Chapter 71: Eternal Sleep Project (Part 1)

She had spent ten thousand Zhuo Coins to simulate the island’s environment. After opening the game, Xia Mi understood exactly where those ten thousand Zhuo Coins had gone.

The so-called environment simulation involved Xia Mi using the energy of the ten thousand Zhuo Coins to dominate the Consciousness Threads of the test subjects on the island. By reading the consciousness of every subject, the environment was pieced together through their collective vision.

Xia Mi had expected to encounter conspiracies, traps, or monsters attempting to wipe out her consciousness.

To her surprise, the moment she stepped onto the island, the entire place exploded, blowing Xia Mi to smithereens instantly.

The game’s ending subtitles popped up: [The opponent is very clever. They abandoned the test subjects on the island, trading them all to recover the “Queen Bee.” It is a bargain where they lose nothing.

You are dead, but the “Queen Bee” will not die; she will only be severely injured.

Deep within the island, there is a fully sealed, blast-proof room. After your death, this room will open. Inside are test subjects like Xiao Feng who will retrieve the heavily injured “Queen Bee” and take her back for research.]

Xia Mi never expected the other side to employ such a simple and crude method.

On second thought, however, she realized it was indeed the most effective way. Her life was not linked to the Queen Bee’s. If she died, the Queen Bee would survive. It was for this very reason that the Immortal Foundation kept trying to kill her. It was the strength of the nation that protected her, reducing the Immortal Foundation’s assassination attempts to a level she could withstand. Once she left the state’s protection, the enemy could easily use high-yield weapons to kill her on the spot.

Aside from Xia Mi, the others were also watching the game. Mi Xiangyan shook her head and said, “The method is crude but effective. It’s an open scheme¹. First, they used the summons from the test subjects to force Xia Mi to go to the island to deal with them, then they rigged the island with explosives to catch her off guard. Fortunately, we had the game’s warning, otherwise we really would have fallen for it.”

Liao Tianhua frowned. “Shield probably wouldn’t be able to defend against an explosion of that scale.”

Jiao Xingjian said decisively, “I’ll apply to the higher-ups to blow up that island ahead of time. We’ll use a military exercise as an excuse. That area is marked as uninhabited waters on the map, so the other side will just have to suffer in silence.”

This was indeed a good solution. If the enemy could blow it up, so could they. Wouldn’t destroying it solve the problem?

Mi Xiangyan and Liao Tianhua nodded in agreement.

Only Xia Mi shook her head.

She tapped the screen, pointing to a new task that had appeared in “Project Queen Bee” called the “Eternal Sleep Project.” The game also provided a special prompt, noting that the “Eternal Sleep Project” was the final mission.

Xia Mi said, “The game is likely trying to tell me that by completing this mission, I can completely seal the Queen Bee and the monsters created by the Immortal Foundation. As long as the mission is successful, all the Foundation’s years of experimentation will go to waste, and their ambitions will be crushed. I probably have to face this mission head-on.”

Jiao Xingjian said, “Based on the name of this mission, the ideal outcome is that the Queen Bee falls into a deep sleep and you lose your current special abilities. You’d become an ordinary person and have to earn your promotions the conventional way. A slightly worse outcome is that you and the Queen Bee fall into a deep sleep together; you wouldn’t be dead, but it would be essentially the same as dying in the line of duty. The worst-case scenario is that you and the Queen Bee perish together.

“Given your personality and ambition, even the most ideal outcome doesn’t seem that great for you.”

Jiao Xingjian was clearly testing Xia Mi’s resolve with those words.

Xia Mi replied, “If I don’t carry out this mission, even if you blow up the island now, the Immortal Foundation will just create another batch of monsters in a few years. These monsters will then try to awaken the Queen Bee again. Right now, I can still find the island’s location. Next time, I might not even be able to find where their base is.

