| WRIAWW | I Won't Give You the Chance to Do Bad Things | 89
The moment this system message appeared, the entire Infinite Space seemed to pause before erupting into chaos.
In an instant, new posts on the Survivor Forum surged to 99+.
It should be noted that this ?-level mission appeared a full half-month earlier than the previous one.
This extra half-month wasn't accidental, it was the result from survivors' eager desire to return to the real world sooner, leading to active participation in missions across forums and various platforms.
Without this collective effort, the Southern District's mission completion rate wouldn't have been achieved so quickly.
[Great! We can return to the real world soon!]
[Yeah, I remember some experts analyzed that Guiyi City's Northern District is all industrial factories with few mission points. Maybe after completing these two question mark-level missions, we can go straight to the final mission?]
Amidst this enthusiastic atmosphere, Yu Anlian raised objections.
[This Southern District's completion rate isn't as high as the Eastern District's. If the Eastern District mission activated at 80% completion, the Southern District's is at most 60%.]
[But this result isn't a mistake. Unlike the last question mark-level mission that forced all survivors to participate collectively, this question mark-level mission does not have any forced participation effect, and it is also specially marked that as long as one survivor passes the level, it is equivalent to all survivors passing the level. To be honest, I don't think the main system will be so kind as to reduce the difficulty of our mission]
This statement immediately gained agreement from many survivors.
People here aren't just all about gossip and idle chatter, the Infinite Space has plenty of clear-headed talents who can see beyond surface words to the underlying logic underneath.
[True. After receiving the message, I told my friends this looks bad, the difficulty of this question mark-level mission probably isn't simple.]
[Right. The implication that "just one needs to clear it" means it's essentially a solo mission, but just phrased differently. Some fools are already celebrating prematurely.]
[Moreover, the System specifically stated that failure to complete this question mark-level mission will prevent the Western District from opening.]
[Damn, when you think about it, that's terrifying!]
[Always remember two common sense for survivors: never believe in pie in the sky, especially those drawn by the main system]
[Let's not dwell on that for now. Let's analyze the background of this question mark-level mission. The given location alone reveals quite a bit, the Central Court? The name sounds familiar. Has any expert shared information about this place before?]
[Indeed, I remember something about it too. Isn't the Central Court the only place to receive justice in the entire ultimate dungeon?]
Survivors not currently on missions were frantically discussing and exchanging information on the forum.
Those actively engaged in missions obviously didn't have that luxury, they had to focus on their immediate tasks, with little room to spare for outside concerns.
Perhaps only someone like Joshua, who is ranked number one had no worries about his survival or mission failure, could afford to pay attention to external matters during tense mission scenarios.
Strangely enough, Joshua showed no particular interest in this sudden system-wide announcement. The silver-haired man merely glanced at his phone absentmindedly before locking his gaze back onto Zong Le.
Priorities had to be set, and clearly, Zong Le now firmly occupied the top spot, he is more compelling than any emergency or the activation of a second ?-level mission.
Under the scorching intensity of that raised-eyebrow stare, Zong Le grew increasingly uncomfortable until he finally relented.
"Fine. I'll keep an eye on you, I'll make sure you don't have the chance to do bad things."
After a pause, he added through gritted teeth, "But you have to stop saying those misleading things in public... Don't think I don't know you're doing it on purpose! You might not care about your reputation, but mine matters!"
Observing the black-haired youth's flushed ears and the sudden +1 emotional value above his head, Joshua smiled cheerfully, "Okay."
Why did the emotional value suddenly increase... He seemed to be catching onto something.
But when his eyes drifted to the his own emotional value display, Joshua's smile faded slightly.
Unknowingly, his favorability toward Zong Le had climbed to 20.
In the Eros Code system, 20 represented nothing more than a slightly familiar acquaintance, it was far from the 60 needed to issue a single command once, and 80 that can issue any order at any time.
But for a monster like Joshua who is born with almost zero emotional fluctuations, even this modest number was alarmingly high, warranting vigilance.
Yet this favorability also reflected his satisfaction with this particular prey.
If it weren't for Zong Le's strength, Joshua might have suspected this person was tailor-made poison for him, otherwise why else does he hit precisely in line with his preferences.
"How do you manage to follow me in every mission?"
"Hmm... it must be fate's red string guiding us."
"I don't believe it!"
They arrived at the activity room downstairs.
Most other survivors had already gathered. Seeing the two arrive together, their expressions varied considerably.
The scandal about the newcomer clinging to the top rank had spread like wildfire, and now witnessing the main characters in person, everyone couldn't help but stare.
