ushernet Chapter 195 : Chapter 195
Chapter 195 : Chapter 195
Blue Star, Flower Country.Secret Operations Force.
Sunlight filtered through the dusty glass into the spacious office. The air was filled with the faint, processed aroma of instant coffee.
Several people in shirts and dress pants hurried about clutching documents, conversing in low voices. If an outsider were to enter, they would likely mistake this for the employee office of some listed company.
However, this was the office building of the Secret Operations Force, hidden deep within the newly established G311 Military District.
The outer circle of this military district was stationed with regular troops. Only personnel belonging to the Secret Operations Force could enter the depths of the district. Talents selected from major units had been transferring here since three years ago. Currently, there were over ten thousand people belonging to the Secret Operations Force.
Among them, nearly one-third were technical personnel, and the rest were the selected individuals who had signed non-disclosure agreements.
"Sister Qin, is this where we'll be staying from now on?" Gao Wen looked left and right, examining everything like a curious baby. A three-story building with a very ordinary appearance stood before them. The outer walls were even covered with ivy, looking dusty and drab.
It looked like an old building from the end of the last century.
No matter how he looked at it, Gao Wen felt this old building differed greatly from the mysterious force's office building he had imagined.
Wasn't it said that the G311 Military District was newly built? Why did these buildings look so dilapidated?
Gao Wen was, after all, a high-salaried technical talent. His usual workplaces were buildings filled with high technology. It was only because the higher-ups suddenly issued a notice for their entire secret department to move into the newly established G311 Military District to improve security standards. Otherwise, he wouldn't have wanted to enter this remote area for anything.
Once in this place, applying to go out would be required every time. It was a huge hassle.
Gao Wen sighed gloomily.
The person addressed as Sister Qin glanced at him, took out a mobile phone from her pocket to check the notification, and said, "Don't look around aimlessly. This is our workplace from now on. Someone will come to receive us shortly."
The dozen or so technical staff who came with Sister Qin and Gao Wen couldn't help whispering among themselves upon hearing this. "Is it really here? No way, right? Didn't they say it was just established not long ago?"
"Could it be insufficient funds? That can't be right; could funding be lacking for a military district construction of this level?"
"I even feel like it's not newly built, just an old building simply renovated for our use."
"Will the place we live in later also be this kind of environment..."
The hushed discussions were full of apprehension about the uncertain future. Sister Qin coughed twice lightly, looking at the building in front of her, inevitably falling into doubt as well.
Is it really here?
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The person coming to receive them arrived quickly. A refined man in a suit wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked over briskly. Seeing Sister Qin and the group, he greeted them, "Ms. Qin Yue, and everyone... hello. I am Lin Mingjie, just call me Xiao Lin."
He reached out to shake hands with Sister Qin, speaking very politely, "The leader asked me to guide you inside. Entry and exit here are a bit troublesome; for the first entry, someone needs to lead the way."
The few tech geeks behind Sister Qin exchanged glances: What's the situation? Is the word 'troublesome' necessary for entering such a small, broken building?
Sister Qin nodded at Lin Mingjie. "Then we'll trouble you, Mr. Lin."
Lin Mingjie made a gesture of invitation and took the lead. "Everyone should have signed the confidentiality agreement before coming in, right?"
"Of course," Sister Qin said.
Lin Mingjie said no more and led these people into the dilapidated three-story building. The interior was much like they imagined, with decor quite reminiscent of the last century's style. There was even an old man drinking tea in the booth at the entrance, leisurely and carefree. At first glance, it looked like a small building in a family compound.
Lin Mingjie greeted the old doorkeeper and led them inside. Just as Gao Wen and the others were about to make some impolite comments about this small broken building, they sensed the old man's gaze sweeping over them, sharp as a falcon's.
Terrified, the group instantly swallowed back all their impolite comments, lining up like little chicks to pass through the security gate.
The old man watched as the last of them entered the door, then picked up his tea mug again, pushed aside the lid, and took a sip of tea.
After finally passing the old man's scrutiny and entering the small broken building, just as they were about to heave a sigh of relief, Lin Mingjie led them through twists and turns into an elevator room.
There were only three floors in total; did they need an elevator?
Their first reaction was that it was strange. Then, recalling settings from some movies and TV shows, their eyes involuntarily lit up.
Wait, could it be...
Sure enough, after passing through layers of checks, they entered a descending elevator. When the elevator doors opened, a highly technological underground area came into view.
This was an extremely expansive area, filled with people rushing about, everyone too busy for their feet to touch the ground. At the same time, soldiers in military uniforms carrying live ammunition were patrolling.
So the three-story dilapidated building above was just camouflage; their true workplace was underground!
Lin Mingjie led the group further inside and encountered a woman with an upright posture, with a secretary reporting work beside her.
Lin Mingjie met her gaze, stood at attention, and saluted. "Officer, the people have been brought."
"Thank you for your hard work." The woman nodded and then nodded to Sister Qin and the others. "I am one of the persons in charge here. Your work content will be arranged by me from now on. You've had a long journey; you can rest for a while now. Can you start work tomorrow?"
