Tang Xiao walked out of the restroom and headed straight for the masked man without hesitation.
The young man leaving the regular line to enter the hall drew curious looks from those around him. The masked man ignored them all. Only when Tang Xiao stopped in front of him, his tall, slender figure casting a shadow over him, did the masked man say lazily, “Please get in line, thanks.”
“I have something urgent I’d like to discuss with you,” Tang Xiao said seriously. “It concerns the safety of the hall.”
The masked man was silent for a moment. His one-eyed mask revealed nothing of his expression. Just as Tang Xiao was about to speak again, the masked man stood up. “Let’s talk over there. If anything happens while we’re away, you’ll be held responsible.”
“Fine.”
They went to a quiet corner not far from the line, where they could still keep the entrance in sight. Only then did the masked man ask, “Why didn’t you go to the director?”
Tang Xiao looked puzzled. “Aren’t people with superpowers responsible for security at presentations?”
The masked man didn’t answer at first. Strangely, though his mask had no eyeholes, Tang Xiao could feel a gaze sweeping over him. The masked man gave a quiet laugh. “All right. Go ahead.”
Tang Xiao took a deep breath and told him what he’d said to the director: that he suspected there was a mole who would make a move during the presentation.
“I know I don’t have much proof, so I hope you’ll go into the presentation hall too, just in case.”
“Sigh. The reason I was slacking off out here was that I can’t understand all that highbrow research.” The masked man sighed, but didn’t refuse Tang Xiao’s request. “All right, I understand. Go on in.”
He didn’t question Tang Xiao’s story or say anything like, “You’ll be in trouble if this is a false alarm.” Perhaps to him, it was only a matter of taking a few extra steps. Tang Xiao eyed him suspiciously, wondering if he was merely brushing him off, but still went ahead and entered the hall.
Li Ji, the short-haired guy, was looking everywhere for Tang Xiao. The moment he saw him come in, he waved. “Tang, over here.”
Tang Xiao didn’t go to the seat Li Ji had saved for him. After taking a few glances at the layout, he chose a spot neither too close to the front nor too far back, then waved for Li Ji to join him.
Li Ji looked puzzled, but still came over. “Why aren’t you sitting over there?”
“No reason. I think the view’s clearer from here,” Tang Xiao said. “There aren’t assigned seats, right?”
Li Ji supposed that was true. He couldn’t be bothered to go back, so he sat down beside Tang Xiao.
Before the presentation began, Tang Xiao spotted the masked man sitting in the back and finally relaxed.
The presentation began as scheduled, following the same sequence as the first time. Tang Xiao kept half his attention on the possible disaster and had no interest in listening to what was being said onstage. It was more or less the same as before, anyway.
At a certain point, the disaster began again.
An explosion rang out. Tang Xiao instinctively turned toward the masked man. The masked man looked up at the falling rocks without flinching. Just as a huge boulder was about to crash down, he raised a hand, and the massive rock stopped in midair as if someone had hit pause, suspended two meters above the ground.
A deafening rumble followed. Aside from the rear exit on the left, where the masked man stood, the other two exits were buried just as they had been the first time. Scholars who had been lounging in the back were caught up in it, too.
Tang Xiao stared at the only exit behind the masked man, his spirits rising. Sure enough, something had changed. Maybe this time he could save quite a few people.
But the falling rocks weren’t the only disaster.
Immediately afterward, screams rang out inside the hall. Just like last time, an infected person suddenly attacked those around them.
Thankfully, there were no infected people near Tang Xiao. While most people were still frozen in shock, he reacted at once and hurried toward the masked man. “Quick! Isolate the infected! Get everyone else out!”
The masked man stood there without a word. He pushed Tang Xiao aside and rushed toward the stage. “Dr. Feng!”
Tang Xiao wasn’t angry at being pushed. Seeing that there was another exit, those closest to it ran for the door without a second thought. But when they tried to push it open, they were horrified to find it wouldn’t budge.
Tang Xiao went to help them, but couldn’t move it either. And was it his imagination, or was a faint glow appearing on the door?
He instinctively looked toward the masked man and saw him protecting Dr. Feng onstage, his gaze fixed on them. Feng Shuyun was unharmed and stood onstage with a grim expression.
Gradually, everyone edged toward the only exit while dodging the infected. Tang Xiao and Rocky were squeezed into the middle of the crowd, unable to move, as curses rang out all around them.
“Open the door! Are you idiots or what!?”
“Shit, you think we don’t want to? It won’t budge!”
