Chapter 414 - Say Hello To My 17-Year-Old Self (1/2)
Chapter 414 Say h.e.l.lo To My 17-Year-Old Self
Eleven months was a long time in the game, but it pa.s.sed very quickly in real life.
In that tiny apartment that had a s.p.a.ce of less than 60 square meters, Zhang Heng had experienced the four seasons. He was familiar with it’s every corner, knowing the position of each piece of furniture, knowing where to store the milk and eggs in the refrigerator, and knowing which cat food Baby Croc liked the most. He also knew how the old TV in front of the sofa would shut off automatically when a football match was shown…
Zhang Heng proposed to buy a new television since he made lots of money from Fox. Besides, it was not like he could take the money out of the quest anyway. As a person without ident.i.ty, he could not spend the money that he earned as he wished. However, Little Boy rejected the suggestion without any hesitation. The reason was that the newly produced televisions had microcomputers that could connect to the Internet.
This meant that the CTOS could trace them.
Speaking of which, this was the strangest quest that Zhang Heng had ever partic.i.p.ated in. It was supposed to be the future. However, besides learning new skills, he rarely came into contact with electronic products in his daily life. Instead, Little Boy chose to go far away from her apartment to teach Zhang Heng how to make use of the new skill that he learned.
Therefore, other than watching boring TV shows, old movies, and playing Tetris together, the usual entertainment for the two was the endless small talk. Little Boy liked it a lot when it rained. Whenever the sky darkened, she’d prepare drinks. Occasionally, cookies would be baked as well if she had the time. She loved eating cookies while watching the rainfall outside the window.
Zhang Heng had no idea how many cookies Little Boy had eaten in the same position and the same posture before he arrived.
It was similar to the fact that only a handful of people knew how there was still a group of people in this city fighting for justice. Fewer and fewer 01 members remained in the team, where some chose to quit, unable to handle the enormous pressure that came along with it. Some had their enthusiasm erased since they had been fighting for a long time but still failed to glimpse the victory they longed for. People like them would quit silently in the end. Besides pursuing justice and axioms, there were still countless things in their lives that required their concern.
Parents, partners, children, friends… these were people in their lives that they needed to spend time with to build better relations.h.i.+ps. When dreams began to fade, everyone had to learn how to face reality. . At this point, the Black Nest’s victory was set in stone. The people around them had become more and more accustomed to the existence of CTOS to the point that they couldn’t live without it.
Not everyone was as obsessed as Little Boy in making things right again. With the departure of the original members, coupled with the lack of fresh blood, the demise of 01 now seemed only a matter of time. Perhaps when the veterans like Leah, Little Boy, and Semiprime became older, no one would remember that they ever fought for justice.
During this period, Zhang Heng partic.i.p.ated in oi’s operations as foreign aid, but even with his abilities, there wasn’t much he could do. After over ten years of crazy expansion, Black Nest was now a behemoth. A complicated relations.h.i.+p of benefiting each other had been formed, where even CTOS’ creator lost control over it. It was no longer under the control of one or several people. In other words, no one would be able to stop it.
However, Zhang Heng’s information technology, internet intrusion and defense, modification of electronic equipment, and anti-tracking skills had all improved to a certain degree. The combination of all these skills turned him into a Level 2 geek. It was also his most significant achievement in this parallel quest.
There was one month left, and this parallel quest was about to come to an end. It was finally time to say goodbye to Little Boy.
“Are you leaving?” Little Boy leaned against the kitchen counter, holding a cup of coffee. “Yes, thank you for taking me in and for teaching me so many things. It’s almost time for me to return to my parallel universe,” Zhang Heng said. He had already bought a suitcase and everything he needed from the department store.
“How long till you leave?” “In less than a month, but I have some things to do before I leave,” Zhang Heng said. He planned to spend his remaining time traveling to Gren.o.ble, intending to explore the ski resort in advance and improve on the Leah rescue-plan. On top of that, he would also sneak into Black Nest to learn more about them.