Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Just as Su Chen prepared to push open the doors and leave the Aquarium,
the familiar staff member in red ran over.
As he ran, he shouted anxiously,
“Please calm down! Do not leave the Aquarium now. It is dangerous during this period!”
Hearing the voice, Su Chen turned to look at him.
“I know it’s dangerous, but that doesn’t matter. I have a reason I must go. And thank you for faithfully performing your duty.”
The staff member in red froze.
Su Chen’s words sounded cryptic, and he did not understand them at first.
Then Su Chen seemed to remember something. “By the way, do you know where the director’s office is?”
The staff member suddenly understood and stared in shock.
Fear appeared on his face.
His voice trembled as he asked, “Y-you found that letter?”
“Yes.”
Su Chen was slightly surprised that the man knew of it.
“You absolutely cannot go to the director’s office! The situation has changed. We’ve lost completely! Going there now is suicide!”
The man’s voice shook with terror.
“Perhaps a miracle will happen. Tell me where it is so I don’t have to search everywhere.”
Su Chen replied with a smile.
His expression was filled with determination.
The man sensed that resolve.
In the end, he sighed.
“The director’s office is in the woods between the Lion Enclosure and the Aquarium. Look for a light. You’ll find it quickly.”
“All right. Thank you.”
Su Chen pushed open the doors.
Then he suddenly stopped, looked back, and said, “And thank you for everything you’ve done. I think Old Zhou would be very gratified!”
Without waiting for a response, Su Chen strode away.
The staff member’s nose stung and his eyes reddened slightly.
As he watched Su Chen’s determined back, it seemed to overlap with Old Zhou’s figure in his memories.
“Old Zhou, it looks like the person you were waiting for has arrived.”
He raised his head and spoke to the sky.
The viewers in Longguo’s livestream also felt a tumultuous mixture of emotions.
They wanted Su Chen to turn the tide, yet feared his failure and wanted him to escape immediately.
Because of those feelings, they had no desire to respond to the flood of taunts from other countries.
“Hahahaha! People of Longguo, how do you feel now? Your Chosen One has gone insane and is running off to die.”
“This is hilarious. Didn’t you see the monster personally invite him? And he still dares go. He’s rushing to be reincarnated.”
“Don’t say that. Perhaps the monster eroded and brainwashed him long ago. That would explain why he made it farther than anyone else.”
“This feels amazing! I kept wondering why only Longguo could clear the scenario. It turns out that bastard went mad ages ago. With victory already secured, he’s actually delivering himself to his death.”
“People of Longguo, say something! Stop pretending to be mute!”
…
They might not have felt like arguing,
but if the other side continued acting obnoxiously, they did not mind tearing them apart.
Another vast wave of distinctly Longguo profanity filled the screen.
At that moment, viewers from other countries discovered that their accounts had been muted.
The stated reason was uncivil speech.
They watched Longguo accounts curse across the entire screen without a single ban, and their faces darkened.
Locals could curse all they liked, while a few unpleasant words from foreigners got their mouths sewn shut!
Could the platform really be this unreasonable?
They submitted complaints to customer service, arguing that the bans were unjust, attaching screenshots of Longguo’s comments, and angrily accusing Longguo of discriminatory treatment.
Longguo’s customer service gave a blunt reply.
“Calling someone a dumbass does not count as uncivil speech.”
Meanwhile, inside the zoo,
Su Chen had reached the woods described by the staff member.
After searching briefly, he spotted a faint light in the distance.
He immediately hurried toward it.
Before long, a somewhat dilapidated cottage appeared.
Above its tottering door hung a sign bearing three large Chinese characters:
Director’s Office!
Su Chen pushed the door open without hesitation.
Since he had already come, there was no reason to delay.
Whatever scheme the other party had prepared, he had the courage to face it.
The moment the door opened, bright light revealed the room.
The floor was covered in dust, and the walls were cracked.
Cobwebs covered the furniture, making the room exceptionally desolate.
At its center stood a desk and chair.
The desk was covered in animal plush toys: rabbits, goats, and elephants.
The instant Su Chen entered,
every toy on the desk turned to face him.
Their countless blood-red eyes sent chills through his heart.
Su Chen did not see the badge mentioned by the director. Perhaps the toys concealed it.
He looked away and toward the office chair.
That was where the true danger lay.
A mass of distorted shadow sat in the chair as though “It” were the director, handling official business.
“I’m here. Want to talk?”
Su Chen spoke first.
But as soon as he finished, he burst out laughing.
“Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. You’re a retard who can’t speak and only knows how to screech like a fucking idiot.”
He finished speaking.
The shadow in the chair suddenly expanded.
It filled the entire house in an instant.
Only a small area illuminated by the ceiling light remained.
It was as though a demon king of the night had descended.
“All right, enough showing off. No matter how much you posture, it won’t change the fact that you’re a spoiled brat.”
This time, “It” grew furious.
A shrill scream erupted from the shadow.
The sound waves rebounded endlessly from the walls, nearly rupturing Su Chen’s eardrums.
Yet he did not leave. Instead, he walked steadily toward the desk.
First, he kicked the office chair away to show his contempt.
Then he reached out and rummaged through the toys in search of the badge.
As he touched them, all kinds of animal cries gradually appeared in his mind.
Some whispered, while others screamed in fury.
The countless cries gradually grew louder than the shadow’s shriek.
Su Chen felt as if his skull were about to split,
but his hands never stopped.
At last, he found the badge.
It was a bronze badge engraved with a lion roaring toward the sky.
It was pinned to a white lion plush toy,
which had been buried beneath all the others.
Clearly, “It” still feared the white lions. Even though the badge represented unfinished business to “It,”
“It” did not dare take or destroy it.
“It” could only use this clumsy method, covering the badge with countless toys capable of contaminating cognition.
Su Chen clutched his splitting head with his right hand and picked up the white lion with his left.
Then he gave the shadow a provocative smile.
The pain made his smile uglier than crying,
but Su Chen knew “It” would understand the provocation.
He was right.
The enormous shadow suddenly contracted
into the silhouette of an eight-year-old child with goat horns.
It waved an arm, and the countless toys formed a line of large characters across the wall.
“Destroy the badge, and I will let you leave the zoo. Otherwise, die!”
As the toys formed the sentence, the noise in Su Chen’s mind gradually subsided.
He rubbed his temples and read the writing.
Then he smiled.
A spoiled brat was still a spoiled brat, utterly incapable of scheming.
So the badge was “Its” objective.
As long as it existed, it would remain an uncertainty.
Perhaps one day, someone like Su Chen would take up the badge, rally the forces anew, and stand against “It.”
“It” wanted to end that possibility and rule the zoo completely.
“It” needed someone to destroy the badge on “Its” behalf.
That was why “It” distorted the letter and wrote that sentence, urging Su Chen to come quickly.
Thinking back, the words had contained no mockery at all.
The spoiled brat truly had been unable to wait!
After understanding this, Su Chen was even less afraid.
He straightened and stared directly at the pitch-black shadow.