The clown froze completely, his pale ears burning red.
He stared in shock at Xia Linyin's face so close to his own, his gaze meeting those clear, black and white eyes, and he almost felt a surge of dread.
"Splash! Splash! Splash!"
His heart was pounding uncontrollably, his heart was so full that it ached.
It was as if something had finally filled his riddled heart, filled the gap that had been constantly letting in cold wind.
It filled...those dark, gaping holes.
The cold, lonely, and empty veins finally began to flow with warm blood.
A burning, intense emotion burst forth, like molten lava erupting from a volcano.
A surge of emotions churned within the Joker, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.
I love it so much...
I love it so much...
I like this person so much, so much, so much...
The clown stared at Xia Linyin with bloodshot eyes, like a long-starved beast finally seeing a delicious piece of meat. His excited, agitated, frantic, and infatuated gaze was twisted and intertwined.
It was a gaze that instilled fear and made you want to run away, a gaze that sent chills down your spine and made you shudder, afraid that you would be devoured alive in the next second.
But in reality, the Joker was carefully controlling his strength, afraid of hurting the person in front of him in the slightest.
His fingers trembled as he gently and carefully touched Xia Linyin's cheek, as if she were a precious treasure.
Tears rolled down his cheeks and landed on Xia Linyin's face.
"I cried?" The clown stared blankly at the water stain, gently wiping away Xia Linyin's tears. He licked his fingertip, his voice tinged with confusion, "Salty..."
Xia Linyin smiled, grabbed his hand and pressed it hard against her face, rubbing it against him. Her eyes, blurred with tears, looked at him tenderly.
Immersed in the water, her eyes, filled with a gentle smile, were so beautiful that the clown was captivated. He couldn't help but smile back, his smile more genuine and joyful than ever before.
He held Xia Linyin tightly in his arms, burying his face in her neck, "I'm so happy, so happy, so happy, so happy!"
The clown's voice was filled with joy and satisfaction. Just as he couldn't help but hug Xia Linyin tighter and tighter, his arms suddenly felt empty.
Xia Linyin disappeared, vanished without a trace.
The clown looked around at the empty space, his face filled with a heartbreaking bewilderment.
He couldn't sense even a trace of Xia Linyin's presence. His heart, which had just been throbbing with pain, now felt empty, and an indescribable sense of loss welled up in the clown's heart.
He was so heartbroken, so heartbroken, so heartbroken—
The clown clenched his fists, his head hung low, and wisps of black mist emanated from his body.
The black mist grew thicker and thicker, almost completely enveloping his entire body.
As if sensing something, the monsters downstairs fled in panic. No matter how powerful or strong they were, they were all trembling with fear.
Just as the black fog was gathering and growing larger, threatening to overturn the entire hospital like a tornado—
It vanished suddenly.
"Sister?" the clown uttered in a dry, hoarse voice.
Then he slowly curved his lips into a smile, and said with endless tenderness and affection, "Sister..."
The voice was filled with deep affection, as if it were wrapped in syrup made from honey, fragrant and sticky. Once it touched you, it was like a brand that was deeply imprinted on your soul and could never be washed away.
The clown raised his hand and stroked the lips that Xia Linyin had just kissed, softening his delicate eyebrows and eyes, and smiled sweetly.
Gradually, the smile faded from his face, replaced by expressions of pain, indignation, self-reproach, and even rage.
The clown's facial expressions kept changing, finally settling on an incredibly gentle look.
"Li Luo, she's still alive..."
"Did you hear that, Li Luo?"
"She's still alive, my sister is still alive..."
"I'm alive too..."
A blooming rose appeared in the clown's hand. He lowered his head and gently sniffed the rose's fragrance, his movements elegant and reserved.
"I will find you, sister."
The clown's figure gradually disappeared from the spot, leaving only a bewitching and beautiful rose lying quietly on the ground.
The wind blows, swirling up petals that drift and float away, merging with the wind into the world, leaving an invisible mark.
...
Su Yu threw the helmet in his hand onto the table, making a crisp "thud" sound.
With a gloomy expression on his cute baby face, Su Yu tapped the table and said, "Xia Linyin, we injected you with the X virus so you could kill the insect beasts, not fight against your own people!"
Xia Linyin kept her head down and didn't speak, her bangs obscuring her eyes and eyebrows.
"Do you know how serious your behavior is?"
Seeing Xia Linyin's unyielding attitude, Su Yu pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Project X cannot continue indefinitely. A few days ago, news came from the northern base that the insect beasts launched another attack. We can't delay any longer. The longer we wait, the more insect beasts will emerge from the wormhole, which will be more disadvantageous for us."
"We need to assemble the mech team as soon as possible. In about three weeks, we will shut down the entire game and end the selection of mech warriors. At that time..."
Su Yu didn't say the rest. The game ended, and everything based on the game naturally ceased to exist.
Xia Linyin's breath hitched. She gripped the fabric of her clothes tightly and slowly raised her head. "Is there... a way to keep him here?"
"What do you think?" Su Yu countered, his knuckles tapping the table. "This isn't an ordinary game, and he's not an ordinary NPC either."
"In a sense, he has developed his own thoughts, which is equivalent to having his own soul, but data is ultimately just data. You have to understand that he can never stand in front of us."
"To be honest, I'm very interested in him, but obviously now is not a good time to study how he came to be; I have more important things to do."
After a moment of silence, Su Yu said, "Your situation requires a psychologist. I will invite my friend over tomorrow. He is an excellent psychologist and has a lot of experience with your case."
"Before the insect invasion, many people were playing holographic online games, especially romance games. They became addicted to the virtual characters in the games because of their perfection, absolute loyalty, and excessive realism. What he wanted to do was to awaken these people."
"It's terrifying when someone can't distinguish between virtual and reality; such a person... isn't far from going crazy."
Xia Linyin shook her head. "No need."
She can distinguish between virtual and reality, and it is precisely because she can distinguish them that she feels pain.
"Your friend cannot wake up a perfectly rational person."
Xia Linyin twitched the corner of her mouth. "I know what I'm doing."
Su Yu scratched his hair in frustration, his baby face puffed up like a pufferfish in anger. He waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to take Xia Linyin away.
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