Chapter 414 352: First Meeting with Lin Xin Bamboo

"Z... Damn you. Are we doing a scene from *The Matrix*?"

Chu Bamboo laughed in exasperation. Then he realized he was currently submerged in liquid. This emotional outburst directly caused him to... Huh? He wasn't choking?

Chu Bamboo realized something. He took a deep breath of the "liquid," which filled his lungs without the slightest bit of discomfort. Clearly, this body had been soaking in this fluid for so long that it had already adapted.

He stared through the transparent glass at the rows of glass coffins beside him. Even though he had been mentally prepared, the moment his suspicions were confirmed... his feelings became incredibly complex.

'Anger? Maybe a little? But more than that, it was... indescribable. Even Chu Bamboo himself couldn't tell what he was feeling right now. It was as if countless emotions had been thrown into a blender, completely pulverized, and mixed together!'

With a deadpan expression, Chu Bamboo slammed a fist against the life-support pod. Huh? It didn't break... 'Incredible!' he thought. 'Given my current physical strength, the density of this thing... it must be even tougher than steel!'

He didn't shout for Z to let him out. Chu Bamboo knew full well that if Z had wanted to release him, it would have happened already. Taking a deep breath of... well, water, Chu Bamboo slowly clenched his fists and began punching it again and again.

On the eleventh punch, a faint crack appeared. Chu Bamboo struck again with all his might. On the twenty-seventh punch—the glass barrier shattered.

The liquid surged out like a Tsunami. Chu Bamboo barely managed to prop himself up and crawl out.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..." Chu Bamboo coughed violently as the liquid was expelled from his lungs. Now, ironically, he felt like he was drowning. Fortunately, as time passed, he gradually adapted.

"...This!" Chu Bamboo looked down at his body. A standard white garment was soaked through, clinging to his skin. "This feels awful!"

Chu Bamboo's gaze sharpened, and he activated his Power of Overwriting. The clothes on his body began to change. 'If I can even Rewrite my own body, clothes are naturally no problem! I even suspect that at some future stage, I'll be able to Rewrite an 'Artifact' I once owned, even if it's been lost—'

'Though I can't do it right now!'

"Nuwa... or should I say, Z Base?" Chu Bamboo scanned his surroundings, his brow gradually furrowing. This base was almost identical to the metal one he had woken up in before. However, unlike the pristine machines in that metal base, these, though still operational, showed the ravages of time. Many were even rusted.

Some cylindrical robots were ceaselessly carrying out repairs. In fact, a number of cylindrical cleaning bots were already on their way over to mop up the strange liquid on the floor.

Chu Bamboo avoided the cylindrical robots and walked through the underground base. He saw some familiar faces in the glass coffins... but most importantly...

"'There are so many! It's so huge.'"

What Chu Bamboo found hard to believe was that this metal base was far, far larger than the one from his dream. He ran at top speed for half an hour but still couldn't find the edge. It was basically one massive mechanical hall leading into another, like an endless set of nesting dolls.

Even more, as Chu Bamboo made his way through, he could see that many of the machines were still actively expanding the base... still manufacturing.

"Z... do you have anything to explain?" Chu Bamboo asked calmly.

No answer.

However, Chu Bamboo knew Z was listening. And he was sure that Z knew that he knew she was listening.

After walking for a while, Chu Bamboo finally gave up on trying to gauge the true size of the underground base. He returned to the initial metal hall. Although the base had been expanded countless times, the layout of the room where he first awoke was still more or less the same as in his dream.

So, following the route he had taken in the dream world, Chu Bamboo quickly found the exit.

"...Open!" Chu Bamboo uttered a single, concise word.

But there was no response.

Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes, glancing at a security camera with a strange expression. "...Are you serious?"

"Z, you should know that I can still 'go back,' right?"

Chu Bamboo wasn't too worried. Death would let him return... and so would sleep.

