What kind of person is the safe house manager?
Countless players have considered this question.
It definitely wasn't a human. After all, what human could possibly run a business in a dungeon world? To Smiley City, humans were nothing more than playthings.
It is definitely not a monster, because monsters will only continue to kill players in the dungeon and will never create a safe place for players to hide in.
It shouldn't be an NPC either. If I were to explain why, it just doesn't seem like one. The safe house manager seems much more agile than the NPCs in the dungeon...
Of course, there are too many strange things in Smiley City.
Therefore, after briefly struggling with this issue, most people will give up thinking about it and put it behind them.
It never even occurred to them that the safe house manager might have a name.
How could it have a name?
For human beings, names represent the connection between people.
A name is given by elders and relatives and is called by others. It is the beginning of all relationships and the bond of all relationships.
But who could the safe house owner's parents be? Who would call out his name? Does he have any family or friends in Smiley City?
I'm afraid none of them.
How could that be possible?
Therefore, to them, the safe house manager is just a "safe house manager".
…
At this moment, the young man's narrow eyes seemed to contain the deepest night and the brightest stars, and seemed to hide endless words and secrets.
The wind blowing in from outside circled around the feet of these people, ruffling the young man's hair, but did not disrupt his clear and pleasant voice.
Therefore, Lu Chenfei and the others heard it clearly.
"Hello."
"I'm the manager of the safe house, Xia Jing."
Song Yang stood behind the young man in silence, not knowing how long ago he had known the young man's secret.
Lu Chenfei, Li Mian and Fei Shengxiao were dumbfounded and speechless.
Until a certain moment, Lu Chenfei took a breath and said, "Are you human?"
Xia Jing answered simply: "Of course not."
"Then why can you enter the dungeon like us?"
"I'm also curious about the answer," Xia Jing's voice sounded a little light and airy, "or rather, no matter what time, I am more curious about my origins than anyone else."
When Xia Jing said this, Lu Chenfei fell silent.
Although he, Li Mian and Fei Shengxiao's brains were not as quick as Xia Jing and Song Yang's, they were not stupid.
After spending a minute or two quickly analyzing and recalling the matter in their minds, they seemed to accept it quickly.
Fei Shengxiao swallowed hard and moved his gaze with difficulty to the image of Xia Jing that appeared on the wall of the helicopter's cabin.
She said weakly, "Xia Jing... Manager, you said this plane is a correct clue. It was indeed something from four years ago... but at this time four years ago..."
Song Yang exhaled and said calmly, "Smiling Face City may have appeared four years ago. We have collected relevant clues."
Lu Chenfei and the others were shocked again.
Lu Chenfei said in disbelief: "Why haven't I heard you mention it to me?"
Song Yang: "Because I haven't investigated it clearly yet, and the news about the four-star dungeon didn't come out soon after, I didn't have time to tell you."
He briefly explained Xia Jing's situation, their investigations and conjectures to the three people. This time, they seemed to be completely overwhelmed.
"Smiley City was operating four years ago, so Xia Jing might have been a player from four years ago," Lu Chenfei murmured, "So, this plane might have actually existed?"
"...Four years ago, the "Isle of Eyes" dungeon was opened, and Xia Jing passed through it?"
Li Mian hesitated and asked, "Xia Jing, do you have any impression of this copy from four years ago?"
Xia Jing shook his head: "I don't have any relevant memories, but I have a sense of familiarity with this helicopter."
The two photos hanging in the last row of the cabin of the plane seemed to have turned on a mysterious switch in Xia Jing's body.
At that moment, although Xia Jing did not recall anything, his body told him that he had indeed entered here and touched this thing.
Despite such an absurd development, Xia Jing remained calm.
He said: "I can confirm that this plane is 'real'."
Lu Chenfei rubbed his forehead and said, "Now that you've said this, of course I believe you. But..."
He felt his mind was still a little confused, but he didn't know what to say for a moment. Finally, after struggling for a while, he said, "Can we get all the clones here now, and then wait for the main monster to annihilate itself?"
Li Mian and the others were stunned for a moment, then thought, yes.
Now that they have identified the only world of truth, they can proceed to the final step.
Fei Shengxiao whispered, "By the way, why haven't Xi Nuanyang and the others come yet? Also, when they get here, how are we going to explain this plane to them? Should we tell them about Xia Jing?"
Fei Shengxiao was a little hesitant.
They are friends of Xia Jing and Song Yang, so of course they will keep Xia Jing's secret.
