Chapter 137

Chapter 137

The purgatorial flames hadn't died, but their fury had receded to a smolder.

Except for the central crater, the temperature had fallen to a level some Awakened could now endure. Several, their spiritual power thresholds hovering around 2000, charged into the scorched field carrying stretchers, their protective suits doing little to slow their pace.

One of them was a familiar face.

Even through the thick visor of his helmet, Lin Sinan’s eyes widened with recognition when they met Lu Yan’s. "Doctor Lu!"

They were the reinforcements. Lin Sinan was usually stationed in M City, but after the emergency alert came through in the early hours, he’d been flown here on a priority transport. They’d braced for a suicide mission, only to be notified by headquarters upon landing that the situation was mostly contained. Their job now was cleanup.

But even with that warning, the sight of the massive black dragon coiled in the ashes made Lin Sinan suck in a sharp breath. If the detector on his belt hadn’t stayed stubbornly dark, he’d have sworn the Tyrant had become a pollutant.

Lu Yan patted Tang Xian’an’s face, trying to rouse him. No response. The dragon’s tail even gave an unconscious, lazy sweep that nearly took out a medic’s knees.

In the end, headquarters called in a few higher-tier Awakened. They maneuvered the unconscious Tang Xian’an onto a stretcher and loaded him into a heavy transport truck, destination: the nearest facility, Research Institute No. 6. For safety, they’d run a full battery of tests for evaluation.

Lu Yan stood by the roadside, watching them haul him away.

"You know, Doctor Lu," Lin Sinan said, falling into step beside him. "Haven't seen you at the recent briefings. Did you hear they built a new Awakened memorial garden in K City? After the parasitic fish incident… so many were lost there. They fast-tracked the funding. The first batch of headstones is already up. Next spring, schools will probably organize trips. Paying respects."

Lu Yan, who rarely surfed the net, looked faintly surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah." Lin Sinan nodded. "Also, after that attack on the First Research Institute… one of the Awakened who died was named Gu Zheng. From K City originally. They buried him there too."

He paused, his voice softening. "Worked all these years, never heard his name before. Read his epitaph. Did a lot. Makes you respect the Seniors who came before."

Lu Yan’s gaze drifted involuntarily toward the still-smoldering pit. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Gu Zheng was… good."

The other Awakened who’d sustained heavy injuries were loaded into life-support pods, all bound for the same destination. The best medical minds from every institute were already converging there.

In one of the mobile hospital units, Michael, bandaged and battered, managed to lift his phone. He tilted his head at a perfect 45-degree angle, closed his eyes, and took a selfie, which he immediately posted.

The caption read: Code Red! Archangel Down! (Posted by Liaison)

It shot to the top of the trending charts. His feed instantly flooded with virtual hugs and kisses. On a secret side account, he gave a ‘like’ to a comment that read, "Husband was way hotter than the Tyrant today."

In the next bed over, Zhou Qimeng jerked upright as if electrocuted. "My expo! It opens today!! I have to be there! My game got selected!"

He was promptly wrestled back down by an orderly, strapped securely to the bed with restraints, and left to watch tearfully as Detective Chen and Chen Shisi sent him live streams from the event.

Lu Yan’s own injuries were minor, but he still boarded a follow-up vehicle to Institute No. 6.

Mostly because he was afraid the dog-dragon might cry if he woke up and couldn't find him.

The system chimed in. [He's not that fragile! You have more important things to do!]

"Like what?"

[Writing reports. Cleaning. Surgery. Cooking. Reading. Swimming. Things you like.]

Lu Yan thought for a moment. "I like watching Tang Xian’an cry."

[...]

The system fell into a brief, stunned silence.

In the vehicle, Lu Yan used the disinfectant wipes a staff member provided to clean the blood from his dagger. He was caked in it—pollutant blood, baked dry by the heat, sticking to his skin like a second, grisly layer. It was profoundly uncomfortable.

The Sixth Research Institute was built into a repurposed mine shaft. A small train clattered its way deep inside, revealing a vast, hidden complex.

After a shower, Lu Yan made his way to the intensive care unit.

Tang Xian’an was dressed in medical scrubs now. Reportedly, he’d woken briefly before sinking back into unconsciousness.

Ji Wen stood by the bed, holding a data tablet, clicking his tongue in amazement. "Thought we were done for. But his vitals are rock solid."

His eyes then shifted to Lu Yan. "Truly impressive, Master Di Ting."

Lu Yan sensed the unspoken question hanging in the air, but since neither seemed inclined to press, he let it lie. His attention was caught by the pile of fabric bunched under Tang Xian’an’s head and body. His expression turned odd. "Are those… my clothes?"

Tang Xian’an was buried in them, sleeping soundly, his face completely hidden, only a few unruly tufts of hair visible.

[Affirmative,] the system said. [After the notable calming effect observed last time, the Third Research Institute, in pursuit of causality, extracted scent markers from your garments. They synthesized a fragrance replicating your scent using a blend of chemical compounds. As Tang Xian’an operates globally, every major institute now keeps a bottle in stock. They also mass-produced replicas of your clothing style. Quite the stockpile.]

"That's borderline pathological."

[Takes one to know one.]

[Oh, I remembered something. Things got rather lively during your fight, and I forgot to mention.]

[Utilizing the 'Foresight' talent, Shen Qingyang has acquired the 'Ear.' He now possesses the 'Ear' and the 'Limbs.']

[That little dirt octopus is working very hard in the shadows, you know. He even passed the English CET-6 exam, by the way.]

According to the system, there were seven fish.

Lu Yan had consumed four.

Lu Yan offered no comment. Once he confirmed Tang Xian’an was stable, he made rounds to other rooms to check on acquaintances.

