Chapter 449: Ruins Bar
"Could we really get killed by minions right after defeating the boss?"
Lin Ye rubbed his head. With his mental energy completely depleted, he couldn't even handle a slightly stronger low-tier spiritual energy user now, let alone these anomalous phenomena.
"The probability is quite high... I hope it won't be too painful. My constitution is special, so I'll probably take a long time to die."
Bessie Pro looked at the nearest anomalous phenomenon, which was a fleshy mass covered in blades.
"It's fine, I still have many spiritual energy cards."
Lin Ye pulled out a handful of spiritual energy cards, but activating them also required a tiny amount of mental energy. The combination technique earlier had already drained him dry, and now he couldn't even use the spiritual energy cards.
"Sigh, I can only rely on you guys."
Lin Ye threw handfuls of spiritual energy cards down below the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant. The survivors fighting the anomalous phenomena down there could activate these cards.
At that moment, the spiritual energy shield blocking the path in front of Lin Ye suddenly shattered. A flock of paper-folded birds swooped toward them from the distance, their beaks wide open. It was they who had just shattered the spiritual energy shield.
"Oh, this way of dying doesn't seem too bad." Lin Ye sighed, grabbing Bessie Pro and preparing to jump off the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant.
The lower half of the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant was a full sixty meters tall, which was also why those survivors couldn't help them.
Even Sera could only barely release a spiritual energy shield from sixty meters away.
Of course, if dealing with the duplicate hadn't left Sera in an extremely poor state, she would have already gotten Lin Ye down.
At that moment, a shadow covered the cross-section of the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant. The clubhouse base appeared behind Lin Ye and Bessie Pro.
"Finally caught up."
Maggie jumped onto the cross-section of the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant. She extended her right hand toward those flying birds, and all of them were torn into powder by spiritual energy vibrations.
"Boss! Are you okay!"
Black Dog and Wendy also jumped out from the clubhouse, followed by those young people.
"You all are... future states? You did this?"
Lin Ye frowned, looking at Maggie who had already reached the ninth tier. He finally understood why saving her would generate a Time Mark.
"Yes, I seem to have a talent in this area. When you attacked that monster, I faintly touched my future self."
Maggie helped Lin Ye up. She had actually always wanted to help Lin Ye with something, but Lin Ye was too strong. She could only handle miscellaneous tasks that Lin Ye didn't have time for, which made her very dissatisfied.
"I only dared to borrow attacks from the future. Even if you have talent in this area, doing this will come with a severe price."
Lin Ye sighed. He hadn't expected these young people to do such things. They were just part of the money-making plan; this city had nothing to do with them originally.
"Yeah, but I am your 'boss.' How could I just keep watching my underling take all the risks?"
Maggie revealed a nostalgic smile. That scouting mission changed the relationship between them. The period afterward felt like a dream; everyone became spiritual energy users, and no one needed to fight desperately for a bit of food anymore. They had obtained true freedom in this Free City.
"So that's how it is. You know I'm not the original me, right?"
Lin Ye actually hadn't hidden this matter at all; after all, even his name had changed.
"Of course, I'm not an idiot. But without you, we all would have died, so it doesn't matter."
Maggie casually dealt with an anomalous phenomenon that had climbed up. In the distance, a paper bird occupying half the sky stared at Maggie and the others, spewing a large number of small paper birds toward the cross-section of the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant.
"Wendy, escort them to a safe place. We'll handle things here."
Maggie turned her head to look at the paper bird in the sky and said loudly.
"Okay!"
Wendy grabbed Lin Ye and Bessie Pro and leaped down from the cross-section of the Flesh-and-Blood Mecha Giant.
The future Wendy had clearly grown much taller, and her body wasn't as emaciated as before. One could say her future was promising.
Soon, Wendy brought them to the rear of the battle line. Free City had already become an empty, free ruin. The roads were littered with broken stones, and the buildings on both sides of the streets were all dilapidated.
"Cough, cough, you can drop us off here."
Lin Ye tried hard to stand steady. Bessie Pro leaned against Lin Ye's back, preventing him from falling over.
"There might be leftover anomalous phenomena here. Please let me stay by your side."
Wendy understood what Lin Ye meant, but she was afraid Lin Ye would encounter danger.
"Even if there are leftover anomalous phenomena, I can handle them. But if the battle line collapses, I'm definitely dead. Your friends are fighting desperately on the front line. Are you sure you want to stay here with me and watch the battle line collapse?"
Lin Ye had recovered a bit of mental energy. He wasn't afraid of encountering residual anomalous phenomena here.
"...Alright. Then please wait in the rear. If you encounter trouble, you can use this to contact us."
Wendy took out a communication device she had adjusted and handed a large food box to Bessie Pro before turning and running toward the anomalous tide front line.
Lin Ye took the food box and, supported by Bessie Pro, walked into the nearby bar wreckage. Bessie Pro moved two chairs next to the bar counter. Lin Ye sat on a chair and opened the food box.
Inside were all things Lin Ye liked to eat.
"You're always so calm. I don't think I've ever seen you panic."
Raymond sat on the other side of the bar counter, raising his glass in a toast to Lin Ye.
"Because panicking is meaningless; it only makes the situation worse... Want some?"
Lin Ye picked up a piece of fried meat with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. Wendy's frying skills had improved a lot; the fatty meat was fried perfectly.
"No need. I'm afraid you might have added something to the food. Facing an opponent like you, one can never be too careful."
Raymond hadn't initially expected Lin Ye to achieve this extent. Back then, he couldn't even be sure of Lin Ye's identity because Lin Ye's starting identity was too low, which didn't make sense at all.
If not for the system's restrictions, he would have already taken action against Lin Ye.
"Opponent? Are you also planning to sell spiritual energy cards?"
Lin Ye showed a puzzled expression.
"You don't need to pretend. Since I've appeared here, it means I'm no longer planning to keep acting."
Raymond also hadn't expected Lin Ye to send Wendy away in this state. He couldn't possibly let such a good opportunity slip by.
"So who exactly are you? Why do you want to destroy this Plane?"
This was the only point Lin Ye hadn't figured out. He didn't understand what Raymond wanted.
"Of course, I want the things inside the Bottomless Pit. But that's part of the system. Even if it's just a trash can, it's not something we can touch. However, if this Plane is destroyed and the trash can loses its garbage-storing function, then the system will abandon this place. The things inside naturally become ownerless. That is my goal.
But achieving this goal isn't easy. If a block has a problem, the system will seal that block and later assign it to reliable Survivors to resolve. If the Survivors cannot solve the problem, the system will then abandon that block."
Raymond looked at Lin Ye. He just hadn't expected the system's Survivors to be so reliable.