Before Yu Tang could react, he was picked up by a pair of hands.
Zhan Chen handed himself to Yu Tang as if he were a pillow. The feeling in his arms was both proper and unquestionable. He circled behind Yu Tang and put the disobedient Electronic Storm in his arms.
Yu Tang coughed, stuffed the red and blue cards with the camera in his sea of consciousness and the system into the sack, and threw in a handful of bubble gum: "Senior Zhan, there are others—"
He felt the arm support behind him suddenly tighten, and his voice paused.
Zhan Chen held him in his arms, and during the long-lost warm breath, Yu Tang suddenly heard the heartbeat of Zhan Chen's chest.
"Little Light Group." Zhan Chen said, "He's back."
Yu Tang was silent for a moment.
"You're back now. These things won't hurt you anymore. It's more appropriate for you to do the dangerous things."
Zhan Chen said: "You have to remember this."
Yu Tang raised his head and met Zhan Chen's gaze.
Zhan Chen was rarely so serious. He lowered his head and the light in his black eyes was darker than usual, and the grip he held on him was more unyielding than usual.
… Yu Tang’s move this time was too risky.
Every S-level card will evolve from a domain into a complete world. For each such world, the dimension of the core part will be aligned with the eye of the storm. In other words, as long as one can enter the eye of the storm, in principle, one can travel between various S-level domains.
Zhan Chen's original plan was to collect a card from the card slot world to make room for this S-level banned card.
Every cardholder does not know that if they fail to fill the card slot in time once, they will be absorbed by the world.
When the card was sold, this note was intentionally hidden by the terminal.
Before the Director of the Secret Service purchased this banned card, this card had been recalled seven times, and each owner became a superpower card in the card slot.
As long as there is some space in the card slot, the space that will devour everything can be "woken up".
…
But when Zhan Chen sent his core data back to the sea of consciousness and reached the card slot world through the eye of the storm, he only saw ten empty card slots.
Zhan Chen's voice was slightly hoarse, revealing some lingering fear that had been suppressed: "It's too risky."
Yu Tang snuggled in Zhan Chen's arms. For the first time, the tightness of Zhan Chen's arms made him feel a little painful, but he could still feel that more of the tension was on his arms under the military uniform.
Zhan Chen is really alive.
Yu Tang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he pursed the corners of his pale lips.
In Yu Tang's impression, Zhan Chen's temper has always been too good.
Even if the electronic storm was ignorant and caused more trouble, causing Zhan Chen to be unable to return to the original human world, causing Zhan Chen to suffer from headaches and unable to sleep every night under the punishment of the system, causing Zhan Chen to die on the interrogation bed at the age of 19 and turned into a ball of cold data, Zhan Chen had never given birth to his child.
But this matter is different.
This incident really threatened Electronic Storm. It was also an S-level banned card, and it was almost the same as the reverse devouring in the gaming world.
If you fail to leave that world in time after collecting the card, even if you are just one step late, even the electronic storm will turn into a card that has completely lost its life and consciousness.
"Don't do this again." Zhan Chen said, "If this happens again, you must do it yourself—"
Yu Tang said in a muffled voice: "No."
Zhan Chen was slightly stunned.
He had not expected Yu Tang's reaction, and the forced coldness in his eyes softened slightly.
"No." Yu Tang said, "I want him to be absorbed ten times."
As soon as he heard the voice of the Director of the Secret Service, he recognized him.
He tried his best to listen to Zhan Chen and only did things that would make Zhan Chen happy. He wanted to always be a good storm, but when it came to this person, he had to solve it himself.
If he hadn't been worried about getting another concussion and remembering Zhan Chen as Zhan Shilin again, he would have annihilated the director of the Secret Service into particles and swallowed him up.
…
Zhan Chen's heart sank.
He had already vaguely sensed something was wrong, so he folded his arms and asked softly, "Little Light Group... do you know him?"
Yu Tang didn't say anything. He buried his face in the fabric of Zhan Chen's shirt, moving slowly, bit by bit, and curled up into a small ball.
Zhan Chen's stiff posture in his arms could no longer be relaxed, but his brows became more and more furrowed.
… On the day of his death, he had clearly dispelled the electronic storm in advance.
Zhan Chen remembered it clearly. He had actually sensed the crisis at that time, and when he was summoned by the Secret Service, he was prepared for the worst.
Zhan Chen handed a document to Electronic Storm, telling it that it was an important secret, and asked the powerful Daguan Group to pass the secrets to the Ministry of Security.
It was the first time that he asked Electronic Storm for help. He was so happy that he couldn't sleep and his light flashed all night.
Zhan Chen had calculated the distance on the road. According to the speed at which the small ball of light jumped on the street lamp, it would just be able to jump to the Anbu at dawn. If he was still alive at that time, he could return to the experimental subject's cabin and go home in the electronic storm as usual.
While being interrogated by the Secret Service, Zhan Chen was always paying attention to the sunlight that came in through the window, to ensure that no light could sneak in and find him.
…
If it wasn’t at that time, when did Yu Tang meet the Director of the Secret Service
What did the Secret Service chief do about the electronic storm
Zhan Chen's heart sank.
