| WRIAWW | Say Something | 71
The idea of keeping Jiang Chou here had actually been a spur-of-the-moment decision for Zong Le. He hadn’t expected to succeed.
"Not bad. If any survivors cause trouble in the future, I can take similar measures instead of just watching them escape scot-free." Zong Le was quite pleased with this.
In a way, Joshua had indeed been right in his calculations.
He had guessed correctly that someone with Zong Le’s temperament and power wouldn’t stand idly by, he would inevitably intervene in some way. What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was that Zong Le didn’t need his guidance at all.
He had already taken action long ago by carving out his own territory in the eastern district of Guiyi City.
"You—"
With a soft click, the heavy apartment door slowly swung open.
The receptionist’s smug expression darkened instantly upon seeing the figure still standing inside.
But Zong Le had no time to spare for him.
The black-haired young man swiftly hoisted the unconscious Jiang Chou over his shoulder and dashed toward the elevator in a few quick strides.
Parked downstairs was the ambulance he had arrived in.
Zong Le efficiently stuffed Jiang Chou into the passenger seat, and as he started the engine, he didn’t forget to confiscate the man’s phone. With sirens blaring, the ambulance cut through the night like a streak of red light, speeding toward Taikang Yongle Hospital.
Although the main system’s announcements could reach every survivor’s ears but if they wanted to take on tasks, access forums, have private conversations, personal profiles checked, or enhancement purchase items all through the use of a phone.
Zong Le had keenly noticed this not long ago, once a survivor’s phone was taken, they became like birds without wings, utterly powerless.
It wasn’t as if no survivors had realized this before. But even if a phone was destroyed during a mission, they could simply retrieve a new one for free from the main system upon returning to the infinite space, making it a non-issue.
Now, however, Zong Le had turned the tables, directly snatching the main system’s authority and confiscating phones, effectively delivering a checkmate.
Blue Ocean Apartments and Taikang Yongle Hospital were separated by an entire district, making the journey somewhat lengthy.
Halfway there, Jiang Chou suddenly convulsed in pain in the passenger seat, his eyes slowly fluttering open.
Every inch of his body screamed in agony, the aftermath of being subdued in a single move and then kicked ten meters away leaving him feeling as though he’d been run over by a truck.
His consciousness hadn’t fully returned, but the blur of streetlights and scenery outside the window, along with the tight grip of the seatbelt, jolted him awake.
"Wh-where is this?"
Given the dark sky outside, this was clearly not the infinite space.
Jiang Chou panicked instantly.
"Where are we now? Is the mission over? No, I should have been teleported back to the infinite space. Why am I still in the instance?"
He struggled to reach for his phone in his pocket, only to find it missing.
Jiang Chou was genuinely sweating from anxiety now.
"Where are the others? Why are you the only one here?"
Beside him, Zong Le was fully focused on driving. He was still a novice behind the wheel, requiring 100% concentration every time he drove. Especially in Guiyi City, there are a few reckless drivers who drive without looking at the traffic lights.
Whenever these citizens of Guiyi City touch the steering wheel, they step on the accelerator, as their souls struggling to keep up with their speeding cars. Driving on the same road with these drivers really requires concentration, otherwise it is easy to get scratched or have accidents if he is not careful.
So even after Jiang Chou woke up, Zong Le remained silent.
To Jiang Chou, this scene was nothing short of horrifying.
The black-haired young man gripped the steering wheel, his sharp eyes fixed ahead. The blood moon pierced through the clouds, casting a red light through the windshield onto his face, painting his otherwise handsome features with a sinister hue. Combined with the still-unclear situation and his throbbing ribs, Jiang Chou’s fear grew.
"You, say something..."
Finally, when a red-carpeted team appeared at the intersection, Jiang Chou’s terror peaked.
It was unmistakably a wedding procession. Guiyi City’s customs dictated weddings be held at noon for auspiciousness, and with Qixi Festival approaching, the number of weddings had surged.
Pale-faced bearers carried a crimson bridal sedan, their steps eerily synchronized. The sedan’s curtain swayed occasionally, offering glimpses of a bride cloaked in a red veil.
At the front of the team, paper-made wedding attendants scattered colorful candies into the air. But as the candies landed on the ambulance’s windshield, they instantly transformed into thin funeral joss paper. The musicians swayed their heads, playing discordant suona tunes that twisted into spine-chilling wails, echoing through the empty streets.
"Ah!!!"
The sheer absurdity of it all made Jiang Chou scream before passing out completely.
By the time Zong Le freed a hand to knock him out again, he found Jiang Chou had already blacked out once more.
'Young people these days really do have excellent sleep quality,' he thought enviously.
Twenty minutes later, Zong Le drove into the underground garage of Taikang Yongle Hospital.
After his cleanup, the black-market medical supply chains had been dismantled, and the nuclear medicine department had halted its zombie research. Rumor had it that the corporate headquarters later sent a team of liquidators to strip the entire department of its equipment, erasing all traces.
Zong Le suspected there was more to the story, but it was not his top concern right now.
"Number Five." Zong Le carried Jiang Chou toward Number Five with ease.
Hearing that nightmare-inducing voice, Number Five shuddered violently.
"Boss! What brings you to the hospital today?"
"I'm here to see you." Zong Le dumped the unconscious man onto a hospital bed. "He’s one of our new prison inmates. You can wash his memories and keep the basic life skills, but seal the rest. Return them when he’s released."
