"You mean, the Scarlet Witch started mutating while she was still in her mother's womb?" Ren Yifei asked calmly.
"No, I mean, he was born as a human, but lived in the world as a monster."
The lab director told him the exact time when the Scarlet Witch was sent: fifteen years ago, around the same season, around the same month.
A crying baby was brought in, wrapped casually in a piece of clothing, with red skin and traces of amniotic fluid in its hair.
"It seems to have been the day before yesterday, that was the day," he said definitively, adding, "The Scarlet Witch escaped on the same day."
The lab director wasn't there on that day two years ago, so he didn't know the specifics. He only knew that many people died the next day, and the hunting team leader led his men to clean up their entire lab.
All researchers who showed sympathy for the monsters were removed from the team, as were those who deserted their posts or failed to supervise properly.
The sky was red the next day.
"How did the previous seven die?" Even if the seventh one died at the hands of the player, what about the previous six? One dying every two or three years on average seems too even.
The lab director paused for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, "Would you kill me?"
Ren Yifei did not answer.
The person in charge suddenly laughed: "Is the Scarlet Witch with you? Was it he who asked you to do this?"
"My research tells me that after being transformed into monsters, the experimental subjects lost their humanity. They only had uncontrollable evil desires and could no longer be regarded as intelligent life."
"But my child chose to let Subject 3 go because he said, 'She has advanced emotions, she is an intelligent being, she is not a monster.'"
The lab director stopped laughing and turned to Ren Yifei's location: "Tell me, is my son right or wrong? Tell me the answer, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."
"You don't even care about your own life or death, yet you're so fixated on this answer?" Ren Yifei asked, somewhat surprised. Then he thought, perhaps what he cared about wasn't the answer itself, but rather resolving a knot in his heart.
Are monsters human?
It's hard to say.
Do monsters possess advanced emotions?
Yes, of course there is. If there isn't, what's the point of that role-playing quest?
Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? These are three philosophical questions that one wouldn't be so fixated on without profound emotions.
The blindfold on his face was gently pulled down, and the head of the laboratory opened his eyes to see someone he had never imagined in his life.
The Scarlet Witch's voice was soft, but every word was clear: "Who am I?"
The person in charge's eyes widened suddenly: "...So that's how it is, I was wrong..."
If one does not possess advanced emotions, and is not an intelligent being, why would one seek to understand one's origins?
"The new humans have already succeeded. I was wrong." Tears slowly streamed down the person in charge's eyes as he murmured to himself, "Son, you are right. I was wrong."
The lab director was suddenly reminded of his childhood, a time before monsters existed and when people fought endlessly because of their different skin colors.
"Mommy, why are their skin colors different?" he asked as a child.
"Because the world needs vibrant colors; having only one color is too lonely. You must allow for differences and uniqueness in the world."
Ren Yifei waited for him to calm down. Not long after, the lab director calmed down, regained his researcher's composure, and began to observe Ren Yifei.
"You really know how to talk, and you're very clever. You know how to play dumb to protect yourself."
"Aren't other people suitable?" Ren Yifei retorted.
"Unlike you, who has learned to disguise yourself with a harmless facade, almost completely like a human." The lab director shook his head. "Of course, being human isn't anything special."
"However, if they behaved like you, perhaps more people would be willing to believe that the monsters were another kind of intelligent being. Maybe we could coexist peacefully."
"Heh." Ren Yifei scoffed at the man's naiveté.
The lab director knew he sounded a bit like he was dreaming, so he pressed, "How did you do that? You transformed into Xiao Zhang and brought me out of the base. Is this a hidden ability you've been hiding, or something you've only recently acquired?"
Ren Yifei remained silent.
The lab director sighed: "I don't know where you came from, but I remember that the day you were brought here, the chief's wife's youngest child died."
"You mean?" Ren Yifei was somewhat surprised. This was an unbelievable answer.
He even considered the Scarlet Witch to be a hybrid of human and monster, but then the lab director said monsters were transformed humans, and he began to wonder if he might be an orphan. The truth, however…
"Is the base leader both an insider and an executor?"
"I know nothing," the lab director emphasized again. "If you want to know more, go to the lab's basement; all the previous test subjects went there."
After that, he indeed stopped saying anything.
The person in charge closed his eyes: "You can proceed now." He had a relaxed smile on his face, as if he was already prepared for death.
"For your son's sake," Ren Yifei's eyes turned red, "please forget all our previous conversations."
One minute later.
"arrive!"
The hunting team arrived late once again. They carefully entered the abandoned warehouse and saw Dean Zhang tied to a chair, his eyes blindfolded and his mouth taped shut.
But he is still alive.
The hunting party leader looked around and noticed the arrows and papers on the ground. There were also another person's footprints, but unfortunately, they had already left.
"We're too late again."
11:00 AM, update:
[The Third Night: The Abandoned Pawn.]
[One player died, and one-eleventh of the Ghost's abilities were unlocked.]
Dean Zhang, who was rescued, said he didn't know anything. He only remembered seeing Xiao Zhang in the laboratory, and then everything went black.
