After emerging from that peculiar spiritual space, Zorro found Huan Bao’er standing before him.
Several researchers who had been working in the Literature Department for a long time stood on either side of the woman with inscrutable expressions.
Zorro turned his head with difficulty and realized he had long been surrounded.
–Chief… Executive Officer.-
Huan Bao’er glanced at the extra book in the hands of the ugly man with the scarred forehead. The words –Standard Answer- twisted dreamily.
–Since it has recognized you, I’ll let it slide this time. Your elite team member status is revoked. You will not be eligible for selection for three years. All leave is canceled, and your bonuses are confiscated.-
–Oh.- Zorro lowered his head.
The Chief Executive waved to the people around her.
Several scholars in robes retreated, some curious, some indifferent, and soon only the two of them remained.
–And most importantly, the coordinates of the Third Hub must not be leaked in violation of regulations, or you will face severe punishment!-
With that, Huan Bao’er lightly patted Zorro on the shoulder.
–By the way, good job. Report to my department from now on.-
–Huh?- Zorro looked up in shock.
A cold smile flickered in Huan Bao’er’s eyes.
–A pure yet slightly slick guy—I’m looking forward to seeing how you troublemakers perform.-
……
Zhao Xuemei and her group followed Zhu Yin as they toured the sights of Hub Town.
With a deputy town mayor around, they could easily enter some areas that were not open to the public.
Zhu Yin looked at everyone: –Let’s have dinner together tonight.-
Li Mi said: –Deputy Mayor Zhu Yin is too kind. But as you know, I previously asked you to help contact the big star from Lost Frequency Land to pick us up; it will be here soon.-
Zhu Yin pretended to just remember, and laughed heartily while patting Liang Xi on the shoulder:
–Ah, I almost forgot. How about this: Liang Xi and Ms. Xuemei stay for dinner? Several of our town colleagues will be joining.-
Liang Xi suddenly became happy—no need to go to the Lost Frequency Land.
Zhao Xuemei glanced at Li Mi; the man nodded slightly.
–Alright then,- the lady said.
Liang Xi looked up at the deputy mayor: –Can Popoli come too?-
A sincere smile spread across Zhu Yin’s face: –I’d be delighted.-
In the evening, inside the Di-hao private room of Zhenxiu Fang, several officials from the town warmly greeted Zhao Xuemei and the other two.
The coldly elegant Zhao Xuemei knew the other party hadn’t planned to invite Li Mi and his group. Inviting the three of them was only out of respect for Zhao Anlong and Yang Zicang.
–Mr. Popoli, have some food. Not to your taste?-
–Oh, almost there,- Popoli looked up hastily and replied, –I’m eating, you guys, don’t worry about me.-
With that, he immediately lowered his head and rapidly pressed the buttons in his hands. Liang Xi, controlling another button on the game console, had an expression on his face even more serious than that of a stable A-level cross zone.
His fingers moved as he gritted his teeth, manipulating the character he controlled to unleash a special move, only to have it interrupted again by the character Boboli controlled.
Swish, swish, swish! Liang Xi’s fingers suddenly doubled in speed, frantically tapping the A and B buttons.
Boboli’s eyes flickered; his two thumbs instantly seemed to multiply into several, pressing down nearly ten times in a single second.
It was interrupted again!
Liang Xi stared in shock at Boboli’s moves.
–That’s the Thousand-Fist Art!–
–Heh, your Flame Sword Technique is pretty good too—about eighty percent mastery, huh?–
Liang Xi watched the pixel character sprawled on the screen, then slumped into his chair as if his soul had been drained.
–You have the Thousand-Fist Art… No fair, I want to learn it too.–
–Hehe, want to learn? I’ll teach you.–
When they were almost done eating, Zhao Xuemei spoke to the people at the other end of the large round table:
–I heard that our Hub Town has a security team that can travel to other cities. Is that right?–
Zhu Yin set down his chopsticks.
–Miss Xuemei seems to know quite a bit about our Hub Town. Yes, such a team exists. But when they enter other cities, they can’t obtain Chronos, so it’s just a security squad—responsible for protecting important figures within Hub Town.–
Zhao Xuemei smiled and nodded.
–I wonder, could members of our team apply to join this security squad?–
The others’ chopsticks paused briefly.
It was called a security squad, but in truth, the slots had long been divvied up among the top-ranked cities.
The man in charge of security hadn’t yet come up with an excuse when Zhu Yin said, –Of course, no problem.-
–You.- The two at the table turned their eyes to Zhu Yin.
Zhu Yin laughed nonchalantly.
–If Miss Xuemei wants to visit other cities, I can temporarily have two people from our city withdraw from the security team. How about that?-
Zhao Xuemei covered her mouth and chuckled, thinking to herself that Li Mi’s prediction had been spot on—it really wasn’t difficult and it was done.
–Then thank you very much, Mr. Zhu Yin.-
–You’re welcome.-
……
The next day, Yang Zicang looked at the empty seat beside him. Zorro really hadn’t shown up.
Jiao Ma also glanced over there, but today she had no other emotions; instead, she recorded every single word that Croft had instructed.
Yang Zicang felt that this woman might have gone a bit dark.
