The four members of the reincarnation team were dragged away crying their eyes out.
And honestly, the thrill of being a villain really was contagious. Zhong An and Pei Ning had both been thoroughly corrupted.
All the way there, they wore unmistakably sinister grins, intimidating the four in every way imaginable. They watched with relish as the four fretted over their future and tearfully mourned their captain’s chastity.
Pei Ning had it easier. Her sister had treated her well from the very beginning and had long since let go of any petty schemes Pei Ning might have harbored at first. Aside from being frightened for the first couple of days, she had spent the rest of the time clinging to her sister’s coattails and rising rapidly through the ranks.
Zhong An was different. Having once been humiliated and beaten—and now being the base’s famous kept man and general-purpose errand boy—he immediately discovered the superiority that came from finally standing above someone else.
In short, the vehicle ahead was full of lively chatter.
Things were much quieter on Pei Liang’s side.
The four of them got into the vehicle, but they did not hurry to start driving back to the city.
Chu Yebai spoke first. “You were busy just now, so I didn’t want to interrupt. But I can ask now, right?”
As he spoke, he turned around from the driver’s seat and looked at Pei Liang with an expression more complicated than she had ever seen on him before.
“When you interrogated those idiots just now, it looked like you got quite a lot of useful information.”
“But I was standing right beside you and heard every word of your conversation, yet I can’t seem to extract any of the important points at all.”
Gong Ran also revealed an amused smile. “That’s an understatement. My attention kept drifting for no apparent reason. By the time I came to, I had already missed the crucial information.”
“And now my memories are becoming blurred at a rate of roughly ten percent per minute—”
He let out a mocking laugh. “Actually, while I was saying that, the rate seems to have increased. Even with my memory, I’ve retained less than thirty percent of the key points from that conversation.”
“You should know that I have hyperthymesia. I don’t forget anything.”
Chu Yebai continued, “My memory is fading more slowly than yours, but the other symptoms are about the same. So in a certain sense, the rules have judged you to be more dangerous?”
“How unpleasant.”
Gong Ran said, “Naturally. Geniuses are different from ordinary people. I told you before—my genes are superior to yours.”
“Superior enough that you have to sleep your way to your goals?”
“Taking shortcuts. Being a genius doesn’t mean I have to find a roundabout way to do everything. There was already such a fine example in front of me, so why shouldn’t I follow it? Besides, I can do it better than you.”
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing over what had happened that afternoon again, Pei Liang hurriedly said, “Haven’t you two been unconsciously distracted again?”
The two men’s expressions tightened. Once they came to their senses, they realized that she was right.
“How devious,” Gong Ran said. “The moment you said that, my jealousy and competitiveness suddenly became impossible to suppress. I’ve forgotten another ten percent in the time it took to say this.”
Chu Yebai was already taking it in stride. “I have half left. And while saying that, I also developed an urge to show off.”
They both understood that if they let themselves show off, they would probably start sniping at each other over this pointless matter again. By the time the argument ended, they would have forgotten almost everything.
The two of them turned to Pei Liang in unison.
“What’s going on?” they asked.
Pei Liang said, “That’s exactly it. You can think of it as—”
“Hey!” Yu Cheng suddenly interrupted. He stared at Pei Liang as though she were insane. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
He had only just regained consciousness, and although he had only a vague understanding of the situation, he still remembered what the team members had said before they were taken away.
They had said that everything about the game had been exposed—the game’s existence, its selection rules, and even the mission mechanics of the reincarnation space.
When Yu Cheng heard that, his first reaction had been disbelief.
If that were true, their mission would become much easier, because secrecy was the game’s foremost requirement.
Compared with exposing the existence of the reincarnation game, a mere Big Boss was just an NPC that could be erased at any time. Letting the players win once would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
But Pei Liang was still alive, and there was no reason for the team members to lie to him about something like that. So according to normal logic, even if the Big Boss discovered some clues, she should gradually forget them as time passed.
