Outside room "1215," on the "Mind Corridor."
Unlike before, the ten Shang Jianyaos not only held different items, some with and some without, but also had certain differences in their clothing and appearance, making them more distinguishable.
Shang Jianyao, wearing a deerstalker hat, stroked his chin and looked around, saying:
"Let's vote, everyone.
"We are a democratic team, the minority submits to the majority."
"This is tyranny of the majority!" Shang Jianyao, still in his gray camouflage uniform, said whatever he thought.
He was honest, liked to argue, and never hid his words.
Shang Jianyao, wearing a deerstalker hat, took out a pipe from somewhere, sniffed it, and said:
"For the sake of efficiency, certain sacrifices must be made."
He then said:
"Alright, those who agree to explore this room, raise your hands."
In a flash, five Shang Jianyaos raised their right hands.
This included the most reckless and daring one, the one who habitually echoed with "Yes, yes," the one who liked to joke, the one who hated evil and couldn't stand wrongdoing, and the one who loved novelty, singing, and dancing.
"Five against five, it's impossible to make a decision." Shang Jianyao, with the deerstalker hat and pipe in his mouth, looked troubled, "It would be better if there were only nine like before."
He was the convener and moderator of the Shang Jianyao Democratic Consultative Conference.
The honest Shang Jianyao immediately retorted:
"Others can abstain, nine can still result in a tie."
"Yes, yes." The echoing Shang Jianyao fitted himself with a mechanical arm.
The small speaker and portable recording device he had before now belonged to the one who loved singing and dancing.
"Two benefactors, please stop arguing." The Shang Jianyao turning his "Six Senses Beads" advised.
He was wearing a yellow monk's robe and a red kasaya, his face was a metallic black, and his eyes even glowed red, resembling a half-mechanical monk.
The cowardly Shang Jianyao, also wearing gray camouflage, sneered:
"Who knows what's behind the door, exploring rashly is very dangerous.
"It wasn't easy to advance to the 'Mind Corridor.' We have real self-protection in the Ashlands. How can we be so reckless?"
"No, that's not right." The honest Shang Jianyao retorted, "Every door may hide danger. Do we never explore and just stop here?"
After saying that, he seemed to make up his mind and raised his right hand:
"After careful consideration, I change my vote to agree."
Shang Jianyao, wearing a deerstalker hat and a black coat, sighed deeply:
"The Shang Jianyao referendum result is:
"Enter the door and explore!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the ten Shang Jianyaos merged back into one, wearing the gray camouflage uniform.
Taking a few steps forward, Shang Jianyao reached out and grabbed the doorknob of "1215."
The rooms in the "Mind Corridor" seemed impossible to truly lock. He just gently applied force, twisted, and pushed, and the vermilion door opened backward.
Inside was dim, with only faint light, making it impossible for those outside to see anything clearly.
Shang Jianyao, having already made a decision, walked in without hesitation, his eyes gradually adjusting to the light, seeing that it was still a corridor, not a carefully arranged room with some kind of meaning.
Shang Jianyao was not surprised by this.
Based on his current knowledge of the "Mind Corridor," he could basically draw a conclusion:
Each person's corresponding "room" may seem small, but it actually encompasses an entire mind world, including the "Sea of Origin."
Therefore, the results of modifying the "Mind Room" can only be seen and accessed by the owner or visitors authorized by the owner. Those who intrude rashly are essentially directly descending into the other person's "Sea of Origin."
This kind of descent is different from an invasion with known coordinates. If each person's mind world is compared to a networked computer, the former is equivalent to initially touching the firewall, about to undergo test after test, and may encounter danger at any time, being cleared by the corresponding power. The latter is almost bypassing all defense mechanisms, directly facing the most core part.
In other words, if Shang Jianyao was successful in room "1215" and explored to the deepest point, it would be equivalent to completely invading the room owner's "Sea of Origin," just like Di Marco did before.
From this perspective, the ability of "Divinity" is really strong.
And Shang Jianyao's exploration of room "1215" will definitely not be smooth sailing. Here, he will inevitably experience the room owner's various fears and certain nightmare-transformed scenes. Once trapped and unable to escape, at best, he will suffer mental trauma, leaving psychological shadows and more weaknesses. In the middle, he will lose his self-awareness and experience varying degrees of mental problems. At worst, his consciousness will collapse or he will be trapped in "somewhere," turning the explorer into a vegetable in the real world or falling asleep like Yan Hu. The most serious result will undoubtedly be the loss of life.
