“Captain, thank you for reminding us; otherwise, we almost…” Cheng Xubo stopped speaking when he saw Shen Jiyue sitting on the side.
He only met Shen Jiyue once, and what he saw was the blistered eyes on half of Shen Jiyue’s face. He didn’t have a deep impression of his true appearance and thought he was an ordinary employee in the energy zone; he was worried about leaking information, so he didn’t dare to speak.
On the contrary, Chi Lian’s ability to memorize people’s faces was better; she looked at the side of Shen Jiyue’s face, came to Mu Sichen’s ear, and whispered, “Is he not…?”
“Yes,” Shen Jiyue said candidly.
If Shen Jiyue said he couldn’t detect their abnormalities or hear their whispers, even with their small movements, that would be pretending.
“Yes what?” Chi Lian whispered and was caught, so she felt a little guilty.
“I’m Shen Jiyue.” Shen Jiyue smiled and said, “Although I can’t believe my eyes, I think you should be Mu Sichen, the fake doctor Ke Yi, and family member Cheng Xubo.”
He was so frank, it wouldn’t be good for Mu Sichen to continue pretending, so even though he was a little embarrassed, he nodded. “We were surprisingly recognized by you.”
“When you sat here alone, I felt that you looked like Mu Sichen, just a bit different; I wasn’t sure.” Shen Jiyue said, “The three of you together—this combination is really too special; people who are familiar with you can easily recognize you.”
Cheng Xubo leaned closer to Mu Sichen and said in a low voice that Shen Jiyue could actually hear, “Captain, is this little white face tracking us? We went to the sanatorium, and he was in the sanatorium; now we came to the processing plant, and he’s also in the processing plant.”
Shen Jiyue was amused and said, “Can you be reasonable? Everything has a first come, first served policy; the sanatorium or processing plant, obviously, I was there first.”
“Captain, I don’t think this little white face is trustworthy.” Cheng Xubo stared at Shen Jiyue with eyes full of hostility.
His distrust couldn’t help but make people suspect that there was a bit of selfishness in it.
Mu Sichen also felt that he couldn’t easily trust Shen Jiyue this time.
But the last collaboration was very good; he couldn’t openly say that Shen Jiyue was unreliable like Cheng Xubo.
Shen Jiyue candidly said, “I won’t work with you again this time, Mu Sichen. I thought you and Yao Wangping were from the same town, and you came to destroy the ‘pillar’ for Xiangping Town. But in the end, you actually took the ‘pillar’ for yourself. Which town are you from?”
“I can’t say.” Mu Sichen said, “How come you’re not wanted?”
Shen Jiyue said, “With the situation at that time, I wouldn’t be taken as your companion.”
Strictly speaking, Shen Jiyue had only done one thing, which was to transfer the blister eyes to Mu Sichen and help him squeeze the power out of the big eye.
To those who didn’t understand their plan, what Shen Jiyue had done was completely that of a qualified patient—polluting a family member in exchange for his own safety.
“Indeed.” Mu Sichen nodded and said, “We won’t cooperate this time; farewell.”
He got up to leave but was called back by Shen Jiyue: “Although we’re no longer working together because of our past friendship, I’d still like to remind you to never touch the energy module again. You guys are here for the first time today, right? If you press the button only once, despite losing something, there is still room for redemption; never touch it again.”
“You pressed it? How many times?” Mu Sichen asked.
Shen Jiyue was slightly stunned and then realized, “Seeing your attitude, you should already know that the energy pod is absorbing emotions as energy for the processing plant; I don’t have to worry about you, in every sense of the word.”
Mu Sichen’s footsteps lurched, and he felt that Shen Jiyue’s words had a hidden meaning in them.
He sat back again and said, “Although we can’t work together anymore, we can make a deal. Tell me the information you know, and you can also ask what I know, or I can help you do one thing.”
“A deal is fine; I’ll ask questions first and then tell you the information.” Shen Jiyue said.
Mu Sichen nodded. “Go ahead.”