–Alright, that’s all for today’s revisions. Everyone, get on with it.-
Croft turned to look at Yang Zicang.
–You, come with me. I’ll teach you how to add these elements that need improvement and the hidden doors.-
Yang Zicang felt a jolt in his heart under that sweeping gaze.
–Go quickly, do as the officer says.- Jiao Ma glanced at him and said.
–Oh.- Under someone else’s roof—and two layers of roof at that—Yang Zicang obediently pulled out his employee card.
Anyway, this was what he had hoped for.
As Croft raised his hand, a phantom corner of the true manifestation of the Mo Ying Hall materialized in the middle of the office.
This was the first time everyone actually saw their hard work manifested in the real world. Though it was still a psychic field, it was different from the ones they had entered before, where they immediately knew they were –dreaming.-
Croft’s psychic projection led his sidekick, Yang Zicang, swiftly navigating the vast interior of the Magic Hero Hall.
To the onlookers outside, the area suspended in the center of the large office functioned like a three-dimensional screen, constantly showing the location and movements of the two inside.
Thanks to this vivid demonstration, everyone quickly grasped how to add those items.
{Since these are bonus rewards, the Council mainly only helps us create conditions for them to appear, or we spend Virtual Zero Chronos to exchange for some auxiliary aid, such as the –Chronos Extension State.-}
Yang Zicang listened attentively to Croft, not daring to miss a single word.
{As for the other specific prizes, we’ll have to figure out how to add them ourselves. Of course, I trust that the Lost Illusion Company will provide some attractive items.}
[With all these treasure chests, how are we supposed to add the rewards?]
{Easy. Just set up a points system, and they can use points for free lottery draws.}
Yang Zicang nodded, impressed.
He could already imagine the disappointment of everyone when they used their hard-earned points only to get junk rewards. But since it wouldn’t cost them any extra Chronos, it didn’t really matter—just a waste of time and effort.
An ancient treasure chest, elegant and minimalist in design, appeared in Croft’s hand.
He turned his gaze to Yang Zicang.
{Use your mental power to create and mark it. Follow my rhythm. Come on, first, this section of channel A needs twenty-eight.}
Yang Zicang used his employee card to communicate with the company’s energy, then activated his power of mental manifestation, relying on his imagination to conjure up one after another treasure chests that were roughly identical.
{Too slow!}
Croft gave a snort.
{Get it all done within one minute!}
[Huh?]
{What –huh-? This is the arena that will hold the examinees from two cities—doesn’t each person need to open dozens of chests? And we still have other content to add today. Hurry up!}
[Wha, what?]
Yang Zicang was stunned.
Two cities—even if they excluded those who weren’t strong enough to participate, counting from the middle level, there would be nearly twenty to thirty thousand potential contestants. Each person opening dozens… how many zeros would that be?
In the instant Yang Zicang froze, the backs of two bent fingers knocked against his head.
{You’ve wasted three seconds. If this were my studio, half your bonus for today would already be deducted! Move it, now!}
Nearly three hundred people outside all shuddered in unison.
Wang Dingshan lowered his head, pretending to be busy.
Just yesterday they were envying Yang Zicang for winning this cadre’s appreciation, even being invited to head to the Fate Track and join the cadre’s work group.
Now these people only felt relief.
Yang Zicang seemed to be testing the limits of the power of mental manifestation. After an hour or two, the treasure chests had become grotesquely twisted, like monsters on the verge of a mental breakdown.
But Croft not only turned a blind eye, but actually nodded at some of the bizarrely shaped chests, apparently satisfied with their horrifying appearance.
Around noon, feeling mentally exhausted as if he had stayed up all night for a week, Yang Zicang finally heard Croft call a halt.
{Not bad. The limits of humans are expanded through such repeated breakthroughs. You seized this opportunity. Come, let’s begin the next training.}
[N-next?]
Caught in the eerie sounds of wind howling through a forest, Yang Zicang slowly turned his head.
Croft pointed ahead and said:
{This time, create a sustained negative psychic field for this room. Come, start imagining your most terrifying thing.}
Most terrifying?
Yang Zicang’s mind shuddered.
Around him, countless phantom treasure chests appeared, like demons with claws and fangs, their elongated shadows floating up, mouths open to bite.
Suddenly, seeing them, Yang Zicang thought of his suitcase. It seemed he had killed someone with it.
Then around him appeared the sound and sight of Yuan Fubin’s final scream, along with the terrifying aura of the phone Enightmare, which he had unleashed from his own hands for the first time.
The mimic chests grew ethereal and gloomy, just like that chest.
On Croft’s frowning face, a hint of satisfaction emerged.
{Good, such a lively young man. This close-up sudden experience of Enightmare’s murder scene will definitely catch the eye of anyone who turns the corner and enters the room.}
The people outside struggled to suppress their expressions.
Croft glanced left and right, then gave a slight wave of his hand, making the atmosphere in the room feel more real and dense—as if the illusory ambience and phantoms had materialized the danger truly bred within.
{All right, mark it down. We’ve presented our –reference topic.- From now on, how this scene is actually rendered in this room is up to the council.}
Dusting off his hands as if brushing away ash, Croft moved on.
{Hurry up, while you’re in a good mental state. Let’s set up a few more such scenes before lunch.}
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