Chapter 352 - 294: Earth-Shattering Change

Chu Bamboo had asked before if he could see Nuwa’s source code... but Nuwa stated that mainframe number seventeen didn’t have that level of clearance—he would have to consult the Nuwa Mainframe in the Imperial Capital for that.

"No problem... but my data code is immense!" Although the Hive raised an objection, it still obeyed the command and displayed a dense array of data on the screen.

Chu Bamboo quietly began to memorize it.

The Hive’s data was so vast it was frightening. Combined with the phone’s small screen and the fact that the Hive couldn’t interface with Nuwa, forcing him to memorize it visually... Chu Bamboo ended up spending almost the entire afternoon on it!

At dinner, Chu Bamboo met with Huo Qiming and offered some key suggestions for the report he was about to submit.

After finishing everything, Chu Bamboo returned to the Nuwa Base, then consumed the Flowing Body and replicated Thousand Shadows and Transformations once more.

Lying on a soft bed constructed by Nuwa, Chu Bamboo closed his eyes and sorted through his thoughts. He felt that there shouldn’t be any major issues with what he had done today...

But as he mulled it over, he still felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

’This won’t do!’ Chu Bamboo sat up abruptly and had Nuwa check the nuclear radiation data. Everything was normal!

After a brief silence, Chu Bamboo controlled numerous drones to observe Jinghai City under the night sky—

The shantytown redevelopment area was as quiet and dead as ever, and the First District was as prosperous as ever, a city that never slept!

Everything was the same as always!

Chu Bamboo stared intently at the screen, his fingers tapping lightly on the bed frame. After a moment of thought, he made a few more phone calls.

"Li Xuan... the guild is back to normal, right? The people from the Captain’s Office didn’t give you a hard time... You say they were very polite? Alright then..."

"Hai Mingyue, that faction behind you... Hmm? Your master already spoke to you, saying you’re entering a period of silence... And you’ve already checked on your end, confirming that within your knowledge, the Hehuan Influence hasn’t been mobilized... So it’s not from your side either! It’s fine, don’t overthink it..."

"Zhang Hai... Yeah, you’ve contacted your master, the Star Archbishop? What, a Bishop from your side went missing and the Pope is furious... That’s impossible, there’s no way the Pope doesn’t know... Oh, I get it. They must have deliberately suppressed the news over there! It’s fine, I was just asking... Don’t ask me what happened. And what do you mean, how do I know things you don’t? Isn’t that perfectly normal... Ahem, as long as there are no unusual movements on your end, it’s fine! That’s all."

"Mo Wen... You said you guys are still working construction as usual? Oh... the toilets are finished! Got it... For the final payment, find Hai Mingyue, like I said before!"

"..."

Hanging up the last call, Chu Bamboo’s brows knitted together. He muttered, "Am I being too sensitive?"

He glanced at the time. Nine o’clock at night.

After a short silence, Chu Bamboo washed up and drifted off to sleep.

...

「Real World.」

The first thing Chu Bamboo did after waking up was input the Hive’s source code into Z.

"Father... this code is indeed highly compatible with me! I’ll probably only need to modify about five percent of it!" Z’s voice was a bit heavy. "However, modifying five percent, plus full integration... will take half an hour! During this time, I will be in a continuous reboot cycle and unable to provide you with assistance."

Chu Bamboo frowned slightly, glanced outside, and pondered for a moment. ’Half an hour... That’s fine! Begin.’

At 6:40, Z’s update was successful.

Seemingly empty-handed, Chu Bamboo left the hotel with Hodges.

Chu Bamboo dragged Hodges to a corner with no security cameras.

And then...

Hodges watched, dumbfounded, as Chu Bamboo simply rubbed his own face gently. As if by magic, Chu Bamboo transformed into a blond, blue-eyed Germanic youth.

"You too!" Chu Bamboo’s voice was calm. He stepped forward and rubbed Hodges’s face as well, giving his features a typically Jewish appearance.

Hodges: "...?!"

Chu Bamboo touched his phone to Hodges’s. Z instantly activated, simulating a brand-new system on Hodges’s device. "I’ve already... simulated your phone! Your current identity is a wealthy Jewish businessman... The name and details are on the phone; you can just look at them in a bit! Next, we’re going to use these fake identities to leave the White-headed Eagle..."

"Father!" Z suddenly spoke, its voice icy and solemn. Chu Bamboo’s expression changed in an instant.

Under normal circumstances, Z would never speak in front of an outsider. Although, according to information Chu Bamboo had obtained from the future, Hodges was quite trustworthy and wouldn’t betray him as long as his daughter wasn’t being used as leverage... Z didn’t know this information and would never let its guard down.

In other words... for this to be happening, there was only one possibility...

"Just five minutes ago, FBI agents forcibly broke into the hotel room you rented! And based on the data of your missing luggage, they have surmised that you have already escaped."

"DING! New information detected... All planes at Miami International Airport have begun the strictest inspections, under the standards of a terrorist attack! All complaints from White-headed Eagle residents are being strictly censored online... However, entry into Miami International Airport has not been restricted. It is speculated that they are waiting for someone’s arrival... Based on data retrieval, there is a greater than seventy percent probability that this is aimed at you, Father!"

"Additional special intelligence detected... X has begun high-intensity monitoring of messages sent by Miami residents!"

"Abnormality detected... Celestial Net is performing a high-intensity search for my information! I have used a decoy to lure it to a secret villa thirty-two kilometers from my position!"

"..."

Hodges: "???"

The sheer amount of information in that rapid-fire string of sentences was too much; Hodges’s brain short-circuited.

’...This is impossible?’ Chu Bamboo’s face turned extremely grim in that instant, as turmoil surged within him.

’It makes no sense!’

According to the diary entry he had read yesterday, he was supposed to get away safely today. He was supposed to use the fake identity Z had just created, buy a ticket on the way to the airport, board a plane from Miami International Airport a little after 8 AM, and land in Mexico City a little after 9 AM.

Then, he would meet with the ambassador from the embassy, establish contact... and at the fastest possible speed, rescue the workers and the imprisoned women, then return home at his leisure...

After all, from his arrival in the White-headed Eagle in April until now, the diary had been updated dozens of times... The whole process had become routine!

But why did things change?

And such a drastic change at that!

It was normal for the Dream World to trigger the butterfly effect! But the problem was, the Real World itself was in the past... how could that trigger a butterfly effect?