104 Deeper Exploration

◎Take out a chip◎

After spending almost a week in the dungeon, Qi Qiuxue had already mastered 70% of the distribution of various buildings in the new world.

She already had several guesses about the place Liu Ge mentioned, but in order to avoid missing any, she communicated with Qingqing, the indigenous NPC in the dungeon after returning, and asked what other places met the requirements.

"The roar of machinery?" Qingqing thought for a moment. "It sounds like a large factory."

"There are a total of twenty-seven factories in the New World." After all, Qingqing was someone who often went out to pick up garbage. After a long time of walking around the streets, he had already known the terrain thoroughly.

"Axue, wait a moment." Qingqing stood up and took out a pen and paper from the pile of miscellaneous items. Relying on her memory, she drew an extremely detailed route map for Qi Qiuxue. It included streets, various landmark buildings, and the location of every factory.

Her little hands painted very quickly, and every stroke was very vivid.

Qi Qiuxue sat quietly beside her as she watched her paint. She had a hunch that Qingqing was really talented in painting. "Qingqing, have you ever learned to paint before?"

"I guess so." Qingqing opened her lips to respond to her question, "It was a long time ago."

"How long have you been studying?" Qi Qiuxue continued to ask.

Qingqing thought silently for a while, then slowly shook her head: "I can't remember."

Qi Qiuxue subconsciously raised her hand to touch her head. Qingqing's hair was soft and felt very similar to Li Yiqing's. Until now, she had roughly guessed that Qingqing might be the character generated in the copy based on Li Yiqing.

To the system and the people who created the game, Qingqing might just be an ordinary NPC, but Qi Qiuxue doesn't think so. She has a heartbeat, body temperature, and everything a human has. In Qi Qiuxue's view, Qingqing is no different from a normal human.

Even if they will eventually part ways, she hopes Qingqing will live a good life: "One day the chip will completely fail, and then this town will no longer be divided between old and new people. The elderly can enjoy their retirement, the young can go out to work, the children can go to school normally, and all families can live happily."

"Qingqing, pick up painting again then." She raised her lips to reveal a beautiful smile and said sincerely, "You will be a future little painter."

No matter when or what situation you are in, imagining the future is a very happy thing.

Qingqing paused for a moment, as if she was thinking about something. After a moment, she raised her eyes and gave Qi Qiuxue an equally gentle smile: "Okay."

"I'll draw a portrait of Axue in the future," she said.

"Okay." Even though they would be leaving after completing all the tasks and couldn't stay in the dungeon for long, Qi Qiuxue still agreed with her. "I'm looking forward to it."

Qingqing smiled when she heard that, and stopped talking. She continued drawing with full concentration until she handed an extremely detailed circuit map to the other party.

She did not ask Qi Qiuxue about her purpose and intention, but just did everything she should do according to her requirements. Qi Qiuxue took a rough look at the drawing and put it away properly.

"I might have to go out for a while." Then she said, "Qingqing, go to bed early, okay?"

"Okay." Qingqing nodded obediently, moved forward and gently hugged Qi Qiuxue in front of her, and reminded her, "Be careful."

"Come back early."

-

The new world in the early morning is extremely quiet.

Qi Qiuxue, Li Yiqing and Wu Shanyue walked through the hidden alleys together and arrived at the first factory on the map. According to Liu Ge, the enclosed building was near the factory. It was huge, windowless, and hidden. There was almost no sound of traffic.

Qi Qiuxue stood on a high place and looked into the distance through a telescope. She didn't see any buildings that met the requirements, so she lowered her eyes, drew a cross on the paper, and continued to the next location.

I screened more than a dozen places, but none of them matched the criteria.

It was already past one in the morning. One to three o'clock is often the time when people are most sleepy, but for Qi Qiuxue, it is the best time to look for clues. Missing it would only increase the risk.

"Hurry to the next location." Qi Qiuxue didn't dare to stop. The three of them set off again and arrived at the sixteenth factory marked on the route map.

This time, things finally took a turn for the better.

——It was a factory that specialized in processing and producing candies. Just as Liu Ge said, even though it was already midnight, the machines in the factory were still running, making a huge roar.

