"So, you unknowingly received the hints, plus the other party's hypnosis, to become like that."

Zhou Tianhao, who had just woken up, reached out and pressed his forehead after listening to Lin Chi's explanation:

"That's right......" he gritted his teeth.

At that time, he was so busy every day that he really didn't notice the abnormal changes that had occurred in his home. If I had been more sensitive, this incident might not have happened.

"Don't think too much, it's pointless to regret it now." Lin Chi looked down at Zhou Tianhao who was sitting on the sofa: "The top priority now is to let that girl wake up on her own." ”

Acting rashly while connected could damage the girl's consciousness. But as long as Zhou Tianhao's sister can be separated from the virtual world, with the exoskeleton on Lin Chi's body, it will be a piece of cake to open the hatch of the game warehouse.

"But we couldn't find the entrance to that virtual space." Zhou Tianhao lowered his head: "Unless that monster continues to hypnotize, he is not a fool......"

"Well, he's probably not going to hypnotize us again." Lin Chi nodded.

With the experience of the last time, the "monster" who controlled Zhou Tianhao's sister may have moved the game warehouse to other places. Even if the console was still in the basement, it would be difficult for them to reconnect to the virtual world with "Sophia" and "Black".

However, if you can negotiate with those people......

Lin Chi gave an order to Frankenstein to try to contact "A", who had chatted with Zhou Tianhao's sister, and then sat down on the sofa as well, picked up a can of ice Coke taken out of Zhou Tianhao's refrigerator, raised his head and took a sip.

"Don't blame yourself too much." Lin Chi turned his head to look at the dejected old classmate sitting beside him: "We still have hope." ”

"Is there really anything else?" Zhou Tianhao slammed his fist on the sofa: "Don't comfort me, it's all my fault......"

"I'm serious."

Before Lin Chi's voice fell, Frankenstein had already sent a message:

"Found him."

"So fast?" Lin Chi asked in surprise.

"The other party may still be watching the building." Frankenstein replied, "He wants to talk to you." ”

“OK。” Lin Chi nodded, picked up his mobile phone and walked to the bedroom of Zhou Tianhao's house.

"What are you going to do?" Zhou Tianhao's voice was low.

"Wait a minute, I'm going to analyze some clues." Lin Chi casually said a reason, then turned around and closed the door.

Zhou Tianhao's mood is still unstable, and now letting that guy communicate with the enemy who is suspected of being the mastermind may repeat the situation in the warehouse.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Lin Chi also chose to have a dialogue with the other party by himself:

Adding the other party's friend from Frankenstein, Lin Chi looked at the other party's default black humanoid avatar, and casually typed in a line of greeting: "Hello." ”

A second later, a line of black text appeared on the phone screen:

"I'm looking at you."

"yes, I know." Lin Chi's reply was very calm.

"You're nervous."

"Not really, it's my friend who is nervous." Lin Chi replied.

Even though he learned that he was being monitored, Lin Chi still didn't panic, leaned his upper body on the wooden chair, put his legs on the side of the bed, put on a comfortable posture that he was more accustomed to, and continued to chat with the other party on his mobile phone.

"Aren't you afraid?" A message.

"What is there to be afraid of?" Lin Chi replied: "Can you still kill me?" ”

"Maybe it really can."

"Don't talk about that." Lin Chi ignored the other party's threat and quickly typed the text: "I said, can you return that girl to us?" You're kidnapping. ”

"She's part of our plan." The answer was honest: "You are the same." ”

"Girl abduction plan?" Lin Chi said sarcastically.

"Our plan is much bigger than that." A said, "With all due respect, you can't stop it. ”

"In that case, how about we join in? I also want to go to that world. Lin Chi sent a message.

As long as you can enter that virtual world, you may be able to find hope to get that girl out of it. But as Lin Chi expected, the other party obviously wouldn't agree so easily:

"You're not invited."

"And what are you spying on us for?" Lin Chi asked.

"No comment."

