Chapter 46#

Suspicion#

Back to the present.

In a quiet room, former companions gathered once more.

But in truth, only those who had met last were present: Chu Chenli, Mu Yanshen, He Ziyue, Hua Jin, and Shen Xuanyi.

Fang Xiyu had been taken for a physical exam, April was secretly monitoring the detained group, and the doctor was still busy.

However, apart from Fang Xiyu, everyone else had probably learned at least some of the truth by now.

Mu Yanshen stood in the farthest corner, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. After exchanging a glance with Shen Xuanyi, he was the first to look away.

Shen Xuanyi’s expression remained unchanged as he shifted his gaze to the faces of his other companions.

“That game was a secret research project launched before another catastrophe struck. For those who entered the game, it served as a screening mechanism.”

He Ziyue always managed to focus on peculiar details, so she couldn’t help but ask, “And for those outside the game?”

Shen Xuanyi glanced at her.

He Ziyue coughed lightly and raised her hands in surrender. “Just a random thought… Forget I asked. Boss, go on.”

Shen Xuanyi: “For those outside the game, it can be considered a delayed-death device.”

This answer caught almost everyone off guard.

Calmly, Shen Xuanyi laid out the truths he knew one by one.

The root of the catastrophe lay in the unknown energy of those strange stones. Their composition remained a mystery to this day, and they didn’t follow any known scientific rules, with seemingly inexhaustible energy.

Those in the know had made the worst possible guess: that this energy might one day erupt in a massive explosion, destroying the entire planet in an instant.

Some, worried about humanity’s survival, did everything they could to preserve the spark of life and the hope for civilization’s continuation.

Others pondered how to counter this unfamiliar and dangerous energy surge.

The game was one of the results.

In a sense, it was a man-made monster breeding ground. The space’s operation and the mutations of the experimental subjects absorbed most of the overflowing energy, slowing the evolution of abnormal creatures in the real world to some extent.

This gave people in reality a chance to catch their breath. After recuperating and rebuilding, they gradually developed the means to protect themselves.

However, the man-made energy-absorption field was ultimately limited in space, and the game would inevitably reach its end. Eventually, it would trigger a self-destruct program to minimize the harm to reality.

The contestants were unwittingly chosen as experimental subjects.

Those who survived returned to reality.

And the decade that had been forcibly delayed began to flow again.

The monsters would evolve to become more terrifying, but at the same time, the awakening of humanity’s originally limited abilities would increase exponentially.

Thus, the future was easy to foresee: the survival war against the monsters would escalate further.

“If you want to survive, going it alone won’t cut it,” Shen Xuanyi said.

“So that’s why Central Base keeps absorbing other smaller bases?” Hua Jin asked.

Shen Xuanyi nodded.

“But Boss, how did you find out about all this?” He Ziyue couldn’t help interjecting again. “Did you know before entering the game? No wonder you insisted on teaming up with us from the start. But given your background, it’s not strange that you might have known some inside information…”

“I didn’t know,” Shen Xuanyi cut off He Ziyue’s rambling. “Until I left the game, I had no idea what the game’s purpose was.”

Of course, he had long suspected something, but he had never gotten confirmation.

Chu Chenli suddenly spoke. “Did something happen in the last level?”

Shen Xuanyi looked up at him, a faint smile involuntarily appearing on his face. Instead of answering immediately, he asked in return, “Didn’t you see it?”

Chu Chenli widened his eyes slightly at him, then shook his head. “I only saw what happened right in front of me.”

Shen Xuanyi let out a soft “oh,” as if brushing it off like a minor side note, and continued, “In the last level… I saw the game’s instruction manual.”

At that, the others’ eyes also widened.

He Ziyue, the most experienced with games, reacted first. She glanced around the room and finally let her gaze linger on Mu Yanshen, who had remained silent, before looking away as if nothing had happened.

“So, that means Boss, you’re probably the only one who truly cleared the game, right?” He Ziyue said. “Usually in games, only those who actually reach the ending get to see the truth revealed in the finale. As for us… we just happened to survive and returned to reality together when the game ended.”

Mu Yanshen shifted his posture as He Ziyue’s gaze moved away. After she finished, he lazily added, “So, what’s the reward for clearing it?”

Shen Xuanyi didn’t hide anything and answered directly, “Control of Central Base.”

Mu Yanshen clapped twice, offering a less-than-sincere congratulations. “Wow, so that’s a promotion. Congrats, Captain.”

He Ziyue shot him a glare. “But the responsibility is bigger too. If… if something goes wrong, won’t Boss have to take the fall?”

Though she wasn’t some doomsday terrorist hoping for the world’s destruction, she and the others had gone through ten years of life-and-death together. Their bond was far closer than ordinary friends or family, and inevitably, she felt a protective, us-versus-them mentality.

If it were just about stepping up to help others, she might not hesitate. But suddenly having to shoulder the burden of the entire world’s survival—that just left her worried.

Worried that the boss would be unfairly attacked by ignorant people and end up taking on thankless tasks.

At this moment, she had forgotten their captain’s adept diplomatic skills.

Back when they first formed the team in the game, her trio only agreed to join Shen Xuanyi’s team on Chu Chenli’s recommendation. For a long time, He Ziyue herself had been wary and on guard against Shen Xuanyi.