Zhou Qimeng had an IV in his arm but was stubbornly hammering away at a laptop. He was playtesting a AAA single-player game he’d reportedly sunk billions into.

His gaming company wasn't exactly profitable, but contribution points converted to cash. Game development was a money pit, which explained why, despite not being a formal Special Operations member, he constantly tagged along on missions to earn those points.

It was clear that when a gaming addict was in the zone, even the object of his unrequited affection standing beside him went completely unnoticed.

Lu Yan glanced at the screen. Zhou Qimeng’s character was fighting monsters in a deep-sea environment. He was utterly engrossed.

The screen was bright, but visibility was poor. Vague, grotesque monster outlines shifted in the gloom. The seafloor was studded with eyes. A pool of blood held strange, dead fish. Occasionally, inky-black octopus tentacles would lash out from the darkness behind the character.

A staff member whispered to Lu Yan, "Master Di Ting… he's been playing for over 24 hours straight. Perhaps you could… encourage a break?"

Just then, a cutscene triggered. The screen went black. The sound of mournful, tolling bells filled the room.

After a few seconds, a dialogue box appeared at the bottom of the screen.

It was a mix of Chinese characters and strange, alien script. Lu Yan strained to decipher it.

[You shouldn't have come. The truth isn't important.]

[You can trust me. But it's best if you never do.]

[…Big brother.]

Lu Yan leaned in abruptly, trying to see more. But the next instant, a forced logout screen popped up.

[Health System Reminder: You have played 'Global Evolution' for 10 hours today! The system will force a 1-hour logout.]

[Game in moderation, live a healthy life. Thank you for your support and love for this game!]

Zhou Qimeng threw his mouse down. "Shit!!"

Lu Yan rarely swore, but in that moment, he felt a spike of profound, shared frustration.

Zhou Qimeng’s eyes were bloodshot. He turned to grab a water cup and finally noticed Lu Yan, his face a mask of shock. "Doctor Lu! When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago," Lu Yan said, his lips pressing into a thin line. "What game is that?"

"Ah," Zhou Qimeng scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "It's our company's own title. 'Global Evolution.' It got selected for a government support program, so it's selling pretty well on Steam."

"Sales were good, so the dev team decided to make a DLC as a thank-you. It uses the latest super-AI for a lot of randomized story elements. I just got the demo before coming to X City. Was giving it a try."

Lu Yan’s brow furrowed slightly. "Could you send me a copy? I'd like to play."

Zhou Qimeng immediately shoved the laptop into Lu Yan's arms. "Just take mine! Password is your birthday! Give it back when you're done—can't gift it, too many important files on here."

"Thanks," Lu Yan said.

After offering his well-wishes to Zhou Qimeng, Lu Yan, laptop bag in hand, made brief visits to Yan Bei, Michael, and Bai Ze, expressing his regards.

By the time he returned to his assigned room, exactly one hour had passed.

He booted up Zhou Qimeng’s laptop. The icon for 'Global Evolution' sat prominently on the desktop.

Lu Yan had virtually no gaming experience beyond the match-three puzzles preloaded on phones. But the interface was in Chinese; he could figure it out.

The game menu offered two options: Continue Game and New Content.

Lu Yan didn't hesitate. He clicked Continue.

But the scene that loaded on the screen was nothing like what he’d seen before.

Lu Yan stared at the screen. A character model that looked a lot like him was bent over, a gentle smile on its face. "Zhou Qimeng, awake? Did you have another nightmare?"

Beneath the image, a dialogue box displayed the NPC's name: Doctor.

The system snickered. [Pfft. Congratulations, host, on becoming the poster boy. Surprised?]

[Doctor: According to the scan, your current lesion rate is 74.5%. Please don't go to such dangerous places next time. You worry me, okay?]

This NPC in the game had no specific name. His profession was listed as a doctor at the Prevention and Control Center.

Word was, because the doctor's character model was so well-made, he'd spawned a huge amount of popular fan art online.

Lu Yan did a quick search. It turned out in Global Evolution, all starting characters were ordinary people. You could only choose a gender.

In the newbie instance, the pollutant the player-controlled protagonist encountered would determine what kind of Awakened they became.

After that, every time you logged in, there would be a new mission instance.

These instances were all designed based on mission reports from the Awakened Forum, over three hundred of them. Failing an instance would land you in the "Mission Hall"—which was the intensive care unit of the Prevention and Control Center. After receiving "treatment" from the "Doctor," you'd respawn at full health, ready to start a new round of missions.

It was worth noting that in the game, a character's lesion rate wouldn't decrease unless medication was used. A lesion rate over 100% also counted as death. But players could choose to inherit half the assets of their previous character.

The game had been out for over half a year now, and no one had managed to clear every single instance.

Clearly, thanks to the abrupt health system pop-up, Zhou Qimeng's character had been judged to have "failed the mission" and was sent back to the starting point.

Lu Yan spent the next few hours trying. He even killed the mermaid club owner in the game again. But he never encountered that initial mission instance.

He couldn't help it. He clicked open the dialogue box with Zhou Qimeng's character. "Does your game's instance design have written scripts?"

Zhou Qimeng: Heh heh, our company's game generates instances based on an algorithm and framework using the available data! This game got massive support from headquarters and uses a lot of cutting-edge tech that hasn't even been released yet. In other words, there's no script.

Lu Yan: Okay.

He shut down the laptop. "Is this a coincidence?"

The system's answer was ambiguous. [Everything that has already happened is inevitable. It just depends on how you choose to think about it.]

"What did his words mean?" Lu Yan asked.

The system let out a soft, low chuckle.

Lu Yan thought it wouldn't answer. He was nearly asleep when he heard an extremely faint whisper.

[You are weak. That's why he is intent on making you fall.]