Elsa looked at Zhou Bai curiously, "What's wrong, Zhou Bai? You look a bit pale."
"N-nothing." Zhou Bai suppressed his doubts again and looked at Elsa, "What did you just say? It's time for class?"
"Oh right, right!" Elsa jumped up and shouted, "Hurry up and have breakfast! After breakfast, we need to go to class! If we're late, we'll be punished and won't get lunch!"
Elsa dragged Zhou Bai all the way to the cafeteria, and Zhou Bai thought to himself, 'Class... speaking of which, it seems the kids here have classes with Doctor Zhuang every day. I wonder what they learn in class.'
Since Zhou Bai had just arrived, Doctor Zhuang let him rest for a few days to get used to the life here and didn't make him attend classes. But yesterday, he specifically reminded Zhou Bai to get ready for classes starting today.
After eating the sticky and unappetizing breakfast, Zhou Bai followed Elsa into a large room, only to find the other kids already seated in a classroom-like setting. Elsa also found an empty seat and sat down with Zhou Bai.
A black-haired girl sitting nearby looked at Zhou Bai curiously and waved, "Hello, I'm Alice. Are you the new boy, Zhou Bai?"
Zhou Bai nodded. Although he had talked to some people in the past few days, he hadn't met everyone in the base yet.
Alice asked expectantly, "What is it like outside? Is there a blue sky? Is there a sea?"
Zhou Bai was stunned and asked, "You've never been outside?"
Alice nodded, "Yeah, I've lived in the base since I was born. I've never seen the outside world."
"Me neither."
"I haven't either."
One curious and expectant face after another turned towards Zhou Bai.
"Zhou Bai, have you always lived outside?"
"Have you ever had a puppy?"
"Have you seen mountains?"
"Is it true that people can't survive outside now?"
"I'm so hungry... aren't you hungry, Zhou Bai?"
Question after question was thrown at Zhou Bai, making him a bit dazed. After a moment, he smiled and said, "I have a bit of amnesia, so I don't quite remember what the outside world looks like now. But I do recall the blue skies, white clouds, sea, and mountains from before..."
Zhou Bai described the Earth as he remembered it, and Elsa, Alice, and the others listened with shining eyes, full of longing.
During their conversation, Zhou Bai learned that each of these children had lived in the base since they could remember, which only made Zhou Bai more suspicious of the base.
'Calculating this way, the oldest child has been living here for over ten years, and more children have been brought here sporadically by the teacher since then.'
While Zhou Bai was chatting with Alice and the others, the classroom door opened, and Doctor Zhuang walked in with a stern face.
"Class is starting now," Doctor Zhuang said coldly, "This morning, we'll study language and math. First graders, listen to the lesson. Second graders, do the exercises on page nine of your workbooks. Third graders, prepare for a dictation... other grades, self-study... Oh, Zhou Bai, you listen first, and I'll assign you a grade based on your level."
Zhou Bai suppressed the many questions in his mind and quietly listened to Doctor Zhuang's lesson. He found that the grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension taught by Doctor Zhuang were just like what he had unknowingly learned in this unfamiliar language; no history was involved in the lessons.
The math was almost identical to what Zhou Bai knew, only divided by different grades.
While listening to the lesson, Zhou Bai also made plans for his next move, 'No matter what, there are too many suspicious points about this base. I must find a way to go outside and see if the world has really ended.'
'If the apocalypse really happened... what about my parents? Is this still my world?'
He thought about how he had studied hard since childhood, always fought to be the top of his class, actively applied to college, and worked hard so that he could relax at home, play games, watch anime, and read novels...
But now, he had somehow ended up in this place. Thinking about the games he just bought this month, the latest anime and novels, and all the delicious food he hadn't finished... Zhou Bai couldn't help but feel annoyed. At this moment, he intensely missed the happiness of modern life.
The morning classes soon passed, and after having lunch together, Zhou Bai followed Elsa and the others to another large room for the afternoon classes.
As soon as Zhou Bai entered the room, he saw huge statues on either side; each was a strange, cold humanoid statue.
Zhou Bai looked at one of the statues, a man glaring with bulging eyes holding a long spear, wearing armor, with an open mouth that seemed to be yelling. What made it more disturbing was an eye on his tongue and a head like a wolf on his shoulder, looking extremely twisted.
Most of the other statues were similar, variously deformed and strange, not resembling normal humans at all. They made Zhou Bai frown continuously as he felt very uncomfortable in this room.
The others seemed accustomed to it and found their seats, waiting for Doctor Zhuang.
Doctor Zhuang entered the room in a loose robe with a serious expression and said, "Now that the apocalypse has arrived, the outside world is occupied by demons. You must learn to harness the power to subdue these demons. Today's demonology class will continue to discuss the Three-eyed Demon Wolf General..."
"Demonology class?" Zhou Bai listened in shock to Doctor Zhuang's lecture, never expecting the lesson would be about demons.
Doctor Zhuang approached the statue Zhou Bai had looked at earlier, pointing out its features, "With an eye on its tongue and a wolf head on its shoulder, this is the Three-eyed Demon Wolf General we discussed in the last class."
"This demon loves combat and slaughter, with the ability of invulnerability and Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations..."
"To subdue this demon, it's essential to have a firm mind, not to be corrupted by its killing aura. Never fear death, never fear slaughter..."
Listening to Doctor Zhuang's lecture and seeing Elsa, Alice, and the others taking notes seriously, Zhou Bai felt a strong sense of absurdity.
'What on earth is going on?' Zhou Bai's mind flashed back to the White-Haired Monster he saw last night, as well as the auxiliary system on his body. He couldn't help but think, 'Could there really be demons in this world?'
'No, I must go out and see for myself, see what's really happening out there.'
At that moment, the urge to go out and see the Earth overcame Zhou Bai. He desperately wanted to know if it was truly the apocalypse, if there were really such things as demons. If so, what happened to his parents and family? Or did he somehow travel to another world?