Chapter 152: The Chess Piece

The grayish-white world corresponding to Earth was not very large. Fan Bei had roughly sensed it when he deployed the sword system previously, and calling it an isolated island of spirit mass was no exaggeration.

Now, to investigate Lin Zhongshi's true whereabouts, he could no longer rely on that previous rough perception; he had to visit the place in person.

His speed was extremely fast. Roughly speaking, as he walked, he covered at least one hundred kilometers per hour with almost no exertion of strength. If he exerted even a tiny bit of power, he could push his speed much higher.

This was the advantage of his new body. Unlike his true physical form, staying here every second—even doing nothing—would consume a vast amount of his spiritual energy.

After increasing his speed, he soon arrived at the extreme northern region of this isolated island. Ahead lay a vast expanse of pure whiteness, with no path forward.

He could clearly feel that a great void lay ahead. Regardless of whether it was his avatar or his true body, stepping even an inch further would result in being assimilated and annihilated with zero chance of survival.

He had run some hundreds of kilometers to reach this place, yet it had taken him only a little over an hour—a speed comparable to a high-speed train.

Along the way, he had found nothing suspicious. Everything was grayish-white and empty, devoid even of special landmark buildings. It was like entering an undecorated house, or stepping onto an endless ice sheet.

As for Lin Zhongshi's trail, it was completely out of the question; there was not the slightest trace of any human presence.

Bizarre! It was far too bizarre!

He believed that even if he searched the entire Earth island, he would not find a single trace of Lin Zhongshi.

Just as he turned around to head back, he spotted two people running over from a distance.

He originally thought those two might be Lin and Dong, but as they drew closer, he saw they were merely two strangers—also a young man and a young woman, both around twenty years old, with utterly ordinary appearances that would make them blend into any crowd instantly.

"May I ask who you are, sir?" the young man asked very politely.

"My name is Xifan," Fan Bei casually made up a fake name for himself.

"Ah, Brother Xifan, what a coincidence! My name is Youtiao, and she is Doujiang," the young man said with a beaming face.

The young woman maintained a stern expression, showing no intention of objecting.

A dark line crossed Fan Bei's forehead. It was obvious that the other party had seen through his perfunctory attitude and was returning the favor in kind.

"I wonder what important business brings Brother Xifan to these desolate lands?"

"Oh, a friend of mine has gone missing, so I came specifically to check."

The man who called himself "Youtiao" glanced at the woman and immediately said happily, "We also have a friend who went missing, and we're here to check as well."

"Is your friend named Lin?" Fan Bei asked directly.

"Yes, yes! It seems we're looking for the same person," Youtiao became even happier. "I never expected little Lin to be doing all right for himself, with people caring about him everywhere. Even though he's only been missing for a week, so many people have come looking for him."

"Indeed. Brother Lin is of noble character and extraordinary appearance, so naturally he has friends all over the world. When he goes missing, we are all deeply worried," Fan Bei said with a frown.

Lin Zhongshi's character was impeccably good, which was all the more precious in the midst of the apocalypse.

Hearing this, the young woman, who had remained calm and unreadable all along, slightly knitted her brows, but as if recalling something, her expression relaxed again.

"I wonder if Brother Xifan has made any discoveries?" Youtiao naturally steered the conversation forward.

"I've run hundreds of kilometers and found nothing at all."

"We've been tracking for three days and have searched the entire surrounding area, except for that manor over there, which we haven't entered yet," Youtiao said, shaking his head as well.

"I see. Many thanks for the information, Brother Youtiao; this has saved me a lot of trouble," Fan Bei said sincerely.

"Think nothing of it. After all, we're both looking for the same person. Now it seems the only clue lies within that remaining mysterious manor," Youtiao said earnestly.

Fan Bei nodded. After all, this grayish-white world was completely empty, making searching quite effortless—one glance was enough to take it all in.

"Then let's head to that manor," Fan Bei suggested.

"Eh? Does Brother Xifan not know? That manor is a forbidden zone," Youtiao said in surprise.

