Chapter 72 - 1#
Wandering Photos 18#
On the other side, when Fang Xiyu knocked on the office door, Shen Xuanyi had just finished issuing orders to his subordinate and looked up to tell him to come in.
The subordinate walked out carrying a stack of documents, and Fang Xiyu proactively held the door for her, stepping aside.
“Thanks,” the subordinate said with a slight nod, a hint of curiosity in her eyes, but she didn’t linger long, soon brushing past him.
Fang Xiyu waited until she was far away before entering, then closed the door behind him.
Shen Xuanyi leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment, revealing a trace of fatigue.
Fang Xiyu asked, “Busy?”
Shen Xuanyi shook his head and said, “Not really. Today’s work is already done.”
Fang Xiyu actually didn’t know how much work Shen Xuanyi usually had; Shen Xuanyi never let them worry about such things.
At first, it could be said that he was giving them time to adapt to the environment.
But now, they had already been living in the Central Base for several months.
Fang Xiyu found a stool for himself, dragged it in front of the desk, sat down, and casually flipped through the papers on the table.
The top stack consisted of recent mission reports, interspersed with some personnel transfer applications and appointment letters.
Shen Xuanyi didn’t stop him from flipping through them, but after a few pages, Fang Xiyu put everything back, meticulously aligning the corners page by page.
“Being like this makes people worry,” Fang Xiyu said while straightening the documents.
“Worry about what?” Shen Xuanyi watched him organize the papers.
“If you pretended not to know anything, I could understand,” Fang Xiyu said, clearly referring to something else entirely. “But I never expected you would actually give them a push.”
Shen Xuanyi immediately understood what he was talking about: “You mean A-Li and Xiao Mu?”
Fang Xiyu nodded.
Shen Xuanyi couldn’t help but laugh: “Do I really seem like that kind of cold and inflexible parent?”
“Cold and inflexible, no,” Fang Xiyu said slowly. “But I originally thought you would definitely be capable of breaking up a couple.”
“I don’t oppose A-Li dating,” Shen Xuanyi said. “Actually, considering his real age, he’s not young anymore. It’s a pity he’s never had a proper relationship.”
He directly excluded that messy affair with Ye Lanzhou from consideration.
Fang Xiyu didn’t bother to correct him and continued along the captain’s line of thought: “But it can’t be Xiao Mu.”
Shen Xuanyi asked, “Why?”
Fang Xiyu raised an eyebrow in surprise instead: “Huh? I’m not against them. If A-Li really likes him, there’s no room for us to interfere. But I always felt that’s what you would think.”
Xiao Mu could be their teammate, and in missions and cooperation, he could be trusted.
A-Li could date, could be with anyone, but not Xiao Mu.
That was what Shen Xuanyi thought before they cleared the game.
But back then, A-Li’s heart was set on Ye Lanzhou, and Xiao Mu consciously kept himself within certain boundaries, so Shen Xuanyi didn’t need to interfere.
It wasn’t just Fang Xiyu who had this intuition; the others more or less felt it too.
Most people just saw it as an old father not wanting his precious cabbage to be taken by a pig.
After all, Shen Xuanyi had never stopped A-Li and Xiao Mu from interacting; in fact, he had repeatedly pushed them into becoming close partners.
“Times have changed,” Shen Xuanyi said.
“What do you mean?” Fang Xiyu asked.
“Back in the game, I made more than one ‘sacrifice priority’ list,” Shen Xuanyi said without hesitation. “Without considering the mission environment or background, just looking at the individuals themselves, Xiao Mu’s priority was always among the top.”
Fang Xiyu didn’t even need to ask why.
A game NPC, unknown true identity, mysterious specific abilities, caring only about Chu Chenli…
Whether from the perspective of identity background, personality stability, or loyalty, Mu Yanshen was never suitable to be a long-term teammate.
Of course, that didn’t mean Shen Xuanyi would easily abandon Mu Yanshen as a teammate.
For them, even teammates who weren’t very friendly were precious members—not just out of identification with fellow survivors or some kind of kindness and forbearance, but more out of survival needs.
The more teammates survived, the greater the probability of the entire team’s survival.
But the backgrounds and missions in the game world changed constantly, and there would always be unforeseen or insurmountable situations.
In certain desperate circumstances, a decision-maker had to make tough choices.
That list was prepared for such extreme scenarios.
If Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen were in danger at the same time, and the teammates could only save one of them, Shen Xuanyi would definitely choose the former without hesitation.
—That was the meaning of the so-called “priority.”
“You should still remember the situation in the last few worlds. The sacrifice rate in each level was over one-fifth. Back then, we didn’t know we would return to reality soon. I think we were all about to face the situation of losing someone close.”
Hearing this, Fang Xiyu realized: “So you were afraid that if Xiao Mu happened to… A-Li would be heartbroken?”
Shen Xuanyi let out a faint sigh: “It’s more than just heartbreak.”
Fang Xiyu looked at him in confusion.
Shen Xuanyi closed his eyes and rubbed his weary brow: “In fact, whether in the game or in the real world, A-Li has no one he’s attached to.”
