Thanks once again to Green KiTea for the kofis, hope you enjoy the bonus chapters!

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Shanhai gently wrapped his arms around Jian Xingyi. 

Jian Xingyi pressed himself tightly against Shanhai, leaning his full weight onto him. Besides being exhausted, Jian Xingyi also felt a bit miserable. 

They were still inside the memory bubble, but Jian Xingyi felt as though he was now using his own body—one he could control freely. 

He glanced around. They were surrounded by woods. It looked somewhat familiar, but there was nothing particularly distinctive about it, and for the moment, he had no idea where they were. 

Jian Xingyi stopped crying. What Shanhai saw were tears caused by the emotional resonance he felt after receiving the memories within the memory bubble; he was simply feeling overwhelmed. After catching his breath, Jian Xingyi said hoarsely, “What did you see?” 

Shanhai paused. “Maybe… what I saw was similar to what you saw, just from a different perspective. It was all a replay of what happened.” 

Jian Xingyi leaned against Shanhai. “Then… after the ambush, where did ‘Shanhai’ go?” Shanhai looked around as well. “Why don’t I take you to see?” 

Jian Xingyi paused. 

Now he understood where they were. Shanhai carried Jian Xingyi on his back as they walked forward. 

The timeline of this memory bubble seemed to follow the previous tsunami, though perhaps it was set even further in the future.

After all, Xinghe’s former guild had already relocated, and their base lay in ruins. 

If it had been a merger, the base would have automatically relocated. But in this second iteration, they hadn’t truly merged— instead, they’d left 【Across the Sea】 to join 【Grapevine Peak】. As a result, the 【Across the Sea】 base still stood, though it was no longer maintained by members. The surrounding houses and fields had been washed black by the sea. 

Moreover, since 【Across the Sea】 was much larger than Grapevine Peak, they had only taken with them a portion of the bricks and tiles from the city walls that they could carry; most of the damaged sections were never repaired and remained at the old site the two were now passing through. 

Shanhai asked, “After ‘I’ died in the second timeline, were you… okay?” 

Jian Xingyi remained silent. 

Shanhai sensed something was wrong. “What happened to you in the end?” 

Back then, he had done his utmost to protect Cangshui in the hope that Jian Xingyi and the others could at least continue with their plan. Jian Xingyi gave a dry laugh. “Xinghe died in the second iteration.” 

“……” 

“How did he die?” 

“He was killed by Wan Yu and his group. His body is over there.” Jian Xingyi pointed toward the city wall in the distance. “?” 

Shanhai narrowed his eyes slightly. “What do you mean?” 

Jian Xingyi briefly filled Shanhai in on what had happened to the guild after his death, then continued, “Then they caught me. They said… since I was so determined to build walls, they’d wall me into the city walls.” 

“……” 

“So when Cangshui and the others couldn’t find anyone and saw my ID go offline, they left. Wan Yu and his group then embedded my remains—including my skull—into the city wall.” 

“……” 

Shanhai stared intently at the thick city wall before him and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no…”

Sensing Shanhai’s distress, Jian Xingyi tightened her grip on his hand. “How could this be your fault? Cangshui isn’t to blame either. If anyone is at fault, it’s Wan Yu and his group for being so extreme… and it’s also my fault for not being decisive enough at the time, which led to this disaster.” 

Jian Xingyi lowered her gaze and said, “I should be the one apologizing to you.” 

“Xingxing… it wasn’t your fault, and anyway, it’s all in the past now.” 

“Yeah, right, it’s all over. There’s no point in dwelling on it…” Jian Xingyi rested his head on Shanhai’s shoulder, sounding a bit dazed. “But I’m a little tired right now… Can I take a nap?” 

“…Xingxing, once we get out, you’ll have to use the Wish Bottle.” Jian Xingyi’s neck had already turned slightly blue; it seemed time flowed faster inside the memory bubble, or perhaps the virus was spreading more rapidly the closer it got to her brain. 

Besides, Jian Xingyi was actually feeling very cold right now, but he didn’t say anything; instead, he silently pressed himself close to Shanhai for warmth. 

“Okay.” 

Shanhai cast one last glance at the city walls, then set off toward the outskirts with Jian Xingyi on his back. He made his way back along the route he remembered. 

This memory bubble was strange—unlike the previous ones, it didn’t seem to limit how long they could stay inside. “Cough, cough, cough…” 

After walking for a while, Jian Xingyi’s complexion turned pale, and he began coughing violently. 

