Wasteland's Only King-Chapter 55: Rebirth
Of course, Yu Jin didn’t choose to put on the helmet.
This decision left Old Cui and the other two a bit puzzled.
They weren’t trying to drag Yu Jin into the whole ’100% probability of crossing over to the Wasteland’ mess.
The three of them were simply thinking—
Yu Jin’s decision didn’t quite fit his usual character.
Yu Jin has always liked to keep the future in his own hands, not leave things up to ’God rolling the dice’.
"You guys have fun with the game. Take the time to level up a lot, gather as many resources as possible."
Before leaving the dorm, Yu Jin advised the three of them earnestly.
The three exchanged glances, feeling a strange sense they couldn’t quite put into words.
Old Yu had never even logged into the "Wasteland" game, yet the way he spoke sounded just like someone who’d been there, done that.
Pop—
The dorm room door closed.
The three didn’t overthink it. After a hasty dinner, they all simultaneously returned to their seats and picked up their helmets.
No matter if crossing over happens or not, grabbing the chance to level up now can’t go wrong.
"Since Old Yu doesn’t want to do the beta test, the rest of us gotta level up even harder."
"If Old Yu ends up crossing over too, at least we’ll have the power to pull him up..."
Old Cui muttered to himself before logging in.
Brother Gang heard him and shook his head, "Best if this crossing over nonsense never happens."
"Compared to the Wasteland, I way prefer playing games on Blue Star with the AC blasting."
"Let’s hope we’re just overthinking, and that old man on Alpha Star is just the game dev playing tricks!"
Yu Fei listened to their chatter in silence.
He quietly picked up a pen and, before putting on the helmet, recorded the exact time.
After logging in and out repeatedly, Yu Fei had discovered that the flow of time between "Wasteland" and Blue Star was getting more and more synchronized...
And this.
Means there might not be much time left before the crossing over and arrival in the Wasteland happens.
...
...
Walking out of the dorm building, Yu Jin strode toward the main gate of Jiang University.
It was eight in the evening, and the night breeze was no longer so hot and muggy.
As Yu Jin walked, he digested the information he’d gotten from Yu Fei.
"The helmet is the medium for crossing over; putting it on means crossing over."
"Then..."
"Yin Yao purposely gave me the helmet on day one. That’s pretty obvious."
"She wants me to cross over, to arrive in the Wasteland with 100% certainty, and then..."
At this thought, Yu Jin stopped walking.
"And then what?"
He was a little confused and didn’t hurry to Jiangcheng Hospital. Instead, he found a bench and sat down.
Yu Jin took out his phone and opened the "Qidian Novels" app.
Maybe some of those wild online stories could offer him inspiration.
A few minutes later.
Yu Jin’s eyes landed on a category tag in the "Qidian Novels" interface—
[Rebirth]
"Someone has already crossed over to the Wasteland, but then returned through rebirth?"
"He leaked information about the Wasteland World’s future to the country’s higher-ups..."
"Because of that, information about me as a High-tier Evolver and even Dawn City Lord was exposed."
This theory might be bold, even wild, but the more Yu Jin thought about it, the more possible it seemed!
On the surface, he was just an ordinary college student, president of the Environmental Protection Club.
But for some reason.
Someone like Yin Yao was going out of her way to get close to him, making life easier for him at every turn—and even her grandfather was trying to ’recruit’ him.
"Who’s the one that got reborn?"
"Yin Yao?"
"Or is it some other ordinary citizen who handed information to the state, and Yin Yao’s status gave her access—so she approached me because of that?"
Yu Jin’s thoughts spun rapidly.
Last night during teambuilding, he’d used "Eye of Insight" on Yin Yao—
[Yin Yao]
[Tier: Tier One (Sealed)]
[Evaluation: An Evolver who struggled to awaken in "Wasteland", attribute is ’Sandstorm’, ambitious.]
"Eye of Insight" is only Level 1, and can’t even check Yu Jin’s own info, let alone something as hidden as "Rebirth".
Because of this, Yu Jin couldn’t confirm the answer to his question.
"Besides..."
"Since the mechanism binds helmet and crossing over, it means Old Yu and Xiaochen will inevitably arrive in the Wasteland, too."
