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Chapter 307 The Immaturity of Men in Love

“Destruction?” Xia Xinyan frowned slightly.

That word coming from Monica didn’t seem unfamiliar, but before, it always referred to the end of the world, and this was the first time she had heard of life emerging from such an end.

“Yes,” Monica nodded. “Destruction isn’t exactly what you think it is — rather, it can be viewed as the evolution from one state of a world to another.”

Pausing as if organizing her thoughts, she continued, “For example, think of the 1s and 0s in a computer. A normal world only has two states: 1 and 0. In most cases, the world is in state 1, which is the normal state. However, some worlds may fall into destruction due to various circumstances, completing the transition from 1 to 0.”

“But even a world in the 0 state is only seen as being in a state of destruction compared to beings in the 1 state; it still exists under a different set of rules based on the 0 state. Although it’s extremely rare, there’s still a chance for entities based on the 0 state to evolve. For instance, the ghosts you’ve seen before in the world of destruction are beings that were originally in the 1 state but forcibly changed by the rules when they transitioned to the 0 state.”

“Normally, a single world cannot have both states 1 and 0 coexist, as beings in either state cannot adapt to the other. In fact, most of the time, the world exists in 1, which is why we consider it the normal state.”

“While a 0 state world is also a result of a certain level of normal evolution, its rules are centered around chaotic destruction, and beings born in this state often possess strong desires to attack and various troublesome traits. Thus, even though they may be naturally born, they don’t contribute to the evolution of the normal world rules. Therefore, both the investigation bureau and higher existences will do their utmost to prevent the emergence of 0 state worlds.”

After explaining this, Monica shrugged: “However, there are special cases… For example, when beings from both states enter another state’s world, they will be transformed by the world’s rules until they fully adapt. But this transformation lacks any technical skill; it’s merely changes made to meet standards, leading to some rather… debatable phenomena.”

“I can be sure that this world is still in the 1 state, but these guys possess traits from the 0 state world. You should be thankful they’ve been adapted to the 1 world; otherwise, their original strength would be much harder to deal with.”

Xia Xinyan tilted her head and gazed at Monica, curious as she asked, “Why weren’t we transformed when we visited those worlds of destruction?”

“Because there’s a world protection mechanism safeguarding you,” Monica replied with a ‘why even ask’ expression. “You’re temporary laborers; who would come if you didn’t have this protection?”

“…It’s as if we had a choice.” Xia Xinyan twitched her mouth.

However, after Monica’s explanation, she understood the monsters’ situation.

These creatures likely originated from a 0 state world, but both reality and this Dark Zone world are in the 1 state; it seems this world has had interactions with destruction. Perhaps the world protection mechanism pulled it back from the edge of destruction?

So what exactly is wrong with this world? How is the world protection mechanism planning to save it?

Or is it true that just eliminating the demons in this world would count as a successful rescue?

Monica was unclear about these matters.

After pondering for a while without finding answers, Xia Xinyan decided to stop worrying about it. She kept the matter in her heart and continued to observe Ling Mo’s battle.

After the surprises of losing their abilities, the only remaining advantage for those monsters was their durability. Still, under Ling Mo’s high-intensity assault, they quickly showed signs of injury, clearly unable to last long. Victory for Ling Mo was just a matter of time.

But the situation wasn’t quite so pleasant for the fat guy.

The flames from that fire monster were too hot for him to approach for close combat, and to be frank, he wasn’t good at it anyway. However, his lightning strikes dealt almost no damage to the fire monster — the ground was charred over a large area, but the fire monster didn’t appear significantly harmed.

So the fat guy was feeling pretty rough: “Hey! You two over there, stop just watching! If Ling doesn’t need help, come help me out here!”

If not for concerns similar to Ling Mo’s, he might have almost pulled out his chainsaw — maybe because he had enjoyed the taste of nuclear explosion chainsaw several times, it had now become one of his trump cards, not to be used lightly.

But unleashing it here would probably obliterate the entire stronghold.

Hearing that, Xia Xinyan looked back at the fire monster for a few seconds, just about to help when the fat guy cried out again: “Monica! Why can’t you come help?! I’m begging you, lend a hand, sis!”

