GRMFBS CH190

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was already wrapping up the matter regarding the flesh and blood server.

Zhan Yan focused his energy on the Book of Secrets and his sister.

The gossip threads for the Book of Secrets loaded extremely sluggishly. Zhan Yan already had experience with this; it proved that he, just like the Monster Doctor, was deeply entangled with Infinite.

The gossip threads on his sister’s end weren’t lagging, but they had paused.

Ahhhh, did he consume too much again?

Zhan Yan started frantically devouring bread balls.

As he was devouring them, a gossip thread suddenly popped up.

[The Monster Doctor sensed a subtle space-time disturbance in Taijin Township and discovered a Candle Dragon Remnant.]

Ah ah, it was the gossip thread he searched previously about how the Monster Doctor found the Candle Dragon Remnant!

Perhaps he had eaten too many bread balls; this guy’s energy charge not only loaded this pending gossip thread but also brought up a few related ones.

The Monster Doctor was able to be so sensitive to space-time disturbances by relying on Infinite, and Infinite was an expert at manipulating space-time.

This was something their world couldn’t compare to; the Candle Dragon, who was most adept at space-time, was currently slumbering.

However, Zhan Yan had a flash of inspiration and thought of a roundabout method.

He typed “subtle space-time disturbance” into the search bar.

[The Monster Doctor sensed a subtle space-time disturbance in Mount Zhongyi and discovered a Candle Dragon Remnant.]

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but clench his fist in his mind. Yes! This is it! The Monster Doctor goes looking for Candle Dragon Remnants, and he’ll call people to rob the Monster Doctor!

He logged onto the Approaching Science account and sent the message to Luo Wang!

Administrator Luo Wang: [Awesome! How did you find out?]

Approaching Science: [Hehe, I can’t find the Candle Dragon Remnants but the Monster Doctor can. Let’s go rob the ones he finds!]

Administrator Luo Wang: [Thumbs up]

Administrator Luo Wang: [I absolutely love this idea of yours!]

Approaching Science: [I’ll call you again when I find new ones!]

Searching for gossip threads regarding space-time disturbances involved the Monster Doctor, so the consumption was quite high. Zhan Yan decided to continue searching later. He still had other things to search for.

After Red Crystal exited the network world, the interface for his sister’s gossip threads had remained inactive.

Zhan Yan started simultaneously searching for the clue he discovered earlier—that world fragment.

How did it end up in his sister’s hands?

There were very few gossip threads related to the world fragment, and he found them very quickly.

During New Year’s Eve, when his mom destroyed the largest Infinite fragment “Apocalyptic Fragment” in the Infinite Research Institute, after the lightning washed away all the pollution, the “Apocalyptic Fragment” left behind a small piece of a world fragment.

Later, the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau traded this fragment to the Artisan.

Excluding those irrelevant gossip threads, these were the only ones truly related to the world fragment.

In other words, the world fragment in his sister’s hands was obtained from the Artisan.

Hmm… both his sister and the Artisan originated from the apocalyptic world, so it was normal for them to have a connection, but why didn’t the gossip threads show anything at all? Why did the Artisan give the world fragment to his sister?

Just as he was investigating, Nie Yu sent him another message.

Administrator Lingyu: [The flesh and blood server has been resolved.]

Administrator Lingyu: [Did you find anything investigating the Artisan?]

Approaching Science: [Currently investigating. Why are you investigating him? Did you find any problems?]

Administrator Lingyu: [Can’t confirm yet, just a suspicion.]

Administrator Lingyu: [Be careful, he might be more than just the ‘Artisan’.]

More than just the ‘Artisan’? What did this mean? Did the Artisan have another hidden identity?

Clues from both sides pointed to the Artisan. Zhan Yan had already started searching.

[The Book of Secrets, through the recorded “Mind Control Technique”, controlled Tequila to find the Artisan. He proposed a condition that was extremely important to the Artisan, demanding the Artisan share the usage rights of the apocalyptic world fragment with him.]

So the Book of Secrets ran off to find the Artisan!

The apocalyptic world fragment… although he didn’t know what this thing was used for, for the Book of Secrets to demand its usage rights during this critical period definitely had to do with the approaching apocalyptic world.

Behind the Book of Secrets was Infinite; Infinite wanted the world fragment, Infinite wanted the apocalyptic world!

It had previously attempted to piece together a small world for itself by bewitching people from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau to collect Infinite fragments. But this plan was ruined by the Tianshi, so now it had set its sights on the apocalyptic world.

The approach of the apocalyptic world was an accident that Infinite hadn’t anticipated beforehand, so it couldn’t prepare in advance. This was why its methods seemed rough. It used the Monster Doctor to distract everyone while continuously having the Book of Secrets look for a breakthrough point regarding the apocalyptic world during this time.

