Chapter 40

The word "outsider" immediately sparked another thought in Lin Tu's mind.

She sensed something was off, so she told Yuan Que to head home first, while she, Luo Yongzhi, Yi Ying, and a few others stayed behind in the basement of the Plant Research Institute.

"Do you know that the Black Factory has been collecting employee records from the institute?" Lin Tu asked.

Luo Yongzhi looked completely lost, but Yi Ying appeared deep in thought.

"I've heard of it," she said. "Apparently there's a theory among the higher-ups that all disaster worlds started out as ordinary worlds. Then outsiders—those who came from beyond the world—deliberately sabotaged the ecosystem, turning it into a disaster world."

Lin Tu thought, *Exactly as I suspected!*

Cai Dui's main quest wouldn't have him collecting information on local disaster-world residents for no reason. The purpose of gathering all that data was because he suspected some of the employees weren't locals at all.

"So one of Zhang Jie's group's tasks was to collect employee records?" Yi Ying asked.

Lin Tu nodded.

"It seems the rumor is true, then. The fact that the institute's scientists were wiped out, and even the archives were sealed behind the mandrake and Venus flytraps—someone did all of that deliberately." Yi Ying sighed.

As for who that someone was? No one knew.

"That's really a thing? That legend is actually true?" Luo Yongzhi suddenly thought of something and exclaimed in surprise.

Lin Tu, who knew nothing, immediately asked, "What legend?"

"It's a grim prophecy—you haven't heard of it, Sister Lin?" Luo Yongzhi's mood sank as he spoke. "This prophecy has been passed down by word of mouth, and by the time it reached me, who knows how much it's changed. All I know is that a lot of people, like me, weren't born in disaster worlds. We all come from a peaceful world without calamities—until disaster struck, our world fell, and those of us lucky enough became players."

"We originally thought we were just exceptions, but someone discovered through special item vouchers that the number of low-level disaster worlds is decreasing, while high-level disaster worlds are increasing. You see, except for those worlds with extraordinary gifts," Luo Yongzhi gave a bitter smile here, "every ordinary world that transforms into a disaster world starts from a low-level disaster and gradually escalates to a high-level one."

"The prophecy says that fewer low-level disasters doesn't mean fewer ordinary worlds are being struck—it means there aren't many ordinary worlds left... All worlds are inevitably falling, becoming worse and worse."

"In the end, every world will collapse and become a disaster world. We'll never find a peaceful world again!"

Luo Yongzhi's words struck Lin Tu's heart like a hammer. She had always been composed and level-headed, but now she couldn't help feeling a flicker of panic.

She thought of her own world—the one she'd always claimed to hate for being so brutally cutthroat. But at some point, the morning sun and steamed buns, the midday drowsiness and beef noodles, the bustling lights and noisy streets with hot pot and barbecue—those things clearly held a place in her heart.

Lin Tu calmed herself and asked, "So what does that have to do with outsiders?"

"Of course it does," Yi Ying replied. "The reason all worlds fall is because outsiders do it deliberately."

"What kind of people are they? Why would they do such a thing?" Lin Tu thought of Yuan Que and couldn't bring herself to believe he would deliberately destroy this world.

"That's information only high-level players can access," Yi Ying said helplessly. "All I know is that those outsiders wear white lab coats in every world. Beyond that, I know nothing. Some say they're scientists from higher-level worlds; others say they're evil doctors collecting all kinds of human data during disasters. In short... there's no definitive answer."

"Apparently whenever our superiors enter a disaster world, their top priority is gathering information on the researchers, doctors, and such at the source of the disaster. I never believed it before, but after hearing what you said, Sister Lin, I know it's all true."

Lin Tu thought of Yuan Que again and rubbed her forehead. "Aside from that, are there any other outsiders?"

Yi Ying pondered for a moment. "Us?" Other than that, she couldn't come up with another answer.

Realizing this, Lin Tu grew even more puzzled. Why did the Butler judge Yuan Que as an outsider? Could it be... that Yuan Que was the very cause of this world's disaster?

