The situation in District 3 exceeded everyone’s expectations.
After the fall of the capital, although the survivors established ten districts, civilization has been regressing.
Human beings are so exhausted that they don’t have the mind to do any more variety shows, and almost all TV stations have stopped broadcasting.
Only a few stations hosted by the district will broadcast current news, missing person notices, recruitment advertisements and some exciting songs every day.
In the huge living room, no one spoke.
The star’s laughter came from the TV, but it sounded extraordinarily weird.
Reporter Hermes shook his legs uneasily, “Counting the few days I stayed in the underground air-raid shelter of the Blood Alliance, it’s about 21 days in total.”
She changed a few more channels: “I came here three weeks ago, and there is no one here. There is a lot of blood on the ground, and there are monsters everywhere.”
Chu Shici tilted his head and looked at the TV, “Then what’s going on now? Hallucinations?”
“Two people and one god have hallucinations at the same time? This is not normal. You are an evil god, so you should not be trapped by hallucinations.”
Gu Yunzhe, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked, “How severe was it?”
Reporter Hermes thought for a while, “The damage on the city centre is very serious. It should be that all the troops gathered there. The survivors resisted fiercely, but the alien warships used weapons of mass destruction. The houses over there have mostly collapsed…”
She hammered her hand violently, “That’s right! It will be difficult to restore the city to its original state in three weeks. As long as you go to the severely affected places, you should be able to see something.”
Gu Yunzhe didn’t leave for the city centre immediately.
He opened the map to check for a while, and then switched to the city TV station again.
The news channel was not over yet, the elegant voice of the hostess echoed in the room.
[# Today, there have been many serial murders in our city, and the murderer has not yet been arrested. Citizens are requested to reduce travelling at night. #]
[# Last night three men forced their way into a house, sexually assaulted a single woman, and broadcast it live on the Internet. The impact of this incident was bad. #]
[# Recently, foreign forces are ready to move. According to the latest national policy, all provinces and cities have implemented city closure management. Unless necessary, it is strictly forbidden to go out of the city. Our city responds to the government’s call and actively contributes to the unity and peace of the empire. #]
This news seems to be quite normal, but the city does not seem to be very peaceful.
Chu Shici frowned his non-existent eyebrows, “Don’t let the residents go out, isn’t this cutting them off from the connection with the outside world?”
Gu Yunzhe returned to the master bedroom, rummaged through the glasses man’s clothes and found his cell phone.
He studied for a while, “The mobile phone can connect to the Internet.”
They were able to use the glasses man’s mobile phone to log on to any video software at will, and a screen full of bullet screens floated past.
Switched to the forums again, clicked into the other provinces, and the discussions there were also very lively.
The man with glasses often uses the forums. On his personal interface, you can see the posts and replies he has posted.
The earliest post shows that it was two years ago, and the content is daily life.
Reporter Hermes exclaimed, “Two years ago? Wasn’t the internet disconnected long ago?”
Gu Yunzhe looked up at her, “The time can be changed, the earliest date may not be true.”
The man posted a post four days ago.
[City z has been closed, what about other places?]
Below are the replies from a bunch of people, saying that their cities are also closed by the management.
Chu Shici opened the map and compared it with the reply. This shows that the entire empire has been closed.
Since then, the man has both posted and replied more frequently.
Chu Shici dug out a pen and paper from the drawer, and quickly sifted through dozens of posts to find useful information.
[Have you watched the news? The terrorist who blew up the municipal building has been caught, thank goodness!]
[Why did sexual assault happen again, ten cases in four days! If it wasn’t for the closure of the city, I would definitely take my son to the capital.]
[My wife is on a business trip in the capital, and she doesn’t answer my video calls these days, she only chats with me via text. Why is she so indifferent to me all of a sudden? Could it be that she has changed her mind?]
The man in glasses didn’t set up an app lock, and the chat software was also automatically logged in.
After flipping through his mobile phone software, Chu Shici sorted out the information.
The man with glasses who was kidnapped by Gu Yunzhe, surnamed Su, was thirty-five years old and was a real estate sales manager.
There is a sales wife who went to the capital last month. Their six-year-old son is in the first grade of No. 2 Primary School in the city.
Everything looks normal, but normality is the strangest thing in the last few days.
There was too little information in the house, Chu Shici became the size of a fingernail, and flew out of the house to visit several other nearby houses.
After walking around for a few laps, he found a very strange thing,
The houses where people live are bright and beautiful, while the houses where no one lives are covered with dust and covered in dried blood everywhere.
He flew back while thinking.