Perhaps her existence was special. Or perhaps, because they were in the wilderness and no one else was involved, the God of the game had chosen not to erase her, instead opting for a gentler method.
But judging from Chu Yebai and Gong Ran’s reactions, they were behaving exactly as normal logic dictated. Pei Liang, however, was completely different.
She looked perfectly confident and clear-headed. There was not the slightest trace of confusion or curiosity in her gaze when she looked at him. She still knew everything about the reincarnation game.
Yu Cheng did not know why this was happening, but even if there was some kind of bug in her, the moment she revealed the secrets of the reincarnation game through her own mouth, the most likely outcome would be for that bug to be detected—and for her head to explode on the spot.
Pei Liang looked at him, smiled, and patted him on the cheek.
“You’re a good person. I like you.”
“Let’s talk in private.” She turned to Chu Yebai and Gong Ran. “You two get out of the vehicle first. And don’t eavesdrop.”
“I’ll tell you afterward.”
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran turned around at the same time.
Chu Yebai was in the driver’s seat, Gong Ran in the passenger seat, and Pei Liang and Yu Cheng in the back. When the two men looked over their shoulders, neither of them looked particularly pleased.
Chu Yebai raised an eyebrow. “You want us to get out? So you can stay here alone with this handsome man of mysterious origins?”
Gong Ran’s expression also turned strange. “Do you honestly think we’ll agree to that?”
Pei Liang was taken aback. “Why wouldn’t you? Why would you refuse?”
Then she suddenly realized something and shuddered. “What kind of person do you think I am? Do you think I take advantage of every handsome man I meet? Am I really that kind of person?”
You are!
The answer was written plainly across both their faces, and Pei Liang felt a headache coming on.
Their reaction made Yu Cheng’s heart prickle with unease.
The situation was obvious. All three of them had been misled by the system’s prompts and the assumptions those prompts had created.
Perhaps Dr. Gong’s belief in the meaning of the apocalypse was genuine, and perhaps his initial stance really had been different from the Big Boss’s.
But now, the two of them were clearly in league with each other. Which meant that the scene the players had witnessed earlier had probably been a huge misunderstanding.
It looked as though both men had already been involved with the Big Boss. What they had seen before might have been nothing more than a lovers’ quarrel fueled by jealousy. Now Yu Cheng finally understood where that strange sense of incongruity had come from.
Dr. Gong had clearly looked like the victim, but his responses to Chu Yebai’s accusations had seemed wrong even then.
At the time, they had been too focused on sympathizing with the weaker party. Looking back now, his words had been full of feigned weakness and deliberate provocation. They had foolishly assumed it was merely because researchers were socially inept.
As it turned out, the socially inept ones had been them.
The fact that both men had been stamped as the Big Boss’s lovers was clearly beyond dispute.
Yu Cheng’s face flushed red at once, humiliation and embarrassment written all over it. He did not want to argue with the three of them over something like this, so he simply turned his head away and said nothing.
In the end, however, Pei Liang still managed to drive the two men out.
“Don’t worry. I really will tell you.”
And that was true. It was simply up to her how much she would reveal—and which parts she would choose to tell them.
There were far too many anomalies now, so many that they had exceeded anyone’s control. The only one who still appeared completely at ease was Pei Liang.
Faced with such a secret, they naturally couldn’t afford to wait another moment.
Pei Liang drove them a short distance away before closing the door and turning to Yu Cheng.
He was visibly tense, his lips pressed into a thin line. After spending the entire afternoon with him, Pei Liang had gained some understanding of his personality.
Just by looking at him, she could tell that he had taken the excuse those two had used to try to stay in the car at face value.
Pei Liang’s mischievous side surfaced. She chuckled. “Perhaps you’re trying to act cold and stern, but do you know that, with your style, the more you act like this, the more you make people itch inside?”
As expected, Yu Cheng’s face flushed bright red again, and he didn’t dare let his eyes land on Pei Liang.
