Lu Su: Could I Cosplay Gaia Too?

Because the battle had begun so suddenly, even though Bai Yueming had done his best to keep the damage contained at the start, Shanghai City had still inevitably slid toward the abyss of destruction as events unfolded.

Not to mention that Ji Weirui and Ye Zhou’s arrival later had pushed the intensity of the battle to an entirely new level.

Under such circumstances, no matter how quickly the Shanghai City Card Master Association reacted, there were still numerous casualties.

As Lu Su looked at the devastation around him, he could not help silently sighing to himself.

Seeing him like this, Bai Yueming forced himself to his feet and stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder. "Xiao Luo, don’t take it to heart. Things like this are unavoidable."

Though he said that, sorrow still rose in the old man’s heart. Over his long life, he had seen more than once the things he wished to protect turn to ashes.

But Lu Su was not that fragile. After collecting himself, he turned to Ye Zhou and the other two. "I protected quite a few ordinary people inside the Secret Realm. Have the Association send people to bring them out afterward."

The three of them were stunned upon hearing that.

They had not expected Lu Su to still have the spare capacity to protect others while facing a Master Card Master.

"Alright."

After that simple response, silence fell over the scene. In the end, this sudden incident had still cost Great Ming dearly.

In the silence, Lu Su glanced at the newly formed Master Grade Secret Realm in the distance, then asked with some confusion, "Teacher, when you fought Jin Ping and the others, did you feel that their strength had clearly declined compared to normal?"

He asked because Chris’s condition had visibly deteriorated after descending into a Diamond Grade Secret Realm, let alone attempting to descend into a Master Grade Secret Realm.

Yet Bai Yueming was taken aback by the question, then slowly shook his head. "No. At least, I didn’t notice anything."

As he spoke, he looked toward Ye Zhou and Ji Weirui.

Noticing his gaze, Ye Zhou and Ji Weirui slightly shook their heads, indicating that, like the old man, they had not detected anything amiss.

Lu Su frowned slightly at that.

He did not believe Jin Ping and the others had paid no price whatsoever. After all, if that had been the case, then when he had still been in the Spirit Summoning Society, they would not have needed to…

Wait.

At that moment, Lu Su suddenly recalled the task Jin Ping had assigned him before he defected.

"Teacher, have you sent anyone to investigate the Secret Realms Jin Ping had his eye on before?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Yueming and the other two quickly understood what the young man meant.

They immediately ordered their Card Masters to investigate the current state of the Secret Realms that had previously shown unusual activity.

Very soon, a Jade Grade Card Master with an odd expression returned to the four of them. "Reporting to you, sirs."

"Those Secret Realms…"

"Have disappeared."

Lu Su’s expression immediately darkened upon hearing that. He muttered instinctively, "As expected. Jin Ping used those Secret Realms to offset the cost?"

Bai Yueming immediately comforted him. "Xiao Luo, this isn’t your fault."

"Even without you, Jin Ping would still have found a way to establish a connection with those Secret Realms."

He believed his disciple was blaming himself for what had happened before.

Lu Su definitely did feel some guilt, but he would not keep dwelling on it.

Rather than waste time on that, he would rather think about how to kill Jin Ping and console the souls who had died at that old dog’s hands.

At that moment, Ye Zhou spoke up. "You must all be tired. Let’s leave things here for now."

"We can discuss a follow-up plan tomorrow."

Shanghai City would most likely not be rebuilt. After all, two Master Grade Secret Realms were still standing prominently by the coast.

Although this Hall of Fame Card Master had beaten two of the Master Grade Demons within them half to death, the danger level of this area would still rise sharply afterward.

Lu Su could only nod slightly, then left the area with Little Spider’s Space Magic.

One day later, Sucheng City.

Although this city had also been somewhat affected by the recent battle, it had at least retained its basic functions, so it had been chosen as a temporary place to house Shanghai City’s refugees.

Lu Su was currently resting with his eyes closed in his temporary residence.

