My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

In the middle of the night, Jiang Cai’Er snuck out.

She had always been a goody-two-shoes, but now she often did things that were a bit out of line, which she found quite thrilling.

She arrived downstairs at Li Xiang’s house. With agile grace, she lightly vaulted up to the second floor and then slipped into his bedroom.

Li Xiang was already waiting for her.

The two of them were careful not to cross a certain line in their relationship. However, they did everything they could short of crossing it.

While they both felt a slight twinge of guilt, the thrill was far greater.

"I’ll take you to the provincial capital tomorrow night," Li Xiang said.

"Okay. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll tell my family I’m going to the county library the day after tomorrow."

A little after four in the morning, Jiang Cai’Er slipped out again and returned home.

As Extraordinary Beings, they didn’t really need much sleep at night.

Li Xiang was full of energy and in high spirits that morning. He went to town for a meeting and shot the breeze with the other village heads. In the afternoon, he did a livestream with Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui, during which he mentioned building staff dormitories.

Once the news got out, the girls were all eagerly looking forward to it.

Going home late or in bad weather was just too inconvenient.

Li Xiang put Zhao Xueqing in charge of the project, with Yao Yao and Lei Xiaohui assisting. He told them to contact a construction company for blueprints and a proposal, adding that the other girls were welcome to offer suggestions.

After all, the dorms were for them, so their satisfaction was the priority. As for the budget, there weren’t that many of them, so a small two- or three-story building wouldn’t cost much.

Of course, to match the style of the tourist area, Li Xiang suggested a traditional architectural style.

In the dead of night, Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er rendezvoused. Just like their previous trips, Li Xiang wrapped his arm around Jiang Cai’Er, shielding her with the Black Light from his Black Mountain Profound Armor. With a flicker of movement and a faint sonic boom, he vanished into the darkness with her in his arms.

Little Fox and Er Huang poked their heads out of the doghouse. Both little pets were surprised; it seemed their master had grown much stronger again.

In the bamboo forest on the back mountain, Tuantuan was also very excited. It was envious, looking forward to the day it would be just as powerful.

The provincial capital was only two or three hundred kilometers away, and Li Xiang got them there in about ten minutes. They first went to a night market to grab some skewers, where Li Xiang also had some beer, and then they went to Longquan Mountain to watch the sunrise.

The two of them went into the library as soon as it opened.

This was around nine in the morning.

Back at Jiang Cai’Er’s house, her mother returned from a busy morning in the vegetable garden. She went to knock on Jiang Cai’Er’s door, and when there was no answer after a few tries, she gave it a gentle push and it swung open.

Of course, no one was inside.

Since Jiang Cai’Er had given her a heads-up the day before, her mother didn’t think anything of it, assuming she had just left. In reality, she had slipped out the window in the middle of the night.

The Sichuan Province Library was free and open to the public. No reservations were needed; you just had to scan your ID card to enter.

Its collection was far larger than the county library’s, with over six million physical books, over two million e-books, more than two million hours of audio and video resources, and nearly two hundred digital resource databases.

Entering this ocean of knowledge, Jiang Cai’Er was like a dry sponge, eagerly soaking up everything she could.

She was now focused on computer science and networking. When she had questions she couldn’t figure out, she would ask Li Xiang, who could only shrug apologetically. "Sorry, Cai’Er, I can’t help you with this!"

He could bring her here, but he really couldn’t help with her studies. He could guide her in the Cultivation of her Breathing Technique, but when it came to the rare Lifebound Superpower she had awakened, he was truly powerless to help.

This wasn’t something Spiritual Medicine could solve.

It was all too advanced for Li Xiang.

At noon, Jiang Cai’Er sent a selfie to her father, Jiang Jianguo. In the photo, rows of bookshelves stretched out behind her. She also sent a message: "Dad, I’m at the library. I’ll be home late, so tell Mom not to make dinner for me. I’m just going to grab a bite with my classmates."

It was a way to check in and keep her family from worrying.

When Jiang Jianguo saw it, he thought, ’Oh, she really is studying.’ He replied with a few reminders: "Stay safe, and make sure you eat well. Don’t go hungry."

After Jiang Cai’Er’s mother found out, she was relieved as well.

Jiang Cai’Er was indeed studying and researching with intense focus. Li Xiang had suggested they go out for a big lunch, but she was so engrossed in the sea of books that she had forgotten all about eating and sleeping, so he just let it go.

For an Extraordinary Being, skipping a meal or two was no big deal.

Eating wasn’t allowed in the main library area, but there was a temporary dining section for patrons. Besides, if it was just a light snack and you ate it sneakily, no one would notice.

So Li Xiang went to the restroom to wash six small, grape-sized Spirit Fruits. When he returned, he and Jiang Cai’Er each had three.

They would pop one in their mouth and chew gently. The Spirit Fruits were soft and made almost no noise, so who was going to complain?

However, the exotic fragrance of the Spirit Fruits wafted over to some nearby readers, making their mouths water. One person glanced in their direction a few times and couldn’t help but swallow hard.

They were both wearing masks, too. They’d pull a mask down, pop a fruit in, and immediately pull it back up.

The main reason for the masks was that Li Xiang was an internet celebrity with over thirty million fans, and Jiang Cai’Er was stunningly beautiful. Wearing masks was the best way to avoid unnecessary attention.

The air conditioning was blasting in the library, so quite a few people were wearing masks anyway.

With the Spirit Fruits replenishing her energy, Jiang Cai’Er’s studying became even more efficient.

The library was open from 9 AM to 9 PM, and Jiang Cai’Er sat there the entire day. Aside from trips to the restroom or to get more books, she barely moved from her spot. Sometimes she would bring back several books at once.

