A heavy silence fell over the dim corridor after Zong Jiu’s blunt declaration.
The livestream comments exploded immediately.
[A’Jiu-gege is way too cool!]
[Holy shit, this is my first time seeing a newcomer talk to veterans like that.]
[HAHAHAHA look at those people’s faces after getting roasted.]
[They were trying to pressure him into handing over the S-rank clue and got slapped back instead.]
[An E-rank directly provoking a B-rank? This is amazing.]
Jiang Yuan’s face darkened instantly.
“You’re just an E-rank. How dare you speak to your seniors like this?”
“Seniors?”
Zong Jiu gave a mocking laugh.
“You people really love waving your seniority around.”
“We’re all trainees now. Stop acting like we’re still back in reality.”
“You—!”
Jiang Yuan raised his voice sharply.
“Senior He was right. If you refuse to share information about an S-rank clue, then you must be the mole carrying a different identity card!”
The corridor erupted.
The veterans who had already been coveting the clue immediately sided with him.
“That’s right. Senior He already said he saw you sneaking around the wards this morning.”
“Why would you do something so suspicious if you weren’t hiding something?”
“And earlier, Dr. Chu singled you out directly. Obviously he knows your hidden identity and is working with you!”
The moment the veterans established a united front, the newcomers immediately followed along.
After all, they possessed almost no ability to survive this instance on their own.
The only way to stay alive was to cling to the veterans.
Whether they lived or died depended entirely on whether those veterans were willing to protect them.
So naturally, they echoed whatever the stronger side said.
Just as Zong Jiu was about to leave, Messiah suddenly spoke.
“Enough.”
The corridor fell silent instantly.
Messiah’s golden brows were tightly furrowed.
“I’ve said this from the beginning.”
“In the absence of conclusive evidence, do not casually accuse others.”
The Holy Son’s expression was colder than usual. His blue eyes, once gentle as the Aegean Sea, now carried an icy sharpness.
“That is the greatest taboo within a team.”
“If even basic trust no longer exists, then what meaning does cooperation still have?”
Not a sound remained.
Messiah continued calmly,
“The rule surrounding S-rank clues is indeed that they should be shared. However, Dr. Chu chose to tell Zong Jiu alone.”
“That means Zong Jiu also possesses the right to refuse sharing it.”
“That is his freedom.”
“No one has the authority to force him.”
Still, several veterans refused to back down.
“But we have evidence!”
“Everything we said actually happened!”
“Ask He Jianlan. He saw it himself.”
All eyes turned toward him.
He Jianlan gritted his teeth before stepping forward.
“That’s right. I saw it personally.”
Ignoring Messiah’s disapproving gaze, he continued:
“I started paying attention to this E-rank from the very first day.”
“He sat alone in the dining hall without showing the slightest discomfort toward this environment.”
“Even when we were forced to swallow those pills, he handled it calmly.”
“And this morning, I personally saw him sneaking around the empty wards.”
“If he isn’t hiding clues from us, then the only other possibility is that he possesses a different identity card and a different mission objective.”
More and more people began wavering.
Seeing this, He Jianlan finally revealed his trump card.
“I’ll say it directly.”
“Zong Jiu and Sheng Yu are accomplices.”
Sheng Yu instantly exploded.
“Bullshit!”
The teenager’s face turned bright red with anger.
“I was there last night too! Why don’t you accuse me of killing Glasses-ge while you’re at it?!”
“Because you are.”
He Jianlan pushed his glasses upward slowly, confidence filling his voice.
“I was just about to explain that.”
“The original wording of the system mission was to find trainees with different identity cards.”
“It never specified how many such people existed.”
“There could be one.”
“Or two.”
“Possibly even more.”
“But based on the balance rules of the system, the mole faction definitely wouldn’t possess overwhelming numbers.”
“So compared to ordinary trainees, moles must possess a unique method of identifying each other.”
“Only by cooperating could you possibly contend against the rest of us and complete your mission.”
His tone became increasingly certain.
“That also explains last night’s murder.”
“The scene was too clean.”
“No clues.”
“No traces.”
“That means multiple people worked together to stage it.”
“You murdered him, cleaned the scene, then deliberately came to find us afterward.”
The crowd immediately began murmuring among themselves.
Then He Jianlan smiled smugly.
“Want to know how you were exposed?”
“The biggest clue came from the bathroom investigation.”
Everyone looked toward Meng Tianlu.
The B-rank psychic nodded grimly.
“I used my psychic senses inside the bathroom.”
“There wasn’t even the slightest trace of resentment.”
Psychics were capable of sensing supernatural residue.
If Glasses had truly been killed by ghosts or monsters, there should have been lingering spiritual contamination.
But there was nothing.
Which implied only one thing—
He had been murdered by a human.
He Jianlan turned toward Messiah sincerely.
