Chapter 149: Silhouette in the Rain 11
With the countdown board destroyed, the entire amusement park’s timing system also fell into a stagnant state. Examinees would no longer be expelled, so theoretically speaking, as long as Wei Liying hadn’t found her daughter, this rule zone would maintain the status quo indefinitely.
“The original rule zone’s timing method was to directly broadcast the time through announcements—there was no countdown board,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “So this in the replicated zone should be Liam’s special design, attempting to use the irregular rapid jumping of numbers to distort examinees’ normal perception of time passing, trigger anxiety, thereby intensifying the symptoms of mental pollution, using this to force us to leave quickly.”
The idea was correct. The mental pollution in this rule zone was indeed more severe than the original version. Unfortunately, it was smashed to pieces by Wei Liying and a proctor. The amusement park that lost its countdown and whistle sounds returned to deathly silence. Only proctors holding red pens walked past the ticket booth in twos and threes, expressionless and mechanically stiff.
And Wei Liying began searching again for her daughter.
Zhuang Ningyu withdrew his gaze from outside the window and asked Yi Ke puzzledly, “What are you looking at?”
Yi Ke looked at his dirty, supremely cute little calico cat face, forcefully suppressing the urge to pinch, and answered very calmly, “Nothing, not looking at anything.”
Zhuang Ningyu’s expression was suspicious, but he didn’t ask more, instead connecting with external colleagues. The liaison officer looked at Team Leader Zhuang appearing on the screen, slightly stunned, feeling somewhat puzzled in her heart, but she was already a very experienced veteran employee, so her expression didn’t change at all. She only professionally and quickly recorded the current situation inside the rule zone while simultaneously reporting external progress to Zhuang Ningyu: “The investigation team found some of Liam’s replication experiment data at Qin Ya’s residence. Team Leader He discovered that from the very beginning, he completely deleted the good children zone. The purpose of doing this was to make the rule zone completely unsolvable. Even if Wei Liying finally found Wei Xiaofang, she most likely couldn’t take her away, because there’s no road. In other words, this rule zone only has two options: continue existing or distort and be destroyed.”
“I know.” Zhuang Ningyu wasn’t surprised by this and continued asking, “How’s the door opening going?”
The liaison officer answered, “Currently the research team is analyzing the last layer of password. All colleagues from the capital group are providing remote support. It’s estimated to take another half hour.”
“Half an hour shouldn’t be any prob—”
“Bang!”
The second half of the sentence was very rudely interrupted by a sudden loud sound. Without waiting half an hour, the problem had already come. Zhuang Ningyu quickly glanced out the window to see the knockoff bear’s clumsy body lying on the ground. Beside her was a cement lamppost shaken with cracks.
“Zuo Maimai has appeared and is controlling a large number of proctors to hunt down Wei Liying!” Zhuang Ningyu gripped his phone, speeding up his speech, running outside with Yi Ke while continuing, “Notify Department Chief Huo that the retention time of the Little Pegasus rule zone has changed from unlimited to uncontrollable. If Little Yi and I can’t control the situation, we may enter the next rule zone at any time!”
This replica existed entirely based on Wei Liying. Once she was eliminated, it equaled mission failure. So Zuo Maimai should be the second clearing method Liam set up besides the countdown board. Examinees must pass through the passage and leave Little Pegasus while Wei Liying was still alive.
Zuo Maimai was the protagonist of the original rule zone and also the chief examiner. She could appoint and control all proctors and had final judgment authority over exam results. Wei Liying, who had been ambushed, quickly got up. This time, she changed from an exam-unrelated person to an unwelcome guest in the examination hall. The proctors raised the giant red pens in their hands and kept smashing toward her like swinging hammers. The beating sounds entered their eardrums, dull yet terrifying. Wei Liying was beaten until her steps staggered, but she didn’t fall. Instead, she grabbed the proctors beside her and kept throwing them in all directions!
Sharp whistle sounds rang out again—it was Zuo Maimai urging the proctors on! Because of her growth experiences, she had natural fear of adults. Back then, Zhuang Ningyu had also spent a long time barely calming her emotions. Liam had obviously focused on this point as well. Zuo Maimai’s fear in the replicated version was infinitely magnified. As soon as she saw Zhuang Ningyu, she immediately frantically blew her whistle, not giving any adult a chance to approach her!
With her whistle sound, large numbers of monster proctors surged out from all directions.
Yi Ke knocked away the proctor in front of him, casually snatched a red pen, and swung it in circles, “bang bang bang” smashing all the way, sweeping away obstacles. Then he forcefully pulled Wei Liying up from the ground and dragged her running toward the other end. Wei Liying, beaten bloody, first followed in a daze for two steps, but after seeing clearly who was pulling her, her face immediately showed a fierce light. She extended her bear paw, wanting to grip his neck!
