Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Back in the conference room of the Longguo Department of Supernatural Affairs.
A smile gradually appeared on Elder Qin’s face.
“What do you think?”
Elder Qin turned and asked his subordinates.
“There are still many things I can’t explain.”
“I can’t see through a lot of it either, but I have the faint sense that the blue text is more like a trap.”
“The computer analysis should be ready soon. Combined with the data, perhaps we can reach the right conclusion.”
Everyone offered a response.
“What about the Chosen Ones from the other countries?”
Elder Qin continued questioning them.
“They’re still in the fog. None has emerged yet.”
“When they come out, compare and analyze the results immediately. Do everything you can to send the correct conclusion to Su Chen as soon as possible. Our country badly needs this victory.”
“Understood.”
The young man in glasses acknowledged the order.
“And the firewall?”
“It is under heavy assault from foreign forces. We expect it to hold another half hour.”
“That will be enough.”
Elder Qin nodded and turned back to Su Chen on the screen.
Are you really hiding your true ability, kid?
Elder Qin wondered silently.
Inside the zoo, Su Chen was walking toward a shop beside the street.
He knew nothing of the outside world’s discussion.
Even if he had known, he would not have cared.
Compared with Longguo’s national fortune and his own life, such things meant very little.
What Su Chen was thinking was this:
Death Rollback could protect his life.
That meant he had to investigate this strange shop.
The rules contained a record of the shop.
Useful information was certain to be hidden inside.
With that thought, Su Chen decisively pushed the door open and entered.
The first thing he saw was a staff member dressed in black, leafing through something.
Su Chen paused.
He still remembered the staff member in black who had hurried through the Primate Enclosure not long ago.
Immediately afterward, a primate in a black uniform had appeared on the hill.
That disturbing scene had left a deep impression on him.
He discovered that the shop assistant also wore black.
Naturally, his heart jolted.
His face remained perfectly calm.
He showed no sign that anything was wrong.
He swept his gaze across the shelves.
He looked like any visitor who had come to shop.
Then Su Chen saw what the shelves held.
His body trembled.
A row of bright-red drinks stood in the beverage case.
Three large Chinese characters were written on the transparent glass bottles: “Rabbit Blood.”
The thick, dark-red liquid looked exactly like blood.
Strong nausea rose in Su Chen’s stomach.
He hurriedly looked away.
That only brought the toy shelves into view.
Among the pile of stuffed animals, several rabbit dolls looked especially disturbing.
Their blood-red eyes seemed to stare fixedly at Su Chen.
The next instant, the world before him dimmed.
Only the white rabbit doll remained in his field of vision.
In his daze, he thought he saw its mouth split open, revealing a field of scarlet.
Its three-lobed mouth slowly wriggled into an impossibly exaggerated smile.
Then the rabbit seemed to come alive.
It slowly hopped down from the shelf and edged closer to Su Chen.
At the sight, Su Chen’s eyes swelled with pain.
His scalp itched unbearably.
It felt as though something were about to burst through it and grow out.
The laughter of a child seemed to echo in his mind.
Countless chaotic thoughts kept emerging, making it almost impossible to concentrate on a solution.
Su Chen was about to give in.
Suddenly, a rule flashed through his subconscious.
Its arrival was like a lifeline thrown to a drowning man.
Su Chen repeated the same words endlessly in his mind.
[I am human. I am human.]
He could no longer even understand what he was reciting.
He only vaguely sensed that it would help, so he kept repeating it.
Longguo’s livestream erupted.
Everyone was terrified.
“Holy fucking shit! Did that rabbit doll smile just now? Tell me I was seeing things!”
“I saw it smile too! It’s over. Is Su Chen in danger?”
“Obviously! Can’t you see his bloodshot eyes and blank expression? He looks exactly like that guy from Kimchi Nation earlier.”
“For fuck’s sake. Nothing was happening, so why did this moron have to come into the shop for food? Would he die if he didn’t eat? Now he’s screwed.”
“Don’t panic, poster above! Look at Su Chen’s eyes. The red is fading. Maybe he’s all right!”
Longguo’s viewers argued among themselves.
Meanwhile, Su Chen continued reciting the words.
Feeling gradually returned to his body.
He could control it again.
His mind also slowly cleared.
Su Chen immediately closed his eyes and turned his body away.
That cut him off from the source of contamination.
At the same time, he continually reinforced his own perception.
Several seconds later, he opened his eyes again.
They were filled with resolve.
He let out a long breath.
This cognitive contamination is vicious. It’s like it doesn’t want anyone to clear the scenario.
Su Chen complained silently.
The staff member in black, the rabbit blood, and the rabbit dolls had all been placed in the most conspicuous locations.
Every visitor who entered would notice them.
Those three consecutive blows were practically a guaranteed kill.
Su Chen had discovered the note in the security office.
His subconscious therefore knew how to resist cognitive contamination.
Without that discovery and subconscious awareness, he would certainly have fallen.
Fortunately, he had endured it.
Su Chen steadied himself and shifted the shelves completely out of his line of sight.
Then he looked toward the staff member in black.
The staff member was studying him with keen interest.