Chapter 53: Reality? Reality! (Please continue reading!!!)

At Zhang Jie’s suggestion, everyone gathered at his place for a meal.

A variety of precious ingredients were prepared, and with Zhang Jie’s daughter’s cooking skills surpassing even those of top chefs, each person’s manner of eating could only be described as delightfully voracious. Even the aloof Chu Xuan was no exception—among the group, he was actually the most ravenous eater.

Of course, the dishes were mainly chosen for their vibrant colors.

As the saying goes, a dish consists of color, aroma, and taste—Chu Xuan could only savor the color.

The next day.

The group stood silently in the square, exchanging glances, while Zheng Zha closed his eyes, communicating with the Primordial God.

Qian Gu noticed and quickly asked, “Are you planning to exchange some precious metals for your parents’ retirement?”

“Yes,” Zheng Zha replied matter-of-factly. “Precious metals hold their value.”

“Then just exchange for gold directly. Don’t bother with other metals,” Qian Gu suggested, recalling the actions of a certain character from the original story. “Also, my advice is to refine it into gold bars once you’re back. The Primordial God sells gold by the cubic meter, which is way too large—if you try to handle it in reality, you’re bound to cause a big commotion.”

“You’re right!” Zheng Zha thought it over seriously and admitted that Qian Gu’s advice made perfect sense.

As the saying goes, “Antiques flourish in peaceful times; gold prevails in chaotic ones.” In truth, gold is the most reliable hard currency that retains its value across all eras.

Of course, the only minor issue lies in the state’s regulation of gold transactions.

But that was no problem for Zheng Zha and the others, especially since Chu Xuan had their back.

“I have no objections to your plan,” Qian Gu said coldly in their communication space. “But I hope you can guarantee Zheng Zha’s safety.”

“Don’t worry.” Chu Xuan handed Zheng Zha a high-frequency particle-cutting dagger and replied, “You’ve set up quite a few precautions yourself, haven’t you?”

Loli wore a diamond necklace around her neck.

It was a gift from Qian Gu.

The necklace held thirteen diamonds, each enchanted with a permanent spell—some defensive, some sustaining life—ensuring protection against unforeseen dangers.

Qian Gu never let his guard down around Chu Xuan.

Within the team, backed by a series of buffs and careful observation, suppressing him was easy.

But once outside the team, unable to relay information in time and lacking intelligence, Qian Gu found it difficult to fully control the situation without a strategist’s mind, relying instead on one trump card after another to force suppression.

“Then, let’s return.” Qian Gu and Zheng Zha both exchanged a month’s worth of return days and then returned to their respective realities.

…

Qian Gu felt a flash before his eyes, slipping into a half-dream, half-awake state. How long passed, he didn’t know—maybe a blink, maybe much longer—when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a standard personal bedroom.

The computer’s screensaver was “Zhuge Dali.”

The mousepad featured “Fairy Knight Lancelot.”

The game displayed on the monitor was the long-running World of Warcraft, still queuing for a dungeon, with a Demon Hunter character resting in place.

“Back…” Everything was familiar.

Yes.

Qian Gu had returned—to the world he inhabited before entering the Primordial God’s space.

Only…

“Why hasn’t time changed?”

Here was the difference.

If Qian Gu remembered correctly, in the original story, after Zheng Zha returned to reality, time flowed almost synchronously.

But now, judging by the dungeon queue time on the computer, his absence was less than one second.

“Strange.”

Qian Gu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Sure enough, this reality is unusual.”

But unusual in what way?

That needed investigation.

At this point, there was only one priority.

“Let’s queue for a dungeon first.”

After a satisfying run, Qian Gu closed the game. The Primordial God’s warning echoed in his mind.

Within these thirty days in reality, he must not reveal anything about the Primordial God’s space in any way, or he and everything of his would be erased.

After thirty days, Qian Gu must return to this office. The Primordial God would bring him back inside, and all his equipment must be physically touched; otherwise, it would remain in reality and be erased if it was unique to the Primordial God’s space.

If he failed to return in thirty days, both he and all his equipment would be erased.

The restrictions were severe but manageable.

‘Barring accidents, there’s hardly anyone in this world who can limit me.’

Shaking the magic rope, Arno stepped out from the rope’s space.

After all, the magic rope technique itself is a space to contain creatures, so storing people inside it was perfectly normal.

‘Gather intelligence.’

Information was a crucial foundation.

Qian Gu’s thinking and planning relied heavily on the amount of intelligence he possessed—this was what set him apart from scripted strategists, a so-called “limit of mortal wisdom.”

As for how to acquire intelligence…

…

Downtown.

Qian Gu walked the streets as if invisible, with Arno trailing behind.

Strangely, no one noticed this odd pair, as if they were invisible.

Advanced invisibility magic!

Cast through a permanent magical artifact, this spell normally lasted only one minute, but now it sustained for twelve hours. Moreover, because it was advanced invisibility, even attacking wouldn’t break the invisibility unless the target had means to see through it.

‘Here we are.’

They stopped in front of a solemn and imposing building.

‘To get enough intelligence, official sources are indispensable.’

They entered.

The official building’s security was extremely tight; no suspect could simply break in.

But!

Who was Qian Gu?

A reincarnator from the Primordial God’s space, a Dragon Vein sorcerer, equipped with countless spells—standard modern security measures were no obstacle and were easily bypassed.

They reached the target’s office, where the person was still handling official business.

Raising a hand, Qian Gu gently touched.

Control over humans!

‘As expected, just an ordinary person.’

The control was a great success.

In an instant, the target fell under Qian Gu’s domination, becoming a puppet. Like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, the target spilled out all the information they knew.

But what Qian Gu heard was strange.

There wasn’t a trace of anything supernatural.

This target was quite high-ranking, capable of touching the world’s dark underbelly. Qian Gu even asked about so-called “dark web” information, but there was nothing about the supernatural he had initially sought.

It was as if the entire world were just an ordinary, mundane reality.