“Put some muscle into it! Get us out of here!”
“Stop pushing! Don’t push me!”
Faced with the threat of death, even the calmest researchers were no different from ordinary people.
The faint glow on the door wasn’t visible to Tang Xiao alone. A high-ranking scholar realized what was happening and shouted at the masked man onstage, “You, Tang! What the hell are you doing? Take down your superpower and let us out!”
Tang Xiao froze. He was startled by the familiar surname, but even more by what came after it. What did he mean? The person stopping them from escaping was...
The masked man remained beside Feng Shuyun without making a move. Ordinary people wouldn’t even know he was the reason the door wouldn’t open. At the scholar’s words, he showed no reaction. He only glanced at Feng Shuyun and seemed to say something to her. A few seconds later, Dr. Feng walked to the edge of the stage and picked up the microphone.
“I’m sorry, but no one here can leave.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean!?”
The others couldn’t hold back their curses any longer.
“You’re all researchers. You should know how hard it is to guard against zombie fungus,” Feng Shuyun said, her expression dark. “Zombie fungus infection has three stages. The first is the incubation period, when there are no signs of infection. The second is the frenzy phase, when spores can infect people through wounds. In the third, fungalization phase, the fungus grows on the surface of the skin and spreads spores through the air.”
Unfortunately, even Tang Xiao could see that the infected person the masked man had held in place with his superpower had already grown visible fungal fruiting bodies on their skin.
The presentation had been going on for over forty minutes in an enclosed space. The spores had already spread widely.
“That means that even those of you who haven’t been bitten are very likely carrying zombie fungus. If you escape, the entire Third Eye could be destroyed by this disaster.”
Feng Shuyun paused, then continued in a low voice, “I’m sorry, but everyone will have to stay here for now and wait for rescue.”
The audience fell silent.
Though Feng Shuyun hadn’t said it outright, everyone present understood what she meant.
To keep the spores from spreading, the people here would have to make a sacrifice.
Once the scholars understood, their legs gave way and they collapsed helplessly to the floor.
The masked man killed the infected who had already entered the second stage with his superpower, preventing the death toll from rising. Without a host, fungal spores would lose their activity, but everyone knew it wouldn’t make much difference. There were surely latent carriers here as well.
No one knew how many people might survive. Perhaps none. Here, intelligence had lost all meaning.
Besides, Tang Xiao knew rescue wouldn’t come quickly. The laboratory buildings outside had also been bombed.
Just then, the notification [Infected] appeared on his status screen.
According to the debuff, he would lose health and Inspiration every five minutes. As time passed, he’d draw closer to death, and the fungus would gradually take control of his body.
Tang Xiao merely glanced at the screen, then left the crowd and walked alone toward the stage.
His abrupt movement drew everyone’s attention, including the masked man and Feng Shuyun onstage.
The masked man took a step forward, seemingly to stop him. Feng Shuyun spoke first. “Is he the person you mentioned?”
The masked man paused. “Yes.”
“Then let him come over.”
Tang Xiao walked up to Feng Shuyun and the masked man. Feng Shuyun asked with interest, “You’re the one who discovered the spy?”
“Yes. I only suspected it,” Tang Xiao replied cautiously.
“It seems your suspicion was right.”
“I’m sorry I still couldn’t stop it.”
“What are you apologizing for?” Feng Shuyun said calmly. “They were obviously after my research. This was a trap they’d been preparing for a long time. Of course it wasn’t easy to stop.”
Tang Xiao couldn’t help asking, “Why didn’t you put the detector at the security checkpoint from the start?”
“It wasn’t finished yet. We’d only made one prototype, and it was in the lab for final adjustments.” Feng Shuyun smiled wryly. “The lab is probably in bad shape by now, but thankfully, we backed up all the data and materials. Even if I die, others can reproduce the results. In the end, we still won.”
As she spoke, a faint smile appeared on Feng Shuyun’s face.
They were all going to die. How could she still smile?
Staring blankly at this unfamiliar NPC, Tang Xiao instinctively asked the question.
“Hm? Isn’t it obvious?” Feng Shuyun looked out at the hall. Perhaps because she was facing death, the tension in her brow gave way to gentle acceptance. “Because I’ve proven that wisdom has once again triumphed over chaos and beastly instincts. They attacked us because they were afraid of us.”
Tang Xiao looked confused.
“A very long time ago, when fungi ravaged the world, two people made the following vows in the wilderness.”