The hunting team leader was reluctant to believe that Dean Zhang had been tied to the chair for some time and that the murderer couldn't have done nothing. However, he also had no evidence to prove that Dean Zhang was lying.
The fact that the killer and the intruder are considered to be the same person provides a relatively favorable alibi for the real murderer.
The handsome player found it amusing; he hadn't expected that the calm person who greeted him was also an intruder.
In any case, it is a fact that Mr. Allen was talking with his new friends when the 'murderer' casually left the base.
"Night Hunter, sacrifice, scapegoat. After eliminating the lab option as a distraction, the only possibility is the Scarlet Witch." Holding a crucial clue, the handsome man was almost certain of the 'ghost's' true identity. He was simply waiting to find evidence to prove his point.
The only thing that needs to be confirmed is whether Scarlet Witch is the original.
It's understandable that the handsome player overthinks things; he almost fell victim to a disguise-based player once, so even though the probability is already 90%, he still wants to find out the remaining 10% that's not right.
Most players who reach high-level matches only have one life, so they should cherish it.
At the same time, the three-person Buddhist group who had defected had just escaped from the NPCs' capture. They were hiding and living a difficult life.
Players do have many skills and items, but due to luck, half of the skills and items they bring in are unusable, and the rest have a bunch of time and usage restrictions.
The three discussed it and decided there was no need to confront the base authorities directly, so they began their days in hiding.
"It seems like a really strong guy has entered this instance," the girl with twin tails exclaimed, unable to admit defeat.
In just three days, while they were still trying to find a way to enter the laboratory, the enemy was going on a killing spree, making the entire base feel extremely tense.
"How do you think these NPCs determine if someone is a player?"
The girl with twin tails couldn't accept it: "How exactly did they find out about us? It's one thing if the people around us are familiar with the original owner, but even the authorities noticed us. Were we not discreet enough?"
"You're clearly not feeling right. No, we're all feeling wrong." Natural Curly Hair shook his head.
Natural Curly quickly realized where their weakness lay: "This base looks good, but everyone is living with the anxiety of 'no tomorrow.' The players' mentality is completely different. It's hard to tell at first glance, but you'll understand after looking at it a few more times."
Two days have passed, enough time for these NPCs to notice their difference.
"Ugh..." The girl with twin ponytails banged her head on the table in frustration. "We're not going to have to hide for four days, are we? That's so stifling. Oh, by the way, someone died today. Who died?"
"It's the player who was exposed." Feather Scissors, who rarely spoke, suddenly spoke up. She also told them some news, "Today we also saw a new player who traded items with me for the map of the laboratory."
The girl with twin ponytails and naturally curly hair looked over at him: "What do you think?" That player is the real culprit behind the massacre at the laboratory?
"What a coincidence." After saying this, the feather shears fell silent again.
"Today's information suggests sacrificing a pawn." Their attention shifted to those two words.
In a narrow sense, this word means an abandoned child. In a broader sense, it refers to someone who has been abandoned. Whether in a narrow or broad sense, it carries the connotation of being discarded or abandoned.
"I had my doubts about the Scarlet Witch, but she doesn't seem like she's been abandoned." The girl with twin ponytails rested her chin on her hand. "On the contrary, the NPCs have gone to great lengths to find her."
"But isn't capturing him back just to 'sacrifice' him?" Feather Clipper, who had been quiet all along, got to the point.
The girl with twin ponytails touched her chin in silence.
The woman with naturally curly hair nodded: "You're right."
The players are right. The official team went to great lengths to find the Scarlet Witch, not for a mutually beneficial cause. They were looking for her to get rid of her.
At noon, the sun was shining brightly.
For most ordinary people in the base, it was just an ordinary day. Some went out to work, some entertained themselves in the underground city, some eke out a living in the darkness, and some lived a life of debauchery, oblivious to the passage of time.
But for players, things are not like that.
Because of a series of unexpected events last night, the main storyline has been sped up like a sports car engine. Even though it's only the fourth day, the plot has already fast-forwarded into the later stages.
"Quick, the NPCs are moving!" All the players poured out, even the laid-back trio mingled in the crowd to watch the excitement.
The hunting party, which usually only operated at night, went out during the day to greet the sun hanging in the sky.
People on the street were talking amongst themselves: "They're the night hunting team? What's with them showing up now? Wow, why is their skin all so pale, like lime water?"
"I heard that it's to catch a monster. It must be a very special monster."
"We only have three hours left before this thing expires," said the hunting team leader. The daylight was too bright and hurt his eyes, and the people around him were too lively, making him feel slightly uncomfortable.
His body was stiff, and he didn't know how to communicate with the people he met during the day. He also couldn't understand much of what they were saying; those unfamiliar terms seemed very distant to him.
The hunting party captain hadn't seen the sun in a long time, and now, standing in the bustling crowd, he felt extremely uncomfortable. He felt like a monster of the night, suddenly captured and thrown into the sunlight.
The base was bustling, but none of it belonged to him, nor was it related to him.
"team leader?"
"It's alright, let's go." Having chosen the hunting team, become the guardian of the night, and wielded the greatest force, he had always felt he had done the right thing. But at this moment, a murky emotion
rose in the captain's heart.