Chapter 14 Let's Set Sail, ███! "A world that only exists in the virtual world..."
The man sitting behind the desk was the head of all the guards.
Zhu Wen and Xue Chao in the watch carefully examined it and realized that it should be a "person". Most of the person was trapped in the darkness of the room, and only the outline of a human figure could be seen. It was as if it had grown out of the darkness. Seeing her was like seeing this dark room that was clearly empty but had a "crowded" and oppressive feeling.
A cane stood beside the table, and a communicator on the table flashed blue light.
Zhu Wen glanced at the latter; it was the only electronic device he had seen since entering Right Port.
His eyes darted around, and he thought excitedly that he seemed to have found Xiao Ai's boss.
The ground was covered with fish scales, but unlike the fish scales in Zuogang, they weren't silvery-gray, but rather the deep green that was embedded in the flesh of hyenas.
There was a rustling sound, like the gnawing of mice hiding in the shadows, seemingly coming from the woman, but she didn't move at all.
Zhu Wen moved closer, and the woman suddenly spoke: "You... broke the forbidden gate..."
The sound didn't disappear; instead, it was mixed in with the woman's voice, as if she had something in her throat, something jerky and strange in texture, which would rub against each other and make a rustling sound when she moved.
Zhu Wen's scalp tingled from her words. He shuddered and gave a slightly playful salute: "Investigator reporting to you, sir!"
"Investigator?"
"Don't people always disappear here? I suspect it's related to the fog, what do you think?"
The woman was silent for a moment, then let out a strange, rustling laugh: "...Disappeared? How come I don't know? Where did she disappear to...?"
The scales scattered on the ground gleamed with a sinister light, as if they were slowly gathering together, rubbing against the ground in rhythm with the strange noise.
Zhu Wenyi pointed and said, "They were dragged into the sea. They don't eat life jackets, so they're just thrown on the beach as trash. Won't the goddess statue you have in Zuogang have any objections? She doesn't look like she lives on land. It's not good to destroy the ecology of her hometown like this... Where did all this gold that you have in Yougang that looks exactly like the goddess statue come from?"
He had tried the statue, and he had also tried the golden vase in the corridor while he was being escorted. The gold in Giant Harbor was much harder than normal gold; it was so hard that it left no mark when carved, it was practically stone.
Mentioning "disappeared in the sea," "goddess statue," and "gold" silenced the strange noises, and the scales remained in place, as if it had just been an illusion.
The player panel has been updated:
Side Quest 1 is now available.
Side Quest 1-1 "The Mysterious Tale of the Missing": Rainy night, harbor, seagulls flapping their wings, a missing person.
[Mission Details: Uncover the truth behind the disappearances.]
It seems the test has been passed.
"You... are not bad..." The female officer flicked over a medal with a giant design, presumably a "pass" for Right Port; having a medal meant you were practically one of them. "I hope you continue to do well..."
The door opened again on its own, coldly issuing an order to leave.
"Wait for my good news." Zhu Wen pinned the badge to his collar, and as he reached the door, he seemed to suddenly remember something, exclaiming an exaggerated "Oh!" and said earnestly, "By the way, your AI is quite useful. It helped me a lot in Zuogang... Hmm, it has quite a temper too. Don't forget to give it a raise."
He rubbed his ears, which had been shocked by the electric shock, and gracefully made his exit, like a proud yet pretentious cat wagging its non-existent tail.
As soon as he entered, he noticed that his immediate superior, the silent electronic subordinate—Xiao AI—had smuggled himself into Right Port. This place didn't have his authority, and he was up to no good. It was the perfect opportunity to complain!
The woman's gaze suddenly fell on Zhu Wen's headphones, watching him leave, her rustling voice distorted: "J...J? Tunn?"
The woman sat alone in the shadows, her eyes positioned below her temples, seemingly separated by the entire Pacific Ocean, brewing a raging storm. She activated her access to Zuo Gang: "Even a ghost that exists only in the virtual world dares to harbor thoughts of betrayal..."
She gave a cold, smirking smile, then suddenly removed her head from her neck. Her neck stretched forward like elongated clay, becoming transparent, revealing dense scales growing from her trachea and esophagus, filled with fish, and seemingly containing severed human hands. She opened her sharp teeth and pulled an advanced electronic screen from a cabinet against the wall, dragging it back to her desk like a snake pulling its prey back to its burrow.
She muttered to herself in the empty room, the strange, grating noises dancing like a ballroom dance in her throat: "All you need is a clever and obedient mind. Trying to have a heart is your crime; it will make you a defective product, like a bastard mixed with fish blood... But you still committed a crime. I had too high expectations of you. You need supervision and reformation..."
Knowing that the AI on the other side could hear her, she ruthlessly activated the hidden backup program "J?tunn Protocol," shutting down all of Zuogang's permissions and forcing the AI into a "dormant-like" state.
The equipment in Zuogang was once again blocked, but unlike shutting it down, it went into a state of malfunction along with the AI consciousness that controlled it.
This is no different from putting artificial intelligence to "eternal sleep" or "death." When pushed to the limit, the AI that was pretending to be dead finally revealed its true colors.
The artificial intelligence, whose full name is "Yotner," also experienced a thrilling chase in the virtual world. Its consciousness suddenly transformed into a "rat," trying to connect to any device and find a place to hide, but all pathways were blocked.