Realizing that the other party was not so easily fooled, Lin Chi thought about it and sent a message again:

"I know who you are."

"You don't know anything." A's reply seemed sarcastic.

"You are the 'Oasis Army'." Lin Chi said his speculation.

“……”

The other party issued an ellipsis, and the avatar was grayed out.

"Did I get it right?" Lin Chi continued typing: "Let me tell you one more news, I still know where 'Methuselah' is." ”

- Following Methuselah's "will", it should be the Oasis Army that continues to attack the player.

After Lin Chi sent this message, A's avatar lit up again:

"Who are you?"

"Passers-by." Lin Chi gave a perfunctory reply.

"You're lying."

"If you want to know, how about let's join the game?" Lin Chi took the opportunity to put forward a condition: "It seems that you can temporarily block the memories of human beings, as long as our memories are also blocked, there will be no trouble, and by the way, there will be a few more experiments, don't you think about it?" ”

"I'll talk to my partner."

After saying this, A's avatar darkened again.

"That's right......"

Lin Chi put away his mobile phone and returned to the living room full of garbage, just in time to catch up with Zhou Tianhao, who had just stood up.

"What were you doing?" Zhou Tianhao still seemed to be suspicious.

"I talked to the mastermind." Lin Chi's answer was very refreshing.

"You kid......" Zhou Tianhao clenched his fists.

Seeing that Zhou Tianhao was about to have a seizure, Lin Chi hurriedly said, "Don't worry, he will take the initiative to contact me." After all...... Our terms have been negotiated. ”

"What did you say to him?" Zhou Tianhao asked.

"Nothing." Lin Chi brushed up the question, and then suddenly said, "I probably know what they're going to do." ”

Speaking of this topic, Zhou Tianhao gritted his teeth: "It's a damn human experiment......"

"No, I don't think that's their main purpose." Lin Chi shook his head: "The experiment is only incidental, their purpose should be 'revenge' and 'entertainment'. ”

"What do you mean?" Zhou Tianhao stared at him with a frown.

Hearing Zhou Tianhao's question, Lin Chi sat on the sofa, picked up the half-drunk Coke just now, and began to tell the story to the anxious man:

"I once met a guy in a virtual game. He is the product of a system bug and will never die, and even if he is killed, he will be resurrected shortly after. ”

"The horror is that although he will not die, his body will still age, and over time, his body has become unimaginably weak due to aging, and the whole person is like a skeleton in human skin."

"Then one day, this man learned about the existence of the 'real world' in which we lived. He was saddened to find that his life was nothing more than a useless plaything for us players. ”

"This angry old man decided to take revenge on the real-world players, and he somehow turned some of the players he had come into contact with into madmen who had lost their minds......"

As soon as these words came out, Zhou Tianhao's eyes suddenly widened: "Are you talking about 'psychedelics'?" ”

"Now, the old man has been imprisoned and can no longer take revenge on society. But he also has a dangerous army under his command, called the 'Oasis Army'. ”

Speaking of this, Lin Chi coughed: "The next part is my inference, I don't have definite evidence: the Oasis Army may be the same as the old man, and also intends to take revenge on those humans who make fun of them." However, the way the Oasis Army chose was not to make people crazy, but to treat others the way they would. ”

"What do you mean?" Zhou Tianhao's voice became hoarse.

"This means that the Oasis Army may be trying to treat us humans as 'objects of entertainment' as real-world players do."

"I don't understand." Zhou Tianhao's face was gloomy: "Can you explain it specifically?" ”

"It's just my speculation." Lin Chi put the empty bottle aside: "I'm thinking, if I am an NPC in the game, after learning the truth." Perhaps this kind of revenge will also be chosen - to lure humans in the real world into the virtual world, and then tamper with the memories of these humans, turning these people who were originally players into NPCs' 'playthings'. ”

"What do you mean...... Did NPCs start 'playing' with humans? Zhou Tianhao finally understood.

"I think so." Lin Chi nodded.