The masked man began speaking lazily. His low, resonant voice came through the mask somewhat muffled, but its tone sounded familiar to Tang Xiao.
“The first said that only unity could save humanity. So he went from nation to nation and founded the largest survivor base humanity has ever known in the wilderness: the Alliance, a common human government made up of nations large and small.”
“The second said that only wisdom could save humanity. When humanity faced extinction, all moral principles had to be cast aside. So he left the Alliance and founded the Third Eye, a pure academic institution where any research that violated human ethics and morality could be pursued, and any means could be used to save humanity’s future.”
“The third said that only evolution could save humanity. Since fungi had already taken over the world, humanity should embrace this sacred evolution to survive, even if it meant becoming a breeding ground for fungi. And so the Returnist Church came to be.”
Tang Xiao was beginning to understand the game’s setting when another scholar suddenly lost control and lunged viciously at those nearby. The masked man raised a hand and froze them in midair with his superpower.
Looking at the person who had completely lost their reason, fungal threads growing across their body until they looked just like a movie zombie, Tang Xiao asked in confusion, “Can you really call this saving humanity?”
“Research has shown that even after being completely infected by fungi, human hosts retain their self-awareness. The fungus forcibly controls their muscles, but they remain conscious,” Feng Shuyun said quietly. “And when they’re close to death, as the parasitic fungus begins to die, they can sometimes utter a few simple words.”
By then, the veins beneath the skin of Feng Shuyun’s face had turned purple. It was a sign that she was gradually moving from the first stage of infection into the second. Even so, the light in her eyes remained undimmed.
“The words they say most often are, ‘Kill me.’”
Tang Xiao paused, falling silent.
“I believe humanity is great because of our intelligence,” Feng Shuyun said. “We don’t merely want to survive. We want to live freely and with pride. But if we’re deprived even of the freedom to die and to think, are we still human?”
They were only lines in a game, only part of a scripted scenario. Yet for some reason, these words brushed against Tang Xiao’s heart like a gentle breeze. He instinctively held his breath.
Words had a certain power. Only now did he finally feel a little immersed in the world of this game, a little empathy for its people.
Tang Xiao suddenly said, “Dr. Feng, I have a few questions about your paper. Could you teach me?”
“Now?” Feng Shuyun asked in surprise.
“We’re all going to die anyway.” Tang Xiao sat cross-legged on the floor, his expression calm. “I don’t want to die with unanswered questions. I’d never rest in peace.”
Feng Shuyun thought it over. She really had no reason to refuse. They didn’t have much time left, anyway.
At the end of her life, Feng Shuyun no longer cared about rules or propriety. She followed Tang Xiao’s example and sat cross-legged on the floor. The two of them spent the last moments of their lives discussing the paper.
The infected who had lost their reason were killed one after another by the masked man. Some people killed themselves in despair; others couldn’t find the courage and eventually lost all reason, joining the ranks of the infected.
Blood nearly stained the entire hall red. Only the stage remained clean. In a space filled with unknown spores, the frail scholars discussed the ideas behind their research. Sparks of intelligence flashed between them, but their lives hung by a thread.
The light in Feng Shuyun’s eyes grew weaker and weaker. At first she’d spoken confidently and fluently; then she began to falter, as if her intelligence could no longer keep pace with her clouded thoughts or the fungus spreading through her body.
The silences grew longer. Just as Tang Xiao thought Feng Shuyun’s will had vanished completely, she lowered her head and said slowly, with reluctance, “I still want to... see the day we win.”
Tang Xiao said nothing.
“You will.”
The instant Tang Xiao reloaded his save, the doors of the presentation hall were violently forced open by blood-red hyphae. He didn’t see it.
Reload.
Tang Xiao opened his eyes again, right where he’d been rejected before.
He returned to the area near his whiteboard. As expected, the short-haired guy came over to talk to him again. Tang Xiao agreed without much thought. But just as they were about to head over together, his expression suddenly changed. He waved at the short-haired guy. “Sorry, you go ahead. I need to use the restroom.”
Without waiting for a response, Tang Xiao hurried off.
Tang Xiao raced to the restroom, nearly running into several scholars along the way. He rushed into a stall, quickly pulled the small strand of hyphae from his pocket, and whispered angrily, “What’s wrong with you?”
Heaven knew, at first Tang Xiao hadn’t even realized when 428 had hidden itself in his pocket. His save was already made, so there was no way to stop it before it slipped in. Thankfully, aside from the end of the previous loop, 428 had stayed obediently in his pocket without moving around.