Shen Jiyue: “I initially guessed that the three of you were only able to walk out of the office and move freely after pressing a button and losing an emotion that wasn’t too important. But looking at your attitude, the three of you shouldn’t have lost any emotion, right? What method did you use to avoid work?”
“Don’t put me off with lame excuses like escaping after knocking out the follower in charge of supervising the work; the processing plant is the territory of the favored Heavy Pupil, and the underlying logic here is that everything is equal under the sight of the ‘Pupil of the Sky’.”
“Under this rule, no matter how strong you are, your power will be split in half by the rule and divided in half by the supervisor follower; there’s no way you can beat him.”
Mu Sichen pondered for a moment, remembering that when he was in the sanatorium, Shen Jiyue had already seen him using a crossaxe, Chi Lian cutting and pasting badges, and Cheng Xubo using a wheelbarrow to carry wall demolition garbage. He should have a rough idea of their abilities, so there was no harm in saying it.
So he said, “I robbed the supervisor of several emotions.”
After saying that, Mu Sichen nodded to Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo.
Chi Lian said, “My ability can only cut things that are more superficial; I can’t cut something as abstract and deep as emotions, but I could cut the button.”
Mu Sichen looked at Chi Lian in surprise. He was worried before that Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo didn’t have a way to sneak up on the followers to snatch their emotions, but he didn’t realize that Chi Lian had another brilliant plan.
Chi Lian continued, “The ‘Inject Energy’ button looks too similar to the button on the game console handle. I first secretly touched the energy pod button and cut it out, then I asked the follower to help me bring the game console handle and paste the energy pod button on it.”
“I told the follower that it was okay for me to work, but he had to teach me how to play the game first, and that I couldn’t touch the console without working, but he could show me how to use it.”
“After saying that, he pressed the button naturally and pressed it several times, and eventually he became demented.”
This tactic was so superior to Mu Sichen’s decision to fight hard that he couldn’t help but give Chi Lian a thumbs up when he looked at his left arm, which was still hurting.
Chi Lian was very happy to get the praise and cheerfully came to Mu Sichen’s ear and whispered, “I still used yours.”
She gave Mu Sichen a “you know” look.
Mu Sichen: “……”
Okay, another part of his energy value disappeared, and it was getting insufficient.
It was Cheng Xubo’s turn; he still had some injuries on his body, his nose was blue and swollen, and he looked like he just went through a bad battle.
Cheng Xubo said, “Although I couldn’t beat the supervisor, I still managed to hold him upside down in the wheelbarrow. Of course, he struggled so much that he was able to escape in less than 30 seconds.”
“However, my abilities have been upgraded since the last time. I can transfer a small portion of the space inside the cart to the outside, which is very small—really small—the size of a finger, it’s quite insignificant.”
“I transferred the follower’s finger out, and I lay down in the energy pod and pressed the button with his struggling finger.”
Needless to say, it was pressed until the follower lost his fighting spirit.
Shen Jiyue was surprised. “Your abilities are all so special; is it the power to transfer? There is no lord in the known towns that possesses this ability yet. Which town are you guys from?”
Mu Sichen evaded the question, “We have our own beliefs; we’ve already answered one of your questions; isn’t it time to reveal some information?”
Shen Jiyue said, “I feel that it’s a loss. Never mind, for the sake of your favor of helping me purify the pollution last time, I’ll gift you some information.”
“Since you haven’t lost your emotions, I don’t need to remind you in this regard. But Mu Sichen, don’t forget that we came to the processing plant, not to keep the peace, but to look for the ‘pillar’, and you guys will never be able to get close to the pillar if you don’t lose your emotions.”
Shen Jiyue’s understanding of the pillars was deeper than any of them; the last time in the sanatorium, it was him who told Mu Sichen that the ‘pillar’ needed the emotion of despair as a source of energy.
Mu Sichen listened to him carefully.
Shen Jiyue said: “This time the ‘pillar’ is a bit easier to find; you must have also realized this. The place where the energy belongs is where the ‘pillar’ is located, so you guys have to think carefully about the flow of energy.”
“The energy flows to the assembly area; the ‘pillar’ is in the assembly area.” Chi Lian asked.
