517: 8.117 Data Restoration*

8.117 Data Restoration*

To his current predicament, Lu Yizhou only had one word to say: fuck.2

After the shower, Lu Yizhou had taken off the sodden wig and borrowed one of Ellen's low-brimmed hats to cover his face for fear that he would draw more attention to himself. After all, because of the sudden photoshoot session, all of the youngsters who were here to chase stars had noticed his existence. Not to mention that they made up almost 40% of the NPCs…

He failed to take into account that the one who would ambush him first was not Ellen's fans, but the two protagonists of the world!

Ji Yan and Olivia were staring at him with so much fervour that Sister Chen stopped to give him a skeptical glance. "They are…?"

Lu Yizhou cursed under his breath. There was nowhere to retreat to so he could only feign indifference and asked, "Pardon?"

His low-pitched, smooth voice that obviously belonged to an adult male jolted the two out of their reverie. Ji Yan stuttered. "You… You are not Miss Irene? You look so much like her so…"

Olivia grabbed Ji Yan's arm and secretly whispered into his ears but because of Lu Yizhou's sharp sense of hearing, he could hear every word loud and clear. "Maybe… he's only another NPC that looks so similar to Irene? There are hundreds of NPCs on this ship so there is a possibility that one of them resembles the NPC in the previous quest… right?" 

But honestly, Ji Yan and Olivia had never met two similar NPCs before and hence, they were taken aback when they saw Lu Yizhou in the photoshoot set just now. Without thinking much about it, they laid in wait around the hallway in order to catch a closer glimpse of the person. And imagine how shocked they were to find how similar they were! It was like… both of them were brother and sister or something! In the previous quest, Irene had left too deep of an impression on them and when they saw Lu Yizhou, they could not help but approach him…

Alas, they were bound to be disappointed. 

Ji Yan could not help but ask again, his voice more subdued this time. "You really don't know Miss Irene?"

From the corner of his eyes, Lu Yizhou saw a few people turning to watch them and whispering among themselves. His brows furrowed in displeasure. Exuding a strong unapproachable aura, Lu Yizhou coldly said, "Excuse me. You're obstructing my work."

"Oh!" Their gaze fell on the man in Lu Yizhou's embrace and self-consciously stepped away. "A–Apologies…"

Fortunately, Ellen had reacted fast and buried his face into Lu Yizhou's shoulder as soon as he detected another's presence. With the hat covering his trademark waist-length hair and body clad in loose, comfy clothes that hid his aura, nobody would have guessed that he was the very same model who had been posing in the swimming pool earlier. 

Taking advantage of their bewilderment, Lu Yizhou nodded lightly and brushed past them, entering the dining hall with Sister Chen in tow. Until the end, he could still feel their gaze burning holes into his back…

"Do you really not know them?" Sister Chen asked in a hush voice.

"I don't," he mercilessly said. Either way, he had never appeared in front of Ji Yan and Olivia in his male form so no matter how suspicious they were, as long as Lu Yizhou did not admit it, then they would not be able to do anything either. He stepped through the doorway and paused in slight surprise as soon as he saw the scene in front of him.

However, because there were already many people seated inside, Lu Yizhou promptly turned away and strode to the table that had been arranged for them. Everyone had arrived aside from the trio and hence, as soon as they saw Ellen in Lu Yizhou's arms, they immediately expressed their concern, especially Photographer Song who was treating Ellen like his newly adopted son. "What's wrong, Ellen? Are you sick?"

Ellen took his time to answer after Lu Yizhou had lowered him into his seat. His voice was breezy and carried a slight teasing tone. "Oh, it's nothing." It was unknown whether it was a coincidence or not, but his eyes swept over everyone on the table before pausing on Chu Lingshe. He propped his chin on the table and smirked. "I'm just a little tired so my bodyguard offered to carry me here. Who am I to refuse?"

Everyone: "..." 

Photographer Song was the only one who did not find anything wrong with that sentence. Either way, he already had his fair share of working with wilful, short-tempered and pampered models. Compared to them, Ellen could be considered as an angel. "Good," he laughed. "It's good that you're okay. In this line of work, health is your main priority so you have to take care…"

Lu Yizhou tuned his surroundings out and surreptitiously scanned the space in front of him. 

Just yesterday, a small scale explosion happened in the middle of the hall and scorched the carpet black, even spreading to the wall around. Not only that, the antique chandelier had also fallen down and almost turned the entire hall into ruins.

Yet as of now, everything was spotless. Let alone the traces of gore, the carpet was brand new and velvety. There was not even a hint of burn marks on the wall. As for the chandelier… it was still fully intact, hanging beautifully over the ceiling. 

Lu Yizhou narrowed his eyes in thought. What was happening here? Was it possible for the ship crews to clean the scene overnight? 

Fortunately, 666 soon cleared his confusion.

[666: Host, actually 666 detects overridden data in front of us. As you know, after 666 obtained the skill 'Code Manipulation' from system 404, 666 becomes more sensitive to this kind of thing.]

[666: Or in other words, the hall has been restored to how it originally was!]

[Interesting…] Lu Yizhou's eyes flashed. [So, no matter how wrecked the hall was yesterday, it will be automatically restored today?]

[666: Bingo! Host is mighty, Host is smart, Host is powerful!]

After decades, Lu Yizhou was already used to the system's empty flattery and did not even deign to answer it. There was only one question in his mind. The data restoration, was it only limited to this dining hall or… the entire ship? For example, if Lu Yizhou tried to break the ship today to destroy the quest, would it return to how it was tomorrow?

[666: *gulp* H–Host, are you serious…?]

[Why not?] Lu Yizhou retorted lightly. [It's an experiment worth doing.]

He would have to flunk the game anyway, so why should he wait until the seventh day? 

The more Lu Yizhou thought about it, the more feasible the plans seemed. On the other hand, 666's core data shuddered violently when Lu Yizhou's thoughts were transmitted to it. 

Oh my Admin God, a simple man was truly the most terrifying of all! 666 took back its words. Those wicked, cunning people could only plan secretly in the dark whereas its Host would not hesitate to launch his plans to capsize the whole ship which carried hundreds of people! How… How exciting! 

As Lu Yizhou was lost in his thoughts, Captain Rong entered the hall with steady steps, his shoulders tense and face solemn. Sweeping his gaze across the people around him, he directly declared. "I am sure you know why we're all here. Now, I am going to ask again. Is there anyone who wants to confess their crime or… should we do another round of voting again?"

pqdm.com