At the same moment Locke was infiltrating, inside the game...
The cheongsam girl seemed to sense something, a faint awareness of an anomaly.
Kraken was currently crouched on the second floor of an abandoned building, observing the street through a window.
The street was empty, save for a few zombies wandering in the distance.
However, his brow was furrowed, his expression solemn.
A short while ago, he had vaguely sensed a gaze, as if someone were watching him from the shadows.
The feeling was subtle, yet real, persistently harassing him.
It made him feel very uncomfortable.
But there was nothing he could do. He couldn't show any abnormality; he had to persevere and find a way to carry out the mission assigned by the Alliance.
Yet, his investigation progress remained at zero.
Since entering the game, he had been bogged down by various situations. Aside from killing to survive and surviving to kill again, he had uncovered nothing.
As for the secrets behind the game—the core mission the Alliance had given him—he still had no clue.
He felt like a mouse thrown into a maze, searching desperately but never finding the exit.
Meanwhile, the dangers surrounding him were mounting.
Kraken grit his teeth.
He couldn't delay any longer.
If this continued, let alone completing the mission, he might be exposed, jeopardizing the Alliance's grand plan.
He was tempted to take a gamble and ask the cheongsam girl for help in gathering intelligence.
Just as he was about to ask her, text appeared before the girl first, initiating a conversation.
【I think something isn't quite right.】
Kraken gave no response, maintaining his vigilant posture and pretending to watch the street to avoid detection.
The text continued to appear:
【Have you ever considered that the mission the Order Alliance gave you might not actually be to investigate any secrets?】
Kraken remained expressionless.
【You might just be a target pushed forward to draw fire. The Order Alliance threw you into this game to make you the center of attention, attracting the focus of the game organizers and the guests.】
【And you have certainly succeeded.】
【The real investigation work might be happening in the shadows, handled by other Order Alliance investigators.】
Kraken was stunned on the spot, his expression freezing as he even forgot to maintain his facade.
This theory was so shocking that he couldn't process it for a moment.
The girl's text continued to appear, explaining:
【I have three reasons for thinking this.】
【First, if the Order Alliance truly wanted to investigate this game, they could have sent someone more experienced. Yet, they chose you—a fatigued investigator who just finished the Dusk Island mission and hasn't even had a chance to catch his breath.】
【Second, your abilities are indeed good, but your personality is too upright. In a lethal competition like this, upright people are more likely to become the focus and attract hatred.】
【Third, I just detected abnormal data invading this virtual space.】
【That data stream is very well-hidden, but I can feel something seeping in from the base layer of this space.】
【If I'm not mistaken, that should be the Order Alliance's real investigator. After all, only the Order Alliance is most likely to interfere in something like this.】
Kraken fell silent for a long time. Regardless of whether he was being watched, his expression shifted through various emotions, eventually settling on a rare darkness.
He didn't know if he should believe the girl, but her words were undeniably logical.
In truth, if the Order Alliance had been honest and told him, "We need you to draw the enemy's attention so a real spy can infiltrate," he would have gladly accepted and done his best.
But they chose to deceive him.
They gave him a fake mission, letting him believe he was actually investigating something, forcing him to struggle for survival to complete a hollow goal.
Then, while everyone's attention was fixed on him, they let the real spy slip in quietly.
Kraken didn't know what to say.
Was he angry?
A little, but mostly, he was exhausted.
He was so tired, both physically and mentally.
【You should consider leaving the Order Alliance.】
The girl struck while he was vulnerable, urging Kraken.
Although her speculations sounded reasonable, she had no evidence.
She simply wanted to convince Kraken to leave the Order Alliance, so she took the opportunity to smear them.
Little did she know that by a strange twist of fate, she had hit upon the truth.
【Don't worry.】
【I will help you. No matter what, I will make sure you survive.】
Kraken remained silent.
...
Meanwhile, in the entertainment hall.
Most people's attention was still on Number 023.
They finally saw a clear anomaly in Participant Number 023's behavior.
In those few seconds, Number 023's expression had changed abruptly, as if he had suddenly heard something that overturned his understanding of reality.
People whispered, pulling up the recordings to watch them repeatedly, speculating about what secret lay behind Number 023.
Locke's body sat quietly in the sofa chair, wearing the helmet, motionless.
No one noticed him, and no one noticed that someone had appeared beside him at some point.
A long-haired man holding a pet stood next to Locke, looking down slightly as he observed.
"An ability to digitize consciousness... it's somewhat similar to yours," Yue Shi said softly.
"Only slightly. In reality, it's far inferior," Ghost's voice was dismissive.
Back then, he could digitize his body and even discard it entirely to become an information lifeform.
Everything Locke could do, Ghost could do better.
Ghost could see Locke's trail of intrusion into the game with perfect clarity.
"The path he left behind is very clear, with a definite destination. It seems he has already found the location of the mastermind."
"Shall we go take a look?"
Yue Shi patted the snow leopard's head.
In the next second, he vanished from the spot.
The Deep Blue Route representative felt the pressure lift, but his face was filled with confusion.
That strange sense of crisis... it was gone?
Rate on N.U.