Even Li Xiang was deeply impressed. ’A top student is a top student, after all,’ he thought.

After the library closed, it was already late, and Jiang Cai’Er was worried her family would be concerned, so they skipped a late-night snack. Li Xiang took her to a dark, secluded spot with no surveillance cameras. The Black Mountain Profound Armor enveloped him, and holding Jiang Cai’Er, he took off with a faint sonic boom, leaving the city behind for the open wilderness.

At his speed of 1.5 Mach, he covered over five hundred meters per second, or thirty kilometers per minute. When he ran at his Extreme Speed, the city’s ordinary surveillance cameras couldn’t capture his image.

Even the highway cameras used to catch speeders couldn’t film Li Xiang. His speed simply exceeded the measurement range and capabilities of such ordinary devices.

Besides, he was also shielded by the "Black Light" generated by his Black Mountain Profound Armor. Forget ordinary surveillance; even radar and infrared detectors couldn’t pick him up.

By the time they returned to Li Family Village, it was only about 9:10 PM. Jiang Cai’Er’s parents were watching TV and were delighted to see their daughter come home.

"Do you want a late-night snack? I’ll go make you something," her mother offered.

"You don’t have to, it’s already so late." Jiang Cai’Er felt bad for her mother.

But Aunt Jiang insisted, making a bowl of noodles for her daughter with love. She added a fried egg, meatballs, and a generous spoonful of chili oil and vinegar before carrying it into her daughter’s room.

Jiang Cai’Er was still at her desk, pen in hand, scribbling down complex formulas and code as she puzzled over some of the things she had learned that day.

"Thanks, Mom." Jiang Cai’Er smiled sweetly. "I’ll eat it in a little bit."

"Okay, don’t let it get cold." Her heart ached for her daughter. Not wanting to disturb her, Aunt Jiang tiptoed out and closed the door. When she told Jiang Jianguo about it, his heart ached for their daughter as well.

Jiang Cai’Er studied until around midnight, then took a short nap for a little over three hours. At 3:30 AM, her alarm chimed softly, and she woke up. She then slipped out her window again, washed her face by the river, and went to find Li Xiang, chewing a piece of gum.

And so, they went to the provincial library to study every day, leaving under the stars and returning under them.

Jiang Cai’Er was both incredibly diligent and brilliant. Her brain’s "Computing Power" was immense. After five full days of absorbing a massive amount of relevant knowledge and using her quantum computer for Fusion, she finally succeeded in creating a "connection module."

"I did it," Jiang Cai’Er whispered to Li Xiang, unable to contain her excitement.

Li Xiang took her hand under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze in congratulations.

Although he possessed tens of thousands of pounds of strength, his control over his power had improved immensely. He could now carve intricate, beautiful patterns on a block of tofu. So not only would he not hurt Jiang Cai’Er, but because his control was so strong and exquisitely precise, he could create a very complex, layered experience.

To put it simply, when he touched her, the pressure of his grip was endlessly varied and richly layered, making his caresses incredibly sensual and exciting.

"Okay, I’m going to check the Database first," she said.

"Don’t let anyone find you," Li Xiang cautioned. Infiltrating a network could get her flagged as a hacker, and she might be attacked by security software. He didn’t know much about it, but he was worried something might happen to her.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine," Jiang Cai’Er whispered, then closed her eyes.

Her Quantum Computer was like an attack from a higher dimension—a higher-level entity connecting to a lower-level one. How could she possibly be discovered? She wouldn’t have even attempted this if she wasn’t completely confident.

Half an hour later, a copy of all the materials from the Sichuan Province Library’s Databases, e-books, and audio-visual archives had been transferred into her Memory Palace.

And this was just her first attempt, completed with extreme caution and at a relatively low efficiency.

Then, Jiang Cai’Er connected to the internet and "surfed" for over an hour.

When Li Xiang learned what she had done, he was absolutely stunned.

"Holy crap... In theory, you could achieve immortality," Li Xiang said.

"A Digital Life?" Jiang Cai’Er pursed her lips. "What’s the fun in that?" As a living, breathing person, she had human emotions and desires.

Becoming a Digital Life would be truly meaningless. Besides, a Digital Life usually requires a host, and her current physical body was that host. There was no better host than her own body.

’What if I transferred to a cold machine and that machine was destroyed?’

"Didn’t you say you had a surprise for me?" Jiang Cai’Er asked, remembering what Li Xiang had said. She was very curious about what gift he wanted to give her.

Li Xiang decided not to hold back any longer. Little Sister Cai’Er was already so powerful; it was time to equip her with some offensive capabilities.

"Come on, let’s talk outside."

The library was too crowded, and some things weren’t meant for public discussion.

So the two of them went to a deserted area in a nearby park. They sat on a bench, wrapped in each other’s arms, looking just like a couple whispering secrets.

"Robot dogs? But they’re so expensive!" Jiang Cai’Er exclaimed when she heard Li Xiang’s idea.

"They’re only about four hundred thousand each. I’ll get you one for now. In the future, I’ll equip you with an entire army of robot dogs, plus an overwhelming drone swarm. That will make up for your lack of direct combat power."

He was only getting her one for now, not because he couldn’t afford more, but because it was peacetime; it was both inconvenient and unnecessary to have so many. One would be enough for Jiang Cai’Er to practice with. Besides, the robot dogs and drones from eight or nine years in the future would certainly be even more advanced.

With these loyal robot dogs and drones as support, even when he was away, Jiang Cai’Er could hold down the fort at their base all by herself.

Besides the robot dogs and drones, all the cameras, automated weapons, and electronic locks in the base would be under her control, wouldn’t they?

You could say that the more technologically advanced and sci-fi the Underground City became, the greater Jiang Cai’Er’s control over it would be. It would become her fortress, her home turf.