A few minutes ago.
"Are you really sure about doing this? With multiple parties splitting up to act, I just feel like it's very easy for things to go wrong."
Sitting on the small sofa in the power distribution room, Maki frowned and questioned Gao Hai after hearing his plan.
"In fact, the probability of things going wrong is very high. After all, although we already have a certain degree of understanding regarding the horror stories and anomalies in this cavern, the countermeasures we have on hand aren't that many. Once we encounter trouble, there's no telling if we'll be able to handle it."
Gao Hai had no intention of hiding this; he affirmed Maki's doubts quite bluntly.
"Since you know it's easy for things to go wrong, why do you still want to do this?"
Maki couldn't understand it even more.
"Because Gao-kun has a reason he must do this, right? Acting in multiple parties allows us to obtain the broadest clues at the fastest speed, and at the same time, it should be able to help Gao-kun achieve some other objective, right? Otherwise, Gao-kun wouldn't choose such risky behavior. Hmm... could it be to pin something down?"
Sitting on the other side, Chika spoke up earnestly at this moment. Her eyes were sparkling, seemingly a bit excited.
"Yes, that is indeed the case. To be precise... I suspect we have been subjected to some kind of guidance. There is some force guiding our actions from the shadows and restricting the intelligence we obtain. Although there is no concrete evidence yet, after recalling our various experiences over the past day, I believe it is necessary to launch a multi-party operation. We will attempt to break this potential inductor through this method."
Gao Hai nodded slightly, the expression on his face appearing incomparable serious.
If he didn't know about the existence of the Research Base, and didn't know the situation with Maki and Kaguya's group, as an ordinary player who just wanted to survive, Gao Hai believed that when he found this power distribution room, he would have considered pulling down the power switch.
And then, Kaguya was locked into a cell. That thing living next to her, calling itself Howard, mentioned many things while muttering to itself. Its words constantly emphasized that someone had stolen an extremely important item from a certain woman, and also said that the item had been thrown into a certain crevice. This immediately made Gao Hai think of the Great Rift, and think of that pale female anomaly, and he couldn't help but start thinking about what this stolen item might be.
But that was wrong. He had been killed by that anomaly once, so later Gao Hai realized—this line of thinking was incorrect.
The obsession of that white dress anomaly had absolutely nothing to do with "what was stolen." It was simply purely angry, wanting to kill all living people like a madwoman, especially all living people within the Research Base. That rage—as someone who had personally tasted it, Gao Hai could confirm—what that white dress female anomaly wanted was definitely not "for the people of the Research Base to return a certain item." It just wanted to kill, to kill everyone, to kill them all, as if its reason had been completely crushed, leaving only pure tyranny.
To analyze such an obsession, the direction of analysis could only be "handing over the enemy it hates the most" to possibly put it to rest. But such a thing is impossible to know without personally being squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. Therefore, Gao Hai, having thought of this point later, could be one hundred percent certain: the content of the intelligence Kaguya heard was problematic.
If one looked at these two matters separately, there was actually nothing major.
But when they happened one after another—especially adding in the fact that Maki and Chika were chased by anomalies, and after he saved the scene and returned to the power distribution room, he found Lixer wanting to pull down the power switch—he couldn't help but start connecting these things together.
I entered the power distribution room, but I didn't choose to pull down the switch. So the person guiding all this realized I might have learned of the Research Base's existence through some method, and that I have player acquaintances inside the Research Base, and that there might even be some communication method between the two parties.
The false intelligence Kaguya heard could theoretically only be known by her; it was impossible to transmit to others. But if we could communicate with each other, this misleading false intelligence could be disseminated among everyone, establishing in us the false cognition that "some important item exists under the Great Rift of the Gentle Slope, which might put the core obsession to rest." After all, we had already learned a lot of relevant intelligence about Howard before this, so naturally, we wouldn't suspect the righteous and kind side of Howard, and would believe the intelligence he gave.
