Saving Unpermitted

Chapter 72: Shaken

On the same day that Shu Jun set off.

Without Shu Jun, the temperature around Zhu Yanchen dropped. Hu Yan managed the players’ side, and Yu Jin managed his own team well. Zhu Yanchen didn’t participate in these matters. He went straight to Ai Xiaoxiao’s research area and found a room to contemplate the “Suppression” weapon.

Before the Old Fourth left, they brought him a lot of equipment. Even so, many of Ai Xiaoxiao’s medical instruments had to be “temporarily requisitioned”. In response to this, Ai Xiaoxiao, who was focused on researching erosion treatment, was quite displeased.

“They are all my precious babies. Can’t you be gentler with them? Even if they don’t break, I still need to charge for wear and tear.” She pounded her chest and stomped her feet. “And I don’t like having people in my field of vision when I’m researching—”

Now that Ai Xiaoxiao knew about the intimate relationship between Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen, her remaining fear of Zhu Yanchen vanished without a trace.

Marshal Zhu’s cold and stern temperament could no longer intimidate her. After observing him for so long, she felt that he was like a clamshell. When Shu Jun was around, he cautiously opened up, but as soon as he left, he would quickly shut himself tight again, which she found quite amusing.

Ignoring her, Zhu Yanchen took the data and left.

“Wait!” Without receiving compensation for the wear and tear, Ai Xiaoxiao raised her voice. “I have some strange data here that I need an expert like you to look at.”

Maintaining a closed clamshell-like aura, Zhu Yanchen slowly turned around and followed Ai Xiaoxiao into her research room.

Although Ai Xiaoxiao had made a mess of herself, the entire research room was orderly and organized. In the middle of the room was a large liquid tank, and Monday was inside, twisting and turning like a peculiar-shaped ribbonfish.

“Since he has all those people following, Shu Jun could only bring an ordinary sword,” Ai Xiaoxiao explained. “He entrusted it to me.”

When Monday saw Zhu Yanchen enter, the direction of the sword’s hilt nodded towards Zhu Yanchen, and it happily continued to swim. Seeing that it didn’t call for help like before, Zhu Yanchen turned to Ai Xiaoxiao with a puzzled expression.

Ai Xiaoxiao understood his questioning look and took a white pill the size of an apricot from a dish on the side, tossing it into the liquid tank. Monday eagerly swallowed it, happily flipping its sword body a few times, and even allowed Ai Xiaoxiao to touch it with gloved hands.

“I call it ‘erosion candy’. It loves to be active, so I added something to appease it. During this period, I’ve been studying the erosion choice of intrusion, and it seems to be working well.”

Ai Xiaoxiao withdrew her hand from the liquid and casually threw a white pill to Zhu Yanchen. She then picked up a stack of documents and tapped them on the table. “This thing has a similar level of erosion to your body. Do you remember when Mr. Shu was particularly fascinated with your body for a period of time?”

Zhu Yanchen examined the white pill in his palm and furrowed his brow.

“Of course, I’m referring to his appetite,” Ai Xiaoxiao added mischievously. “Take your time to look at the data; I’ll give you a general overview.”

“The erosion of food by the Erosion Swamp has certain requirements. If the erosion level is too low, it is not easily digestible. If the erosion is too thorough, there will be no nutrients left. To the Erosion Swamp, you are like perfectly grilled meat—neither undercooked nor burnt, fragrant, crispy, and delicious.”

Ai Xiaoxiao threw another erosion candy into the liquid tank, and Monday happily spat out a string of bubbles.

“But for you, this conclusion shouldn’t be new. What I want to talk about is other issues.”

Zhu Yanchen ignored her comparison to grilled meat and quietly examined the data, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

“Oh, I haven’t mentioned it yet, but you’ve already figured it out?”

“They have a very low efficiency when it comes to consuming food. If they were to completely erode a portion of food from scratch, the energy it takes for them to consume it…”

“They only eat the most succulent bite.”