Zong Le ignored the gazes and walked straight to Xiao Fu: "Xiao Fu."
"Bos..." Xiao Fu nearly said "boss" before remembering Zong Le's previous instructions and quickly corrected, "Brother."
Though still young, the cunning child had a sharp mind. With just a simple instruction from Zong Le, the child had keenly grasped the underlying intent, boss didn't want these "parents" to know his true identity.
As a loyal subordinate, there was no need to question the reasons behind it, one simply had to follow orders.
So the child needed to act more reserved than usual, keeping silent about the neighborhood or hospital matters like the other kids.
"Xiao Fu, come here quickly. The teacher just showed me your report card."
Zong Le himself didn't notice this as he casually beckoned the child over.
Fortunately, his behavior wasn't out of place, as the other temporary parents were also doing their best to extract information from these elementary students and trying to learn more about the mission or the children's personal details to avoid slipping up during the upcoming parent-teacher meeting.
Joshua was doing two things at the same time, dealing with the child he was in charge of on the one hand, and observing Zong Le on the other.
After chatting for a few minutes, Zhou Ke'er pushed open the activity room door.
He followed the homeroom teacher inside as they both carried folders filled with colorful envelopes, each labeled with a student's name.
"To prepare for this parent-teacher meeting, our little friends have put in a lot of effort. During handicraft class, they made gifts in advance for all of you."
The teacher placed the folders on the central table and clapped to get their attention. "This is the second segment of today's meeting. Please come collect your envelopes, then follow the clues inside to find the gifts your children have hidden somewhere on campus."
Soon, all twenty-something envelopes were distributed.
The first survivor to open theirs found a child's crayon drawing inside, it was a crude, unsettling sketch.
The wobbly lines formed a vaguely human shape, with hollow eyes deliberately shaded into two black voids, giving off an eerie vibe.
"Each envelope contains clues left by the children, either in writing or drawings. Parents, please work with your child to decipher these hints and find the hidden gifts."
The moment the teacher finished speaking, the mission update on their phones refreshed: [Find the gift hidden by your child.]
Real parents would naturally understand their own children, making it impossible to fail this task. Those who couldn't find the gifts would expose themselves as impostors.
Among the envelope recipients, only Zong Le showed genuine delight, touched that his child had grown thoughtful enough to make gifts during handicraft class. The other survivors wore grave expressions.
How could a child from the ultimate copy be so obedient? Especially at Sunshine Elementary, where every student came from influential families with powerful connections.
These kids regarded their temporary guardians with outright disdain, their eyes filled with contempt for outsiders.
This kind of contempt is manifested in all aspects, when the survivors asked for information just now, they ignored them in various ways, or played with the toys or building blocks in their hands, and were reluctant to respond in simple conversations.
If basic interaction was this difficult, getting them to voluntarily reveal gift clues seemed downright impossible.
Even though these children knew full well that the temporary parents would face punishment if exposed.
But the malice of children can sometimes be more pure, more direct and swift.
The unfortunate survivor from the first phase was the perfect example: it wasn't like that survivor had a bad memory at all.
It was clearly the little demon who deliberately gave him the wrong name, and then giggled while watching the miserable appearance of the "parent" being dragged away by the inspection team.
That survivor's life or death is still unknown, and he was unaware of why he failed.
But Zong Le naturally had no such problems.
Inside his envelope was a blank sheet of paper. Unlike the desperate survivors who begged the elementary students for clues, it was Xiao Fu that was now sweating profusely while fabricating stories, fearing that his boss would be suspicious.
"Oh, um, the gift I prepared is actually back in the dorm!"
But deception wasn't going to work for long, left with no choice, Xiao Fu racked its brains to change the subject.
Xiao Fu's eyes darted around. "Speaking of which, Brother, I overheard some classmates chatting earlier. They're planning to prank these temporary parents by withholding information or feeding them false information to get them taken away by the education bureau."
Sure enough, Zong Le frowned upon hearing this. "Do they not realize the consequences of doing that?"
"Of course they do," Xiao Fu replied nonchalantly. "But those classmates couldn’t care less. They were even talking about how miserable that last temporary parent looked, his corpse is in the classroom at the end of the hall. A bunch of people went over to take pictures as a souvenir..."
Xiao Fu stopped talking mid-sentence.
Because the black-haired young man before him had already dropped his smile. The child's danger radar blared wildly, leaving him trembling on the spot.
"Where is he?" Zong Le took a deep breath, and said calmly. "Take me there."
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