Next came the forced escape of Maki and Chika this time. The identity of a researcher is the identity with the highest degree of freedom in the entire Research Base, and also the identity most deeply controlled by Professor Fulen. after the escape from the Research Zone, Gao Hai had to weigh the difficulty of playing the role of a researcher. If playing an identity meant encountering life-threatening danger at the drop of a hat, then naturally, careful consideration was needed. And if one chose the soldier identity, the tasks of patrolling and standing guard already greatly limited the movement area. Places like the Analysis Workshop and Research Zone became completely inaccessible, further reducing the area they could investigate and explore.
Could there be someone guiding all of this from behind the scenes?
If there is, then the one with the biggest suspicion so far is, needless to say, naturally that Professor Fulen who exists with some slight differences from normal anomalies.
Gao Hai had considered whether to drag this guy out directly and use the power of the Obsession Item to throw this doctor into the Great Rift, to see if he might be the enemy of that female anomaly.
But Gao Hai quickly denied this idea.
If the other party really was the guide behind the scenes, and had a way to know the situation within the Red Nut Gray Hole across different timelines, then after he arrived at the power distribution room, this thing should have thought of a way to stop him. But the result was that not only did he not encounter resistance, but that Lixer also almost really pulled the switch down.
Perhaps, even if the Research Base falls and is truly invaded by that white dress female anomaly, the other party won't be affected in the slightest?
If that's the case, then now, he must test every place that can be tested.
Splash—
Amidst the sound of flowing water, the Rescue Team member that Lao Guo had turned into had already sunk into the water, swimming toward the depths of the Great Rift.
It was extremely difficult for a normal person to advance in this kind of environment, especially since the target was a vertical rock rift that got narrower the deeper one went. But for the Rescue Team member who was already non-human, this was nothing. Gao Hai could even feel this thing squeezing into narrow gaps that normal people couldn't possibly squeeze into, swimming deeper step by step.
Found it.
Through the perspective of the Rescue Team member, Gao Hai found the dried corpse of an infant that had completely weathered, located within a fissure in the rock.
The corpse's swaddling clothes had already faded. It was unknown how long this tiny corpse had been stuck here.
"..."
Gao Hai frowned, remaining silent in this moment.
Meanwhile, in the Prison Area, the heavy cell door had already been destroyed under the power of the scalpel Obsession Item which cut iron like mud. Kaguya walked out carefully. After exchanging a glance with Maki, both of them nodded slightly, then walked toward the direction of the entrance.
Under the pale lights, there were only the clear footsteps of the two girls in the corridor of the Prison Area.
They did not advance toward the direction where the exit was located. Instead, they walked toward the rooms where Kaguya had previously judged others were being held.
D5... D4... D3. Kaguya stopped her steps, looking at the heavy metal door before her.
This kind of specially structured door had no place to insert a key; in a sense, it was a counter to the Blood Key. However, with the scalpel, this counter was no longer a major problem.
Vaguely, speaking sounds seemed to be heard ringing out from the sealed and welded Confinement Room. It was also accompanied by some kind of struggling sound, like a person stuck in a rock crevice panting with difficulty, struggling futilely and weakly.
Creak—
The door to cell D4 opened abruptly at this moment.
Black-yellow rocks covered in blood stains and meat scraps rolled out from behind the door.
A pungent, foul stench spread rapidly, as if hundreds and thousands of corpses were crowded behind that door, rotting together, compressed together, and crushed together by disjointed rocks, mixing with each other to become stones flowing with black, filthy blood.
The corridor was undergoing a change.
This was clearly an indoor building, yet at this moment it seemed to start turning into the shape of a cavern bit by bit. Furthermore, Maki Shijo could see that this shape change was transforming towards the structure within the "Blood Vessel."
It seemed it was already impossible to open the door to cell D3 before this happened.
Meanwhile, Chika Fujiwara had already walked to the main gate of the Quarantine Zone.
Behind her, many soldiers were running around searching for her trail. Chika simply picked up the scalpel, sliced open the tightly closed main gate before her, and stepped inside.
Bang!
A bullet pierced through her body amidst the sound of gunfire.
But the girl just let out a low grunt, then entered the Observation Area as if nothing had happened.
The wound was healing rapidly.
After Chika ate a pill from the medicine bottle, even if she was hit by firearms now, there wouldn't be any problem.