“Xingxing?” 

Jian Xingyi whispered, “I feel like I’m going to throw up, and my whole body hurts…” 

Shanhai set Jian Xingyi down and had him lean against a tree. He gently took her wrist and said, “Xingxing, open your eyes and look at me. Who am I?” 

“Hmm…?” Jian Xingyi looked at Shanhai with a slightly dazed expression. “You’re…” 

Shanhai said, “Xingxing, be a good boy. You can’t hold on much longer. It’s time to use the Wish Bottle.” 

“Oh…” Jian Xingyi shook his head to clear his mind, then took a piece of ginseng from his backpack and ate it. Afterward, he felt much better. 

—Snap. 

Just then, the sound of a twig snapping came from nearby, along with the hoarse cries of a zombie.

Shanhai’s eyes narrowed. He stood up and parted the nearby grass, only to freeze in surprise. 

Not far away, a zombie was trapped by dead branches and vines tangled around its legs, unable to move. It struggled incessantly, trying to break free. Jian Xingyi also froze upon seeing it clearly. “Shanhai…!” 

Although the zombie’s body had rotted beyond recognition, its clothes were nothing but shreds, and it was a complete mess, Jian Xingyi still recognized it—it was Shanhai! 

Or rather, the Shanhai from the second run…! 

After Shanhai was infected in the dungeon during the second run, he saw an ambush upon exiting and decided to draw the enemies away himself. Cangshui himself didn’t know it, but Shanhai had clearly seen Cangshui’s wound. 

There was only one Red Spider Lily. Since that was the case, he might as well… 

Shanhai would never be killed by the other players, even while infected. So after driving them off, he didn’t return to put everyone in a difficult position or cause Xinghe grief. Instead, he chose to rest in a grove near the guild—a place where he wouldn’t be easily found— and wait for his end. 

Shanhai frowned. 

Although he was the one who had brought Jian Xingyi here, now that he actually saw it… he felt it looked far too terrible. Shanhai instinctively wanted to shield Jian Xingyi from seeing him like this, but there was no trace of disgust or revulsion in Jian Xingyi’s eyes. He simply…his eyes welled up again. 

“Xingxing…” 

“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine.” Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. “Why don’t we…” 

…finish him off. 

Before he could finish, the zombie seemed to sense someone’s approach. Its struggles grew more violent, snapping more branches beneath its feet. At that moment, the two of them noticed, among the vines holding the zombie, a bright red flower was blooming. 

The flower of the afterlife. 

The vines and branches all extended from a large tree behind the zombie. The flower was drawing nourishment from the soil, the tree, the vines, and even the zombie and the corpse itself. It swayed on a slender vine with the zombie’s movements, looking both fragile and striking. 

The two could hardly believe their eyes.

They’d searched high and low in vain… 

The Red Spider Lily they were looking for was right here, on Shanhai, from the second run. Jian Xingyi took a deep breath and cast a skill on the Red Spider Lily. 

【Harvest Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x550】 

…So many!! 

It’s said that a person’s essence value amounts to about 300 points after death. However, this particular Red Spider Lily has absorbed the corpse of Shanhai, is connected to the trees and the earth, and is itself a Red Spider Lily, which is why its essence value is so high. 

【Player 【Xinghe】 has successfully obtained 30 seeds of the rare plant 【Red Spider Lily】】 

……Whoa!!! 

He’s finally achieved “Red Spider Lily freedom”!! This was the whole point of his journey!! 

In an instant, Jian Xingyi felt that all his previous endurance had been worth it—this was a total steal! 

The system really did give him Red Spider Lily seeds—and nothing else. It was exactly what he’d expected. Jian Xingyi was almost moved to tears; he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of transferring them into his backpack and then slowly multiplying them with the Synthesizer as he did with the Snow Lotus. 

After Jian Xingyi finished the process, Shanhai took a deep breath, stepped forward, plucked the Red Spider Lily, and handed it to him. The zombies were still attacking them indiscriminately, but since he was bound by vines, he couldn’t reach them. Shanhai cut the vines. 

“Huh?” Jian Xingyi froze in surprise. 

