My Demon Friends

Chapter 736: 697 Mirror Zone Deduction

The fourth day of the internship.

Students from two classes were sitting in groups in the large classroom. Brother Nan was once again soundly asleep, with the teacher not bothering her at all.

Apart from spending the entire first day touring the park, they had been at this research base ever since. When learning theoretical knowledge, they would be seated in groups in this large classroom. Teacher Liu would take them to the respective experimental sites for field observations, occasionally letting them operate something hands-on, always as groups.

Being grouped had its pros and cons. Among those students who usually didn't like to study, some might find a chance to slack off. However, the team mode could also pressure others into contributing, lest they incur the dissatisfaction of their peers.

Overall, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks because the latter could still be saved, while the former were beyond help and could be abandoned. Besides, in terms of numbers, the latter were more numerous than the former.

Zhou Li happened to know such a student who was beyond help.

She was sleeping very soundly now.

Strangely enough, she hadn't attracted the slightest dissatisfaction from other members of her group.

Oh, Zhou Li was a little bit annoyed, but he didn't dare to mention it.

Theoretically, all members of the group, including those from Zhou Li's dormitory, were members of the Probability Society. It wasn't about Brother Nan being the Club President per se. Rather, it gave her and Zhou Li a justifiable way to provide lunch from the Jade Lotus Hotel to everyone. Everyone knew that the Probability Society had an unusual source of funds, which mainly came from probabilities, unlike other societies primarily funded by school allocations and membership fees from new joiners. If Zhou Li or Brother Nan were to treat everyone to lunch at the Jade Lotus Hotel, people would feel uncomfortable. However, if the expense came from the club fund, everyone would feel much better about it—everyone except for Baozi, that is.

With the Club President being so generous, why shouldn't everyone share a bit of the team's workload for her?

Zhou Li propped up his chin, seemingly listening to the lecture, yet his peripheral vision kept drifting towards the girl next to him.

The girl had her head lowered, resting on her arms, her features mostly obscured. However, the skin of her profile was flawlessly pale and exquisite, arousing a strong desire in Zhou Li to pinch it. It would be best to tug her cheek forcefully and then let go suddenly to see if her mouth would make a POP sound.

Zhou Li's gaze gradually shifted upwards, towards the top of her head.

A small tuft of hair, less than ten centimeters long, stood upright. It was constantly being blown sideways by the wind streaming in through the window. Once the wind passed, it sprang up again, only for more wind to come...

It was as if it was dancing.

Sometimes when there was no wind, Zhou Li would purse his lips and blow to the side on purpose, creating a little breeze.

Brother Nan was completely unaware of all these shenanigans.

"HMM..."

Little Cousin, separated from Zhou Li by Brother Nan, furrowed her brow. She had noticed the commotion—the wind Zhou Li blew also brushed her face, disturbing the hair at her temples, as if someone were tickling her cheek with a small feather.

So, Little Cousin turned her head, her expression stern. "When she wakes up, I'll tell Brother Nan!"

Zhou Li paused, then retorted, "I won't be scared even if she knows. It was that cowlick of hers that tempted me first. I was acting in self-defense."

"You're disturbing my studies!"

"Sorry."

Zhou Li knew he would need Little Cousin's help often during the internship, so he chose to back down.

Little Cousin withdrew her gaze, satisfied.

Seeing her older cousin taken down a peg delighted her, but her expression remained unchanged. She sat upright like a primary school student, eyes forward, looking as if she were listening intently to the lecture.

Although the internship was for two majors, it was more inclined towards ecological studies. Zhou Li was very attentive during the first two days and learned a lot of interesting knowledge. Although he didn't think it would be of much help in the future, it still enriched him as a person. But as the lectures became more specialized, Zhou Li started to find them dull.

Brother Nan's cowlick was far more interesting.

Zhou Li reached out, idly toying with Brother Nan's cowlick and occasionally glancing at Baozi. Blowing air would disturb you, but this shouldn't, right?

It wasn't until he glanced at Baozi again that he noticed she had sneakily taken out her phone and was pointing the camera at him.

Zhou Li was rendered speechless.

「Noon.」

A group of people sat in the hotel's private room.

Brother Nan looked puzzled at Baozi, who held a cup of Häagen-Dazs, leisurely scooping and eating with a focus that suggested she was oblivious to everything else. Brother Nan couldn't help but turn to Zhou Li and ask, "Why does she have ice cream? We don't."

