Recap
Chu Shici raised his head and asked, “Zhe-ge, did the female doctor say something to you.”
Shen Xiuzhe paused while stroking the little speaker, and said thoughtfully: “She asked me if the evidence had been found, why had it not been passed on to the outside, and if something had gone wrong.”
___
Shen Xiuzhe stroked the little speaker with his fingertips and recounted the situation to Chu Shici.
At first, Chu Shici thought he was going to write, but after a while, he realized that it was not Chinese characters.
He asked in confusion, “What language is this?”
Shen Xiuzhe took his hand back and said, “There are nine keypads on the phone. She roughly drew a nine-key grid on my hand three times. The second time, I understood what she meant. I tapped on the back of her hand. She started to tap my palm with her fingertips, pressing hard to correspond to each key. The speed was very fast, and she typed each word twice. I had to roughly guess what she meant, which was a bit difficult.”
Chu Shici: “…”
“Fuck, there are so many words with the same sound, but you can actually guess them.”
“Before I went to college, there was no touch-screen mobile phone. I have used a push-button mobile phone* for more than ten years, and I am very familiar with the nine keys. She is under surveillance and can only use this method to transmit information to me. She will definitely use a terminology that is convenient.”
*(
Putting this here but I’m sure all of us reading this should have known/used this before right…? Source: securityaffairs.com)
Shen Xiuzhe said calmly: “Later, when she was unwrapping the chocolate wrappers, she seemed to be playing some rhythm. I could hear it, but I couldn’t understand it.”
He tapped it again with his fingertips against his palm. After tapping it, he shook his head.
“It’s probably a custom cipher. I’ve never heard of it. Most custom ciphers have limitations and can transmit limited information. She didn’t use this before, probably because this cipher is not perfect enough and can only transmit specific information.”
Chu Shici was speechless for a moment and then felt a little complicated.
Zhe-ge cannot see. He often touches the canvas and paints based on touch and memory. Relying on his senses to see everything around him, and avoid the hands reaching out for him in a dishonest manner.
His sense of touch and hearing are far beyond ordinary people, and he has a precise perception of the position of each of his brush strokes on the canvas.
This is a cipher that only Shen Xiuzhe can understand.
The female doctor named Sun delivered an important message this time.
Why haven’t we received any letters or evidence?
After Shen Xiuzhe said he didn’t know what it was, Dr. Sun wrote a very strange thing.
[The government has decided to close down and destroy all holographic capsules, the data will be cleared by then. You must find evidence that proves their guilt before the end of the next cycle.]
[After finding the evidence, give it to Brother Liu. He will have a way to send it out. For your safety, we will get you out then.]
Shen Xiuzhe was confused when he heard this.
He asked why they wanted him to do it and what was the premise of the evidence he was looking for.
Dr. Sun’s reaction was so strong that she typed twice as fast.
Shen Xiuzhe had a hard time understanding it and could only barely guess the general meaning.
What she said was, [You said that only you knew what the evidence was. You didn’t tell anyone. What do you mean? Are you going back on your words? You were the one who took the initiative to find Brother Liu.]
When the two guards came back, she stopped typing and started playing with the chocolates. Using the tiniest sound of gold foil to convey information.
Seeing that he didn’t respond, Dr. Sun finally added a question, ‘Do you feel that there are gaps in your memories?’
There was someone in the room listening in on them the entire time. It was not convenient for Shen Xiuzhe to speak directly, so he could only say no while nodding.
After Shen Xiuzhe finished speaking, the room fell into silence.
Chu Shici and the System looked at each other, confused.
Obviously there isn’t much dialogue, but the information they received seems to be overwhelming.
After a long time, Chu Shici spoke hesitantly: “Brother Liu? Among all the people we have met, it seems that only the fat steward in charge is called Brother Liu.”
Is the fat steward an undercover agent?
Thinking about it carefully, when the fat steward was around Zhe-ge, his eyes didn’t wander, neither did his hands become dishonest.
Shen Xiuzhe proposed improving food and living conditions, and he immediately agreed.
Apart from being often sarcastic and mocking, he is indeed kind compared to the others.
But when Officer Li was shot dead just now, the fat stewart’s reaction was extremely cold. It was as if what died in front of him was not a human, but a fly or a mosquito.