...Right. 428 hadn’t moved at all before. Why had it acted so differently this time?
The tiny blood-red hyphae, which looked like a stick insect, wriggled. Then it wrote in his palm:
“...Why haven’t you given up yet?”
Tang Xiao froze, and his heart began to race.
“What do you mean?”
But no matter how much Tang Xiao pressed it, 428 gave no answer, as though what it had just written were merely an officially sanctioned bit of meta humor—a game character breaking the fourth wall.
After a long standoff, Tang Xiao realized he was running out of time. He gritted his teeth and stopped trying to get to the bottom of it. “Listen. I’ve figured out how to get the Third Eye to rescind its decision to destroy you, but I need your cooperation.”
Tang Xiao had originally planned to use this risky approach only if all else failed during the presentation, but now was the perfect opportunity.
The Returnist Church’s attack had two parts: one was the assault on the researchers in the hall, and the other was the bombing of the laboratory. Tang Xiao’s plan was to have 428 come out on its own when they bombed the lab and confront the armed forces. Anyone in the organization with eyes would notice how much it had changed, and then he could pin the blame on the Returnist Church.
But the only problem with this plan... was that he needed 428’s cooperation.
If it refused, then all his preparations would be pointless.
Tang Xiao couldn’t leave yet. All he could do was save as many researchers in the hall as possible, especially Feng Shuyun, and prevent the infection from spreading so they could minimize the damage.
Just then, the announcement outside signaled that the presentation was about to begin. Tang Xiao had finished explaining his plan to 428.
“It’s up to you what you do.”
Tang Xiao took a deep breath and left the restroom.
After failing several times, Tang Xiao had figured it out: the key to stopping the disaster was to prevent the presentation from happening.
His original approach hadn’t been wrong; he’d simply gone to the wrong person. The Third Eye’s higher-ups might have the authority to delay the presentation, but some of them could be Returnist Church moles. There was no point going to them.
So, besides those people, who else could postpone the presentation?
There was only one answer.
Tang Xiao paced around outside the presentation hall, patiently waiting for that person to appear.
His odd behavior drew plenty of attention. Even the guards at the security checkpoint kept glancing his way, and several scholars in line looked over at him as well.
“Hm? Isn’t that Tang?” A researcher from the same lab as Tang Xiao noticed something was up. Hearing this, Rocky instinctively turned to look in Tang Xiao’s direction. After a few glances, he turned away again.
“What’s wrong, Rocky? Aren’t you that new guy’s shadow? Did you two have a fight?” someone mocked.
“Shut up, Cross. It’s none of your business,” Rocky retorted coldly.
The short-haired guy, who had met Tang Xiao a few times before, thought he’d just gotten out of the restroom. He waved in his direction. “Over here!”
The young man turned around, glanced at the line, then looked away and walked off in the other direction without hesitation.
“Tang! Where are you going? That’s not the entrance!”
The short-haired guy saw Tang Xiao heading toward the door near the stage. An elderly woman with a gentle expression was approaching it, speaking to the staff beside her.
“...No way. He’s not seriously going to charge right up to her, is he?”
The elderly woman Tang Xiao had been waiting for was none other than the keynote speaker, Feng Shuyun.
But several security guards were with her. When they saw Tang Xiao trying to approach, the burly men in matching uniforms stepped forward to block him. Tang Xiao said he needed to speak with Dr. Feng, but they stood stiffly in his way and refused to let him through.
Seeing that Dr. Feng was about to enter the hall, Tang Xiao gritted his teeth and called out loudly, “Dr. Feng! Please wait! I’d like to discuss this paper with you.”
“We can talk after the presentation starts.”
“Don’t you think the formula on page twelve, line five, looks a little strange?”
His shout stunned the security guards keeping order and the scholars lining up to enter. Even the masked man, lounging in his chair, looked over curiously.
Tang Xiao didn’t care what the people around him thought. He watched Feng Shuyun closely for a reaction.
Feng Shuyun paused. This time, she finally stopped and looked at Tang Xiao. “Let him come over.”
Tang Xiao approached calmly. Feng Shuyun saw the badge on his chest. He was an unknown scholar who hadn’t even been assigned a rank yet—the lowest level of researcher in the Third Eye’s ranking system, a mere research grunt, and the most inconspicuous person in the lab.
But his face was young and handsome. His glasses had slipped down because he was in such a state, revealing his striking eyes and brows. Unlike the petty men who usually tried every trick to get close to her, this young man had a youthful but determined gaze.