"Why do you say that?" Fan Bei genuinely did not know how it had become a forbidden zone.

"That's territory conquered by an iron-fisted female tyrant. Without her permission, who would dare walk in casually, unless they want their bones dismantled?" Youtiao said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Fan Bei suddenly woke up to the realization: "The person you're looking for isn't named Lin Zhongshi, is he?"

"Ah, the person we're looking for is named Lin Fan, also a guy with an extraordinary appearance." Youtiao also realized the misunderstanding, leading to an awkward moment of embarrassment.

"I knew it would turn out like this," the young woman finally spoke. Her voice was crisp and cold, actually quite pleasant to the ear, and totally disproportionate to her ordinary looks.

"It seems quite a few people have gone missing these past couple of days." Fan Bei didn't feel embarrassed; after all, it wasn't his face losing face...

"Indeed. Brother Xifan, it sounds like you have a way to enter that manor?" Youtiao probed tentatively.

"Follow me. There's really nothing to make a fuss about," Fan Bei shook his head.

He knew that Lin Zhongqing had already gained considerable prestige, but hearing it from a passerby's mouth still gave him a slight shock.

The manor she had conquered had been left unattended for months, yet others still dared not go in to explore it.

This was the power of the system—in less than a year, it allowed someone to rise this rapidly. Of course, this was inseparable from her family background and personal aptitude; combining the three resulted in an exponential explosion.

In comparison, both Dabai and Lang Sheng were far more mediocre.

Youtiao glanced at Doujiang, and the latter nodded.

"Since that is the case, we will gladly accept Brother Xifan's hospitality." Youtiao immediately seized the opportunity and agreed on the spot.

And thus, the Breakfast Trio tacitly acknowledged each other's presence and marched together toward the mysterious manor.

Months had passed, and the manor had fallen into extreme disrepair. Many parts were clearly being assimilated by the grayish-white world, and the speed of corrosion was far faster than that of real-world buildings.

It seemed this was one of the characteristics of the spirit mass world, Fan Bei thought silently. Without an injection of power, objects would be rapidly absorbed by this world.

After the three of them entered, Fan Bei spotted old acquaintances—Lin Zhongqing and her companion.

The reason he hadn't come to this mysterious manor first was precisely because he knew the two of them would definitely come here to investigate beforehand.

Upon seeing the two of them, a trace of panic flashed across Youtiao's face, and even the young woman trembled slightly.

Only then did Fan Bei understand their true reputation. That's right, this was the normal reaction; someone like him remaining calm-faced was the abnormal part.

"Who are you people?" Lin Zhongqing frowned and asked.

"I am Xifan, and these two are Youtiao and Doujiang," Fan Bei casually replied. "A friend of ours went missing, so we came to investigate."

"Your missing friend—what are their age and appearance like?"

Fan Bei looked at Youtiao, and the latter honestly answered the question once more.

Lin Zhongqing couldn't help but murmur to herself, "The common denominator is that they are all very young and possess very high aptitude. What on earth is hidden behind all this?"

The three of them kept quiet.

Dongfang Yitong, however, spoke up, "I have a hypothesis. This is probably some trick pulled by those people. They must have sensed that we Earthlings possess great potential, so they are using this method to wipe out our outstanding talents all in one sweep. That way, they can suppress the growth of our power without wasting anything."

"That must be it," Lin Zhongqing nodded immediately.

She looked over the three of them and said, "Leave now. Whatever is going on inside is not something you can meddle in. As for your friend, the only thing you can do is pray for him at home."

As if granted a royal pardon, Youtiao hurriedly dragged the other two away.

"Those three are rather interesting, especially that Xifan. My intuition tells me he's very unusual," Lin Zhongqing stared at their retreating backs and said indifferently.

"He's not human, so of course he's unusual," Dongfang Yitong remarked bluntly.

"I see." Lin Zhongqing did not pursue the matter further, because non-human entities were becoming more and more common nowadays.

And whether she and the others would even be able to remain human in the future was also a question.

At the very least, she felt that Lin Zhongshi probably didn't enjoy human treatment anymore right now.