Ever since he bumped into that red-eyed man in black, Lu Cai felt like he was in bad luck.
Sneaking into the city to find food and supplies, you'll encounter a zombie horde. Picking up a car on the roadside, you'll encounter mutants. Even if you're just walking on the road, you'll still be surrounded by skinning zombies...
Lu Cai truly felt the world's rejection of her.
The only thing worth being happy about is that her recovery ability seems to have become much stronger.
She roughly knew the direction of the "Imperial Capital Refuge Camp" and headed forward in that direction. On the way, she even had time to analyze the process of her falling into the "Deep Sea Submarine" copy.
The first time she fell into the branch line, it was because she passed the zoo. The second time she fell into the branch line, maybe there were hills nearby, maybe there were mountains below the road, but she couldn't be sure.
Let’s just assume there is one. When we meet Qin Yu and Zhao Yan, we can analyze the terrain.
But near that old factory, there was only a river, no sea. The sea was not like a mountain; it could not be leveled in a few days or months.
Therefore, there is no condition for accidental triggering.
If it was the underwater world tens of thousands of years ago, she could explain it as the vicissitudes of life, and anywhere could be an old ocean site.
But this "Project X" is indeed recent research.
In the "Submarine", there are many chaotic aspects to NPC behavior.
With her only two side story experiences, the hint of "submarine" was too obvious, it was almost stuffed directly into her hands.
And 0589's abnormal behavior...
Lu Cai speculated that in order to pull her into the side story, the man in black intervened in the side story and restricted some of the behaviors of the side NPCs.
But the reason for the existence of side quest NPCs is to give players certain hints, guide or hinder players in completing tasks.
The men in black interfered with the actions of the side quest NPCs and also stimulated the NPCs' deepest program instructions, forcing them to complete the "issue mission" instructions.
Why did 0589 let her escape? This was undoubtedly to save her.
Could he also be an awakened NPC, using his willpower to rebel against the game's consciousness?
His behavior was very much like a repetitive loop, where he had an impression of a submarine explosion and knew that at the moment of the explosion, the person who pulled the switch would die.
Who is 0589?
Lu Cai sighed. This kind of brain-intensive work was indeed not suitable for her.
In the past, we only needed to find the answer to “Who am I?”, but now we have to research everywhere “Who are you?” and “Who is he?”
This game should be renamed "Identity Authentication".
Lu Cai continued on his way, his thoughts turning to Qin Yu and Zhao Manman. The dungeon NPCs couldn't access the side storyline, and Lu Cai didn't see Zhao Manman in the old factory building either. Qin Yu must have taken her away.
They were still following Xiao Yue and Zheng Miao, and I didn't know what their relationship was with 0589...
It was not until I met Zhao Yan on the road that I learned that something had happened in the refugee camp.
She was walking on the road when she heard the sound of a truck coming from the front. Cai Lu looked up and saw that it was a familiar red truck.
As soon as Zhao Yan's car stopped, Lu Cai opened the door and climbed in without any courtesy.
"Where are you going?" Lu Cai sat down, thinking that he was driving in the opposite direction, maybe she was going in the wrong direction?
Zhao Yan replied unhappily, "I should ask you, aren't you with Qin Yu?"
"Something unexpected happened along the way and they got separated." Lu Cai was also worried, thinking that it was unclear whether Xiao Yue and Zheng Miao were enemies or friends, and Qin Yu's mental power was unstable.
Zhao Yan slammed on the brakes: "She's not going to be with Xiao Yue, is she?"
Due to inertia, Lu Cai's head almost hit the light barrier.
She held onto the car door and sat down: "I think so—"
Zhao Yan looked at Lu Cai and sighed helplessly: "That's it—"
Lu Cai turned his head and asked: "What happened?"
"I just went to the 'Imperial Capital Refuge Camp'. As soon as I got out of the car, they pointed a row of machine guns at me—" Zhao Yan pulled the car over. "I mentioned Xiao Yue, and they said I was a traitor and an accomplice..."
Cai Lu frowned. Did something happen to Xiao Yue?
"Are you sure Qin Yu is okay?" Zhao Yan was really worried.