Feng Shuyun didn’t immediately believe what Tang Xiao said. Instead, she calmly took out her paper and read through it, especially the formula he had mentioned.
One second, then two passed under Tang Xiao’s nervous gaze. At last, Feng Shuyun looked up. She glanced at him without a word, then sent a few messages on her wristband.
Five minutes later, Feng Shuyun received a reply. Her expression changed instantly, her eyes filled with anger and relief. She gave Tang Xiao a long look. “Had you read my paper beforehand?”
“A staff member handed out a short version in the lobby twenty minutes ago. I skimmed it, got interested, and asked them for the full version,” Tang Xiao explained.
That was true. After leaving the restroom just now, Tang Xiao had found an opportunity to do exactly that.
“You noticed the error in such a short time?” Feng Shuyun asked in surprise.
“I’ve studied this field before,” Tang Xiao said, forcing himself to sound confident.
“Oh?” Feng Shuyun narrowed her eyes and suddenly asked, “Then do you understand the section about ‘chord proteins’ in my paper?”
“I think you drew inspiration from the conjecture in the last section of Dr. Wei He’s 1990 paper, Protein Aggregation: A New Mechanism of Fungal Cell Activity,” Tang Xiao answered smoothly. “Fifty years ago, Dr. Wei proposed that fungal cells contain a special protein. The technology of the time couldn’t extract it, but you’ve built on his work and strengthened the gene-display component...”
As Tang Xiao spoke, Feng Shuyun’s expression grew more serious. She’d been skeptical of his claims at first, but knowledge couldn’t be faked.
If there hadn’t been something more important to take care of, Feng Shuyun would have loved to take Tang Xiao to a conference room outside and discuss it further.
Now she really believed that Tang Xiao had studied the field.
After a staff member reminded her again, Feng Shuyun reluctantly cut him off and asked, “So you calculated this formula?”
Tang Xiao forced himself to answer. “No. I just thought the result looked strange. I haven’t had time to work through the calculation.”
Feng Shuyun gave him an odd look. “You were willing to stop me over something that merely looked strange? What if I really had falsified the data?”
Tang Xiao struggled to remain calm. He pushed up his glasses and, under Feng Shuyun’s astonished gaze, offered her his paper. “I don’t think you’re that kind of person. And someone told me that if I could get your attention at the presentation, it might help me promote my paper.”
“...You did all this just for that?” Feng Shuyun asked in surprise. She glanced at the paper’s title and understood what Tang Xiao wanted. “Everything you did was to promote your paper and restart the project?”
Tang Xiao’s pocket suddenly trembled.
“That’s right. It’s important,” Tang Xiao emphasized, unaware of the movement. “I think this project still has potential. 428 is definitely more than what Bard described in his paper. It has possibilities beyond human understanding. It’s far more precious and powerful than we imagine.”
“That’s why I believe we absolutely can’t give up on it.”
428 listened quietly from inside the pocket, its feelings complicated as unfamiliar emotions welled up within it.
428 already knew Tang Xiao’s plan. Everything Tang Xiao was doing was indeed for this.
A lie? The truth? They seemed to have become tangled together, until it didn’t matter anymore.
Tang Xiao’s heart stirred, but before he could think it through, Feng Shuyun spoke.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ve gotten this wrong?”
“I’ve already offended one Level Five Scholar. I don’t mind offending another,” Tang Xiao said bluntly, coming back to himself.
Feng Shuyun’s eye twitched. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. She could only take Tang Xiao’s paper. “I understand. I’ll read it in a little while. Give me your email address.”
Tang Xiao casually gave it to her.
“What about the presentation?” a staff member beside them asked cautiously.
“Postpone it for now.” Feng Shuyun didn’t hesitate. Once she’d recalculated the correct data, she’d realized someone had tampered with the work in her lab. The lab competing with hers was the most likely culprit. Now that she knew their goal, she couldn’t just rush ahead. She would carefully check the paper to see whether anything else had been tampered with.
As a Level Five Scholar, she had the authority to delay the presentation. Putting it off for an hour or two wouldn’t be difficult.
Hearing Feng Shuyun’s reply, Tang Xiao didn’t relax. Delaying the presentation was not enough for his plan.
A glint appeared in Tang Xiao’s eyes. “I heard you’ve already achieved a concrete result in your research, Dr. Feng. Is it ready to use?”
Feng Shuyun replied, “Yes, though it’s still undergoing final testing.”