But Xi Nuanyang and the others were not familiar with them after all, and they felt unsafe to tell them Xia Jing's secret rashly.
"Let's wait until they arrive," Song Yang gestured for Xia Jing to put the mask back on first, then frowned and said, "But they are indeed a bit slow."
Speak of Cao Cao and he will appear.
As the five people stepped off the helicopter one after another, a figure emerged from the jungle ahead.
That's Xi Nuanyang.
When they saw her appearance clearly, they were all stunned.
Xi Nuanyang's body was covered in large amounts of blood, even his face was dirty, and his hair was messy, as if he had just experienced a fierce battle.
Although she had many wounds on her body, there were no large-scale injuries. The large amount of blood was...
Several people frowned and ran over quickly.
Lu Chenfei looked warily at the direction Xi Nuanyang came from and asked, "Where's Jiang Shuye? Why did you come here alone?"
Fei Shengxiao asked nervously, "Are you okay? Didn't you use the medical spray?"
As she was about to look through her space bag, Xi Nuanyang raised her hand to stop her.
Fei Shengxiao was stunned.
Xi Nuanyang was in good spirits during the day.
Although she was no longer able to complete the dungeon normally, fortunately Jiang Shuye could take her to jump into the parallel world.
Maybe she still has a chance to leave with Jiang Shuye, although this opportunity also means that she can only live in Smiley City as a monster and can never return to the real world.
But at this moment, Xi Nuanyang seemed to have completely lost his soul.
Her expression was blank, her emotions were empty, no anger, no fear, only a calmness of having nothing.
She spoke, her voice very hoarse: "Shuye and I were followed by Luo Jiu while searching for clues. He attacked us halfway and killed Shuye."
Lu Chenfei and the others' expressions changed.
Jiang Shuye jumped with them all the way to World No. 3, and also merged his three clones.
Luo Jiu killed him in this world, which was equivalent to directly killing his three clones. In this way, Jiang Shuye had completely lost the opportunity to clear the dungeon. This couple actually...
Fei Shengxiao said in disbelief: "Why is Keluojiu——"
Her voice stopped abruptly, as memories of some things that happened in World No. 3 came to her mind.
Luo Jiu's first five-pointed star will be eliminated because the him in world 1 killed the him in world 2.
Luo Jiu's second five-pointed star will be eliminated because he himself in World No. 1 was killed by the vampire moth, and Luo Jiu's third five-pointed star will be eliminated because... Jiang Shuye!
That was when the five parallel worlds were fighting each other.
At that time, Luo Jiu from World No. 3 felt that something was wrong because two stars had disappeared inexplicably earlier.
However, it was also a fact that the eyes in the parallel world intended to attack them, so he gradually put that strange feeling behind his mind.
Later, on the night of the melee, he and Jiang Shuye competed to kill the same pair of eyes.
In the end, Jiang Shuye succeeded, but it was Luo Jiu who eliminated the five-pointed star.
It was not until Xia Jing from World No. 3 told them the truth that they realized that the pair of eyes that were killed at that time were actually Luo Jiu from another parallel world.
It was also this last pair of dead eyes that completely sent him into hell.
After that, the atmosphere between Luo Jiu and Jiang Shuye Xi Nuanyang became very strange.
Although Luo Jiu didn't say anything, Jiang Shuye knew that he had personally cut off Luo Jiu's chance of passing the dungeon.
In addition, Xi Nuanyang was also marked with an X at the same time. Jiang Shuye was mentally traumatized and remained somewhat dazed until his clone from the parallel world merged with him...
"I think he's been following us all this time, and his fundamental purpose is to find an opportunity to kill Shuye. It was Shuye and I who let our guard down," Xi Nuanyang's voice was terrifyingly calm. "But in the final analysis, it was Shuye who killed his last clone."
Although they didn't know the truth at that time, there was no need to say such things now.
Xi Nuanyang said, "Shuye and I don't plan to leave here. Even if we can leave the dungeon, we can't go back to the real world. Neither of us can have a normal life."
"So, I came here to tell you," Xi Nuanyang said softly, "thank you for your care and help along the way. Next, Shuye will merge the remaining two clones, and he and I will find a parallel world separately and wait for the copy to end."
The group's mood became complicated.
Lu Chenfei was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where is Luo Jiuren?"
Xi Nuanyang: "He was locked up in a small dark room."
This once again proves that as long as the player collects three clones, he can be recognized as a "complete body" by the copy.
