Chapter 87 Scattered
"My name is Qi Ling. My grandfather is... my parents are... anyway, my family is very rich."
Seeing that they remained silent, Qi Ling looked somewhat anxious. "As long as I can return to the capital and reunite with my family, you can offer me whatever reward you want."
Tao Haohao didn't know how to tell him.
198 years have passed outside, and money is worth less than waste paper.
Yun Zhao, sitting on the second bed in the middle facing the door, suddenly spoke up, "Don't you have a brother or sister named Baluo?"
"Huh?" Qi Ling was clearly not able to keep up with her train of thought.
Yun Zhao had been observing his micro-expressions and said, "There's an idiom called 'scattered and broken,' haven't you learned it?"
Qi Ling: "?"
Everyone: "..."
Qi Ling was clearly taken aback by her words. After regaining her composure, she followed up with, "I do have twin sisters... but they're not called Baluo."
Tao Haohao's expression was indescribable.
Does it matter?
Nearly two hundred years have passed; even if someone were to die of old age, their body would probably have turned into a skeleton by now.
"Besides this? Don't you have any other requests?"
Tao Haohao tried to lure the key with food, saying, "Do you need any food? We brought instant noodles..."
Qi Ling shook his head, "No need. The robots used in the shelter are all made by my family's company. I led them to the warehouse where the robots were stored and we got a lot of food in return."
He does indeed seem to be a rich second-generation.
However, three years of living underground had smoothed out his rough edges.
According to Qi Ling, he had a fight with his family and, in a fit of anger, ran away to the southwest for a trip.
A dark apocalypse suddenly descended, and he was trapped here, losing contact with his family ever since.
Qi Ling's home is located in a heavily guarded villa area in the capital. His home contains countless robots produced by his own company, and there are two large collection rooms on the second basement floor. The doors are made of the most sturdy copper and are not afraid of being corroded by slime.
He firmly believes that his family is safe and wants to go back to reunite with them.
Tao Haohao was at a loss after hearing this.
Just then, a familiar, tall figure walked towards them from the other end of the corridor.
Tao Haohao exclaimed as if he had seen a savior, "Captain!"
Xie Tu nodded slightly, then walked closer and said to Qi Ling, "We won't leave for now, you should go back and rest."
Clearly, the S-class Sentinels' keen hearing had already picked up on what they were talking about.
Why did it take so long to resolve something that could be settled with just a few words?
Ignoring the young man outside, Xie Tu stepped into the room and slammed the door shut.
They act decisively and without hesitation.
The person outside hesitated for a long time before the footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
inside the house.
Tao Haohao received a disapproving look from his captain and tried to save face, muttering, "I was just deliberately stalling for time so Yun Zhao's expression would be off, to give her a better chance to observe. Captain, don't really think I'm stupid..."
Xie Tu ignored him and turned to look at Yun Zhao, his gaze becoming deep and unfathomable. "The will-o'-the-wisp on his forehead is different?"
Although it was a question, the tone was very certain.
You're quick-witted.
"Hmm, pale purple will-o'-the-wisps."
Yun Zhao nodded, "There are now four colors, which must be related to the rules."
This proves her guess was correct.
The color of the will-o'-the-wisp changes from bright to dark, and when it is completely extinguished, all emotions are drained away.
"But why is that young man named Qi Ling different from the others?"
The rabbit couldn't understand it and muttered, "The people here seem too normal to me; it's really hard to see them as monsters."
Major General Qin was excited to see them.
The honest-looking soldier who just brought them here.
And outside the door, there was a young man named Qi Ling who desperately wanted to go home and reunite with his family.
They even remembered their own names and every detail of their past; their memories were completely accurate.
Rabbit was the last member of Team Zero to join, besides Yun Zhao. She had been to the contaminated areas and had very little contact with the 'people' there.
As a sniper, she had absolute confidence in her eyesight and observation skills, but once inside, even her king chameleon couldn't distinguish between the real and the fake.
Her impression was that everyone inside was a living, breathing person...
