The male supporting character was actually myself.

Jiang Chen pushed open the master bedroom door and went inside. The room was decorated very warmly.

On the wall opposite the old-fashioned double bed hangs a group photo. Against a red background, a man and a woman wearing white shirts are smiling brightly.

"Huh? This should be a wedding photo, right?" Li Chengze took out his computer-generated image, compared it, and shook his head, saying, "That old man was right, none of these pictures look like it. This girl is much prettier than any of the images made from random guesses!"

Jiang Chen stared blankly at the group photo.

Suddenly, some chaotic fragments popped into my mind—it seemed to be a beautiful dream.

The sky was deep blue, yet twinkled with stars. I sat facing the girl in the photo, enveloped in a hazy, pale purple mist.

"What are you looking at?" Her voice was alluring and magnetic.

He seemed to be laughing happily as he replied, "Look at you."

Is it pretty?

"nice!"

Do you like it?

"I love it! I really love it!"

……

"You've been single all these years and never been interested in anyone?"

"Then you must be very lonely."

"Once I'm with you, I won't be lonely anymore."

"But... are you really not going to leave here? If you stay, you'll have to give up so much. Is it worth it for me?"

"I've solved this problem perfectly. I've divided myself in two: the ruthless me hands over my work; the tender me gives you my whole heart. Isn't that better?"

…………

Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat. "I think I misunderstood. My soul... it's very likely that it took the initiative to split itself apart!"

"Separated on your own? Why?" Li Chengze looked completely bewildered. "Didn't you say you were tricked?"

A jumble of fragmented thoughts swirled in Jiang Chen's mind. He rubbed his forehead and sighed, "It seems like I split myself in two to focus on dating. One half was a workaholic; the other half was dedicated to finding a partner... So, back then, when I lived here, I was actually only half a soul?"

Lee Seung-taek: !!(o'?'o)?o????

For the sake of dating?

Bro, are you serious?

"As expected of you!" After holding back for a while, he finally commented on the speculation.

There were a few clean clothes hanging in the closet, all of which were for spring and summer; there were no household items in the other closets; the bathroom was as clean and tidy as a showroom; the two secondary bedrooms were empty, I don’t know if they had been cleaned or never been used; the other room was a study.

On the table were writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, as well as two rubbings of inscriptions. The bookshelf was filled with books from more than twenty years ago, ranging from literature and history to biographies of famous people, novels, and even some comic books.

But after going through the whole thing, there was no trace of any hidden agenda.

"Could it be that his sudden departure had nothing to do with being scammed?" Jiang Chen looked through the documents for a long time, completely bewildered. "If something really happened, shouldn't he at least have left some clues?"

"Perhaps... your situation was so critical that you dared not leave any obvious clues lest the enemy find you! But I'm more interested in knowing where that girl went? You even split your soul apart to be with her, so where is she?"

"BUG said that the girl, like it, chose to enter the virtual world and was waiting for me to find her."

"Then it should only be the soul entering, right? What about the body?" Li Chengze suddenly looked at him with suspicion. "You two aren't aliens who escaped from some special planet, are you?"

You see, we humans can only survive normally when our body and soul are united as one;

The Fallen Predators, Prop and the like, were initially in soul form without physical bodies. Even if they gained physical bodies as their abilities grew, they could likely abandon them at any time and survive as souls.

The universe is so vast, there must be some kind of more special race existing.

If you, like the protagonists in a science fiction movie, escaped from outer space to Earth, then it would explain why you have enemies, or masterminds, who are after you.

BUG is a guide, and it could be a former subordinate, a capable assistant, or a mentor.

The girl is your lover, someone you'd be with even if your souls were to be separated, and now they're both in the virtual world as souls... Wait, how would they know they could meet you in the virtual world? Unless..."

"Unless they know that one day I will have my soul leave my body for some reason, get rid of the body that doesn't belong to me, and then... be captured by the laws of this world that control the dynamics of the soul—the main system—and dragged into the virtual world."

