Infinite Game Ch.71.2

Chapter 71.2 – Atsha (3)

While strolling outside, Jiang Yujin received a message from Shi Bu, a video.

The video was a screen recording of surveillance footage from the office they had visited earlier. A middle-aged man with grayish-white hair handed a small square blue box to Lu Dongcheng, and as Lu Dongcheng accepted it, the box opened momentarily.

His leisurely stroll halted, and Jiang Yujin began to walk back.

Upon returning to the room, there was a knock on the door just as he arrived. Opening it, he smiled and greeted the person who said they were ready to leave.

After a few hours of sailing and two hours of negotiation, there was an inexplicable feeling here – the visitors seemed eager to depart. Upon hearing they could leave, they promptly returned to the ship they had arrived on.

The ship back had no members of Zero, and the others visibly appeared more relaxed. Glancing one last time at the city full of high-rise buildings, Jiang Yujin withdrew his gaze and returned to his room.

It wasn’t until they resurfaced in the open sea that people started coming out of their rooms to the deck to enjoy the breeze.

Jiang Yujin also mingled with the crowd. Some discussed the events that happened before leaving, mentioning hearing gunshots and seeing people armed on the streets after leaving the building.

The uncontrolled city did seem a bit too lawless, at least not suitable for people like them. Leaving earlier made everyone happy.

On the deck, Shi Bu found his brother and was about to approach when he saw Lu Dongcheng walk up to him.

Handing a bottle of water to the person in front of him, Lu Dongcheng asked, “Is everything done?”

He could sense that the other person didn’t come here for just a small amount of money; there was something else to be done.

Taking the offered water but not drinking it, Jiang Yujin held it and asked, “Is the deal completed?”

Lu Dongcheng confirmed that it was.

He provided the funds, they conducted the research, and any new technology developed belonged to him – it was as simple as that.

Jiang Yujin raised an eyebrow and asked, “Did he give you anything valuable?”

Lu Dongcheng’s expression remained unchanged, “Nothing valuable.”

Jiang Yujin smiled, and the emotion in his eyes faded. He offered the water cup to Lu Dongcheng’s lips and said, “Take a sip?”

Lu Dongcheng didn’t drink.

“Crash—”

The sudden sound of shattering glass pierced the air. Others on the deck, chatting away, were startled by the abrupt explosion of sound. Following the noise, they saw their boss being choked, with more than half of his body hanging over the railing. Just a little more, and he would plunge into the sea instantly.

Struggling to breathe, Lu Dongcheng looked up, meeting eyes devoid of any emotion. No disgust, no scrutiny, just like looking at a passing dog on the roadside.

Jiang Yujin said, “I warned you before, not to have a next time.”

There was something in the water. He had faintly sensed it when this person asked him if he wanted water while having tea within arm’s reach. Just now, he had speculated, and when this person chose not to drink the water, he knew his speculation was correct.

Such an incident had happened before in the game. On a stormy night, in a small cabin, unable to find the crucial item to advance, the other person casually handed him a cup of water.

He had been ready to drink, but in the end, he didn’t.

The strange thing was that the water was too clear. He could even see the faint gelatinous substance at the bottom of the cup that hadn’t completely dissolved.

He had encountered this substance before – it was a gel from a plant in the Game that could damage certain brain tissues, causing a functional amnesia. He had seen it, but he didn’t expect that this substance would be used on him one day.

The crucial item they had been unable to find was also discovered on the other person.

“…”

With his throat gripped, more than half of his body above the sea surface, Lu Dongcheng, whose life and death hung by a thread, gasped for breath.

It was still discovered.

Others called him cunning, selfish, p*rverted, unscrupulous, and vile. All of it was true.

Unlike Shi Bu and the others, what he had always wanted was not the identity of a friend or a partner. Whether Xu Tonggui lived or died, it was not his concern.

So, he used this method. He tried it twice, once in the Game and once now, but neither attempt succeeded.

This time, on the way back, the other person drank the water he offered without hesitation, making him believe that the other person trusted him again.

Jiang Yujin let go.

The person who hadn’t fully recovered his breath dropped down.

The people on the deck watched with widened eyes, their hearts missing several beats. In the end, the crew reacted quickly and caught the person before he completely fell.

Although Shi Bu, not far away, didn’t know what had happened, he approached.

Jiang Yujin said, “When your boss wakes up, show him the previous video. If he doesn’t want the video to end up at the SIU, he should know what to do after seeing it.”

Shi Bu nodded.

During the remaining hours on the way back, the people on the ship kept a close eye on the bodyguard who had nearly killed their employer, finally watching him disembark.

There were things they couldn’t interfere with. The only thing they could do well was not to look or listen too much and preserve their own lives.