Bai Yueming had asked whether he wanted to join the discussion over the follow-up arrangements, but Lu Su had politely declined.

Compared to that, he had something more important to do right now.

Knock, knock—

As clear knocking sounded, Lu Su slowly opened his eyes.

As a Diamond Grade Card Master, he naturally knew who was standing outside, so he merely said calmly, "The door isn’t locked. Come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, a young man pushed open the door and walked into the room somewhat nervously.

It was Xingu.

Seeing this, Lu Su cracked a joke to ease the atmosphere. "So you didn’t think of running away."

Xingu’s entire body stiffened at those words, and a trace of helplessness rose in his heart.

He had wanted to run, but after seeing the horrific state of the Secret Realm yesterday, that thought had died.

The young man did not think he could escape from under such a monster’s hand.

More importantly, Xingu also wanted to know why he had come to this world.

With that in mind, he chose his words carefully before speaking. "Senior, you jest."

"A clear conscience fears no knocking at the door."

"I don’t believe I’ve done anything to betray Great Ming, so why should I run?"

Lu Su was momentarily speechless.

He shook his head and did not dwell on the matter. "Then I’ll get straight to the point and save you from overthinking."

"Junior, you’re not the original owner of this body, are you?"

Although Xingu had prepared himself as much as possible, he could not help panicking when he heard Lu Su’s words.

Anyone would react that way when a secret they had desperately hidden was exposed.

Especially when that secret concerned their very life.

After a brief lapse, Xingu swallowed and forced himself to remain calm. "Why do you say that, Senior?"

"I—"

Before he could finish, Lu Su interrupted him. "There’s only the two of us here. There’s no need to keep testing each other."

"Your card, Guran—I encountered him before in a Secret Realm."

"And…"

Lu Su stopped there, then summoned Altria.

The reason he was so certain was that only he and Guran had ever interacted in that Great Britain Secret Realm. Outsiders could not possibly know the detailed information about that great hero.

As Xingu looked at the Blonde Girl before him, he could not help feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

Yet the young man was certain that he had never met her before today.

However, after connecting this with what Lu Su had just said, an absurd thought arose in his mind. "Senior, don’t tell me Guran turned into a Demon, was killed by you and dropped materials, then was eventually made into a card?"

The tremendous shock even made Xingu forget to continue concealing his true identity.

But immediately afterward, he rejected his own words. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible…"

"By my calculations, Lord Guran was at least Master Grade."

It was not that he looked down on his Senior. It was simply that, in the young man’s memories, the original figure behind his card possessed terrifying strength.

But compared to that, another thought flashed through Xingu’s mind, one that sent a chill through his entire body.

If even Lord Guran had become a Demon, did that not mean his world had also become a Secret Realm?

Yet he had absolutely no memories related to such a thing.

Lu Su sharply caught the crucial information hidden in Xingu’s words.

He furrowed his brow deeply and asked in a puzzled tone, "Junior, before you came to this world, had your world not yet been destroyed?"

Xingu opened his mouth at those words, but did not know what to say.

After a long while, he finally said in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Senior, since things have come to this, I won’t hide it from you anymore."

"I came to Great Ming after I died."

"Before I died, I remember being conscripted by a count as a laborer to fight the Demon King’s army. But before I could even reach the battlefield, I was killed by a low-ranking demon."

After saying that, Xingu added, "Oh, right. The Demon King’s army wasn’t made up of Secret Realm Demons."

At this point, Lu Su could not even be bothered to mock the overwhelming hero-versus-dragon vibe in the young man’s words.

He finally understood where the inconsistency lay.

Xingu’s timeline did not match Lu Su’s own experiences.

According to the young man, he had never encountered any so-called Secret Realms before his death.

So had he crossed over before his world was destroyed?

Or…

Lu Su’s gaze flickered as he thought to himself.

But soon, he thought of the mysterious object Guran had handed over to the World Consciousness.

After organizing his thoughts slightly, he asked Xingu, "Junior, do you feel that you have much more Spiritual Power than normal people?"

Xingu froze upon hearing that.