Luo Jiu killed the complete Jiang Shuye and was punished by the system.
Song Yang said slowly: "You have confirmed it, right?"
"yes."
Xi Nuanyang also said: "By the way, when I contacted Shuye in the parallel world, Sun Qian and Jin Yaya asked me to tell you that they also don't plan to come."
Song Yang and the others were stunned.
"How should I put it," Xi Nuanyang smiled faintly, "When Shuye still had the qualifications to clear the dungeon, I really felt that even if I could only be a monster-like body, staying in Smiley Face City or in Shuye's space bag for the rest of my life, as long as I could continue to be with Shuye, I would give it a try."
"Shuye won't be able to survive without me. He'll soon lose his will to live. If he doesn't die in this instance, he'll die in the next one. I have to stay by his side and support him."
"But since he can no longer complete the dungeon normally, then is there really any point in leaving the dungeon and living in Smiley City? I think Sun Qian and Jin Yaya have the same idea."
Jin Yaya had thought about leaving here before.
But after experiencing the death of another clone, she seemed to have come to terms with it.
Li Mian looked at her and said, "Perhaps in the future, players can work together to destroy Smiley City."
Xi Nuanyang asked her, "Yes, then when that time comes, as monsters, will we be reduced to ashes along with Smiley City?"
"If Smiley City is ever destroyed in the future, the only ones who can leave here are human players, right?" Xi Nuanyang smiled bitterly.
After hearing this, Li Mian pursed her lips.
Song Yang silently clenched his hands hanging at his sides.
The next second, his hand was touched gently.
Then, it was covered by another hand.
Song Yang's Adam's apple rolled and he looked at Xia Jing.
The young man didn't look at him, as if he was just using this simple action to calm him down.
Xi Nuanyang, Jiang Shuye, Sun Qian, Jin Yaya, Luo Jiu.
None of them believed that they still had a future after losing their human bodies.
But their thoughts are only as good as their own.
Others cannot shake their ideas, but likewise, they cannot shake others' ideas.
so--
Song Yang, all you have to do is keep believing with me.
Two completely different roads, where these two roads will lead, no one knows yet.
As long as you are not afraid, then we just need to keep going down this path unswervingly, right?
Let us go to the end and see what the scenery is like at the end.
Song Yang withdrew his gaze.
He loosened his hand, clasped Xia Jing's five fingers, and then slowly tightened them.
…
After Xi Nuanyang explained his meaning clearly, Lu Chenfei and the others were speechless for a long time.
Xi Nuanyang glanced at the sky in the distance. The smoke coming out of the volcano had begun to become thicker. Perhaps this copy would soon come to an end without waiting until dawn.
She asked, "Have you found the world of truth?"
Lu Chenfei moved his lips: "Found it."
"That's good," Xi Nuanyang said with a smile, "I wish you all the best. I hope you can successfully clear each of the next dungeons, and I also hope that one day you can completely escape from Smiley Face City."
"You guys need to work harder."
After he finished speaking, a pair of eyes opened beside Xi Nuanyang.
Those were Jiang Shuye's eyes.
He first looked at Song Yang and the others, his eyes trembling slightly, as if to thank them for their care along the way.
Then he looked at Xi Nuanyang.
Xi Nuanyang's figure disappeared on the spot.
Finally, only Song Yang, Xia Jing and the other five were left on the beach.
After a long silence, Xia Jing spoke first.
He said calmly, "Hurry up and combine our two remaining clones."
After that, they from World No. 5 sucked them from World No. 4 over and merged together.
They then sucked them from World 5 and merged them together.
All five stars are filled in black.
The night finally reached its darkest moment.
Thunderous sounds came from the distant volcano, the ground beneath their feet began to shake violently, and the ocean began to surge.
The five people walked back to the helicopter, returned to the cabin and sat down inside.
After sitting quietly for a while, Lu Chenfei perked up and looked up at the photos of the ten unfamiliar players in the cabin.
He suddenly had an idea and said, "Could there be someone alive in the real world? Since Xia Jing is not dead, maybe there are people alive in the real world too?"
Fei Shengxiao's eyes lit up: "If so, can we know how Smiley City disappeared four years ago? Can we follow their example and destroy this place?"
Li Mian looked at Xia Jing: "But..."
After hesitating for a moment, Li Mian said, "If Xia Jing was once a player, he must have been quite powerful. If he couldn't successfully leave Smiley City, then is it really possible for other players to return to the real world intact?"
Lu Chenfei and Fei Shengxiao fell silent again.