Thinking of this, Yu Jin opened his phone and went to the "Wasteland" game forum.
Searched "Can you bring items into the Wasteland game".
No surprise, all the answers were no.
That makes sense—if you could bring things in, it would outright confirm that the game helmet has supernatural properties.
"If I can’t bring things, then even if I give Old Yu and Xiaochen energy crystals now, it’s useless."
With that thought—
Yu Jin asked silently in his heart, "Brother Tongzi, can ordinary humans use energy crystals now?"
To Yu Jin’s surprise, the system actually gave a precise reply.
[No]
A simple one-word answer; another plan fell through for Yu Jin.
Hoo—
A long while later.
Yu Jin got up from the bench and let out a heavy breath.
Maybe it was time to accept Grandpa Yin Yao’s dinner invitation.
But before that— 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"Superman, Superman, still gotta be Superman!"
Yu Jin’s resolve was firm.
He strode toward Jiang University’s main gate and took a cab to Jiangcheng Hospital.
"First stop: hospital to steal some crystals, then off to Langlang Mountain to pop crystals and break through!"
"Tonight, I will blaze past Tier Seven!"
"Oh, and there are still ten Attribute Activation Stones—use them all at once, maybe some new attribute will awaken..."
...
...
Wasteland, Dawn City.
Just logged in, Chen Gang and Yin Yao walked the streets of Dawn Outer City with a few big burly men.
"Hope I pass the evaluation!"
Chen Gang muttered nervously with his head down.
The two of them had come to participate in the Guard Team Evaluation.
Dawn City isn’t very big, with a total refugee population of just over 200,000.
The vast majority are ordinary people who haven’t awakened.
Real Evolvers—barely more than a thousand in total.
Most of those are only Tier One or Tier Two.
As for Tier Three Evolvers, few were left after the previous City Lord’s squad got wiped out outside the city.
"Even though I only just broke through to Tier Two, with so few people, my odds are still pretty good."
Yin Yao seemed to see Chen Gang’s nerves and spoke offhandedly.
"Yeah!"
"Hope so!"
Chen Gang sighed.
The Electric Current attribute did give him two skills, but his Combat Power was obviously way lower than Yin Yao’s Sandstorm attribute.
When they’d been out fighting monsters recently, he could only play a support role—paralyzing Mutant Beasts with electricity. The real main damage was all Yin Yao.
Of course, the four from Ye Fan’s group helped out too, acting as human bait to distract the Mutant Beasts.
...
...
Twenty minutes later.
With the big guys leading, Yin Yao and Chen Gang passed through the walls separating Outer and Inner City.
It was only then—
that Chen Gang finally got his first look at the Inner City.
Unlike the bustling scene he’d imagined, the Inner City, while cleaner and tidier than the Outer City, was a lot emptier.
If there’s one big difference, maybe it’s the clusters of people in the distant square—not ragged refugees, but Evolvers exuding all kinds of attribute auras.
"So many Evolvers!"
Chen Gang couldn’t help but gasp.
Yin Yao didn’t reply. She just looked up at the domed building in the very center of the Inner City.
That was the City Lord’s Mansion—a fixture in every Refuge City, home to its Refuge City Lord.
"I wonder if we’ll get to see the New City Lord..."
Yin Yao muttered.
Bzzz—!
The next moment—
Shrill mechanical friction burst through the not-so-large Inner City area.
Chen Gang jumped, scanning all around in a panic.
Bang—!
Bang, bang—!
Heavy thudding sounds rang out one after another.
"What the..."
Chen Gang stared blankly at the black beetle that had fallen from the sky right in front of him.
Bzzz, bzzz—!
The beetle emitted a piercing sonic wave, its antennae writhing nonstop atop its head.
Those green eyes shone with a ghostly light.
"Dangerous!"
Chen Gang had only locked eyes with the beetle for an instant and was instantly on edge.
He could sense...
This beetle was at least as strong as the Tier Three Mutant Beasts he’d faced earlier that day!
At the same time—
Somehow, up in the sky, there was now a figure in a black leather jacket.
"Anyone who lasts an hour against the Mechanical Beetle without defeat may join the Dawn City Guard Team!"
Angelina Neil’s chilling voice echoed throughout the Inner City area.
