Chapter 64: The Symbol “8”

Through her recent explorations, Xia Mi had gained a solid understanding of the situation. This time, she entered the game with a specific mission: to verify several theories.

This nest had been manifested by Liao Tianhua. To dissolve the nest and save everyone, she had to help Liao Tianhua break free from Fake Old Jiao’s mental control. Otherwise, her only choice would be to kill Liao Tianhua to escape.

In the Pharmaceutical Factory, once Xia Mi killed the True Self Mirror, the mental control of the “Eye” was automatically severed. This was clearly a viable method.

However, in the game’s first ending, Fake Old Jiao had died by self-detonation, yet Liao Tianhua’s mental control hadn’t been lifted. Instead, it had become even more severe.

Currently, when Xia Mi appeared before Liao Tianhua, he still possessed some bodily autonomy and instinctively paid attention to her. But once Fake Old Jiao died, Liao Tianhua became completely unable to remember Xia Mi, and the two could never be together in the end.

From this perspective, rashly killing Fake Old Jiao was a dead end. She had to find a way to break Liao Tianhua’s control before making a move.

Xia Mi planned to attempt the following steps.

First, take Liao Tianhua to see the real Old Jiao in the basement, attempting to shift Liao Tianhua’s emotional attachment onto the real one. Although this would make Xia Mi quite uncomfortable, it was better than him being infatuated with Fake Old Jiao.

Second, take Qiu Hailan and Mi Xiangyan to see the real Old Jiao to awaken their consciousness. She would then have them help brainstorm a solution. There was strength in numbers, and they were bound to find a way.

Third, have “Xiao Mi” pretend to be seduced by Fake Old Jiao to try and extract intelligence about the Immortal Foundation and the method to break the mental control.

Fourth, have “Xiao Mi” walk an “8” within the game.

The fourth point was particularly important.

When Fake Old Jiao had walked an “8” in the corridor, Xia Mi had felt a strange sensation.

She felt as if someone were calling to her, a call she could respond to at any time. If she chose not to respond, the other party would be unable to sense her location.

Within the communication channel formed by the symbol “8,” there seemed to be a very clear hierarchy. Xia Mi was on the level above Fake Old Jiao, while those Zhuo-fied Humans were on the level below him.

Xia Mi had previously been unable to absorb the energy within the Zhuo-fied Humans. she wanted to see if she could control the Zhuo-fied Humans created by Fake Old Jiao, or even absorb their power, by constructing this kind of channel.

After straightening out her thoughts, Xia Mi immediately took action as soon as she entered the game.

“Xiao Mi” used the landline in Liao Tianhua’s office to call Mi Xiangyan and Qiu Hailan, telling them to wait for her in the basement.

She then used Liao Tianhua’s computer to confirm that the two had reached the basement.

Once she confirmed they had arrived, “Xiao Mi” grabbed Liao Tianhua. Taking advantage of a moment when the corridor on the 3rd floor was clear of dummies, they dashed toward the elevator.

The group reached the basement without a hitch. Qiu Hailan and Mi Xiangyan were surprised to see Liao Tianhua and kept shooting meaningful looks at “Xiao Mi,” hinting that there was something wrong with Liao Tianhua’s identity.

“Xiao Mi” remained unmoved, stating she was taking the three of them to see someone very important.

Out of trust for “Xiao Mi,” the three followed her to the Confidential Archives Room.

“Xiao Mi” called the Keycard, asking it to open the door from the inside.

The door opened, but what met their eyes wasn’t Old Jiao, but a monster with long, tentacle-like whiskers.

Old Jiao had been Zhuo-fied.

Qiu Hailan transformed into Little Autumn Bear on the spot, pouncing toward the Zhuo-fied Old Jiao with a roar.

Mi Xiangyan and Liao Tianhua also drew their sidearms and began firing at the Zhuo-fied Old Jiao.

Seeing the tragedy of three subordinates killing their leader about to unfold, “Xiao Mi” used all her strength to kick Little Autumn Bear away. She aimed the kick so that Little Autumn Bear’s body landed directly in the line of fire of Mi Xiangyan and Liao Tianhua, using the bear’s massive frame to block the bullets.

Old Jiao might be killed by handguns, but Little Autumn Bear would not.

After becoming a “Rong,” Qiu Hailan had tested her powers in reality.

She could transform into a giant bear standing three meters tall. Her fur was bulletproof, and she possessed immense strength and incredible defense. Her only weaknesses were her eyes.

“Xiao Mi” was only able to kick Little Autumn Bear away because Qiu Hailan had been completely off-guard against her.

“Xiao Mi” successfully sent Little Autumn Bear flying, but her own lower leg fractured from the force of the impact.