As for him and Qin Yu, there wasn't much of a connection; they just happened to clear the dungeon together last time, and this time they were just joining forces to complete the dungeon together. He thought this girl was nice, down-to-earth and caring about the friendship of her companions.
If something really happened to Qin Yu, it would be very distressing.
"I'll go in and take a look later, you wait for my news--" After saying that, she concentrated and pulled out a string of numbers from the data world in her mind, and glanced at the light green system mark above Zhao Yan's head.
['Lu Cai' applied to add me as a friend. Was it approved?]
Zhao Yan's body trembled, and his back straightened: "What is this?"
"Friend request, please approve it quickly. I'll send you a message when the signal is good—" Cai Lu was too lazy to explain to him.
Zhao Yan was even more surprised: "Aren't you an NPC?"
Lu Cai turned his head and looked at him, raising his eyebrows, and Zhao Yan shut up obediently.
After adding the friend, Lu Cai took out three more memory fragments and handed them to Zhao Yan: "Can you read the information of the memory fragments?"
When she returned from the Deep Sea Submarine, she discovered that the blue liquid in her pocket had also turned into memory fragments. Together with the two she had collected before, she had already collected three.
Unfortunately, she had the glass cards and didn't know how to crack them. This time, she met Zhao Yan and decided to let him take a look.
[The 'memory fragments' have been collected. Do you want to piece them together?]
There was no need for Zhao Yan to sigh, Lu Cai also saw this line of text.
"How many quests have you downloaded? Are you so lucky?" The closest Zhao Yan had ever come to a memory fragment was during the Research Institute quest. But back then, he hadn't even touched the fragment.
Now that I can hold the complete fragments of memory in my hands, I feel very complicated.
And this person who didn't take the memory fragments seriously and handed them over to someone else without any care... He glanced at Lu Cai who was watching him merge.
The world is so different that people’s joys and sorrows are not shared.
He confirmed the merger, and the three fragments disappeared from his palm. After a while, the system prompted again -
[Achieve the 'Our Memory' achievement. Do you want to retrieve the 'Memory'?]
[yes. ]
A glass tablet appeared in Zhao Yan's hand, crystal clear.
Lu Cai took the glass plate from him, turned it over and studied it. "What is this?"
drop--
The tablet actually emitted a green light.
It really is a tablet. Lu Cai found it funny. Looking at the rows of text appearing on the tablet -
[Do you know what the secret of life is?]
Lu Cai frowned.
[Death is the beginning of life...]
What the hell is this evil cult missionary trend?
[Ancient life forms knew this secret long before we humans did.]
[Sometimes, death is just a transitional stage. When you cross the boundary between life and death, you can reach the other side of eternal life...]
Despite the uncomfortable feeling of goosebumps on the back of her hand, Lu Cai continued to read and finally came across the proper record. She had reason to suspect that this so-called "memory" was the diary of a middle school student.
I discovered a miraculous microorganism on the fossils of ancient marine life. I don't know what it is, but it brings me an incomparable excitement. I believe this is the ultimate mystery of my research...
Life will eventually return to its origins. Humanity's so-called evolution is nothing but a self-righteous joke. Perfection should be its original state. Eternal life has long been engraved in nature's code lock. I will find that key and lead humanity to eternity...
Project X has achieved unprecedented success, discovering a living ancient microorganism from the deep sea. A sample has been sent to the research institute. As a central researcher, I have obtained firsthand information...
[The initial sample was successfully activated. Watching these adorable creatures slowly come back to life in the petri dish, I believe this is how to cross the line between life and death...]
Finally, Lu Cai saw the signature - Cao Zhongzheng.
"How does it feel?" Cai Lu threw the tablet to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan held up the tablet: "Mad scientist?"
"Don't discredit the scientist." Lu Cai smiled. "He can only be called a 'madman'."
"I think I've heard this name before..." Zhao Yan recalled, then suddenly slapped his forehead. "In the research institute fragments, there's a mention of a 'Dr. Cao.' In the early and middle stages of cell resurrection, several researchers proposed eliminating the virus and terminating the research, citing 'instability' as an excuse. Dr. Cao refuted their proposals every time!"
Hearing him say that...the researcher in the submarine whose skin dissolved and turned into a corpse also asked her to find "Cao" or something.
