Chapter 97

The answer was clearly hidden in the room before him.

Without hesitation, Chugwang used his authority to unlock the door.

Unlike the other rooms in Zone B, this one had not been tidied up. Personal items were scattered on the unfolded folding table, and the bed nearby was not made.

Notably, a blue jacket and pants were laid out on the floor, with the sleeves and pant legs spread out, resembling a person lying face down.

And at the position of the right sleeve, there was a "vintage-styled" revolver.

It was as if...

...they were reconstructing a crime scene?

However, perhaps out of consideration for harmony or other factors, the crucial corpse was missing, making the scene look somewhat comical.

"...Is this also a quirk of the first manager?"

Chugwang instinctively looked at the left wall of the room but did not see any bullet holes there.

He then walked forward and picked up the revolver, fumbling to open the cylinder, finding only five bullets inside.

"No bloodstains, no bullet holes, no shell casings... Only the weapon and clothes were left behind."

Walking to the unfolded folding table, Chugwang noticed a diary and a pen as thick as a finger.

The pen had a button on its tip.

Curiously, Chugwang pressed the button, and to his surprise, the pen emitted a sound.

"... (static noise) ..."

"Do you have anything else to confess?"

"No."

Is this a voice recorder?

The content of the recording seemed to be an interrogation.

Chugwang felt curious and continued listening.

The interrogator's voice sounded slightly young, while the interrogated person seemed somewhat despondent or tired.

He seemed not to care much about his fate, only wanting everything to end as soon as possible.

Guard: "... So, what do you plan to do? Punish me for dereliction of duty?"

Interrogator: "No plans."

Guard: "... What do you mean by no plans?"

Interrogator: "When I reported to the professor, he only said he knew and then stopped asking. I asked him how to deal with you, and he said there was no need, as you did what anyone in your situation would have done."

Guard (emotionally agitated): "I am not asking for your forgiveness! Listen, I made a serious mistake, I... I shouldn't have thought I could be a savior. My arrogance and foolishness have harmed everyone. If I had done nothing from the beginning... perhaps things wouldn't have turned out so badly."

The man's voice first became hysterically mad, then covered his face in repentance, and finally choked up to the point of sobbing.

However, the interrogator's voice remained calm throughout, without much fluctuation.

Interrogator: "It's an interesting hypothesis. But since the professor said you are not guilty, I think you don't need to blame yourself so much. If this doesn't convince you, then please consider this question: Do you think you are smarter than the professor?"

Guard: "... How can I compare myself to him?"

Interrogator: "It seems you are very clear-headed. Then let me ask you another question: Since you clearly recognize that your intelligence cannot match the professor's, why did you naively think you could hide everything from his eyes?"

Guard: "... What do you mean?"

Interrogator: "What is the subject of our research?"

Guard: "... Morphogenetic field? I don't really understand. Wait, are you saying the professor knew from the beginning that I was using the radio to contact the outside world? The survivors from the tire factory, including Li Xiu?"

Interrogator: "When we study the motion of macroscopic objects within the framework of classical mechanics, we selectively ignore the basic particles that make up the object. This is not because we do not know that matter is composed of smaller particles, but because it is unnecessary to consider them in this context."

Interrogator: "Similarly, it is impossible to predict the different choices a person will make at different stages of their life. However, the development patterns of macroscopic events and the collective behavior of people can be traced. If you are interested, you can ponder this question; after all, you have plenty of time to waste from now on."

Guard: "Is this part of the interrogation?"

Interrogator: "Sort of, but the main purpose is to provide you with psychological counseling. The professor told you not to blame yourself too much. Everything that happens here is part of tens of thousands of experiments, and we will eventually achieve victory. By the way, the person you have been in contact with is probably dead. We received another message from the same terminal, but it was clearly not from him."

"The survivors from the tire factory hope we can take them in, but it is clear that they are lying in every sentence. We will continue to track and record the surrounding radio signals and the strength of the shielding field, but we will not respond. Now this task is handled by AI, and we will enter a true state of silence. You can rest assured that no one will make a mistake again."

Then the sound of the door closing.

A long wait.

Just as Chugwang was wondering if it was over, a gunshot suddenly came from the voice recorder, startling him.

"Damn! No sense of martial virtue!"

"... Speaking of which, what is a 'morphogenetic field'?"

Chugwang vaguely remembered hearing this term somewhere before, but not in this world, before he was transported to this wasteland.

In the 1980s, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake of the Royal Society in the UK proposed a controversial "resonance" theory.

According to Dr. Sheldrake's theory, not only do the basic particles that make up matter resonate, but abstract events also produce resonance effects.

Based on this hypothesis, he referred to places where similar events occur consecutively as "morphogenetic fields" and called similar events "morphogenetic resonance."

However, the unreliability of a hypothesis based on another hypothesis is evident.

Just like many hypotheses about the multiverse and aliens, you have no reliable means to prove or disprove them.

Even if it seems "obvious."

"... Could this recording mean that the technology used to project the consciousness of parallel world players into this world is related to some hypothesis of the morphogenetic field theory?"

"For example, using some unknown field to cross spatial dimensions and cause resonance between consciousnesses."

"Ouch... headache."

Why think about these things?

As long as it works, right?

Investing time and energy in something without a conclusion is meaningless. The truth will be revealed with more clues.

From this recording, Chugwang could summarize that the research on the morphogenetic field was the main topic of the 404th shelter.

Combining this with the information he obtained when he first arrived, this research was likely completed over a century ago.