He only asked, “Are you an outsider?”
It wasn’t unheard of for an NPC character to be replaced by an outsider. Especially if that outsider also knew the plot progression of the instance world, they would effectively possess a god’s-eye view in certain matters.
That way, any deviation from the original plot could be spotted at a glance.
The origins of these “unnecessary people” were naturally suspicious. If they were an even bigger bug in the system—souls beyond the Main God’s surveillance, able to uncover the secrets of the game without being erased—then everything would make sense.
But bugs would eventually be fixed. In the end, to prevent the game’s existence from being exposed, she would still die.
Pei Liang did not answer his question. Instead, she asked, “I can sense that you began to waver about the mission before that.”
“Although you did your best to hide it, when you faced me, the vigilance and defensiveness in your eyes were far too intense. That wasn’t the unfounded paranoia of a conspiracy theorist. It was hostility from someone constantly assessing whether they could take me down.”
“For example—you. Along the way, you showed murderous intent toward me at least three times. I’m not mistaken, am I?”
She was right. The number matched exactly, and that made Yu Cheng even more bewildered. The sensation of murderous intent was different from ordinary emotions.
Normal emotions could be deciphered through body language and microexpressions. But concealed murderous intent was something only people who had truly endured life-and-death trials or survived in extreme environments could recognize.
Pei Liang continued, “But in the end—right before I attacked you—you seemed to have set down some enormous burden. Judging by how your team members reacted when they appeared alongside you, the system must have issued some kind of warning, right?”
Yu Cheng didn’t answer. This was also covered by the confidentiality regulations. If his answer indirectly confirmed the existence of the game or the system, he might risk being erased.
Pei Liang seemed to understand his concern and didn’t insist on an answer.
Instead, she changed tack. “Your judgment was correct.”
“What?” Yu Cheng stared at Pei Liang in shock.
He had no idea where this woman got the confidence to say something like that.
But the Big Boss didn’t waver in the slightest beneath his doubtful gaze.
She emphasized once more, “Regardless of what conclusion your game has reached about my position, or how many of my ‘crimes’ it has implanted in your mind—”
“Just remember one thing today: the person standing in front of you is a good person. That’s all.”
“That way, our cooperation from here on out will be very pleasant.”
Yu Cheng frowned. “You want to use me—”
He didn’t finish, but the meaning behind his unfinished words was obvious. To this world, the five members of their Reincarnation team might not be of much use.
But as tools connected to the Reincarnation Game, they were an entirely different matter.
What exactly was this woman planning?
Pei Liang told him, “There’s a secret I’ll tell only you.”
As she spoke, she leaned closer and whispered into his ear, “You’re not the only ones who came to this world carrying a mission.”
Yu Cheng was startled. The look he gave Pei Liang became even more incredulous, but at the same time, everything suddenly had a perfect explanation.
Why Pei Liang had been able to uncover the secrets of the Reincarnation Game. Why all the mission prompts issued by the Main God had been so vague.
The truth was that this was most likely a contest between two games.
As a player from another game, Pei Liang was neither a Reincarnation player nor an NPC, and she was not an outsider without any position or allegiance. Naturally, she was beyond the reach of the Reincarnation Game’s rules and punishments.
Viewed broadly, their mission amounted to a deliberate provocation by their own game. That made the so-called confidentiality principle even harder to justify.
Once he understood this, Yu Cheng no longer needed to abide by the confidentiality agreement in front of Pei Liang.
He spoke directly. “But the game hasn’t judged us to have lost yet.”
“That’s exactly what doesn’t make sense.” Pei Liang smiled. “In theory, as long as no one is dead, there’s still a chance to turn things around. But now that your game has suffered such heavy losses, the best choice should be to declare your players’ mission a failure and erase them, thereby preventing me from probing further and invading deeper.”
