Chapter 123

Shen Yunzhe was successfully discharged from the hospital and returned home. The disappearance of the live broadcast system caused the entry time of almost all players to be delayed, and the survivors were unexpectedly unable to enter the game field.

This made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

The playground includes the orphanage. The dozen or so children are all survivors. If they are caught in the playground, they will be dead.

When Shen Yunzhe returned home and turned on his mobile phone, he unexpectedly found that there was only half a month left before the Chinese New Year. Shen Yunzhe thought about it and felt that he was not so surprised. It had been snowing when he first entered the playground. He had been to five playgrounds so far, and it was time for the Chinese New Year.

Codename Hope never returned, and the system seemed to have lost contact and stopped talking, as if to give them some private space?

Shen Yunzhe sighed but didn't say much. After all, Chinese New Year is a special holiday for Chinese people. Even if one is alone, they have to celebrate it well. He had just moved in here not long ago. His house was bare. Apart from a few necessary functional furniture, there was only a whole wall of dolls that he had made with great care.

The house needs to be decorated.

He looked at Codename Hope, who was curled up on the couch, staring at the corner of the couch.

He was in this state after entering the house, staring at the doll in the corner of the sofa with curiosity like a house cat. He wanted to grab it with his claws and almost licked its fur. However, his interest came and went quickly. He soon abandoned the doll on the sofa and came to face Shen Yunzhe.

Shen Yunzhe looked at him calmly, "What are you doing?"

"Look at me in your eyes." Codename Hope replied, "How interesting! In Shen Yunzhe's eyes, I'm so small, but I completely occupy your gaze. So beautiful."

Shen Yunzhe held him down with his hands. "Alright, are you going out?"

"Going out?" Codename Hope lay on the sofa and looked at Shen Yunzhe, his tone full of excitement, "Going out!"

Shen Yunzhe took him to a large supermarket near the community. The supermarket had all kinds of supplies. Codename Hope was curious and kept looking around as soon as he entered. Shen Yunzhe gave him a cart and told him to buy whatever he wanted. After all, it was the New Year and he could be a little extravagant.

Codename Hope cheered and rushed in pushing the car.

Just as he was about to follow in, Shen Yunzhe's phone rang. He took out his phone and took a look. It was a call from Qiao Dong.

"Hello?"

"It's so noisy, are you in the vegetable market?" Qiao Dong asked.

"No, I'm in the supermarket. There are a lot of people." Shen Yunzhe lost sight of his codename Hope in the blink of an eye. He made his way through the crowd to find someone while talking to Qiao Dong, "What's going on?"

Qiao Dong made sure again and again that Shen Yunzhe could really hear him before continuing.

"We followed the old man and found the people who contacted her. Through these two people, we confirmed that Shen Wei's disappearance was indeed related to them, but they only locked Shen Wei up in the hope that she would cooperate with them. Shen Wei is indeed a rare talent."

Shen Yunzhe responded, "Is he still there?"

"The old man explained that Shen Wei was taken away by higher-ups fifteen years ago. Those were the real researchers, and they were originally the outer layer of the organization, responsible for kidnapping and recruiting people."

"The real internal researchers have a special name: 'Holy Mother'. It is said that this name may have been inspired by Shen Wei."

Shen Yunzhe raised his eyebrows slightly, "Is Shen Wei's research related to the Holy Mother?"

"It could also be a nickname for a certain game field. Chen Wei is also a player. He also entered the game field between the time he left the official website and the time he sent you to the orphanage." Qiao Dong flipped through the files in his hand. "However, we haven't matched any game fields with the 'Virgin Mary' element, including the strange erosion incident that is happening now."

"Unless we capture these core members, we will know what Shen Wei is like and what the 'Virgin Mary' is."

Finally, he found the code name Hope. He curiously lined up behind a group of old men and women, as if he wanted to see what they were planning to buy by queuing up so long.

Shen Yunzhe walked over and pulled out Codename Hope, who blinked.

"You want to buy eggs?"

"Egg?" Codename Hope thought for a moment. "What is that?"

So Shen Yunzhe stuffed him back into the egg team and continued talking to Qiao Dong while watching him from the side.

"Why do you care so much about Shen Wei? No matter how powerful he is, it's not possible for your government and that organization to prioritize his achievements, right?" Shen Yunzhe asked.

"Shen Wei's value goes beyond this. His research not only includes granting people special abilities, but also includes bringing objects into the game field or taking things out of the game field. His keen sense of the game field is terrifying. In the early days, they suspected that Shen Wei might have touched the core of the game field, which is why he has such a strong sense of perception."

