Chapter 20 Earthquake and Two Choices
I started making demands of Xie Yiheng.
He was overjoyed instead.
I said I hated sitting in the wheelchair.
He unlocked the chain on my ankle.
But he sealed off the third floor. I could only move around on this level.
It was enough.
Xie Yiheng's impression of me was still stuck five years in the past.
Gentle, harmless, thin and fragile.
He seemed certain that even if I wanted to leave again, I was powerless in my current situation.
But because of years of outdoor sports, my arms already had muscle.
After he went out again—
I went to the storage room I had already scouted.
There was a window that could be pried open.
The wall had enough footholds for a climber.
I had climbed halfway smoothly when—
A deep rumble came from the ground.
Then a violent shake.
I watched in terror as a crack split open in the wall.
Earthquake!
A long-absent mechanical voice suddenly rang in my mind.
"Host, follow the direction I indicate and flee the danger zone."
I had no time to be shocked.
I could only do as it said.
I did not know how long I ran before I suddenly heard sirens.
They were heading toward that villa.
After I stopped them, I learned the villa had already collapsed.
Gu Chaonan and Xie Yiheng had not evacuated in time because they were trying to save me.
Both were buried under the rubble. Alive or dead—unknown.
I followed the rescue workers to the scene in a daze.
Someone gestured at me urgently, face tight with panic.
I could not hear a single word.
"Host, stay calm. They're still alive!"
I snapped back to myself.
Right. There was still the System. It could definitely save Gu Chaonan!
It seemed to know what I was thinking.
"Saving people isn't free. You have two choices."
"One: save Xie Yiheng. The Win Over mission succeeds, and you live too."
"Two: save Gu Chaonan. The Win Over mission fails. You die, and every trace of you will be erased."
"Sorry, Host. We put the interests of the Win Over target first."
I did not hesitate for a second.
"I want to save Gu Chaonan."
It stalled for a second.
"Do you know why I chose to bind you in the first place? Because your will to survive was so strong. You refused to just die like that."
"And now you're going to throw away your own life for some irrelevant passerby?"
"Wen Yu, have you gone mad?"
I actually heard emotion in that mechanical voice.
I smiled, my voice soft.
"What would you understand?"