“I think... you should bring it here to show everyone,” Tang Xiao said. “After all, it’s the unveiling of a great achievement. A little buildup would make people even more eager to see it.”
He smiled as he spoke. “And it’ll make for better photos. Then, when it’s written about in newspapers or textbooks, they can mention that the detector was used for the first time at this presentation.”
Feng Shuyun considered it. They really had made a prototype. She hadn’t planned to bring it over, but Tang Xiao’s suggestion was tempting.
A person’s life amounted to fame and fortune. What researcher could resist the temptation of being remembered for generations? No one, right?
Even the staff nearby seemed excited. This was a chance to witness history!
“All right, let’s do that,” Feng Shuyun said. “In that case, put the prototype at the security checkpoint. People might be even more curious if they can experience the test themselves.”
Tang Xiao was delighted, but managed to keep his expression calm and nodded.
If the research results were genuine, the fungus hidden inside people could be detected too. The infected hadn’t yet entered the fungalization stage, so they weren’t very contagious. They could minimize the scale of the disaster.
Though the short-haired guy couldn’t hear what they were saying, he saw Tang Xiao chatting happily with Feng Shuyun and clicked his tongue in amazement. “That’s incredible. Is it for real? He actually pulled it off. I only suggested it offhandedly, but it seems people really do need thick skin to succeed.”
Rocky and the other researchers from the lab looked at him with complicated expressions. They’d thought Tang Xiao was getting in over his head, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.
That was Feng Shuyun! She was a Level Five Scholar like Bard, but unlike Bard, who was on the verge of being demoted, she’d just produced a discovery that might change the world. And now she was taking a shine to an audacious rookie researcher?
What was wrong with this world?
Rocky especially couldn’t help recalling what Tang Xiao had said earlier.
As everyone was trying to make sense of things, something even stranger happened. A staff member announced that there had been a change to the presentation and everyone would have to wait another hour. They would also need to go through security again.
“What’s this about?” someone immediately complained. “Does Feng Shuyun think we have all the time in the world?”
“Why do we have to go through security again...?”
“Exactly. We came to hear a presentation, not stand in line.”
“Please, everyone, stay calm!” the staff member said, trying to keep order. “There’s a reason for the second security check. Please trust us.”
But he didn’t notice that several people in the line had changed expressions when they heard they’d have to wait another hour.
They’d already spread the fungal virus. Most of the hosts were still in the first, latent stage, but delaying things by an hour meant many could enter the second stage, exposing the fact that there were infected people here.
With a person with superpowers on hand, as long as no one entered the second stage, the situation wasn’t yet beyond control. This didn’t fit their plan at all.
“Hmph. What’s so special about Dr. Feng? Is she trying to show off? Fine, we have to go through security to enter the presentation, but twice?”
“Exactly. I say we don’t need to listen to this presentation. Let’s go.”
As they spoke, a few people tugged at the researchers beside them and tried to leave. The staff tried to stop them several times, but couldn’t.
Tang Xiao noticed them and curled his lips. Trying to leave?
He slipped a hand into his pocket. It was the signal he’d arranged with 428. His eyes stayed fixed on the backs of those people.
Whether they could be stopped from leaving depended on whether 428 would follow the plan.
Tap, tap, tap. As those people were about to leave, Tang Xiao couldn’t help biting his tongue. So it really wouldn’t work...
He slowly drew his hand from his pocket. But just then, everyone heard several loud booms outside!
The scholars froze. The masked man was the first to react. “Everyone stay where you are! Don’t move without permission!”
One of the guards said, “I’ll go see what happened.”
Several people in the line panicked at once. They hadn’t even started their operation, so why had there been an explosion?
Tang Xiao’s tightly pressed lips finally relaxed. He glanced down at his pocket.
Thank goodness...
Things had gone very smoothly so far, but Tang Xiao didn’t let himself get carried away. He calmly saved his game.
The Returnist Church’s spies were in trouble.
Once an explosion occurred, the source would definitely be investigated. They might even inspect the entire laboratory area...
If they found a large number of bombs, the presentation would certainly be canceled. Their operation, which they’d spent so many days planning, would fall apart, and the spies they’d risked exposing would be useless.
There was no turning back now.
One person gave a signal, and the others gradually moved toward the exit.
“Wait. Where are you going?” The masked man stood up. “I told you it’s dangerous outside.”
“We... want to use the restroom.”
The masked man said, “Oh,” then touched his chin. “Wow, a bunch of grown men going together? That’s kind of gross.”
