“Could it be that the system has no effect in the presence of the blood moon?” David suddenly had this question in his mind. However, he quickly dismissed this idea. As his own “golden finger,” the system had the ability to manipulate everything, so it couldn’t be ineffective against the blood moon.
The only possibility was that it wasn’t the right time. Just like the activation of his “extraction” ability. If he hadn’t entered the wasteland world, he wouldn’t have gained this ability, so he needed to wait for an opportunity. That opportunity was the system’s explanation regarding the blood moon.
With this thought, David calmed down. Although the system hadn’t provided any explanation about the blood moon, David could faintly feel its influence on him.
Reflecting on the moment when the divine woman appeared, David couldn’t understand why she looked exactly like Sally. Could it be that Sally had been hiding her true identity, and she was actually part of the Divine Clan?
This thought surfaced in David’s mind once again, and this time, he didn’t quickly dismiss the speculation. Because he knew that the wasteland world had changed completely since Edmund’s death and the appearance of the Divine Clan. Everything here had become eerie and mysterious, including the atmosphere in the wasteland world. There was a pervasive feeling that David couldn’t quite put his finger on, as if it came from a hazy source.
“Hmm? Hazy? Could it be a hallucination?” David suddenly seemed to remember something, and he sat up abruptly from the bed.
Furrowing his brow, he carefully recollected every moment before he passed out. The sudden appearance of the divine woman, the indistinct face, the ethereal voice, and the identical face to Sally.
These pieces of information flashed through David’s mind like a movie, and even when he tried to recall these scenes, they felt incredibly unreal.
“It can’t be… how could such a vivid hallucination occur?” David muttered to himself, shaking his head.
Just then, Sally walked in with a bowl of chicken soup. As David watched her approach, he hesitated for a moment, preparing to ask her something. He wanted to know if anything had happened after he passed out, and if the divine woman had visited.
But just as David was about to speak, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest! It was as if his lungs were being seared by intense flames, causing unbearable agony. David clutched his chest, and the world before him started to blur, while he curled up on the bed in pain.
“David, what’s happening to you? Please don’t scare me! What’s going on with you? Snap out of it!” David could only hear Sally’s panicked voice as she rushed towards him, shouting. Amidst her frantic cries, the sound of a ceramic bowl shattering could be heard. David tried to lift his head to see Sally clearly, but the haze in front of him prevented him from seeing anything clearly. He could only vaguely make out Sally’s silhouette.
But the next moment, David froze in place. Because he saw Sally in front of him, wearing a phoenix crown! This familiar attire immediately reminded David of the mysterious divine woman.
“What on earth is happening?” David wanted to reach out and touch, but his arm felt weak and powerless. Even when he exerted all his strength to lift his hand and reach out, it barely made contact with the hazy figure before him.
A sudden sound like shattering glass echoed! Meanwhile, the burning sensation in his lungs intensified, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe. David endured the discomfort and quickly retrieved the Staff of the Wasteland from the system’s inventory. He struggled to stand up and forcefully struck the staff against the ground.
As crisp sounds reverberated, the haze in front of David began to slowly dissipate, and his strength gradually returned.
“Go to hell!” Seeing an additional figure with vague strength before him, David took the opportunity to reach out and grab one of the burly figures by the neck.
“David! David! Don’t scare me! Is this world real or fake? Will the Divine Clan rule everything?”
“Captain! Wake up quickly!”
“Hehe! The human race will ultimately fail. Do you want redemption?”
“It’s not a dream; what you see is real.”
Various voices continued to echo in David’s ears. In an instant, he seemed to see the divine woman again, as well as other Divine Clan, and his own Embers squad members.
“What in the world… is this?” David silently strengthened his grip on the figure.
“Crack!” A cracking sound rang out in front of David. The haze that had been slowly dispersing suddenly shattered like glass at that moment, becoming fragmented. The burning sensation in his chest also disappeared entirely.
David raised his head and saw the clear world before him—the real world.
“No… Captain! Let go… let go, please! I… I was about to die!” Suddenly, Fatso’s strained voice reached David’s ears.
Startled, David quickly turned his head to look. He realized that his right hand was tightly gripping Fatso’s neck, almost like a vice. Fatso’s face had turned purple, and it seemed that if David didn’t release him, he might actually suffocate to death.
In response, David quickly let go of his hand, and Fatso, finally saved, collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
After a moment, Fatso finally returned to normal. He looked at David without any resentment and asked with concern, “Captain, what happened to you?”
“You should at least let me know if you want to strangle me to death!” Fatso appeared quite aggrieved. The others also looked at David nervously and puzzled, not knowing what had happened to him.
After hearing Sally’s shout, they all rushed in. As soon as they entered, Fatso was grabbed tightly by David’s neck, and no matter how they struggled, they couldn’t pry David’s arm away. David was furrowing his brow at this moment.
“Did I just enter a hallucination?” Reflecting on what had just happened, David’s expression turned serious. Then, he shared the questions he had intended to ask Sally.
“When we woke up, we found that you had already passed out, so Fatso carried you back,” Sally said, puzzled.
“Did you see any other woman?”
“Woman?”
“No.” ．
The group recollected the scene from earlier. Hearing this, David breathed a sigh of relief. It meant that the divine woman hadn’t interfered with his team members. But why did she say those things to him?
“Is this world truly real or fake? Are the things you see really true?” Reflecting on these words, David fell into contemplation.