacetime turbulence, and that's when I learned of his existence. However, the image was very short, only showing a fragment of him living on a planet that was somewhat similar to Earth."

"Huh?" Chu Xiao raised an eyebrow in surprise: "My sister and I also time-traveled the instant we finished reading that novel! My sister doesn't have much pocket money, so we read it together. We also learned about the existence of the time traveler senior, Li Zheng, from the spacetime turbulence. But I saw more than that. Besides the fragments of his life on that planet, I also saw a very strange purple thing, like dark clouds covering the sky."

Remembering that his younger sister, who had traveled through time with him, had been killed by Lin Feng, Chu Xiao's eyes dimmed, revealing a hint of grief.

"Wait!" Ye Kai thought of something and asked Chu Xiao, "I didn't ask before because I was afraid of hurting you, but did you and your sister use the same passage?"

"It's the same one. She was right beside me when we traveled through time." Chu Xiao nodded. "What? You two weren't?"

After hearing this, Ye Kai looked at Ye Yuan with surprise: "Of course I didn't come with her. I thought she was implicated by me and that's why she transmigrated, but now it seems... that's not the case?"

Ye Yuan's expression was a little unnatural, and her eyes darted away as she said, "You're always on your phone reading that novel, and I'm just curious what's so interesting about it... so..."

"You also watched pirated versions?" Li Zheng asked.

"Mm." Ye Yuan nodded shyly.

"That doesn't make sense!" Li Zheng looked at the three of them: "Since you didn't travel through time together, how did you confirm each other's identities and end up together?"

Ye Kai raised his hand again: "The message you saw that had the word 'Earth' in it, I sent it."

Chu Xiao raised his hand: "I saw it."

Ye Yuan raised her hand: "I saw my brother's profile picture."

Li Zheng was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Then why didn't you contact me first?"

The three exchanged a glance and said in unison, "You haven't contacted us either."

After sorting through the logic, the group quickly realized where the misunderstanding lay. Li Zheng was a senior transmigrator, and since Ye Kai and the others had already revealed their transmigrator identities, Li Zheng, if he were so inclined, would certainly have noticed them.

However, since he didn't contact the three of them afterward, they assumed that Li Zheng hadn't discovered it and were worried that revealing their identities as fellow time travelers would arouse suspicion.

After all, he was a senior, and no one knew whether this senior would exclude dissidents. They had read similar novels before.

The reason he ended up hanging out with Chu Xiao was mainly because they formed a bond when they joined forces to hunt down Lin Fan.

After waking up in the matrix, Li Zheng only had memories of living on Earth and was completely unaware that he was a transmigrator. He didn't notice Ye Kai's message at the time and didn't expect that these players were not from Earth.

Actually, Ye Kai and the others didn't take the initiative to contact Li Zheng for another reason: they were worried that all of this was a scheme orchestrated by Li Zheng, and that the entire matrix was just a game created by Li Zheng for his own amusement.

"So here's the question." Ye Kai and the other two stared at Li Zheng and questioned, "Why do you only have memories of life on Earth, and not memories of what happened after you transmigrated?"

Ye Yuan glanced at Miriel not far away, then suddenly realized something and exclaimed in a low voice, "You're not that transmigrator Li Zheng, you're a clone!"

Li Zheng nodded with a wry smile: "That's right, I am indeed not the original body."

Upon seeing his admission, the expressions of Ye Kai and the other two became extremely complicated.

Ye Kai's features scrunched up, and he said, "So all this time we've been on guard against, we've only been guarding against a clone who knows nothing?"

Chu Xiao also complained, "We were worried sick for days, only to find out we were the ones searching for enemies in the void?"

Ye Yuan said with a long face, "I think the three of us are just three idiots."

"Compared to the others, I'm more curious about another, less important question." Li Zheng looked at the group and said, "Why are we transmigrators all quite righteous, and there isn't a single major villain among us who are also transmigrators?"

"Heh..." Chu Xiao said with a forced smile, "Do you think we're bad people who even read the original version of those novels?"

Li Zheng's lips twitched twice, and he nodded slightly: "That makes sense."

Only three people subscribed to the entire book, one of whom was the author himself, which gives you an idea of ​​how terrible the novel was.

As for piracy channels...

Readers who read pirated novels would never read such trashy novels, okay?

"So, the Matrix really isn't just a game you created for fun?"

Now that their identities were out in the open, Ye Yuan and the others no longer held back and asked any questions they had.

"Of course not!" Li Zheng spoke the truth: "I don't think I'm that bored. Besides, there are so many races in the outer city. If it were just for amusement, why would I keep those aliens around?"

"On the contrary," Li Zheng looked intently at the three of them and asked, "As transmigrators, where are your standard cheat codes? Your personal grandfathers? Your systems?"