After hearing Gernaava's answer, Shang Jianyao suddenly raised his right hand holding the "Berserker" assault rifle and chanted a Buddhist phrase in a low voice:

"Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi."

"What does that mean?" Gernaava sincerely asked for guidance.

He knew this was a Buddhist mantra, but he didn't understand why Shang Jianyao used it here.

Shang Jianyao sighed and said:

"Perhaps the ripples we stirred up last time caused all the 'Heartless' here to die."

Gernaava, with his chameleon head, moved his metal-cast neck up and down:

"There's a certain probability."

Shang Jianyao then pointed the muzzle of his gun at the dilapidated apartment building ahead and said:

"Let's go in."

According to the detailed information provided by Gitis, he and Gernaava quickly found Aester's home in Koningmis.

It was located on the top floor of the apartment building, formed by connecting two rooms. The living room was unusually spacious, but only a few single sofas, a coffee table piled with杂物 and edged with leather, and some cabinets placed against the wall were scattered around. Toys of all kinds were scattered all over the floor.

This included a large number of building blocks.

Some of them were piled into fortresses, some had become animals, and some were still unfinished, with corresponding components visible around them.

Dust accumulated everywhere, visible to the naked eye.

Gernaava, with red light flashing in his eyes, sized up the place for a while before saying:

"This place has no hospitality function and has become a children's playground."

It could be seen that this was Aester's or his mistress's original intention.

They didn't consider entertaining guests at home, and didn't even want to put more sofas.

"They must have loved those two children..." Shang Jianyao suddenly blurted out.

Gernaava recalled his daughter and fell silent for a moment.

In the silence, his eyes swept across every corner of the living room, and finally landed on a photo frame placed on the coffee table.

There were two children in the photo. The older one was a boy, four or five years old, slightly chubby, with golden hair combed into a three-seven split that felt like an adult's hairstyle. He looked awkward and disgusted, as if he didn't want to take pictures. The younger one was a girl, only one or two years old, with golden hair tied into small braids, and clear and innocent blue eyes, smiling carefree and sweetly cute.

Compared to other ruins, this place, which had only been destroyed for a dozen years and where few relic hunters dared to enter, retained many things quite completely, as if sealed in place by time.

Gernaava stared for a long time before saying:

"The residents should never have returned."

"Why do you say that?" Shang Jianyao suddenly turned his head and asked.

"First, there are no traces of biological activity here. Second, when the disaster broke out, everyone in the city should have turned into 'Heartless'." Gernaava explained dutifully.

Shang Jianyao shook his head and said very seriously:

"'Heartless' also know how to go home."

Gernaava didn't refute, but followed this logic to analyze:

"There are no traces left by 'Heartless' in the living room either, unless they directly entered and exited through the windows of several bedrooms."

"We'll know after checking." Shang Jianyao, holding the "Berserker" assault rifle, walked into the living room and headed towards the rooms deeper inside.

Every scene he and Gernaava saw had a quiet but desolate feeling, as if the masters had really never returned.

Looking at the large bed protected by a fence and the teddy bear on the bed, Shang Jianyao was silent for a long time.

Gernaava stared again for a while before saying:

"They should have been out for a walk or playing at the time, not at home..."

Judging from the fact that many vehicles on the roads of Koningmis crashed together, the disaster broke out during the day.

And Shang Jianyao and Gernaava's previous judgment was that when the residents of Koningmis first turned into "Heartless", they were difficult to calm down and mass killings occurred between them.

Shang Jianyao didn't speak, walked to the bed, picked up the teddy bear and the diamond necklace on the nearby cabinet, and stuffed them into the empty backpack behind Gernaava.

Then, he walked back to the living room, found a box of building blocks, disassembled the fortress into small pieces, and put them in.

Similarly, this ultimately went into Gernaava's backpack.

After completing these things, Shang Jianyao looked around and said in surprise:

"We didn't encounter any accidents!"

He wore an expression of laughing at fate's lack of wisdom and the enemy's lack of strategy.

"It's normal." Gernaava analyzed, "This is not the area that overlaps with the 'New World', and there are no 'Heartless' activities. Aester is not a particularly powerful person involved in many secrets. We came to his house to take ordinary items, so it would be strange to encounter accidents."

"Boring." Shang Jianyao looked disappointed.

He then used the communication system embedded in his military exoskeleton device to tell Jiang Baimian that Aester's legacy mission had been completed.

"Don't be careless. Be absolutely cautious afterwards." After listening, Jiang Baimian specifically instructed.

Shang Jianyao agreed very readily.

