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The whirlpool was like a portal; after the large ship passed through it, the two found themselves on the ocean floor. 

The ship had vanished. The two floated in the deep sea, surrounded by pitch-black darkness with no light in sight. Fortunately, they had prepared headlamps early on, which they strapped to their heads. Holding hands, they surveyed their surroundings. 

They had to find the so-called strait. It was said that deep beneath the ocean floor lay a path leading straight to Peaceful Mountain, where the seawater had parted to allow passage. Jian Xingyi imagined the scene of Moses parting the Red Sea, with the churning waters on either side of the path forming the legendary “Heart of the Ocean.” 

According to legend, the Thousand-Eyed Monster was a creature that could only survive in the dark depths, never seeing the light of day. It longed to see the world, so it spawned thousands of eyes scattered across various wondrous sights—such as the tallest tree on Flag-Raising Hill and the tallest statue in the temple. 

So perhaps the Eye of the Otherworld was floating within that curtain of water.

After purchasing underwater gear from the mall, the two were able to move freely in the water, so they followed the navigation system toward the path. 

As the “Heart of the Ocean” is the equivalent of the “Fire God’s Belly” in the Waves Mountain version, it naturally presents its own challenges. 

Resources here are even more abundant—upgrade materials and huntable creatures float everywhere—but the challenge lies in the frequent occurrence of “Yesterday’s Replay.” 

【Water has a memory; it will record every battle】 

Therefore, every battle in Wave Mountain could resurface at any moment, and the two must remain prepared to fight at all times. Whoosh— 

Sure enough, not far away, a phantom image was reflected in the water. A group of sharks suddenly appeared and attacked the player, but the player’s phantom quickly vanished, and the sharks turned to charge at them. 

However, the two weren’t too worried. Jian Xingyi’s Spirit Battle Talisman had now reached Level 4, allowing the Spirit to linger for three days—this was the final day. Therefore, Jian Xingyi immediately summoned the Spirit to fight. The Spirit circled around them, forming a protective formation that crushed all the sharks, sea monsters, and mermaid phantoms in their path. 

Fortunately, the Battle Talisman refreshes every seven days, so it’ll still be usable during the Zombie Tide Battle. Otherwise, Jian Xingyi would really have nowhere to turn, and he’d have to waste a Wish Bottle to restore it. 

Level 4 Spirit Warriors have more vanguards and higher combat power; so far, they’ve been crushing the surrounding creatures. Jian Xingyi found the sight rather peculiar—phantoms battling phantoms. But even though they were phantoms, the damage was very real. The two pressed on for a while and finally spotted a glimmer of light in the distance. 

They were almost at the Heart of the Ocean…! 

They picked up their pace, but just then, Shanhai’s body suddenly froze. 

Jian Xingyi followed Shanhai’s gaze to the side and saw… the Colonel. 

The Colonel had died long before the first battle, not even having time to be enshrined in the Heroes’ Tomb. This was just a phantom, merely a “replay of yesterday.” 

But… It looked too much like him. 

The phantom’s features, clothing, and form were all clearly defined, though it lacked color, resembling a translucent bubble.

Or rather, like a false bubble. 

Not far away, the Colonel led a group of people in fending off the surging tide of mermaid zombies, locked in a fierce battle. 

Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be blocking the main road leading to the Heart of the Ocean, where the mermaid zombies were swarming in droves. They were fighting with everything they had, as if they had nothing left to lose. That was… the road leading to Peaceful Mountain. 

And the reason why Peace Mountain and Peaceful Mountain are now the only two safe zones is precisely because, from the very beginning, these two locations served as the base for 01 and his group—the so-called central government. 

Jian Xingyi was taken aback. 

Previously, they had only known that the Colonel had been killed in action at Wave Mountain, and since his body had never been found, they had chosen a quiet spot near the Wave Mountain base to erect a tombstone for him. As time passed, the Wave Mountain base was submerged, and the tombstone gradually became an untended grave. 

But this was the first time they’d gained a concrete understanding of the truth: the Colonel and his squad had actually done this to prevent the zombies from breaking through the gates of Peaceful Mountain… Rip—! 

Jian Xingyi heard the sound of something being torn apart. He turned to see the Colonel and the squad’s phantoms being gradually ripped apart by those mermaid zombies—a truly horrifying sight. 

Just before the Colonel was torn apart, Shanhai suddenly charged forward to help drive back the zombies. Jian Xingyi quickly ordered the Spirit Warriors to go and assist as well. 

But these were, after all, merely phantoms—a history that had already unfolded. They couldn’t change anything; they were only trying to make things a little easier for themselves. Shanhai took a deep breath, drew a new spear with a hint of ferocity, and began sweeping and slashing, fighting even more fiercely than the Spirit Warriors. Rip! 