Ai Xiaoxiao clapped her hands casually.

“It’s simple. They don’t have time for mediocre food. Currently, the Erosion Swamps are eroding frantically, which can be seen as a compensatory behavior—because the current survival environment isn’t suitable for them, they instinctively over-reproduce. As a result, the more they reproduce, the more they lack food, and the more they lack food, the less they want to focus on digestion. In the end, they can only erode more space and search for more ‘succulent and effortless’ food to continue reproducing.”

“In short, it’s a straightforward and brutal vicious cycle. They don’t consider issues like depleting their resources. After all, the world is so vast, and they haven’t eroded it all yet.”

Zhu Yanchen keenly grasped the key point. “The current survival environment is not suitable?”

“Yes, I’ve conducted many experiments with this little guy.” Ai Xiaoxiao pointed at Monday, who responded by moving its sword body in anticipation, eagerly waiting for the next erosion candy. “It has some form of intelligence and better judgment than the average Erosion Swamp—take a look at this.”

Ai Xiaoxiao manipulated some data by the liquid tank, making a series of changes. The pressure, temperature, and elemental content in the tank fluctuated on the adjacent screen, causing Monday to tremble all over.

“Feels good!” It expressed its satisfaction vigorously, sounding quite content.

“You see, it’s more intuitive this way.” Ai Xiaoxiao sat back in her chair.

Zhu Yanchen stared at the numbers on the screen, his furrowed brow remaining unchanged.

“So, there’s only one question,” he said softly. “At first, it’s understandable for them to engage in indiscriminate probing. But given the current situation, why does the Erosion Swamp still maintain this state?”

They remain in an unsuitable survival environment, rampaging and biting indiscriminately.

“You know the answer.” Ai Xiaoxiao kicked the nearby cabinet with her foot, spinning in her chair.

He did know the answer. Zhu Yanchen tightened his grip on the stack of reports in his hand. With Sigma present, the mindless Erosion Swamps wouldn’t make decisions on their own.

…Continuing the matter of the player system was even more wrong than he had imagined.

“I have to return to the city,” Zhu Yanchen said firmly. “Thank you, Dr. Ai. This data is very valuable.”

“Why go back to that ghostly place?” Ai Xiaoxiao opened the lid of the liquid tank and threw a few erosion candies at Monday.

“I have some information to look up. I remember a predecessor had written a similar paper. I didn’t think I would need it before Sigma existed, but now I must go back and take a look.”

“Why not have Dong Lao bring it out for you?”

“He can’t access it, and he shouldn’t know about it,” Zhu Yanchen said decisively. “That paper didn’t make it into the database; only the hard copy was left. My father deliberately took it down. I saw the original in the storage room of the Zhu Rong Memorial Hall—it’s Mr. Tang Heyu’s ‘Observation of Dispersed Erosion Path and Geographical Distribution Conjecture of Erosion Substance’. I need the data from it.”

“Tang Heyu? I’ve never heard of this person.”

“He researched anti-erosion instruments before.” Zhu Yanchen didn’t elaborate.

Zhu Yanchen did know this person. When he was a child, his father rarely came home. On one occasion, his father was at home, and Tang Heyu even came to their house for a meal. Later, his mother mentioned that “Uncle Tang” was his father’s closest friend. Unfortunately, later on, Tang Heyu had some mental issues, and Zhu Sheng gradually had less contact with him.

Zhu Yanchen had no interest in the gossip of the older generation. Initially, he only wanted to overthrow the player system and study the behavior of the Erosion Swamp. In order to find information related to the player system, Zhu Yanchen secretly sneaked into Zhu Rong Memorial Hall. During the search for old books, he accidentally discovered the paper in the data room and decided to check the details.

Tang Heyu was born into the business-oriented Tang family but had a different mindset. He had a keen interest in studying the player system. However, he always prioritized design and practice and didn’t leave behind many papers. During his peak, he even competed with Zhu Sheng for the leadership position.

