Lu Luo looked around. Given the current situation, it seemed he had no better place to go than towards that beam of light.

Complete darkness, no strength, no perception, no useful information. The only thing that has appeared, a beacon, is this light source. Under normal circumstances, I could only walk towards this place. How should I put it? It feels like a trap, but now, other than walking into a trap, there seems to be no better choice. So, should I go there now?

Lu Luo was actually somewhat helpless about the current situation. If he hadn't lost his strength, Lu Luo might have stayed in the darkness for a bit longer. He had the Doomsday Disc, as well as the Observer Sequence. The Observer could help him analyze the specific situation—energy perception, data comparison—all of these would be useful. If push came to shove, he could even activate the Disc to escape. So even if he went to some more dangerous places, he himself wouldn't be in great danger. But the situation now was different; apart from Ding Ding and his handsome face, he had lost everything. So, he had no other choice now.

Does this mean all my thinking now is utterly useless? Well, let's go in and see.

After making a decision he wasn't sure was correct, Lu Luo began to slowly walk towards the light. Whether it was because his strength had disappeared or not, his vision had worsened; there was even a bit of astigmatism. He couldn't see clearly from afar and could only get closer.

When he arrived in front of the light, he realized that the brightness was merely a sliver of light leaking through a door crack. The dim, yellowish light was somewhat like the old incandescent lamp in Lu Luo's childhood home from his previous life. This gloomy feeling reminded Lu Luo of the days when he was beaten for not doing his homework well as a child. It feels like everyone experienced a similar period during their childhood. What the hell, why am I suddenly getting nostalgic?

"Daddy, Daddy!"

The voice was still calling out to him, and at this moment, Lu Luo hesitated. He didn't know what was behind the door, but from the current situation, it didn't seem that simple. After a bit of self-deprecation, Lu Luo's fingers grasped the door handle.

「…」

"Lu Luo? Lu Luo? What's going on?"

SLAP!

Qi Xinzhu slapped Lu Luo across the face, but the Lu Luo in front of her showed no reaction at all. Combined with his pre-existing vitality issues, Lu Luo looked as if he were dead again. This situation made Qi Xinzhu extremely anxious, but she had no good solution. Lu Luo had been fine just a moment ago, but sometimes accidents happen suddenly.

When Lu Luo was smelling that piece of flesh, the bubbles in the room had started to move. If it had been the Lu Luo of the past, he could have easily dodged something as slow as bubbles. But the trouble was, the current Lu Luo was in bad shape. Not only was his strength poor, but his perception and reaction were even worse. Qi Xinzhu was entangled by the surrounding eyeless lizards, so much so that Lu Luo himself didn't even realize he had touched a bubble. And Lu Luo's current condition was a result of touching that bubble.

"Honey, are you okay?"

Lu Luo still didn't respond. Qi Xinzhu once again chopped off the head of a lizard. These lizards weren't very strong, but an incredibly potent vitality emanated from them. Qi Xinzhu had never felt this kind of vitality from any ordinary Exotic Species before. Even a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Transcendent probably wouldn't possess such exuberant vitality.

Such vitality… if they were dissected, they could probably be directly used as medicinal ingredients, Qi Xinzhu thought. How should I put it? These lizards don't quite feel like creatures of this era.

Creatures so abundantly vibrant could themselves be used as precious medicinal materials, just like the blood sacs used for making Little Red Bottles—they were similar kinds of things!

With more and more eyeless lizards emerging from the darkness, Qi Xinzhu's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Lu Luo, wake up!"

The bubbles in the room had started to move freely. If this continued, she herself might collide with a bubble.

「…」

CREAK!

The grating sound of the door opening told Lu Luo that this door was probably quite old. For such a lightweight wooden door to make that sound, it was very likely that the door panel was sagging from its hinges. For a wooden door panel to sag, unless the quality was truly poor, it usually took about twenty years of wear and tear under normal circumstances.

Upon entering, the wooden door closed naturally behind him. Lu Luo subconsciously wanted to reopen the door, but a call interrupted his train of thought once again.

"Daddy, Daddy, come read to me!"

Daddy? Lu Luo slightly furrowed his brows, then gripped the doorknob behind him and turned it.

Huh?

Outside was no longer darkness; he seemed to have arrived somewhere else. Snow was drifting down, and although visibility wasn't very clear, Lu Luo could still make out that this place resembled some villages on the outskirts of a city: a lonely tin mailbox, wooden fences, very sparse wooden houses, and a road that appeared to have been long neglected.

Could this be a small town? Transmigration? A second transmigration?

