Two hours passed in a flash. Yu Hua’s biological alarm clock was precise. Like before, he opened his eyes after precisely one hour and fifty-nine minutes, one minute before the arranged time. 

This view of time was probably carved into his genes by now. Even when he was completely exhausted, even if he could only rest for ten minutes, he would still wake up a minute in advance and prepare for battle ahead of everyone else. 

This awakening was different from before. At some point he had turned over so he was eye to eye with rainbow-haired Xiao You. Xiao You’s legs in their tattered jeans were pressing heavily against his waist. The black cloak he had given Xiao You was draped over both of them. The wretch was even letting out quiet, happy snores. 

There was still a minute to waste. Yu Hua put on a frosty expression and pinched Xiao You’s nose. He still didn’t wake up. How could he sleep so soundly? 

There was an unnoticed smile on Yu Hua’s face. He drew back the hand pinching Xiao You’s nose. His gaze fell on Xiao You’s lips, and he slowly lowered his head. 

His mind as always resisted close contact with a stranger, but his body was unusually honest. In his sleep, he had unwittingly turned over and embraced Xiao You, letting him get close without any defenses. All of his body’s reactions spoke of how attracted he was to this person. 

It was an attraction that was impossible to resist. 

Yu Hua couldn’t imagine how a leveler of unknown origin could have such a fatal attraction for him, but it had indeed happened. 

Luckily, his willpower was strong to a psychotic degree. Just before he kissed Xiao You, he drew back, his gaze falling on Xiao You’s bare feet. 

The frostbite had been healed, but…the sight of the bare feet was irksome. 

Yu Hua got a pair of socks and leather boots from the System’s space. He always collected these things and gave them to people who needed them to lighten the strain on the System’s space. 

He put the socks onto Xiao You’s feet. This person could really sleep. This movement still didn’t wake him. If his alertness was so low, how had he passed this many levels? 

After putting on the socks, there were still the shoes. The brief minute had passed. The temporary camp’s alarm sounded, startling You Zhengping awake. 

He sat up at once and blearily mumbled, “I’m dead, I’m dead, I’ll be late…” 

You Zhengping’s gaze fell on Yu Hua. He saw Yu Hua holding a pair of black leather boots and holding You Zhengping’s somewhat slender ankle, putting a boot on for him. 

Seeing Yu Hua doing this while wearing his camouflage outfit instantly brought You Zhengping back to when they had first been married. He had slept very late then, and there was never enough time in the morning to get out of bed. Yu Hua would scoop him out of bed while he was still muddled from sleep and pass him a cup and a toothbrush with toothpaste squeezed onto it. When he had blearily brushed his teeth and washed his face, his breakfast and clothes would also be ready. With a bun in his mouth, he would hold out his arms, and Yu Hua would help put on his clothes so he wouldn’t be late. 

At the time, he’d simply been looked after like a baby. Later he had insisted on getting up early. Apart from worrying about Yu Hua, he also didn’t want to be an overgrown baby anymore. 

Yu Hua holding the boots now brought You Zhengping back to their honeymoon period. 

“You…” 

You Zhengping had just gotten one word out when the new leather boots were thrown against his chest. His face like winter frost, Yu Hua said, “Put them on or you’ll slow down the team.” 

“Okay.” You Zhengping obediently put on the brand new warm leather boots. Seeing Yu Hua was still sunk in the shock of having been found out, he sidled over to stealthily kiss Yu Hua’s face. Smiling, he said, “The shoes and socks are very warm. Thank you.” 

“You!” Yu Hua said coldly. “Behave yourself!” 

“Yes, yes.” You Zhengping nodded perfunctorily. “You did it for the efficiency of the team.” 

Yu Hua didn’t explain further. He pursed his lips and left the tent. You Zhengping wrapped himself in the black cloak and ran after him. 

When he walked out, he saw a man howling angrily by the burnt out bonfire. “Guan Shaoguang, if you… Huh? Where’s Guan Shaoguang? He was just showing off right in front of me.” 

Yu Hua dismantled the tent and said to everyone, “Hurry up. When the red sun and the purple moon alternate, the mutant beasts are at their weakest. There’s only a moment’s opportunity. We have to grab it.” 

The man who had been brought forward in time by Guan Shaoguang could only restrain himself, put away his tent, inspect his weapons, and get ready to set out. 

