The young lady's home is in a heavily guarded neighborhood, a three-story house with its own entrance, and even has a small garden built against all odds.
Such a house is naturally off-limits to outsiders. Only with the young lady's own guarantee was the handsome player allowed to enter.
Her parents weren't home at the moment, so the young lady asked the handsome player to sit in the lobby while she went upstairs to her room to find something.
The two bodyguards guarding the young lady were eyeing the handsome player menacingly, and the nanny was also keeping a close eye on him, both feeling that he had ill intentions.
The handsome player didn't take it seriously.
Suddenly, he noticed a family photo on the wall, a picture of the young lady's family of three: a dignified father, a mother with her face covered, and an innocent little girl.
"Would you like some juice?" The young lady had already come out of her room and asked the nanny to pour her some juice.
The handsome player's gaze swept over the refrigerator filled with fruit. Ordinary people in the base mainly ate a type of fungus; they might only eat fruit a few times a year, and fruit juice was something only a young lady could afford.
The base appears stable, but this class disparity is slowly creating many problems, just waiting for a spark to ignite them.
The nanny quickly brought over some juice. Holding the juice, the handsome player looked again at the family photo: if this were ancient times, this would be the royal family.
She followed the handsome player's gaze and saw it was her family photo. She said shyly, "I was a little chubby when I was little."
"No, you're very cute," the handsome player exclaimed, pausing for a moment. "Who is your mother?"
The young lady looked at the photo of her mother, whose face was covered, and sighed: "When I was five years old, my mother's face was injured in an accident. My mother used to be very beautiful, the most beautiful person I had ever seen. But after that..."
Recalling the past, she hesitated, "After that, my mother tore up the old photos and stopped liking to go out."
"With such a lovely daughter, your mother must be very beautiful."
"Ah, I also have a picture of my mother. Let me show you." The young lady remembered this and turned to go upstairs again. The handsome player was taken aback at first, then smiled and turned back to meet the nanny's unhappy face.
The nanny initially admired the young man, but not long ago, the base leader called her, saying that the young man might be deliberately approaching her for some purpose. The nanny was furious, and it showed on her face.
"Would you like some tea, Madam?"
The nanny looked at him coldly: "I've seen plenty of people like you. You dare get close to my young lady..."
"Mr. Allen." The young lady had already come downstairs and ran over in a few steps, showing him a similar family photo of three.
The handsome player glanced at it casually, but paused for a second when his gaze fell on the woman's face inside.
"You don't look much like your mother, but you look more like your father," he said with a smile.
"Yes, if she looked like my mother, she would be very beautiful," the young lady said sincerely, looking at her mother's appearance when she was young.
"Yes…it will be very beautiful," the handsome player said meaningfully.
The handsome player who received the VIP pass quickly bid farewell to the young lady.
"Miss, this man is glib-tongued, he..."
The nanny had only spoken halfway when the young lady raised her hand: "I know he's untrustworthy, but at least he can make me happy. A card, I'll give it to him."
With his special privileges, the handsome player enjoyed almost the treatment of a high-ranking leader in this base. However, he seemed to know his limits, simply playing and chatting with people, as if he were genuinely just curious about the base's entertainment.
The handsome player's information was immediately delivered to the base leader's desk. The base leader couldn't understand what he was up to; the young man hadn't done anything particularly unusual.
"First, find out where he went, who he contacted, and what he did. It's best to record everything," the base leader instructed his men. "Remember, don't alert him."
"But Miss…" He had caught the eye of the young lady, and they were hesitant to act rashly.
"It's alright." The base leader tugged at his collar and exhaled. "Find a few clean-cut, well-behaved boys to keep her company. Make sure they're good actors; young girls like chance encounters."
Children's favorite things are like their favorite toys; once they have several, they forget the one they initially grabbed.
In fact, the handsome player had already noticed the tail behind him.
"I have the authority to take you to see it," he said to his new friend.
"Really? That's amazing. How do you have such authority?" The speaker was a stylish young man whose father was one of the leaders of the underground city, responsible for the security of the entire underground city.
"It might be because of my family... I'm sorry, I can't say more, it's a secret."
A corner of the VIP pass was visible, and the young man's eyes lit up. He seemed to have guessed something and nodded repeatedly, "I know, I won't say anything."
"Don't be nervous, we're friends, aren't we?" The handsome player smiled very kindly.
"Uh-huh."
"May I ask, what is your father...?"
The two of them walked further and further away and entered a shooting range that required authorization, leaving their little tail behind them helplessly intercepted.
All the actions of the 'players,' including the handsome player, were uploaded to the hunting team captain, who stroked his chin as he looked at the documents.
So far, he has only found seven people. One of them was dismissed by him and is now dead. The other two are still in the team and were previously leading the team into the trap. They are now the focus of his observation.
There are three city explorers who are inseparable, and the other one is the person the young lady knows.
