Chapter 92

Chapter 92

The dormitory was quiet and boring during the day. Since leaving wasn't allowed for the time being, Xi Yu began doing yoga in front of the window, clearly trying to keep herself busy.

Xiao Qi curiously peeked around and, seeing Xi Yu gradually bend forward, jumped onto her back.

Xi Yu helplessly reached back and pulled it off: "Hey, behave yourself."

Xiao Qi slowly blinked its beautiful blue eyes: "Meow..."

The rare lively scene made Luo Xi, who had been sitting on the couch, unable to hold back a laugh.

Xi Yu turned her head: "What are you so happy about?"

Luo Xi put away the computer Lin Yuze had given her: "Didn't I say I was going to surprise you? It's already done."

Xi Yu looked around the room, which was as usual, clearly not understanding what she was talking about.

Luo Xi suddenly stood up, crossed her arms, and looked around: "The lab is using the system I helped them write. At the time, I purposely left a program running in the background that could connect to the cloud platform's server for future intrusions. I've been thinking of a way to use it, and just now, I succeeded. I replaced the real-time video with historical cached footage, which means, unless they analyze it carefully, the security department won’t know we've already gotten out of their surveillance."

This naturally surprised Xi Yu, who immediately got up from the yoga mat: "Really? Won't there be any loopholes?"

"Don’t believe me? If they’re still watching, based on what I just said, someone will come to arrest me right away," Luo Xi said, clearly proud of her feat, then shrugged: "Of course there will be loopholes. After all, anyone who carefully observes the footage will notice something's off. So, we can't stay out too long. But luckily, the security department is currently busy dealing with the explosion attack. Since there were casualties among the streamers, the government has sent representatives to investigate, so they probably won’t have the time to focus on us."

The pressure of living under surveillance was indescribable. Perhaps only those who had experienced it firsthand would understand.

Xi Yu felt a sense of relief from Luo Xi's certainty and gradually relaxed, both physically and mentally.

Luo Xi continued: "However, I didn’t do this because I thought it was fun. There’s something I need to clarify with you."

Saying this, she walked up to Xi Yu and squatted down: "Actually, the plan for me, Rabbit, and Bai Qi to escape has been in the works for quite a while. Living as a caged streamer here is worse than death. I believe you'd feel the same way, right?"

—No, my only thought is to help you escape!

Xi Yu thought to herself but didn't say it out loud.

Luo Xi frowned: "This competition was unexpected and completely chaotic. I didn’t want to participate, but the security department urged me so much that not participating would be suspicious. But it’s okay—I'm planning to execute the plan this month, probably before the finals."

Xi Yu was silent for a moment before asking a very practical question: "Escape... then what? We don’t have any social identity or resources. How are we supposed to survive? Are we supposed to run into the mountains and forests and live off the land?"

In fact, Luo Xi knew very little about the outside world, which was a common issue for artificial human streamers, but she remained calm: "We’ll leave China first, see which way the public opinion is going, and then go to countries that have a more non-mainstream attitude toward artificial humans."

Xi Yu didn’t know how to respond.

Luo Xi slowly knelt on one knee in front of Xi Yu: "What? Do you think it’s not feasible and don’t want to take action?"

Xi Yu snapped out of it and smiled: "I don’t know if it's feasible, but if you want to do it, I will of course support you. I just hope you've thought it through."

"If you don’t go out and see, you'll never be able to think it through," Luo Xi frowned. "In this small world of the cloud platform, the security department holds all the power. Should I put all my hope in them? It would be better to just continue streaming."

Xi Yu said seriously: "But the first-place freedom prize in the competition is also a reality."

Luo Xi: "I don’t need that kind of reality. Both those who live miserably... and those who reset themselves will suffer."

"Alright, I understand your point," Xi Yu nodded.

Luo Xi, who had always been very rational, now showed a bit more impulsiveness: "After all the life-and-death experiences in the games, I don't believe we can't escape from human control."Xi Yu silently thought to himself: "Are you really a humanoid?" Moreover, real survival is probably a thousand times harder than the game.

"I know it's hard for you to accept this decision in such a short time, but I'm serious," Luo Xi said with a wry smile. "If you don't want to, I won't force you."

"I've known you before! You never belonged to Cloud Platform! I'm afraid someone deliberately trapped you here!" Xi Yu finally blurted out. "Once you escape, they will have a reason to kill you..."

Luo Xi's expression changed slightly, and he stared at Xi Yu seriously.

Xi Yu hid his emotions: "I only have some vague memories. I remember your name is A Yu... I interacted with you in the outside world... but it's all fragmented images..."

Luo Xi asked, "Really? Then what was our relationship outside?"

Xi Yu's lips moved, unsure how to answer.

Master and servant? Would Luo Xi think too much about it, and besides, I clearly like him...

Lovers? But... but Luo Xi used to be my owner...

Luo Xi softened his expression: "It's so difficult to answer?"

Xi Yu finally made a decision in his mind and lied: "It's... it's just the same as our current relationship."

Saying that, he hugged Luo Xi: "I really can't fully recall everything. Occasionally, some images flash through my consciousness. It's probably because of the medicine from Lin Yuze. I believe he knows many secrets, but he doesn't want to, or can't, say them—however, as long as I'm in a near-death state, many past memories flood into my brain, so..."