—It wasn’t that Shen Xuanyi had acted suspiciously. It was just that early in the game, before they understood the rules, they had witnessed plenty of backstabbing among players. For a while, everyone was paranoid, and out of self-preservation, they dared not trust anyone too easily.

But after a few levels, He Ziyue was completely won over by Shen Xuanyi’s ability and decisiveness. Soon, she was cheerfully calling him “Boss” this and that.

Winning over teammates was a trivial matter for Shen Xuanyi.

Besides, compared to He Ziyue and Hua Jin, who had no background, he came from an influential family. After the catastrophe, his father still held a high position, and the resources and support he could obtain were unimaginable to ordinary people.

But Shen Xuanyi didn’t plan to remind He Ziyue of that.

Compared to strangers they had only met a few times, teammates who had shared countless life-and-death experiences were far more trustworthy.

Shen Xuanyi let out a deep sigh, his expression and tone gradually softening. “So, I hope you all can stay and help me.”

Without a second thought, He Ziyue and Hua Jin immediately declared, “Of course! We’re teammates!”

Chu Chenli nodded indifferently. “If the captain needs me.”

Only Mu Yanshen hadn’t responded.

Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned to him.

Mu Yanshen looked as if he had just snapped back to reality. He put on a fake smile, then tugged at Chu Chenli’s sleeve and said, “I’m with Gege. I’m fine doing anything.”

It was a completely unsurprising answer.

In He Ziyue’s view, this was just Mu Yanshen taking another opportunity to latch onto Chu Chenli.

She couldn’t help but shoot him a contemptuous glare.

The conversation ended there for now. There were still many unresolved questions, but Shen Xuanyi could see they were all exhausted from their long journey and told them to go rest first.

He had already arranged rooms for them.

Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen lagged behind, while He Ziyue waited at the door for a moment.

It seemed Hua Jin had been the most shaken today, but some things were hard for outsiders to console. He Ziyue felt he needed rest the most. For now, she wanted to ask Mu Yanshen what was going on.

In the past, Mu Yanshen’s relationship with Shen Xuanyi had been lukewarm. Shen Xuanyi, with his good temper and social skills, wouldn’t deliberately make things difficult, and Mu Yanshen seemed to have some reverence for his insight. Plus, because of Chu Chenli, he rarely even joked about Shen Xuanyi. Their interactions had been fairly harmonious.

But today, something was off with Mu Yanshen.

Not only did he not seem happy to see unexpectedly long-lost teammates, he even seemed a little angry.

Yes, angry.

Just those two words attached to Mu Yanshen already gave off a bizarre sense of incongruity.

But beyond that, He Ziyue struggled to find a better word to describe how off Mu Yanshen was today.

Finally, Chu Chenli took Mu Yanshen’s hand and tried to lead him away.

Shen Xuanyi spoke from behind them, but his gaze passed over Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen to lock onto He Ziyue at the door.

“April’s room is next to yours.” This was clearly meant for He Ziyue. “I think she’d really like to catch up with you.”

That mute who could barely get three words out—what was there to catch up on?

He Ziyue grumbled inwardly, but she could tell Shen Xuanyi wanted to speak to Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen privately. So she just pursed her lips and said perfunctorily, “Got it. I wouldn’t mind seeing her either.”

The latter half was actually sincere.

Once He Ziyue had left, Shen Xuanyi used the wall for support as he slowly made his way to the door, closed it, and then sat down on a stool by the entrance.

He rubbed his temples, looking tired. “There’s one more thing I didn’t get to tell Xiao Jin and the others.”

Mu Yanshen: “Didn’t have time, or couldn’t say?”

“Take it however you want.” Shen Xuanyi shut him down. “But as a deep participant in that project, Xiao Mu, you probably know just as much as I do.”

“Oh? Captain Shen, you’re overestimating me. I really didn’t know you were so confident that you could casually risk a teammate’s life!”

The conflict over that bullet that had nearly stopped their hearts finally erupted.

At least, it was a one-sided outburst from Mu Yanshen.

Chu Chenli pulled Mu Yanshen’s hand and whispered to stop him, “I’m fine, aren’t I?”

At the same time, Shen Xuanyi said matter-of-factly, “How could I ever let Ah Li really get hurt?”

The moment Chu Chenli’s hand reached out, Mu Yanshen calmed down.

He was never an irritable person by nature, but some boundaries and sore spots were not to be touched.

Mu Yanshen held Chu Chenli’s hand tightly in return. Chu Chenli, wanting to comfort him, didn’t pull away and instead looked up to mediate.

“It’s fine, nothing happened to me. Xiao Mu is just too tired. I’ll take him back to rest soon. By the way, Captain, what did you want to tell us?”

“Among our teammates, there is a monitor inserted by the game organizers.” Shen Xuanyi’s tone remained calm. “I originally thought Xiao Mu might know more about this inside story, so I wanted to ask first.”

“If all traitors were as obvious as me, you’d be happy,” Mu Yanshen said with a mocking smile, but he spoke honestly, “Unfortunately, I was just an NPC responsible for steering the plot. I have no idea what other departments were doing.”

Shen Xuanyi looked at Chu Chenli.

Chu Chenli met his eyes and said calmly, “I trust Xiao Mu.”