Chapter 179
Su Xingyuan withdrew his gaze and had no idea of doing anything for the time being.
And 1% progress is really nothing. Now that we have found the idea, it will be much easier to move forward. In previous games, once a mission progress appeared, it would never regress. But in this mission, Su Xingyuan vaguely felt that if he didn't pay much attention, this hard-earned progress would very smoothly return from 1% to 0%.
Otherwise, something like this couldn't have happened only once, and it couldn't have shaken only this one resident, yet the city remained so calm? Obviously, if there is no subsequent intervention, the consciousness that is about to break free from the shackles will return to the state of being blinded by layers of confusion.
In such a situation, the most useful approach is to simply and rudely show off one's prowess in front of others. Unfortunately, the moment the task pop-up window appeared, he vaguely sensed the relevant taboos - that is, don't go too far.
His very existence was proof of extraordinary power, but he could not allow this proof to draw too much attention. This is also the fundamental reason why the black dragon, as a fantasy creature, will be rejected at its full size, but will no longer be targeted after it shrinks into an inconspicuous ordinary animal.
The person who reported the case was some distance away from him, and the room was soundproofed, so perhaps no one thought he could hear anything. So even if a passing staff member noticed that the black-haired boy tilted his head slightly, as if listening attentively, he did not pay much attention.
"...I worked overtime today, and it was dark when I got off work. My home is not far away, and I was bored in the office all day, so I wanted to go out for a walk. When I walked home, I found that someone seemed to be following me..."
"I started hiding in a roadside convenience store. After a while, I couldn't see him anymore and thought he had left. But then I saw him again in the alley near my home... This time I was sure he followed me back. I was scared and called the police."
When she spoke of this, she lowered her head, but her voice unexpectedly became gradually calmer.
"After I called the police, I sped up and tried to go home. He noticed that I called the police but didn't leave. Instead, he chased after me. When I was about to run out of the alley, I saw a man in a police uniform. My mind was so confused at the time that I thought he was a lifeline, and then... he grabbed me and dragged me back into the alley."
After saying this, the atmosphere in the room froze for a moment. A trace of pity flashed across the policewoman's face. Asking the victim to recall the details of what happened would obviously be another insult, but it was a job requirement and the situation was special, so there was no way to make any concessions.
"And then what?" the male police officer who was working with the female police officer continued to ask.
"Then..." The reporter's voice became calmer and calmer. If everyone else's attention was not focused on what she said, they might have noticed that her tone gradually lacked any emotion. When describing the incident, it was as if she was standing from an outsider's perspective, observing her own experience.
"After the man in police uniform dragged me in, he first snatched my bag, took out my phone, forced me to unlock it, and entered my bank card password. I was so scared that I didn't react until the other man started to touch me. Then I reacted and started to resist violently, but was kicked several times."
She pointed at the bruise on her arm and said, "He kicked me right here. Luckily, I subconsciously used my hands to protect my head, chest, and abdomen."
"What about Su Xingyuan..." the male police officer added, "He's the black-haired boy who was brought back with you."
After hearing these words, the reporter finally raised her head. She recalled blankly, seeming a little dazed.
"He suddenly appeared... I don't know when he arrived, but the moment he appeared, the two people who beat me stopped moving. They fell to the ground at the same time, and blood gushed out from nowhere... I didn't know what happened, and before I could react, I didn't have time to say a word to him or thank him, the two police officers arrived."
At this point, she leaned forward slightly, twisted her hands together unconsciously, and stared at the male police officer: "He didn't do anything, and he helped me. Where is he now? Is he okay?"
"Please don't worry, he's fine, we just want to understand the situation," the two police officers said quickly, "You will see him later, he is outside."
The reporter then slowly sat back in his original position, and his emotions, which had been tense for a moment, seemed to slowly calm down.
Suddenly, the two police officers in charge of the questioning felt that something was not right.
Although they have been in this business for many years and have seen many people with all kinds of personalities, they have never seen a victim who just acted extremely hurt and terrified, but became as calm as a bystander in just a few dozen minutes, and only showed obvious emotional fluctuations when the victim mentioned the person who saved her.
Add to that the two inexplicably crazy robbers... It was already late at night, and this weird situation made people feel a chill down their spine for no reason.
Both officers quickened the pace of their questioning, and soon the reporter was in the hallway.
The black-haired boy who was quietly stroking the cat's back heard the footsteps, raised his head and smiled at her.
It was an ordinary smile without any sympathy or pity, as if he was just nodding to someone you met on the street. It was so ordinary that it even made people feel that he was a little indifferent.
For some reason, the reporter's emotions suddenly became more relaxed and stable.