It was just that, ahead in the corridor, those expressionless soldiers and researchers had already crowded the entire hallway. Leaving no gaps at all, they stood there densely packed. Among them, the soldiers standing at the very front had already raised their guns, about to unleash a second round of sweeping fire toward the front.
Behind the large hole cut open by the scalpel in the rear, soldiers were also chasing and approaching.
Gao Hai had already raised his head, looking at Lixer who was walking up from his side step by step, looking extremely exhausted.
"Mr. Gao, why are you here? Don't the rules say one cannot go to the 'Gentle Slope'? It's better not to get too close to that place. Speaking of which, Susan is missing; have you seen her anywhere? I haven't been able to find where she is."
Lixer, whose face was written full of anxious emotions, walked up to Gao Hai, asking hurriedly while gasping for big breaths.
"About this, honestly, I'm not very clear either. However, that was a wonderful response. Your goal is actually to maintain this place, to keep it in its current state forever, right? I acted in multiple parties to disrupt your deployment. You played along with the ploy, setting up backup moves in multiple directions. To ensure safety, you even specially ran over to me to confirm what I was doing. I have to say, you're quite formidable."
Gao Hai gazed at Lixer, smiling at him as he spoke.
"Uh, Mr. Gao, what are you talking about?"
Lixer, stunned by Gao Hai's words, stopped his steps in great confusion and asked Gao Hai.
The power of the Blessing could still only sense goodwill.
This was only natural, because "Lixer" truly held only goodwill toward Gao Hai; there was no malice whatsoever in this person's mind.
Just like when Gao Hai and Kaguya were face to face—if he generated some not-so-harmonious lewd thoughts, it would cause Kaguya's Blessing to react and detect Gao Hai's slight malice. However, when Gao Hai attempted to generate bad thoughts toward Kaguya through the mental link with Maki, Kaguya's Blessing didn't have any reaction at all.
After undergoing this experiment, Gao Hai finally understood.
"It's just that, there is one thing I think you might have gotten wrong."
Gao Hai extended a finger, wagging it gently twice in front of Lixer.
"Gotten wrong?"
The bewildered Lixer spoke subconsciously.
"That Rescue Team member actually wasn't summoned by me."
Saying this, Gao Hai shook the rescue suit on his body. Lixer lowered his head, only to discover that what Gao Hai was wearing wasn't the Rescue Team Badge, but just a random badge of a similar color he had found, looking somewhat like the kind used by children.
The Rescue Team member deep within the rift had disappeared.
It returned to the side of Maki Shijo, who was the one truly wearing the Rescue Team Badge at this moment. Holding explosives in its hands, it lit them, then charged toward that constantly spreading rocky cavern.
Boom!
Amidst the violent explosion, the Rescue Team member used its strange body to block the blast, leaving Maki, who controlled her from behind, and Kaguya, who was destroying the cell door, unharmed. They were merely left with their ears ringing from the massive sound of the explosion within the confined space.
"Of course, there is another thing you got wrong. That key actually isn't the Blood Key that can open any door. I just dyed the key to the power distribution room red."
Chika Fujiwara rushed to the door of the staff lounge on one side of the corridor before the soldiers from the front and rear could catch up, and inserted that blood-red key into the lock hole.
Click—
In the next moment, the door to the sentry box not far from Gao Hai and Lixer slowly opened. The surging floodwater swept in almost immediately, instantly spreading onto the corridor.
The power of anomalies from outside the Research Base would be repelled by the base itself, so those clothes and other things in the water flow had no way to enter the base. But the water flow itself would not generate any issues because of this.
In the turbulent water flow, Chika Fujiwara was already crouching in the corner of the wall, fixing her body to the maximum extent to resist the impact force.
Although those soldiers and researchers had anomalous identities, because they were in a state of "role-playing," being hit by the water flow at this moment caused them to sway a few times. However, their formation still didn't break, and they still blocked Chika's passage.
So the girl took a deep breath and took out the explosives she had prepared beforehand.
"Blowing everything blocking the way into the sky—that is the way of the gamer."
Muttering this to herself, the pink-haired girl lit the explosive fuse, then threw it straight toward the place where those soldiers and researchers were standing.
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