Witch Redemption

"Wait, Karen, that's...!"

Following Della's gaze, they saw a haggard-looking woman's face peeking out from a second-floor window of a house not far away.

Li Lan didn't know how to describe this face. It looked like a dead man; his eyes were slightly sunken with heavy dark circles, and the wrinkles on his face looked somewhat ferocious. The woman stared at them in terror, not wanting to look away for a moment, as if she had seen the most terrifying thing in the world.

Little did he know that, infected by the woman's fear, Li Lan also developed an inescapable fear within himself, and this fear was rapidly transforming into murderous intent.

"Wait, Della, let's go."

Forcibly suppressing the pounding in her heart, Li Lan stopped Della from making a move.

"But......"

Della instinctively felt that the woman was dangerous and almost wanted to eliminate her in a simple and brutal way, but she didn't expect Li Lan to stop her so quickly.

"This is no longer the world we traveled to. Killing people will not only fail to solve the problem, but may also bring us huge trouble."

If this were truly Earth, it certainly wouldn't be a world where the strong rule. Indiscriminate killing would undoubtedly lead to them quickly revealing their whereabouts and even attracting the attention of law enforcement agencies.

Every world has its own rules. It is precisely because Li Lan once lived in the Earth world that she understands better than anyone else what rules one needs to follow to survive in the Earth world.

"Let's go. I think we need to find more concrete evidence to determine whether this is actually Earth."

The two naked witches barely covered their chests with their natal magic books before running naked in the downpour, somewhat ashamed.

And just ten minutes after they left, the sallow-faced woman who had been lingering by the second-floor window of the apartment building suddenly deflated, her head lolling to the side before disappearing into the darkness. No one knows what strange supernatural event had occurred.

...... ...... ......

What should we do? What should we do next?

Neither Li Lan nor Della had much of a clue, and the two of them ran around aimlessly in the dark streets like headless flies.

The torrential rain did not stop, and the darkness of midnight provided them with excellent camouflage.

They should be thankful that they appeared in such a remote place, and at midnight, otherwise two creatures with strange features running naked in the street would definitely be on the news headlines the next day, providing fodder for crazy discussions in various online groups.

If this were to actually happen, given their mindset, they would probably be so ashamed they would want to disappear.

"We haven't found Lana and Lorina around here, and continuing to search isn't a solution. What we need to consider now is finding some clothes to wear."

After wandering around the area twice, Li Lan confirmed from the house numbers of the surrounding houses that this area, including the hotel in the distance, all used Chinese characters. If nothing unexpected happened, this place could indeed be the Earth world, or an alternate world similar to the Earth world.

Looking up at the residential building next door, I saw that the balcony on the second floor did not have security bars, and I could see several pieces of men's and women's clothing hanging on it.

Li Lan hesitated for a moment. He hadn't expected that on his first day of traveling back in time, he would be doing something like stealing clothes.

“Nearby?” Della said calmly, then began to bend down.

"Yes, we can't alert the people inside. We don't know the situation yet."

"clear."

The two witches bent down and leaped, jumping directly to the second floor of the residential building.

No matter what, even if their current physical abilities are only at the level of a Gold-level adventurer, they are still far beyond the level of humans on Earth.

Let alone jumping to the second floor, even jumping to the third floor would be a piece of cake.

"Jeans, shirts, and this kind of underwear... Sure enough, we should be back."

Li Lan subconsciously took off a set of men's clothes, while Della took off a plain dress. The two looked at each other, puzzled. "The clothes problem is solved for now, but what do we need to solve now?"

Ignoring the damp feeling on her body, Li Lan pondered for a while, "We need money, and an ID card. No, money isn't that important right now, the ID card is what matters."

Having not forgotten many memories and common sense from her past life, Li Lan was quite aware of what to be careful about when returning to this place.

It's worth mentioning that when Li Lan unfortunately time-traveled, it happened to be December 2036 AD. During this period, China was in an era of extremely advanced information technology. Leaving aside the concept of digitized money, even the information of every citizen was uniformly registered in a database and under strict control.

When you're out and about, whether you're looking for a job, using some forms of transportation, or renting a place, you can't do without your personal ID card.

You could even say that when you're traveling, you can be without money, you can be without many things, but the one thing you absolutely cannot lack is your identity document.

Being an unregistered person is very troublesome.

In the information age, strict control over personal information is not intended to restrict the freedom of every citizen, but rather to improve public security and prevent crime.

“Identity cards are a huge problem. If we want to live here, we have to figure out how to get normal status. But it’s so difficult for us, and I don’t know where to even begin.”

To be honest, Li Lan had been away from Earth for over eleven years and didn't know what changes had occurred in those eleven years. However, he was certain that by 2036 AD, there would be no such thing as a "fake ID card," which would make this particularly difficult to deal with.

The information recorded on each person's ID card is from the moment of birth until adulthood, and it is almost impossible to fake any part of their resume.

The information systems of state organs have an unimaginably high level of security. Even in reality, no hacker would be foolish enough to attack the information systems of state organs and tamper with information. Such a crime would be extremely dangerous and could easily backfire.

"Without personal identification, we would be undocumented, and undocumented people need to stay away from prosperous areas as much as possible. In other words, if we are to be on the safe side, it would be best to go to underdeveloped mountainous areas. However, I am worried that underdeveloped areas may not be so pleasant to stay in."

The country will only become more and more developed, and its systems in all aspects will become more and more perfect.