Breakthrough point… no, no, its breakthrough point wasn’t just the apocalyptic world fragment. If it was only the world fragment, it wouldn’t need to roundaboutly seek a trade with the Artisan; it had other methods and didn’t need to drag it out until now.

It spent so much time not just looking for the apocalyptic world fragment, but also searching for that condition that was extremely important to the Artisan!

The Artisan was also its target!

Was the Artisan a target because he originated from the apocalypse?

His sister also originated from the apocalypse! Would she also become Infinite’s target?!

Zhan Yan rapidly called his sister.

His sister picked up quickly: “Hello? Yan Yan?”

Zhan Yan: “Sister, where are you?”

Zhan Suiru: “I’m at the studio? What’s wrong? Is there something the matter?”

Zhan Yan looked at the gossip threads; they didn’t show his sister lying to him.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief and began making up random excuses: “Nothing. Sister, I heard our area isn’t very safe recently, don’t go running around to other places.”

Zhan Suiru was originally in a bad mood, but was now amused by her little brother being a worrywart: “Don’t worry, I won’t run around.”

The siblings chatted for a while, and Zhan Suiru hung up. Without her little brother’s chattering nagging, it suddenly became quiet again.

The studio before her was in perfect order, but she wasn’t the one who tidied it up. She often tossed her tools onto the workbench casually after using them, especially when her work wasn’t going smoothly.

All of these were tidied up by Xiao Ran. Every time, he would carefully wash, oil, and maintain every single tool, and then place them in their original positions, which were also the handiest positions.

Zhan Suiru hadn’t installed this in his programming. This was Yang Ran’s habit.

His own life was often a mess—eating a bite when he remembered, rolling onto the bed wrapped in a blanket when he felt he had to sleep—but his studio was always clean and in perfect order.

He was always very, very hardworking.

On the side of the studio, there was a large shelf that completely clashed with the overall style. A cloth curtain covered the shelf.

Without needing to open it, Zhan Suiru knew there were definitely many more sculptures added to it.

Xiao Ran earnestly executed every one of her commands. Every time she wasn’t around, after Xiao Ran finished tidying the studio and had nothing to do, he would start making sculptures.

Even earlier on, Zhan Suiru had also observed him through cameras when she wasn’t there. Unable to say whether it was out of anticipation or something else, she saw Xiao Ran stand perfectly still like a powered-off robot after organizing the studio.

She stared at the cloth curtain for a bit too long, and Xiao Ran asked considerately: “Do you need me to pull open the curtain?”

Zhan Suiru took a breath: “Pull it open.”

An extremely eye-sore wall appeared.

Zhan Suiru observed this wall.

These works were arranged in chronological order. They seemed to be growing.

In the very beginning, she had Xiao Ran make sculptures to deal with her art studio. At that time, the sculptures Xiao Ran made were almost replicating the monsters in the apocalypse. That kind of ugliness was an accurate depiction of horror; it was just a replication.

Later, his sculptures changed. The horror was diluted, yet they became even uglier due to disharmony.

A trapped soul was struggling with all its might, trying to squeeze something out from the cracks to convey to her.

She watched as the parts struggling out of these sculptures became more and more numerous.

Like life growing.

But from a certain point onward, this growth stagnated.

It was as if the cracks that could be opened stopped there, leaving only hard granite surrounding them.

Zhan Suiru attempted to fill some fragments in the ability core. In the beginning, it indeed had some effect. But later on, the progress stagnated again.

Zhan Suiru had a feeling. This wasn’t a problem she could solve by continuing to fill the ability core.

What Infinite brought her through the Book of Secrets was not just a trade invitation, but also a more hidden threat, so hidden that even the Book of Secrets might not have realized it.

The pollution on Yang Ran’s soul wasn’t as simple as she thought; Infinite had a hand in it, and he couldn’t get out.

“Do you want to play a game with your little brother for a while?”

Zhan Suiru smiled gently: “No, Xiao Ran. I’m perfectly fine right now, I don’t need to find my little brother to play games.”

“Come, we need to start working now.”

“I need to make a puppet.”

A puppet of “Zhan Suiru”.

…

After hanging up the phone, Zhan Yan started searching for information regarding that “condition extremely important to the Artisan”. The Book of Secrets bringing this to find the Artisan was nothing more than using coercion and enticement.

Infinite wanted the usage rights to the apocalyptic world fragment, but the apocalyptic world fragment had already fused into the game world. He didn’t know how the Artisan replied; the gossip threads didn’t show it.

Zhan Yan knew the Artisan always had a deeply hidden secret. He would intentionally chat with him about things related to souls and collect relevant materials, but the Gossip System couldn’t dig up his reason for doing so.