Reporter Hermes was still muttering, “The house in the city centre was obviously destroyed by a Star City warship, so how can he say it’s a terrorist…”
Chu Shici pondered for a long time, then suddenly put down his pen.
“The Truman Show!”
The voice interrupted Gu Yunzhe’s thoughts, he frowned slightly, “What show?”
Chu Shici was very excited, “The Truman Show, a very classic movie. Truman grew up in a studio, and the people around him were all actors, but he knew nothing about it. The current situation of the city is very similar to the world in the Truman show.”
There is a big difference between District 3 and the place where Chu Shici was before his death.
Neither the reporter nor Gu Yunzhe had heard of this movie.
Chu Shici compared the two, “The place where Truman lives is a small town, which belongs to a relatively closed environment. And District 3, which was closed for management four days ago, also separated the residents here from the outside world. They lack the conditions for discovering the truth.”
Gu Yunzhe tapped his phone, “They don’t lack anything.”
“It must be lacking. Manager Su said in his post that his wife didn’t answer the phone. So, Zhe-ge, use Manager Su’s mobile phone to make a video call to his wife. Just say that your son was in a car accident and was crying for his mother. See if she will pick up.”
Gu Yunzhe sent a message according to his words, and sent a video call request.
The two surrounded the phone with a ball and waited quietly.
After waiting for a while, the video was hung up.
Reply to a message.
[Sorry husband, my camera is broken, how is my son? Is the injury serious?]
Chu Shici pushed Gu Yunzhe from the side: “Let her answer the phone, call her!”
To his surprise, the phone was dialled, and a tired woman’s voice came from the receiver.
“Husband, I just finished the meeting. How is he? What did the doctor say?”
Gu Yunzhe’s eyebrows twitched, and his voice was as calm as ever, “Hi, Mrs. Su, I am your son’s attending doctor. His chest was pierced by an iron plate, and his condition is not optimistic.”
Chu Shici was hanging on his earlobe, and he could vaguely hear the woman’s painful cry.
When Gu Yunzhe asked the child’s mother to come back, the woman first said that she was busy with work and couldn’t go back, and then that the capital was closed and she couldn’t get out.
Excuses after excuses, as if the whole world was trying to keep her from coming back.
There was no need to listen anymore, Gu Yunzhe hung up the phone decisively.
He waited for more than half an hour before resending the message.
[What to eat for lunch.]
The other side replied in seconds, [Eat chicken shredded noodles? That is your favourite food.]
[What do you want for your birthday?]
[Don’t rush to buy it, we’ll talk about it later.]
The woman seemed to have no memory of her child’s car accident at all and started chatting with him.
Gu Yunzhe turned off the phone, took off the white ball the size of a fingernail, “Ah Ci, tell me about the “The Truman Show” you mentioned in detail.”
___
When Chu Shici was a child, there was a deserted movie theatre near his home, which often showed old movies.
His mother always took him to see it, and his father was also very kind to him at that time. The family of three would go there every week to buy three tickets for a few yuan and a bucket of popcorn.
Laughing uncontrollably in an empty movie theatre.
Later, the movie theatre closed down, his mother died of illness, and his father married his stepmother, who began to abuse him.
Childhood came to an abrupt end, and every movie he watched with his parents during that time is a precious memory for him.
Chu Shici remembered every detail of “The Truman Show” clearly.
He speaks in such detail that he almost translates the film directly into words.
Reporter Hermes propped his chin, “Then who turned this city into ‘The Truman Show?”
Chu Shici closed the notebook, “It’s either the Star Alliance or the Human Alliance. Anyway, it must be aliens. Since we are all sure that the end of the world is true, then this must be a city of lies.”
He pointed to the dried blood on the wall and the dust on the ground, “The people in this house have been attacked before. There is a lot of blood on the bedroom sheets, and they died on the bed before.”
Reporter Hermes took Manager Su’s mobile phone, “You mean, this entire network is also fake. When people in this city surf the Internet, the outsiders they come into contact with are robots. They think they are getting information from the outside world, but what they actually see is all just AI’s reply.”
She came from a more technologically advanced planet and knew more about it than the Empire.
“If it is a well-tuned intelligent AI, it will indeed capture keywords, calculate and reply. We also have them, but they are used to make cheap water army*.”
*(water army are fodder accounts for celebrities/influencers etc to increase follower count/keyboard warriors.)
Gu Yunzhe didn’t know what he was thinking, and sat beside him without saying a word.
Chu Shici and Reporter Hermes got together and discussed.
“According to what you said, evil god, the basic cleansing of the city first, and then implanting false memories into these survivors can indeed achieve the ‘Truman Show’, but what’s the point?”
