Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Morning finally arrived, and the only nurse who came to draw blood and give medicine to Xi Yu was Chun.

She looked rather uneasy, and her movements weren’t as efficient as usual, as if something was weighing on her mind.

Xi Yu asked softly, “...Why did they arrest Nurse Dong yesterday? How is he now?”

Nurse Chun glanced at the half-closed door behind her, then whispered almost inaudibly, “Someone reported that he was an undercover agent. Head Nurse Lin tried to interrogate him and injected him with a gene drug that causes ALS-like symptoms... Within five days, he’ll be completely immobile… But it seems he didn’t confess anything, so the head nurse let him go. He’s lying in the ward now, waiting to die…”

It was unexpected that Kunshan Sanatorium had turned into such a lawless place. It seemed that once you entered through the front gates, there was no turning back from this road to the underworld.

Xi Yu fell into deep thought.

Nurse Chun whispered, “I can’t wait any longer.”

Xi Yu immediately asked, “You want to escape? I’ll help you.”

After all, this was his ultimate mission. The sooner it was completed, the sooner he could put his worries to rest.

Unexpectedly, Nurse Chun shook her head. “I also heard a rumor — it’s true that someone from the police has infiltrated the sanatorium. If it really is Nurse Dong, there’s no way I can abandon him. So I need to investigate this clearly. However… the evidence I’ve already gathered can’t be delayed any longer. I must find a way to get it out of the sanatorium today!”

Xi Yu could understand this plot development and the NPC’s perspective, but still tried to reason gently: “That’s too dangerous. Let me do it. You should leave as soon as possible.”

“No, I came here with the resolve to die,” Nurse Chun frowned. “Will you help me find the other undercover agent and get the evidence out of the hospital?”

Today’s mission was far more difficult than usual, but with not even one nutrient vial in hand, Xi Yu could only nod.

Nurse Chun finally smiled in relief. “Sorry to trouble you. Please keep it safe.”

She took out a cloth bundle from the bottom of the cart, then packed up the blood draw tubes and such. “I’ll leave now. Staying too long will raise suspicion. Be careful.”

Xi Yu watched her leave. At that moment, the system broadcast rang out:

[Today’s informant mission accepted: Find the other undercover agent and send the evidence out of the sanatorium.]

With such a severe challenge, there was no time to waste.

Xi Yu immediately jumped out of bed. After stepping out the door, he looked around nervously, then headed toward Luo Xi’s ward.

Coincidentally, Luo Xi had just poked his head out, struggling to walk while leaning against the wall. When he saw Xi Yu, he gave a bitter smile.Xi Yu couldn’t care if he was being watched and immediately rushed over to support him. “How are you?”

“My body can barely move… This isn’t the place to talk.” Luo Xi struggled to take a step, still worried about Xi Yu. “If I’m not wrong, today’s mission is related to the other undercover… Was there a new inducer last night? One that restrains you?”

“Listen to me!” Xi Yu stopped him seriously. “In your current state, you can’t help much. And if that bone inducer falls into someone else’s hands, they’ll attack you without hesitation. Can you please just listen to me for once? Go back to your ward and rest—it’s a safe house, no one else can enter. I’ll handle the rest. I promise I’ll bring you nutrient fluid by 3 PM!”

Luo Xi had never relied on anyone before, let alone leave Xi Yu alone in danger.

But Xi Yu was resolute: “If you’re taken out, I won’t have the heart to continue either. And I have a lot to do right now—do you really want me to waste my time convincing you?”

Luo Xi paused in silence, then finally gave in. “Fine. Be careful.”

Xi Yu waited for him to return to the ward. Though he couldn’t be sure Luo Xi would really stay put, he felt a little more at ease and immediately went to find Ma Guanshan.

Alzheimer’s in its late stages really didn’t look much different from idiocy.

In the dim morning light, Ma Guanshan was blankly eating buns in the cafeteria. When he saw Xi Yu, he looked at him like a stranger and muttered, “What do you want… I’m hungry…”

Xi Yu, burdened with a difficult mission and growing anxious, abruptly yanked him up. “Come with me!”

“No, I’m not full yet!” Ma Guanshan resisted.

Fortunately, though Xi Yu looked slim and gentlemanly, he was surprisingly strong. He dragged the half-a-head taller Ma Guanshan into a filthy bathroom, shoved his head under the faucet, and doused him with water, then slapped him several times.

Ma Guanshan, stunned from the blows, slowly regained clarity in his eyes. “X-Xi Yu…”

Xi Yu frowned. “Do you realize you’ve completely lost control?”

“I…” Ma Guanshan held his head in frustration. “I really can’t manage my state. Sometimes I’m walking and suddenly just lose all memory…”

Xi Yu let out a deep sigh. “Is your head clear now?”

Ma Guanshan nodded.

Xi Yu cautiously took out the reading glasses inducer.

Ma Guanshan instinctively took a step back in fear.

Xi Yu dragged him into a stall, holding up the inducer. “Right now I counter you, and you counter me. Let’s call a truce and exchange inducers. What do you say?”Ma Guanshan thought for a moment and said, “Alright. Since you’re so close with Luo Xi, I trust you.”

Looks like he had forgotten that Luo Xi was supposed to give him the inducer.

Xi Yu went along with it. “But your condition severely affects your clarity. Aren’t you afraid you might end up using the inducer on yourself in a daze?”

This clearly triggered an uneasy image in Ma Guanshan’s mind, and he became hesitant.

Xi Yu said, “So I suggest we pour out the inducers in front of each other and render them useless.”