But the next moment, the now-unrestricted zombie didn’t attack them; instead, it turned and ran away. Jian Xingyi: “He…” 

Shanhai frowned. “Let’s follow it and see.” Shanhai had a hunch that perhaps… 

The zombie was surprisingly fast. Shanhai silently followed, carrying Jian Xingyi on his back, until they saw the zombie return to the guild base.

Shanhai thought to himself, he hadn’t been wrong. 

It was something he had wanted to do in life… 

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened. “What’s going on?” 

Shanhai chuckled softly, “Maybe it wasn’t willing to die out here; it still wanted to go back and take a look.” The zombie stopped at one of the walls, and the two of them saw bloodstains on it. That might be… the place where Xinghe’s remains lie. 

“Whoosh—” 

As the zombie approached, it triggered a trap. Mechanisms suddenly rose all around the city wall. The zombie was impaled by spikes that erupted from the ground, pinned to the wall, and pierced through the heart by a barrage of arrows. 

The zombie ceased moving, dead beyond a doubt. 

—But at least, it had died before the remains of its beloved. Jian Xingyi felt a lump in his throat. 

Earlier, upon seeing Cangshui’s wound, Xinghe had actually realized why Shanhai wouldn’t be returning. 

There was indeed only one Red Spider Lily flower; he couldn’t save Shanhai, so he chose to leave the guild, hoping to find Shanhai and be with him. But before Xinghe could succeed, he was captured by Wan Yu and the others. 

Now, in a way, the unspoken wish the two had held in the second round had finally been fulfilled. 

Jian Xingyi clasped Shanhai’s hand tightly. After a long moment, she gathered her composure and smiled. “That does remind me—the city walls in the second round… shouldn’t be wasted.” 

“Hm?” In the second cycle, Shanhai had mostly been out gathering and hunting, rarely paying attention to the city walls, so he didn’t really understand. 

“The walls in the second run incorporate countless traps and a unique construction method. During the second zombie tide, didn’t Cangshui and Wu Yun create blueprints that used fewer materials? The ones in the second run… use even fewer! Because the materials for these walls are drawn directly from the map itself, rather than being obtained from the system using dawn coins as we did!” 

Shanhai mused, “If the materials come from the map, that means as long as we have the manpower, these walls are an endless resource.” Jian Xingyi: “Exactly! And these materials are even sturdier than the bricks we used in our previous fortress battles!” 

Shanhai nodded.

He recalled that during the second phase, he had often gone out to gather mysterious materials for Jian Xingyi and Cangshui—all for the sake of bricks. 

“I understand the significance of this memory bubble now.” Jian Xingyi smiled. “I also know why this memory bubble has no time limit. This isn’t a memory bubble at all—the system has brought the spacetime of the second mission here. Just like how the Air Wall permanently freezes reality in a single moment to preserve data, the time we can stay here is similar to the Air Wall. Although there are limits, it’s longer than a memory bubble. The system wants us to bring back the construction methods for these city walls, doesn’t it?” 

“How do we do that?” 

“I’m not sure either. Maybe… we should have Cangshui come take a look for himself? After all, no matter how much we describe it, it’ll be hard to replicate without understanding the materials. The city walls in the second iteration aren’t just unique in their construction method—the materials used to build them are also crucial.” Jian Xingyi stroked his chin and said, “In the second attempt, there was a sandbar with very unique sand. It seems to be submerged now, so we’ll have to bring materials back from there. In that case…” 

Jian Xingyi tried building a trade post here, not knowing if it would work. If it succeeded, they could return to this spot to study the city walls and gather materials. 

【Player 【Xinghe】, do you confirm the placement of the trade post?】 Wow! 

It actually works! 

The cost of setting up a trade post here is the same as at Wave Mountain, just like how the price of his volcanic farm inside the air wall was the same as that of the lava volcano. 

After setting up the trade post, Jian Xingyi smiled. “It looks like we really need to build on the achievements from the first two rounds and take on this challenge again.” But with the foundation everyone laid in the first round, plus the city walls from the second, they were like a tiger with wings! 

Shanhai glanced at the zombies in the distance and the bloodstains on the city walls, then nodded. Before the two used the trade portal to leave, Jian Xingyi and Shanhai buried the zombies. Of course, they buried them in the same spot. 

Jian Xingyi also dug up a skull and some scattered bones from within the city walls; the two buried these remains alongside the zombies. 

“Whoosh—” 

Shanhai threw the final scoop of dirt over the grave, covering the last traces left by the second group of survivors.