The detector had just been brought in. The masked man smiled. “Everyone, the prototype is here. Since you’re in such a hurry to use the restroom, why don’t you try it first? That way, you won’t have to wait in the entrance line again. What do you say?”
The men didn’t answer. They exchanged a glance, then immediately ran. After they’d covered some distance, they froze in place. The masked man held out a hand toward them, his voice cold. “It’s all right. If you won’t go over there yourselves, then I’ll help you take a trip.”
With that, he forcibly dragged them to the detector, where their blood was sampled. The machine quickly lit up purple.
The people around them gradually understood. Neither the men’s attempted escape nor the sudden extra security check was normal. The scholars who knew what Feng Shuyun had been researching looked especially grim.
“What does that purple light mean?”
“They’re infected.” The masked man had suspected as much, but now that it was confirmed, he felt awful. He looked at everyone in line and barked, “From now on, no one leaves this spot. Test them one by one!”
The staff immediately reacted and reported to their superiors. The other armed forces began rushing over. Watching from a distance, Tang Xiao finally began to relax. Good. The situation had changed.
Everything was going according to plan.
“This...” Feng Shuyun hadn’t expected this turn of events either. She couldn’t help looking at Tang Xiao, who appeared just as surprised.
But at that moment, another explosion sounded, this time inside the hall!
The instant it happened, Tang Xiao instinctively threw himself over Feng Shuyun. The violent blast left his head ringing.
Who was it?
Where had the bomb been planted?
When Tang Xiao struggled back to his feet, he saw that a deep crater had opened not far away. The scholars around him were terrified, thinking there were bombs in the hall too. They screamed, and some ran blindly toward the exit.
Someone from the Returnist Church hiding in the crowd had made a move!
That thought flashed through Tang Xiao’s mind, and he understood their plan: use the panicked crowd to get the infected out.
If that happened, all his efforts would be for nothing!
Tang Xiao gritted his teeth and stood up. He instinctively looked toward Feng Shuyun, then noticed that the floor to her left had darkened slightly.
Boom!
Another explosion went off. This time Tang Xiao couldn’t react in time. He watched helplessly as Feng Shuyun was blown to pieces right before his eyes.
Foul-smelling blood drenched Tang Xiao. His entire field of vision turned red.
Tang Xiao: “...”
In extreme situations, the human brain often switches into self-protection mode. That was what happened to Tang Xiao. The attack had come so suddenly that he hadn’t thought about anything. As he stared at the crater in the floor, one thought surfaced.
So they hadn’t planted bombs in the hall. There was someone with a superpower who could do this.
Right. I’ll watch out next time.
Reload. Thankfully, he’d just saved. This time, Tang Xiao carefully watched the people in the line. When the explosion went off, he pulled Feng Shuyun back to take cover.
After they avoided the first explosion, the crowd panicked just as it had before. The masked man also thought bombs had been planted and instinctively tried to stop the crowd from stampeding, but then the second explosion followed right after the first.
Prepared this time, Tang Xiao threw himself over Feng Shuyun again, shielding her from the blast’s violent gust.
At last, the masked man realized what was happening: an enemy with superpowers was targeting Feng Shuyun again and again.
The masked man hesitated between protecting Feng Shuyun and stopping the panicked crowd from escaping. But the situation wouldn’t wait for him. Another explosion sounded, and Tang Xiao’s vision went black. He died again.
Reload. Once, twice, four times...
Tang Xiao had lost count of how many times he’d reloaded. Only his determination to clear the level kept him going.
Again!
At last, after observing for a long time, Tang Xiao figured out the key details of the superpower.
First, it could only detonate stones.
Second, the stones darkened slightly before exploding.
Third, the user had to charge up before detonating them. Repeated explosions would grow weaker. And most importantly, the fourth detail...
While Tang Xiao had been running around in a sorry state, saving people and tumbling to the ground, one person had remained standing in the same spot the whole time!
On his fifteenth try, when the first explosion sounded, Tang Xiao quickly threw himself over Feng Shuyun. Then he jumped up and fixed his gaze on someone in the crowd, who was staring right at them. “It’s him! Catch him!”
The masked man didn’t hesitate. He immediately used telekinesis to restrain the person Tang Xiao had pointed out. The man panicked and was about to protest, but the backlash from having his power forcibly interrupted made a trickle of black-red blood run from the corner of his mouth.
That was all the proof they needed. The masked man, a person with superpowers himself, immediately pinned him down with all his strength, raised his arm, and squeezed hard.