And he never gave Shen Xiuzhe any hidden signals.
Or maybe it was given, but they didn’t notice it?
Chu Shici couldn’t figure out whose side the fat steward was on, so he couldn’t make up his mind. Approaching hastily will only make their current situation more difficult.
He looked up and saw Zhe-ge leaning against the wall. There was no expression on his handsome face, but Chu Shici could tell that he was equally confused.
Chu Shici sighed, it would be best if Zhe-ge didn’t lose his memory.
Shen Xiuzhe, who was deep in thought, suddenly frowned when he heard his sigh and said, “I still don’t think I have lost my memory. I remember everything very clearly.”
“But you don’t remember how many paintings you painted.”
Shen Xiuzhe remained silent.
He kept stroking the back of his hand, looking a little anxious.
Chu Shici’s head hurt from thinking about it though, he was also very annoyed.
But he still lifted his plug and pretended to be calm to comfort Zhe-ge. Telling him not to be nervous, not to be afraid and that it will get better soon.
It worked like a charm and Shen Xiuzhe gradually relaxed.
A notification also popped up in the background of the system, indicating that the male protagonist’s vitality value had increased a little, and it was now at 12 points.
He pursed his lips, reached out to pick up the little speaker, and placed it on his cheek.
Chu Shici could feel Zhe-ge’s uneasiness.
To Shen Xiuzhe, Dr. Sun is a complete stranger. But Dr. Sun’s actions undoubtedly demonstrated one keypoint.
They have known each other for a long time, and he is even shouldering some important mission.
He doesn’t know how many people have put their hopes on him and he didn’t understand what she was talking about.
Shen Xiuzhe was silent for a while and then explained himself again, “I seemed to have painted a lot of paintings ever since I lost my eyesight, yet it seemed like I have only finished one painting. I remembered what I ate and did every day and I can even remember how many people walked by outside clearly.”
He paused for a moment and murmured softly: “The only thing I can’t remember is the number of paintings.”
Chu Shici coaxed Zhe-ge and slowly narrowed his eyes in thought.
There are only two possibilities.
Zhe-ge’s memory has been tampered with, just like Zhe-ge, from the third world.
Or similar to the first world, there are multiple timelines in this world. Multiple timelines overlap with each other, causing Zhe Ge’s memory to be all over the place.
Just looking at the current level of technology in this world, the people here should not have mastered the technology of traveling through time and space.
Another possibility flashed through Chu Shici’s mind.
Judging from the logic behind Dr. Sun’s words, the reason why she urged Zhe-ge to find evidence quickly was because the government decided to close and destroy all holographic capsules.
So this is not actually the real world, Zhe-ge has been staying in the holographic capsule all along!
Chu Shici picked up the system and shook it twice happily.
‘Tong-ge, I don’t think we need to be so nervous. This seems to be a holographic world, Zhe-ge will not really die! Oh oh! Perhaps Officer Li did not die as well!’
The system, who had been peeking out to watch the excitement, made a dull ‘ah’.
[I don’t follow you? Aren’t you in the New Entertainment Prison? Officer Li was in the elevator. Isn’t that where we were? Why did this suddenly change from the prison to a holographic world?]
Chu Shici explained Dr. Sun’s words to it.
The system tilted its head, [Then Officer Li…]
Chu Shici thought for a moment, ‘I’m not sure what happened to him, but wasn’t he knocked unconscious on the way here? He was unconscious for a period of time. It was probably at that time that he was stuffed into the holographic capsule and mistakenly thought that he was still in reality after waking up.’
[Tsk…but I always feel that something is not right.]
Not only the system, but Chu Shici also had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
But this seemed to be what Dr. Sun meant.
Or should he say that his conjecture about the holographic world is partially accurate, it was just that he just missed some very important details.
___
Because he was not sure, Chu Shici hesitated for a while and decided not to tell Shen Xiuzhe his speculations yet.
With Zhe-ge’s brain, it was impossible not to have thought of this.
He didn’t take the initiative to speak, indicating that he also noticed that there were contradictions in the information they obtained.
After a long silence, Chu Shici took the lead in changing the topic.
