Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

After dealing with the animals and livestock, Zhou Baiyu carried a large number of small items. These included bow ties, brooches, hair clips, metal cards, figurines, and as many sharp little objects as he could gather.

Not limited to the gift shop, he browsed through any and every store in the vicinity.

Although he had not activated Absolute Moment yet, he anticipated that the fighting method of Mutators was to continually mutate.

Therefore, he might need many items.

Of course, he now needed to find a suitable place to hide and slowly wait for the prisoners and hunters to gather here.

And the best place was inside the ventilation ducts.

In the middle of floors, Zhou Baiyu went directly to the space between the fourth and fifth floors.

The fourth floor housed a series of food stalls, while the fifth floor was a vast cinema.

Hidden in the secluded ducts, Zhou Baiyu refrained from making any further moves, waiting patiently for the big show to begin.

"I've already used those shoes, and this building has been marked... next, this place is probably going to be the center of the entire battlefield."

Zhou Baiyu was actually looking forward to the chaotic battle that would ensue. With an ace up his sleeve, he was not as panicked as before.

But while organizing his thoughts, he was suddenly taken aback.

The Sixth Sense trait was becoming heated. His intuition was more intense than ever.

After finally finding a place to hide in the ventilation ducts, Zhou Baiyu truly calmed down and systematically reconsidered everything...

He realized he had overlooked something—

"Wait, speaking of which, this is version 2.30... so theoretically, there should be some major incident, right?"

Zhou Baiyu, now inside the duct, started to think carefully about the intelligence he currently possessed.

"The scales of world changes are no longer tied to time, but to a version-based system. Major and minor historical events are labeled as versions."

"And so far, there are two major historical milestones: version 1.0, when the apocalypse arrived, and version 2.0, marking the start of the post-apocalyptic era."

"These are the largest changes in events. Relatively speaking, the second-largest change concerns the first digit after the decimal point, like version 1.10, version 1.50."

"As for those with additional digits after the decimal point, like version 1.11... these represent smaller events. However, any event that allows a new scale of world changes to appear actually carries influence."

"Currently, I'm in version 2.30... does this mean something very important is about to happen?"

The more Zhou Baiyu thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Lin's words were very true—the future is the feedback of what you do now.

The version scale divides all events into super major events, major events indicated by the number after the first decimal point, and significant events indicated by numbers after the second decimal point.

Zhou Baiyu had previously tackled versions 2.21, 1.44, and 1.45, all corresponding to significant events.

But this time... he might be facing an event with an impact tenfold greater. This event would at least affect subsequent versions from 2.31 to 2.39.

"What could it be? Is it the recruitment I'm participating in? Or is it the asylum the guild leader is involved in? Or could it be... any recruitment in version 2.30 will bring about a huge impact?"

Zhou Baiyu had a feeling that this hunting festival might just be the beginning of a major event... he stood on a point that could potentially influence history.

For significant events denoted by two decimal points, achieving an SSS outcome could lead to many changes in future situations...

So for the more crucial events, those denoted by one decimal point... if he achieved an SSS outcome... what would happen in the future?

How far would "our" influence tilt towards humanity?

"Hiss... I'm actually a bit excited."

Acting as a Mutator for some time, Zhou Baiyu indeed became more like a gambler.

He seemed to worry less about his own survival and was gradually becoming more like Guang Tongchen, concerned with the magnitude and excitement of the event, its deep impact, and the potential for high returns.

"Come to think of it... every time I participated in a recruitment, the information in the version update actually aided me..."

"Although the version update and trial content are separate, I see a certain connection between the two."

"For example, the previous tip about the monsters becoming smarter... allowed me to survive by instilling some human concepts into the monsters."

"So what about this time?"

Zhou Baiyu started recalling the details of this update's announcement—

"Fixing bugs, introducing new modes... and, strengthening the Night Fiends."

"It's odd, why strengthen the Night Fiends in version 2.30? Especially mentioning it at the end, as if they're quite important."

Zhou Baiyu undoubtedly caught some key points.

He remembered a post he had read before participating in the Preceding Trials. It was about version updates.

Things like Ying Zheng being too dominant, Ying Zheng getting banned, Huo Qubing being too strong, Huo Qubing getting banned, and so on.

It narrated the shifts in human history using the language of game updates.

"Thinking of it from another angle, the game indeed gives the impression that it changes all at once. But real history isn't a game; it's humanity constantly affecting the future through actions in the present."

"So... while everything appears to the Pioneers as 'our' macro-control, could it be possible... that all of this is simply a so-called version update that [we've] provided based on historical changes?"