"What about the gods who supposedly rule over these worlds? Don't they care about these outsiders?" Lin Tu reasoned that the root of it all lay with the deity who created the [Infinite Calamity] game.

"Gods?" Yi Ying and Luo Yongzhi exchanged glances. "If gods really existed, wouldn't they do something? We suspect either they don't exist, or they did it on purpose."

Humans and gods were like players and NPCs—creatures from two different worlds. It would be strange if a god could truly understand their suffering.

Lin Tu had nothing to say—so the only question remaining was: who exactly was Yuan Que?

Lin Tu decided not to pursue the question too urgently, because she already had Yuan Que's fingerprint. She could send him an invitation at any time, as long as she was willing to bear the debt of one million points.

Lin Tu decided to do some work to calm down first.

She released the mutated water hyacinths from their cages one by one, collected the new shapeable clay they produced, fed them fresh iron, then took the clay back to her hut and expanded her space by another square meter.

Even so, with the strong winds these past few days, some dandelion remnants still clung to the outer walls. Lin Tu activated the water wall defense system to clean the dandelions off the walls.

Then she diligently watered, fertilized, and pruned the plants on the shelves, tidying up the supplies—the grim prophecy Luo Yongzhi had mentioned stirred a sense of crisis in Lin Tu. She needed to stockpile more supplies, because according to the worst-case scenario, her own world would eventually fall too, and then she'd have nowhere to buy anything.

Stockpiling meant needing more space, and even more advanced Anju functions, like the [Time-Stopped Warehouse].

Counting it all up, her points kept dwindling.

And that wasn't even mentioning that in less than a month, she'd have to enter the S-level [God's Nightmare Space] disaster. Before then, the more points and special item vouchers she hoarded, the better.

Lin Tu planned to go out in the coming days to stock up on more supplies and kill mutated plants—every little bit counted. Only then could she ensure a stable life of retirement.

The next morning, Lin Tu set out according to plan. Thanks to her experience working with the military during the zombie crisis, she was well-versed in this. She quickly identified from the map where resources and mutated plants were most abundant and where to start clearing.

As for Yuan Que being an outsider—after asking around and getting no answers, Lin Tu decided not to pursue it. As she'd thought before, she already had his fingerprint and could send him an invitation anytime. Perhaps after surviving the S-level disaster world, she'd learn the truth and decide whether to send Yuan Que the invitation. But for now, for someone as broke as she was, it was far too early.

So Yuan Que tagged along beside Lin Tu, but this time he only helped carry things. As the saying goes, a gentleman doesn't stand under a crumbling wall. To avoid the possibility that Yuan Que really was the mastermind, Lin Tu chose to handle all dangerous matters like fighting by herself.

Before long, Luo Yongzhi and Yi Ying also joined Lin Tu's team.

They cleared their way from the northeast corner of the city toward the southwest, and after about a month, they reached the vicinity of the Ecological Wetland Park.

By then, the "Forest White Sea" channel had gained more recognition, and plenty of new faces had appeared there. Thanks to their presence—and their innovative attempts with mutated plants—the "Forest White Sea" began broadcasting usage methods for even more varieties of mutated plants.

Oddly enough, even though Lin Tu and the scientists from the Yun City Academy's Plant Research Institute had contributed nothing to these new usage methods, their names still topped the list, like some kind of tribute.

So when Lin Tu went to the Ecological Wetland Park to visit Zhang Haizhi and the others, Zhang Haizhi called out her name from afar, drawing the attention of passersby.

Although Lin Tu was used to being the center of attention, facing such pure, sparkling gazes from unfamiliar eyes still made her a bit uncomfortable.

"The government has already run successful trials and is promoting these methods globally!" Zhang Haizhi greeted her with the good news right away. "They'd really like to meet you, but since they couldn't reach you, they asked me to pass along a message—once things settle down, they'd like to invite you north to the capital."

At the current rate, with nationwide adoption of breeding and using mutated plants, stability was on the horizon.

Lin Tu nodded but didn't agree right away.

"I'm planning to clear out the nearby supermarkets and industrial zones."

Zhang Haizhi quickly offered, "I'll show you the way!"