“Didn’t Dr. Sun mentioned that the government will close the holographic capsules? We heard it in the news before. It should be the holographic game that Imagine Life Company mentioned. This is probably what they were talking about.”
He paused and recalled, “The news showed content from five years ago. If we take the tour bus explosion as a time point, it would have been 5-10 years since the case that year.”
Shen Xiuzhe, who had been silent all this time, suddenly turned his head slightly and said, “Why did you guess that it is within 10 years?”
“Because the chairman of Imagine Life Company said that they will develop holographic capsules within the next ten years.”
“That only means that the hologram capsule will appear no later than ten years, but what Dr. Sun said is that the government is preparing to destroy all hologram capsules . We have no way to determine the time, I don’t understand why you would point this out.”
“This is very important! They turn off the lights and deliver the meals at different times every day. They agreed for you to see a psychiatrist on Sunday, but they took you there on Wednesday.”
Chu Shici stretched out a thin white cable and tightly wrapped it around the pale wrist on the side.
“Zhe-ge, if time is not important, why do they deliberately blur your concept of time? In this chaotic passage of time, only the sound of the news is fixed. It’s just right, it starts on time at five o’clock every morning.”
“What’s the point? If you were not here, I wouldn’t hear the news at all.”
“Perhaps you’ve been able to hear it before? I suspected that it was a reference given to you so you could tell time.”
While the two were talking, a rush of messy footsteps suddenly came from outside.
Shen Xiuzhe quickly picked up the little speaker, covered it with a quilt and lay down.
Chu Shici asked him why he pretended to sleep.
Zhe-ge said that when those people passed by, they might randomly open the small window on the door to check what was going on inside.
He pretended to be asleep because he didn’t want to get into trouble.
The footsteps got closer and closer, stopping when they reached their door.
Just as Shen Xiuzhe’s body tensed up, he heard the sound of the metal door opening.
It’s Room 3 opposite their room. Has a new person moved in?
He doesn’t know what criteria those people used to select rooms.
After the person who has collected all the cards left next door, room No. 10 has always been empty, but now, room No. 3 has been occupied by a new person.
The door quickly closed, and the fat steward explained the card collection rules through the small window to the person inside.
With the sound of ‘ding–‘, the fat steward led the rest of the staff away into the elevator.
Unlike Officer Li, the new neighbor across the door was neither noisy nor loud, the whole process was quiet.
Chu Shici was thinking about how calm their new neighbor was when in the next second, he heard a woman knocking hard on the metal door.
“Where is this? Is there anyone out here? My head feels so dizzy. Who knocked me unconscious? I’m still bleeding! Is there anyone who can bandage my head for me? I’m going to die soon.”
She sounded in her twenties, her voice was weak, and she shouted weakly.
Chu Shici: …
Damn it, their new neighbors aren’t going to bleed to death on the first day, right?
___
The poor woman screamed a few times and then stopped making a fuss. It is not known whether she was dead or alive.
Chu Shici couldn’t help her, so he focused and continued to think about the problem just now.
He had carefully observed that there was no surveillance installed in the psychological consultation room.
Doctor Sun didn’t show any surprise after seeing Shen Xiuzhe’s eyes covered with cloth.
Most importantly, there is a secret cipher between them that the blind can understand.
Shen Xiuzhe probably reached cooperation with the female doctor after he lost his eyesight.
But Zhe-ge seems to have just lost his eyesight not long ago. In his mental state at that time, was he really capable of finding someone to cooperate with?
Chu Shici made himself even more confused.
He originally wanted to chat with Shen Xiuzhe, but Zhe-ge had a tiring day and rarely stayed up late. He was too tired and probably will not be able to concentrate very well.
Chu Shici shook his charging cable, the plug hit the casing of the little speaker, making soft sounds.
Like a human being, he patted his chest and promised, “Zhe-ge, go to bed first while I sort out the information. We will study it together when you get up tomorrow morning.”
Shen Xiuzhe hummed lightly, raised his hands and took off his clothes, revealing his slender and strong body.
He rubbed the little speaker with the tip of his nose and said in a gentle tone: “Thank you for your hard work, Ah Ci.”
Chu Shici was still a little sleepy at first, but after seeing, he immediately became energized.
He suspected that Zhe-ge was flirting with him, but unfortunately there was no evidence.