He did not ask any more questions. He wrapped Yu Tang in his arms, took off his military jacket and wrapped him up, then lowered his head and touched Yu Tang's wet and cold forehead.
Yu Tang asked: "Senior Zhan, has he been accepted for the first time?"
"Seven times." Zhan Chen looked up. "He is now a portrait."
Yu Tang: "Please help me put two dark circles on his eyes, and then draw a cross."
Zhan Chen: “…”
Yu Tang still holds a grudge: "Two more."
Zhan Chen was speechless. He folded his arms and agreed in a gentle voice, "Okay."
"Are you tired?" Zhan Chen lowered his head and gently brushed aside Yu Tang's sweaty hair. "Go to sleep. We'll talk about other things when you wake up."
Yu Tang closed his eyes obediently.
Running across the card slot to grab ten cards at a time and running back in time to avoid being caught and punished is not an easy task even for Electronic Storm, which is known for its transmission speed.
Yu Tang leaned on Zhan Chen's chest, his body wrapped in warmth, and he relaxed a little bit.
Fatigue mixed with dizziness surged through his consciousness, constantly dragging him into a deep sleep.
Yu Tang asked in a low voice: "Senior Zhan, are you still alive?"
Zhan Chen was slightly stunned.
He was not good at life to begin with. He was just frightened by the electronic storm's adventurous actions. He was distracted by the conversation and lost his emotions. He sighed and said, "Little light ball—"
Yu Tang buried himself in his arms, holding him tightly with both hands.
The electronic storm had not yet completely transformed into a human sensation. According to its habit of being a ball of light, it gently arched twice at the crook of his neck and rubbed it softly.
Zhan Chen: “…”
Zhan Chen turned sideways to block Sui Zhengfan and his wife's sight, coughed lightly, and hugged the electronic storm that was drilling into his shirt as a ball of light: "I didn't give birth to you."
"I didn't give birth to you, little light ball." Zhan Chen lowered his head and kissed Yu Tang's forehead, "I was just scared."
The moment he saw the empty card slot, Zhan Chen suddenly understood how Electronic Storm felt when he delivered the documents and ran back to him happily to ask for cookies, only to see an empty house that was turned into a mess.
After finding out the Secret Service's attitude towards Electronic Storm, Zhan Chen could more or less guess what despicable means they might use to trap Electronic Storm and what methods they might use to deceive Yu Tang.
Yu Tang never told him this.
Electronic Storm is easy to appease. No matter how long they have been looking for it, no matter how many times they have been lost by humans who don't keep their words, they will be happy as long as they can be reunited once.
Yu Tang listened to Zhan Chen's words, did not devour humans, patrolled regularly, tried to avoid sparsely populated areas, and sent out humans who strayed into the electronic storm.
Yu Tang never told Zhan Chen that someone had been bullying Electronic Storm while Zhan Chen was away.
…
Doctor Sui treated her husband's injuries. After a moment's hesitation, he walked over quietly and asked, "Do you need help?"
Zhan Chen regained his composure and nodded slightly.
Yu Tang just overexerted himself. He would be fine after a good night's sleep and did not need any medical treatment. However, he did have something he needed to ask Sui Zhengfan and his wife for help.
"We have two urgent matters at the moment."
Zhan Chen said: "First, we need to gather all the players in this orphanage."
The illusions of No. 19 and No. 45 have caused irreversible changes in the orphanage. Except for him and Yu Tang who are "guests", everyone else may be in danger at any time.
Only by coming together can the players try to solve the current dilemma.
"Okay." Team doctor Sui nodded, "What's the next item?"
Zhan Chen looked at the portrait.
The Director of the Secret Service has been devoured ten times. The rule of the banned card is "the card slot must be filled at all times." As long as the card slot is not filled, it will continue to devour the next card.
Logically speaking, the Director of the Secret Service should have become a line segment that can only move in the shadows like everyone else.
But there is still a portrait there.
The Secret Service Director's terrified and empty gaze was frozen on the picture, and the picture was even slowly changing, as if the person in the picture was struggling desperately to escape.
…But it’s just a struggle. From the perspective of higher dimensions, the lower dimension is just a painting without thickness.
It becomes a conscious or unconscious line, but at least it can still move on the wall and find a new place to live.
But the dimension in which the Secret Service director was trapped was so small that it was just a 20-inch picture frame that was 40.6 cm wide and 50.8 cm long.
He could only stay inside forever, being swallowed up by the card world again and again.
"First, we have to find out how he got in."
Zhan Chen said: "Only ten players are allowed to enter the orphanage. If he didn't enter the orphanage as a player, he must have another identity."
Team doctor Sui was stunned: "Other identities?"
Zhan Chen nodded.
He pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked a question: "The Sui family has always had a tradition of doing charity and supporting orphanages, is that right?"
“Strictly speaking, it cannot be considered a public welfare.”
Sui Zhengfan came over and said: "According to the allocation of the alliance headquarters, each family has its own interstellar project that needs investment."
The recovery speed of an A-level mutant is much faster than that of an ordinary person. With the help of his wife's treatment, the gunshot wound he suffered before has now recovered more than half.