“I know where your daughter is!” A shout suddenly came to her ear.
Wei Liying froze for a few seconds, then widened her eyes and looked sharply toward the sound source, only to see a strange black-faced person.
Zhuang Ningyu repeated, “I’ll let you see your daughter, but it still needs a bit of time.”
“You know where Fangfang is?” Wei Liying’s voice trembled.
Yi Ke dragged her to dodge aside. The next moment, a red pen heavily pierced into where the two had just been standing, smashing out a huge pit.
“Right in this Little Pegasus Amusement Park!” Zhuang Ningyu answered.
The monster proctors caught up again. This time without Yi Ke dragging her, Wei Liying actively started running with them. Her eyes stared deadly at Zhuang Ningyu. She recognized him, but this time, he said he could let her see her daughter. Wind howled past the three people’s ears. The world flew past as colored lines in their rapid running. Zuo Maimai led large numbers of proctors in relentless pursuit. Red pencils “whoosh whoosh”划过 the sky like thick arrows, cutting the bleak sunlight into countless changing patches.
“Give you ten minutes at most.” Zhuang Ningyu ran while dialing He Mo’s phone and shouting.
“Okay, hang in there a bit more.” He Mo looked at the flickering screen before him, his tensed fingers numb to the point of almost losing sensation.
On the other end, action team members were also urgently preparing. Besides regular personal supplies, there was also one item the liaison officer specifically noted: camouflage paint. Although everyone didn’t understand why going to an amusement park-style rule zone required camouflage paint—what was happening inside, forest gunfight? Night operation?
Liaison officer: “Team Leader Zhuang didn’t say.”
The action team members nodded, indicating receipt. The liaison officer only relayed information and generally didn’t guide, especially for the experienced Team Leader Zhuang—there was even less need to guide. Since he didn’t say, it should mean the reason wasn’t important.
Intern: “Whether it’s important or not, doesn’t doing camouflage paint in an amusement park deserve an explanation?”
Qing Gang: “Just follow orders. Team Leader Zhuang naturally has his reasons.”
Inside the rule zone, the proctors were still relentlessly pursuing the three people. Possibly discovering that the expulsion whistle sounds were useless against them, the noisy broadcast sounded again in the amusement park, warning all unwelcome guests to leave the examination hall immediately! The concentration of mental pollution increased again. This time Wei Liying was also affected. Her steps gradually began to stagger, but she still followed Zhuang Ningyu closely, afraid of missing the chance to see her daughter.
After circling who knows how many times, the passage that split the white mist appeared ahead again. Red pencils were still “ping ping pang pang” smashing chaotically. Wei Liying’s back of the head took a heavy hit. She stumbled forward. Zhuang Ningyu grabbed her and turned to look at the dense mass of proctors behind!
Wei Liying didn’t care about the severe pain from her body. Her lips trembled. Her button-like eyes revealed great anxiety and anticipation. Her two bear paws rubbed uneasily on the worn coat. Possibly thinking she was about to see her daughter, she quickly pulled down hard on her coat hem.
Yi Ke said in a low voice, “Wait a bit more.”
Zhuang Ningyu nodded. “Okay, last five minutes.”
The environmental pollution value on the bracelet was already approaching 700. In the next new round of running, Wei Liying had to use both hands to hold her severely painful head. She had no bracelet, and bracelets didn’t work on her either. Continuous pollution exposure made her running speed slower and slower. Later, Yi Ke had to fire his gun to force back several waves of proctors to avoid being stabbed by the red pens in their hands.
“Warning! Warning! Warning!”
The broadcast voice grew louder and louder, but the daylight grew dimmer and dimmer. The world seemed covered by a layer of greasy glass. Everything looked blurred at the edges. The only thing that remained clear was just that road.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
At the critical moment, accompanied by two sudden loud sounds, the amusement park’s old iron gate suddenly fell to the ground. The rusty iron bars shattered into pieces. Dust flew high into the sky. Vision immediately became even more blurred. Murky yellow blocks quickly filled every gap in the space. In the chaos, Qing Gang charged to the front holding a gun: “Team Leader Zhuang!”
Seeing him and the team of dozens of adults behind him, Zuo Maimai fearfully and angrily blew her whistle. But this time she didn’t need to send out proctors to expel them, because this new batch of unwelcome guests obviously had no intention of lingering in the amusement park. Like cannonballs, they crashed through the dark mass of proctors and headed straight for that small path.
“Team Leader Zhuang!” Zhong Mu hurriedly handed over the cartoon backpack in her hands. “Bought according to your requirements.”