Then, he and Gernaava set off from the current street towards the luxurious apartment building marked on the map.

Before long, the area shrouded in mist, as if it were perpetually in darkness, appeared before their eyes.

Shang Jianyao and Gernaava were familiar with the road. They turned on their own flashlights, bypassed the places where light shone through, and cautiously approached their destination step by step.

The deeper they went, the wider the range of their detours, so as not to be sensed by the strong in the "New World" projection.

After all, there was no guarantee that they would be acquaintances, or friendly people like Flora and Barnard.

Flora and Barnard were the first two "New World" powerhouses Shang Jianyao and Gernaava encountered in the overlapping area.

They were chatting in a brightly lit cafe at the time.

Of course, the cafe belonged to the "New World" projection. In reality, it was just an empty room piled with garbage.

During another detour, Gernaava looked at the bones on the street and in the middle of the road, turned his head to look at Shang Jianyao, who was keeping a certain distance from him to avoid being wiped out in one fell swoop, and said:

"Our current strategy is very effective and should help us reach our destination smoothly.

"But afterwards, it will probably be very difficult to detour again and take shortcuts. Aren't you worried that the 'Angel of Life' necklace won't be able to protect you anymore? Just like last time when we encountered that man in the library projection."

Shang Jianyao looked ahead through the mask of his military exoskeleton device and smiled:

"Since fate has arranged for us to walk all the way here, I think we will definitely turn bad luck into good and gain something.

"Isn't it good to relax a little when you can?"

"But when fate has achieved its purpose and no longer favors us, things will be completely different." Gernaava reminded in a slightly synthesized voice, "Big White said that mountains collapse if you lean on them, and walls collapse if you rely on them. Only yourself is a permanent dependence."

Shang Jianyao scoffed:

"You try letting a person live their whole life relying only on themselves. They would die as a baby!"

"You can debate with Big White." Gernaava said that these were not his words.

Shang Jianyao laughed and said:

"If fate really stops favoring us, then it should be the end of the story."

His tone gradually became serious.

"Aren't you afraid that the story will have a tragic ending?" Gernaava asked with red light flashing in his eyes.

Shang Jianyao tilted his head, looked at Gernaava, and said with a smile:

"I will try my best to fight for the ending I want, whether it is beautiful or tragic. This is my ideal. I have done so much just to have the opportunity to make a choice for my ideal."

After speaking, he slammed the "Berserker" assault rifle against his left chest and solemnly said:

"For the sake of all mankind!"

Before Gernaava could respond, Shang Jianyao eagerly asked:

"How is it? Am I becoming more and more like a true 'Savior's Army' member?"

He behaved like a child expecting praise and afraid of criticism.

"..." Gernaava almost didn't make the turn and almost encountered a bug.

The honest him finally moved his metal-cast neck up and down:

"Yes."

Shang Jianyao was immediately overjoyed, making Gernaava unsure whether he was performing just now or speaking from the heart.

The two of them walked for a while and encountered another street where light shone through the mist.

It seemed to be lined with roadside stalls.

Shang Jianyao's eyes widened, and he struggled to withdraw his gaze before saying to Gernaava:

"This time, we have to detour around a block."

"Yes." Gernaava's analysis also yielded this result.

After detouring for a few minutes, Shang Jianyao suddenly said:

"Why is there light in the 'New World' projection?

"The time periods we've entered twice are different.

"Why can't there be a pitch-black 'New World' projection that quietly overlaps with a dark and foggy street? That way, we wouldn't be able to detect it in advance and choose to detour!"

Gernaava had to admit that this was a good question.

He quickly analyzed for a while and said:

"Perhaps the 'New World' projection in Koningmis is related to the strong in the 'New World'. At least we have encountered humans every time."

His meaning was that the strong had increased the power of the corresponding area, causing that part of the "New World" to overlap with Koningmis.

Gernaava then added:

"And those strong can only live in places with lights in the 'New World'?"

"Interesting." Shang Jianyao patted his chest with the "Berserker" assault rifle.

He looked like this guess suited his taste very well.

At this time, Gernaava confirmed his current location and compared it with the map.

He then said in a slightly synthesized voice:

"Bypassing this block should allow us to see the luxurious apartment building where the 'Child of the Year' lives."

"Looking forward to it!" Shang Jianyao said without any concealment.

After walking for another ten or twenty minutes, the two finally successfully bypassed the dangerous area they had designated.

What appeared before their eyes was a high-rise apartment building standing a hundred meters away.

It stood quietly in the darkness, shrouded in a faint mist, with lights of varying shades of yellow and pure white shining through each floor and each room.