“Your Holiness, everyone respects your wisdom and kindness.”
“But perhaps you’re being overly trusting.”
“We all chose you as our leader.”
“So shouldn’t you consider our opinions as well?”
The others quickly echoed him.
“Senior He’s analysis makes perfect sense.”
“Every part fits together logically.”
“As expected of Senior He!”
“If not for him, we would’ve been deceived completely.”
Even the livestream comments began speculating rapidly.
[Honestly, the reasoning is pretty convincing.]
[If multiple moles worked together, they absolutely could’ve fabricated the crime scene.]
[Wait… does that mean the E-rank and F-rank duo were secretly working together all along?]
[That actually explains a lot.]
Messiah’s expression darkened further.
Everyone waited for his final judgment.
After a long silence, the Holy Son finally shook his head.
“I still choose to trust little brother Zong.”
“I don’t believe he is what you claim.”
Then his gaze shifted toward Meng Tianlu.
“And your so-called decisive evidence…”
“…doesn’t necessarily apply inside an S-rank instance.”
Meng Tianlu froze.
His face flushed instantly.
Psychics possessed rankings too.
Novice.
Intermediate.
Advanced.
Top-tier.
And as an instance’s difficulty increased, psychic perception became heavily suppressed.
In truly terrifying S-rank instances, anything below a top-tier psychic might fail to sense supernatural presence entirely.
Meng Tianlu was merely an intermediate psychic.
Which meant—
his conclusion was unreliable from the start.
Only now did He Jianlan and the others realize the flaw in their reasoning.
Meanwhile, Zong Jiu merely stood there with folded arms, watching everything unfold with detached amusement.
Honestly—
the fact that He Jianlan could be praised as an “intellectual” was almost laughable.
“Finished?”
Zong Jiu finally spoke lazily.
“To put it simply, you all want to split up because you suspect I’m a mole, right?”
No one denied it.
The system strictly prohibited direct conflict between trainees.
So even if suspicion toward him had already become obvious, they still couldn’t openly attack him.
Which was exactly why Zong Jiu had prepared this plan from the very beginning.
Only now, thanks to that insane doctor, everything had been forced forward earlier than expected.
Still—
he didn’t particularly care.
The white-haired young man smiled casually.
“Why bother dancing around the topic?”
“You walk your broad sunny road.”
“I’ll cross my single-plank bridge.”
“As for the clue…”
He let out a low laugh.
“Stop dreaming.”
The words were sharp enough to stab.
Several veterans looked ready to explode from rage.
Zong Jiu ignored them completely.
Instead, he turned toward Messiah.
“Thank you for taking care of me these past few hours.”
“And thank you for believing me.”
“But I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”
“Leaving is my own decision.”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“Take care.”
He gave a slight nod.
Then he turned and left without looking back.
The livestream comments immediately erupted again.
[HOLY SHIT HE’S SO COOL.]
[A’Jiu went solo?!]
[Respect.]
[This is way too risky though…]
[He’s only E-rank in an S-rank instance. This feels suicidal.]
His figure gradually disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.
Long white hair swayed behind him like scattered moonlight.
Sheng Yu stomped furiously after the crowd dispersed.
“Jiu-ge isn’t the kind of person you said he is!”
Then he hurried after him down the hallway.
Behind them, He Jianlan adjusted his glasses coldly.
“See?”
“They’re obviously together.”
Jiang Yuan sneered.
“An E-rank and F-rank still acting arrogant. Let’s see whether they survive tonight.”
But the moment he looked up and noticed Messiah’s expression, he immediately shut his mouth.
The Holy Son stood motionless.
His usual warm smile had vanished completely.
Without it, the pressure radiating from him became strangely terrifying.
After a long silence, Messiah finally spoke.
“You chose me as the temporary leader.”
“So you should also follow my judgment.”
“In situations without evidence, you should never casually condemn someone.”
“This time it was little brother Zong.”
“What about next time?”
“Who will become the next victim of your suspicions?”
His gaze swept slowly across the crowd.
“I’m deeply disappointed.”
He Jianlan’s heart skipped violently.
“Your Holiness, I—”
“That’s enough.”
Messiah raised a tired hand.
“There won’t be a next time.”
No one dared speak again.
Under the Holy Son’s pressure, the trainees quickly dispersed according to the morning’s search arrangements, continuing their investigation of the ground floor and Basement One.
Meanwhile—
Zong Jiu stopped halfway down a staircase.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The concrete stairs beneath his feet were old and heavily damaged, riddled with pits and even visible bullet marks left behind by time.
And suddenly—
he realized something was wrong.
From the ground floor to Basement One, there should only have been twenty-one steps.
But just now—
he had counted twenty-three.
Zong Jiu slowly lifted his head.
At the top of the stairwell hung an old rusted clock.
The hour hand pointed directly at ten.
The minute hand rested at twelve.