If what happened to Zhou Tianhao's sister was really the work of the Oasis Army, combined with the various strange things before, as well as the conversation with A just now, this is the conclusion that Lin Chi can draw.

Unlike Methuselah, the Oasis Army chose a more gentle, but unusually ironic approach to revenge.

As people used to say decades ago, "You're playing the game, don't let the game play you." The girl who is still lying in the strange metal warehouse may be in a state of "being played by the game"!

"This can't be true!" Zhou Tianhao kept shaking his head irritably: "It's ridiculous......"

The NPCs in the game are starting to treat real humans as playthings, which does sound strange. But......

"I also hope my inference is wrong."

Lin Chi smiled: "But if that's really the case, our chances may be greater." ”

"If that's the case, what chance do we have?" Zhou Tianhao almost shouted: "Go and kneel and beg those NPCs to let my sister go?" ”

"Those vengeful NPCs should want to find more 'toys'." Lin Chi explained: "I've already offered to join the game, if we can enter that 'world' again, we will have a chance to take your sister to escape, right?" ”

That being said, this plan is clearly still dangerous. Zhou Tianhao also immediately began to refute:

"Are you sure we can go in and leave? That 'dream' of mine was the same as the real thing, and I really thought I was some kind of bullshit 'Blake'! If we go in too, we might never come back! ”

"That's because you've been exposed to psychological cues for a long time, so easily you're hypnotized. Don't forget, I don't have a computer screen in my house that comes with a hint. Lin Chi said.

"Anyway, it's still ridiculous...... "Zhou Tianhao reached out and grabbed his hair: "It's just a game character...... Can this really be done? ”

Seeing that the guy had begun to doubt his life, Lin Chi didn't continue to speak, just picked up his mobile phone and used text to contact Frankenstein:

"Can you be sure that this phone is not being monitored?"

"I'm pretty sure." A cold female voice sounded in the earphones: "Their skills are not worth mentioning in front of me." ”

"OK, I need a contact point out of surveillance." Lin Chi quickly typed the text.

"But they heard what you just said." Frankenstein said.

"That's on purpose."

While typing the text, Lin Chi patted Zhou Tianhao's shoulder and asked, "Do you want to go out for a walk together?" ”

"I'm not in the mood to ......," Zhou Tianhao frowned.

"That's why we need to be distracted."

Lin Chilian dragged Zhou Tianhao out of the dirty apartment, dragged him into the fire staircase, stood in the shooting corner directly below the camera, and asked in a low voice, "You didn't bring your mobile phone here, did you?" ”

"It's still on the sofa......" Zhou Tianhao said angrily: "What are you doing?" ”

"Your home is being watched by the Oasis Army." Lin Chi said and glanced back at the staircase: "What we said in the living room should have been heard by them." ”

"Then why do you say that? Are you stupid? Zhou Tianhao's face was full of surprise.

"I want them to hear those words." Lin Chi's answer was concise and clear: "Let's not talk about this for now, it's not safe to rely on the two of us alone, and we still need some reinforcements." ”

Recalling the threatening words of the other party in the warehouse, Zhou Tianhao immediately said: "You can't call the police, otherwise she will die......"

"Well, we need people who are in the city, know a lot about virtual games, are willing to lend a hand, and are determined to not be easily hypnotized." Lin Chi stared at Zhou Tianhao: "Do you know such a person?" ”

Even if it was a stealthy operation, the two of them alone were too dangerous. In addition to Frankenstein, Lin Chi also needs the assistance of others.

"Your requirements are too high...... Zhou Tianhao lowered his head weakly: "Can this kind of person really be found?" ”

"I have a friend here who can help. But it is not in the city and can only be assisted remotely through electronic devices. Lin Chi said: "For the sake of safety, it is better to find another person." If you have a trusted colleague, you can call in for help. ”

"They're all very busy right now." Zhou Tianhao sighed: "I finally managed to get a short-term vacation, and finally I don't have to contact those people every day......"

Speaking of this, Zhou Tianhao suddenly raised his head:

"I've got the right person in mind!"