Swoosh!! 

One after another, Jian Xingyi watched as Shanhai’s figure was swallowed up by the mermaid zombies, but his eyes blazed red as he fought, holding his own without faltering. Until… 

Thud! 

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened. “Behind you…!” 

Shanhai turned to see a massive great white shark swallow the colonel whole; the colonel’s phantom vanished like a bubble.

Jian Xingyi immediately drew his gun and fired at the massive shark. This shark wasn’t an illusion but a real monster; it must have sensed the commotion over here and come to investigate. 

With Shanhai drawing its fire and the Spirit’s assistance, the shark was successfully killed by Jian Xingyi’s S-class gun. Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. He felt even more useful now! He could actually be of help even when out in the world! A moment later, after the surrounding zombies had vanished, Shanhai floated nearby, breathing heavily, with traces of blood still lingering on his face. After all, the Colonel was Shanhai, Bai Jie, and Le Ke’s teacher—or rather… their foster father. 

Even though they had come to terms with the memory they retained before losing their memories—that their teacher had long since fallen on the battlefield—witnessing this scene with their own eyes was naturally still painful. 

Jian Xingyi stepped forward and embraced Shanhai. 

“Lu Yan…” 

Even in the seawater, the embrace conveyed warmth. Shanhai returned Jian Xingyi’s embrace, resting his head on his shoulder. “I’m fine,”

Shanhai said. “Teacher died a glorious death—it’s a soldier’s honor.” 

“Mm-hmm!” 

“I’m just a little sad.” 

“Hmm…?” 

“I regret not being able to fight side by side with my teacher. When my teacher was out there fighting, we weren’t mature enough yet.” 

Jian Xingyi gently rubbed the back of Shanhai’s head. “But now Lu Yan has become incredibly strong. We’ll just keep walking the path our predecessors blazed.” 

Jian Xingyi also recalled why Peace Mountain and Peaceful Mountain had become the only two safe zones after the reset—places untouched by natural disasters and with very few zombies. It was because, in the first cycle, everyone had risked their lives to protect their final “strongholds.” To ensure the data could be completed, and the map remained secure, these two areas—where Headquarters was located—had never been invaded by external zombies. 

And after all the zombies had vanished, they saw a wooden crate floating not far away. 

—The Eye of the Otherworld. And…

【Player 【Shanhai】 and Player 【Xinghe】 joined forces to defeat 【Heart of the Ocean Boss—Grade A Great White Shark】, earning a reward of 66,666 dawn coins, 5 Management Exchange Vouchers, and the item 【Shark Fin】.】 

Now they’ve gathered almost all the materials. 

Jian Xingyi and Shanhai continued forward. After passing through the seawater, they landed on a flat expanse of land, returning to dry land. Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened in awe. 

They stood on a dirt path flanked by towering glass walls, through which they could still see sea creatures swimming below. At that moment, they felt incredibly small. 

He clasped Shanhai’s hand tightly as they walked forward along the straight path. 

At the end… was a gateway leading to Peaceful Mountain—though “gateway” was a stretch; it was more like an underground passage. 

The passage was filled with mud, vines, and weeds; it was clear that few people had passed through here. Jian Xingyi and Shanhai were simply looking for a shortcut, hoping to return to the underground of Peaceful Mountain from here, and then head home via the Peaceful Mountain trade port. 

After all, most people wouldn’t attempt this high-difficulty route just to reach Peaceful Mountain—deep-sea creatures are no joke. If it weren’t for the help of the Spirit Heroes and the fact that Shanhai was a full-power player, they wouldn’t have had it so easy. 

As the junction between Wave Mountain and Peaceful Mountain, the soil here seemed to have absorbed a great deal of seawater; it felt sticky and damp underfoot, and they could occasionally spot quite a few puddles. 

Jian Xingyi asked curiously, “Does this lead to the underground of Peaceful Mountain? What’s down there?” 

“I’m not sure; I’ve never been there myself, but I’ve heard there’s nothing special—it’s probably just a passageway.” 

“Oh!” 

Halfway through their walk, Jian Xingyi stopped in his tracks. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“A glimmer of light.” Jian Xingyi pointed to a spot not far away. “It looks like there’s a path.” The two exchanged glances and finally decided to use gunpowder to blast open the stone wall. 

Boom— 

As a gap opened in the rock wall, the two saw another path through Peaceful Mountain… another hidden entrance.

Inside lay the rubble of collapsed structures. 

Jian Xingyi paused. 

Now that his memories had returned, his brain—being limited in capacity—couldn’t process too much at once. Consequently, he didn’t recall much from the first and second cycles; at most, he remembered the highlights. Most of the time, he had to see things with his own eyes before they came back to him. 

That’s why he recognized it immediately: this was their base on Peaceful Mountain! Though only a few broken bricks and tiles remained. 