What Li Mian said makes sense.
What's more, although the Smiley City disappeared four years ago, it has now reopened, which is enough to prove that it was not completely destroyed.
In this case, can any player really get rid of it completely?
Fei Shengxiao wondered, "How did Xia Jing become what he is now? He's different from Xi Nuanyang and the others. If Xi Nuanyang and the others could successfully leave the dungeon, their identities would be similar to monsters. Unlike Xia Jing, he possesses a certain amount of power and can even run a safe house in Smiley City."
Fei Shengxiao counted on his fingers. "He was probably a player once, but now he has lost his memory and lives in Smiley City. He has power, but not much. He is also imprisoned by Smiley City and suspected to be feared. What is this?"
Fei Shengxiao suddenly had an idea: "Could it be that you once overthrew Smiley City but didn't completely overthrow it, so now you are twisted together with Smiley City and can't leave even if you want to?"
Song Yang and Xia Jing both raised their eyes and looked at her.
Fei Shengxiao was startled and said awkwardly, "My imagination is a bit too wild."
Lu Chenfei pondered, "If that's the case, then at least it means that players do have a chance to take down Smiley Face City, which is actually good news."
There was a constant rumbling sound in the distance, the ground was shaking more and more violently, and they began to feel unsteady in their seats in the cabin.
After thinking for a moment, Xia Jing and Song Yang decided to put aside this matter which was currently difficult to figure out.
Xia Jing said, "There's something worth noting. This is the first time a bug of this magnitude has appeared in a dungeon in Smiley City."
Everyone was stunned.
Xia Jing glanced around the cabin with a hint of meaning.
He said: "My safe house has had cracks before. I always feel that there is a force invading Smiley City."
"Combined with our previous investigation, we speculate that the people who opened Smiley City over two hundred days ago and those who created Smiley City four years ago are likely different people. I suspect that group is still trying to completely control this place."
"Their power is incompatible with the power of Smiley City itself, which is why problems keep arising."
"But the moment they truly took control of Smiley City—"
Xia Jing said word by word: "I think Smiley City may undergo earth-shaking changes."
Lu Chenfei and the others' expressions turned ugly in an instant.
Smiley City is already a rip-off. If it is completely controlled by a group of inexplicable people of unknown origin, where will the many players in Smiley City go?
Let them go?
They dare not hope for such a good thing.
I thought Xia Jing's secret might open the door to freedom for them, but unexpectedly bad news followed.
Song Yang frowned and asked, "The 'problem' you encountered earlier refers to the crack in the safe house?"
"right."
Xia Jing said, "Once you leave this instance and return to the game lobby, you can pay attention to any relevant clues and make preparations in advance."
Song Yang's eyes darkened, and Lu Chenfei and the others also looked solemn.
They nodded.
At the same time, outside the windshield of the helicopter, waves dozens of meters high hit them heavily.
The world finally met destruction.
The option of exiting the copy also emerged in their minds.
The five people closed their eyes at the same time.
The system sound of the Smiley City machinery rang in Xia Jing's mind.
"Congratulations to player Xia Jing for passing the four-star dungeon 'Isle of Eyes'!"
"The full score for a four-star dungeon is 80 points, and player Xia Jing scored 80 points in completing it!"
"Player Luo Jiu has died, and his total points of 903 will be distributed; player Jin Yaya has died, and his total points of 899 will be distributed; player Xi Nuanyang has died, and his total points of 1045 will be distributed; player Sun Qian has died, and his total points of 1320 will be distributed; player Jiang Shuye has died, and his total points of 1175 will be distributed."
"The total points to be distributed are 5342. Player Xia Jing receives one-fifth, which is 1068.4 points. After rounding, it is 1068 points."
"Player Xia Jing's total score for clearing the game is 8 points, and the current accumulated score is 1150 points. Please keep up the good work!"
…
Xia Jing opened his eyes in the login room and regained consciousness.
The next second, there was a "ding" sound in his ear, and his holographic screen received a message from Song Yang.
Song Yang: "Open the door when we get back to the safe house. I'll come find you."
This time, Song Yang logged into the copy from his personal space. Now that he had left the copy, others must still be in his personal space.
Xia Jing lowered his head to reply to the message, then turned around, pushed open the door of the login room and walked out.
When he raised his head, the scene in the game hall at this moment also came into his sight.
Xia Jing paused.
Wailing, groaning, roaring of collapse, and crying came from all directions.
The game hall was like hell.