The old king looked Bai Lixin up and down and frowned, looking very confused: “You actually have the same name as that man’s lover, what a coincidence.”
Bai Lixin: “That man you’re referring to, is it the one who scared Your Majesty’s silly son into peeing?”
The Third Duke’s smile gradually faded.
———————————–
In the live broadcast room.
[According to the law of conservation of energy, smiles don’t disappear; they just transfer from other people’ faces to mine. I don’t know why, but every time I see the arrogant Third Duke looking defeated, I want to laugh.]
[God Xin is too mischievous. Out of so many indirect references, he chose to mention this particular one.]
[This shows that God Xin, like us, doesn’t want the Third Duke to be too comfortable.]
[Haha, as long as the Third Duke is uncomfortable, I’m very comfortable.]
————————–
Perhaps due to his advanced age, the old king’s expression remained much calmer when mentioning “that man” and he didn’t much fear.
Upon hearing Bai Lixin’s description, he burst into laughter: “Hahaha, yes, it’s that man who made my silly son wet his pants.”
Bai Lixin was puzzled, “That man’s lover is named ‘Bai Lixin’? Did he say that himself?”
‘Could it be that this copy’s Dijia was brought in by the 999th Dijia with his memories intact?’
Dijia’s fragments don’t contain any memories about him. He hasn’t met the Dijia of this copy yet, so Dijia shouldn’t remember his name.
“It seems that this is why you came to me. You seem to be interested in this man’s affairs,” the old king replied, not answering Bai Lixin’s question, but leaning back in his rocking chair and narrowing his eyes at Bai Lixin, “Especially you, little daughter-in-law.”
Since the other party had made it clear, Bai Lixin responded calmly: “Yes, I want to know about that man. I’ve seen two clips. One is where this guy is hunting members of the royal family, and the other is where he’s interrogating someone about something. The images are too blurry, and I couldn’t see the face of the person being interrogated, but I heard the man asking ‘where that thing is.’”
“Wanting to know everything will only harm you,” the old king’s eyes sharpened, “I don’t know where you saw those strange images.”
“But I won’t tell you anything. That matter is a scandal for the royal family, and it should have disappeared like the dust around here.”
Bai Lixin glanced around, “Dust doesn’t disappear, it just becomes invisible.”
The old king’s initially kind face turned cold. He stared at Bai Lixin for a long time before asking, “That person doesn’t look like you.”
Bai Lixin was stunned, “Who?”
‘Dijia?
Anyone with eyes wouldn’t mistake him for Dijia, right?’
Surprisingly, the old king gave an answer that caught Bai Lixin off guard: “The real Bai Lixin.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
—————————
On the way back, the atmosphere inside the aircraft was heavy.
The Third Duke had been untied, and was now sitting obediently in the pilot’s seat, sneaking glances at Bai Lixin in the nearby seat from time to time.
Bai Lixin’s brows were furrowed, his thick lashes trembling gently in the air, like two delicate black butterflies fluttering.
His expression was solemn, his face devoid of emotion, his gaze staring blankly at the console in front of him, lost in thought.
The Third Duke glanced at the dagger not far away and then at Bai Lixin, who seemed lost in thought.
Given the current situation, as long as he reached out, he could grab the sharp dagger, easily deal with Bai Lixin, and no longer be at the mercy of others.
But for some reason, as soon as this thought came to mind, fear also emerged, spreading like mushrooms after rain, taking root and spreading rapidly like vines, entwining his limbs and rendering him immobile.
He felt short of breath, gasping for air and sucking in the air around him.
Fear?
The Third Duke’s eyes were full of surprise.
He actually felt fear towards this ordinary civilian from the Order District?
He even felt suffocated just thinking about how to harm him.
How was this possible?
The Third Duke was filled with shock, his expression conflicted as he looked at Bai Lixin beside him.
He was the Third Duke, the heir to the royal family of the Fair District, the man with the most hope of inheriting the throne in the future. Except for that unspeakable man, he had never feared anyone, not even his father could make him feel fear.
Why did he feel fear towards this person?
“What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me?” in the midst of his surprise, the seemingly harmless handsome young man had turned his head at some point, and was now looking at him with puzzled eyes.
His eyes were bright, as If wrapped in sparkling stars, as if he could see through people’s hearts in an instant.
“Nothing,” the Third Duke was stunned. He quickly withdrew his gaze, stuttering, “W-What do you want to do next?”