It seemed that… after the reset, the traces of the previous two iterations hadn’t been fully erased, and some debris remained buried underground or in hard-to-spot places. 

Jian Xingyi and Shanhai climbed inside to explore. 

There were no memory orbs around, and not much was left behind. Jian Xingyi could see broken beams, dilapidated hibernation pods and furniture, culture dishes, and yellowed, crumpled paper with illegible writing… 

Huh? 

Jian Xingyi noticed that the culture dishes were covered with drawings of sunflowers; it seemed they were cultivating some variety of sunflower. 

“Wow…” 

Seeing Jian Xingyi stop in front of the culture dishes, Shanhai asked curiously, “What’s wrong?” 

“I remembered something… I feel like I know what the sunflowers in my bag are for now.”

“Hm?” 

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when we get back. Anyway… It’s something that can turn the tide!!” 

You have to admit, it’s truly an SS-class seed! 

Shanhai raised an eyebrow. 

Oh? 

The two continued exploring, but there really wasn’t much to find. After all, these were just remnants of ancient ruins—even if others discovered them, they wouldn’t be able to tell what they were. Perhaps there was a proper path to get in here, and it wasn’t necessary to blow things up, but even if people found it, they wouldn’t pay it much mind. 

After finishing their exploration, the two pressed on. 

Back at Peaceful Mountain, after teleporting home, Jian Xingyi stretched. “Phew… I guess I’ve got all the materials I need now… Wait, no.” Jian Xingyi frowned. “I still need one more Eye of the Otherworld.”

Shanhai raised an eyebrow. “I forgot to tell you—Bai Jie sent me a message while I was exploring just now.” 

“Hm?” 

Shanhai explained, “Back when you were infected, everyone went exploring underground at Peace Mountain to look for the Spider Lily. We didn’t find the flower, but… we did discover an Eye of the Otherworld. We just thought it was useless at the time, so we stashed it away. Bai Jie only remembered it after she found out we needed it.” 

“…Wow.” Jian Xingyi exclaimed in shock. “So with this extra Eye of the Otherworld, our materials… are all collected?” 

“Yep.” 

“Yay…!” Jian Xingyi jumped for joy, overwhelmed with emotion. “That’s great—otherwise I wouldn’t have had a pouch!” 

“Should we go get it from Bai Jie now?” 

“Yeah, let’s do it! Wait, hold on—before that…” Jian Xingyi went out to the yard to harvest the sunflowers she’d planted earlier. Shanhai asked curiously, “So what’s the point of this?” 

Jian Xingyi said mysteriously, “Do you know why this game is called ‘Dawnbreaker’?” 

“Hm?” The stoic Shanhai obligingly put on a puzzled expression to play along. 

“Because there’s no dawn or sun in this game!” Jian Xingyi explained, “But zombies fear sunlight. While they won’t die instantly from it, it does significantly impair their mobility. That’s why, in reality, zombies aren’t actually that active during the day. Now, only after we’ve survived the zombie hordes and completed several crossovers between the game and reality will we be able to see the sun, allowing the zombies and the virus to gradually fade away.” 

Shanhai thought to himself, Indeed, everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of ‘Dawn.’

“And this sunflower… also known as the ‘sunflower’—it’s the plant we’ve developed to simulate sunlight. You could think of it as… a laser gun? A sunlight emitter?” 

Shanhai understood. “So as long as we plant sunflowers along the city walls, they can also serve as a powerful barrier.”

“That’s right—a very powerful barrier!” 

That’s SS-class! 

Jian Xingyi stowed the sunflower in her backpack and said, “Let’s go find Ms. Bai later, then try transplanting these flowers along the city walls to see how they work!” 

Jian Xingyi felt a sense of anticipation.

Since entering this game, it had been a long time since he’d truly felt the sun’s warmth. He used to complain about the sun being too harsh, but now that he’d lost it, he felt completely drained. 

People… still need to soak up some sun; they still need light. Otherwise, why did God create light on the very first day of creation? 

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T/N: Hiii guyss, with all new stories uploaded, we are gonna be consistent with the schedule now. Bonus chapters on Sunday, regular updates on Monday and Tuesday, Patreon uploads on Saturday. Side note, with the way the site is built, uploading chapters is a bit of a hassle for the way the site was built, so the Milou’s Archive admin handles the uploading, not us, so we may see comments late. You can chat us up on Discord for issues. I heard that the channel is coming up this week. Also, since we (TKA and the Site Admin) are not from the US, which makes ad views payment low and inconvenient, we are looking for a way to resolve it, but MLA activated their Patreon using a similar way to ours, so check it out if you want, their seven-day free trial is open until the end of June.

That is all. As usual, Tokki’s Archives is thankful for every reader and supporter with us.