“And yet you’re all still here, continuing to waste time on a mission that seems insignificant compared with the confidentiality regulations. And that’s despite the fact that my side hasn’t issued any mission targeting you. If this is a contest between two games, then it’s clearly unfair.”
“So I’m more inclined to believe that someone pulled a little trick by exploiting a loophole in the rules. Perhaps our two sides are actually cooperating.”
Yu Cheng looked at her. “But our mission is to eliminate you.”
A meaningful smile spread across Pei Liang’s face. “Missions can change.”
“Even if it doesn’t, I’ll let you complete it when the time comes.”
Yu Cheng understood what she meant. She was an outsider and a player from another game. Although he didn’t know the specific rules of her game, as long as she completed her mission, it was possible that dying in the instance world would not matter to her.
But Yu Cheng instinctively felt that she wouldn’t obediently follow the mission’s script. She was definitely plotting something.
Still, her confident declaration that “the mission will change” stirred his heart.
He, too, wanted to find an opening in the Reincarnation Game, tear through its surface, and glimpse its true nature.
And now, he had been given that opportunity.
So when Pei Liang said, “But you’ll have to help me with a few small favors,” Yu Cheng quickly agreed.
“All right.”
Afterward, he glanced at Chu Yebai and Gong Ran, whom Pei Liang had driven out. “What about them?”
Pei Liang looked over and smiled. “Them? Of course they’re coming along.”
Yu Cheng said, “Since they’re bound by the confidentiality regulations, no matter how you tell them about the game, they’ll forget it.”
“They may even face the danger of being killed.”
“First of all, we can rule out any danger to their lives,” Pei Liang said. “I’ve already confirmed that through you and your teammates.”
“In this world, neither of our games has control. There are only countermeasures that were established at the beginning. But they’re different from ordinary people.”
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran were the absolute main characters of this instance world. Not only were they central figures in the Reincarnation Game’s scenario, they also had to accommodate the plot of her Cannon Fodder Struggle Game.
In other words, if the mechanisms of the two games conflicted, each of them was the protagonist of their respective world. If both protagonists died, what the hell would the players even have left to play?
Naturally, any contradictions had to be adjusted. That was why they would overlook the existence of the reincarnation game, while the key terms grew vague and their memories gradually faded.
But they would not die. If they died, that would conflict with the rules of the other game.
Thus, Pei Liang said, “Don’t underestimate them. Who says that knowing something has to take only one form?”
With that, Pei Liang rolled down the car window and motioned for the two of them to get back in.
Once Chu Yebai and Gong Ran were inside, they could clearly feel that the atmosphere between the others had changed.
Yu Cheng was no longer resistant or hostile. His body had also regained its freedom.
In fact, in the brief span of time that had passed, his attitude toward the three of them had changed so much that he seemed to have developed a sense of camaraderie with Pei Liang.
As for the other two, he treated them as complete outsiders.
This discovery irritated them both immensely.
Chu Yebai asked, “Finished questioning him?”
“Not yet,” Pei Liang replied. “But there’s no rush. He isn’t in much of a condition to talk right now.”
Chu Yebai sneered. “He’s certainly being treated well. Probably better than any of the three of us, right? He hasn’t suffered at all.”
“But are you sure that treating him so well will make him obedient?”
“I think he’s hiding far too many secrets. To be safe, we should squeeze everything out of him first. As for whether he’s willing or not—why be so precious about it? Beat him up a little and he’ll talk.”
Chu Yebai did not dare mention what they had done to him back then. He was afraid of giving that shameless woman an opportunity to turn the tables on him.
The man surnamed Yu had better keep his clothes properly fastened.
Gong Ran chimed in as well. “I can inject him with a drug that makes the body abnormally sensitive. I guarantee he’ll answer anything you want to know.”
Pei Liang was already so disgusted by the two of them that she could hardly bear to look at them. But before she could say anything, Yu Cheng spoke first.
He glanced coldly at the two men, then said to Pei Liang, “Have you ever considered that perhaps it’s because you spend time with people like this that your faction became evil?”