They departed in the afternoon and returned when the sky had completely darkened. After getting off the ship, Jiang Yujin returned to the hotel he had stayed in before, took a shower, and went straight to bed.

…

The high school students returned when it was almost dawn, soaked and with a bit of red marks on their bodies. As it was still early, they quickly took a shower and went together to Chen Jing’s room.

Since entering the sewer, the person who had been chasing them seemed to completely understand their movements, sticking with them and unable to shake him off. It continued until they exited the sewer, entered an empty alley, and finally found some breathing space.

When they retraced their steps, they followed the same route back. Along the way, they inevitably suffered some injuries but managed to protect the USB drive well.

The USB drive contained research records. Unlike the branches, which primarily focused on the combination of human and strange species, the headquarters had a specific research direction, continuously delving into the same thing.

Deep within the Lacuo Desert, the headquarters discovered it and brought it back, naming this entity 【0】, or to put it in a more familiar context, the cells of 【0】 were referred to as “Genesis Cells.”

All the research conducted by the branches was based on the in-depth study of 【0】 by the headquarters.

As speculated by them, 【0】 was like the mother of the strange species, possessing functions such as repair, control, fusion, enhancement, and generation. In addition to these functions, according to the headquarters’ research, it also had the ability to parasitize and dominate.

The parasitic function had been discovered and put into use several years ago. Perhaps the strange species with abnormal behavior encountered before were parasites. For example, strange species that originally did not have a habit of hoarding suddenly started storing food, and those who refused to share food with their kind, keeping all the nutrients for themselves, exhibited abnormal behavior.

The reason for their actions was to provide nutrients to the part of 【0】 residing within their bodies. It could be said that they did not want to do this but were compelled.

For some reason, possibly related to the collapse of the Game, 【0】 was weak and urgently needed a large amount of nutrients, and the parasitized strange species served as its source of nourishment.

Zero used it to produce strange species, implanted a part of itself into the strange species, and released them to various locations.

This explained why, from a certain point in time, the number of strange species, which had initially started to decrease, began to reappear in various locations and increase.

Another ability of 【0】 was domination, invading the brains of other strange species, completing the takeover in a short time. After the takeover, it possessed the thoughts of the host while controlling the host to do its bidding.

【0】 was something, yet not entirely complete. Whether it was a single cell or some remnants, they were all part of it and could grow into it. No matter how incomplete or small, as long as it was alive, it could think and observe.

The feeling of being observed that Xiao Pang experienced when facing the red flesh was not baseless.

“So, to deal with it, every cell and every potentially surviving gene must be completely crushed,” he explained.

Zhang Xin’s expression became completely serious.

This was almost an impossible task. Through Zero’s operations over the years, the cells and genes of this entity had spread all over the world, with too many uncontrollable factors.

Xiao Pang pointed to another passage below, saying, “Look at this part.”

“The dominated individuals can still function normally, think, work, and even conduct research, as demonstrated by the 113,000 test subjects.”

Seeing this passage, Chen Jing realized something and took out the newspaper he had casually stuffed into the waterproof bag today.

The newspaper was from many years ago, yellowed with age. The front page had a special report: “Population in Atsha City Exceeds 110,000.”

At the bottom, there was a special note, stating: “Actual population is approximately 113,000.”

113,000, the exact same number.

Slowly realizing, goosebumps silently crawled up the arms of the people in the room.

So the children, the couples, the fathers, the mothers, and those students chatting happily on the streets in Atsha today were all people who had already been controlled.

They were all 【0】.

—Including the researchers and guards in the building.

Each part of 【0】 is connected; its eyes are their eyes, its perception is their perception.

So when they invaded the laboratory yesterday, even though no one informed the outside world, the people outside could still immediately sense the anomaly and attempt to breach the door.

Because they were inherently a single entity.

【Do not be seen by anyone】

Zhang Xin quickly turned around and rummaged through his bag, pulling out the blueprints they unexpectedly obtained earlier. The clear note at the bottom caught their attention.

Finally, they understood the meaning of this sentence.

As long as they were seen by one person, they would have been discovered by the entire city. If they proceeded as usual, finding someone to unlock the iris and fingerprint locks, once they stepped into the building, they would be destined never to leave.

Xiao Pang’s scalp tingled, “Who left these papers?”

“……”

“Knock, knock.”

In a moment of silent contemplation, the room’s door was knocked, and the three instantly looked towards it with alertness.

Chen Jing gestured to quickly calm them down and got up to open the door.

A person with messy hair in pajamas stood at the door, holding a large white pillow, absentmindedly scratching an itch. He spoke as if sleepwalking:

“Hey, there are mosquitoes in my room. Can I stay here for a while, son?”

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