Zhuang Ningyu took it, indicating she should first lead the team to evacuate. He himself ran toward Zuo Maimai surrounded by proctors! In the original rule zone, this little girl living under someone else’s roof didn’t even have a backpack of her own. Every day she could only carry a supermarket shopping bag to and from school. Zhuang Ningyu had promised to give her a new backpack—at the time only to soothe her, now he was fulfilling his promise.
Zuo Maimai was suddenly stuffed with a new backpack. For a moment she forgot to scream, only staring wide-eyed fearfully at the backpack, then at Zhuang Ningyu. Her gaze was still frightened—after all, she was a product of Liam’s modification—but the arms holding the backpack followed her heart and held very tightly. Zhuang Ningyu smiled, then when standing up, smoothly took from her pocket a more exquisite red pencil—the red pencil representing the chief examiner, which could define the examinee range and possessed final grading authority.
Yi Ke pulled the trigger. A proctor attempting to ambush Zhuang Ningyu fell to the ground. Zhuang Ningyu didn’t linger any longer. He turned and ran back to the path entrance, and at the moment before leaving, used that red pencil to draw a big × on Wei Liying’s body!
Failing grade.
The hidden rule was triggered. The proctors swarmed forward, pushing Wei Liying hard toward the white mist on the left!
Wild wind suddenly rose. The area belonging to bad children opened. A little girl with two pigtails was crouching there in confusion.
“Xiaofang!” Wei Liying excitedly rushed over!
Wei Xiaofang stood up and happily called, “Mommy!”
The two ran toward each other. Before the white mist regathered, they finally embraced.
The little girl buried her face deeply in the big bear’s warm belly.
And the action team members had already passed through the white mist and arrived at another rule zone.
Huge waves towered to the sky, the foundation shook.
Qing Gang said with a toothache, “Ah, why is it another island covered in English?”
Zhong Mu answered, “Because the Invisible Giant’s lair is at sea. They’ve always been keen on making trouble on the high seas. Don’t be nervous. Although last week you wrote ‘love you forever’ as ‘love you father,’ we all believe that was just a typo. Your true English level definitely far exceeds the passing line.”
The card was written for Huo Ting. When Department Chief Huo had a birthday, subordinate units naturally had to send blessings. Other departments either sent flowers, pens, or fruit. Anyway, the budget limit was one hundred. Everyone couldn’t come up with anything special—there wouldn’t be anyone’s flattery that was particularly amazing, until Action Group District One’s gold-stamped card with flowing calligraphy appeared. Only then did other departments slap their thighs one after another. Can’t compare, really can’t compare. We knew the reason we can’t compete for Team Leader Zhuang is mainly because we care too much about face!
Qing Gang wanted to cry when this came up: “I don’t need you all to believe it. I need other departments to believe it.”
This island was obviously less ancient European game-style than the Sea of Wandering island, more realistic. A large expanse of pure white modern buildings nestled in the coconut grove, looking very futuristic. At the main entrance stood a huge high-definition display screen with a welcome poster, written in Chinese with four brush calligraphy characters—”Welcome Home.”
Qing Gang: “What kind of real estate developer style is this? Our county’s affordable housing developments would consider this poster too tacky.”
Zhong Mu: “Indeed. I didn’t expect there would be something in this world that could be tackier than your short dramas.”
Qing Gang: “I’ve told you so many times there are also ones that aren’t tacky.”
The next moment, the audio “ka ka ka” sounded. It was Liam’s affectionate broken gong voice: “Welcome back, Eastern Beauty.”
The action team members all turned their gazes toward Zhuang Ningyu in unison. Clearly, everyone had completely reached a consensus on this matter.
Zhuang Ningyu thoughtfully raised his gaze, only to happen to make eye contact with Qing Gang. The latter’s body shook. He immediately took out a small mirror and began carefully examining himself. It might not be Team Leader Zhuang—it could also be talking about me.
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
Yi Ke’s expression was unpleasant. With one hand he pulled him over by the shoulder, his gaze coldly looking at that display screen.
The next moment, several beams of green light shot out in clusters, scanning every visitor’s face 360 degrees without blind spots. Then, accompanied by a long drawn-out electronic “beep,” three lines of text appeared on the display screen—
【FACE MATCH FAILED】
【NO VISUAL ON TARGET】
【ENTRY PROHIBITED】
Zhuang Ningyu really hadn’t expected this result. Slightly stunned, he looked at his teammates with full-face camouflage paint and asked, “How did you all know there was facial recognition here?”
The other teammates stood dumbfounded. “Ah, we actually knew this first?”
Zhuang Ningyu looked at Yi Ke again, even more puzzled. “Could it be his target isn’t me?”
Yi Ke looked at his pitch-black face. “Hiss, this…”