The core of the playground?

Shen Yunzhe looked up at Codename Hope, who was being curiously asked by the uncles and aunts queuing behind him about his hair, age, family, and whether he was married.

Codename Xiwang proudly pointed at Shen Yunzhe and said that Shen Yunzhe was his!

The grandparents took one look at Shen Yunzhe, and after confirming that they looked exactly alike, they laughed at him and said he would make a joke.

Codename Hope narrowed her eyes slightly, showing signs of getting angry.

Shen Yunzhe walked over and patted his head to calm his anger. This guy would get angry and dissatisfied for all kinds of inexplicable reasons as long as he wasn't watching. Codename Hope's extreme emotionality has always been a problem. He can't control himself and does whatever he wants.

He is the epitome of extreme emotions and the most completely crazy one.

Seeing Shen Yunzhe coming, Codename Hope reluctantly withdrew his gaze and continued to queue obediently. After queuing for half an hour, he got five kilograms of eggs. Codename Hope held an egg in his hand and looked at it curiously.

As he watched, he let go of the egg, and it fell directly from his hand and hit the ground with a bang.

"I remember now." Codename Hope looked at the broken egg yolk, "This is an egg!"

Shen Yunzhe apologized to the cleaning lady next to him, then picked up the broken eggs with a tissue and threw them into the trash can. The cleaning lady quickly cleaned up the place. Codename Hope watched what Shen Yunzhe did, he tilted his head, turned around and was attracted by another tasting stall.

He tried all the food that could be tasted, and then went to pull Shen Yunzhe to try it as well. Shen Yunzhe didn't eat it, but just asked him which one he liked, and then they each bought some.

By the time they left, the cart was already filled with their purchases, and it took three large shopping bags to pack them all.

Pushing the shopping cart out, Shen Yunzhe began to think about how to take so many things back. At this moment, Codename Hope suddenly exclaimed, "Shen Yunzhe! Fish!"

"Fish?" Shen Yunzhe turned and looked at him.

Outside the supermarket, there was a small shop selling ornamental fish. There were all kinds of colorful and beautiful fish swimming happily in the fish tanks, and there were also jellyfish shining with light.

Shen Yunzhe had never raised fish before because they looked too fragile. At school and work, he would always hear classmates or colleagues who raised fish complain that fish were really difficult to raise. If you forgot to change the water or changed the water too frequently, the fish would die. It was so difficult to raise fish that you had to change the tank every two days.

Shen Yunzhe doesn't want to harm himself or the fish, so he has never bought any.

Codename Hope squatted outside the glass wall and looked at the red goldfish, "Red fish."

"Do you like it?" Shen Yunzhe asked him.

"I like it. The color is pretty." Codename Hope poked the wall and said, "Shen Yunzhe is too boring. The house is all white and black. Even his clothes don't have bright colors. I like beautiful and lively things."

"I can't keep it alive." Shen Yunzhe knew what he was doing. "It will die soon if I buy it."

"None of my business." Codename Hope narrowed his eyes and looked at the fish in the tank with a smile on his face. "Anyway, I was happy when I bought it back, that's all."

Codename Hope doesn't care about the death of anything, he only cares about his own happiness. This is also what makes Shen Yunzhe most angry about Codename Hope. His extremeness has reached the point where people are afraid of him, but he usually likes to smile at people. Maybe he knows that he is not liked by others, so he has to pretend to be likable.

In the end, he bought the fish and the fish tank. Shen Yunzhe asked the store manager about the process of raising fish and bought a complete set of equipment to try to make the fish die more slowly.

Codename Hope bought the fish. He followed Shen Yunzhe with the fish tank in his arms, satisfied. The moment he got home, he put the fish tank next to Shen Yunzhe's doll cabinet.

Together they filled the fish tank with water and arranged everything. Looking at the goldfish swimming in the tank, Codename Hope always had a smile on his face.

Then there were three big bags of things, and by the time everything was put back in place it was already evening.

Cooking for one person was annoying enough, let alone cooking for two people. Shen Yunzhe chose to give in and ordered takeout again.

After ordering, he sat on the sofa and hugged his doll. Code name: Hope kept squatting in front of the fish tank, his eyes following the goldfish swimming around.

"Do you like fish so much?" Shen Yunzhe asked him.

"I don't like it." Codename Hope gave Shen Yunzhe a completely different answer. "Why should I like fish? They're so fragile. A slight change in the water flow can kill them. They need the most comfortable environment and the same food. They're so fragile."