Sui Zhengfan did not bother Yu Tang and sat down on the sofa. "The Wen family and the Pu family are jointly responsible for maintaining the research funds of the Science Department's General Research Institute, and the Ye family is responsible for injecting funds into the mecha research base... The Sui family was assigned an orphanage."
Zhan Chen asked: "There is only one orphanage?"
Sui Zhengfan himself also found it absurd and smiled helplessly: "We couldn't figure it out at first, and we thought there must be something fishy going on."
...But they had visited that orphanage many times and sent their younger generations to the orphanage as long-term volunteers, but they had not found any problems.
The children in that orphanage were indeed completely normal and there was nothing unusual about them.
"According to the Alliance Headquarters, the children in this orphanage have been selected and require special training, so a huge amount of funds is needed."
"This situation is not uncommon. Xiaozhan was also selected in this way and joined the Security Department."
Sui Zhengfan said: "One tenth of the Sui family's annual total income was injected into this orphanage as required."
Zhan Chen asked: "Is this the one we are in now?"
Sui Zhengfan did not answer immediately. He hesitated for a moment before slowly shaking his head: "I'm not sure."
"The layout is similar, but when we came here, it wasn't so dilapidated."
Sui Zhengfan said: "The facilities are new, the children's living conditions are good, and they even adopted a child..."
He suddenly paused and couldn't help frowning.
Zhan Chen asked: "Coach Sui?"
Sui Zhengfan didn't speak immediately.
... He didn't know why, but at that moment just now, he suddenly felt that he and his wife had adopted a child.
But there was no such thing in his memory.
He only remembered that he and his wife had a son named Sui Si, who was not very obedient and did not fit in with the Sui family. He wanted to be an actor since he was a child, liked acting, and liked experiencing other people's lives in the plays.
After coming out of the electronic storm, during the brief gap before reporting back to the security department, Sui Zhengfan and his wife asked about the situation of their special forces teammates and their son.
The director of the Secret Service Bureau told them that their teammates had all left the electronic storm safely, Zhuang Yu was still in the special operations team, and everyone was living well.
Sui Si was doing what he liked and everything was going smoothly. He also fell in love with a young man from an orphanage named Ke Ming.
I heard that the Sui family is not very satisfied and wants to test these two young people for a period of time.
"… fine."
Sui Zhengfan put his thoughts back on his mind and calmed himself down: "Let's deal with the problem at hand first - we need to find other players in this orphanage, right?"
Zhan Chen withdrew his gaze from the portrait and nodded: "If possible, please gather them all in the hall."
Sui Zhengfan nodded, walked to the side, raised his hand and pressed it against the wall.
"This orphanage is haunted now, isn't it?"
Team doctor Sui frowned slightly: "We have encountered this kind of game rounds with supernatural phenomena before. In the orphanage, players may encounter children who died here and be trapped by them..."
As long as the player has supernatural powers, this haunted level is not difficult to pass.
As long as there are A-level players with psychological abilities and the ability to open domains, or physical abilities in the direction of life and purification, the ghosts and monsters will hardly gain any advantage.
“Not in this orphanage.”
Zhan Chen shook his head: "The roles of the ten-year-old child have already been taken by players."
Putting aside the director of the Secret Service, after the death of No. 19 and No. 45, Sui Zhengfan and his wife were transmitted in.
Zhan Chen and Yu Tang were originally considering whether there were any age or gender requirements. Now it seems that the screening is not strict at least in this regard.
"There were three in the basement, two outside, two in the bedroom area upstairs, and one in the bathroom."
Sui Zhengfan walked back and said, "Your domain cannot integrate this orphanage. It can only be used for detection. I tried to mark their location."
His special ability is "mimicry", which allows him to transform his body into a part of the environment. He once encountered Yu Tang in the woods, who was secretly ambushed by the auditor.
"It seems that this orphanage is in a dormant state now, and all conditions should be met to start it up."
Sui Zhengfan said: "Before more changes happen, you stay here and find other people—"
Before he could finish his words, the bell that reminded him of the class suddenly rang.
In the empty villa, the ringing sounded particularly harsh, echoing from far and near, occasionally accompanied by the crackling sound of electric current.
"There is a test today."
A hoarse voice with a slightly changed tone came from somewhere. Team doctor Sui's face changed slightly, and she unconsciously moved closer to her husband's body.
She and Sui Zhengfan looked over in the direction of the sound, and suddenly there was surprise in their eyes.
…The one speaking is the portrait on the ground!
The director of the Secret Service was framed in the painting, his expression becoming increasingly terrified.
His face seemed to be covered with a mask of the same appearance. Regardless of his own wishes, he slowly opened his mouth to reveal a grotesque smile.
His own voice came out of his mouth.
"The Sui family is too small, and the money they give is too little."
"Once you bought a card, all the money has been used up. Now only the first three of you will be sponsored to study. The rest will be arranged into adoptive families."
"You have to be obedient. Only obedient children will be liked."
"Let the dean take a look and see which child is more fortunate?"
…
The sound stopped abruptly.
In front of them, the space slowly fluctuated, and a door floating in the air appeared.