Did the world end today?

Chapter 442 Another World

As he traversed the void, Lin Xu saw the Stardust Path once again.

Just as he predicted, once the coordinates of the boundary defect were "discovered" or "input," the path naturally appeared under the influence of the bracelet.

He entered the stardust with ease, and then landed in that world with ease.

This time, he even vaguely sensed the process of his body taking shape under the influence of the boundary defects.

His limbs gradually regained sensation from numbness, his vision cleared from blurry, and sounds began to reach his ears.

But the moment his consciousness returned to his body, he was stunned by what he saw and stood frozen in place.

muzzle.

At least seven or eight dark gun barrels were pointed in his direction.

Damn it?

What's the situation?
Arrested as soon as they landed?
Lin Xu panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down.

It's ok.

Based on my previous experience, no official body in any world would arbitrarily execute a human who emerged from a higher-dimensional portal.

After all, they could bring new information, new technologies, or even new capabilities to themselves.

No matter where you are, people with higher-dimensional experiences are a scarce resource.

And this is his biggest trump card.

"and many more!"

"name?"

Lin Xu and the man with the gun spoke at the same time, both pausing for a moment before Lin Xu replied:
"My name is Lin Xu, which also means butterfly or zeroth. I come from..."

"boom!"

Before he could finish speaking, one of the gunmen rushed forward and struck him on the side of the cheek with the butt of his rifle.

"Om-"

Lin Xu felt as if he had been hit head-on by a stun grenade. There was no pain, but the intense dizziness made his legs go weak and he couldn't stand up.

"boom--"

He fell heavily to the ground, a series of absurd thoughts flashing through his mind.

What are you doing? !

It’s me!
You don't recognize me?!
Are you kidding me? !

A butterfly, a magnificent creature, was hit with a rifle butt the moment it arrived?!
Are you going to tie me up and chop me into eight pieces next?

How can it be? ?
These people were clearly familiar with high-dimensional channels. Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Xu even saw them using some kind of unknown device to detect the channel that was about to disappear.

But since that's the case...
How could they know nothing about butterflies?

Where is Jiang Xingye?

Even if Jiang Xingye isn't here, Zhou Yue in this world must have provided some information, right?

Lin Xu struggled to get up, but the next second, a foot stomped heavily on his back.

"Stay still, don't move!"

"A test of rationality!"

"what do you!?"

What am I?
This question left Lin Xu somewhat dumbfounded.

What should I answer?
I am a butterfly, I am ZEROTH, the savior of the multidimensional universe, the leader of GDRF, the destined lover of the Queen of Mars, and an ordinary person.

"I am human."

Lin Xufu answered intuitively:

"He is an ordinary person."

This answer seemed to make the gunman controlling him relax a little, and the pressure on his foot also decreased slightly.

How did you get into the passage?

"I entered voluntarily."

Why do we need to enter the passage?

Lin Xu's brain was working at lightning speed. He vaguely sensed that this world's attitude towards higher-dimensional channels seemed to be completely different from all the worlds he had ever seen before!
They fear higher-dimensional channels, yet they seem to be utilizing them in some peculiar way.

Who are they?

This question determined how Lin Xu should answer the other party's question.

Because he knew that if his answer was "bad" or did not conform to the other party's understanding, he would most likely be shot dead immediately!

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Xu finally chose the most conservative answer.

"Because of curiosity."

He can no longer reveal his identity.

He didn't know whether this identity was a "passport" in this world or a death sentence that could cost him his life.

Of course, it's unclear whether one can return to the Destiny Stones world after dying here.

However, he still doesn't intend to die unless absolutely necessary.

The most urgent task is to escape as soon as possible, find another higher-dimensional passage to enter, and return to one's own world in a "normal" way.

"curious."

The man stepping on him snorted coldly.

"You're really brave."

He moved his feet away from behind Lin Xu.

"Get up."

Lin Xu struggled to his feet, blood still flowing from the wound on his face inflicted by the butt of a rifle.

He raised his shoulder to wipe the blood from his cheek, then asked:
"Where am I? Where did I get here?"

"You're lucky; the passage has left you a way out."

The man snapped on his lighter and lit a cigarette.

"However, you weren't very lucky either."

“You took away our brother’s spot to return, and you have to take responsibility for him.”

"What the hell?!"

Lin Xu was dumbfounded.

What are the return quotas?
never heard of that!

Are there still return slots available through the higher-dimensional channel?

From that sentence, he could probably guess the current situation.

This group is conducting a high-dimensional channel test. It appears that some of them have already entered the high-dimensional channel, but have not yet returned.

This is actually a very normal risk; no one can guarantee that everyone who enters a higher-dimensional channel will be able to return safely.

If it were a rational and rigorous official organization, they would have already prepared contingency plans and been prepared to bear the losses before entering the area.

Here comes the problem.

These people.
This doesn't look like a normal, official organization at all!
Their equipment varied greatly, and everyone was masked, but judging from their exposed eyes, each of them was incredibly fierce.

That kind of look.
More like some kind of unregulated mercenary!

They're not even mercenaries!

After all, he had seen the mercenaries under Qi Yuan's command before.

They were so professional that not only their actions, but even their eyes were restrained.

But these people are completely different now!

Lin Xu suddenly had a bad feeling.

This world is not a world chosen by the bracelet.

Does that mean that the development of this world is completely different from the development of the main world?!
Just like the worlds I "saw" through Jiang Xingye's descriptions in the world of the Leap Forward Era?

His thoughts were slightly confused, and at that moment, the man continued to speak.

"You don't need to look at me like that."

"We follow the rules, and that's the rule."