The cold wind blew into the house, and Lu Luo, who hadn't felt the cold for a long time, finally came back to his senses.

So cold! This place… it couldn't be the Wasteland Alliance, could it?

The tall walls of the Wasteland Alliance could largely block the wind. Most of the wind couldn't reach inside the Wasteland Alliance. Moreover, the Wasteland Alliance had limited land and a dense population; even the vast expanse of the Fourth Ring could be described as incredibly valuable, where every inch of land was precious. If it were outside the wall, say, in the Fifth Ring, then due to the Exotic Species, a town completely devoid of defensive measures like this one seemed a bit unreasonable. Even unranked Exotic Species were fatal to ordinary people.

But this place… How should I put it? It's too peaceful, like a rural town from my previous life. Too peaceful! In the era of the Wasteland and Exotic Species, it's impossible to have such a tranquil place.

So Lu Luo could roughly confirm that this place was probably not the Wasteland Alliance, perhaps not even within the walls.

"Lu Luo, why haven't you closed the door at this hour? Do you want to freeze to death?" a middle-aged man pushing a garbage cart called out with a smile as he passed by. From his hearty smile and robust build, it was clear he was someone whose life was pretty good.

A simple villager? Alright, even if I don't recognize him, I have to pretend I do.

Regardless, Lu Luo felt he should respond. "Okay, I'm heading back in now."

After greeting the man, Lu Luo closed the door again.

"Daddy, Daddy, what are you doing? Why haven't you come in yet?"

Lu Luo frowned, hesitating. The voice inside gave him a sense of peace, as if it touched the softest part deep within his heart.

"Alright, Daddy's coming right over."

Lu Luo chuckled and shook his head. Have I started to assume the role of a father without even seeing anyone yet? It seems the obsession with marrying a few wives and having a couple of dozen children runs really deep!

Just as Lu Luo was about to walk further into the house, he noticed a pair of cotton slippers by his feet. After hesitating for a moment, Lu Luo put on the slippers, placed his own shoes neatly aside, and then walked towards the inner room. As he passed the full-length mirror in the living room, Lu Luo stopped in his tracks.

Is this… me?

The Lu Luo in the mirror had grown a beard and looked to be in his late thirties. Still handsome, but his face carried a hint of world-weariness. The slightly bulging belly and the already flabby arms made one thing clear to Lu Luo: No middle-aged man can escape the fate of growing portly. It's too tough! Well, it seems getting middle-aged is truly brutal.

They say women are very conscious of their figures, but sometimes, men are just as conscious, even if they don't show it as overtly as women do.

On the living room wall, among the ornaments, there was a family photo. Lu Luo moved closer and picked it up. A man, a woman, and a child. The man was naturally himself, a little older than his usual appearance—likely how he looked around thirty. Still just as handsome; beyond that, no other adjective seems to fit better.

The woman in the photo, presumably his wife, was still Qi Xinzhu. But this Qi Xinzhu had short hair. She appeared very capable, having lost a touch of naivety and gained an air of mature femininity.

Looking at Qi Xinzhu… well, how should I put it? She's simply delightful! Truly my wife, beautiful in every version.

As for the child, perhaps the photo was a few years old, as the child in the family portrait still looked like an infant. An infant probably wouldn't be able to call out 'Daddy' so clearly.

Lu Luo held the photo, silent for a moment. It looks like a truly happy family.

Standing in front of the bedroom door, Lu Luo hesitated before knocking.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Is Daddy here? Come in and read to me, okay?"

Hearing the crisp voice inside, Lu Luo suddenly felt as if his heart had melted. At that moment, he even harbored a faint anticipation about what the little girl in the room would be like. Could she… could she really be his daughter? And this place, is it the future, or just an illusory world?

Lu Luo no longer had the Observer. Now, many things required his own analysis and judgment.

Oh well, I'll take it one step at a time.

He pushed open the door, managing a fairly natural expression. "Daddy's here!"

Lu Luo was already very familiar with role-playing; he had done it for many years in his previous life. Only in this life had he performed for a slightly shorter time.

"Daddy's here!"

The little girl sitting on the bed smiled sweetly. Lu Luo had thought he would remain calm, as everything before his eyes seemed unreal. But when he saw the little girl, he couldn't help but be startled. She sat on the bed, her features strongly resembling Qi Xinzhu.

This feeling… Huh! Did Qi Xinzhu give birth to a mini-version of herself? Literally a copy-and-paste job? She seems to be around four or five years old, and my reflection showed me in my late thirties. If this age were in the Wasteland Alliance, would it be considered having a child late in life? But the term 'late-life childbearing' feels a bit odd. Well, aside from her appearance, her eyes do resemble mine. Hmm, all in all, nothing seems amiss! If this version of me still exists, she's likely my biological child.

