Chapter Thirty-One: Fellow Travelers

No, wait, I think I mispronounced a word?

After Erzi finished the call, he clutched his head, suddenly recalling that the original text should have been:

"Great Sage Equal to Heaven, boundless compassion, manifestation before all, saving the ignorant and stubborn."

Should he try again? Perhaps another attempt would work.

But one should not be too greedy; escaping with one's life is already fortunate.

Is he a good person now? Not at all, so he isn't qualified to invoke such a mighty name...

Erzi considered his greatest merit to be self-awareness, just as he never dared join any rebellion.

He knew that even after a rebellion, he would not obtain a position higher than the one he currently held.

He sighed, rested for a while, and then, feeling hungry, made an internal call to have the cafeteria deliver a meal.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. A steaming bowl of beef noodles arrived.

The delivery boy was about twelve or thirteen, with clean hands and feet, wearing a pair of well-washed old sneakers, thin and frail, his skin dark and rough.

Erzi could easily see the boy's hands trembling as he held the large bowl, his nose twitching as though trying to breathe in more of the aroma.

"Put it on the table inside," Erzi said, opening the door. He had never cared about these people's circumstances before.

Now, he realized it was precisely because of them that he enjoyed his easy life. Thinking this, he quietly slipped his hand into his pocket.

Unlike the boy, Erzi was thin not because of hunger, but because he was picky about food.

The frail boy carefully placed the steaming noodles on a table in the living room, then looked around the spacious house with envy.

His own room was just a partition, with three bunk beds for six children of his size.

If a wave of chaos struck and people from outer posts came in to take shelter, three more would sleep on the floor, but everyone welcomed them, as it meant more money coming in.

He lowered his head as he left, not daring to let the homeowner see his envious gaze, afraid of being mocked.

"Wait," Erzi said.

The frail boy grew nervous, instinctively checking his hands and feet, which were spotless. Even so, he'd still been scolded by picky gentry a few times.

Copper Fortress was cramped, with many poor people, but hygiene was never neglected.

The guild management possessed modern administrative knowledge; the more crowded the place, the more hygiene mattered—otherwise, in such a closed environment, they would suffer as well.

Anyone who didn't wash themselves thoroughly every day would be thrown into the labor squad by the strict guild patrol.

"Take this," Erzi pressed three white copper coins marked "5" into his hand.

---

"Thank you, thank you, kind sir," the frail boy clutched the coins tightly.

Of course there was money to be made delivering food—otherwise, why do it?

But delivering to the guild management was a kind of forced labor, with no payment at all, a standard practice.

No one dared ask for money; a single word from these people could have him thrown out of Copper Fortress, forced to survive as a wandering outcast, never knowing if he'd see another day.

These three five-cent copper coins were enough for a hearty meal; normally, he would only earn two cents per delivery.

"Go on, go on, take care—don’t run too fast," Erzi said kindly.

"Yes, yes, thank you," the frail boy replied, overwhelmed by the unexpected kindness, hurrying off.

He would go back and proclaim that a kind gentleman, able to live alone in a large house, had not only given him a tip but showed genuine sympathy. His days would surely improve from now on...

Being a good person really did feel rather nice.

Erzi thought to himself, and his appetite grew; even the ordinary noodles seemed more fragrant.

...

Medical Zone.

Fan Bei searched his way to the doctors’ duty room, hesitated for a moment.

He recalled, with vivid clarity, that time he was brought to the hospital late at night, burning with fever, given an intravenous drip to reduce the temperature.

At the time, only Nurse He Ping was on duty. It took her three tries to get the needle in; before, it was always Aunt Liu, deft and skilled, who handled injections.

The person who brought him joked about He Ping’s poor technique, saying she ought to be dismissed.

She admitted with embarrassment that she was just an intern responsible for reception, brought in as a temporary stand-in, not a ward nurse. Having spent so long in the shelter, she hadn’t forgotten the injection skills taught in school—which was already pretty good, so he shouldn’t be too demanding.

Fan Bei sighed deeply; the memories remained, but the person was gone.

Inside, Da Bai was carefully inspecting, sensing his master’s mood, making not a sound.

Just as Fan Bei turned to leave, Da Bai suddenly froze, motionless.

Fan Bei was surprised, but didn’t act rashly, instead observing closely. All was quiet, except for the wind at the ventilation shaft.

He quietly opened "Father of Systems," used up all thirty-three spirit cores and a single phantom spirit core in one go.

He watched "Father of Systems"’ spiritual power rise from "999.2" all the way to "3545.2," finally feeling secure.

At that moment, Da Bai was hearing a sacred voice inside its canine mind:

"Do you wish your master’s friends to be reborn? Do you want them to truly live again? I am the Star Lord, great in compassion, dwelling in the thirty-three heavens of Brahma. Recharge 6480 points of spirit power and your wish will be granted..."

Da Bai was bewildered, thinking: "Who are you? Let me tell you, I have... I have Xiao Bai as my guardian! Don’t you try anything! Xiao Bai, there’s a voice just like yours pestering me!"

---

The wooden carved white dog’s voice appeared: "I hear it, I hear it. Hey, you latecomer, why not claim to be the Compassionate Guanyin from the Southern Seas? Wouldn’t that be much more convincing?"

It uttered a casual scorn, not expecting a flood of responses...

"Oh, meeting a peer—what a coincidence! No, today I impersonated another big IP and nearly lost my sanity. I hurried out to stabilize my mind. If I dared impersonate that one again, my sanity would vanish, and I’d revert to those lowly creatures."

"Who’s your peer?" Xiao Bai snapped. "I, Tian Bai, am the noblest, most honest, and kindest spiritual lifeform in the multiverse—never a fraud like you. To call us the same is an utter disgrace."

"Er, I used to tell them that, but none believed me. Yesterday, I finally found one, tried to partner up, but got swindled and nearly ruined. How did you get such a foolish divine dog to trust you so completely and work for free? Maybe I set my sights too high and should have started with animals?"

"I don’t cheat; I exchange genuine hearts," Xiao Bai replied.

"I see, so one must use a genuine heart to deceive. I’ve learned something—next time we meet, I’ll treat you to a meal."

"Next time we meet, I’ll make you my meal," Xiao Bai said fiercely.

Just as things were starting to look up, with profits coming in, a peer showed up to disrupt the market—infuriating.

No wonder humans say the most hated on the battlefield isn’t the enemy, but the traitor teammate.

Is there any justice left? Any law? Any way to survive?

"Senior, you’re not very professional—two sentences and you expose your nature. Here on Earth, kin-eating isn’t the norm; it ruins our future clientele."

"Get lost!" Xiao Bai roared.

Da Bai wobbled, toppled to the ground with a thud.

"Da Bai, what happened to you?" Fan Bei worriedly helped it up.

"It’s nothing, master. Just now, a heavenly god spoke in my mind—no, a heavenly fraudster, who got scolded by Xiao Bai and left." Da Bai hugged its legs, whimpering.

"Alright, rest a bit and tell me slowly what happened."

Five minutes later, Fan Bei understood the situation, his brow furrowed.

Sure enough, Xiao Bai was not unique; it hadn’t lied before. There really was a group of intelligent, communicative high-level spiritual beings, cohabiting Earth with the evil spirits.

As for their intentions, at present they seem only to collect spiritual power to recover themselves, but what they plan for the future remains unknown—certainly nothing good.

Just then, Da Bai barked at him.

"Master, Xiao Bai says that was just an exception. There are self-degrading high-level spiritual beings, but most are good, like it."

"Master understands. I’m not a narrow-minded youth; I won’t judge all by a few. Tell it to rest assured," Fan Bei replied earnestly.