Shen Jiyue shook his head. “The intelligence transaction ends here; the rest is for you guys to find out.”
Mu Sichen, however, said, “I know, in the farming area.”
Shen Ji Yue revealed an appreciative look: “I shouldn’t have revealed too much; how did you guess?”
Mu Sichen said, “You just said, ‘I don’t need to worry about you; in every sense of the word’, I think that the ‘every sense’ you mentioned should contain several levels.”
“One level of worry is that I will be contaminated if I lose my emotions, and another level of worry is that I will snatch the ‘Pillar’ again.”
“Can I then understand that it is difficult to approach the ‘pillar’ without losing my emotions?”
“The order of demotion for workers within the processing plant is Energy Zone, Assembly Zone, and Farming Zone, one level lower than the other. Lose too much emotion in the Energy Zone and you get demoted to the Assembly Zone, and something more happens in the Assembly Zone and you get demoted to the Farming Zone.”
“Employees in the assembly zone are left with only a few emotions to sustain basic life, and the only thing left to lose is probably their souls.”
“Based on this route, I think the Farming Zone is where the workers’ souls go.”
“In that case, the farming area must be where the energy belongs, where the ‘pillar’ is located.
“And since the processing plant is so hierarchical, employees in the Energy Zone cannot move freely within the Assembly Zone; it is impossible to enter the Assembly Zone, much less reach the Farming Zone, without losing a great deal of emotion.”
“Since we refused to press the button, we have lost the chance to get close to the ‘pillar’ forever.”
Shen Jiyue sighed. “I don’t seem to have divulged so much information; how did you guess?”
“I analyzed it based on clues.” Mu Sichen said.
“The average person doesn’t have your analyzing ability.” Shen Jiyue said regretfully, “It’s a pity that I can’t work with you this time.”
Chi Lian said with some despair, “Without losing emotions, there is no way to approach the ‘pillar’. But without emotions, even if our spirits are strong enough to resist pollution, can we still have the fighting spirit if we become employees in the assembly area?”
“That’s the problem you’re trying to solve, each in their own way.” Shen Jiyue propped up his badge and said, “Yao Wangping was assigned to the assembly area as soon as he entered the factory. He should be able to approach the ‘pillar’ soon.”
Mu Sichen looked at Shen Jiyue’s chest cards with distinct colors and guessed that his emotions had turned into this, probably because he had forcibly divided his emotions to enter the assembly area.
Shen Jiyue once again chose this self-destructive fighting style.
As for Yao Wangping, as always, he was absolutely rational, and his emotions were so scarce that he wasn’t qualified to enter the energy zone, which also saved him a lot of effort.
“Isn’t Yao Wangping also wanted? How could he enter the factory? Did he change his face as well?” Cheng Xubo asked.
Shen Jiyue said, “He didn’t need to change his face; destroying his face will do.”
“Even if it’s destroyed, he can still be recognized.” Chi Lian said.
“He can’t be recognized,” Shen Jiyue said. “He destroyed it to the point that you can’t recognize any of his facial features; he destroyed all the features on his body that are enough to recognize his identity.”
“Wouldn’t a person disfigured like that arouse more suspicion?” Cheng Xubo asked, “If I were the one chasing him and saw a person with a completely disfigured face, I would in turn investigate him twice as carefully, right?”
“What if he implanted someone else’s eyes in the destroyed areas?” Shen Jiyue asked in return.
Chi Lian sucked in a mouthful of cold air. “He would probably be recognized as a big-eye fanatic; absolutely no one would suspect in the direction of heresy, but Yao Wangping is too ruthless; whose eyes did he use?”
“A lot of ah,” Shen Jiyue sighed, “companions, townspeople’s, and… some people who always hid in their rooms and refused to go out, and eventually went crazy. Such people would often have many pairs of eyes on them. ”
Mu Sichen instantly recalled the room he arrived at when he logged into the game; the owner of that diary was the one who ended up going crazy after bitterly waiting for Qin Zu to come, and then after that, he strangely evaporated from within the town; he didn’t know where he could have gone.
He really didn’t like the cold, sacrificial fighting style of Qin Zu’s subordinates.