Chapter 82.2 Major event
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Lin Zhaohe hurriedly changed his clothes and quickly left home. On the street, people who had previously sought refuge were gradually returning. It was Monday morning at 8 o’clock, the peak of rush hour. If it were a regular day, the street would be bustling with people and vehicles. However, at this moment, it was desolate.
Everyone had come back, but there was no joy of recovering what was lost. Instead, their faces were filled with numbness and sorrow.
Although they had returned today, the fusion was still ongoing. It was like a person diagnosed with a terminal illness. Surgery could temporarily slow down the speed of death, but there was still no sign of hope, only waiting for the next relapse.
Despite the pain in his injured back, Lin Zhaohe went to the company. He had tried calling Zhuang Lao, but there was no answer. So he hurriedly rode his electric scooter to the company building.
Luckily, the company was still there. After going upstairs, Lin Zhaohe didn’t see Xiao Ci either. The once lively office was now empty, devoid of a single person.
Lin Zhaohe’s heart skipped a beat. His initial thought was whether something had happened to the company. He quickly went to Zhuang Lao’s office and knocked on the door forcefully.
No one responded. Zhuang Lao was not inside.
Filled with worry, Lin Zhaohe’s mind immediately conjured countless pessimistic thoughts. He considered entering Zhuang Lao’s office to see if there were any clues. He lifted his foot and kicked the door a few times. Just as he was contemplating whether to break the door down, he heard a soft voice from behind asking, “What are you doing?”
Lin Zhaohe replied, “Boss, something happened—” He said the words but suddenly realized something was off. He turned around and saw someone standing behind him, someone he never expected to see, silently observing him.
Lin Zhaohe stammered, “…Hello.”
“Hello,” the person replied. “Although breaking the door is not yet included in the regulations, I hope you can be more careful with your actions. After all, damaging public property violates the rules.”
The administrator, who should have disappeared along with the library, now stood expressionless behind Lin Zhaohe, holding… a cup of milk tea.
It really was milk tea.
Lin Zhaohe stared at the milk tea for a while without saying a word.
The administrator: “Three sugars. Would you like a cup too?”
Lin Zhaohe: “No, thank you. Where is the boss? Has something happened?”
The administrator: “I don’t know.”
Lin Zhaohe: “Then why is there no one in the company?”
The administrator: “Today is Saturday, no work.”
Lin Zhaohe paused for a few seconds, his mind going blank. He suddenly remembered that indeed it was Saturday. The events that had taken place were just too overwhelming, and everyone seemed to have forgotten the feeling of today’s date.
It was just a false alarm. Lin Zhaohe felt a sense of relief, but he still hadn’t found the boss, and his worries remained unresolved.
Seeing Lin Zhaohe’s hesitation, the administrator sat down beside him, silently took a sip of the milk tea, and chewed on the pearls. With green eyes fixed on Lin Zhaohe, it felt like a snake watching a frog—ready to strike at any movement of the frog.
Lin Zhaohe felt a chill down his spine from being watched. He wanted to ask how the person ended up here but feared that his question might upset him.
The two remained in a standoff for a while until the administrator spoke up.
Lin Zhaohe: “Hmm?”
The administrator: “It was you who caused the fire, right?”
Lin Zhaohe paused, realizing that he was referring to a certain library.
“You’re quite agile,” the administrator smirked, as if amused by something. However, his expression seemed mocking no matter how you looked at it. “I underestimated you.”
Lin Zhaohe’s neck almost shrunk into his shoulders. He didn’t dare to say a word and silently walked towards the exit. Just as he stepped outside, he coincidentally saw Zhuang Lao coming up the stairs.
Seeing Zhuang Lao was like seeing the master for a little dog. Instantly gaining confidence, Lin Zhaohe straightened his hunched back and called out, “Boss, boss, boss, boss! Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you everywhere, and I couldn’t reach you on the phone–“
Zhuang Lao rubbed the head of his own little dog and softly said, “Someone came to talk business with me. Weren’t you injured? It’s a day off today. What are you doing at the company?”