Shen Yunzhe: "But you've been watching."

"I'm not looking at the fish." Codename Hope stared at the fish, "I'm looking at you, Shen Yunzhe."

Shen Yunzhe held up his chin with one hand and nodded, meaning that Code Name wanted to continue speaking.

"Whenever you see this fish tank, you'll think of me, because we bought it together, and I bought it because I wanted you to." Codename Hope said, "This is a completely useless piece of junk, purely for decoration. It's an eyesore wherever you put it, and once it's an eyesore, you'll wonder why you bought it."

"How great." Codename Hope was very happy, "I love things like this!"

Shen Yunzhe was helpless, "I think you'll be happy if I bother you, right?"

"How can there be someone like you?"

Codename Hope didn't care what Shen Yunzhe would say. He raised his chin proudly with an expression that said, "I am just like that."

Shen Yunzhe thought: How could someone like him change? If he really changed, he wouldn't be Codename Hope anymore.

After dinner, he watched the news for a while. The news had already started talking about the Spring Festival travel rush. Shen Yunzhe yawned. He turned his head to check the time. It was only eight o'clock in the evening, but the code-named Xiwang next to him had already fallen asleep on the sofa.

The sleeping Codename Hope was very quiet and didn't look like he was going to get angry at all.

He huddled in a corner, looking very uneasy.

Shen Yunzhe got up from the sofa, picked up the person, and carried him to the bed in the bedroom. He had already turned on the light in the bedroom. After all, Code Name Hope was so afraid of the dark. As long as Code Name Hope was around, he would turn on all the lights to ensure that the whole house was bright.

After stuffing Codename Hope into the quilt, Shen Yunzhe turned around and prepared to leave, but someone grabbed the corner of his clothes. He lowered his head, and Codename Hope's hand was still pulling him.

"hope?"

Codename Hope neither opens his eyes nor lets go.

Shen Yunzhe glanced at the living room. He didn't turn off the TV. The evening news was playing on TV, and the host's voice came in.

Confirming that the code name really didn't want to let him go, Shen Yunzhe lay down helplessly. He stared at the ceiling with his eyes open, listening to the news coming from outside.

"Weiyang City North has fully returned to normal. Experts have stated that no further unexpected situations will occur."

"The Spring Festival travel rush has fully begun, and the country has decided to bring the holiday forward this year. I hope everyone can go home and reunite with their families as soon as possible."

"A ghost wall appeared in Shangshan City, trapping hundreds of people. Professional personnel have been dispatched to deal with the situation."

"Tens of thousands of people in the United States are stranded on a resort island, having lost contact with the island for three days. Experts estimate that less than 30% will survive."

Spring Festival travel rush, New Year, invasion of strange objects and the game field. After the news about the game field was fully disclosed, the news was dominated by them. After all, the game field is a disaster that is more random and unpredictable than natural disasters, and more harmful than natural disasters. Everyone is worried that one day it will fall on them.

This is also the reason why the annual holiday is early this year. Compared with work, more people want to go home to see their families.

Codename hoped to open his eyes. He turned over and pressed on Shen Yunzhe. His breathing did not stop for a moment, and Shen Yunzhe's figure was reflected in his silver eyes.

"Get off." Shen Yunzhe said, "You are very heavy."

Codename Hope narrowed his eyes slightly, lowered his head and carefully bit Shen Yunzhe's neck with his teeth. Shen Yunzhe pushed him away but failed. Because of Shen Yunzhe's resistance, his strength became a little greater. Shen Yunzhe hissed and took a breath of cold air, feeling a stinging pain.

"Hope!" Shen Yunzhe called him.

Code name hoped to open his mouth and stared at Shen Yunzhe dimly.

"Shen Yunzhe." Codename Hope said, "Let me strangle you to death."

"What's wrong with you again?"

"Let me strangle you to death." Codename Hope looked into Shen Yunzhe's eyes with an extremely serious look. "Shen Yunzhe, you are so hateful. You didn't let me strangle you to death, but you also stopped my thoughts."

"Always hanging me up and down like this."

Shen Yunzhe looked at him in surprise, "Ah? When did I..."

"You have it!" Codename hopes to amplify his voice, "If I say I have it, then I have it!"

"Or you can strangle me to death." Codename Hopefully grabbed Shen Yunzhe's hand and put it on his neck, "Hurry up, I won't resist!"

Shen Yunzhe sighed heavily. He sat up and looked at Codename Hope. "What do you want to say?"