The fat guy was genuinely feeling helpless.

He had never fully understood Monica’s capabilities, but based on Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo’s performances, he knew she was definitely strong. And over all those dungeon runs with them, she always seemed to treat everything like a picnic. Even now… he realized he had never seen her actually fight.

So, he was curious about her strength.

Most importantly, she had been mooching off the Chicks for so long, shouldn’t she contribute something? It was normal for her to sit back and observe while they solved problems, but now that his head was nearly getting smashed in, she just sat there like a spectator?!

Couldn’t he at least call on this freeloader instead of Lady Xia?

“Hmm…” Xia Xinyan tilted her head and glanced at Monica. “What do you say?”

The heavy resentment in the fat guy’s tone was almost palpable.

Monica merely smiled: “Well, it is true. I’ve been taking advantage of the free meal for so long; I should pitch in.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly vanished, reappearing behind the fire monster in an instant, and before anyone could react — the fire monster was sliced into hundreds of pieces, its magma spilling everywhere while not a single drop touched Monica standing behind it.

Even Xia Xinyan hadn’t seen how Monica struck.

The fat guy was dumbfounded: “…Whoa.”

He had speculated countless times about how strong Monica was, but witnessing her in action surpassing all his expectations.

After all, he just fought that fire monster, which he knew was a tough opponent, yet Monica took it down in mere seconds, which was absurd from every angle.

It even gave the fat guy a strange feeling that she might be the first on the leaderboard.

Xia Xinyan was slightly surprised.

She knew that someone on Monica’s level must be stronger than all of them, but… she recalled when she first encountered her and even tried to catch up and threaten her; back then, Xia Xinyan thought that although Monica was strong, she wasn’t out of reach.

Only now did she realize… that Monica was merely playing with them.

With that recent move, Monica was leagues above her; not even close to her current abilities, let alone when she was weaker. Seeing Monica eliminate that creature as if it were nothing more than sipping tea revealed that she was still far from her limits.

Xia Xinyan felt a bit silly about her past self while also gaining a newfound determination.

She had always thought that her and Ling Mo’s current strength were impressive — even stronger than when they explored the Dark Zone world in their previous life, which seemed to fulfill her goals to some extent, leading to a degree of complacency during this time.

But now, seeing Monica’s strength made her aware of new heights and new goals.

She realized there was still so much room for improvement on their current foundation.

She pursed her lips.

No more slacking off.

After dealing with that fire monster, Monica easily brushed off her hands and smiled at the fat guy: “How did I do?”

“…Strong, really strong, way too strong.” The fat guy praised her repeatedly, then suddenly sidled up to Monica, his face all flattering, “Monica, have you considered becoming the honorary elder of the Chicks?”

Wow, if he could pull this big shot onto the Chicks’ ship, he’d probably be able to strut around like he owned the place.

Monica shot him a sideways glance: “I prefer my freedom.”

“Well, that’s convenient; the Chicks embody the image of aspiring for a free sky. Our organization also upholds freedom above all. As long as you’re willing to be an elder, we absolutely won’t impose if you don’t want to…”

“Fat guy, spare me.” Monica couldn’t be bothered to engage with him, “I was there when you were trying to con people with that line.”

Fat guy: “…”

On the other side, Ling Mo finally finished his fight. Though those three monsters could take a beating, they were still just flesh and blood and couldn’t withstand the onslaught. In the end, all that remained were three charred, battered corpses.

Of course, Ling Mo wasn’t unscathed himself; those creatures had powerful physical strength, and even with his caution, he still took several hits.

So, when he removed his battle armor, Xia Xinyan immediately noticed the blood seeping from his body.

Her expression changed as she rushed to Ling Mo’s side: “Mo Mo? Are you okay?”

Ling Mo seemed a bit dazed as he glanced at her once, then closed his eyes and collapsed into her arms.

Xia Xinyan was startled: “Mo Mo?!”

Meanwhile, the fat guy, still trying to con Monica, was stunned: “Old Ling’s hurt?!”

“Tsk, don’t worry, he’s fine.” Monica smirked teasingly, “A single dog doesn’t understand the immaturity of men in love; that’s a good thing.”

Fat guy: “……”