"The hotel's business hasn't been good lately, so their ice cream stock is low. I figured since our group relies entirely on Baozi and she's worked the hardest, I'd give it to her," Zhou Li calmly replied to Brother Nan. "Besides, she loves ice cream the most."

"Is that so?"

Brother Nan glanced at Baozi.

Baozi continued to bow her head, eating ice cream, her gaze always resting on the spoon as if she hadn't heard what was said.

Zhou Li, however, nodded. "Mm-hmm."

Brother Nan mused aloud, "Well, that's reasonable enough, I suppose?"

Brother Nan reached up and touched her cowlick; the root of it felt a little sore. She had noticed it right after waking up. According to Zhou Li, it was caused by the wind, which also seemed plausible.

Brother Nan nodded repeatedly and clenched her fist.

But sometimes, some things don't need evidence.

BANG!!

Zhou Li looked shocked. "What are you doing?"

Brother Nan withdrew her fist and calmly said, "This is how your big bro shows her love for you."

Zhou Li was speechless again.

「By the afternoon.」

Word was that the teacher would begin guiding everyone in simulating the construction of a miniature ecosystem. There were many types of these miniature ecosystems, and each group needed to choose one that interested them. Then, under Teacher Liu's guidance, they had to perfect it. The final complete plan would be everyone's internship result. They also had to create a PowerPoint presentation and present it on stage. The teacher would grade it afterward, and the score would count towards their internship performance, contributing to their academic credits.

Why had Zhou Li only heard about it?

Because he had followed His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu, into the Mirror Zone to observe the simulation results of the Migration Plan as a human.

This was also the first time Zhou Li had truly witnessed the Mirror Zone, this vital artifact of the Demon Kingdom. Before, he had only entered the Mirror Zone—this area between the human world and the Old Land World—and, under its influence, had some interesting dreams. As for what the Mirror Zone actually was or what it looked like, he had no idea.

When Zhou Li was a child lying on the ground looking at the sky, it seemed like a giant blue dome, with the highest point being the distant zenith and the edges marking the end of the earth. But today, the sky of the Mirror Zone truly became a massive dome.

When the huge hemispherical dome first emerged, it was transitioning to a semi-transparent state, like glass. Then, its color gradually deepened, and it became clearly visible.

As the sky darkened, the Mirror Zone's world quickly grew dimmer.

Until the dome of the sky turned as black as ink, it vanished from everyone's sight again—in another way, a way completely opposite to before.

At that moment, the entire Mirror Zone was plunged into darkness. There wasn't a trace of light, so dark one couldn't see their hand in front of their face; the sky and earth were indistinguishable.

But very quickly, light appeared above their heads again.

Normally, this dome was the sky, the white clouds, the stars, and the bright moon. But now, it had become a hemispherical curved screen, on which images began to appear.

A phantasmal planet rose from above Earth, slowly breaking away and eventually disappearing from sight. When it reappeared, it was across the vastness of space, merging with another planet—one with an environment similar to Earth's but devoid of intelligent life. The process was remarkably smooth.

But this was the general overview, shown in fast-forward.

Sometimes, the controllers of the Mirror Zone would also display details. Zhou Li could then see demons on this illusory planet bowing their heads in prayer, panic-stricken Heavenly Masters on Earth, and some demons who had chosen to stay on Earth, silently watching their Old Land drift away. He also saw Brother Nan standing in space, her palms pressed together, resembling a deity.

Everything seemed real.

Zhou Li already had some understanding of the Mirror Zone's power. He was convinced that, barring any unforeseen interference, the actual events on Earth and in the Old Land World would unfold exactly as the Mirror Zone simulated.

He wanted to see if Hong Ran had chosen to stay, if His Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu, was well, if she was succeeding in her confrontation with the Will of the World by borrowing Brother Nan's body, and even to see himself... But the Mirror Zone did not display all these details according to his wishes.

The simulation didn't last long. The sky of the Mirror Zone was restored, returning to the original world filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.

Zhou Li withdrew his gaze. "Is Brother Nan okay?"

"Very well indeed."

"And what about Lord Dumpling?"

"With you."

"Then that's good."

These were Zhou Li's greatest concerns.