"No, I just want to die." Codename Hope looked at Shen Yunzhe innocently.

"Shen Yunzhe, do you really hate me? You think I'm troublesome and dangerous." Codename Hope reached out and hugged Shen Yunzhe. "You said you were looking forward to my future, but you're not really that excited because you think I'm no longer fit to live in a normal world."

"I wasn't wrong, was I?"

Shen Yunzhe was held in his arms. "Then where else can you go? Back to your little dark room?"

"You're a nuisance, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Yes, that's it!" Codename Hope instantly became even more unhappy. "You think I'm troublesome and are basically forced to take over my problems! If you could, you wouldn't want to be with me at all!"

"Shen Yunzhe, you are so hateful!"

"Since you don't want me to die, then love me well."

Shen Yunzhe laughed. He didn't know whether he was laughing out of anger or just being amused.

Codename wanted to see him smile but was unwilling to do so. He pinched Shen Yunzhe's face with both hands, forcing Shen Yunzhe to look at him.

Just then, Shen Yunzhe leaned over and kissed him.

Codename Hope blinked.

"I like you, I love you very much." Shen Yunzhe said: "Are you satisfied with this?"

Codename Hope puffed up his lips. He looked at Shen Yunzhe, then sighed and put his hand down. "Shen Yunzhe, you really are so abominable."

He leaned in again and said, "Kiss me again!"

It’s so easy to coax.

…

I went to bed too early last night, and when Shen Yunzhe opened his eyes, the sun had not yet risen completely. Shen Yunzhe took out his mobile phone and looked at the time. It was just six o'clock in the morning.

In winter, it is still dark at six o'clock, and you can't see the light until seven or eight o'clock.

Shen Yunzhe yawned and watched two videos. At this moment, WeChat sent a friend adding prompt.

Since being fired, Shen Yunzhe has not added any strangers. In fact, no strangers have added him. Even Li Yuluan was added by him.

He clicked into the friend list and saw that there was only a "Hello" in the self-introduction. Just when Shen Yunzhe was about to reject directly, he saw the person's avatar. Shen Yunzhe raised his eyebrows slightly, opened the details page of the account, and clicked on the avatar to enlarge it.

It was a statue of the Virgin Mary, holding a baby in her arms, with tears falling from her eyes.

Our Lady?

Shen Yunzhe looked at this person, exited the avatar interface and clicked to agree to add him.

The person who used the Virgin Mary statue did not have a name, maybe a space or a symbol. After the addition was approved, the person sent a message.

【Hello. 】

"I'm not a prophet, just a researcher, but the statue of Our Lady is getting closer and closer. We're not opposing anything, but for the survival of all mankind."

If you don’t believe it, you can ask your friend, your fellow prophet.

【The statue of Our Lady is approaching. If you hesitate any longer, things will get worse.】

Shen Yunzhe was looking at the text sent above. At this moment, a hand took the phone away from behind. Codename Hope leaned on Shen Yunzhe's shoulder and looked at the text in a daze.

"woke up?"

"Hmm." Codename Hope said with a nasal tone. He rubbed against Shen Yunzhe obediently, "Statue of the Virgin Mary?"

Shen Yunzhe looked at him and asked, "Do you know what the image of the Virgin Mary he is talking about is?"

"I don't know." Codename Hope rubbed his eyes. "The statue of the Virgin Mary, um... I think I've seen it before."

"Have you seen it?"

"When I was being devoured, I seemed to see a gigantic statue," Codename Hope recalled. "It was so huge, I couldn't even see the end of it when I looked up. It was a gigantic statue that would scare people into gigantism."

"The statue is wearing a robe and seems to be holding something up."

Shen Yunzhe thought for a moment, "Could this be the logo of a certain game field? Like a game field's medium?"

"Qiao Dong said that the Virgin Mary might be an important symbol of a certain core gaming field. Shen Wei might have entered this gaming field, so that organization has been trying to get Shen Wei to join."

Codename Hope tilted her head, "I don't know. Does the system know?"

[The statue of the Virgin Mary is the landmark of the core game field and also the source of the game field. So far, only one peer has entered this place.]

[Because it is the source of the game field, there is no medium for this game field, and the way to enter is very random. ]

"It sounds very important?" Shen Yunzhe asked doubtfully.

[There are no strange things in the core game field.]

Shen Yunzhe widened his eyes slightly. With just this one sentence, he understood why those people were so eager to find Shen Wei. A playground where no strange things would appear was in perfect harmony with their concept of coexistence with the playground.

But why? Is there really no strange creatures in the playground?