She shouted to the group: “Stop! This is a Zhuo-fied Human who still retains his sanity! Don’t hurt him!”

Only then did the others cease their attack on the Zhuo-fied Old Jiao.

“Xiao Mi” limped toward the Zhuo-fied Old Jiao and used “Silkworm” to absorb the energy within him. It wasn’t much, just 20 Zhuo Coins.

The Zhuo-fied parts vanished, revealing Old Jiao’s haggard face.

Old Jiao had a significant amount of vitality drained by “Xiao Mi” and looked more than ten years older.

“Deputy Director Jiao!” Liao Tianhua immediately rushed to Old Jiao’s side, snatching him away from “Xiao Mi.”

Xia Mi: “…”

Liao Tianhua: “Deputy Director Jiao, how did you end up like this?”

Old Jiao looked at his three subordinates gathered before him and gave a gratified smile. “Haven’t you noticed that the Disposal Bureau building has been encased in a nest?”

Shock appeared on all three faces.

Old Jiao continued, “Someone has impersonated me. That Deputy Director Jiao on the 17th floor is a fake.”

Upon hearing this, Liao Tianhua slowly set Old Jiao down.

Qiu Hailan took over the task, helping Old Jiao up.

Liao Tianhua turned to leave, but “Xiao Mi” quickly grabbed him and asked, “Where are you going?”

Liao Tianhua: “To confront Deputy Director Jiao and find out once and for all which one is the real one.”

“Xiao Mi”: “And if that one is the fake?”

Liao Tianhua: “I’ll kill him, and then I’ll kill myself.”

“Xiao Mi”: “Xiao Qiu, knock Xiao Liao out!”

Qiu Hailan hadn’t yet reverted from her transformation. Hearing “Xiao Mi’s” command, she let go of Jiao Xingjian and lunged at Liao Tianhua. Working together with “Xiao Mi,” they knocked Liao Tianhua unconscious and bound him tightly with the ropes used for archive boxes in the confidential lab.

Little Autumn Bear: “The grudge from the Pharmaceutical Factory is finally settled! It’s not that I’m weaker than you; it’s just that my body was controlled by the True Self Mirror and couldn’t use my full strength!”

Influenced by “The Cuckoo Occupying the Magpie’s Nest,” Mi Xiangyan and Qiu Hailan harbored great hostility toward Liao Tianhua. After subduing him, Mi Xiangyan suggested using a neuro-destructive truth serum on him to force out information about the Immortal Foundation, regardless of the toll it would take on his health.

Xiao Mi tried everything she could to dispel the hostility between the two, but when nothing worked, she simply played along with Liao Tianhua’s behavior. [Liao Tianhua’s mind is being controlled by Fake Old Jiao. The person sent by the Immortal Foundation is Fake Old Jiao, not Liao Tianhua. Liao Tianhua isn’t the real mastermind. Even if you interrogate him, he doesn’t have any information. You won’t get anything out of him.]

The expressions on Mi Xiangyan and Qiu Hailan’s faces softened slightly. They finally managed to temporarily suppress their killing intent toward Liao Tianhua.

It seemed that even seeing the real Old Jiao hadn’t broken the mental control over these three. It appeared Old Jiao was exactly as the game described: he was merely a Keycard with no other purpose.

Although Mi Xiangyan and Qiu Hailan believed Xia Mi for the moment, Fake Old Jiao could deepen his control. Once the two of them saw Fake Old Jiao again, they would likely be influenced once more. At that point, they might not even recognize the real Old Jiao, and they might even return to the Confidential Archives Room to kill both the real Old Jiao and Liao Tianhua.

Since she couldn’t count on her teammates, Xiao Mi could only start with Fake Old Jiao and try methods three and four.

The third method was to counter-seduce Fake Old Jiao and trick him into revealing information about the Immortal Foundation.

This method was difficult to execute. Xia Mi knew nothing about Fake Old Jiao’s true identity, so she had no way to test him.

Fortunately, she remembered that Mi Xiangyan had been investigating someone from the Immortal Foundation before she was trapped in the Nest. She had already found a lead, but the target had been replaced by Liao Tianhua in Fake Old Jiao’s narrative.

Xiao Mi asked: [Group Leader Mi, you were investigating the Immortal Foundation before. Did you find any key clues tonight?]

Mi Xiangyan replied: [I already told you, Liao Tianhua was seducing you.]

Seducing… that word triggered a memory for Xia Mi.

She temporarily set the game aside and focused on analyzing Fake Old Jiao’s identity.

She hadn’t actually felt anything from Liao Tianhua’s supposed seduction. However, she had felt a very real sense of seduction from another person: Xiao Feng.

