Of course, those matters would have to wait; they weren't worth considering for now.
However, a thought had taken root in Ren Yi's mind: if the mission couldn't be completed, he might have to pay a visit to the headquarters.
In the interval while waiting for Dr. Cyril to turn the page, Ren Yi boredly pulled up the candidate system panel.
【Mission 1: World Exploration. Current Progress: 0.5%】
【Mission 2: Obtain at least one item containing world rules. Current Progress: 0%】
【Mission 3: Confirm the Fugitive's death; if alive, find the person; if dead, find the corpse. Current Progress: 0%.】
Wait, is something wrong?
Where did this 0.5 come from?
Ren Yi quickly reviewed his actions in his mind.
Eavesdropping on the high-level conversation between the Doctor and the others when he first arrived didn't increase it; witnessing the riot involving S-099 didn't increase it either...
He was certain that none of those events had led to a significant increase in progress.
Even if there had been a small amount, it wouldn't have been enough to show up in the assessment system.
So, was it because he used the Anomaly Appraisal app to scan that B-129 back-scratcher?
Then why didn't reading such an important file as S-003 increase the progress?
Ren Yi pondered for a moment.
The logic was quite clear now. Files were, after all, just written records left by predecessors; there was the possibility of them being tampered with, misleading, or even pure fantasy.
In this assessment system that emphasized "empirical evidence," theoretical talk didn't count.
Ren Yi understood.
Only when his perception actually touched a physical entity possessing the power of rules, and the system completed its analysis and filing, would the world exploration progress truly grow.
If he hadn't guessed wrong, this base might actually be a treasure trove for him.
"Truly, fortune relies on misfortune, and crisis and opportunity coexist."
"Although this starting point makes it easy to die right out of the gate, it's practically a treasure house where mission progress is everywhere."
Ren Yi couldn't help but start fantasizing.
If he could "ding" every single Anomaly in this base, wouldn't his exploration progress skyrocket?
Just as Ren Yi was dreaming of the future, a "ding" suddenly sounded in his ear.
Ren Yi was startled for a moment, then realized it wasn't a prompt within his consciousness, but a real sound.
A highlighted message suddenly popped up on Dr. Cyril's computer desktop.
It interrupted Ren Yi, who was waiting for her to scroll down while daydreaming, and also made the Doctor frown.
【B-406: Doctor, the unnamed Consumable who came into contact with B-013-A has had a sudden incident and requires your immediate instructions.】
"Unnamed Consumable?"
Ren Yi quickly realized this referred to the youth, Evans.
As the first Seed he had planted in this world, Ren Yi had always kept a faint sliver of perception attached to the boy.
It was just that his full attention had been drawn by the "God's Corpse" gossip earlier, so he had automatically set that side to "silent mode."
Seeing the Doctor frowning, seemingly intending to handle this matter first with no sign of continuing with the file, Ren Yi decided to see what had happened over there.
And so, he hurriedly shifted his perception.
The moment his perception settled, a massive flow of information surged into Ren Yi's mind like a flood breaking through a dam.
Ren Yi quickly went through the "recording" of what had just happened.
He was genuinely shocked by what he saw...
The story roughly began a few minutes ago.
With his eyes tightly shut, Evans was placed on a stretcher by a group of lab coats and carried into an infirmary.
Compared to B-050, who had been stripped bare and pinned to a restraint bed, Evans' treatment was indeed "preferential."
Perhaps because he hadn't gone mad or died after contact with Ren Yi, showing extremely high research value, the medical staff simply left him on the stretcher, planning to stop his bleeding first.
The delivery boy, B-406, was still next door dealing with the aftermath of B-050 and had no time to bother with the youth.
A medic wearing a heavy isolation mask was holding a pale blue serum, preparing to give the eyes-closed Evans an injection.
Just as the needle was about to pierce his skin, Evans' eyeballs rolled eerily under his eyelids.
He wasn't unconscious at all!
In the next second, he snapped his eyes open.
Thud!
A brief explosion of movement. Within Evans' thin and frail body, a power completely disproportionate to his size erupted.
He lunged upward like a small leopard driven into a corner, delivering a savage headbutt to the chest of the nearest medic.
Taking advantage of the man doubling over in pain, Evans snatched a gleaming scalpel from the surgical table.
"...?"
Ren Yi pondered slightly; he didn't quite understand this behavior.
It wasn't very rational. Was it because he was young and impulsive?
The other medical staff acted even more calmly than he did. They didn't scream or call for help; they simply backed away a few steps.
Pairs of eyes watched this Consumable's death struggle coldly through their masks.
That gaze wasn't looking at a rebel, but at a component malfunctioning due to a program error.
"Buzz—"
A piercing red alarm immediately sounded in the corridor.
Evans grabbed the medic he had knocked down.
Ren Yi had thought the kid was going to play the cliché trope of "taking a hostage to escape," but it turned out he still had some stereotypical views.
Evans simply gave a hard shove, tossing the man aside like trash to clear a space for himself.
At this moment, the delivery boy B-406, unable to escape his fate of running errands everywhere, arrived outside the infirmary.
His expression was a scowl, even one of annoyance.
B-406's mood was clearly terrible right now.
He had just lost several mechanical prosthetic eyes because of the Doctor's orders, and now he had to deal with a farce involving such a low-level Consumable. His newly replaced prosthetic eye flickered with an impatient red light.
But then, Evans made a move that caught him off guard.
He pressed the sharp scalpel against his own throat, then shouted loudly at B-406.
"I know what that white Anomaly I saw just now is!"
"I've seen it before!"
Rate on N.U.