"If you grab a spot, you have to pay the price."

"Now, tell me, what can you bring us?"

Lin Xu took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

His long-term experience of walking on the edge of life and death, coupled with the ease with which he had gradually accumulated in handling complex and difficult cases, allowed him to quickly adapt to the current situation.

He pressed the unlock button on the protective suit, easily removed it, and then asked in return:

"What do you want?"

Seeing him take off his protective suit, everyone instinctively took a step back.
-
At first, they didn't even realize that what looked like "casual clothes" was actually a protective suit. By the time they realized it, Lin Xu had already taken off his coat, revealing the real undershirt he was wearing underneath.

The leading man did not answer Lin Xu's question, but instead asked with a hint of surprise:

"Are you one of the people who studied it?"

"Learn??" What the heck?

Lin Xu became even more certain that this must be a "completely different" world.

After all, when a normal person sees their obviously professional equipment, shouldn't their first reaction be "official"?

But they called it "learning".

This means that something seems to be wrong with the world when it comes to "power".

"I'm not."

Lin Xu shook his head and said:
"You don't need to know whose side I work for, but at least I'm not your enemy."

"Furthermore, I can give you some things you want, provided that we make an exchange first."

As soon as Lin Xu finished speaking, the man's gaze towards Lin Xu changed once again.

this person.
When he returned from the higher-dimensional passage, he was clearly flustered—no, from that moment on, he wasn't flustered at all, not even a little bit!

He was simply surprised and confused, unable to process what was happening for a moment.

He misunderstood that state of confusion as panic, which led him to misjudge the other party's "identity".

This is not something an ordinary person can do.

He had seen big scenes and was extremely familiar with high-dimensional channels. Even when faced with the pressure of having several guns pointed at him by his own side, he could still calmly negotiate terms.
He still has a trump card up his sleeve.

He said he wasn't the type to learn, so that might not work.
He came from a higher level, a level he had never even heard of!

The man paused for a moment, then said:

"Yes, we can make a deal."

"But we have to get out of here first; it's not safe here."

"no problem."

Lin Xu looked around and, apart from the nearby wilderness, he could vaguely see the ruins not far away.

This is unsafe; I can see that.

But how did the world become like this?
Upon receiving his reply, the man pulled a piece of gauze from his chest strap and handed it to Lin Xu. Lin Xu casually wiped his wound, but his eyes fell on the gun in the man's hand.

Wooden stock, stamped and riveted receiver, notched front sight.

This thing is so retro.

Could it be that I haven't actually traveled to 2028, but instead arrived in an earlier era?

This is obviously possible, since the choice of which passage to descend to is also completely random.

but.
Even if it's from a very early time, it's impossible to travel back to an era where even firearms haven't been updated yet, right?

He followed closely behind the man toward an SUV not far away, with the other team members following behind.

After getting into the car, Lin Xu glanced at the dashboard, where the electronic display clearly showed the current time.

2028, April 9.

It is indeed 2028, and judging from the state of the electronic systems inside the car, it basically meets the standards of the era as I perceive it.

That would create even more problems.

Lin Xu frowned, pondering how to ask questions in a way that wouldn't seem abrupt, while also not revealing his own hand.

Before he could speak, the man preemptively asked:
"what do you need?"

Lin Xu was taken aback by his question.

What do I need?
In your style, shouldn't you be asking, "What can you give us?"

If you ask about this, Lin Xu has a whole host of trump cards up his sleeve.

But if you ask him the other way around, he really doesn't know how to respond.

After a moment of silence, he answered:

"I need a lot of things."

"But now, most importantly, after entering the higher-dimensional channel, my memories have become somewhat confused."

"I need you to tell me the basics of this world first."

"This world."

The man seemed unsure where to begin.

"What should I say?"

"Your question is too broad—of course, it's not difficult to answer, but it takes a lot of time."

"Moreover, based on our experience, memory confusion usually resolves quickly."

"You'll remember everything in an hour, or at most two hours."

"So, why don't we skip this question and give your brain some time to think about it yourself?"

I wish I could remember!

Lin Xu secretly grumbled to himself, but since the other party had already said that, he couldn't press the matter further.

If I reveal that I "don't come from this world," who knows how the other person will treat me?

After a moment's thought, Lin Xu nodded, feigning nonchalance, and said:
"Okay, you're right."

"However, there are some key issues that I must recall immediately."

So, what does it mean to learn?

"learn?"

The man shrugged.

“An organization that specializes in studying high-dimensional channels, just like their name suggests, is a society.”

"However, they possess not only knowledge, but also a great deal of power."

"Yes, a powerful academic clique, even more powerful than the military."

"I remembered."

Lin Xu nodded, feigning sudden realization.

Although the man's words were brief, they revealed a great deal of information.

He mentioned the academic society and the military, but not the government.

This means that governments are clearly dysfunctional in this world.

The reason why learning makes one stronger is because of the "high-dimensional channel," which means...
This is yet another theocratic world.
But it doesn't look like it!

In a theocratic world, the ideological imprint must be extremely strong.

But it seems that the world doesn't have a very strong ideological imprint.

At least, these people in front of me seem quite free.

"So who are you?"

Lin Xu continued to ask:
"Are you mercenaries?"

"No."

The man shook his head.

“We don’t do the rough work of mercenaries, we are tunnel hunters.”

"We seek out channels, utilize channels, test channels, and then strengthen ourselves."

"Everyone here has undergone the test of higher-dimensional passages. We can say that we are the most powerful hunter organization in the world."

"The most powerful, and in the end, only these few people are considered?"

Lin Xu subconsciously asked a question in return, and the man's eyes visibly showed some displeasure.