The superpowered man’s neck snapped. The masked man sent his corpse flying into the air with telekinesis and said coldly, “Everyone, calm down. Anyone else who tries to run will end up like him.”
Faced with such overwhelming violence and the grotesque corpse, the crowd calmed down like a flock of lambs.
“Line up at the emergency exit one by one. You may leave only after passing the detector. I’ll be watching every one of you.”
Under his cold but clear orders, the scholars had no choice but to line up, however reluctant they were. The masked man kept his promise, restraining anyone in line whose behavior seemed suspicious.
But just then, a staff member quietly approached Feng Shuyun.
Tang Xiao was standing right beside her. He reacted on instinct and shoved Feng Shuyun aside, grabbing the person’s wrist.
The staff member twisted his wrist, and the sharp edge of a knife immediately sliced open Tang Xiao’s arm.
The masked man restrained him at once, his expression dark with fury. “Why are there so many cockroaches?”
The staff member, pinned down, looked up with a taunting smile. “Don’t you know cockroaches breed fast?”
“By the time you find one, they’re already everywhere.”
The masked man expressionlessly snapped his neck, then turned to Tang Xiao.
After narrowly escaping death twice, Feng Shuyun was still dazed. She instinctively looked at Tang Xiao too. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Tang Xiao said blandly.
As if.
His composure had shattered.
He looked at the [Infected] notification on his status screen and thought silently to himself.
“Xiao Tang...” Feng Shuyun looked at Tang Xiao, especially at the wound on his arm. “Quick, have someone check him!”
“Don’t come any closer.” Tang Xiao instead calmly took a step back. “You should go first, Dr. Feng. You can’t die here.”
“But you...”
“I’m fine,” Tang Xiao said. It was just another reload, after all.
Unfortunately, this time he’d been so close. Every move had been perfect; he hadn’t lost even a second. He’d truly thought he could clear the level this time.
Anyone who plays brutal games should understand the feeling.
You fight your way carefully to the final level, play perfectly, and then get killed by some random minion out of nowhere.
You can reload, but you’re still left devastated.
In the end, they found five people in the first, latent stage of infection. When the results came in, the five cried out in disbelief. They had no idea when they’d been infected. The masked man paid them no mind and used telekinesis to bind them with ropes.
After the last group had passed through the emergency exit, the masked man looked toward the only person in the hall who hadn’t been tested.
The young scientific genius stood in the hall, facing him calmly. The masked man thought he was looking at him, but on closer inspection, there seemed to be nothing in the young man’s eyes—no unwillingness, no hatred, not even sorrow at the thought that his life was about to end.
Only a vast, empty blankness.
At that moment, the masked man felt a pang in his heart.
“...The rules say that infected people must be dealt with immediately, no matter who they are.”
Tang Xiao said, “I know.”
“But you saved Dr. Feng.” The masked man took a pistol from his waist and tossed it to Tang Xiao.
Tang Xiao caught it and looked up at him in confusion.
“There are six bullets. You have to deal with them before they reach the second stage.” The masked man’s tone was impossible to read. He turned and walked out of the hall. “I’ll be watching you.”
Tang Xiao was a little surprised. The masked man was actually quite humane.
Though this wouldn’t be his end, anyway.
Tang Xiao calmly sat down against the wall and glanced at his status screen. According to the progress bar, he still had some time.
This was the closest he’d come to succeeding, but he’d still failed. He was so tired. He’d been stuck in this place for too long.
Tang Xiao should have reloaded right away and tried again, but he was exhausted. All the fatigue he’d accumulated seemed to hit him at once, leaving him too drained to press the reload button.
As red warnings appeared, his vision gradually darkened and the sounds around him faded. Tang Xiao could feel another violent will inside his body gradually taking over. This must be what it felt like to be parasitized.
Just as he was about to be kicked out, Tang Xiao noticed the noise around him rise briefly, then suddenly fall silent.
A familiar blood-red humanoid monster appeared in front of him. It looked similar to the form it had taken when it came to his room, but it was taller. Instead of a head, it had loose strands of hyphae, with multiple orange-yellow eyes scattered among its fibrous strands. It was a monster utterly alien to human aesthetics.
Terrifying and grotesque, yet in Tang Xiao’s eyes, it possessed a unique, dark beauty.
428 said nothing, and neither did Tang Xiao.
[Affection: 48]
At some point, the affection score seemed to have reached a delicate tipping point.
It seemed... the game wasn’t over yet.