'This is different from before! I used to worry about being imprisoned, but now, even if something really has gone wrong with Z... as soon as I return, I can easily come up with countless ways to teach Z a lesson.'

'Even something as simple as resetting the timeline... although, I'm still a bit puzzled. I don't understand which decision of mine triggered what kind of butterfly effect to knock humanity onto this bizarre timeline—'

Z remained silent.

"Alright! I get what you mean." Chu Bamboo let out a breath. "You want me to wait here, right? Fine!"

Chu Bamboo sat down right there. He planned to wait until nightfall. If Z still didn't provide a reasonable explanation by then, he would just kill himself and return to the real world. He didn't consider tearing down the door, because he knew he couldn't do it. 'If I still had my Liquid Divine Techniques, I might have given it a try...'

Lowering his eyes, Chu Bamboo stared at his own palm as possibilities surfaced in his mind one after another, only to be rejected just as quickly.

In the end...

'The cause of the massive timeline shift! Right now, there are three possibilities... Of course, it's also possible that all three are the answer.'

'First: Z survived until this point in time.'

'Second: Nuwa was never created! Or she was, but... something went wrong. It's even possible Z destroyed her!'

'Third:...'

A faint doubt clouded Chu Bamboo's eyes. The third was all the other uncertain factors.

'For example... did "God" not appear in this timeline?'

'Or what about my decision to go all-in on humanoid robots? Did that cause a mistake? After all, my good brother had his reasons for not pursuing them... With the world changed so drastically, it's hard not to be suspicious of that decision.'

'Or maybe...'

'There are just too many possibilities!'

Time trickled by.

Physically, Chu Bamboo felt like more than two hours had passed. Just as he was furrowing his brow, wondering if he should go back first, if he should try to rescue the acquaintances he'd seen, like Ning Linglong and Li Kang, from their glass coffins... 'But would that kind of rescue cause problems for them?'

'I was able to get out because my situation is special... What if there's some kind of taboo involved? Then again, if a problem really does occur, I can probably just reset and try again... It seems...'

Just as Chu Bamboo was getting restless, a crisp humming sound suddenly rang out.

"?" Chu Bamboo froze, instinctively looking toward the sound. He saw the main door trembling slightly. "?!"

"'You can't be serious...'" Realizing what was happening, Chu Bamboo's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and he subconsciously backed away.

With a deafening BOOM.

The main door was torn to pieces.

A terrifying blast of air sent Chu Bamboo's clothes whipping about. "???"

Then, a dashingly heroic figure in a form-fitting suit—an acquaintance so beautiful she was almost otherworldly—slowly walked into the base.

She stared at Chu Bamboo, clearly taken aback for a moment.

Chu Bamboo stared back at her, his expression gradually scrunching up.

The two of them stood in silence for a long, long time.

"...Boss, can't we hurry up a little?" a somewhat timid voice called out. "I can't delay them for much longer, right? If this keeps up... what if... 'that one' finds out..."

"No need to worry." The woman seemed to snap out of her daze. She rubbed her temples as if fighting a slight headache, but her voice was calm. "'He' has already discovered us... Don't look so terrified! To be more precise—"

"Our coming here was 'His' guidance in the first place!"

The other person: "...?!"

"I'm right, aren't I?" Taking a deep breath, the woman gazed at Chu Bamboo, her voice becoming incredibly complex. "...Uncle Chu?"

Chu Bamboo's gaze swept over the timid speaker, focusing on his face. 'A familiar face... Eleven!'

"Should I say 'long time no see,' or is it 'nice to meet you'?" Chu Bamboo walked over slowly, his tone even. "...What should I call you?"

"...Perhaps!" The woman's voice was filled with uncertainty. "You can call me... Lin... Xin Bamboo?"

"Alright." Chu Bamboo paused briefly, looking directly into the woman's eyes. He could vaguely see a shadow of Lin Xia in them...

He said, "My dear niece!"