"So this Cao Zhong is the final boss?" Lu Cai seemed to be muttering to himself.
Zhao Yan replied: "According to the game mechanics, after the memory fragments are combined, they will indeed point directly to the final boss."
Lu Cai opened the car door and jumped out: "You find a place to hide first, I'll go check out the 'Imperial Capital Refuge Camp'——"
Zhao Yan looked at the "memory" in his hand, still a little stunned: "You don't want this anymore?"
"I'm giving it to you." Cai Lu was still complaining that it took up space in the card slot, but unfortunately the black fountain pen was also broken. Now looking at the empty card slot, he felt a little uneasy.
Zhao Yan watched the girl walk away in the rearview mirror, staring at the two large "BT" letters on her back. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "What a pervert. She actually gave away an item that can add points to her account..."
I've completely forgotten that Lu Cai was just a rampaging NPC...
Lu Cai said goodbye to Zhao Yan and continued walking in the same direction. He shouldn't have gotten into Zhao Yan's car just now. He had to walk a little further...
When she stood under the thick city wall and looked at the transparent glass-like barrier outside the wall, she felt uncomfortable all over.
This place is like another copy, locking people in, unable to live or die.
She approached the stone wall, looked up at the high edge of the wall, and cleared her throat: "Help! Is there anyone?"
The stone wall reacted, a piece of stone wall disappeared, and an arched doorway appeared.
Two people in protective suits came out. Just as Zhao Yan said, they really had a piece of paper and a pen in hand. "Outsiders entering, please fill in your information first—"
Lu Cai took the paper and pen and asked as he wrote, "I was introduced by someone else. Can I get any preferential treatment?"
The staff seemed accustomed to this kind of statement: "Here is the introducer information form, fill it out so we can verify it."
"I don't know his name..." Lu Cai smiled sheepishly, a hint of innocence appearing on his pale, sickly face. "I think his last name is Zheng?"
Xiao Yue has already gotten into trouble, so she can only use this method to test Zheng Miao's situation.
The staff member hesitated: "Captain Zheng?"
They also called him captain, so it seemed he was still safe.
"I heard people call him 'Senior Brother Sanshui'... Is he the Captain Zheng you are talking about?" Lu Cai asked tentatively.
Even through the mask, she could feel the other person's nervousness.
"Please wait here for a moment. We'll go in and ask." The other party was visibly respectful. "What's your name?"
"Lu Cai." She smiled and answered kindly.
......
Lu Cai squatted in front of the arched doorway and waited for a while. Then he heard the sound of powerful footsteps in the doorway behind him.
"Chancellor Lu?" Zheng Miao came forward with a faint smile on his face.
She stood up and looked up: "Captain Zheng?"
Zheng Miao seemed a little embarrassed: "It's all my fault. I didn't explain it clearly to them."
Cai Lu followed him inside, and the staff simply scanned her body with a scanner. When they found nothing abnormal, they handed her an orange electronic wristband.
"Where did you go that night?" Zheng Miao asked her with concern.
She shook her head and looked at the tents. People were so busy that they didn't even have time to look up and say hello. "It's a long story. Where are Qin Yu and Zhao Manman?"
"Zhao Manman is in the camp, Qin Yu..." He looked apologetically, "Qin Yu is missing."
"Missing?" Lu Cai stopped.
"We will find her—" Zheng Miao replied, "At present, we suspect that Xiao Yue kidnapped her."
"Xiao Yue?" Lu Cai looked even more puzzled.
She didn't believe everything he said. Now that Xiao Yue and Zhao Manman were in trouble at the same time, the only possibility she could think of was that they had discovered some secret and were being hunted. The worst possibility was that they had already been arrested.
I hope it hasn't come to the point of silencing him.
"Xiao Yue teamed up with the 'Ex Alliance' and sold them information from the camp." Zheng Miao made a gesture to instruct her to continue walking forward. "The 'Ex Alliance' was formerly the 'Ex Paleontological Research Institute'. From what I know, they are researching an ancient virus and are now conducting experiments on humans—"
"——Xiao Yue gave them the camp's layout and topographic map. If the 'Imperial Capital Refuge Camp' is breached, the refugees will be in danger." He looked up at Lu Cai with sincerity in his eyes.