He had never imagined that his Senior even knew about something like that.

But soon, the young man thought of a possibility.

He said hesitantly, "I do have much more than normal people…"

"But how did you know, Senior?"

"Could it be that you are too?"

Lu Su nodded slightly, confirming Xingu’s guess.

By now, he did not particularly care about his own origins. He was merely a transmigrator; it did not change anything.

Furthermore, considering his contributions to Great Ming, Lu Su felt that even if he ran around proclaiming that he was a transmigrator, Great Ming’s high-ranking Card Masters would not care.

Seeing this, Xingu immediately relaxed, and delight appeared on his face.

People always wanted to find others like themselves. Heaven knew how frightened he had been when he first opened his eyes in this world.

Before arriving in Great Ming, the young man had not even possessed the concept of transmigration in his mind.

Unaware of Xingu’s thoughts, Lu Su was immersed in his own contemplation.

Then perhaps I might not be a transmigrator after all…

Before today, Lu Su had always believed himself to be nothing more than an ordinary transmigrator.

But based on the information Xingu had provided, the truth was most likely not so simple.

The Earth he had originally lived on had probably already been destroyed as well…

His expression dimmed at the thought. Though he had been something of a loner before transmigrating, he had still had a few close friends.

At least he no longer had to worry about dying of embarrassment.

That was the only way Lu Su could comfort himself now. After all, when he had first arrived in this world, he had worried about what would happen to the study materials on his hard drive and his browsing history.

At that moment, a classic line flashed through his mind.

Lu Su!

Why have you always had more Spiritual Power than everyone else, and why has breaking through been so easy for you?

Why couldn’t Jin Ping forcibly Demonize you before?

Why has the card-making process been so effortless?

Then there can only be one answer!

Lu Su!

You are the first man in the world to be born from a Secret Realm!

Lu Su twitched the corner of his mouth and shook Shrimp Dumpling’s exaggerated expression out of his mind.

Still, he was not entirely certain whether he had truly been born from a Secret Realm. After all, he did not know what the item Guran had previously handed to the World Consciousness actually was.

For more detailed information about himself, he would still have to ask the World Consciousness when he had the chance.

Compared to Lu Su, whose thoughts were in turmoil, Xingu felt much more at ease.

After watching his Senior fall silent for a long time, he could not help asking, "Senior, do you have any other questions?"

Lu Su immediately pulled his thoughts back.

He let out a soft breath, then said calmly, "No. You can go back now."

"And it’s best if you don’t tell anyone about our conversation today."

This was for Xingu’s protection. Lu Su himself did not care about such matters, since there were very few beings left in this world that could threaten him.

After saying that, he seemed to recall something. A Ghost Shadow Soldier then emerged from the shadows nearby.

"Here are some Bronze Grade materials. Take them and use them for now."

Lu Su intended to invest in Xingu. Since he himself could reach this point, there was no reason Xingu, who shared the same origins, could not do the same.

They were only some Bronze Grade materials. Giving them away was no big deal.

Still, he would need to assess the other’s character afterward. He could not afford to raise an ungrateful traitor in the end.

But after being carefully selected by the World Consciousness, something like that presumably would not happen.

At this moment, Xingu had been left dazed by the unexpected windfall. The young man had never expected this visit to bring such benefits.

He hesitated for a long time, but eventually gritted his teeth and accepted the materials from the Ghost Shadow Soldier. Then he gave Lu Su a deep bow. "Senior, I definitely won’t disappoint your expectations!"

Lu Su could not help laughing, then waved his hand. "Go back. Stay safe."

"Yes!"

Watching the young man leave his residence in high spirits, Lu Su let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

But he quickly regained his composure.

Life still had to go on. No matter what the truth was, it did not change the fact that he was an individual named "Lu Su." Rather than indulge in idle speculation, he might as well think about how to improve his strength.

With that thought, Lu Su flipped his hand and took out the material he had obtained from the Secret Realm yesterday.

Diamond Grade Adamantine Golem (Red).