Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!
Five consecutive sounds of something exploding occurred the moment Gu Moli and his group entered the tunnel. The most timid one even made a strange sound "Huh!", but in comparison, Gu Moli, Hua Qiong, and Zhuge seemed very calm.
Immediately following.
Bang! There was another light sound, and the dark space was instantly illuminated by bright lights. In an instant, everyone who had already adapted to the darkness subconsciously squinted their eyes.
“Congratulations to all players!”
“Stunning performance in the first trial run of Phantom City!”
“It’s wonderful!”
In the bright room, one can clearly see various electronic devices, as well as a huge surveillance screen divided into sixteen parts, which displays scenes from all over Phantom City, from the living room, to the bathroom, to the gym, and to the surrounding environment outside Phantom City. It can be said that everything is available.
"... .Ah, so it is."
“Trial operation... .”
Retracting his gaze, Gu Moli looked in front of him again. There were five people in total, two women and three men, all holding firecrackers that were used to celebrate other people's birthdays. Two of them were very familiar to him, and they didn't even change their clothes. They were Yun Xiaoyue and Li Shaohua, who were covered in blood.
"You two are really not dead!?"
"Are you scared?"
"nonsense!"
Ren Xuan let out a hysterical roar: "What's the point of you guys teaming up to do this kind of prank!? And Li Shaohua, you are a player, right!? You..."
"Don't get me wrong."
"... .ah?"
Li Shaohua said solemnly: "Even if you are a player, you still need to work, otherwise how can you spend money?"
"Work... ."
"That's right."
Li Shaohua paused, then smiled again. She didn't look good, but she wasn't ugly either. She could only be described as ordinary, but she looked very bright when she smiled: "This is my job. I'm mainly responsible for the trial operation of the Phantom City project team."
"Phantom City... Project Team?"
"Yes, in fact, this Phantom City was invested and built by my superiors. The purpose is to build a horror-themed park in Guanghui City, and this Phantom City is one of the main projects. How is it? It should be a somewhat scary experience, right?"
"Bullshit! Who would choose a horror theme park?"
"It's not like there isn't one. The boss said it's in a place called Jiujiang. This style is quite popular..."
"... .Hello!"
Before Ren Xuan could continue to complain, Gu Moli took the initiative to interrupt their conversation: "Compared to these, imprisoning us in that phantom city without authorization is illegal no matter how you look at it, right? This involves the personal freedom of the residents. How do you plan to explain this?"
"...Ah, we are indeed sorry about that."
"You think I will..."
"However, for players who complete the trial operation, our operations team has prepared a considerable bonus..."
"... Just pretend I didn't say anything."
"Boss!? Isn't your stance changing too quickly?!"
Hua Qiong made a sharp complaint, but considering that he had not received many commissions during this period and was instead immersed in games, resulting in a shortage of living expenses, Gu Moli decided to ignore it. There was no other way. This was the helplessness of adults after entering society!
"....What about you?"
At this moment, Zhuge, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, his eyes pointed directly at Yun Xiaoyue: "Are you also a member of the project team?"
“I’m really a reporter.”
Yun Xiaoyue looked a little embarrassed: "In fact, I was invited by them to be responsible for the reporting and publicity of this Phantom City incident..."
"Wait! What do you mean? Report!?"
"That's right."
Li Shaohua nodded and continued, "In fact, in order to build momentum, we hired internet trolls to spread the news about the Phantom City online, and deliberately had people witness it to increase its popularity. But after all, it is an amusement project, so the Phantom City will eventually be announced to the public."
"... So you did a trial run like this before, letting people who didn't know the truth in it, and then started a decryption... And you even recorded it? What are you going to do? Edit it into a video and post it on various websites, and then advertise it on the Internet?"
"Yes." Li Shaohua smiled. "In fact, in this trial operation, Mr. Gu, your performance and performance were quite wonderful. We have also investigated the options for the trial operation. It seems that it was right to choose you who is very famous in the private detective industry."
"... Sorry." Gu Moli shook his head: "I'm not very photogenic, so..."
"Oh, of course. Our project team will pay you a certain amount of money in exchange for your appearance in the video. It's similar to buying portrait rights. The price is negotiable. And Mr. Gu, with our publicity efforts, your firm will probably be very popular in Guanghui City, right?"
"... I won't bother with you about these little things!"
“… … .”
Although he was vaguely aware of Hua Qiong's increasingly contemptuous look, Gu Moli decided to ignore it.
As for Zhuge, his expression seemed to be very dissatisfied. However, although he was an official staff, he still had to strictly abide by the rules and regulations. If it was something involving players, it would be fine, but at the moment, Phantom City was just an "ordinary incident."
The only player, Li Shaohua, did not abuse his ability at all.
If you have to say it.
That is the abuse of "money power".
"Come to think of it, if this phantom city was built underground, the construction should have started a long time ago, right?" Hua Qiong looked around and said curiously.
"yes."
Li Shaohua smiled slightly: "In fact, the construction site was bought by us at the beginning, but the construction time is relatively long, so it has been delayed until now. Of course, there are some other preparations. Now everything is ready, I believe it will be expanded soon."
"I see... So when the news of the construction site being abandoned came out, the government didn't intervene..."
"It's just a rumor."
"snort."
Hearing this, Gu Moli proudly raised his head and straightened his chest: "So I told you a long time ago that modern society must believe in science. All the monsters and ghosts are fake, and urban legends are even more unreliable. Now you understand, right? I am a professional!"
Li Shaohua also nodded and said, "That's the truth."
"... But."
"Um?"
Having said that, Li Shaohua suddenly narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth. At this moment, the ordinary extra face actually made Gu Moli feel subtly familiar.
“There are still things that science cannot explain.”
"Like... coincidence."
"coincide?"
"Yes, when people meet unexpectedly, they may end up being compatible with each other, or they may end up being disgusted with each other, aren't these all wonderful coincidences?"
"Uh." Gu Moli was speechless for a moment.
"Unfortunately, the reason why coincidences are coincidences is that the probability of occurrence is too low. It is still very difficult to encounter one."
Most of the encounters between people are just passing by, and the best case is a chance acquaintance. It is actually very difficult to form a relationship of close friends or sworn enemies. Even if such a relationship is formed, as time goes by, they may eventually go their separate ways.
"So..."
Li Shaohua paused and didn't continue speaking, but Gu Moli reacted instantly.
So... ..
It is easy to make friends, but hard to find a true friend.
... ... grass.