Pretending To Be A Boss

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It was simply stranded by time.
Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire

It was as if people had hurriedly left the place, probably believing in something.

In any case, unlike other cities, this place did not turn into ruins.

Having learned this piece of information, Tang Xian felt even more delighted, as a city by the river would not have to worry about food.

It was like the rebirth of human civilization.

The earliest human civilizations were also established alongside rivers.

After roaming around for a while, Tang Xian headed to the toy section on the fourth floor and scavenged a few Sanjiu figures and Gundam models.

He then left the supermarket contentedly, along with the dumb dragon who was playing with a Rubik's cube but couldn't solve it at all.

"Where to next?" Tang Feiji had been trying for a long time and finally managed to get one face to be red.

"See that office building over there? It's quite tall, and I think I might find some of mankind's documents on the higher floors."

Tang Xian walked straight toward the commercial office building.

In ancient times, such office buildings were generally leased to internet business companies.

Selling insurance, financial products, and so on, most of these jobs were related to sales, belonging in the finest offices, to earn the most money for the company, and then to be squeezed dry.

Computers here were used frequently, and there were many document backups, so perhaps some information could be found.

Tang Xian arrived on the ninth floor.

The floors below were in complete disarray, with spider webs, mouse droppings, cockroaches, and remains of various animal carcasses, as well as dirty and sticky moss.

The only thing that brought Tang Xian joy was that the sun had fully risen, and the birds had begun to stir.

After all, as long as one can hear birds chirping in a place, it's not too desolate to live in.

This floor housed an advertising agency.

Although it was also messy inside, it was not as dirty as the floors below.

Some remnants of paper could indeed be seen, but any text on them was no longer legible.

There was nothing inside the printer either.

As for the computers, Tang Xian had no way to turn them on.

Tang Xian searched through cabinets and drawers for quite a while, but most documents recorded on paper had disintegrated over the centuries of exposure to the elements.

Those computers or other multimedia tools could not be turned on either.

Even if they could be turned on, it was unlikely that he would discover anything.

That's what Tang Xian thought.

Baichuan City was so intact, and its resources seemed as though they had been looted. All this indicated that the catastrophe must have struck suddenly, and humanity had evacuated unprepared.

It was very likely that these computers contained no documentation of the catastrophe.

But there should have been something unusual.

Human civilization should not just suddenly disappear without cause.

There could have been many signs before that.

"We need electricity."

"Lightning? I can do that."

Tang Xian took the Rubik's cube from Tang Feiji's hand, solved it in no time, and then said,

"We might need lightning, but these devices can't withstand it. We need to find a power station first."

Without electricity, the boiler couldn't be used, and these computers couldn't be turned on.

Even though there's a high chance the computers wouldn't work even with electricity. But what needs to be attempted should be attempted.

Tang Xian tossed the Rubik's cube back to Tang Feiji.

Tang Feiji looked stunned, his face filled with amazement as he looked at the neatly solved Rubik's cube in his hand. Suddenly, he dared not play with it anymore, afraid he would scramble it and not be able to get it back to its solved state.

After scanning the room, Tang Xian was ready to leave for the garage to see if the cars still worked.

But as he looked up, he noticed something in the desk lamp.

A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the lampshade, so much so that Tang Xian hadn't seen it before.

Tang Xian climbed onto the desk and shook the desk lamp forcefully.

After a while, there was a clatter as something hard fell to the floor.

He looked down and his eyes widened instantly.

"A phone?"

A black cell phone lay on the ground. Tang Xian picked it up and examined it for a while.

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"Why would someone hide a smartphone in a lamp? It's truly miraculous that it hasn't fallen out in hundreds of years."

Tang Xian couldn't recognize the brand of the smartphone and didn't pay much attention to it. He fiddled with it for a while, took the back cover off, and confirmed there was no secret compartment.

"It surely can't still turn on, right?"

Tang Xian pressed a button and was startled; an exciting vibration coursed through him!

The smartphone actually turned on!

The boot-up screen was bizarre—it showed a girl with gray hair, wearing overalls, playing basketball.

But no matter, Tang Xian quickly tinkered around with it.

The apps on the phone were all those popular with young people. It was clear that the phone's original owner had been quite young.

Some apps were still in existence, like B-Hu, B-Station, B-Snap, DouYin, and so on.

Tang Xian scrolled through for a while and first checked the photo gallery. It was empty.

So was the video section.

And without network access, he couldn't view any past messages in the chat software.

Despite finding it incredible that the phone had preserved data for hundreds of years, Tang Xian felt it was all in vain.

The device was filled with useless information.

But this greatly energized Tang Xian—the possibility of obtaining information about this world was there, as long as he could solve the problem with electricity.

Tang Xian prepared to turn off the phone, noticing that the battery was below five percent.

But just then, the phone suddenly vibrated.

Of course, it wasn't a phone call.

Tang Xian glanced at it and realized it was an alarm. The alarm was set to remind every ten minutes, which was pretty excessive.

It didn't trigger previously because the phone was turned off, but after Tang Xian played with it for a bit, the alarm went off.

Next to the alarm, there was a note: Open the notes, Password: 145******

Tang Xian then realized he had missed something.

He hadn't checked the notes.

He opened the notes app.

It contained only text information, no video or audio records.

But this information was precisely what Tang Xian was looking for!

"I've been saying for a while that it wasn't a prank, the warning on that website was real, those Terracotta Warrior-like guys, and those strange beasts, they are not from this world and definitely not some crap ancient relics!

But these damn fools wouldn't believe me. The trolls on the forums mocked me, saying I've gone crazy from movies, how could statues move? How could machines talk?

How could a dog possibly have three heads? Wouldn't the owner of a dog meat factory make a killing?

They called me a dog, and even said if the apocalypse really came, I'd be the mastermind behind it.

I argued with them for three days and nights, and though I was spitting out ten posts a second, and defended my dignity with my keyboard, I couldn't stand the sheer number of idiots.

But the day has finally arrived, much faster than anyone could have imagined.

The news of many cities being destroyed reached us, and those huge fortresses in the north might just be our refuge! The world is beyond saving now! I'm off to seek shelter in a fortress too.

The reason I'm leaving this message is to prove that I won! I was right! To those who scorned me, time will prove your ignorance!"

The last line had only a few words, the signature of the phone's original owner—by: Sun Xiaochuan, Not the Mastermind.

There was a second note too, but before he could open it, the phone ran out of power.

Tang Xian frowned.

The information revealed in this message was quite substantial, but it seemed a bit chaotic.

"So there were anomalies long ago. But it looks like humanity didn't pay much heed?"

"Bronze Terracotta Warriors? Are they Judgment Knights? But what's with the three-headed dog?"

Tang Xian stroked his chin in thought, contemplating the talking machine, the three-headed dog from hell, and the bronze Terracotta Warriors.

It was as if elements from several different worlds had been mixed together.

He still had no clues, and it seemed he could only wait for the restoration of power for more information.

Without electricity, whether it be for food or shelter, everything would be inconvenient.

Tang Xian glanced at Tang Feiji, who, refusing to be daunted, had turned the Rubik's cube a few more times, only to find he couldn't restore it.

Tang Xian said:

"Let's go, we've investigated everything here. Next, we'll head to the outskirts of the city."