"Please... spare my life... soon... the Real World... will descend... I really don't want to die here..."

The woman barely managed to utter a faint voice.

"Actually, there's one point we can agree on: I never intended to let you go in the first place."

What Lin Ye had pitied earlier was Phoebe's head, not the woman in front of him, because that made more sense.

The woman died from the mutation traps. Before her death, she continuously cursed Phoebe, who was collapsed on the ground.

Because Lin Ye had already returned the body to Phoebe, the woman couldn't even curse him directly.

As long as he switched fast enough, the curses could never catch up to him.

"Do you know what the Real World is?"

Phoebe lay among the corpses. She really wanted to crawl somewhere else, but right now she didn't even have the strength to crawl.

"It might be the source causing all of this, or it might just be what these lunatics call this anomalous phenomenon."

Lin Ye made a reasonable deduction.

"So you mean, as long as I can find and destroy this source, I can return to the normal world?"

Phoebe suddenly perked up.

She had always wanted to escape these anomalous phenomena, but she had no idea how to actually get rid of them. Now, she had finally glimpsed a sliver of hope.

"I'm not sure either. There's too little known information right now. I can only say there's a glimmer of hope."

Phoebe's fragile body and the surrounding environment greatly limited Lin Ye's efficiency in gathering information. For now, he could only adapt to the situation as it unfolded.

"A glimmer of hope is enough. I want to destroy this Real World. Can you help me?"

Phoebe asked, full of anticipation.

"Question: who am I?"

Lin Ye didn't answer Phoebe's question. Instead, he asked one in return.

"...You're a Laborer from the asylum."

Phoebe didn't understand what Lin Ye was trying to say.

"Why should I protect you?"

Lin Ye continued his questioning.

"...You need to achieve some purpose through me, so I can't die yet."

Phoebe suddenly understood Lin Ye's meaning. She wasn't stupid; she just hadn't thought that far ahead in the moment.

"Correct. I'm here to work. If my boss wants that 'Real World,' then our goals align. Naturally, there's no problem. But if my boss wants the Real World and the real world to merge to achieve some purpose, then we are enemies. You need to consider how to deal with me before I deal with you."

Lin Ye was like a teacher, instructing Phoebe step by step on what she should do.

"If that's the case, then why are you telling me all this?"

Phoebe asked, puzzled.

"Maybe I'm just guiding you into the illusion that I'm on your side, so I can make my move when you hesitate later. Or maybe I simply think you pose no threat. After all, arrogance and confidence are separated by a very thin line."

Lin Ye replied very casually.

"Let's set that aside for now. At least until we find that Real World, we're still on the same side."

Phoebe wisely avoided the question.

"That works too."

Lin Ye didn't object. He also had some questions he needed to clarify first.

While the two were talking, a silver minivan drove into Phoebe's field of vision from one side of the road.

"...I can't get up right now. Can I leave this to you?"

Phoebe struggled forcefully a few times, like a fish slapping its tail on a chopping board.

"This job really isn't fit for humans... Though I'd like to complain like that, the people in that car look relatively normal. Probably won't need me to intervene."

Through the windshield, Lin Ye could see the situation inside the car. Just by looking at their expressions, he could roughly tell what those people were thinking.

The minivan stopped by the roadside, maintaining a safe distance from Phoebe.

A young man wearing a police officer uniform got out of the minivan. He held a pistol and cautiously approached Phoebe.

"Who are you? What happened here?"

Kexi asked.

"I'm a high school student. This woman was a lunatic. She used a Giant Infant to attack me, and I ended up killing her in self-defense. These corpses are all humans controlled by the Giant Infant."

Being seen in this scene, Phoebe couldn't try to lie her way out either. She couldn't very well say these people were all dealt with by some passing righteous hero, and she was just an innocent bystander who knew nothing, could she?

"You should be one of those lunatics too, right? If not, where did you get the ability you used to deal with the woman?"

Kexi pointed the gun barrel at Phoebe's head. If Phoebe's appearance didn't genuinely look like a student, he would have already fired.

"At this time last year, I started being able to see those illusions. If I didn't have some means, I wouldn't have survived until now. If you don't want to believe me, then leave quickly. Don't get in my way. I still have to save the world."

Phoebe lay on the ground, acting as if she didn't care at all that the young man was pointing a gun at her head.

"What do you mean by 'save the world'?"

Kexi lowered the gun slightly and asked in a deep voice.

"That woman said the Real World is overwriting the false world. This process will end at dawn. I want to stop this process, destroy the so-called Real World!"

Phoebe looked into the young man's eyes and said earnestly.

At this moment, the passengers staying in the car also got out. They were respectively: a middle-aged man wearing a police officer uniform, an old man in a formal suit, a bespectacled young woman, and a student whose body was completely wrapped in bandages.

"How do you know that information isn't just the ravings of those lunatics? What 'Real World overwriting the false world'—there's no theory that can support such a possibility!"

The bespectacled young woman said somewhat agitatedly.

"What the hell is theory? Haven't you noticed the changes happening in this world recently? I actually think this information might be true. Those lunatics understand anomalous phenomena better than we do."

The old man in the black formal suit placed his hand on the knife hilt fastened at his waist, as if ready to draw and strike at any moment.

"But she might not be trustworthy. If she has problems, she could very well lead us into the Nest of those lunatics."

The middle-aged police officer retorted.

"You don't seem to care at all about what we're discussing."

Kexi suddenly interjected.

"Whatever you all plan to do won't affect what I have to do. For an entire year, I've been fighting against those anomalous phenomena. You can't possibly understand the feeling of seeing absolutely no hope. Now I've finally seen a glimmer of hope. Even if it's the ravings of lunatics, I won't give up this chance to save the normal world.

For me, this is something I must do, even if it might ultimately be completely meaningless."

Phoebe got up from the ground. She turned and walked towards the nearby residential complex, paying no further attention to the survivors behind her.

Her pace wasn't fast, but it was very determined.

Before she had gone far, she heard a voice from behind.

"Hey, little girl, where are you going? Do you want us to give you a ride?"

The old man rolled down the car window and shouted at Phoebe's retreating back.

"I'm going to find something to eat to regain my strength. Are you headed the same way?"

Phoebe turned around and replied.