However, speaking of which, was the first manager called "professor"?

This guy is even more dog-like than himself.

Putting aside the terrifying details in the voice recorder, Chugwang could confirm the identity of the guard, who was the victim mentioned in the "Blood Hand Diary."

The utopia that the first "leader" of the Blood Hand Clan was searching for until the end was the 404th shelter under his feet.

Chugwang picked up the unnamed diary on the table.

The timeline in the diary matched the "Blood Hand Diary" he had read before.

This guy had been guiding the first leader of the Blood Hand Clan remotely via radio, helping the survivors abandoned in the wasteland.

Unfortunately, his good intentions seemed to have caused more harm.

The mess he left behind tormented the survivors in the northern suburbs for over a century, only to be resolved two centuries later.

He never expected that the 404th shelter and the Blood Hand Clan had such a connection, and it all started because of a broadcast.

"... What a mess."

Chugwang clicked his tongue, shook his head, and decided to archive and preserve this diary along with the one with the blood hand print.

Besides the silver revolver, Chugwang found many good things here, such as a box of 10mm revolver ammunition.

The box contained over 30 bullets, each as long as a finger, with no signs of oxidation, looking brand new.

These bullets looked large, and the propellant seemed more than that of rifle bullets, but it was unknown if one shot could kill a crawler.

However, it would definitely take out a scavenger with one shot.

Chugwang noticed that the packaging of the ammunition box had a silver python, and the brown grip of the silver revolver had the same design.

Looking at the revolver in his hand, Chugwang thought for a moment and said to himself,

"I'll call you 'Silver Snake.'"

Besides the "Silver Snake" revolver, Chugwang found a police baton under the folding table and discovered a new surprise in the storage compartment under the bed.

"A red dot sight?"

The width of the rail was adjustable, fitting perfectly on the raised rail of the "Silver Snake." What surprised Chugwang even more was that this little gadget still had power.

"2X magnification, adjustable reticle... Good stuff."

Of course, Chugwang didn't plan to use it on the revolver; it would be a waste for a short-barreled close-combat weapon.

He had a newly repaired assault rifle that could use this, and with the red dot sight, it would be almost fully equipped.

...

After leaving the room, Chugwang crossed the circular corridor of Zone B, which connected to Zone A.

This was the functional area of the second underground level, with separate bathrooms and a public shower for men and women, and a public cafeteria that could accommodate up to 100 people at once.

It was clear that the living space was quite tight, with staggered times for using the bathroom and shower, and even for eating.

However, the quality of life here was not bad.

The shower was a 360° panoramic water mist self-cleaning system, where you didn't even need to move. The toilet was the same; you just needed to use it, and the water wash and ultrasonic vibration would clean it down to the nanometer level, saving paper.

No need to worry about newbies in the forest grabbing strange things.

Chugwang tried the faucet and was surprised to find that it was working, even with hot water.

"I thought this shelter was just an empty shell..."

It seemed only the B1 level was empty.

Little Seven interjected, "How could it be an empty shell? You just saw that people lived here, right?"

Chugwang: "Where are they now?"

Little Seven: "Um, I don't know."

The expected answer.

However, Chugwang wasn't concerned. He would eventually uncover all the secrets of this shelter.

After inspecting the facilities, Chugwang's initial idea was to move the 100 incubation pods from the B1 level to the B2 level.

The incubation pods were equipped with wireless power, so they could be connected anywhere in the shelter.

The B2 level of Zone B had 200 available rooms, which, although smaller, would be a private room for the players, making them happy.

After all, for them, this was just a save point.

As for the extra beds and bedding, they could be stored in the empty rooms on the B1 level for future use.

There was no need to worry about transportation.

The shelter had only one external elevator to the surface, but there were 8 internal elevators.

This included two freight elevators and six passenger elevators, more than enough for the players to move between floors.

The external elevator could also be modified in the future.

If necessary, the nursing home could be demolished, and a larger pit dug to build a more spacious house for himself.

No big deal.

Chugwang turned the faucet and asked,

"Is there a limit to the water usage here?"

Chugwang was tired of filtering lake and rainwater with activated carbon, which always had a strange taste.

Little Seven tilted the camera.

"No, right? According to the data, the shelter's water resources are replenished by rainwater. Theoretically, as long as there is power, the water supply will continue, but it's best not to transfer water out. Normal use within the shelter is fine, and the wastewater will enter the shelter's internal recycling system, filtered, and reused. A small loss is okay, but transferring a large amount of water out might overload the shelter's water recycling system."

Chugwang nodded.

"Where does the filtered waste go?"

Little Seven: "It's probably sent to the fermentation room for processing. The resulting fertilizer might be sent to a planting greenhouse on one of the levels, or vaporized and released through the ventilation system. As long as there is power, the shelter can run forever. I'm also looking forward to the other levels."

Chugwang: "..."

What's the difference between saying and not saying anything?

Damn!

After inspecting the sanitation facilities and cafeteria in Zone A, Chugwang followed Little Seven's wheels through the longitudinal corridor and soon arrived at the deepest part of Zone A.

It seemed to be a warehouse.

The space was quite large, about the size of two basketball courts.

Over thirty plastic boxes were stacked in the corner, labeled as medical supplies.

Chugwang walked over and opened one of the boxes, only to find that it contained not medicine but wristwatches with displays.

A rough estimate suggested there were at least a thousand of them.

Slightly stunned, Chugwang hesitated and asked,

"These are..."

Little Seven, who was following his legs, came over and promptly provided the answer.

"They are VMs."