Yu Cheng looked at Pei Liang with complete seriousness. “I believe you now. You really are a good person.”
If she were not a good person, she would not have been able to devote so much of her energy to protecting those who were suffering while being a player herself.
Yu Cheng had seen too much. Players usually held a strange sense of superiority over NPCs. They did not care in the slightest whether NPCs lived or died, and many even endangered them simply for the sake of an exciting experience.
Yet even though Pei Liang had already guessed much about their origins and glimpsed an opportunity for even greater benefits, she was still thinking about the food supply and production resources for the people in the base.
She might not be completely pure-hearted, but she was absolutely a good person.
“So,” Yu Cheng continued, “being around two perverts like them has influenced you. They’ve corrupted you.”
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran: “…”
Damn it, did this idiot even know what he was saying? He had such a sharp-looking face, yet he was completely brainless.
Them? Corrupting Pei Liang?
Clearly, this guy had never experienced what a wicked woman she was.
It was not only Chu Yebai and Gong Ran who felt this way. Yu Cheng’s system nearly burst into tears as well.
Things had reached this point, and Yu Cheng was a hopelessly rigid person. The game had been exposed, its rules had been exposed, and Pei Liang—who belonged to the opposing game—was obviously plotting something.
There was always an ominous feeling hanging over everything. And this woman actually had the nerve to call herself a good person?
The atmosphere among the four of them was somewhat strange all the way back.
By the time Pei Liang and the others set off, Pei Ning and Zhong An were already nearly back in the city.
They drove straight to the port district without stopping. Ordinary refugees were forbidden from entering that area, as it concerned the base’s weapons and resources. It was also where the core personnel worked, making it the most important district of all.
Pei Ning drove the car directly back there. As for the four people inside, armed personnel who had already been notified came to escort them away.
Pei Liang had never intended to involve those four in her plans. Bai Rou might still be useful, but the other three had neither ability nor loyalty. They could easily be exploited by the reincarnation game and cause trouble.
After all, they were not the sort of people who could resist temptation. They naturally obeyed the reincarnation game and lacked the spirit to resist or question it. Their previous behavior had already made that clear.
Still, their abilities were genuine, so they were not entirely without value.
After Pei Ning handed them over, she and Zhong An returned to their residences, each finding the other unbearable.
As it happened, their positions were both important, and their homes were not far apart.
Pei Ning’s room was quite nice—spacious, comfortably furnished, and blessed with a beautiful view. From there, she could admire the boundless sea, as well as the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.
She had run a bath and was just about to soak in it when someone knocked on the door.
When Pei Ning opened it, she found Guan Qian standing outside.
Guan Qian said, “Can I come in and talk for a while?”
“Well, this is a rare visit. I didn’t know the two of us had anything to talk about.” Though she said this, Pei Ning still let her in.
Knowing that time was limited, Guan Qian got straight to the point. “You know that I also remember what happened in our previous life, right?”
Gong Ran’s circumstances differed so greatly from the course of events Pei Ning remembered that she had naturally suspected there was another reincarnated person around him.
When Pei Ning had gone to investigate, Gong Ran and her sister had not concealed anything from her. Just as Pei Ning had guessed, that person was Guan Qian.
Pei Ning nodded, looking somewhat impatient. “It’s not like this is some incredible advantage.”
Unlike the superiority she had felt at the beginning, Pei Ning no longer thought that way. The course of events in this life had already become completely unrecognizable. Even if an ordinary person possessed the information advantage from the start, it would not necessarily be of much use.
Her sister had known nothing at the beginning, yet hadn’t she still managed to create the situation they were in now?
Guan Qian looked at her, a strange smile appearing on her face. “Are you satisfied with your current situation?”
“Of course you are. Compared with your miserable life in the previous one, you no longer have to live as Zhong An’s appendage. You’re famous, one of the base’s core personnel, and enjoy the best treatment available. You don’t have to worry about food or clothing, and you can even play with men. Compared with before, your lives are worlds apart.”