“If I don’t carry out this mission, the Queen Bee inside me could wake up at any time. The organization would never feel safe letting me work in a major city. Most likely, I’d be sent to work in some no-man’s-land. I know there’s glory in perseverance, and guarding the motherland’s borders is honorable work. Many people even get promoted after their term ends.

“I’m willing to do that kind of work, but while that job might last five or ten years for others, for me, it could be a lifetime. That’s no different from ancient exile.

“I certainly like being special right now, and I know that having special abilities means being more highly valued and promoted faster. But between the two options, I’ll still choose the one that’s better for an ordinary person.”

Jiao Xingjian looked at Xia Mi with admiration and smiled. “I didn’t expect you to figure everything out so quickly and make your choice. Captain Xia, do you know why many geniuses can become excellent employees but never become leaders who manage affairs on their own?”

“Why?” Xia Mi asked humbly.

Jiao Xingjian said, “Because they lack the decisiveness to make trade-offs and the ability to take responsibility for wrong choices. Without those two abilities, no matter how strong an individual is, they cannot lead a team. Even though you’re just a new officer, you’ve always possessed that capacity.”

Xia Mi said, “Deputy Director Jiao, I think that to be a leader, in addition to the two things you mentioned, one more ability is needed.”

Jiao Xingjian asked, “What ability?”

Xia Mi replied, “The ability to dangle a carrot in front of subordinates.”

Jiao Xingjian’s words just now had sounded like a grand promise, but in reality, he hadn’t said anything concrete. He hadn’t even dangled a carrot, yet he had made Xia Mi feel the expectation that she would definitely become a leader in the future. It was truly brilliant!

Jiao Xingjian glared at Xia Mi and said, “That’s called providing reassurance, do you understand? You’re making a sacrifice. If I didn’t even do a bit of ideological work, would I still be worthy of this uniform?!”

A leader’s mental reassurance did indeed have an effect. Xia Mi’s mood had been quite heavy, but seeing Jiao Xingjian huffing and puffing with indignation at her words made her feel much better.

Mi Xiangyan felt a bit sorry for Xia Mi. She felt that as a young girl, Xia Mi had carried too many heavy burdens over the past few months. She said to Xia Mi, “Even if you put the test subjects on the island and the Queen Bee to eternal sleep this time, the Zhuo still exists. The Immortal Foundation can still create more monsters.”

Xia Mi said, “I extracted some intelligence from Xiao Feng’s memories. The Immortal Foundation’s research on ‘Zhuo’ had been progressing very slowly. No matter how many experiments they conducted, they made no headway. It wasn’t until the ‘Queen Bee’ showed signs of awakening, and until they discovered her location and built a laboratory around her, that they achieved a breakthrough.

“Without the Queen Bee, Zhuo still exists, but it loses its drive to evolve. It follows its instincts to feed just as it has for the past hundreds or thousands of years, constructing small-scale Domains. These minor troubles can be handled by ordinary members of our Disposal Bureau.”

In truth, Xia Mi hadn’t actually read these facts from Xiao Feng’s memories. She had learned them just now after spending ten thousand Zhuo Coins to dominate the consciousness of the island’s test subjects.

Xiao Feng was a person with his own consciousness and ambitions. The core personnel of the Immortal Foundation didn’t trust him, nor did they tell him that there were several other “Drones” just like him. His task was merely to use his own life to activate the Queen Bee, and since that task was finished, he had long since outlived his usefulness.

The Immortal Foundation would guard against Xiao Feng, but they wouldn’t guard against the Y-Series Zhuo, which appeared to lack any capacity for thought. They would carelessly reveal fragments of information in front of the test subjects. It was only after Xia Mi integrated these scattered pieces that she obtained the intelligence.

Through this information, Xia Mi learned that as long as she could put the Queen Bee into an “Eternal Sleep,” everything would return to its original, primitive state, and the Immortal Foundation’s ambitions would utterly vanish.

After she shared the intel, Jiao Xingjian and Mi Xiangyan fell into deep thought.

If they would be blown to bits the moment they stepped onto the island, and Shield could not defend against the explosion, how were they supposed to act?