Li Chengze gasped; the guesses were getting increasingly outrageous…

"I separated my soul myself. Could it be that the other part isn't even in this world?" Jiang Chen felt a headache coming on, so he simply sat on the sofa, closed his eyes, and vigorously rubbed his temples with his fingers to try and relieve some of the discomfort.

"Anyway, it's just a hypothetical scenario, so let's speculate based on this wildly imaginative line of thought." Li Chengze sat down and slowly analyzed, "Let's assume you come from a planet with a higher level of life form, and you can survive only as souls. But you dedicate half of your soul to your duties; the other half lives here with that girl."

In other words, twenty years ago, you, living in the Lotus Pier District of Lanmeng City on Earth, only had half a soul and were disguised as a human! Since you were able to spend several years here peacefully, it means that you have mastered the technology of using physical disguise, or you have other helpers to do it.

Then one day, they both suddenly disappeared.

Not long after, your soul was cleansed and placed into an eight-year-old body, becoming the Jiang Chen we know today. Based on this, perhaps your other half remained on your home planet?

The jumbled fragments were still swirling in his mind as Jiang Chen slowly tapped his fingers on the table.

Did Jiang Chen from twenty years ago and Jiang Chen now use the same part of his soul? If so, how could he have created such extraordinary laws that he couldn't understand, given that he had complete memories back then? Then he must have had a Soul Weapon with him, right?

The soul's memories have been wiped clean, and so have the Horcruxes?

Otherwise, how can you explain that it didn't save any information in its initial state? Not even the briefest bit of information? Also, Jiang Chen decided on the name herself when she was eight years old, so why continue using the same name? Does it have a special meaning or was it just an accident?

What exactly replenishes its energy in the virtual world?

A world barrier? A girl who willingly entered? Or perhaps a bug?

If you truly escaped from somewhere, why choose the human world? And why etch the will to save the world deep into your soul? Are you truly the guardian of some planet? After having your memories erased and stuffed into your body, did you come to regard this place as your home and protect it?

The two leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought and silent.

Time passed by, the sunlight outside the window gradually dimmed and twilight quickly descended, and soon only the lights from other houses shone in from outside the window, filling the unlit room.

Jiang Chen tilted his head and looked out the open window. The houses in the buildings diagonally opposite had all been renovated and replaced with brand new windows. But this house still looked the same as it did twenty years ago. Although the windows were clean and there were no marks left by wind and rain, they were still old-fashioned iron-framed windows. Each frame was relatively small and fitted with semi-transparent glass with a water ripple pattern, making the light that came in seem a bit hazy.

"Huh? After all these years, is there still electricity in the house?" Li Chengze suddenly asked, and got up to press a very old-fashioned switch.

"Click!"

The switch clicked crisply, and then soft, warm light streamed down from the old-fashioned, ornate chandelier in the living room.

"There's electricity?!" He clearly hadn't expected the light to turn on.

Jiang Chen then got up and went outside to use his phone to light up the way to find the electricity meter box.

Li Chengze followed closely behind, and when the two of them opened the meter box, they were immediately stunned. This house had given them quite a lot of shocks!

The electricity meters in the community have clearly been upgraded; they are the new type that allows online payment.

The room next door was probably unoccupied, but the electricity meter showed a balance. The meter in room 301 hadn't been opened; it had the power company's contact number posted on it…

The electricity meter wasn't even used, but there was electricity in the house!

The automatic cleaning function was already astonishing enough, but now it has this inexplicable ability to generate electricity. Li Chengze was so surprised he almost dropped his glasses.

"Should we try cutting the wire?" He was completely baffled and really wanted to understand the principle behind it immediately.

If we mastered this technology, wouldn't it benefit the entire country?!

"Cut!" Jiang Chen rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

They had the logistics department send over a toolbox, and the two of them immediately cut the main power line to the house.

The lights in the house, which had been deliberately left on, remained bright and unaffected. After closing the door, Jiang Chen cut a section of exposed wire from the kitchen light fixture.

The glass bulb emitting a dim yellow light immediately went out.

"The incoming power line is definitely broken, but there's still electricity in the house; the main water valve has also been turned off, but there's still water to use. However, cutting the light bulb wire immediately makes it unusable, which means that if there's a special device, it can only be installed somewhere in the house, most likely at the location of the main power line."