You Zhengping looked up at the sky. He saw that the half-sun was sinking on the east, while to the west a purple full moon was slowly rising. 

This world truly was totally different from his. 

Yu Hua put away the small tent nearest to theirs. The fully dressed Director Ha and Junjun ran over. Yu Hua vaguely remembered this child and dog. In the eleventh level, Junjun had also given him a piece of milk candy. His memories had originally been blurry. Xiao You’s appearance had made Yu Hua gradually recall those memories that had been deeply buried in history. 

During level eleven, Yu Hua had been very curious about Junjun and Xiao Ha. He had never seen a player that was a group consisting of a child and dog using the same System. They didn’t fit in with the world, and over hundreds of years, their appearance hadn’t changed at all. 

He had asked before, and Junjun had been unable to say anything to the point, while Xiao Ha couldn’t speak. He hadn’t found out anything. 

Yu Hua could only keep Junjun and Xiao Ha close to himself so they wouldn’t be harmed by this world’s mutant beasts or other levelers. 

“The three of you, keep close to me,” Yu Hua said. 

But Xiao You quietly said to Yu Hua, “My second space can hold people. All attacks will be reduced to one tenth by the second space. How about I hide them?” 

“Your ability…” Yu Hua was somewhat surprised by Xiao You’s ability. He had seen from the start that Xiao You could store things, but he hadn’t thought that he could not only store things, he could also hide people, and that the spaces would have rules to restrict other types of abilities. 

This wasn’t an ordinary spatial ability user. Xiao You held a rudimentary version of natural law power. 

Having gone through 398 worlds, Yu Hua had long ago encountered the idea of natural law power, and he had tentatively held a bit of it. He just hadn’t fully grasped it yet. 

Xiao You didn’t wait for Yu Hua’s permission. He went over to Junjun and Director Ha and said to them, “We’re going to go to a very dangerous, very cold place. I’m going to hide you two somewhere safe. Don’t cry, all right, Junjun, Xiao Ha?” 

Junjun had always been well-behaved. At the very beginning, during the attack on the central park, his performance had been better than the majority of adults. He had experienced too much these last few days, and he could still maintain his childish heart. He ate and slept as he ought to, and he didn’t cry. Admittedly having Xiao Ha’s company to comfort him helped, but it was also because of Junjun’s own good mental condition. 

“Awoo-oo!” Xiao Ha looked very unwilling. It had already guessed that You Zhengping was the handsome uncle Protector who had thwarted it countless times that day on the rooftop. Of course it didn’t want to enter its enemy’s space and let its enemy protect it. 

It was this spatial ability user ruining its plans that had brought it to its current state! Director Ha’s blue eyes filled with hatred—though this wasn’t visible. 

But Junjun agreed. Leading Xiao Ha by its leash, he politely said, “Thank you, dagege. Xiao Ha, say thank you.” 

“Awoo.” Xiao Ha nodded unwillingly, tapping Junjun with its paws. 

Junjun took a strip of cloth from his pocket and stealthily put it into You Zhengping’s hand. Then he obediently led Xiao Ha into You Zhengping’s space. 

You Zhengping waved the black cloak and unfolded the strip under the cloak’s screen. He saw that some orderly horizontal and vertical strokes had been torn in the cloth. Put together, the tears made a few crooked characters: “Battle, Guan, and, people, control, you.” 

This strip of cloth was obviously torn from Junjun’s sleeve. Its size was limited. There was only room to make tears to form a few characters. And however you looked at it, the tears didn’t look as though they had been made by a child’s hand. They looked more like they had been scratched by a dog’s paws. There was even dog fur clinging to it, and faint marks of a dog’s teeth were visible. 

However you interpreted these characters, what they meant was, “During the battle, Guan Shaoguang is going to assemble the others to control You Zhengping.” 

You Zhengping calmly tore the strip of cloth to bits and stuffed them into his pants pocket. 

Yu Hua saw that he had hidden the child and the dog and approached Xiao You. Seeing Xiao You naturally take his arm, he flew up to lead the team. 

You Zhengping was just thinking about Xiao Ha. He had never had any contact with Xiao Ha and had always thought that it was just an ordinary dog. Now that seemed wrong. It possessed acute hearing, it was literate, and it knew how to succinctly and forcefully convey messages. It had definitely taken Xiao Ha a lot of effort to tear up this strip of cloth. It had had to control its strength to the utmost, and also use the briefest language to describe the information. 