In the game, trusting others wasn’t easy. Fortunately, Ma Guanshan had interacted with Xi Yu back in Rose Game, so after some internal struggle, he agreed. “Alright then.”

As he spoke, he pulled out the inducer he had gotten just last night.

Xi Yu had still been suspicious that Ma Guanshan might have some hidden identity and could pull a reversal at a critical moment. But seeing him straightforwardly twist open the bottle, Xi Yu didn’t hold back either. He followed Ma Guanshan and poured both bottles of liquid completely into the toilet.

Still, Ma Guanshan looked worried. “Alright, I have to go find some nutrient fluid now. Otherwise, by midnight, it’ll be the end for me.”

Xi Yu frowned, afraid he might carelessly end up working for the enemy, so he made a half-truth promise: “Luo Xi really trusts you. If I have any extra nutrient fluid, I’ll share it with you.”

Ma Guanshan smiled faintly, unclear whether he believed him or not. “Alright, thanks in advance.”

With that, he opened the stall door.

Just as he was about to step out, Xi Yu noticed his hesitation and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ma Guanshan turned back. “I feel like I forgot something important…”

At this point, the streamer’s memory was honestly worse than a goldfish’s. Xi Yu said patiently, “Take your time. If you remember, come find me.”

Ma Guanshan nodded slowly, then suddenly slapped his thigh. “Right! Zhou Rong!”

Xi Yu: “?”

Ma Guanshan tugged at his short hair. “Last night, I saw Zhou Rong threatening Nurse Xia, telling her to expose all the shady stuff going on in the hospital and become a tainted witness! But after that… everything went foggy… I don’t remember anything…”

The tainted witness mission was something Xi Yu had only told Luo Xi. He was sure Luo Xi wasn’t the type to talk. So he thought to himself: this doesn’t sound like something Ma Guanshan made up. Could Zhou Rong be the other informant? Otherwise, there’s no way she’d have the same mission as me!

Ma Guanshan smiled faintly. “Could it be that she’s helping the undercover players… and you or Luo Xi are too?”Xi Yu did not answer.

Ma Guanshan shrugged. “I really don’t have any identity. If you don’t want to talk, fine, I only know this much.”

“Still, thank you.” Xi Yu patted his shoulder. “Hope to see you on the cloud platform in the future.”

After saying this, he hurriedly left the bathroom.

Ma Guanshan stood in place, letting out a faint sigh.

Trusting others, or making others trust you, these things, when thought about too much, become black holes.

But rather than being troubled or stirred into hatred by it, it’s better to always remember: all the pain comes from the malicious whims of natural humans, not because artificial humans are inherently bad. In fact, the streamers didn’t do anything wrong, so there’s no need to despise oneself just because everything in the game is untrustworthy, right?

Now, with the rabbit inducer in hand, as long as Zhou Rong’s mind is functioning normally, there’s little chance she’ll be wandering around.

And the only reason for her appearance would be that the mission is indeed in progress, and mere survival is not enough to secure victory.

Xi Yu thoroughly considered everything. He didn’t actively search for the girl but instead used Nurse Chun’s words to judge and checked the rooms in the nursing home.

Sure enough, the facts did not disappoint him.

In a room at the corner on the second floor, a night-shift nurse, who had become much more haggard overnight, was lying down.

This man was quite unappealing, always carrying a cold, hard edge, and showed no friendly expression when he saw Xi Yu.

Xi Yu walked in and closed the door, speaking softly, “What’s going on? Identity exposed, dealt with by Nurse Lin?”

“You all done? I’m not an undercover agent at all!” The night-shift nurse angrily clenched his fists, struggling to sit up, as if he was going to force Xi Yu out.

Xi Yu said nothing, remaining seated in silence.

The night-shift nurse was agitated and uneasy. “What exactly are you doing?”

Xi Yu blinked. “Isn’t it fine to just come and check on you?”

The night-shift nurse glared at him for a moment, then collapsed back onto the bed. “Whatever.”

Xi Yu quietly sat on the chair, letting time pass by second by second.About thirty-five minutes later, the slightly ajar door was suddenly pushed open.

It was Zhou Rong.

She saw Xi Yu, slightly surprised, her big eyes scanning around. "Oh, I came to get some nutritional liquid. Since you’re occupying this room, I’ll be on my way."

Xi Yu said, "Stop."

Zhou Rong hesitated and stopped.

Xi Yu instructed, "If you don’t want to die, close the door properly."

"Can you kill me? That lipstick inducer you have is completely useless." Zhou Rong rolled her eyes but still obediently closed the door.

Xi Yu had considered doubting Ma Guanshan’s words, but unless Ma Guanshan was an undercover agent or an accomplice of one besides Yuan Wei, there was no reason for him to lie. Furthermore, Ma Guanshan’s relationships with others were not particularly good, and he had twice shared nutritional liquid with Luo Xi, which didn’t seem like the actions of someone with a special identity.

Thus, Xi Yu decided to take a gamble and spoke softly, "The role of an informant in later missions should be the same, right? So, the night-shift nurse’s identity started to be exposed, and he wanted you to send the evidence and even asked you to find another undercover agent?"

Zhou Rong widened her eyes, glancing at Xi Yu, then at the night-shift nurse lying on the bed, falling into silence.

Xi Yu asked, "Now can I know why you and Ying Zhixing aren’t on good terms? After all, the rabbit inducer only came out last night, so before that, what did he do to offend you?"

Zhou Rong glared at Xi Yu, whose skin was already bleeding and ulcerating but was calm, and finally took out a scalpel from her pocket. "Because he’s an undercover agent, and between him and me, only one of us can make it. So, what about you? Do you want to help him or come help me?"