These people have all changed in the last two days; their behavior and habits are completely different from before. However, their physical characteristics remain the same.
"Is it the influence of some special monster, or is there something wrong with this group of people to begin with?" The hunting team leader smoked, his mood as calm as the smoke.
"How are those two in the team doing?"
"Nothing special was done."
"Hmm." The hunting party leader stubbed out his cigarette. "What about the other three?"
"At the bar."
"Keep an eye on them and see who they've been in contact with."
The day passed by in a rush.
As the sun set and the last rays of sunlight faded, the sky turned a dim blue-purple. The base gate was half-closed, and the guards were about to lock it.
"Beep beep beep—" The ear-piercing sound of a horn and the roar of an engine came rushing in, and then a private car came into view.
The gatekeeper frowned: "These guys can't even keep to the clock!"
Private cars drove directly into the base. Because it was the last batch, everyone was a bit lax. They saw that it was someone they knew and let them in.
"Why are you so late today?" the gatekeeper asked casually.
"Don't even mention it," came a man's voice from inside the car, sounding rather unhappy.
After saying goodbye to the gatekeeper, the car slowly drove towards the garage.
He walked down two floors from the garage before stopping. The car key had "303" written on it and a small gray tag attached, matching the color of the third floor.
The first and second floors have more space, but they are not intended for civilians.
There were very few empty parking spaces in the third-level garage. Car 303 had already been parked there, and he had to circle around twice before he finally found a suitable spot to park.
He turned off the engine, engaged the handbrake, slung his bag over his shoulder, and got out of the car. The garage was deserted except for the surveillance cameras, which were still working. He followed the signs and walked out of the garage.
The moment I stepped out of the garage, the outside world changed completely.
Although there was still a lingering smell characteristic of underground, sealed spaces in the air, the space did not feel cramped.
Judging by its appearance, this space is probably ten or even twenty or thirty meters high. Large and small spotlights are embedded in it, giving the underground world a very sci-fi feel. People from the base walk around in twos and threes.
If it weren't for the huge supporting pillars every ten meters, this place would be no different from the streets outside.
Looking at the bustling underground city and smelling the aroma of food, the newcomer licked his sharp teeth, his eyes turning red for a moment.
He lowered his hat and walked into the crowd, like a drop of water flowing into the ocean, quickly disappearing without a trace.
The hunting party continued their search for the Scarlet Witch today, attempting to lure her with monster blood, but the frightened monsters were not drawn in. Fortunately, there was no gray fog rain today, and most of the monsters remained holed up in their lairs, not venturing out.
Few players went out today; they were more interested in deciphering the clue of 'sacrifice' than finding the Scarlet Witch.
The handsome player was playing with a group of new friends he'd met that day. These young people thought he was very cool and capable, seemingly knowing and able to do everything. They enthusiastically invited him to their homes to play.
The two unlucky guys responsible for monitoring him held cups of hot water and huddled in a corner watching the group of privileged kids eat, drink, and have fun.
"Bah! On the road lie frozen corpses, while behind the red gates, wine and meat rot."
Saman sat in front of his computer, digging deeper and deeper, seemingly reaching the darkest corner of this underground city. The powerful and wealthy, outwardly impeccably dressed, secretly indulged in the lives of the common people.
In a daze, he thought he had returned to a desolate corner.
As he stared at the horrific images on the screen, Saman tapped his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought.
Ren Yifei, who had eaten the ever-changing potato and infiltrated the underground city, was walking on the road.
The streets were brightly lit, which made him slightly uncomfortable. However, the ultraviolet rays from these lights were very weak, so they had little effect; his discomfort was more psychological.
The underground city was much larger than Ren Yifei had imagined, with at least several thousand to tens of thousands of people living there; what he had seen during the day was just a glimpse of it.
It was still seven o'clock, and the residents of the underground city were either out eating or having fun. Ren Yifei, who didn't need to eat at the moment, walked towards a lively entertainment area.
He observed the walls on both sides.
A fish icon appeared on the wall, with a hole in its head. This was a public signal used by high-level players to communicate.
High-level players don't always go it alone; they often prefer to cooperate, such as by exchanging information or working together to fight a particular faction.
The current situation is that they have to deal with an entire base, and acting alone would prolong the timeline for solving the mystery. Therefore, they need to cooperate temporarily to accelerate the plot, which is why this fish pattern exists.
He walked towards the fish head and soon encountered another spatial fish pattern.
After several attempts, Ren Yifei walked into a bar. He thought it was a normal, modern bar until the price list brought him back to reality—the items on it were unusually expensive.
"Is anyone here?" Ren Yifei tapped the table, causing the little fish drawn with wine on it to tremble. "You don't mind if I sit down, do you?"
"Where do you come from?"
"Dongxing".
The players who were already seated exchanged glances: "You sit down, there's no one here."
Author's N
ote: Afei: I'm here.