Then again, with the crime of attempted murder like Jiang Chou, he must stay in prison for a few years.
At least until the ultimate dungeon raid was completed and Guiyi City's reconstruction was finished, there was no chance of him getting out.
"Yes, boss!" This level of brainwashing was child's play for Number Five, it was absolutely no challenge at all.
Under the S-level mental manipulation, Jiang Chou's memories were utterly erased like a sandcastle washed away by the tide. When he opened his eyes again, his pupils were empty and vacant, like a newborn baby with no understanding of the world.
Number Five expertly implanted new directives into him.
"You are an inmate at Ankang Prison. This is the warden, you must work hard every day and strive to earn a reduced sentence."
False cognition penetrated into Jiang Chou's blank, chaotic mind like ink. As the last traces of his survivor memories were wiped away, the confusion on his face faded, replaced by the submissive expression unique to prisoners.
Number Five even fabricated a nonexistent memory for him, repeatedly emphasizing the warden's overwhelming power to ensure he would never even think of escaping.
"Good." Zong Le was quite satisfied.
Jiang Chou was an A-level survivor. Even though he remembered nothing now, his physical prowess remained intact, meaning he could contribute much more efficiently to the labor reform.
What he didn’t know was that, back in the Infinite Space, things had erupted into chaos once again over his actions.
After returning to the Infinite Space, Dong Feng and Liu Jianhua immediately went to report to their respective guild masters.
Liu Jianhua had worked hard throughout the mission, but unfortunately, he hadn’t achieved much. Joshua had kept a close eye on him, leaving no opportunity to approach and recruit.
However, he did uncover a major piece of intel—1st seemed to hold the newcomer in high regard and even personally guiding him through missions. This was big news. If 1st was guiding the newcomer to be a member of the Temple Army, the three major guilds would have to reconsider their strategies.
Strictly speaking, the Temple Army weren’t a guild, but they were an undeniably formidable force.
No one wanted to cross Joshua.
Compared to Liu Jianhua, Dong Feng had obtained far more critical intelligence.
Upon returning to the Imaginary Fortress, he immediately sought out Qin Ye, only to find that the latter was away on a mission. Left with no choice, he went to the guild’s senior members instead.
But most of them were absent, having answered the call to complete the Guiyi City Southern District’s tasks as soon as possible.
These past few days, Si Yuyan had been swamped with work.
After having a holiday from the ?-level mission ended, she was buried under the mountain of intel Qin Ye had dug up from the hospital archives. Back then, Qin Ye had emptied several bookshelves, this was no small amount of material.
Just sorting and categorizing it all would take ages. Opening a single cardboard box revealed hundreds of work reports.
On top of that, much of the information was useless, yet the sheer volume of text required careful reading to sift through.
And here Qin Ye was, expecting her to find details about the boss of the psychiatric department in all this mess. The order was simple, but the reality was exhausting.
"Miss Si!" Dong Feng arrived just as Si Yuyan finished organizing one box and was about to start on another.
"What is it?" She held a box cutter, not even looking up as she spoke.
"I think our guild should evaluate whether to recruit the talented newcomer or not. You wouldn't believe it, but I just returned from my last mission where I actually encountered him."
Dong Feng's focus wasn't on 1st, but rather on Zong Le himself: "And I discovered an earth-shattering secret!"
"Wasn't the talented newcomer already exposed as a strength-type long ago? Back when his mission records were dug up on the forums, there were even D-level survivors who swore his strength enhancement level wasn't low."
"Listen to this."
"During this mission, I discovered his perception is actually extremely high—comparable to a low-level spirit medium!"
If it were someone else here, they might instinctively think the newcomer was truly impressive, possessing not only strength-type talents but also outstanding mental abilities.
But standing here was Si Yuyan, who instantly grasped Dong Feng's implication.
"Are you suggesting that newcomer might have accidentally allocated his enhancement points wrong due to lack of guidance?"
This was a serious issue.
As everyone knew, survivors could maximize their potential only by specializing in one talent type. For strength-types, once this path was chosen, they needed to focus solely on strength enhancement. If they allocated points to other talents like mental power midway, the drawbacks might not show initially, but would gradually emerge once strength enhancement reached certain levels.
Since everyone had the same number of enhancement opportunities, a pure level-six strength enhancement would always be far superior to someone with level-three strength and level-three mental power. Scattering resources would lead to gaining nothing substantial.
"That can't be." Si Yuyan's first reaction was disbelief: "The beginner's guide on the forum spells it out clearly. Only those first newcomers entering the Infinite Space might have made such mistakes. But after they paved the way and summarized those painful lessons, how could any survivor not even read the beginner's guide?"
"Originally, I didn't believe it either," Dong Feng quickly explained. "But I saw it with my own eyes, I have to believe it. There's this low-level spirit medium named Liu Jianhua from the Spiritual Guild who happened to be on the same mission. The newcomer's perception results were almost identical to his. I suspect his mental power enhancement level isn't low, he might be close to the spirit medium activation threshold."
This left Si Yuyan speechless.
If the newcomer had truly ruined his own potential over such a trivial mistake, then the Watchtower Guild indeed needed to reassess whether he was still worth significant recruitment efforts.
Because even if Zong Le could reach S-level in the future, he'd likely be among the weakest S-level survivors.
"What a pity," Si Yuyan shook her head regretfully. "Alright, I'll report this to the guild master later."
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