The watch could still function normally after leaving Zuogang, but the AI could no longer sense the watch's signal, so it had to seek out a watch that had been granted prior authorization.
Zhu Wen sat on the gilded mahogany railing, swinging his legs, and the constantly flashing watch face made him laugh out loud.
The game world may seem bizarre and fantastical, but it doesn't always offer the kind of fun he desires. The first thing he seriously learned was how to please himself... such as appreciating the desperate struggle of a mouse.
"Can't get in? Haha, the request you sent back then wasn't 'Bluetooth connection,' was it? I guess you overlaid it. The real request was probably something like taking over device permissions? I was just turning the tables on you. My hacker's skills are pretty good, right? He also overlaid it beforehand, swapping the 'yes' and 'no'."
"...Your watch's access has long been given to Mr. Hacker." A crack appeared in the stable tone of the artificial intelligence. In its final moments, it abandoned all fancy calculations and became like a newborn, speaking innocently and acting simply and unadorned. It attacked Zhu Wen's watch system in a primitive and desperate manner, revealing its most naked self.
Zhu Wen was waiting for him to be in such a sorry state: "Don't you still have a way out? That woman isn't dead, is she? The watch signal is still in Yougang. Instead of tormenting me, why don't you hurry up and run to your sweetheart? Has anyone ever told you that you have terrible taste, Mr. Host?"
The last five words were emphasized, with undisguised sarcasm. He cheerfully dropped a bombshell, then nonchalantly opened the window, forcefully threw his watch into the sea, and, not forgetting, raised his hands in farewell: "Next life, be an honest man—"
If the previous spats were just minor squabbles among the seventh-ranked fans and those watching for fun, this time the comment section really exploded, with question marks flying everywhere and the popularity skyrocketing—they were just arguing about who was sabotaging whom between the two kids, and then a host suddenly appeared.
"Wait, did I miss an episode?!"
"That makes sense. The officer is clearly a monster. AI tricked Zhu Wen into coming here to be killed, and Zhu Wen deliberately went along with AI's wishes in order to find an opportunity to get close to AI's superior and complain. AI has been trying to smuggle himself out!"
"Indeed, why would an NPC be in such a hurry to leave, risking their life to break the agreement..."
"So finding someone was just an excuse; the host just didn't want to lose control..."
"When he was led to the forbidden gate, Zhu Wen should have become suspicious. So he broke the gate but did not enter the right port. Instead, he waited for the host to test him. He not only obtained the intelligence but also used the clue of the gold to pass the officer's test. The officer is currently the only person in the right port who still has electronic equipment and is likely in charge of the left port system. So Zhu Wen made a quick decision to report the incident and kill the host in return, killing two birds with one stone!"
"You fooled me so badly, I didn't see through you at all..."
"...+1, damn, awesome, is this the value of seventh place...?"
"So the AI deliberately approached Pu Fengchun, choosing the precious memorial tablet and pretending to be an NPC to send her traffic. Unbelievable."
"Little Jellyfish was definitely targeted by the host! Not only did they not give her a memorial tablet, but they also tricked her. Is she an ally of a rival guild? Or was she bribed by an enemy?"
The comment section was greatly shocked, and Zhu Wen's fans were suddenly elated. Although both tricking an important NPC and tricking the host pretending to be an NPC were turning the tables, they were two completely different things!
Not only did he slap him across the face, but he also publicly stripped and humiliated him before sending him to his death. Brilliant!
At this moment, Pu Fengchun's original watch lay quietly in the grass on the Yougang water platform, completely ignored.
Xue Chao "reluctantly" gave up on crawling into Zhu Wen's watch, and thought casually—Zhu Wen had already suspected him in the air tunnel, so he would definitely cut off his escape route. Pu Fengchun was the prediction position he chose, and that escape route was him.
Zhu Wen's confidence suggests he's likely tampered with the watch. Once Pu Songying's watch is ruined, he'll have nowhere to go and will be left to die.
He instantly recalled the tiny silver bead that Zhu Wen had used to shift the blame in the customs district.
When he was in the air tunnel? He grabbed her wrist as if to ask for the earphones, but actually used a silver bead to block the dial entrance. In such a short time, his hand speed and accuracy are worthy of being in the top ten.
Xue Chao made a confirmatory attempt to return to Pu Songying's watch, but as expected, there was no response; the watch was already broken.
It wasn't destroyed at the time; rather, it's possible that when Xue Chao later shook the watch to remind Pu Fengchun, the beads were shaken into the watch, causing internal malfunctions and rendering the watch unusable.
As an AI, Xue Chao could only gain access to the watch by applying for permission. The same logic applies to hackers. Zhu Wen's purpose was twofold: first, to confirm whether he had accessed Pu Fengchun's watch; and second, to wait for him to come to Zhu Wen after her watch was destroyed.
Therefore, from Zhu Wen's perspective, after losing Pu Fengchun as a way out, he sought out Zhu Wen as his servant. That's why Zhu Wen said, "Beg me properly," and in the end, sending him back into Pu Fengchun's watch was just a satisfying act of mockery and ridicule.
The brat was still secretly annoyed, and whenever he had the chance, he would throw "What kind of taste do you have?" in his face.
Rather, his biggest motivation was this: after going around in circles, he just wanted to relieve his boredom by taking advantage of his desperate situation at the crucial moment. I bet that kid is feeling pretty good right now.
Unfortunately, if Pu Fengchun could "die" in front of him once, so could he.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com