Luo Xi finally understood: "So, last time you almost drowned yourself?"

Xi Yu remained silent.

"Enough, stop using your life for experiments. Being close to death means being one step away from it. Do you think I would allow you to harm yourself?" Luo Xi asked, then gently rubbed Xi Yu's back. "Memories are important, but they aren't more important than the future. I hope you'll remember that."

There was no point in convincing Luo Xi. Xi Yu just obediently nodded.

Luo Xi hadn't become foolish because of love. He let go of him and said, "The Xi Yu from before was a star host specially created by Cloud Platform... If you really interacted with me in the outside world, then... are you really that Xi Yu?"

Xi Yu couldn't answer, as this was his biggest internal confusion.

Luckily, Luo Xi didn't ask further. He cupped Xi Yu's face and said, "It doesn't matter. To me, resetting is a more heinous crime than killing. Even if we lose our past memories, we must protect what we have now. I don't want to end up standing in front of you and not even recognize you."

Xi Yu gently nodded, then nodded again with more force.

Luo Xi looked at his watch and said, "Alright, we've been out of surveillance for long enough. I'm going to reconnect the signal. You'd better return to the previous position."

Xi Yu didn't move from his spot and remembered well. He immediately moved the wandering Xiao Qi back to its original position.

He knew Luo Xi's move was risky, but risks were inevitable. He just hoped that all the sacrifices would prove worthwhile in the end.

The investigation by the Cloud Platform security team continued until midnight.

At 1 AM, the hosts were allowed to go out for a bit of fresh air, but it was still limited to their activity zones.

Xu Tu was quite active, using the excuse of going to the old expert zone's reading room to copy some books and data, then walked casually to the cafeteria, giving Luo Xi a sly smile.

Luo Xi was eating late-night snacks with Xi Yu, while Bai Qi was reading nearby. Seeing Xu Tu, he raised an eyebrow.Xu Tu said, "I found out, it was indeed an explosion. The fire started in the server room, and seven players were injured. Although none of them are dead, the injuries are quite serious. They are all being sent for surgery now."

Xi Yu hesitated, "If they're injured, they can't compete, right? Looks like the matter with the candidates isn't just baseless."

Xu Tu nodded, "Yeah, I heard the company is speeding up the voting process. But if there's a result, they'll let us know. We just need to wait for the notification."

"I can only welcome Mu Yuan now." Bai Qi adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and closed the book in front of him. "Nothing's easy."

Luo Xi put down his knife and fork, unexpectedly saying, "I'm worried that Mu Yuan isn't the problem."

Xu Tu blinked, confused.

Luo Xi said, "Once you see the backup list, you'll understand."

The next few days were quiet in the player candidate area. Everyone trained and rested on their own, while most of Luo Xi's time was spent in front of that mysterious computer. Xi Yu, not being proficient in programming, couldn’t help much.

The day before the second round of the competition, a simple notice was finally posted at the elevator entrance of the player area.

Xi Yu, who had just finished a boxing session, couldn’t help but stop, staring at the poster and blinking in confusion.

[Dear eSports competition players, we regret to inform you that in the safety incident a few days ago, seven players were injured to varying degrees.]

[After intensive treatment and recovery, three of them are still unable to participate in the upcoming second-round competition.]

[They have been temporarily relocated to the recovery center as candidates.]

[The players replacing them in the competition are the top three candidates as of midnight last night. The list is as follows—]

[Mu Yuan]

[Yan Ruyu]

[Shao Zhusheng]

Shao Zhusheng...

If he remembered correctly, this guy didn’t even have a decent reward before. How could he possibly stand out in such a tough voting process?

After reading the notice, Xi Yu naturally thought of Luo Xi’s concern from a few days ago. He quickened his pace and hurried back to the dorm.

It was safer to get out of surveillance at night, as the two people sleeping probably wouldn’t change positions for a long time, and the security staff wouldn’t be constantly watching.

When the night was dark and the wind howled, Luo Xi finally sat up from the bed and said, "I knew this would cause a problem because Shao Zhusheng has always been targeting you for no reason. Last time, I finally had a chance to get something out of him, but Xia Zi interrupted me."

"Xia Zi?" Xi Yu sighed while lying next to him, "She's the deputy director of the security department? She was the one who sabotaged my health check requests in the past."

Luo Xi sneered, "Looks like that woman’s intentions are definitely not simple. Xia Zi is an outsider. Her father is a famous high-ranking official in the capital's police force."

Xi Yu squinted his eyes, thinking to himself. After all, he and Luo Xi had countless connections. The people who were watching him closely might, in essence, be trying to harm Luo Xi.

"Earlier, to monitor the voting, I put a Trojan on the internet," Luo Xi clicked his tongue. "If I could get access to the external network again, I’d have a chance to figure out who’s been voting for Shao Zhusheng."

"External network?" Xi Yu shook his head. "Except for the laboratory, there’s probably no opportunity to get in touch."

Luo Xi flopped back down beside him. "Let’s just wait and see. Anyway, Shao Zhusheng doesn’t have much ability. I’d rather meet him in the game... What do you think? If he gets kicked out again, how would the idiots supporting him feel?"Volume 8: The Crazy Pawnshop