In the past, Tang Heyu and Zhu Sheng had a very good relationship, so good that their friendship remained unaffected even during the competition for positions of power. They would even go out for a drink together after campaign speeches.

Unlike the composed Zhu Sheng, Tang Heyu was witty, humorous, lively, and straightforward. He was originally a promising leader, but unfortunately, he met an untimely end—

After publishing his first and only paper, Tang Heyu gradually started drinking heavily, showing signs of mental instability. At the height of his alcoholism, he wouldn’t remain sober for more than two hours a day. The Tang family couldn’t accept such a male head, so he was quickly sidelined from power and stepped down from his top position.

No one knew what happened to Tang Heyu. Zhu Sheng had made repeated visits in the early stages to persuade him, but it resulted in him being hit on the head with a bottle, causing a huge uproar. After that incident, Zhu Sheng never set foot in the Tang residence again.

No matter where he searched, he couldn’t find any more information.

Speaking objectively, Tang Heyu’s paper was well-written. However, Mr. Tang chose a tricky topic—disintegrated erosion and the Erosion Swamp were too different, and there were too many conjectures in the paper, so Zhu Yanchen didn’t bother to read it again.

Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, he had to search for it again. Xia Liang couldn’t handle this task as only senior researchers could enter the memorial hall. Asking others was also unreliable.

He had no choice but to change back into Xia Yufeng’s appearance and make the trip himself.

Fortunately, the people from the Old Fourth hadn’t left yet. It would only take half a day to ride the caravan to Y City. Zhu Yanchen immediately packed his belongings, disguised himself as Pan Shu’s procurement officer, and joined the Old Fourth’s traveling caravan.

Coincidentally, he could also show the prototype of the “Suppression” weapon to the experts of the Old Fourth. Moreover… it was time to release the information collected from X City to test the waters.

That night, another Marshal was also busy.

Since bringing Luo Duan back, Yi Ning had been extremely cautious. In order to obtain more intelligence, he wished he could attach a continuous 24-hour surveillance camera to Luo Duan.

However, Luo Duan ate and drank as he pleased, smiling and conversing with him as usual. He occasionally asked about the chaos at the Reunion Festival and the current situation of Groundwater, and Yi Ning used “activities” to evade his questions.

As he looked at Luo Duan, he instinctively felt that something wasn’t quite right. This synthetic person maintained a subtle distance from him, acting reasonably and intimately, always making him subconsciously regard the other as a “friend” or “kin.”

But they were neither friends nor kin.

It was just that Luo Duan was too honest, and Yi Ning couldn’t figure out what he wanted. This person neither assassinated him nor contacted the outside world. He calmly drank tea in the heavily fortified command center, and no matter how he looked at it, he didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives.

Yi Ning’s head started to ache from thinking too much.

Fortunately, at this time, there was new information coming in, giving him a chance to change his focus—

“What is this?!” Yi Ning gasped sharply.

“My elder sister’s boyfriend’s younger brother showed it to me, saying it’s footage from inside X City. Someone discovered this thing at the edge of the erosion zone—everything in that suitcase was destroyed, but the recording chip was intact, and they didn’t find the owner.” The assistant trembled, looking flustered. “Marshal, th-th-this is fake, right? People at the edge of the city are spreading it, saying that the Erosion Swamp has mutated…”

A distorted city, a bizarre head lurking between it, and four-legged creatures crawling everywhere. If someone had created such a complex fake video, it would be a remarkable feat.

“Send people to investigate the true source of the footage and also find the technicians from the Tang family. Let them see if it’s fake.” Yi Ning pinched his nose bridge. Those horrifying images were still spinning in his mind. “Don’t panic. The ruins in X City are in the heavily erosion zone, and ordinary people wouldn’t be able to retrieve data from there.”