The system’s ability to dig into information depth was already very high now, but it still couldn’t display the Artisan’s innermost thoughts.

He hid himself too deeply.

Since the Gossip System couldn’t do it, he had to start from another angle. Zhan Yan needed to know what condition the Book of Secrets offered. Only by knowing this condition could he possibly persuade the Artisan not to be bewitched by Infinite.

He was afraid Infinite would make the Artisan hurt his sister.

How did the Book of Secrets find out about the Artisan’s secret? Because of Infinite? Infinite once controlled the apocalypse for many years; it definitely understood the Artisan very well.

Some secrets of the past are only known to people from the past… He also knew someone who had interacted with the Artisan of the past!

Zhan Yan rapidly logged onto the Approaching Science account, simultaneously poking Deep Shadow frantically while asking Luo Wang for help.

Deep Shadow had been to the apocalyptic instance before, and Luo Wang was a Dream Demon capable of directly tracking desires.

He poked Deep Shadow first.

Approaching Science: [Do you understand the Artisan in the apocalyptic instance?]

Then he sought out Luo Wang.

Approaching Science: [Can you help me see what the Artisan desires the most?]

Administrator Luo Wang: [No problem.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [But he hasn’t posted on the forum for a while, so I need to spend some time on it. Wait a bit.]

Deep Shadow also replied.

I Just Saved the World!: [Collected materials on him before, not familiar.]

I Just Saved the World!: [The ‘Artisan’, Yang Ran. He was the deputy to the ‘Lord’, Rong Sui, and the semi-substantial person in power at the Hope Base.]

I Just Saved the World!: [He possessed an extremely powerful manufacturing-type supernatural power, and the entire Hope Base was his fortress. It was filled with complex secret passages, mechanisms, surveillance, and weapons. As long as he wanted to, that thing could even transform into a mobile turret.]

I Just Saved the World!: [It could be said that as long as you entered the Hope Base, you entered Yang Ran’s control.]

I Just Saved the World!: [Some players once tried to distract Yang Ran using other matters, making him unable to pay attention to what was happening in the base. But Yang Ran also installed an AI for the base, so even when he was often so busy he couldn’t be found, the base was still under his control. The lower-level administrators couldn’t oppose him at all.]

I Just Saved the World!: [But manufacturing-type supernatural powers cannot resist pollution. Without the help of a psychic-type supernatural power, the people living in the mobile turret would gradually be polluted into anomalies.]

I Just Saved the World!: [So the Hope Base had another controller, the ‘Lord’, Rong Sui. Rong Sui’s psychic power was extremely powerful; she could envelop the entire base within her psychic domain. That was almost an absolute domain, a control far more meticulous than the fortress. If we don’t consider the living standards within the base and purely look at defending the base’s safety, Rong Sui’s abilities could almost entirely cover Yang Ran’s abilities.]

On the other end, Luo Wang’s message arrived.

Administrator Luo Wang: [Ah… I have some news that probably isn’t very good.]

Administrator Luo Wang: [The Artisan’s desire is hidden very deeply, but it is extremely intense…]

Administrator Luo Wang: [He wants to resurrect someone.]

Deep Shadow’s messages were still continuing.

I Just Saved the World!: [There were also players who tried to divide these two people, but whether before or after the problem occurred in the instance, they never succeeded.]

I Just Saved the World!: [Yang Ran loved Rong Sui. The biggest purpose of him building the fortress was so Rong Sui wouldn’t have to constantly use her psychic power to protect the base.]

Those dreams surfaced in Zhan Yan’s mind once again.

Yang Ran did everything in his power, just to build a place for Rong Sui where she could rest peacefully.

Rong Sui died in the apocalypse, and Yang Ran wanted to resurrect her…

Zhan Yan was speechless for a moment.

After sending the materials and not receiving a reply, Deep Shadow sent another message to inquire.

I Just Saved the World!: [Are you interested in the Artisan?]

Zhan Yan’s mind was a bit chaotic.

Did Infinite promise the Artisan resurrection? Did he believe it? What kind of promise could they give the Artisan? Was there any method that could satisfy both sides?

He didn’t want the Artisan to become an enemy, nor did he want the Artisan to fall to Infinite’s side…

Deep Shadow was pursuing the question. This big shot was extremely sharp. He had to give a suitable reason. Otherwise, after this big shot found out, it was highly likely he would run straight to the Artisan, and it wasn’t impossible for them to start fighting…

Zhan Yan started spouting nonsense.

Approaching Science: [Yeah. He’s ranked number one on the leaderboard, right?]

Approaching Science: [I also want to earn his points.]

Gu Jiancheng: ???

What’s wrong with me ranking sixth?!

Are the points I gave you not enough?!