"My name is Ruan Tiexin." She did not sit in the row seat next to the black-haired boy, but squatted in front of him and introduced herself seriously face to face.
The black-haired boy said: "Nice to meet you. I am..."
“…Su Xingyuan.” Ruan Tiexin whispered the name before the other party answered.
She seemed to remember... this name.
[Progress: 3%]
The black-haired boy was still smiling.
Seeing his unchanged smile, Ruan Tiexin seemed to come back to his senses and explained, "It was the police officer who asked me the question just now who told me your name."
"Yes," Su Xingyuan nodded, "I heard it."
The police officer who followed Ruan Tiexin out of the door and had just closed it paused.
...Did he hear it?
How is that possible? The room just now was made of very high-end sound-proofing materials. Besides, their voices were not loud.
But even thinking like this, he couldn't help but look at the other person a few more times - after all, the handsome black-haired boy in front of him was the source of all the strange events today.
From the moment he suddenly appeared on the top floor early in the morning, everything seemed to be wrong.
Later they checked the surveillance cameras. There were no surveillance cameras on the rooftop, but there were surveillance cameras in the building, whether on the stairs or in the elevator. They didn't capture any content of the black-haired boy, as if he really appeared out of thin air, or as he said... he jumped down from the sky.
Even though he was feeling a subtle chill, considering that their conversation might reveal some information, he still stood aside stubbornly and did not leave.
Fortunately, these two people didn't seem to care about his presence.
Seeing that Su Xingyuan didn't have any other reaction, Ruan Tiexin paused and said hesitantly: "I'm not trying to flirt with you... but I seem to have really seen you before, or I know you... I'm not lying..."
The first paragraph left the police officer who stayed behind stunned.
These two people actually know each other?
You know, there is no trace of Su Xingyuan. If Ruan Tiexin could know Su Xingyuan, the mystery would most likely be solved!
"Know me?"
The black-haired boy tilted his head slightly, his eyes lowered, his gaze lightly falling on the other person's pupils, as if he thought about something for a moment: "Maybe many people know me... but that's a recent thing."
Hearing this, Ruan Tiexin's fingertips trembled violently.
"Recent things...recent...things."
What happened recently?
No, it should be...what happened?
Recently, she came to this city, settled down, and found a job close to home. What about things further away? Why did she suddenly feel like she couldn't remember clearly?
But just this morning, when she was happily checking this month's bonus, she was also happily recalling her life before coming to this city. How come everything has become so blurry now?
The same period of time...seems to be intertwined with completely different memories.
The name Su Xingyuan is in the intertwined memories, closer to the present time.
Ruan Tiexin raised his head.
After coming out of the room where she was taking the statement and seeing the presence of "Su Xingyuan" and his smile that was exactly the same as she remembered, she subconsciously felt a sense of relaxation and security throughout her body, as if "it's finally here". This sense of relaxation and security could not be faked. It was as if the thing that had been vaguely worrying her for a long time and had prevented her from truly settling down had finally been revealed.
There was something wrong with her memory.
Big problem.
While she was clearing her memory, Su Xingyuan also got some information from her reaction.
Ruan Tiexin knew him, so the speculation that the residents here were most likely the residents outside the portal could be basically confirmed. Moreover, as he said, almost everyone in the world knows him, and only recently did they know the name "Su Xingyuan".
It hasn't been long since he debuted in J City, not to mention that his fame has probably spread to everyone.
In other words, Ruan Tiexin may have just been here not long ago. Perhaps this is also the reason why she showed signs of sobriety without anyone's intervention, and she was not trapped deeply enough.
Su Xingyuan asked: "According to your perception, how long have you been in this city?"
Ruan Tiexin slowly recalled: "I have been here for more than a year. It will be two years soon. Things before coming to this city... Sorry, I don't remember it very clearly."
"Two years?"
Su Xingyuan's hand that was stroking the cat paused slightly.
He knew that the speed of time in the portal was different from that in the outside world, but the speed of time in this underground city was also particularly different from that in the outside world.
If that's the case... the people here were actually originally from outside the dungeon. After falling in here, they got married, had children, and their numbers are increasing. It's entirely possible.
Su Xingyuan originally thought that some of the people here might have fallen in accidentally, and then were slowly assimilated and became part of this place. After all, he had seen many elderly people and children in families in this city. It had only been seven years since the portal appeared outside. Seven years was not enough time for the age span here to be so large.
But what if... the time here passes at an alarming speed?
Then this situation is entirely possible.
“…”
The black-haired boy sighed softly.
No wonder the game's mission description lets him choose, rather than directly giving him the order to destroy the place. What a bad taste.