"Why didn't you turn on the light? It's so dark, you'll hurt your eyes."

"Hehe," the little girl giggled, revealing a row of white teeth, one of the front ones missing. She must be at the age of losing her baby teeth.

Lu Luo turned on the bedroom light, and the brightness made him hesitate for a moment. This light seems a bit too bright. It was so bright that for an instant, everything else in the room seemed to lose its color. Lu Luo knew this was a sense of discoloration caused by the glare. After he adjusted to the environment, the surrounding colors gradually returned.

At this point, Lu Luo glanced around the little girl's room. Apart from a bed, there was only a small table and a small stool—a stool, not a chair, the kind without a backrest. On the table were some crayon drawings: two adults, a child, and a teddy bear. The bedsheet was somewhat faded, likely from overuse and too many washes. There were no other toys in the room except for the teddy bear at the head of the bed. And this teddy bear was covered in patches, even missing one eye. However, the bear was always by the little girl's side, and judging from the crayon drawings on the table, she seemed to really like this bear.

In short, "simple" was probably the main adjective for this room.

This room is indeed very simple! Lu Luo felt somewhat emotional. If I had lived to this age, I don't think I would let my daughter live like this. I would have tried to create the best possible conditions for my child. After working hard all my life, besides enjoying life myself, my child should also be able to enjoy things.

After he turned on the light, the little girl frowned and looked at Lu Luo. "Daddy, last time you said this light was too bright and we wouldn't turn it on anymore. How did you forget again?"

"Ah, sorry, I forgot. Um, should I turn it off then?"

"Why do you always forget things?"

"Sorry, sorry."

CLICK!

Lu Luo turned off the light, and the room suddenly seemed too dark again. Especially after experiencing the brightness just before, this level of darkness… How should I put it? It looks like that kind of uncomfortably dark, like the onset of something ominous. Okay, it seems too dark again.

"There's a bedside lamp."

"Oh!"

Lu Luo walked over to the little girl's bedside, sat down, and casually turned on the small lamp there. The light was dim, but this level of brightness seemed just right.

"Um, Baby, what book do you want to read?"

"Baby?" The little girl looked puzzled for a moment. Her confusion made Lu Luo a bit embarrassed. Did I call her the wrong thing? A dad calling his daughter 'Baby' shouldn't be a problem, right? Because he didn't know the little girl's name, Lu Luo didn't even know where he had gone wrong.

"What's wrong?" Lu Luo asked.

"Daddy, you haven't called me Baby in a long time."

Lu Luo instinctively wanted to ask, Then what do I usually call you? but fortunately, he held back.

The little girl giggled again, "Hehe," and then said quietly, "You usually call me Little Monster."

Little Monster? Well, I didn't have children in my previous life, but I heard from those who did. Kids really are rather like monsters for those few years before elementary school! Um, then… would it be better if I call you Baby from now on?

"Okay! I also think 'Little Monster' isn't a very nice nickname."

Lu Luo and the little girl both started laughing. How should I put it? A doting father and a loving daughter—truly nice.

"So, Baby, what book do you want me to read to you today?"

"Today? Oh, today I want to read 'Thirty Thousand Watermelons Vanished.'"

'Thirty Thousand Watermelons Vanished'? Okay, I'm not very familiar with children's books. But judging by the name, it should be about something like eating watermelons, right?

"Alright, then today we'll read 'Thirty Thousand Watermelons Vanished.'"

In the dim light, Lu Luo found the book "Thirty Thousand Watermelons Vanished" on the small bookshelf by the bed. He picked up the book and sat next to the little girl. To read to her better, he leaned in closer. When he tried to nudge the little girl slightly to make space, he suddenly realized his hand met empty air.

Where the girl's legs should have been… there was nothing!

Lu Luo's gaze hardened.

In this world, it's one thing for my daughter to live in poor conditions. That could be changed with hard work. But physical defects… those are irreparable. In this world, my daughter… actually has no legs!

Honestly, Lu Luo found this hard to accept. It wasn't a matter of whether the child was a boy or a girl, nor was it about affection. The very fact that such a small child had no legs was something Lu Luo himself found deeply unsettling.

At that moment, Lu Luo lowered his head. "Baby, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay. Did you want me to move in a bit?"

"Yes, that's right. Move in a bit."

"Alright."

The little girl looked steadily at Lu Luo as she moved. The one-eyed teddy bear beside her also stared at Lu Luo.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.