However, according to the occupancy records, Jiang Chen moved into the house in less than three days after acquiring it, which likely involved buying furniture. Furthermore, a comparison with the archives provided by the management bureau confirms that the room's decor was indeed as it was when the property was handed over.

He didn't demolish any walls for renovations, and there were no signs of repairs in the room. It's highly likely that the special device was installed on the outside, not inside the wall!

Li Chengze paced back and forth excitedly as he compared the devices, saying, "Hopefully, this isn't an incomprehensible form of energy belonging to the category of laws. If we can actually find a physical device, perhaps our technological level can achieve a linear leap!"

Jiang Chen did not reply.

Under his command, the Horcrux quickly scanned the entire room and finally found a small, hidden space behind the picture frame behind the TV cabinet.

"There really was a device!"

After the frame was removed and the camouflage was taken off, a shocking scene was revealed through a small hole the size of a bowl.

A small stone, about the size of a pea and emitting a faint blue light, lay there quietly, with three lines extending from it into the interior of the wall.

"It looks like one is the power supply; one is the water supply; and one should be for maintaining the room's condition." Jiang Chen tried to easily cut one of the wires with his soul weapon, and sure enough, the rushing water in the kitchen and bathroom stopped abruptly!

Cut the other one, and all the lights in the bright room go out instantly.

After cutting off the last strip, the wall debris left on the floor would never disappear again.

Li Chengze stared at the small blue stone with gleaming eyes and exclaimed, "This is truly amazing! What is this thing? An energy gem? An inexhaustible source? Does this thing emit radiation? You can touch it... Hey, be careful!"

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Chen had already reached out and picked up the pea-sized blue stone.

In the dimly lit room, the only light source cast a bluish glow on the two of them. Jiang Chen held it, carefully sensing this peculiar energy; it felt cool and refreshing, as if his fingers were testing him?

Before he could react, the blue stone suddenly emitted an even stronger light!

"Xiaobai?!" For some reason, Jiang Chen suddenly saw the image of Xiaobai in her catgirl form covering the medal and releasing energy, which was so similar to his own situation at this moment.

Everything happened in just a few seconds after he picked up the stone. The light shone brightly on the clothes of the two of them, and even the curtains began to flutter. Li Chengze's black-rimmed glasses were completely reflected in blue, but his eyes were still fixed on the stone that was undergoing a strange change.

[When you choose to absorb an energy stone, it means you've encountered trouble.]

[Your soul power is very weak; you've suffered a severe blow after all? What an accident! I hope she's still by your side so you won't be fighting alone. If not, please accept my condolences.]

The army of corrupt predators is always lurking, and just as you suspected, they might one day use other means to attack the Guardians. If your guess is correct, the only saving grace is that they won't actually kill you; at most, your soul will be damaged and you'll lose your memories.

[This is also a hint you left for yourself with the energy stone, right? I don't know how much energy the stone will have left by the time you find it, but I can still provide you with a map showing you the way back to headquarters. Go! Hurry back to headquarters, activate the backup plan, and everything will be alright.]

A notification sound, similar to that of the main system, entered my mind, along with a complex map that appeared and was imprinted on my mind like a brand. As long as I close my eyes and think carefully, I can remember any small node!

The entire pebble transformed into shimmering blue sand particles, surrounding Jiang Chen and completely enveloping him. As the light shimmered less and less until it disappeared completely.

"I absorbed this energy." He looked down at his hands and suddenly felt a strange sensation.

The world seemed unchanged, yet Jiang Chen could "hear" the sound of dust falling from deep within the walls, the faint creaking of the floorboards, the breathing of the trees and flowers outside the window, the chewing sounds of people eating in the downstairs dining room, and the panting sounds from the upstairs bedroom...

As this strange state deepened, he could even see all objects begin to "decompose" into tiny molecules and atoms. Even Li Chengze, who was standing in front of him, was "decomposing" into countless particles wrapped in a misty ball of light that shimmered with a faint glow.

"That's...your soul?!"