Chapter 12: Wealth, After All, Is Sought Amidst Peril

"Cloned improved test subject, unit one born..."
"Data normal, neurology normal, hormones normal..."
"Proceeding with psychic synchronization test..."
"Failed... Second psychic synchronization test..."
"Failed..."
"Cloned improved test subject unit one..."
"Discard order, execute..."
...
Chu Hao sat up abruptly from his bed, covered in cold sweat. He stared blankly into the surrounding space for several seconds before letting out a deep breath, but sleep would not return.

After a long, busy day of hauling supplies into the safe house, Chu Hao and the others had taken a brief rest. The sky outside had grown dim. After some thought, Chu Hao, no longer feeling sleepy, got out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash his face with water.

Returning from the restroom, Chu Hao sat on the sofa, fished a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one. Taking a sharp drag, he leaned back against the cushions, staring at the apartment ceiling, and fell into deep contemplation.

He did not like smoking; it killed brain cells. But he was not a man without emotions. He felt pressure, fear, and guilt... and in times like these, one needed to vent those negative emotions. Chu Hao was no exception.

The reason he had asked Chen Mo to kidnap the protagonist and the heroine—besides the "better safe than sorry" mentality—was the protagonist's subsequent performance in the movie. After being exposed to the blue light, the protagonist's body began to mutate, eventually becoming capable of beating an alien to death with his bare hands—an alien that even a car crash couldn't kill. Even when the aliens removed his brain and stuffed it into the body of something that was neither robot nor alien, he somehow managed to retain his consciousness.

If they encountered any accidents during their mission, this male lead would be their final trump card, the most potent weapon of resistance against the aliens.

That was the excuse he had given the others. In truth, Chu Hao had two plans in mind.

Besides the plan he had shared—setting up a sanctuary in Los Angeles to kill the aliens—the plan that best guaranteed everyone's survival was actually to run away. Surviving for seven days was easy; besides hiding in a secure shelter, another way was to flee. The further they escaped into the remote wilderness, the safer they would be. If they could reach a place completely devoid of human life, they would be fundamentally safe.

The aliens' primary targets were undoubtedly large cities. Only after the major cities were destroyed would they move on to mid-sized towns, then villages, prioritized by population density, until humanity was ultimately extinct. Before that point, the more remote and sparsely populated the area, the safer.

By contrast, staying in the city was an act of risk. Even a very secluded underground bunker could be discovered by alien creatures; it was not one hundred percent safe.

But in reality, even if Chu Hao had proposed this escape plan, the group would likely have chosen the former. The reason for that was Chen Mo.

Chen Mo claimed to be a reincarnation traveler, asserting that this status was an inheritance from his ancestor. Whether this was true or false remained to be seen, but Chen Mo did have a tangible connection to the "God" space and possessed secret knowledge about it, which appeared to be factual.

According to the information he had revealed regarding the God space—such as reward points, side quests, and creating people—along with his familiarity with various exchanges (for instance, noting that early-stage technological weapons offered the best value for money, which they could stock up on if they returned to the God space), he seemed well-versed.

To be honest, compared to the claim of inheriting a legacy from an ancestor, Chu Hao actually suspected that this guy *was* the ancestor, having used methods like reincarnation or possession to arrive in his current form. Of course, these were just speculations. Judging by Chen Mo's micro-expressions and mannerisms, he was certainly not someone with rich combat experience—even Jenny was better than him in that regard. If he truly were a former reincarnation traveler, that wouldn't be the case.

However, it was undeniable that he harbored many unknown secrets: magical cultivation artifacts, spatial items capable of storing large quantities of supplies, and an "ancestor's legacy" that seemed like Doraemon’s pocket, containing who knew what... Relying on this "strength," Chen Mo acted with impunity.

It was because of Chen Mo that those who had initially doubted the existence of the "God" were now largely convinced. Furthermore, Chen Mo’s warnings—"In the God space, if you don't advance, you retreat; grinding for points might lead to danger or death, but failing to grind means certain death"—also served to stimulate the others.

These words convinced the others that, since the God space was real, they were more willing to stay and face the challenge. After all, if they could obtain enough reward points and side quests during this crisis, they would have a better chance of survival in the God space in the future.

Chu Hao felt the same way. If that God space was indeed real, he was determined to obtain those side quests and reward points! This would be the only trump card their Rebel Organization could use against the C Organization and the X Organization!

Never before had Chu Hao felt so close to his dream. His organization was no match for the C Organization, let alone the mysterious X Organization. It was less of a resistance and more like scurrying and hiding like stray dogs.

If possible, Chu Hao would rather sacrifice his own life to destroy those two organizations, but willpower could not change material reality, nor could it change the fact that he was utterly powerless against them... until this moment, when he finally saw a glimmer of hope to destroy these two great organizations.

Even if this hope... required him to descend into hell and face infinite terror, he would stretch out his hands and grasp that dawn of hope firmly!

"Hoo..."
*Click...*
The cigarette in Chu Hao's hand had gone out without him noticing. He turned his head and saw Chen Mo entering the safe house, carrying the unconscious protagonist and heroine.

Their eyes met, and Chen Mo broke the silence first.

"Yo, still smoking, Rat?" Chen Mo carelessly dumped the tightly bound lead characters of *Skyline* onto the sofa. "Come give me a hand. I didn't just bring these two back; there's also Terry and Candice, and some other guys whose names I forgot, but who count as plot characters, right?"

"Don't call me Rat." Chu Hao flicked the cigarette butt into the ashtray, stood up, and looked at the unconscious pair. "You brought others too?"

"Yeah, changing the original plot earns side quest rewards. For example, if you save plot characters who died in the original movie, the God gives certain rewards... Of course, it's difficult, but fortune favors the bold."

"But aren't you bringing too many people?" Chu Hao followed Chen Mo outside and saw several heavily bound, unconscious people piled in the van, feeling a bit helpless. "If there are too many people, it’s hard to control. If something goes wrong, we won't be able to protect everyone..."

"It's fine. If trouble happens, we'll just try to protect the main characters and the other two plot characters. We can leave the others to their fate," Chen Mo said dismissively. "If they don't listen and do something that puts us in danger, I don't mind playing rough. They aren't the main characters anyway, so they don't have the 'protection' from the God... Don't you agree, Chu-zi?"

"...You’d better stick to calling me Rat."