At that moment, Liao Tianhua spoke seriously. “I can go to the island with Xia Mi. I’ll land first and expand my Nest to ‘transport’ all the test subjects on the island into another dimension. Once I’ve isolated the bomb and the subjects, Xia Mi can enter the Nest to carry out the ‘Eternal Sleep Project.’

“As long as Xia Mi doesn’t land, they won’t dare detonate the bomb. It won’t be dangerous for me to go first.”

Xia Mi looked at Liao Tianhua, suddenly understanding why the progress of “The Lost Boyfriend” task was linked to the “Eternal Sleep Project.”

It was because Liao Tianhua had to be on that island.

Only if Liao Tianhua landed could she avoid the explosion, allowing the plan to continue.

“You might die if you do this,” Xia Mi said.

Liao Tianhua replied, “Then that’s all the more reason for me to go. Currently, only I and ‘Eye’ are capable of skillfully expanding a Nest. ‘Eye’ is an external consultant; he only joined the Disposal Bureau because he had no choice after becoming a ‘Rong.’ He isn’t a formal police officer, so he shouldn’t be the one to execute such a high-risk mission. I am the most suitable candidate.

“There’s something you might not know. After the previous battles, the amount of Zhuo Coins I can hold has increased. I can now hold up to 3,000 Zhuo Coins. The Nest I expand will definitely be able to envelop the entire laboratory.”

The improvement in Liao Tianhua’s strength was likely related to Xiao Feng. In his attempt at “The Cuckoo Occupying the Magpie’s Nest,” Xiao Feng had forcibly expanded the capacity of the Nest.

“For now, this is the best way,” Mi Xiangyan said after a moment of analysis.

Jiao Xingjian remained silent.

He was the leader and had more issues to consider.

In the past, during wars, they tried their best to avoid sending only sons to the battlefield to prevent a family line from ending. Xia Mi and Liao Tianhua had only just fallen in love, and they might become a family in the future. This was truly working a family to the bone!

Liao Tianhua looked at Xia Mi and said, “Xia Mi, you don’t need to worry about me. To be honest, I no longer remember you. The feelings between us aren’t that deep. I felt some regret about it before, but now I think it’s for the best.

“I will do my best to protect you so you can live on. You don’t need to be too attached to me or worry about me. After all, an amnesiac boyfriend isn’t worth holding onto.

“It would be quite a hassle for you to have to create new memories with me. It’s better to just let me go and save yourself the process of trying to wake my memories.”

Mi Xiangyan and Jiao Xingjian let out long sighs.

They were moved by Liao Tianhua’s readiness to sacrifice himself, and they felt heartache for Xia Mi.

Mi Xiangyan said somewhat emotionally, “Deputy Captain Liao, that’s a bit cold-hearted. How can someone just let go of feelings like that? If you really die to protect Xia Mi, how is she supposed to move on?”

Liao Tianhua looked away, trying his best not to meet Xia Mi’s gaze.

Xia Mi, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. “Who said I can’t move on? If he dares to die, I’ll dare to forget him. If he dies, I’ll just find someone better. I’ll even bring my husband and kids to his grave to set off firecrackers² every holiday!”

Liao Tianhua had been mentally prepared for sacrifice, but Xia Mi’s words choked him up. Suddenly, he didn’t want to sacrifice himself anymore. He looked at Xia Mi with an expression that seemed to say, “You heartless woman.”

Feeling no guilt whatsoever, Xia Mi gave Liao Tianhua’s leg a hard kick. She opened the game and said, “I’m going to take you through the game once. Watch closely, think hard, and try your absolute best to come up with a way for both of us to survive. If you can’t…”

“What if I can’t?” Liao Tianhua pressed.

Xia Mi said, “Then it’s best if we both die. But if even one of us survives, don’t cling to the other. Find the next person worth loving. Leave no regrets for the past, and don’t waste the life you have in the future.”

Translator’s Notes