In other words, he had no indispensable emotional pillar.
The kind that would make him unable to live if it collapsed.
Even Ye Lanzhou wasn’t that kind of existence.
And back then, Chu Chenli was still fixated on Ye Lanzhou. If someone could surpass that long-standing obsession, how important would that person be to him?
At that time, Shen Xuanyi didn’t really think Mu Yanshen could move Chu Chenli to that extent, but he couldn’t help worrying.
That was still some parental mindset.
And he said “once” and “before,” meaning he had changed his mind.
“And now?” Fang Xiyu asked.
“Now?” Shen Xuanyi said with his eyes closed. “I think that whole idea that there must be sacrifices to achieve a goal is complete bullshit.”
Fang Xiyu laughed.
It was rare to hear such crude words from Shen Xuanyi.
“People still need to have something to hold onto,” Shen Xuanyi murmured.
Fang Xiyu agreed with that.
Shen Xuanyi asked him, “Did you come to see me just to ask about them?”
Fang Xiyu shook his head: “I originally came to talk about something else, but I happened to run into Xiao Mu and A-Li on the way.”
After that part of the confusion was cleared up, he started talking about other matters.
“I heard that the Research Institute has made significant progress recently with the source stones that caused the catastrophe.”
Shen Xuanyi: “It’s what you already know—the energy field can’t be measured by conventional logic, and it’s basically confirmed to be the root cause of biological mutations. But it’s still uncertain exactly how far its influence extends.”
Fang Xiyu: “I also heard from people at other bases that those monsters seem to speed up their evolution and mutation by devouring fragments of the stones, and the effect is very noticeable.”
Shen Xuanyi: “Indeed.”
Laboratories at several base branches have confirmed this one after another.
But there are too many scattered stone fragments. Even with pre-apocalypse manpower, it wouldn’t be enough to completely clear out all those hidden little things.
Even if they were found, destroying them was another problem.
So for now, the main strategy of the bases was to follow behind the aberrants, clearing them out while marking areas containing source stones that couldn’t be transported or recovered as restricted zones, assigning special teams to patrol and protect them.
The dispatched teams had already begun building base branches centered around these areas.
Fang Xiyu continued: “And what about humans? Have you done experiments on people?”
Shen Xuanyi didn’t deny it: “The institute is researching the stones’ effects on humans. The victims of the several ‘Awakening Stone’ deaths in the city are still lying in the institute.”
Fang Xiyu asked, “What were the research results?”
Shen Xuanyi: “Preliminary findings indicate that they can also enhance abilities, but the human body is too fragile. Most can’t withstand the drastic energy fluctuations from a rapid increase, resulting in death.”
Fang Xiyu’s expression was conflicted.
Shen Xuanyi glanced at him and asked, “Have you found something new again?”
Fang Xiyu nodded helplessly: “I saw that some awakened individuals in District N are privately trading these stones.”
To distinguish between the “Awakened” from the ten years before the apocalypse and the “Special Ability Users” who had only started appearing in recent months, the authorities now used “Awakened” and “Ability User” as separate terms.
Broadly speaking, Ability Users were mostly ordinary people who had awakened, gaining only special abilities without a significant boost to their physical fitness.
Some had useless abilities and might be weaker than ordinary people.
As for Awakened who had a secondary awakening of abilities, they were extremely rare—practically only one or two, and those were among the weaker ones with low awakening indices.
The awakened abilities were also unremarkable, only useful in non-combat situations.
In fact, most new Ability Users were like this.
Either their abilities were useless, or they themselves were untrained and couldn’t handle even the simplest tasks.
The main force responsible for clearing aberrants in the field was still the well-trained Awakened veterans.
But compared to the Awakened, who only had attribute changes, abilities—being varied and sounding cool—always attracted more attention. The contrast between useless abilities and the outrageously powerful ones made the latter stand out even more.
Even the poor victim who died from the Awakening Stone, whose ability to freeze blood into ice, was talked about for a long time.
Even ordinary people with poor physical fitness began to fantasize about turning their lives around with abilities.
Moreover, the Central Base had set up a new district specifically for these new Ability Users, even giving it equal status to the district where the Awakened lived.
With ordinary people fantasizing about the future, it was natural for some Awakened to feel dissatisfied.
Especially those who were neither here nor there.
But the emergence of Ability Users and the infinite possibilities of the future were already established facts. They could only hope that one day they too might awaken a powerful ability.
With this mindset, the stones claimed to help awaken abilities found demand and a market among these Awakened.
It was much easier for them to get these stones; they could collect quite a few during an external mission. As long as it wasn’t a mission specifically to collect stones, no one would search them thoroughly.
This time, Fang Xiyu happened to visit District N, where the Awakened lived, to see some friends he had made at Yingchen Base.
Two of his roommates had fallen for the rumors and acted on them.
He didn’t know whether to call them kind-hearted or not, but they generously shared their experience with Fang Xiyu.
Fang Xiyu wanted to advise them to be cautious, but they clearly didn’t take it seriously.
