Hearing Jiang Baimian's words, Shang Jianyao stood there, motionless.
"Is there anything else?" Jiang Baimian could easily read this guy's body language.
"What do you think is behind the door of room '1215'?" Shang Jianyao asked without concealing anything.
Jiang Baimian exclaimed with exasperation:
"You're asking me? Who should I ask?
"The corresponding knowledge is beyond our security clearance. You shouldn't have said the latter half of your conversation with Director Su just now."
Afraid that Shang Jianyao wouldn't understand her true meaning, she added:
"Even if you have to say it, wait a few days, after fewer people are paying attention."
She could defend against technological eavesdropping, but not Awakened-related eavesdropping.
Fortunately, what they had just exchanged wasn't too taboo. She just needed to be more careful in the future.
Shang Jianyao revealed an expression of "sudden realization":
"I understand!"
As for what he understood, and how much he understood, Jiang Baimian didn't care. She simply answered his question:
"The horror behind that door is likely beyond our expectations. In the future, in similar situations, we absolutely cannot go any further, unless we have a certain understanding of the 'New World' and sufficient knowledge of the essence of these scenarios."
"That might be the door to the 'New World'," Bai Chen said her guess from the side.
Jiang Baimian immediately responded:
"If that's the case, we definitely can't go in!
"Have you forgotten Olay's attitude?"
Although Long Yuehong hadn't heard Aviya mention this matter personally, the impressions were still very deep in Jiang Baimian's and Shang Jianyao's retelling:
The "Source Brain's" father, Emperor Olay. Ubis, before "First City," would rather die than enter the "New World!"
"Unless we reach a point where we can't continue investigating without going through that door, I wouldn't recommend Shang Jianyao entering the 'New World,'" Jiang Baimian simply summarized, smiling as she changed the subject. "Now that the investigation is over, the two of you can take Xiaobai around and let her see the differences between the activity centers on different floors."
She wasn't taking her herself because the 349th floor where she lived didn't have much of an activity center. It mainly provided various services to management and their families.
Before Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao could reply, Bai Chen shook her head:
"Let's wait until the rewards are distributed."
Jiang Baimian pondered slightly and expressed her agreement:
"That's true."
The end of the investigation didn't mean that it was approved. Although she, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong, as children of the company, didn't care and could already run around, employees from outside like Bai Chen had to be more cautious. It was safer to wait until everything had settled before wandering around other floors.
...
495th floor, Block C, Number 11.
As soon as Long Yuehong returned home, he saw his younger brother, Long Zhigu, playing on his laptop in the living room, while his younger sister, Long Aihong, was jumping up and down, trying to snatch it, but failing miserably each time.
"Why are you playing on the computer again?" Long Yuehong subconsciously adopted the dignity of an elder brother. "You're at a crucial moment for college entrance exams!"
Long Zhigu glanced at him sideways and said helplessly:
"Brother, it's almost November. I've already finished the exams and am attending school."
Long Yuehong paused for a moment, realizing that he had been away for too long and his sense of time had become a bit dulled.
The Old Task Force had left the company in the spring, and now it was late autumn. He had completely missed Long Zhigu's final review, exams, and application filings.
"Haha," Long Yuehong said with an awkward smile. "My memory of the situation at home is still from before we left."
The family had been chatting casually for the past few days, mainly with Long Yuehong sharing some of his experiences outside.
Before Long Zhigu could respond, he asked in confusion:
"It's not the weekend, why did you come home?"
Long Zhigu smiled sheepishly:
"Isn't it because you're back? I asked the teacher for leave. I'll be staying at home for these few nights."
"He just wants to take the opportunity to play on the computer!" Long Aihong ruthlessly exposed Long Zhigu's excuse. "Brother, you have to discipline him!"
Long Zhigu quickly explained:
"Brother, you know that the school only has computer-related classes a few times a week. I want to learn more, so I can only use the one at home."
"Learn more about Old World entertainment?" Long Aihong scoffed.
Long Zhigu couldn't help but glare at this girl.
Some of the Old World entertainment materials were too fake. What 'sisters are the cutest'? Any man with a sister knows that sisters are the most annoying!
