C28 Visit

"Captain Wang, we've successfully neutralized the mutated cockroach without any casualties."

"Usually, these mutated creatures cause harm. It's a stroke of luck that players stepped in elsewhere. No players here, yet the cockroach didn't claim any lives. The folks at this company dodged a bullet."

The officers whispered among themselves until they realized Captain Wang was lost in thought. "Captain Wang?"

Snapped out of his reverie, Captain Wang murmured, "Did any of you notice that young man, Xiao Hao?"

"The one who drove off the cockroach?"

"Yes, there's something off about him."

The officers exchanged confused glances.

To them, Xiao Hao seemed no different from the rest—visibly shaken and deferential in the presence of law enforcement.

At most, he appeared braver and more level-headed than others in the face of danger.

With over a decade as a detective, Captain Wang's instincts were honed for interrogation.

The man looked ordinary, but Wang's gut screamed that he was concealing something.

Especially since he'd heard from the man who wet himself how Xiao Hao had frightened the cockroach.

His account was logical, yet Captain Wang couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.

The cockroach was clearly fleeing for its life.

Facing the intense gunfire ahead, it was doomed!

And yet, it took the risk to move towards them.

It suggested that, to the cockroach, there was something far more terrifying behind it than the armed humans in front!

But could a mere human presence, a psychological ploy, truly be that effective?

They were all human, all armed—why didn't they have the same effect?

What was it that made the creature deem the armed humans less of a threat than what lurked behind?

With a furrowed brow, Captain Wang commanded, "Remove the cockroach riddled with bullets. And get me this company's surveillance footage. I need to see what made the mutated cockroach run."

"Understood!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Hao, crammed into a subway car, massaged his temples in frustration.

He hadn't gone unnoticed.

Luckily, he hadn't exposed any of his abilities, and even if the police reviewed the footage, they'd find nothing amiss.

Back home, Xiao Hao scoured the internet for news, keeping tabs on the unfolding situations across the region.

Sure enough, mutated creatures were popping up across the globe, but the mutation rate was quite low. Typically, a city would only have one or two incidents, and some cities had none at all.

Xiao Hao was utterly perplexed.

Just one or two cases per city, and he just happened to encounter one?

Talk about bad luck!

Naturally, Xiao Hao wasn't naive enough to take the news at face value.

There had to be more they weren't telling.

But Xiao Hao had a hunch that the truth would come out before long.

After all, the players selected for the public beta would stand a better chance of survival if they knew what was going on.

With no classes to attend, Xiao Hao took the opportunity to gather information from the confines of his modest rental.

Deep within the Dragon Kingdom's secret base, the Dragon Pool came into existence.

Comprised of players from various games, the Dragon Pool's ranks were alarmingly thin, with a mere sixty-five members—a drop in the bucket for the nation.

Moreover, the majority of these sixty-five were merely filling spaces; fewer than ten possessed genuine, formidable powers.

The most elite special forces from different fields were training sixty-two of them.

The other three were already special forces themselves, now serving as the Imperial Pillars of the Dragon Kingdom.

It was undeniable that the Dragon Kingdom boasted the most proactive nation in the world.

By the first day of the gaming hiatus, they had reached an enviable level of preparedness, a feat other nations could hardly match.

The trainee players wore looks of distress, yet not a single one abandoned their training.

Having emerged from a survival game, their will to live was off the charts.

The Dragon Pool boasted an incredibly robust support team—tens of thousands strong, each member an elite in their own right, including Captain Wang.

Following the eradication of the mutant cockroaches, Captain Wang was reassigned to the "Counsel Group."

The majority of the sixty-five were individuals who had gone missing and were identified as players upon their return, while a handful were uncovered by investigators.

The Counsel Group's task was to root out the remaining players concealed within the populace.

Xiao Hao's name was prominent on the list of suspected players.

Captain Wang hadn't observed any use of supernatural abilities from Xiao Hao on the surveillance footage, but paradoxically, this made him all the more convinced of the young man's extraordinary nature.

The mutated monster could hold its own against other players, but against him, it didn't even dare to raise a fist! With this in mind, Captain Wang commanded, "Get your gear together. We're going to pay a visit to this enigmatic young man."

His team was already on standby. "Roger that!"

......

Inside a sleek black van, the team members reviewed Xiao Hao's file with a sense of discontent.

"Captain, the file indicates he's an orphan. Should we try to locate his parents before we approach him?"

"We're on the clock here. Players have mentioned the 'holiday' lasts only seven days. We can't possibly find the parents who abandoned him over a decade ago in such short notice."

"We should tread lightly on that subject; it's probably a sensitive issue for him. Let's avoid it when we speak with him."

"His life hasn't been easy these past ten years, having even faced bullying at school. If necessary... we'll ensure the bullies face the full extent of the law!"

"We've looked into his employer. His job... the company is shady, and its leadership is rotten to the core. It's just... disheartening."

The more they discussed, the heavier their hearts grew.

An orphan, bullied, with no one to defend him.

He's endured more of the world's cold indifference in his years than most do in a lifetime.

That such a person hasn't sought to destroy or dominate the world is a miracle; they're asking him to offer himself up for the greater good?

Considering his resilience, it's no surprise he's survived the game.

Though Captain Wang couldn't confirm if he was a player, he treated him as one.

Even if it turns out he's not, his concept of 'Fear of Survival' alone merits this level of attention.

The van pulled into a working-class neighborhood, and the casually dressed team members entered an aging apartment building.

As they delved deeper into Xiao Hao's past and his living conditions, a sense of heaviness settled in their chests.

Xiao Hao's home was on the seventh floor, with no elevator in sight. Gasping for breath after the climb, the team hesitated at his door.

He must be exhausted from climbing these stairs daily.

The world hadn't shown him any kindness, yet now they were tasked with convincing him to show kindness to the world.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Xiao Hao, engrossed in his research, furrowed his brow.

He was always punctual with the rent, and the landlord rarely sought him out—especially not with such formality.

"Knock, knock, knock."

At first, Xiao Hao considered pretending he wasn't home, but then he realized that if they had come to his door, they must have finished their investigation. Feigning absence now would only seem suspicious.

He shut his work laptop and rose to answer the door.

Whether it was fortune or misfortune, it was inescapable.

As the wooden door creaked open, Xiao Hao was met with the sight of "Captain Wang" from the morning's visit to the criminal police.

As expected, something had tipped them off.

Xiao Hao maintained a steady demeanor. The other might have years of experience, but Xiao Hao, having fought for survival in the Steel Forest for nearly two decades, was no pushover.