___
Shen Xiuzhe fell asleep quickly, while Chu Shici yawned and sorted out the clues.
Officer Li’s words have confirmed that this is the New Entertainment prison. Dr. Sun also revealed that this is a holographic world.
Chu Shici was still wondering whether one of the two was lying.
But then he suddenly realized that the two were not contradictory.
Shen Xiuzhe was restricted by his adoptive father, while Chu Shici had traveled to this world and stayed in the small dark room with Zhe-ge.
They don’t know how much the outside world’s technology has developed.
Perhaps holographic capsules have long since been popular.
It can be determined from the news that the New Entertainment Law is too bloody and violent. From the time it was implemented, a large group of people had protested against it.
The government insisted on replacing the death penalty with New Entertainment Punishments. In addition to humanitarian considerations, they must also be thinking of profits.
Squeeze the last bit of value out of death row prisoners, all this in the facade of charity.
There are hidden dangers in long-term execution, but in a short period of time, it is definitely a profitable business.
The protesters’ point is that the punishment is too cruel.
Even if the person is a criminal, the state should not give the general public the power to control other people’s bodies at will and trample on other people’s dignity.
The popularity of holographic capsules can solve this problem.
Let the criminals enter the holographic capsules and accept their punishment in the virtual world. People who watch the live broadcast in the real world can choose how to punish the criminals through voting.
In this way, the holographic capsules are designed with the New Entertainment Law in mind.
At present, this has caused new problems to arise.
Is being destroyed in a virtual world really less harmful than directly torturing the physical body?
Chu Shici looked at Shen Xiuzhe, who was sleeping soundly beside him.
When he first arrived, Zhe-ge had a cold expression, but his soul was crying in pain.
Even if they are residing in a virtual world, getting beaten in the holographic world, they will still feel pain. Being forced and humiliated by others will still make people feel hopeless and painful.
The use of the holographic capsules is just a facade.
It gives the people of the physical world a peace of mind, alluding them to believe that they are kind and at the same time play God.
Chu Shici did not sympathize with the death row prisoners, some people just deserved to die.
But in order to punish a bad person, it will ruin a lot of good people, is it really worth it?
___
Holographic world or not, this prison world is corrupt.
Chu Shici borrowed the system’s notebook to take notes.
Although Zhe-ge didn’t agree with him, he still firmly believed that the news that was broadcast every morning must have some meaning.
The recording can be played at any time, so there is no need to tune in to the news at five o’clock in the morning.
The content of the news broadcast is not focused on a single theme and does not focus on any specific information. It might not contain clues pertaining to the people involved in the case, but more so reminiscing about the past.
The audience members who watched the New Entertainment Punishment live broadcast spent so much money to spice things up. Something as innocuous as watching the news is not punishment at all.
That morning news, if not a time reference, should be a code.
Chu Shici looked through the clues.
Where is this place, what is that video that the guards watched in the lounge, and why do these people dare to capture so many innocent people in broad daylight.
Chu Shici can deduce the answers to these questions with the information he has currently.
Right now they still have a few things to figure out.
Chicken, dog, monkey and mouse, what do they represent?
He had previously thought of chickens that lay golden eggs. But if this is a holographic world, the paintings drawn by Zhe-ge are just a bunch of data at most.
This kind of painting has to be real to be valuable. Zhe-ge can’t make money for anyone here, so Chu Shici’s previous speculation was wrong.
In addition, why is the room opposite Room 3 also Room 3? Do the duplicate rooms have any special meaning? What is in the monster room, and what happens if you collect all the cards?
Chu Shici made a ranking list and ranked these questions to ‘lower level’.
He was curious, sure, but they aren’t that important. Even if they don’t understand it now, it shouldn’t hinder their escape.
The strange number [4] on the wall of the utility room was placed in the middle level by Chu Shici.
According to Dr. Sun’s, she mentioned ‘Find the evidence before the end of the next cycle.’ In addition, when the fat steward was on the phone, he had mentioned ‘It has been four times, but he still firmly believes that he did not kill anyone.’
Based on these information, Chu Shici suspected that there might be some kind of cycle in the world they were in.
4. Perhaps this is the number of times this world has cycled.
___
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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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