Long Yuehong didn't pay attention to his younger brother and sister's bickering, because it made him think of something:
Xiaobai had said before that when she returned to her floor, she usually stayed at home, resting and playing on the computer.
However, this time in First City, in order to bribe Xiaochong, he had given away her portable computer, and the funds that were applied for afterward were used to supplement his nutrition and gather return supplies, failing to replace it for her.
Wouldn't she be very bored at home during this time? Long Yuehong turned his gaze to the laptop on the living room table.
Long Zhigu and Long Aihong suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of crisis.
...
When Shang Jianyao returned to Number 196, Block B, "The Hourly News" hadn't started yet. He leaned back on the bed and raised his hand to pinch his temples.
Actually, this action was no longer necessary for him, but a large part of Shang Jianyao was quite ritualistic.
"Mind Corridor", inside room "131".
Shang Jianyao glanced at the "LCD screen" hanging on the wall of the second bedroom and shouted at Xiaochong's remaining aura several times:
"Xiaochong! Xiaochong! Xiaochong!"
There was still no response.
"Addicted to games?" Shang Jianyao muttered to himself, and could only give up helplessly.
He came to the corridor covered with a dark red thick carpet and once again arrived at room "522".
"It's still here..." Shang Jianyao said with emotion, and pushed the door open.
What was presented before his eyes was still that city ruin. Vehicles were parked in disarray everywhere. Walls were faintly visible in the darkness, and large patches of blood could be seen from time to time. As for the window glass, almost none were intact.
Shang Jianyao wasn't in a hurry to move forward. He turned his gaze to the place where he had been attacked last time.
The next second, a car door was suddenly pushed open, and a "Heartless" lunged out.
Everything was exactly the same as last time.
But this time, Shang Jianyao didn't experiment with what would happen if he was injured. The dilapidated billboard in mid-air fell with a thud, hitting the attacker on the ground.
"I understand," Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and hit his left palm. "It's reloading from a save!"
The various aspects of this psychological shadow had been reset with the recovery of the corresponding spirit!
And theoretically speaking, in this kind of reset, most of the details would be restored, and only a small number would change. After all, this presented the room owner's unconscious mental activity, and it was impossible for it to be exactly the same every time.
The calm and intelligent Shang Jianyao quickly recalled where those "Heartless" had emerged from last time. Then, he bent over and tiptoed into a building on the side of the street.
Only a few seconds later, several "Heartless" were attracted by the sound of falling heavy objects. They turned around, didn't find any prey to hunt, and hid back in the dark one after another.
The place that Shang Jianyao infiltrated was an Old World supermarket. The edible items inside either only had packaging left, or they had been directly moved away.
The remaining items either scattered on the ground with the collapse of the shelves, or were still neatly placed in their original positions, but a large part of their names were either wrong or strange. In short, they didn't seem real.
Shang Jianyao expressed his understanding of this. After all, the room owner was busy hiding and transferring at the time, so how could he pay attention to so many details?
Therefore, when he unconsciously reorganized the scene at the time, he extracted some things from other experiences to improve the situation. This inevitably brought about contradictions, for example, a toothbrush-shaped item was labeled "Sour Tangerine."
Shang Jianyao materialized his usual "Berserker" assault rifle, holding it while walking towards another exit of the supermarket.
Although there was no one else here, and it didn't seem like there were any "Heartless," he still proceeded cautiously, fully demonstrating the key points he had mastered in regular training.
This showed that it wasn't the rash and bold him who was dominating the body now.
As he approached the other exit, Shang Jianyao glanced around and saw a small display stand with newspapers and magazines.
"Tieshan Daily", "People's Journal"... Shang Jianyao walked over with great interest, picked up two of them, and flipped through them.
Unfortunately, apart from the cover and the front page being relatively clear, with pictures and text, the content inside was almost blank.
This showed that the room owner had indeed passed by here at the time, but only glanced at it and didn't have time to read carefully.
Shang Jianyao's gaze quickly focused on two places:
One was the name of the newspaper: "Tieshan Daily";
The other was the cover figure of the people's journal: Lin Sui, a twenty-three-year-old genius scientist.
This was a young woman who wasn't particularly beautiful but looked very sweet. She casually tied her hair into a braid.