"Why did he kidnap Qin Yu?" Lu Cai thought to himself, okay, he actually brought up "Ex".
They had reached a large tent along the edge.
"Zhao Manman is in there, but she is sick. The doctor just said she has a fever. She has been having a fever on and off for the past two days, and the fever-reducing medicine hasn't helped--" Zheng Miao pointed to the tent.
Lu Cai frowned, lifted the curtain and went in. He smelled a strong smell of alcohol and saw a small bulge on the bed on the right side.
"Zhao Manman?" She walked forward, and the person under the quilt trembled slightly.
She placed her palm on what looked like her shoulder, and her body trembled violently. Lu Cai frowned and grabbed the quilt to open it. At the same time, the sound of a chain snapping echoed throughout the tent. A gust of wind swept in, and the pungent smell of alcohol mixed with the stench of decaying corpses.
Lu Cai almost reflexively let go of the quilt, clenched his fist and punched the oncoming corpse.
The corpse's head was knocked sideways, and a slight sound of bones breaking reached Lu Cai's ears. She took a step back and saw the situation clearly.
This was a middle-aged woman who had been dead for a long time. The rotten flesh was clinging to her bones and was crumbling. When she moved, the flesh on her face shook twice, and the broken flesh fell down from the places where the skin had peeled off.
It growled twice, then crouched on all fours like a starving dog. Its completely white eye sockets oozed black pus, its nose sunken from Lu Cai's punch, and its upper lip missing, revealing its uneven, blackened teeth.
"You knew something happened to Xiao Yue." Zheng Miao's voice came from outside the tent, and the zombies shuddered. "That's why you only mentioned me when you came in."
Lu Cai turned and ran towards the door curtain, but encountered a transparent wall.
"Now that you're here, I can only lead you into a trap—" Zheng Miao's voice was cold. "Wait until you become a 'gu', and then we'll meet again—"
The voice gradually became vague, and the zombies behind her regained their bloodthirsty nature and pounced towards her, but Lu Cai dodged them.
insanity?
Put hundreds of insects into a jar and open it after a year. One insect will surely eat all the others. This is called a Gu.
So, is she going to kill them all?
He watched the zombies crash into the transparent barrier and hop around on the ground. But how could he be sure that she could be used by him after becoming a Gu?
She took out the dagger. No matter what the other party's conspiracy was, there was only one way out before her -
Hit it out!
I couldn't help but feel a little angry. She complained about the brain-burning guessing of her identity, and now she had to deal with such a big...
Outside the tent, on the city wall.
A middle-aged man stood beside the young man in military uniform. Both of them stared eagerly at the camp below the city wall, which had become a hell on earth.
"The few we brought in today are the 'gu' left over from City C. They should be quite effective—" The middle-aged man could hardly contain the excitement in his tone. He looked downstairs and said, "This is the meaning of life! Humanity will undergo an unprecedented evolution!"
The tent in the corner, isolated by the barrier, collapsed with a crash. A moment later, a thin girl in black clothes and short hair jumped out.
The girl clenched the dagger and swung the knife. Some zombies fell down, while others were about to collapse.
In a jar filled with monsters, she became the most valiant poisonous insect. With no goal, no path, she would just chop down any grinning zombies she saw.
"She is indeed a powerful person, but she is not a perfect life." The middle-aged man lamented, "She will die, Zheng Miao."
Zheng Miao understood what he meant. No matter how brave this girl was, she was still an "old human" who had not been transformed and would eventually die of old age and illness.
"This is not something you should worry about, Dr. Cao." Zheng Miao's eyes followed the black shadows moving among the zombies.
The dark figure moved in and out of the tent, its gleaming silver blade stained with mucus and blood.
Lu Cai chopped down a middle-aged zombie nearby. Looking at the neatly dressed middle-aged man staggering and falling, one could imagine that in their hearts, the refuge camp was their last support and harbor.
But this camp was not set up to rescue them.
What exactly is Zheng Miao doing? Raising Gu?
Do you want a zombie with a virus-like omnipotence? A biological weapon?
She had to find a way out. She didn't want to be led by the nose. He wanted to refine the Gu, and she didn't want to be a poisonous insect in his experiment.