“I am someone who aims to become the future king of the Fair District. If you dare to hinder me, I won’t let you off lightly.”
“Don’t worry,” the young man lazily averted his gaze, “I’m not interested in your throne.”
The Third Duke secretly breathed a sigh of relief, swallowing back the heart that had just risen to his throat.
“I’m only interested in that man. Next, I plan to use all means to find that man.”
The Third Duke’s heart, which had just been swallowed back, rose to his throat again and he almost spat it out this time.
“How, how, how do you plan to find him? Are you, are you crazy? It’s been eighty years, that person might have died long ago. Otherwise, how do you explain that he has never appeared?”
Bai Lixin pursed his lips: “Your grandfather hasn’t died yet. What’s the difficulty in being alive?”
The Third Duke: “…”
‘If I say I’m having difficulties now, am I indirectly cursing my grandfather to die?’
‘Damn it, this young man is too cunning and insidious!’
Bai Lixin hadn’t figured out the specifics yet, but in this copy, the most indispensable thing now was time.
The game time is sixty days, and so far, only ten days have passed, leaving around fifty days.
In the past few days, he had been hearing notifications from the system.
Every day, players were dying, with the number of deaths varying—sometimes in the double digits, sometimes in the triple digits.
As the number of deaths gradually increased, the remaining number of players had already entered the range of four digits starting with “8.”
———————————-
The aircraft gradually arrived at the Fair District Palace.
Because of that man’s portrait, the palace was now filled with low pressure.
Everyone was cautious about what they say and do, for fear that someone might accidentally break a taboo, become a punching bag, and be punished.
At night, Bai Lixin received a text message on the communication device he hadn’t used for a long time.
[Hello, your package has been delivered to the mailbox at the community’s collection point. Please collect your package as soon as possible to avoid loss or damage. Have a pleasant day.]
Bai Lixin was stunned.
A package?
Memories began to flash back in his mind, and earlier memories immediately surfaced.
He remembered that when he was searching Mr. Xin’s computer, Mr. Xin had an undelivered package.
That package was very mysterious.
The seller was unknown, the item purchased was unknown, and even the arrival time was unknown.
Could this package that was suddenly delivered be that mysterious item?
————————-
The community’s package collection point was easy to find. When he returned to the apartment in the Order District, Bai Lixin verified his identity and quickly retrieved the package with his name on it.
The box was small and light.
Bai Lixin shook it and heard a faint rattling sound.
Curious, he opened the box and found a key inside.
The corners of the key were severely worn, indicating that it had been around for quite some time.
‘Where is this key from?’ Bai Lixin was puzzled.
The shipping box had his address written on it, and the sender’s address was no longer “unknown.”
— Fair District Second Sorting Center.
After taking out the key from the package, Bai Lixin stared inside several times, trying to find something else. But to his disappointment, there was nothing inside except for the key, which he had no idea how to use.
Not knowing the purpose of the key for now, Bai Lixin took the package and went back to the Fair District.
—————————
On the aircraft, Bai Lixin entered “Fair District Second Sorting Center” on the map. However, the omniscient map displayed a red light with the words “Unable to locate this address” occupying the entire screen.
Bai Lixin frowned: [S419M, please help me locate the Fair District Second Sorting Center.]
S419M: [Okay, please wait, Lord Host.]
Two seconds later, S419M reported the collected results diligently:[Lord Host, I found it.]
[The Fair District Second Sorting Center was demolished many years ago. It was built a hundred years ago and was demolished ninety years ago due to area redevelopment. Now, a test base is built on the original site of the Second Sorting Center. However, it seems that the test base’s funding chain broke, leading to its closure again. Currently, the test base is in a state of abandonment.]
Bai Lixin’s brows furrowed even more: [You said the Second Sorting Center was demolished ninety years ago?]
Then why does the package say “Second Sorting Center”?
[What is the name of that test base?] Bai Lixin asked.
S419M: [It’s called the New Human Test Base, Lord Host.]
Bai Lixin deleted “Second Sorting Center” from the map search bar and replaced it with “New Human Test Base.”
The map, which was previously showing an invalid search, quickly displayed a set of coordinates, and the aircraft also changed direction, heading towards the coordinates.
—————
After flying for about twenty minutes, when the aircraft was approaching the edge where the Fair District and the Love District, Bai Lixin saw a huge abandoned base from afar.
The base was surrounded by high metal fences on all sides, with buildings arranged in a regular pattern inside the fences.
