The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

Chapter 181 Turning into a Dragonfly

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No matter how much the hypocrites fear themselves, they are helpless.

When they are on Earth ten years from now, they will be powerless to help.

They can only rely on sending people in during random dungeon runs to try their luck and cause trouble.

I'll just have to deal with whatever comes my way.

It's not a big problem.

As Li Can pondered, a swarm of golden dragonflies gradually flew over from the low edge of the distant azure sky.

It is autumn in this eerie, labyrinthine city.

The autumn air is crisp and clear, and people feel comfortable both physically and mentally in this temperature environment.

After brainstorming, his mind was clear.

"Hey, look, how come there are dragonflies of this color here? It's so novel! I've never seen one like this on Earth. It looks shimmering with gold, just like that golden energy." Zhou Ye curiously manipulated the branches to trap a dragonfly, and then carefully enveloped it in his palm.

He trotted up to the three of them and showed them the dragonfly.

Wang Defa was clearly not in the mood. He only lifted his eyelids perfunctorily, then said "Oh," and continued to squat there smoking.

The wind blew by every now and then, and he would smoke half of his cigarette as the wind blew it away. He grumbled and scurried away to hide behind a tree that was sheltered from the wind.

Li Can and Li Lan looked at the dragonfly, their eyes met, and they were both momentarily moved.

Li Lan gently took the golden dragonfly from Zhou Ye's palm and placed it on the back of her hand to look at it.

The dragonfly seemed to have a mind of its own; it had no intention of escaping and showed no sign of flying away anytime soon.

It landed obediently on the back of Li Lan's hand, occasionally fluttering its wings.

Its translucent, crystalline gold color made it look like a gold-carved ornament, so exquisite that it seemed like something out of this world.

"Birth, old age, sickness, and death, turning into a dragonfly..." Li Lan looked at it and silently recited the nursery rhyme that had circulated among the flawed children in the first act of the [Mirror of Past Lives].

They didn't pay attention to the saying at the time, but now that people have seen so many dragonflies with their own eyes, they understand why such a nursery rhyme exists.

Li Can exclaimed, "So it wasn't just baseless; it's a realistic nursery rhyme!"

"What nursery rhyme? Is it the one you just mentioned? I've never heard of it before." Zhou Ye looked puzzled.

"Yes, I just suddenly remembered it too, it's not important." Li Lan shook his head and gently raised his arm. As if sensing something, the dragonfly automatically flapped its wings and flew back into the sky.

Looking at all those dragonflies, Li Lan's eyes reddened. "Go on, Little Monster, you're free now."

She seemed to be recalling many past events through this dragonfly.

Li Can also felt somewhat dazed.

The word "little monster" is clearly new, yet it feels like an old friend from a long time ago, so old that he's almost forgotten about it.

The young man who habitually wore the human skin mask with an old-man effect, although he was no longer young, still looked like a young man in his twenties.

He spent almost his entire life waiting for those few destined people who would eventually enter his "Mirror of Past Lives".

We await the day when this part of history can be brought to a complete and satisfactory conclusion.

After Li Can emerged from the Mirror of Past Lives, he had already figured everything out.

The "family" that Xiao Guai is waiting for doesn't specifically refer to him, Li Lan, Shen Yuan, Yang Mo, and the others, but could be anyone.

Any player who had the chance to enter the [Mirror of Past Lives] when Yang Mo forced the city lord to abdicate and the monsters were already resigned to their fate would be the one destined to enter.

However, Li Can was a bit luckier. He took the [coordinates] with him using the gashapon machine and arrived in the upper city ahead of time, which led to the solution that would later enable him to successfully solve the [mysterious maze] problem.

He did not rule out other ways to enter the upper town ahead of time.

For example, when they were at the Happy Amusement Park in the Lower City, they made a condition, immediately forcing Yang Mo and his group to bring the players to the Upper City.

Or perhaps try to buy the eerie act of the guard... In short, there are many ways to escape, and opportunities always exist in various gaps.

Standing here, Li Can looked back and retraced his steps. Although the path he had taken was full of obstacles, he had managed to stay on the right track and reach his destination without going astray.

"No, who is Xiao Guai? Li Lan, what have you been doing behind my back? Are we in the same instance of the game...?" Zhou Ye became increasingly confused.

Wang Defa puffed on his cigarette, and instead of squatting, he simply sat down on the ground. He didn't care if his clothes were dirty or not, otherwise his legs would always go numb.

"Hiss... Huff... There's a lot you don't know, go cool off somewhere else."

Wang Defa took a deep breath, then exhaled smoke under the tree, completely enveloping Zhou Ye, who was walking up to him, in the smoke.

But all we saw was Zhou Ye taking off his glasses and wiping them as he quickly backed away to create some distance.

"You old Wang, you're choking me! Can you please stop blowing secondhand smoke directly in my face? Do you know how harmful this stuff is? It's even more dangerous than if I smoked it directly."

After Wang Defa's interruption, Zhou Ye forgot to continue asking Li Lan questions about dragonflies, monsters, and the like.

After wiping his glasses on the spot, he covered his mouth and nose, seemingly unable to stay still any longer.

"Alright, alright, if you guys like to keep enjoying yourselves in the dungeon, I won't keep you company."

"There are still many things to do when I get back to the base. I'll be gone for several days, and there must be a lot of things piling up at Boss Chen's place that I need to deal with. I'll go ahead first."

"I've also given you the pass card and peach blossoms. Keep it safe; you'll need it to save your life in the next dungeon."

"I reckon this is the only time we'll ever meet again in our lifetime. It'll be very difficult to do it again. This parting may be forever..."

Zhou Ye wanted to say something more sentimental, but Li Can gave him a big bear hug, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Alright, alright, I'm really leaving."

"Take care, brother. Give my regards to Boss Chen. Tell him that Peach Blossom admires and respects her, and that you can contact me privately if you have the chance." Li Can patted Zhou Ye hard on the back several times.

It seemed like he was acting on impulse, as if he had gotten carried away.

In fact, Li Can had many things on his mind.

It's an open secret that Zhou Ye is Chen Ling's capable assistant.

Li Can had long wanted to find an opportunity to leave something on him.

Now that he himself has proposed leaving and mentioned Boss Chen, Li Can felt that it would be too late if he didn't make a move, so he prepared some excuses to brush it off, but in reality, he was trying to get closer to him.

The reason why Li Can, Wang Defa, and Li Lan did not directly and frankly discuss the matter of returning to the base in front of Zhou Ye was because they were wary of his identity.

Chen Ling's identity is now an open secret, and although Zhou Ye hasn't shown any unusual behavior in this instance, he is still very dangerous, and it's impossible to ascertain whether he can be trusted.

Adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble than to get involved," Li Can chose to continue observing Zhou Ye.

Not everyone is like Wang Defa, who can accept things directly.