“But what if I told you that you were supposed to have the most powerful man in the world fall hopelessly in love with you? He would lay everything in the world at your feet and give you the kind of adoration everyone envies?”
Pei Ning’s expression froze. She looked up at Guan Qian, her face suddenly changing. “You—”
A confident smile spread across Guan Qian’s face. She knew exactly what kind of person the heroine, Pei Ning, was. In both lives, she had been a hopeless romantic through and through.
The only reason she was content with her current situation was that she was comparing it to the misery of her previous life.
How could someone like that possibly change her nature in just a month or two? She would take the bait.
But just then, Guan Qian heard Pei Ning say, “Why would you think having a man to cling to is better than clinging to my sister?”
“Even if he’s the most powerful man in the world, does he have my sister’s abilities and generosity? Can he give me as much as she does? Can he make my existence meaningful? Most importantly, I can sleep with as many men as I want, and my sister won’t interfere. A man would never be happy letting me depend on him while I fool around with other men, would he?”
Guan Qian’s expression changed, and she grew anxious. “But what kind of men are you playing with now? How could they possibly compare to Chu—”
“Chu Yebai?” Realization dawned on Pei Ning’s face. “So the scene you saw was my original wish coming true.”
“But unfortunately, I don’t like him anymore.”
Guan Qian didn’t believe her. “What’s the point? You’ve been hung up on that man for so many years, dreamed about him for so long, and now, just because of your sister—”
Before she could finish, Pei Ning cut her off impatiently. “Exactly. But when that guy’s image completely collapsed in front of me and he turned out to be nothing more than a pretty boy living off a woman, I went from being a fan to becoming a hater. I haven’t publicly dragged him only because we’re still teammates.”
As she spoke, she even gave Guan Qian a shameless look. “What? You still have hopes for Gong Ran?”
“Hey, listen to me, sis. If a man wants to live off a woman, there’s nothing you can do to stop him. Just find someone else.”
Guan Qian flushed with anger. Knowing there would be no result today, she stood up to leave.
But the moment she turned around, she saw Pei Liang standing in the doorway, watching her with a smile.
Guan Qian was startled. This shouldn’t be happening. The car Pei Liang had taken ought to still be on the road. That was what her reliable insider in the Satellite Monitoring Department had told her.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to make her move at a time like this—
There was also an unfamiliar man standing beside Pei Liang, strikingly handsome. Guan Qian had never seen him before. Could this be Pei Liang’s ability?
Pei Liang shook her phone. “Pei Ning just sent me a message, saying there was something entertaining for me to see. She certainly didn’t disappoint.”
Guan Qian’s face went white. She turned and glared at Pei Ning, wondering when she had sent Pei Liang that message.
Pei Ning only gave a sheepish grin. “Don’t blame me. I was just doing what my sister told me.”
Pei Liang walked in. The instant she crossed the threshold, Guan Qian’s heart seemed to seize up, and cold sweat covered her face.
Pei Liang reached out and touched her cheek. “Don’t be nervous. I’m not going to do anything to you. If you go outside looking like this, people might notice that something’s wrong.”
She lowered her head and met Guan Qian’s gaze. “Let me guess. Your mission was to persuade Pei Ning to defect and take her out of here?”
Guan Qian said nothing, but her expression made the answer obvious.
Pei Liang continued, “That makes sense. Pei Ning is far too important, so naturally the base keeps her under the tightest protection.”
“Without her cooperation, getting her out would be extremely difficult. The number of insiders the base has planted simply isn’t enough to pull off a mission this challenging.”
Guan Qian closed her eyes in despair, feeling that everything was over.
Then she heard Pei Liang say, “All right. Today happens to be a good opportunity. Since I came back ahead of schedule, no one will suspect a thing.”
“Take Pei Ning and escape.”