“Didn’t Star City plan to build ten entertainment districts? District 1 is an arena for captured soldiers, District 2 is temporarily used to hold killing pursuits, and District 3 may be live broadcasting human being’s daily life.”
“So small and fresh? It’s not like the style of Star City. Moreover, the family in the Truman show all live in small towns, and the survivors have family members in other places. They can’t keep in touch with relatives and friends.”
“Hiss—what you said makes sense, and they won’t be able to hide it for long.”
“Right, right, since they can cleanse their memories, why don’t they do it more cleanly. Observing human life is a very long-term process, and they can’t be exposed in a month or two.”
Gu Yunzhe, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up, “Go to the city centre.”
He was about to leave when there was a muffled sound from the master bedroom.
It was Manager Su who was stuffed into the closet, who accidentally knocked open the door.
He probably woke up early and has been hiding in the cabinet to eavesdrop. Meeting their gazes is like watching a person with mental illness.
Chu Shici lay on top of Gu Yunzhe’s head, carefully sizing up the man in front of him.
Manager Su is fair-skinned and handsome. Wearing black-rimmed glasses, he has a gentle demeanour. Although he was in his thirties, he had the charm of a mature man.
Chu Shici poked at the system, ‘Come out and see the beauties.’
[I’m watching, beautiful Uncle, I can do it!]
“Zhe-ge, how should we deal with him? If we let him go, he will cause trouble for us.”
Before Gu Yunzhe could speak, Manager Su raised his head and pleaded tremblingly: “Don’t kill me, I will never call the police! I still have a son at home, he is only six years old. He will die without me, please!”
He shed tears as he spoke, looking a little cowardly.
Chu Shici stared at his face, feeling something vaguely caught in his mind.
He patted the male lead on the forehead, “Zhe-ge, do you think he looks good?”
Gu Yunzhe gave the man a cold look, “No.”
“But he is really attractive when he cries.”
Gu Yunzhe’s face darkened in an instant, and the reporter shrank her neck and moved a few steps to the side.
Chu Shici didn’t notice his abnormality, and continued, “The front desk boy at the suburban hotel is clean, refreshing and well-behaved. The woman who almost collided with you on the road is also very beautiful. I haven’t seen any ordinary-looking passers-by at all, and everyone is very fair.”
“Zhe-ge, I have a bold idea. Cut his arm open and see the structure inside.”
Gu Yunzhe drew out his combat dagger and walked over with a dark face.
The moment the palm was cut, a lot of blood gushed out, and Manager Su wailed out in pain.
Chu Shici tilted his head hesitantly, “I guessed wrong?”
Gu Yunzhe didn’t stop, he peeled off the flesh and cut down again.
In the end, the fine lines appeared in the eyes of everyone.
They are hidden under the faux leather material, surrounded by devices covered in blood. When injured, artificial blood will flow from the wound.
Manager Su stopped crying and stared blankly at his hands.
He raised his head, he looked dazed: “What is this, why is there a cable in my hand?”
Chu Shici was silent for a moment, “Do you want to try again? Maybe you have it on your leg too.”
When his calf was cut open and he saw the metallic bones in his body, Manager Su completely fell into a daze.
Chu Shici flew over to help him heal his injuries.
Looking at the man in front of him, he couldn’t help but curse.
Turning the survivors into modified humans, implanting false memories, and putting them in this city.
The Star Alliance has invested so much energy in District 3, it doesn’t look like they want to watch “The Life of Human Beings”.
After knowing that this is also a modified human, Gu Yunzhe’s eyes gradually warmed up.
He patted the man’s shoulder as comfort, but the man grabbed his wrist.
Manager Su’s eyes were red, his voice trembling uncontrollably, “Is what you just said true? This is really the end of the world? What happened to the capital? My wife is still there!”
The room fell silent instantly.
Gu Yunzhe pressed his hand and looked at him calmly, “The capital fell five years ago.”
___
It may be that he felt that they are the only ones who know the truth, and Manager Su wants to follow them.
The reason he gave was also expected by Chu Shici.
Since the wife that can be contacted by the mobile phone is a fake, he will go to the capital in person and take his son to find his wife.
The team that used to have two players with one goal has now become three players with one goal.
After Chu Shici finished explaining “The Truman Show”, he asked him, “These are just our guesses. Have you remembered anything else?”
Manager Su was immersed in pain, “I don’t know, I have a problem with my memory, and I don’t remember anything in the last few days.”
“Do you feel that there is something abnormal in the city?”
Manager Su shook his head.
Gu Yunzhe, who was driving, glanced sideways at him, “Tell me about the news you’ve read during this time, don’t skip past anything.”
