"Two good news"

Lu Ge left.

Riding in a luxurious maglev car, he headed towards the dazzling central city district.

His path forward... should be golden and splendid, right?

The young man walked alone on the street, lost in thought.

Entering the central city.

Living forever in the metaverse, making big money, enjoying the technology of the era.

This is the dream in the hearts of all Rust City residents.

But it is said that the basic work within the metaverse is just to scrape by. To get rich, one must explore the unknown, and the more unknown it is, the more dangerous it becomes.

This is a double-edged sword.

The young man headed back to his apartment.

But suddenly, he found a two-meter-tall robot standing at the door of his two-story house.

This robot, made of silver alloy, was very formidable, with a huge beam pistol strapped to its waist.

Its long black cape fluttered in the wind behind it, and its pair of red electronic eyes scanned in the direction of Qin Yiguan.

"Mechanical guard of the central city district?"

The young man narrowed his eyes, "Just right, blocking my apartment door... Was the matter of borrowing food exposed?"

"Impossible."

The young man was calm in his heart.

He was an invisible person in the central city district.

He walked straight up to the robot, sidestepped, planning to open the door.

There was a mechanical sound, and the tall mechanical guard also sidestepped, just blocking the young man's way.

"?"

The young man was startled, then moved to the left again.

The tall robot moved to the left as well and turned its neck slightly, looking directly at Qin Yiguan.

"Can you... see me?"

The young man was somewhat astonished.

But at this moment, the robot remained motionless, completely silent.

The young man breathed a sigh of relief and reached over the robot's body, trying to open the door.

"I can not only see you."

"I also know your name is Qin Yiguan."

A low mechanical voice came hauntingly.

The young man's body stiffened, his arm suspended in mid-air.

But the young man's expression was only shocked for a moment, then he showed a relaxed smile.

He took a step back.

"No wonder you can see me."

"So you have the 'True Eye'."

"This voice sounds familiar, Officer Wang? Uncle Wang? Have you switched to a new mechanical avatar?"

Immediately.

The young man lowered his head and caught sight of the police badge on the waist of the robot, "Oh, the police station has updated its equipment."

Officer Wang is also a semi-person.

They immerse themselves in the metaverse, but if a case occurs in reality, they use their consciousness to control such mechanical avatars to take action.

Only to hear Officer Wang say: "You kid, instinctively ignoring all robots, looks like you've snuck into the central city district more than a few times, this is a serious crime."

The young man smiled quietly, "Do you have evidence?"

Evidence.

The central city district's defense system can't capture you.

Where would the evidence come from?

But.

The mechanical body tilted its head, its gaze piercing through hundreds of meters, and in the infrared view, clearly saw that group of children munching on fruit.

Among them, the child with a broken milk tooth was sucking on a soft durian.

The durian skin still had a code on it—003 central city district, building a5426.

After pondering for a moment, Officer Wang said: "No."

The young man smiled, "God bless the kind-hearted."

The mechanical body helplessly waved its hand, "I 'personally' came to find you because today is a big day for you."

"Hm?"

The young man tilted his head, pondered for a moment, and couldn't think of anything special about today's date.

The mechanical body raised its arm, and the metal cover on the arm slowly opened, revealing a stack of very old, but ceremonious paper documents inside.

—Metaverse Nutrition Pod Application Form/100th Response/Qin Yiguan.

"You delivered it personally?"

The young man's eyes widened slightly, his heartbeat inexplicably accelerated.

Officer Wang personally delivering the response letter indicated that the content was different from before!

His arms trembled slightly as he took the response letter.

The 100th time!

The disappointment of the 99th time!

The young man was almost moved to tears, grateful, he glanced at Officer Wang's mechanical body.

The vast and bizarre metaverse, transcending the mediocrity before one's eyes.

If I had a nutrition pod, I wouldn't be limited by login time, I would have rich sensory experiences, and I could travel at will!

At the same time, endless unknown opportunities would unfold!

The young man straightened his back, then very formally, slowly, opened the thin two-page response letter.

An excited heart, trembling hands.

'Due to the applicant's brain disease, staying in the metaverse for a long time could have unforeseeable consequences.'

'Conditions not met, application rejected.'

Under the moonlight.

The green trees by the roadside swayed gently.

In front of the small apartment door.

The giant mechanical police's black cape fluttered in the wind.

"..."

"..."

The young man seemed to wake from a dream back to reality, "Uncle Wang, thank you for personally delivering the response letter to me, don't come next time."

The mechanical voice activated, "Do you know why the metaverse government controls the distribution of nutrition pods?"

The young man shrugged, seemingly complaining, "Because they're overly cautious."

The mechanical police snorted, "Because of neural dissolution."

The young man's mind echoed with this unheard term, looking at the mechanical police in confusion.

"90 years ago, just 10 years after the metaverse had become widespread."

"Back then, no one controlled the distribution of nutrition pods, just like the old-era phones, almost everyone had one."

"And then, unsurprisingly, something unexpected happened."

"Some users died while using it."

The mechanical police's electronic eyes flickered, "Unnatural death."

"In 2 years, a total of 23 people."

"They all had one thing in common: either they were born with defects in their brain's physiological structure, or their brain's physiological structure was defective due to acquired diseases."

Hearing this, the youth seemed to be making a judgment and suddenly said, "My brain is very normal."

"Heh."

The mechanical police chuckled.