The assistant visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. “Y-Yes, it must be fabricated. How could the Erosion Swamp mutate like that?”

He patted his chest and tried to reassure himself. “Besides, even if it’s real… you can’t obtain equipment like that for filming without a lot of money. Others may not know, but I’ve been with you for so long, don’t I know?! Only the upper echelons of the three major families can afford to play with such things. Why would they cause trouble for themselves…”

Yi Ning held his breath, his expression suddenly tensing. “What did you say? Say it again.”

The assistant was taken aback. “I said the three major families…”

“The previous sentence.”

“To…to obtain equipment like that for filming, you need a lot of money, right?”

Yi Ning’s mind was struck like lightning, and all the previous confusion suddenly found an outlet.

Zhu Yanchen.

Zhu Yanchen was a cautious person to his core, and he was also strong in combat. How could he be easily captured by a mutant beast? Not to mention that the mutant beast arranged by the Tang family wasn’t even used; it was some unknown mutant beast that unexpectedly abducted him.

At that time, he felt that something was off, as if Zhu Yanchen had known about his plan in advance.

The reason Yi Ning didn’t think deeply about it was simple—Zhu Yanchen disappeared just like that, and Zhu Sheng brought back a puppet. If Zhu Yanchen had his own plan, there wouldn’t be complete silence.

But now the echo had come.

Yi Ning repeatedly examined the footage, and the expression on his face gradually disappeared.

Zhu Yanchen used his plan and disappeared beautifully. Even if the Tang family only intended to give Zhu Yanchen a minor injury, the plan and actions would undoubtedly leave traces and attract Zhu Sheng’s attention. In this way, even if Zhu Sheng couldn’t catch any evidence, his focus wouldn’t be on Zhu Yanchen as the “victim”, naturally not prompting a thorough search in the heavily erosion area.

What happened after a successful disappearance?

Zhu Yanchen wasn’t the kind of romantic person who would intentionally fake his death and elope with someone. If this record was true, Marshal Zhu might have personally gone to the ruins in X City…

Yi Ning only knew that Zhu Yanchen opposed the player system, but he didn’t expect him to be so paranoid.

Marshal Zhu wasn’t an impulsive person and always acted with caution. So what did he discover? Were those horrifying images related to the player system? In such a critical moment, why would he sacrifice his life? What did he want to prove?

According to the assistant, the damaged suitcase was found at the edge of the erosion zone, with no owner to be found. It made sense since a normal person wouldn’t last long in the heavily eroded area of the ruins in X City…

“…In addition to what you just mentioned, help me investigate one more thing.”

Yi Ning heard his own voice speaking in an extremely dry tone.

“Have someone carefully examine the papers Zhu Yanchen left at the research institute,” Yi Ning said.

The assistant nodded vigorously and hurriedly left the room. Yi Ning then looked up at the flickering light tube above him with a wry smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

Before, he had hesitated about whether or not to go along with Zhu Sheng and accept this new player system. His only concern at the time was how to handle the issue of unemployment among the resident players once the player production suddenly increased.

But in just a few days, the residents of the settlements had been abandoned by Zhu Sheng, and the potential flaws of the player system were about to be exposed.

“If the video is real, Zhu Yanchen’s research is real, and the flaws in the player system are real… Concealing the truth, abandoning the people, clandestine operations. They’ve done a great job.”

In the unlikely event that all those things were true, the player system couldn’t be widely implemented until the flaws were resolved. Humanity needed to stand united and concentrate their efforts on combating the mutated Erosion Swamp.

At that point, he and Zhu Sheng would no longer share a common stance.

The author has something to say:

Marshal: Thank you for the invitation. No sacrifice was made. To be honest, I was actually planning to go with the Tang family’s mutant beasts. ← But then a childhood sweetheart fell from the sky, and Marshal Zhu conveniently caught him.

Shu Ge: ?

Monday: (Chewing happily, worldly troubles are not important)