Manager Su mused, “There have probably been a bunch of rape cases, as well as robbery and murder, bank robbery, and serial murderers. Oh yes, yesterday a lunatic rushed onto the bus and stabbed a few people to death…”
Chu Shici interrupted him, “Didn’t the city just close four days ago?”
Manager Su hummed.
“Don’t you find it strange that so many things happened in four days?”
“Is it weird? Isn’t the world always like this?”
Before he finished speaking, Manager Su turned his head stiffly, “Isn’t it supposed to be like this? In my memory, the world is full of murderers, ah yes, my memory may be false.”
He took out his mobile phone and wanted to show them the news of other cities, but he put it down after searching halfway.
“I almost forgot, the things you can see on your phone are also fake…so what should this city be like?”
Chu Shici was at a loss for words.
Reporter Hermes asked him curiously, “Manager Su, it’s so dangerous here, haven’t you thought about running away with your son?”
“I thought about it, but the city is closed, and in my opinion, other cities are the same. It’s not safe to go anywhere, so I didn’t go anywhere.”
Regarding Star City’s plan to renovate District 3, Chu Shici already had a guess in his heart, but he just didn’t want to believe it.
Three weeks ago, Star City occupied District 3 and held a hunt.
There were millions of survivors in the city, and not all of them died. The human beings who fit the aesthetics of Star City survived and were taken away to be modified.
After using more than two weeks to clean up the city. For places that are not so easy to fix, blame the terrorists or someone else directly.
Put all the modified human beings with implanted memories back in District 3. Create a false world for them and let them live and work normally.
Four days ago, everything was ready and the officials sealed off the city and did not let the survivors leave.
Star City went from the ‘District 3’, to the ‘Third Entertainment City’, and released the first batch of guests.
They should have used some kind of technology to ensure that guests can play casually without risking lives.
Guests can do anything to the people of this city with impunity.
Judging from the situation in District 1 and second district, Star City’s targeted customer base should be an alien group that pursues excitement and wants to vent their desires unscrupulously.
The cost is high, and the ticket cost will not be low.
Only entertainment that you can’t obtain easily can be sold for a large price.
Star City does not need to completely clean up the memories of the survivors, nor does it need to send troops to blockade the city.
It won’t be long anyway, and most of the survivors will be dead. At that time, they will repair their bodies, simply reset their memories, and continue to use them.
These survivors can be used repeatedly and recycled.
If there is no accident, the people of this city will live in endless reincarnation forever.
Without knowing anything, they became the object of venting for batch after batch of guests.
It was eerily quiet in the car.
Chu Shici saw Reporter Hermes sitting in the co-pilot secretly wiping tears.
Out of sympathy, when Manager Su proposed to go to the city’s No. 2 primary school to pick up his son, no one in the car objected.
After the child got into the car, he sat down obediently beside his father. He is six years old, white and clean, like a porcelain doll.
Manager Su hugged his son and leaned forward, “Are there any wires in my son?”
Gu Yunzhe didn’t say a word, and directly turned the car into a deserted alley.
Chu Shici entangled the child tightly, and Gu Yunzhe took the dagger and began to move the knife.
A few minutes later, looking at the thin thread in his son’s arm, Manager Su cried with his head in his arms.
When the vehicle drove to the city centre, Reporter Hermes pointed to the building under construction in the distance, “I wasn’t wrong! When I passed by District 3 before, this building collapsed. This building is too big, and it hasn’t been fully rebuilt yet…”
Before she finished speaking, Gu Yunzhe suddenly turned the steering wheel and turned left quickly into another road.
A tanker truck rushed out of the opposite lane, ran through a red light and rushed straight towards the opposite convoy.
Several pedestrians who were crossing the road were knocked into the air by the huge momentum. Like setting off fireworks, bodies flew into the air and fell onto the ground, scattered.
With a series of intense roars, fire engulfed the entire street.
Reporter Hermes covered her mouth, a little scared.
Gu Yunzhe stared at the scene of the explosion, and a series of messy memories appeared in front of his eyes.
There was a sharp pain in his head. He wanted to cover his head, but he raised his hand to touch the little assistant on top of his head.
Chu Shici’s worried voice was next to his ear, “Zhe-ge, did you remember something?”
___
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Update: Tomorrow~
- After becoming enemies with the lord god
- Blog
- Completed
- Don't talk to me!
- Dropped
- Ghost Marriage
- Hunger Academy
- I opened a safe house in the Infinite Stream
- Notices
- Ongoing
- The Dragon Lord is Weak and Helpless but Has a Big Appetite [Interstellar]
- Want to ascend? Then fall in love.
- What can I do, I'm not human.
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