I Am Extraordinary Alone-Chapter 660 - 658: Temporary Cooperation

"None of them came out? But it seems like you guys don’t care at all," Lin Yan said.

"People always have to look forward. Their sacrifice wasn’t meaningless; it’s a brand new world! Ms. Lin Yan, do you understand what I’m saying?" Mike said.

"In other words, you’re banking everything on that fictional world? That’s unrealistic," Lin Yan shook her head.

"Your mindset hasn’t shifted yet. That world is indeed fictional, but for those who went in, how is it any different from the real world? Besides, we still haven’t figured out what the universe is. Who can guarantee that the universe we’re living in isn’t fictional? Just because we were born here, we think it’s real. Moreover, they were in there for ten minutes, yet only 3 seconds passed outside. Do you understand what this means?" Mike urged fervently.

"You haven’t grasped the essence of that world. It relies on its fantasies, constructed through dreams. You can’t separate this world from it. Its end means the end of that world. If all of us go in, He will find it, and we won’t even have the chance to resist," Lin Yan said.

"It’s a spaceship, Lin Yan. It can take all of us away from this planet. We can continue to live and proliferate in its dream. Earth is no longer habitable. No one can defeat that Pseudo-God. Our modern technology has given everyone the illusion that humanity is some kind of chosen species, but that’s not the case. Humans are scavengers. We need the corpses of animals to produce oil; we need minerals from rivers, lakes, seas, and sunlight for generating electricity. Without these basic things, all known technologies cannot be sustained. Look at us now! We can’t even launch an intercontinental missile anymore!" Mike said.

"You want to abandon Earth?!" Lin Yan said.

"It’s the only choice; it’s the only way, Ms. Lin Yan. What do we have left to play? Nuclear bombs? There were plans for it, but they came to nothing. No one dared to launch them because they were afraid of retaliation, and what if it had no effect? There’s no point considering this now. How many of us are left?" Mike countered.

Lin Yan understood, but she had never thought about abandoning Earth. This was not the answer she wanted. The world that the White King created could serve as an aid but could not replace the real world. After all, humans can’t live in fiction.

"That’s not real. Your way of comparing isn’t rigorous. There’s a fundamental difference between the universe and the world the White King imagined. We don’t want to leave our fate to chance," Lin Yan said.

"This isn’t leaving it to chance, Ms. Lin Yan; this planet is beyond saving. It’s not worth reminiscing about," Mike said.

"Do you think that by hiding in this fictional world, the Pseudo-God will spare us? The White King holds the power of time. He wants it, and we can’t escape. Besides, this world is flawed; time doesn’t stand still. When it overlaps with reality’s time, we’ll eventually fall out from that fiction. People always have to face reality," Lin Yan said.

Mike didn’t know there was such a notion; for a moment, he couldn’t decide if Lin Yan was bluffing him. It left him momentarily silent as he leaned back in his chair, pondering for a while.

"Is there no way for us to control that dream just as we wish?" Mike asked.

"Once it falls into a deep sleep, its body will gradually deteriorate. Moreover, as living, breathing life, it can’t go without eating. You can’t hope for this creature to sleep forever, so your idea is meaningless. We can only use that world to find a way to deal with the Pseudo-God," Lin Yan said.

Mike was unwilling to give up and said, "We can cooperate, Ms. Lin Yan. Perhaps there’s a middle-ground solution, like we split into two groups, taking turns entering the dream world, always leaving one group outside to ensure its survival."

"But it also has a lifespan, Mr. Mike. Why are you always thinking of abandoning Earth?" Lin Yan said.

"Then why are you always thinking of saving Earth? There’s nothing here worth saving! This place has already become His domain!" Mike’s emotions grew a bit intense.

"It has always been ours. He’s just sick... In the dream world, we have the time and resources to find a way to cure them. We can surely make it," Lin Yan said.

From Lin Yan’s gaze, Mike saw that she wouldn’t change her mind, so he could only shake his head and say, "I don’t know where you get such a belief, but you might be underestimating the difficulty of this. There are so many countries in this world, and their armies have tried to fight Him, but all failed. Why do you think you can?"

Lin Yan remained noncommittal. She didn’t have absolute confidence, but Mike’s statement was obviously unreliable. The White King himself was reluctant to fall into a deep sleep, and that fictional dream was not the world she wanted. How could anyone live in illusions? The longer she stayed in it, the more those people in that world seemed like NPCs from video games. The more she thought this way, the more they exuded a Uncanny Valley effect.

Human, yet not human.

"For now, we can’t reach a consensus, but the half-body of the White King, we still hope you can hand it over to us. Perhaps, after curing the White King, its abilities will become more complete," Lin Yan said.

Mike shook his head and said, "We have completely different views, and the power of the White King can just verify who’s right and who’s wrong. We can’t hand it over for now, sorry."

"That’s too bad," Lin Yan said.

She had no intention of killing. After all, controlling these three in front of her couldn’t possibly lead to obtaining the half-body. They didn’t even show remorse for losing over a dozen people in the experiment, so they wouldn’t exchange something so precious to ransom these three.

Mike stood up and said, "We still hope you will consider it carefully. Comparatively, escaping is easier than saving this world. We can always find a way to make that fictional world exist forever."

Lin Yan stood up as well. The four of them smiled, but the atmosphere felt somewhat heavy.

This world no longer looked like the one they knew. After much difficulty encountering another group of living people, the prospect of them not being able to become companions left Lin Yan quite regretful.

"In the future, you can come in directly through the front door. Don’t sneak around with drones. Seeing live people isn’t common now; we don’t need to play the old game anymore," Lin Yan said.

Mike sighed, extended his hand, and shook hands with Lin Yan, saying, "We’ll transcribe a copy of our research findings and send it over. Hopefully, it’ll help."

"That would be wonderful. We’ll also organize our discoveries. Maybe we’ll find a new path," Lin Yan said.

As she watched the three of them leave, Li Xianping stepped forward and asked, "Can we really trust them?"

Lin Yan shook her head and said, "They have something we want, and we don’t know the full details about them, so let’s cooperate for now."