Lu Cai jumped quickly among the figures. These zombies not only attacked the living, but also killed each other as if they had received orders.
Blood soaked the land covered by the barrier, and those who once held the hope of survival became corpses who only knew how to kill.
Gradually, the sky became dark and the stars and the moon were obscured by thick clouds.
There were roars, biting sounds, the sound of daggers sinking into flesh, and the sound of corpses falling to the ground.
She saw blood splattering and slime flowing everywhere in the dim light. She was like a devil with bloodshot eyes, fighting her way along the towering and thick city wall.
The evil spirits did it to play with her, but she did it to survive.
I walked along the stone wall, uncovering some digital traces. These were light green mixed with orange. But I still couldn't find the exit...
Where is the breakthrough?
Qinyu.
Lu Cai thought that Qin Yu had been here before. As long as he could find traces of Qin Yu's system, he might be able to find an exit.
Qin Yu must have discovered something.
Looking back at the orange-yellow numbers that filled the sky, those numbers formed a string of discontinuous data, like words left on the pages of a book after being gnawed by bookworms.
In the midst of the orange-yellow, Lu Cai saw a familiar green light coming from a tent near the stone wall.
Lu Cai gripped the blade tightly and rushed towards the tent.
The girl's figure was like a gust of wind, becoming a ghost in the night.
Zheng Miao, perched on the wall, watched her run towards the tent, his brows furrowed. How had she found it? He had expected her to find the tent, but he hadn't expected her to find Qin Yu's so quickly.
He relaxed his frown and a smile appeared in his eyes again.
This is interesting. If his qualifications were mediocre, he would also be disappointed.
The girls were fighting below. Zheng Miao smiled and turned to walk towards the stairs behind him.
Dr. Cao looked at the purgatory on earth and felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. Before long, the "new humans" would occupy this planet, and he, Cao Zhongzheng, would be the greatest creator.
He also withdrew his gaze and followed Zheng Miao's back into the stone wall.
Lu Cai pulled aside the curtain and revealed two simple beds in the tent. The quilts on the beds were all uncovered, but the one on the right was tidier.
The green player system trace slowly floated from the bed on the left into the air.
She walked over quickly, rummaged through the bed, and finally lifted the mattress and found an orange electronic wristband on the side of the bed.
——Qin Yu, eleven o'clock sharp.
There are strong traces of telekinesis in it. The wristband stopped abruptly after Qin Yu injected telekinesis into it.
What does eleven o'clock mean? When did Qin Yu leave the tent?
Lu Cai was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a bloody white right hand slowly emerging from the foot of the bed. The nails on the hand were sharp and stained with black, rancid meat.
——
A fully enclosed office, with white light tubes in the corridor emitting a cold light.
Zheng Miao walked forward until he reached a closed iron gate. He took out his ID card and swiped it against the reader. With a click, the iron gate opened like a single-sided elevator door.
There were many men and women in white coats inside. Some of them were observing something with a microscope, some were writing furiously and recording important data, and some were staring at the computer and analyzing the undulating data graphs.
"Captain Zheng!" A researcher working on a computer spotted Zheng Miao and said excitedly, "One of the subjects in the last batch performed well!"
Zheng Miao walked behind his computer chair and looked carefully at the numbers and patterns flashing on the screen.
"Look at this—" the researcher said with delight, "Its brain waves have remained consistently between 15 and 25 Hz, stabilizing in the beta wave range!"
Cao Zhongzheng happened to come in and heard this. His expression twisted into a frenzy: "How are its other vital signs?"
The researcher was somewhat disappointed: "Except for the brain, its body is dying a 'normal death'."
"We've taken a big step forward!" Cao Zhongzheng wasn't disappointed, his eyes still shining. "At least it proves that under the influence of the virus, the experimental subject can still maintain human thinking!"
Zheng Miao's eyes passed over the name of the experimental subject above the computer screen, and without stopping, he looked at the data on the side.
The author has something to say:
1. Take hundreds of insects and put them into a jar. After a year, open the jar and one insect will eat all the others. This is called a Gu.
——Excerpt from Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen
2. Brainwave knowledge comes from the Internet, so professionals should not study it.
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