Perhaps what Li Lan and the others will face next is that without an ID card they can't find a job, and without a job they have no money, and without money they have no choice but to steal or rob, and stealing or robbing will definitely attract the attention of the authorities, and then who knows what they will face after being caught.

Li Lan and the others had a strong intuition that, given their special identities, if they were to cause trouble in this world, they might meet a terrible end.

"Karen, I need to understand the level of technology in this world. From what I've observed so far, I feel like I might be able to help."

Della was embarrassed to admit it, but in her eyes, this godforsaken place was far more backward than her original world. If the technological paths of the two worlds were similar, perhaps she could help with the identification process.

...... ...... ......

"We've come back after all."

The torrential rain on the plateau left Lana and Lorina, who were walking through the jungle, puzzled.

If it were just normal rain, that would be fine. The big problem is that they are running around naked, and in order not to disturb the residents, they have to avoid the area where every house has security bars.

Clothes, money, ID cards... the various needs that filled their minds made them feel suffocated.

"Wait, there's a trash can over there, let's go take a look." Lana's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Huh, shouldn't we?"

Lolina exclaimed, "This is too tragic! On the first day back in my hometown, I'm like a beggar, having to rummage through trash cans."

"So what do we do next? We can't stay like this forever. We need to get the clothes sorted out before dawn."

Lana was also in pain, so much so that she wanted to die.

"Didn't that old woman see us just now? Just to be on the safe side, we can't lay a hand on her. Anyway, she saw us, so maybe she can help us out."

"I can't speak," Lolina said weakly.

"Uh, are you kidding me? That girl is too dangerous! We almost couldn't control our killing intent the moment we saw her. This is really unusual."

Lana thought Lolina seemed a bit naive, but then she thought about it again and realized that there was some truth to it.

Upon their return to Earth, their faces and bodies resembled witches, rendering their pre-transmigration identities unusable. To this world, they were essentially strangers, unregistered individuals.

"We have to think of a way to stay here for a while. Our appearance is too special, and we don't have any ID cards or anything."

Lolina stopped and asked one last time, "How about it? Go ask that old woman? Just be as restrained as possible. I think I'll be fine."

"Alright, since you've put it that way..."

Lana stopped insisting and followed Lolina back the way she came.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at a dilapidated hut on the outskirts of the village. Through the window of the hut, they could see the rather ugly, sallow-faced woman. She looked haggard and ferocious, giving people a sense of inexplicable fear.

Suppressing her fear, Lolina stepped forward and said, "Auntie, could you do me a favor? We actually..."

"Come in, the door's unlocked."

The intimidating old woman merely uttered a cold, hoarse sound before rising and heading towards the door.

Little did they know that behind this dilapidated hut lay a hideous corpse, none other than Yuther, one of the Abyss Gods who had accompanied them through the journey.

Chapter 35 Earth's Identity Confirmed

The rain was heavy, and it was unclear how long it would continue, occasionally accompanied by terrifying thunder and lightning.

After changing into ill-fitting clothes, Li Lan and Della walked for a while in the pouring rain before finally arriving at a deserted commercial street.

Because there are many surveillance cameras on the streets, Li Lan is also conflicted about whether or not to do something bad.

"If we keep dragging this out, it might be daytime already. We have nothing now, and if we don't seize this opportunity..."

Having made up her mind, Li Lan gave Della a wink, then quietly approached a small supermarket on the side. "This shop is currently empty. Let's see if we can sneak in."

Even the clothes I'm wearing are stolen, so I'll have to resort to any means necessary to get the money I need for tomorrow, but I can't go too far.

“There’s a usable iron tool over there. Let’s see if we can pry this lock off.”

They might feel guilty, but the two witches didn't care about that now. Without hesitation, they pried open the shop door and carefully slipped inside.

Before her eyes were numerous shelves, and the familiar variety of goods evoked a strange sense of nostalgia in Li Lan, especially the many Chinese characters on the products.

However, their attention was now more drawn to the cashier and desktop computer on the right.

Della rolled up her sleeves, shook her damp hands, and after they dried slightly, she turned on the computer. "Karen, leave the identification to me. See if there's anything else you need to prepare."

"it is good!"

Li Lan nodded, her wandering gaze lingering briefly on the digital clock on the wall. The red text displayed the current time as 2:48 AM on February 14, 2048.

"Indeed, based on the intelligence we have, there is a high probability that we have returned to the Earth world, and to the country I was originally in."

"Eleven years have passed. I don't know how much the Earth has developed now. It might feel completely unfamiliar to me."

"Well, the most urgent thing now is to figure out how to survive, and we'll take it one step at a time. Thinking about it carefully, petty theft is clearly against my moral values ​​and deserves condemnation, but we have no other choice at this stage."

While deep in thought, Li Lan swiped a few pieces of cheap bread.

"The food issue is temporarily resolved. We'll check how much money is at the cashier later. We can't take too much to avoid bigger problems."

"It's really strange of me to think like that..."

Burglary is a conduct crime, regardless of the amount of money involved. As long as it is committed, it constitutes a crime, and as long as the police are notified, the police will definitely open a case.

If the thief is caught, the minimum penalty is imprisonment of up to three years. It is precisely because she knows that her current actions may have serious consequences that Li Lan is so conflicted.

He could have cleared out the cash registers here, but now he felt uneasy about doing so.

One should not act this way. Even when faced with a desperate situation, one should not abandon one's morality and conscience.

In particular, his hometown is a society governed by the rule of law.

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Those who do not abide by morality and law will only be eliminated by society; there is no other way.

"I don't feel very happy."