About ten meters behind the factory there is a huge warehouse with no windows, huge size and remote location. All its features are very similar to what Liu Ge described.

"It should be there." Qi Qiuxue said.

"Should we go in?" Wu Shanyue unconsciously lowered his voice and asked nervously.

"Yeah." Qi Qiuxue nodded, took out his bone knife from his backpack and raised his hand to put on his hood. Li Yiqing and Wu Shanyue followed suit, disguised themselves, and took out their weapons.

The roar of the machines easily covered up their footsteps. Qi Qiuxue and the others slowly approached the warehouse from a hidden path, leaned over the door and listened attentively. After confirming that there was no one patrolling inside, they inserted a bone knife into the crack of the door and pried open the lock.

The door opened, and everything inside slowly appeared in the sight of several people.

They guessed correctly, this was indeed the punishment room.

After entering the door, there is a long and narrow corridor. It is very long and it is unknown where the end leads to. There are several guards on duty in the rooms on both sides of the door. At this moment, they have already slept on the table. Qi Qiuxue and others carefully avoided them and went deeper into the building.

There are many doors on both sides of the corridor, and behind each door is a dark, small room. This scene reminds the three of them of the basement of Rock Saint Hospital, but the difference is that the basement of the hospital contains monsters, while the basement here contains living people.

Until this moment, Qi Qiuxue finally had a detailed understanding of the punishment in the new world. Liu Ge was right. Even under the protection of the amulet, she was still in great pain, but the punishment she received was indeed the lightest.

Qi Qiuxue looked inside through the reverse night vision peephole specially installed on the door, and felt a chill down her spine for a moment.

——Someone is being electrocuted. Not only is the chip in his skull continuously discharging electricity, but countless discharge devices have also been forcibly installed on his body. When passing by the door, one can even smell the smell of burnt barbecue.

——A person was immersed in water, his limbs were bound tightly by iron chains and he was unable to break free. His face was blue and purple due to long-term suffocation, his eyes rolled back, and he was on the verge of death at any time. But every time he was about to reach the critical point, the chip sensed his condition, and the iron chain pulled his head out of the water briefly, allowing him to take a breath, and then continue after the "rest".

——There were also people nailed to the wall by iron nails. There were countless very thick nails with extremely sharp tails. They not only penetrated the other person's clothes, but also his skin. Qi Qiuxue looked at the other person's exposed forearm through the cat's eye. The place where the skin and flesh were connected had become extremely transparent and was about to separate.

“…”

There were countless scenes like this, and each room was extremely shocking. Wu Shanyue's stomach suddenly churned when he saw this, and he covered his mouth and almost retched.

This is the so-called new world, this is the so-called happy life.

Qi Qiuxue frowned as she watched all this. She didn't know what mistakes these new humans had made, but no matter what, they didn't deserve such punishment. Those decision makers were paranoid, arrogant, and disregarded life and human rights.

Since entering this copy, Qi Qiuxue has become more and more angry. No one can remain calm when seeing such a scene, and she is no exception.

"We need to speed up the process of completing the mission." As they were about to reach the last room, Qi Qiuxue clenched her fists, "We must rescue everyone as soon as possible."

"Okay." Li Yiqing also glared at all this and responded with a firm look.

Qi Qiuxue took a deep breath and wanted to use the peephole to check the situation inside the house again, but unexpectedly, when she touched the door, the door slowly opened under her touch.

There is also a person locked up inside, a man who has been dead for a long time. Perhaps the opening and closing of the door lock is also controlled by the chip. After sensing the death of the host, the door lock will open.

Qi Qiuxue raised her eyes and looked inside, suddenly recalling what Liu Ge had said -

I once heard a heavy thud, followed by something exploding.

It's the head.

Qi Qiuxue stepped forward, squatted down to avoid the bloodstains spreading on the ground. The dead man's head exploded, and blood and white brain matter flowed all over the ground. His original appearance could no longer be seen.

The house was filled with the smell of blood and decay, and the horrific scene before them was enough to make anyone look away.

But Qi Qiuxue didn't.

She simply took a deep breath and slowly inserted her gloved hand into the man's brain.

After a little groping, he finally took out a chip covered in blood and brain matter.

【Author’s words】

Coming

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