It was as if he was saying—if your brain is normal, then don't I have an alien brain?

After a silence of 3 seconds, he continued, "I've seen photos of the death scenes and read the autopsy reports."

The mechanical police then gazed at Qin Yiguan, "The deceased's central nervous system and some of their spinal nerve roots... had dissolved."

"First turning into liquid, flowing out from the deceased's orifices, and then solidifying into white, filamentous substances."

"From afar, the corpse lying in the nutrition pod, with a large amount of 'silk' flowing out of its orifices."

"And then those 'silks', as if they could be weathered, continuously shed clean fluff, drifting slowly into the air."

"That scene was incredibly eerie, more so than any murder case."

Hearing this, the image that formed in Qin Yiguan's mind was like hearing some sacred hymn, breaking through prohibitions, a mortal transcending, not feeling eerie at all.

The youth was silent for a moment, then slightly bowed his head and scratched his forehead with a finger.

Officer Wang continued, "I know your background very well... With all your mental illnesses, your brain structure is definitely not normal."

"If the authorities were to issue you a nutrition pod... it would be almost the same as killing you."

"Issuing you a brain nerve helmet was already a risky move."

The youth sighed softly, "Understood, I guess I'm not destined for a nutrition pod in this lifetime."

The mechanical police slightly puffed up its chest, "Don't be so pessimistic. My main reason for coming here was to tell you an even more pessimistic piece of news."

Then, the mechanical being turned around.

But on the street opposite Qin Yiguan, the door of a five-story apartment was kicked open from the inside!

4 mechanical police officers, similar in appearance to 'Officer Wang', were escorting a middle-aged man out of the apartment.

The man was tall and thin, wearing a dirt-yellow trench coat, with a gaunt face and glasses, his eyes shadowy.

His hands were handcuffed behind his back, surrounded by mechanical police officers, slowly passing by Qin Yiguan.

The youth narrowed his eyes, feeling a drop in temperature around him as he was stared at by the shadowy man.

"Subject number 6?"

"The murderer who killed and dismembered young girls?"

"He... was hiding right across from my home?"

Then, subject number 6, staring intensely at Qin Yiguan, suddenly let out a twisted and crazy laugh, "Hahaha... Hahaha!"

"You're called Qin Yiguan!"

"You're quite special, huh?"

"Actually using my methods to solve cases?"

"Really impressive!"

"Now that I've been arrested, are you feeling extremely accomplished?!"

"I'll tell you!"

"I now have an irresistible urge to torture you, and it's so strong that I can't control it!"

"I tell you, one day, I will face you!"

Subject number 6 was escorted away by the mechanical police, getting farther and farther, but his teeth grinding noise could still be clearly heard!

Officer Wang beside him then said, "In the past 6 days, you've been looking into his information, and then mimicking him... But he, was doing something even more terrifying, that is hiding right across your house, observing you for 6 whole days!"

The youth didn't speak.

Instead, he quickly mimicked subject number 6's thinking in his mind.

No.

Hiding and observing me in secret is not in line with number 6's behavioral habits or thought logic.

He is impulsive inside and doesn't have the patience for this.

Someone directed him, taught him, making him change his behavior.

Who is it?

I can't predict.

Moreover, how did he know that the police department hired me, a 'weird detective'?

And how did he know my real address?

I've known Uncle Wang since I was young and have worked with him on many cases. Uncle Wang would definitely not betray me.

Was it someone else?

Is there a traitor in the police department?

Who is it?

Someone who could get along with a maniac like number 6 is probably not a normal person either.

After a moment of silence.

The youth asked Uncle Wang, "Where will subject number 6 go now?"

Officer Wang paused, then slowly said, "He will be detained in a remote area within the Metaverse, doing some necessary contributions, either for research or engaging in labor-like work, until his physical body perishes."

After a moment of silence.

The youth suddenly smiled bitterly, "So, it seems that number 6 still has a chance to escape... And I've already become his target, at risk of being tortured at any moment."

Officer Wang chuckled, "Exactly."

The young man sighed, "Looking ahead, my path is truly filled with the seedlings of new hope."

Click.

A crisp sound came from the generator of the mechanical police, and it seemed that Officer Wang's consciousness had temporarily left the mechanical police, leaving only the voice system behind.

It was as if he had lit a cigarette in the metaverse.

"Forty thousand."

The young man suddenly blurted out two words.

Officer Wang choked on his smoke, "What forty thousand?"

A sly gleam flashed in the young man's eyes, "Firstly, you 'personally' came to remind me that I was being targeted. Secondly, you delivered the receipt along the way. Thirdly, you indirectly revealed to me that the case with number 6 is not simple, and there might be bigger fish behind it."

"I'll help you clear up the truth, no problem."

"So."

"The labor fee is 40,000."

The mechanical police's body remained motionless, "Tsk, tsk... tsk, tsk... you're really too smart, too smart, so smart that you've started making wild guesses."

"The department has already explicitly forbidden hiring you again!"

"I came personally only because this matter concerns your personal safety. I came to kindly remind you!"

"What solving cases, what conspiracy?"

"Stop imagining things!"

However, Qin Yiguan remained unmoved, calmly stating, "In that case, the labor fee for this time is very likely to be personally advanced by you. Considering our many years of friendship, I'll give you a 50% discount, 20,000."

The mechanical police were silent for a moment, "Deal."