In the night sky, this abandoned base was shrouded in darkness, with no light visible.
Bai Lixin maneuvered the aircraft to slowly land on a spacious flat ground.
He took out a spare lighting device from the aircraft and put his defensive weapon at his waist before stepping out of the aircraft.
As soon as the aircraft door opened, a cold blast of wind rushed in from outside, like untamed beasts, eagerly burrowed inside along Bai Lixin’s collar.
Bai Lixin instinctively shrank his neck and tightened his collar.
There was a deadly silence, and except for the howling wind, only the sound of Bai Lixin’s footsteps remained.
S419M: [Lord Host, this laboratory is big. What are you looking for?]
Bai Lixin shrugged: [I don’t know what I’m looking for either. Let’s just take a look around first. Maybe I’ll figure out what I’m looking for as I wander around. Give me a map of the laboratory.]
S419M: [… Alright, Lord Host.] ‘So unrestrained.’
Bai Lixin: [By the way, when was this laboratory abandoned?]
S419M: [Approximately eighty years ago.]
Bai Lixin: [There is something fishy about such a large test base being discontinued after only ten years of use. What was this laboratory originally studying?]
S419M: [It was said to be genetic modification. The main research direction of the experiment was to optimize human genes, creating a more perfect ‘new human’ gene. According to the data, this project received a lot of praise back then, but for some reason, it suddenly paused. This experimental base is very mysterious, there is limited information found on StarNet and no visual data.]
Bai Lixin listened to S419M’s brief introduction and found the door to enter the laboratory base according to the map.
The gate was sensor-controlled. Despite being abandoned for nearly a hundred years, the gate actually opened the moment Bai Lixin approached, indicating that the power system inside was still operational.
As the gate opened, a dark and silent hall immediately appeared in front of Bai Lixin.
Shining the lighting device inside, Bai Lixin could vaguely see the blurry traces of the hall, as well as a dark and deep corridor.
As the depth of the corridor increases, the light entering the line of sight gradually decreases.
That dark corridor was like a ferocious beast with an open mouth, swallowing the remaining light bit by bit, leaving only pitch darkness.
Bai Lixin stepped into the laboratory hall and begun to survey the space.
The hall seemed to be for visitor tours, so there were some promotional slogans and images hanging around.
Due to the passage of time, the slogans and images had faded, with the traces becoming blurred and only a few words discernible.
Bai Lixin walked up to one of the slogans, where he could only make out the words “Perfect Genes.”
As the light swept across the wall bit by bit, Bai Lixin also tried to discern the phrases on the promotional boards.
Just when his attention was almost entirely focused on the plaque in front of him, the light suddenly moved to the right, and a pair of round eyes appeared in his line of sight without warning.
The moment those eyes appeared, Bai Lixin heard the gasping and screaming in his mind.
[Quiet,] Bai Lixin rubbed his temples, soothing the two frightened systems in his mind, [take a closer look. It’s just a model of the human body.]
The screams in his mind gradually subsided.
The escape system coughed and hiccuped, only daring to peer at the object in front of it from behind S419M.
Only after thoroughly seeing what was in front of it did it breathe a sigh of relief. [It really is just a model.]
It was a model of an adult man.
The man was divided in two parts, with the left side being human and the right side entirely mechanical.
The head Is half human, half mechanical
The model was extremely lifelike, and even the skin texture and hairs on the human half were lifelike. The escape system even noticed freckles and shallow scars on the human skin.
It sighed, [This model is incredibly realistic. For technology from a hundred years ago, it’s even more realistic than S-grade simulation robots nowadays. It’s so realistic that it’s a bit scary. I feel like I’m experiencing the uncanny valley effect.]
Bai Lixin was very bold. Instead of backing away when he saw such a lifelike model, he moved closer, almost pressing his face against the model’s body.
Once again, he heard screams in his mind.
A few seconds later, Bai Lixin retracted his head, took two steps back, cupped his chin and stared at the model in front of him thoughtfully. [Of course it’s realistic because the human half is real. This is a half-mechanical human created through human and mechanical modification.]
The escape system: “…”
‘Ahhh!’
S419M: “…”
‘Wuuuu, retreat!’
The model was already covered in a thick layer of ash. Bai Lixin glanced at the model again before looking away.
Another pair of eyes abruptly appeared in the light.
The escape system: [Ahhh!]
S419M: [Wuuuu! ]