Xia Mi recalled that before she entered the Nest, she had seen scribbles on Mi Xiangyan’s office desk in the empty Disposal Bureau building. There were scattered phrases like “alcoholic father, sick sister, fragile him, heartless her.”

At the time, Xia Mi thought Group Leader Mi was reading some melodramatic novel. Looking back, those might have been words the Group Leader wrote unconsciously while she was thinking.

Combined with what Xiao Feng had told her, Xia Mi suddenly realized that the person the Immortal Foundation had actually sent was Xiao Feng!

Mi Xiangyan must have discovered Xiao Feng’s identity tonight and was preparing to report it to Jiao Xingjian, but she was trapped in the Nest before Jiao Xingjian could reach the office.

Had Xiao Feng discovered Mi Xiangyan’s goal just in time, or had he coincidentally replaced Jiao Xingjian at that moment?

Xia Mi thought about Fake Old Jiao’s male model outfit in the game and realized that Xiao Feng hadn’t been seriously trying to play the part of Jiao Xingjian.

This meant Xiao Feng’s purpose in dressing as Jiao Xingjian wasn’t to hide his identity, but because he believed Jiao Xingjian’s status would be more effective at seducing her.

“Why did he think I’d like that old geezer Old Jiao? Is my taste that bad? If he was going to transform, he should have turned into Xiao Liao!” Xia Mi couldn’t help but blurt out.

Beside her, Liao Tianhua, who couldn’t focus on work because his attention was constantly on Xia Mi, couldn’t help but speak up. “Deputy Director Jiao isn’t an old geezer. He…”

Liao Tianhua wanted to praise the Deputy Director Jiao he admired, but the virtues that came to mind were “vigorous, highly mobile, clear-eyed, focused, decisive, possessed of a firm will and ambition, a man with the stars and the sea in his heart.”

These traits didn’t seem to match Jiao Xingjian at all.

“He’s what?” Xia Mi pressed.

Liao Tianhua looked into Xia Mi’s eyes and found himself unable to name a single virtue regarding Deputy Director Jiao. After struggling for a long time, he finally thought of one. “He’s a leader.”

“How is that a virtue… wait!” Xia Mi suddenly stood up.

To Xia Mi, the status of a leader was an absolute, undeniable temptation!

Could Xiao Feng have sensed her admiration for the position of Deputy Director and mistaken that admiration for a crush on Jiao Xingjian? Was that why he chose to impersonate him?

Xiao Feng believed that he already possessed an instinctive attraction for Xia Mi, and when combined with Xia Mi’s “love” for Jiao Xingjian, the two together would successfully seduce her.

“I never mentioned Deputy Director Jiao when I was with him. How did he know I like the position of a leader? Can he sense my emotions?” Xia Mi muttered to herself.

Liao Tianhua asked, “Who is ‘he’?”

Xia Mi hesitated. She remembered that she and Liao Tianhua were already in a relationship. Telling him now that she had been attracted to Xiao Feng felt wrong, but not saying anything felt dishonest.

After a moment’s thought, she answered sincerely, “A male model I hired at a bar. We went on one date in the park later.”

Liao Tianhua’s face turned pale, but he managed a steady, “Oh.”

Xia Mi tried to soothe him. “I only went to the bar for work. It had nothing to do with him. Besides, I’ve already deleted him on WeChat. We won’t be in contact anymore.”

“Heh,” Liao Tianhua responded, emphasizing the single syllable.

“That all happened before we started dating. Now that I have you, I won’t go on any more blind dates or meet any more male models,” Xia Mi promised.

Liao Tianhua said gloomily, “Even if you have me, liking male models is your freedom. After all, I have someone else in my heart too.”

Now it was Xia Mi’s turn to feel frustrated.

She couldn’t help but clench her fists.

Xiao Liao was a very good man. He could cook, clean, write documents, and handle a mountain of trivial matters at the office. Even Old Jiao said he was a natural at it. With Xiao Liao around, Xia Mi believed she wouldn’t have to worry about a single thing at home, allowing her to devote herself entirely to her career.

Plus, Xiao Liao was part of the establishment!

Xia Mi was Shandongese. She could already imagine how happy her parents would be when she brought Xiao Liao home and introduced him as a Special Police officer!

She and Xiao Liao were doing just fine, and then this Xiao Feng had to drop in out of nowhere.

She had to deal with this Xiao Feng as soon as possible!

“What method did he use to sense my emotional leanings? Can I use that same method to reverse-read the information in his brain?” Xia Mi mused.

Perhaps the method was hidden within the “8” symbol.

Xia Mi picked up her phone, deciding to try the fourth method in the game.