As for suffering from "Heartless Disease" like the "Dream Protector" of the "Mirage Dragon Church," Jiang Baimian suspected that it might only happen when intruding into a few special rooms.
Of course, for Awakened, there is no need or point in exploring many rooms to the deepest point, directly facing the other party's consciousness. After confirming that there is no door to the "New World" here, they often choose to retreat.
Shang Jianyao was not sure whether the corridor in front of him belonged to the room owner's island of fear or one of his nightmares. He curiously took down the flashlight "hanging" from his waist and pushed the button.
A clear beam of light shot out, but was swallowed by the surrounding darkness, failing to produce any effect.
"Without using Awakened power, I can't directly change the environment of someone else's mind world? Unless I've completely invaded?" Shang Jianyao raised his hand and stroked his chin, muttering to himself.
He was carefully recording these details.
After confirming that the flashlight he manifested was ineffective, he gave up on this approach and, with the help of the faint light in the corridor, looked around.
The floor tiles and decorations on the walls on both sides were unusually distorted, and many details seemed chaotic, as if visually highlighting the experience of the initial fear.
The light came from the ceiling, with rows of fluorescent lights hanging high, but dimmed as if the voltage was insufficient.
Shang Jianyao didn't move forward immediately, but took two steps back.
He exited room "1215" and returned to the "Mind Corridor."
After confirming that there was only one way forward, Shang Jianyao wasted no more time, passed through the door, and went deeper and deeper along the corridor.
Before long, a silver-white metal wall appeared in front of him.
The wall blocked the way, preventing further progress.
In the center was a door that slid open to the side, with sophisticated electronic equipment next to it.
At this time, the door was slightly ajar, revealing a large gap.
On the other side of the gap, the darkness was deep and silent.
Standing not far from the door, Shang Jianyao directly felt intense fear.
Affected by the environment here, affected by someone else's mind world, he inexplicably felt indescribable panic, fear, and unease.
Shang Jianyao then muttered to himself:
"Did the room owner encounter something extremely terrifying behind such a door?
"This is what he experienced before becoming an Awakened, or before breaking through the 'Sea of Origin,' corresponding to a certain island of fear? Or did it happen after he entered the 'Mind Corridor,' leaving him with a lingering nightmare?"
The danger levels of the two were obviously not on the same level. If it was the former, Shang Jianyao had a good chance of successfully exploring. If it was the latter, anything that could scare an Awakened at the "Mind Corridor" level would definitely not be simple.
Looking at the silent darkness behind the door, Shang Jianyao once again divided into nine other selves, voting on whether to go deeper.
This time, the cautious group won with an absolute advantage of eight to two.
Shang Jianyao, respecting the voting result, clasped his hands together and exited room "1215," closing the vermilion door in passing.
Then, he adopted the starting position for a 100-meter race.
The next second, Shang Jianyao rushed out and started running wildly, as if trying to measure where the end of the corridor was.
After running for an unknown amount of time, he stopped, panting.
At this time, most of the rooms around him no longer had golden door numbers, and the brass-colored old locks seemed to be blocked by something.
They all belonged to ordinary people and Awakened who had not passed through the "Sea of Origin," and could not be opened from the corridor.
And the end was still unknown, invisible.
After experimenting with his abilities for a long time, Shang Jianyao raised his hand and rubbed his temples, choosing to withdraw.
Extremely mentally exhausted, he didn't bother to go to the activity center to chat with everyone, and fell asleep directly.
The next morning, Shang Jianyao had breakfast at the small canteen and entered room 14 on the 647th floor, which belonged to the "Old Task Force."
Jiang Baimian was there earlier than him, already typing on the keyboard, rushing to finish the report.
Looking up and seeing Shang Jianyao enter, she frowned slightly and said:
"Last night, when I was writing about the 'Buddha's Emanation Body' sleeping, occasionally waking up, I thought of something."
"What?" Shang Jianyao asked with interest.
Jiang Baimian said with deliberation:
"Based on the information we obtained before and the actual evidence this time, we can initially determine that Awakened who enter the 'New World' either abandon their physical bodies or fall into a deep sleep, rarely waking up to handle matters.
"If we put this situation, put it within the company, who would you think of?"
Shang Jianyao touched his chin, his expression gradually becoming serious:
"The Big Boss."