This whole time, Xiao Ha had taken very good care of Junjun. It had been so clever it didn’t seem like a dog. Regarding its origins, Lian Yufan had said that Yu Hua had bought it on a rainy night to humiliate him. It was the day of the event at Xincheng Mall. Yu Hua had said he wanted to interview a new public relations directors, and then he had brought back Director Ha. 

After the battle at Xincheng Mall, the black-cloaked man had killed Destroyer 192. 192 had had the ability to change bodies. Yu Hua had returned to the studio that night with a dog. Director Ha, who was literate. Director Ha, who treated Junjun much more favorably that it did Lian Yufan… 

Putting all the clues together, You Zhengping guessed Director Ha’s identity. 

Thinking that Destroyer 192, who had caused him so much suffering, was now inside his space with Junjun, You Zhengping felt uneasy. But thinking of the way Director Ha protected Junjun and the way it had run the risk of being exposed to pass him a message, You Zhengping decided to trust it this time. 

“What are you thinking about?” As they traveled, Yu Hua noticed You Zhengping’s absent-mindedness. 

You Zhengping looked at Yu Hua and quietly said, “I’m thinking that actually you’re very good to all the levelers.” 

Yu Hua laughed coldly. “What gave you this confidence? Don’t you remember what happened yesterday?” 

“They got their companions killed,” You Zhengping said. “If it had been only way to protect more people, or if their companions had happily sacrificed themselves, then I could understand it. But for the sake of the source crystal, for the sake of upgrading their own power, to kill those people and then try to use the source crystal to pass it off, that doesn’t accord with my convictions.” 

“But I killed them because they disobeyed my orders.” A trace of appreciation aimed at Xiao You flashed through Yu Hua’s eyes. “What are your convictions?” 

“Protect the world, protect ordinary people, protect my companions, protect my family. That’s the meaning of my life.” You Zhengping smiled. “Of course, I also want to go on a blind date to find a like-minded lover, get married, and live a peaceful life with my husband.” 

“You really want a lot.” Yu Hua snorted. “Greedy.” 

“That’s right, I’ve always been this way. I want everything. I won’t pass anything up.” You Zhengping leaned his head on Yu Hua’s shoulder. The tears he had just shed were blown dry by the warm wind. “Yu Hua, don’t make me wait too long.” 

The track of history prevented You Zhengping from telling the truth. He couldn’t even communicate his own name. He didn’t know whether Yu Hua could hear this last sentence of his. 

Even so, he still had to take Yu Hua out of this little world, take him back home, take Xiao Ha and Junjun back home. 

The tears fell drop by drop into the wind. Yu Hua felt a moment of tenderness. Softly, he said, “After I complete this mission, I’ll take you back to the System’s central world. It’s safe there. Though I don’t know whether you have enough points to equip a time stop.” 

“It’s not that home,” You Zhengping thought inwardly. 

The team landed near the gorge. Yu Hua had sent people earlier to scout out where the mutant beasts moved and what their habits were. He had sent several team members to split up and investigate and gone by himself to the most dangerous place. 

When the team members had reported their information, Yu Hua had analyzed what the best opportunity would be and had come over beforehand. 

Apart from him, there were quite a few levelers in this world. Everyone had different missions. There were those who had to kill three, five, ten, or some other number of small mutant beasts; some had to kill medium-sized ones, and some had to kill huge ones. 

After teaming up, the missions could be combined. As long as the group reached the total, that was enough. Individuals didn’t need to personally kill the beasts. 

There were many mutant beasts around the gorge. Seeing their team arrive, other levelers hid one after another. Someone said, “It’s Yu Hua’s team. Damn it, they’re going to snatch all the monsters. We won’t have any way to get by.” 

Yu Hua landed at the top of the gorge with You Zhengping. He waved casually, and a blinding light flew into the air. All the people and mutant beasts instantly lost their vision! 

---

Author's Note

Yu Hua: I can’t resist wanting to help Xiao You change his clothes, wash his face, feed him treats. What’s going on? 

You Zhengping: Just your wifely instincts lighting up because you ran into me. Stay calm, I’m used to it.