Truly a pragmatist; talking about work right off the bat.
Sister Qin sighed in admiration inwardly and nodded in agreement very sensibly. This was good too. What technical personnel like them had the least patience for was social pleasantries; it was best to assign tasks and start work directly.
The woman turned and said a few words to Lin Mingjie. "I'll have him take you to your arranged accommodation first. If you have any requests later, you can bring them up with the organization. As long as it's reasonable, we will find a way to fulfill it for you."
After speaking, without waiting for Sister Qin to continue exchanging pleasantries, she checked the time. "I have another meeting next, so please excuse me."
The woman smiled at them and walked past briskly. Gao Wen heard another person run up to her side and whisper, "A squad encountered Anonymous and obtained a hidden quest from him. The squad leader has already reported it..."
The voice drifted away, and Gao Wen couldn't hear the subsequent conversation, but this still made him feel a wave of surreal absurdity.
The entire country—no, at least this entire G311 Military District base—was running around in circles for a game.
Thinking of that special holographic game... back when the first batch of beta testing began, rumors had circulated in their team that the higher-ups believed this game was likely an alien product. At first, Gao Wen didn't think much of it, but after witnessing this scene with his own eyes, he had to start believing this theory.
Are aliens finally going to invade Earth?
How absurd.
***
Anonymous, or rather [Ri'an], sharing the quest from the treasure map caused quite a stir in the G311 secret building.
"Is this the player suspected to be an alien in disguise?" A man in a shirt flipped through the records and analysis in his hand. "This conversation doesn't seem like it. Is it possible he really is just a player? Like a... professional gamer?"
"It's not impossible, but since the first day this [Ri'an] entered the game, we haven't been able to collect a single piece of information on him. If he hadn't approached us directly, we wouldn't even know his ID until now. Do you think such a player exists?"
"Moreover, for all players who have posted on the forum, we have conducted IP tracking. Basically, the identities of all players who have appeared on the forum have been found, covering everyone on the level leaderboard—except for this anonymous one, [Ri'an]."
"I still lean towards the deduction that this anonymous person is the master behind the game, the controller of that alien civilization."
A woman with glasses on the bridge of her nose and a serious expression spoke. "His level has consistently remained in the top ten of the leaderboard, yet he hasn't built bridges with any player. Since the ID [Ri'an] was revealed, we have conducted further investigations targeting the ID."
"Only two players have had interactions with him. One is a game streamer with the ID [Big Brother A], and the other is a gaming enthusiast with the ID [He Kou Wang], who used to work as a game booster."
"Both were players from the first batch of beta testing. According to them, this [Ri'an] didn't behave like a player who had just entered the game from the start. He showed no shock at the game's 100% realistic sensory simulation and even anticipated the appearance of the guide NPC."
"After the guide NPC took them into the Novice Village, this [Ri'an] left. Not long after, he reached Level 1 and opened the level leaderboard, wealth leaderboard, etc. At that time, the other players with the most experience were probably still two-thirds away from leveling up. It was incredibly fast."
"However, the other players in that Novice Village had no impression of this [Ri'an] and didn't know what quests he had taken. Why did his level rise so quickly from the start? It couldn't be that he received a hidden quest right from the beginning?"
"In summary, these two players believe that this [Ri'an] is a GM hidden among the players by the game officials."
In the meeting room, everyone looked at each other, and it became somewhat overly quiet for a moment.
"Alright, alright." The old man with somewhat graying hair sitting at the head of the conference table clapped his hands. "So, let's tentatively decide that this person named [Ri'an] is the mastermind behind the game. Then, what does he mean by approaching our squad and giving that... um, hidden quest? to our squad?"
Some intelligence analysts looked at the behavioral analysis report in their hands and summarized hesitantly, "Our personnel offered a Level 20 dungeon resource in exchange for that hidden quest but were rejected. The other party proposed exchanging for information on new hidden quests..."
He was a bit conflicted. "According to previous deductions, if [Ri'an] is the game master, it's normal for him not to care about dungeon resources, but he wouldn't ask for hidden quest information either..."
Discussion erupted in the conference room.
"Is there a possibility that he wants to push us to investigate the game's background story?" Someone proposed a new speculation. "Please look at line XX of the conversation log. [Ri'an] once said, 'Then you guys should pay more attention. Sometimes NPC conversations contain a lot of information, and you might even pick up a hidden quest,' and 'Some games are worth delving deep into the plot'."
"Combined with the condition that he wants intelligence on hidden quests in exchange, can we infer that the other party wants us to explore the game's background story in depth?"
Once these words were spoken, everyone who was discussing stopped to consider this possibility.
After a long while, someone concurred, "There is indeed this possibility. But once this speculation stands, his purpose becomes a bit strange. At least those possibilities we guessed originally would be overturned."
"Then the question returns to the very beginning. Is Anonymous, or [Ri'an], really the mastermind behind the game?"
The conference room fell into silence again.
Finally, the old man at the head spoke up. "Do you think his sharing the hidden quest with us is out of goodwill or malice?"
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer this question.
Volume 7 Return: The Winter Night Before Dawn