If the original residents here really came from outside, then after the truth is revealed, they will definitely regain their memories and wake up. By then, it will be very difficult to give up everything here - assets, achievements, family... and start over.
Moreover, they live happily here and have a harmonious family. It would be like a bolt from the blue to suddenly find out one day that all this is built on an illusion.
If someone has an extreme personality, they are likely to hate the person who made them sober up. In their eyes, Su Xingyuan would no longer be the so-called savior, but a hateful and nosy guy.
However, Su Xingyuan is not worried about anyone's revenge. If a red name appears, just make it disappear. If no red name appears, there is no need to care about it. He will not stop his actions because of these reasons.
What's more, it is impossible that all the people here are willing to perish.
For example, Ruan Tiexin. This dungeon has no portal and is closed. She would not have the chance to actively choose to fall into this dungeon. The probability is that she fell in. On the other hand, her memory was flawed, and staying and being assimilated was probably not her own choice.
[Progress: 5%]
From 1% to 5%, all Su Xingyuan did was to report his name.
It seems that sometimes being a little famous is not completely useless.
"Calm down first." Su Xingyuan said calmly, "Thinking too much will easily drive you crazy."
He curled his eyes slightly and made a joke to ease the atmosphere: "Didn't those two guys go crazy and be hospitalized?"
The flow of time here is much faster than in the outside world. The one month it takes him to keep an appointment outside might take him half a year here. So he was not in a hurry.
Giving Ruan Tiexin more stimulation might speed up the progress of the task, but Su Xingyuan still attaches great importance to mature task subjects who can complete the task on their own.
After all, it would be troublesome if you accidentally upset the object of the task. It is not so easy to find another one who has just come in and has not been completely assimilated.
In this world, the chance of going crazy is indeed quite high. Su Xingyuan, who has a rationality bar, will always pay attention to his intelligence value to prevent himself from becoming mentally retarded one day.
"You mean they go crazy because they think too much?"
The police officer at the side caught the key words and couldn't help but ask.
Su Xingyuan shook his head and raised an index finger: "Thinking too much may just be one of the reasons for going crazy."
"What's the meaning?"
the police officer demanded.
The black-haired boy smiled and spoke, his pointed fangs looming on both sides, his voice was very brisk: "Who knows if they are thinking too much or they saw something... they shouldn't have seen?"
The police officer's heart suddenly trembled, and he always felt that the black-haired boy in front of him seemed to be hinting at something.
"You'd better be honest and stop being ambiguous!"
He doesn't look very old, but why does he always sound like he has done something wrong when he speaks?
The black-haired boy blinked his eyes innocently and spread his hands, looking very helpless: "Don't look at what you shouldn't look at, it's easy to go crazy, and don't listen to what you shouldn't listen to, Mr. Officer."
Sometimes, those that are vague are most likely to be the truth, while those that are clearly described are basically drafted in advance and are either lies or polished. Rather than embellishing your words without knowing whether they are true or false, it is better to say what you want to say exactly.
The police officer's brows were furrowed so tightly that they looked like they could pinch a fly to death.
After all, the black-haired boy looked submissive and helpless, but his tone of voice did not convey any sign of submission at all, and even had a hint of coldness.
"I'll go back to the hospital first." Su Xingyuan smiled at them and said naturally, "After all, it's so late now, you should be sleepy too, right? Now is a good time to go to bed."
The police officer who is still on duty: "..."
Ruan Tiexin pursed his lips and asked, "Are those two people in the same hospital as you?"
Su Xingyuan recalled: "It seems so."
Ruan Tiexin: "I want to go see them."
Su Xingyuan smiled and said, "Of course I have no opinion."
Those two people are probably still in the hospital undergoing various examinations. The reason for their madness cannot be figured out no matter what, and the doctors in charge of them must be very worried.
In the end, a female police officer drove Su Xingyuan and Ruan Tiexin to the hospital. Ruan Tiexin only seemed to have external injuries, and although he had already received simple treatment in the infirmary, it would be safer for him to go to the hospital for a check-up.
As she wished, she met the two robbers.
"I heard that they suddenly went crazy... I'm afraid they are acting out to avoid responsibility. I want to go and see for myself."
There is nothing wrong with this statement. Besides, I am just watching from a distance, so there is no reason to refuse.
Through the window on the door, Ruan Tiexin finally saw the current situation of the two people.
They were crazier than she had imagined.
He was terrified, trembling, and shouting. He only calmed down after being injected with a sedative. His lips were still moving and his eyes were unfocused, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying.
But these...are not enough.
Ruan Tiexin's eyes dimmed.
No one could see that the strands of magic power on her body left her body, penetrated into the ward, and finally entangled the two crazy people.
[Progress: 9%]
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