"Captain, do you think it's possible that Shelter 28 is a real world, and the gatekeeper didn't kill them because the flow of time is different, so they're still alive?" Rabbit asked, expressing her doubts.
Yun Zhao was stunned by what the rabbit said.
She thought of herself, and of the sixth contaminated zone.
“What you’re describing is impossible,” Song Liang said. “At least no one in our base has encountered this, and the same is true for the other three bases.”
Duan Xi nodded in agreement.
He didn't know how to explain this phenomenon either.
Xie Tu began, “There was once a famous philosophical theory—the brain in a vat.”
Xie Tu's gaze involuntarily fell on Yun Zhao, who looked dazed. "Imagine taking a human brain out intact, putting it in a nutrient solution tank, and connecting the brain's nerve endings to a supercomputer."
"This computer simulates the five senses according to the program and transmits various neural electrical information to the brain. For the brain, it is completely unable to distinguish whether it is in the real world or the virtual world."
Xie Tu glanced indifferently at the rabbit, then looked back at Yun Zhao. "If we compare the gatekeepers to supercomputers, then we and the people inside are different brains."
Reality and virtual reality.
Is the reality we perceive truly real, or is it constructed by the brain? And what does the concept of 'reality' itself mean?
Xie Tu said, "For us, the outside world is reality, but for the people inside, the polluted area is reality. Once we are influenced by them and confuse reality with virtual reality, we are not far from being assimilated."
Yun Zhao still looked dazed.
He said a lot, but didn't completely deny it. Was it because he wasn't sure himself?
Perhaps it can be understood as the body being dead, but the soul still living?
Song Liang patted the rabbit and said, "Business is important, Captain. Have you gotten the key yet?"
The interior space is cramped.
Xie Tu walked along the narrow path, which was only wide enough for one person, and sat down next to Yun Zhao. "Well, I found someone who was starving and gave him two pieces of chocolate."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
The fact that Zhang Dehui was able to leave from here proves that a key exists.
"Let's get back to the main topic."
Xie Tu raised his wrist, revealing his communicator. "It's 11:50 now. Everyone, check your time."
"yes!"
Yun Zhao lowered her eyelids, looking somewhat downcast, and fiddled with her communicator.
She's not very good at using electronic devices.
The two sat on a wooden bed.
Xie Tu looked down at her, patiently watched for a long time, and then reached out to help her.
The man moved swiftly, lighting up the screen of her communicator in a few moments and setting the time to synchronize with his.
Xie Tu withdrew his hand, glanced around, and saw that everyone had already checked the time. "Let's analyze the task first."
"The first suspicious point is that, apart from Yun Zhao, everyone else had will-o'-the-wisps on their foreheads after we came in. I personally believe that as long as the will-o'-the-wisps appear, they will not disappear even if we get the key and leave."
Otherwise, Zhang Dehui's situation cannot be explained.
He experienced distortion even when the pollution concentration was below the level where distortion was possible.
When Xie Tu arrived with Yun Zhao, Zhang Dehui had already turned into a monster.
Yun Zhao did not see whether there was a ghost fire on his forehead.
Song Liang had already figured it out. "So regardless of whether we've investigated the incident thoroughly or not, we must find the gatekeeper and eliminate the entire contaminated area. Otherwise, we might all end up like Zhang Dehui?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts, which had just been at ease after receiving the key, were once again filled with anxiety.
Duan Xi subconsciously touched his forehead, "In the end, it all comes down to eliminating the gatekeeper..."
Xie Tu hummed in agreement, then suddenly looked up at the ceiling.
He activated his senses, and the so-called Area A upstairs was the floor where the soldiers had been when they came in.
The entire floor was converted from a subway station.
Inside the dark walls, there was a complex network of pipes, and one of them was dripping water.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
The people in the room gradually got used to the dripping sound of water and didn't pay much attention to it.
It's 11:59 now.
Just as Yun Zhao finished studying how to set the time, he suddenly heard two rapid flipping sounds in his ears.
At the same time.
Xie Tu, who was standing next to him, suddenly stood up, his gaze becoming extremely sharp as he stared intently at the ceiling above.
The sound of dripping water upstairs suddenly stopped...
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