Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

Or rather, at the moment when the bell tolled, when the joyous realm of countless people was shattered, he grew ever more distant from being a hero.

But looking at his past self from two weeks ago, in terms of time, he was suddenly struck by the thought that...

He could still pursue something.

The scenery around the two of them began to blur, and their figures, like statues made of sand, started to dissipate in the wind bit by bit.

When the final decision finally emerged, when the two of them had ultimately reached a consensus...

This second round of defense mode had finally come to an end.

"Put someone else in my place, and I definitely would have disagreed, but fundamentally, you are me... With that thought, I can reluctantly accept it."

Whether it was a true crossing through time or a summons to the Advanced World, encountering "myself" would always lead to some unpredictable situations.

The new Zhou Baiyu, who was far from a saint, became more talkative once he realized he was about to die... no, more precisely, once he realized he was about to be overwritten.

"Speaking of which, the world I came from was overwritten by a better 'answer.' Is there a possibility that the overwritten world didn't disappear but instead became where I belong?"

This was clearly a mistaken guess, but the older Zhou Baiyu did not deny it and even nodded his head.

This seemed like a form of self-comfort, a way to ease the fear of death, as if the overwrite was not death... but rather a journey to another place.

With this thought in mind, the new Zhou Baiyu felt less frightened.

"I always feel, maybe this time we've found the essential nature of the existence of the three worlds?"

"Unfortunately, we're out of time, but my doubts, are they not also your doubts?"

The dispersing sand made their figures twist and blur, and these grains began to slowly reconfigure themselves in the equally twisted space.

The older Zhou Baiyu remained silent throughout.

Why bother answering one's own questions?

All was as the new Zhou Baiyu had said, your doubts are my doubts.

Fifteen minutes later.

Zhou Baiyu sat on the ground, touched his chin, and noticed that the stubble was gone.

He felt somewhat melancholic, but quickly adjusted his mindset.

On the streets, people were still shocked by various exposés, but they no longer believed everything they heard as they had before.

Because the revelations were too explosive and reality too fantastical, people began to believe these exposés were made up.

The girl who had recently played the role of a woman who cheated on her husband was now making a phone call to her boyfriend, explaining that it was all a script, all a test to see if he really cared about her.

And the women who had slept with Ryan not long ago, recalling Ryan's lies, began to retch with disgust.

A crisis had thus been invisibly resolved.

At the same time, due to the defense mode, a message emerged in the minds of the many Pioneers gathered in Linxiang City.

[The second round of defense mode has ended. The successful defender, Pioneer Jiang Xianwu.]

This was the content seen by the other Pioneers.

But Zhou Baiyu saw a more comprehensive message—

[In this round of defense mode, we have witnessed even more of humanity's possibilities. Several fascinating choices have made us recognize the irreplaceability of humans. Pioneer, we look forward to you entering deeper levels of the corrupted zones, where a multitude of questions await your exploration.

Defense mode completion reward: the key of Indeterminacy.

Additional reward for this round of defense mode—choice of version privilege.]

Zhou Baiyu was stunned.

Although he had previously guessed a possibility, when he actually saw the answer, he was still surprised.

"Indeed, as a follower of the God of Entertainment, one only wins if they dare to bet!"

Zhou Baiyu laughed out loud.

In contemplating whether it was worth it or not, one very important reason stood out—self-chosen version privileges.

This might be a significant opportunity to save humanity.

Yet, it had been used to save those "few" in Linxiang City. Even though not a small number had died, with units in the tens of thousands, both Lin and Zhou Baiyu were well aware...

Reversing the future for these people was somewhat a waste.

But now, defensive mode had made up for this opportunity.

And Zhou Baiyu noticed something very critical. In our statements, there was this sentence: we realize the irreplaceability of humanity.

Does this mean that the scales have tilted to a new phase, where in the gods' gambit, humanity would no longer be continuously weakened in subsequent versions, but, like the demonic tribes, also be strengthened?

All this was extremely favorable for humanity.

It also alleviated the heaviness in Zhou Baiyu's heart, as far as the issue of whether it was worth it was concerned—at least the outcome suggested it was worthwhile.

Finally, Zhou Baiyu started to examine the latest item in his inventory—the Undefined Key.

[Item Name: Undefined Key.]

[Trait: Pricey. Durability—Uncertain.]

[Introduction: This is a strange key because it has a strange owner—the God of Difference and Chaos.

Remember the word 'undefined.' Everything is uncertain. You may use this key to open the door to your home, only to end up in neighbor Wang's house.

You might use this key to unlock your childhood piggy bank, only to find yourself gazing upon the contents of Musk's safe.

Of course, the above are fortunate events. Life may not have so many good things. Using this key to open any door in the Advanced World may lead to even more twisted places.

But you must have guessed it pairs exceptionally well with your self-chosen version privileges, doesn't it?]

[Status: Non-alterable.]

What the hell does 'durability uncertain' mean? So apart from being definitively a key, everything else about it is undefined?

Zhou Baiyu stared at the key, and combining the last sentence of the introduction, he had a hunch:

"So it seems this key can twist reality, or perhaps widen boundaries?"

"Wait a minute, I was thinking earlier, what if I choose a particular version but end up in an unrelated summons? Wouldn't that be a loss..."

"But now it seems, as long as I have this key, I could find a way from an irrelevant summons... to other current version summons!"

Zhou Baiyu's eyes suddenly shone.

He certainly realized this thing was tricky. 'Durability uncertain' meant that he might end up with an item with 0/0 durability.

It could also possibly become junk after a single use...

Especially since using this key to open a door might truly lead to a place even he couldn't withstand.

But anyway, gamblers don't resist the unknown and the possibilities.

With this key, Zhou Baiyu was eager to see just how much it could disrupt the rules.

It was like a gamer who had just gotten a new graphics card, impatient to test it out with a game.

Zhou Baiyu couldn't wait to open chests in the Advanced World. Using this thing on doors might lead him somewhere completely unexpected.

But using it on chests wouldn't, and it might present the opportunity to obtain items from other summons' versions.

All of a sudden, he was so anticipating the countdown to arrive.