Only Fang Xiyu’s friend looked hesitant and seemed to have listened to Fang Xiyu’s advice for now, saying he wouldn’t do anything reckless.
But Fang Xiyu could tell that they were tempted too.
On the way back, he thought about it for a long time and decided it was better to discuss it with Shen Xuanyi.
But he was also hesitant.
If Fang Xiyu truly believed those stones were harmful, he would have come straight to the point, demanding that Shen Xuanyi ban the stones outright, use special instruments to search every room, and confiscate them all.
That wouldn’t take much effort; the instruments were already available.
“What are your thoughts?” Shen Xuanyi clasped his hands on the desk, ready to hear Fang Xiyu’s opinion.
“Those stones haven’t caused any obvious harm to them,” Fang Xiyu said. “Maybe because they have stronger physical constitutions and higher inherent energy levels, they can tough out any fluctuations. There haven’t been any deaths among the Awakened from this, right?”
Shen Xuanyi nodded in agreement: “You could even say there haven’t been any injuries.”
This was also one reason why the rampant stone trade among the Awakened had gone unnoticed until now.
Since no one gets hurt, there’s no need for an all-out ban.
“So,” Fang Xiyu paused, feeling a bit awkward saying this, “I think it might not be a bad thing.”
“If they really can awaken abilities or enhance their own powers, it could be a good thing.”
“It’s a great thing,” Shen Xuanyi said quietly. “We need more manpower and stronger combat power. We can’t rely on just a few of us.”
Fang Xiyu, feeling validated, relaxed a little.
“But the situation in the city is indeed serious. I heard the registration center is short-staffed lately,” Fang Xiyu continued. “And the Awakening Stone casualties keep increasing. I wonder if we could send more people to conduct inspections and install detection devices at the entrances…”
These seemed like easy things to think of.
Yet no one had done them so far.
Shen Xuanyi also showed a clear expression of hesitation.
“I’m also torn about this.”
Shen Xuanyi turned around, pulled a file folder from the bookshelf behind him, and placed it on top of the neatly organized pile Fang Xiyu had just arranged.
It was the record of a top-level meeting dated a few months ago, the day after the Zhu Wenxin incident.
Shen Xuanyi: “We’ve discussed this several times in meetings, but we haven’t reached a consensus yet.”
Fang Xiyu didn’t immediately open the file; he first asked Shen Xuanyi why.
He wanted to hear the captain’s opinion.
“Because besides Zhu Wenxin, someone successfully awakened abilities using this method—before Zhu Wenxin,” Shen Xuanyi said, tapping the file cover with his fingertip. “A large number of people think we’re very short-handed.”
So some sacrifices were necessary.
Fang Xiyu looked directly into Shen Xuanyi’s eyes: “And you?”
Shen Xuanyi didn’t flinch: “I haven’t voted yet. But I agree with them—we really are short-handed.”
Fang Xiyu was silent for a long time, his expression complicated.
In the end, his habitual trust in the captain prevailed.
He looked at the file cover for a long time and asked, “Then why don’t you let us help? Like with training—A-Li could do it, I think. I heard the training ground still doesn’t have a proper instructor…”
Shen Xuanyi shook his head helplessly: “I don’t want you wasting time on trivial matters… Forget it.”
He didn’t explain further. Instead, he pulled out a stack of documents from the bottom of the pile and flipped through them until he found the one he wanted.
“This is next week’s mission for A-Li and Xiao Mu—to revisit the experimental markers set by the research team a month ago and clean up the nearby aberrants along the way. You’ll go with them.”
As he spoke, Shen Xuanyi took a pen and added Fang Xiyu’s name to the mission order.
“After you come back, we’ll discuss this issue again.”
Fang Xiyu took the mission order and walked back with a heavy heart.
When he returned to the dormitory, Chu Chenli had just come back.
Mu Yanshen was following behind him.
The others were nowhere to be seen.
“Ziyue and the others went to see the captain,” Chu Chenli told Fang Xiyu, relaying what he had just heard from Xiao Bai.
Fang Xiyu raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the two of them: “And you two?”
Chu Chenli replied, “Came back to pack some luggage.”
Fang Xiyu was taken aback and asked, “Going on a trip?”
Chu Chenli said, “Going to stay in the city for a couple of days.”
Mu Yanshen added helpfully, “He’s worried about Tang Beihe getting into trouble. Although I think that kid isn’t stupid enough to be completely hopeless, at least two people have gone missing in the last three days. Maybe not all of them went willingly.”
Fang Xiyu shook the mission order in his hand and asked, “What about the mission?”
Chu Chenli said, “It’s not time yet.”
Mu Yanshen: “Of course, we want to resolve this before the mission.”
There were still six whole days until the mission—excluding tonight—so there was plenty of time.
Fang Xiyu thought about his conversation with Shen Xuanyi, his feelings complicated, but after much deliberation, he decided not to pour cold water on their plans.
Regardless of what Shen Xuanyi ultimately decided, there was no telling if someone would take advantage of the chaos to do harm.
After all, no one really wanted innocent ordinary people to die for nothing.