Lin Zhaohe said, “I discovered something. When I went to chat with Gu Xuyu today, I saw him playing a large-scale online game. Did you know about this?”
Zhuang Lao: “I knew about it yesterday. Let’s discuss it inside.”
Lin Zhaohe nodded.
As Lin Zhaohe entered Zhuang Lao’s office, the administrator was still sitting outside, sipping his milk tea and chewing on the pearls. His eyes were still fixed on Lin Zhaohe. Based on Lin Zhaohe’s understanding of the characters he created as an author, there was a high probability that this son of his was currently thinking of a hundred ways to dismember him—burning down his library and yet still being alive. This was something even Lin Zhaohe, as the author, didn’t dare to imagine.
“Why is he here?” Lin Zhaohe quietly asked Zhuang Lao upon entering the office. “Didn’t our company refrain from hiring employees from the 2D world?”
“He’s an exception,” Zhuang Lao said.
“What makes him an exception?” Lin Zhaohe inquired.
Zhuang Lao smiled faintly, seemingly amused. “He’s a character from your writings.”
Lin Zhaohe was taken aback. He never expected to hear this from Zhuang Lao. Despite working in the company for several years, he had never mentioned his pen name. He never thought that Zhuang Lao would know that he was the author…
“We can make an exception,” Zhuang Lao stated.
Lin Zhaohe scratched his ear, feeling a bit embarrassed for some reason.
“I found out about that game yesterday,” Zhuang Lao said. “The situation is quite complicated now.”
Lin Zhaohe: “What do you mean?”
Zhuang Lao: “You know, fusion is becoming increasingly severe. Everyone is trying to find solutions. Methods like ours, finding the source and destroying it, will become more and more difficult in the future. Based on the current trend, fusion will continue to multiply at a rate several times faster than before, until there is no space left for human survival.” He spoke calmly, with a casual expression, conveying a shocking message. “The situation is very grim.”
Lin Zhaohe remained silent.
“Everyone is brainstorming ideas,” Zhuang Lao continued. “Someone suggested creating a unique IP within the 2D world that could seamlessly integrate into the 3D world.”
Lin Zhaohe understood Zhuang Lao’s intention, but his face didn’t show much excitement. It wasn’t due to pessimism. It was because he had witnessed examples firsthand.
No matter how heroic a character might be, unexpected situations could arise. Just like Lin Yan, once out of control, it would result in catastrophic disaster.
“Of course, there are also many opponents,” Zhuang Lao said. “Currently, both sides are in a power struggle. However, the proponents seized the opportunity presented by the incident on Min’an Street and directly launched the game.”
The proponents seized the opportunity and swiftly turned their well-prepared project into a reality, without giving the opponents a chance to react.
In just half the time, this large-scale online game quickly became popular worldwide. It wasn’t limited to their country. Other nations also joined in. Using technology, they gathered all the players on a single server and simulated an environment within the game that was conducive to human survival. They ensured pleasant weather, abundant food, harmless monsters, and NPCs who were extremely friendly to humans. The proponents aimed to use fusion as a means to empower humanity, preparing them to withstand more advanced levels of fusion in the future.
Currently, this is the only massive online game in the world. People flocked to it, and it was expected to reach unprecedented levels of popularity. It was undoubtedly the most popular game in human history. Once the characters from the game fused with reality, they would be invincible.
It was a clever plan, but extremely dangerous. As Lin Zhaohe listened to Zhuang Lao’s description, memories of Lin Yan’s chaotic actions flashed through his mind. In those memories, he also saw Zhuang Lao. Could there be a connection between Zhuang Lao and Lin Yan’s madness?
This was the first time Lin Zhaohe linked the two incidents together. Previously, he had been reluctant to entertain such thoughts. But now, strange ideas couldn’t help but emerge in his mind.
“So, what do we do now?” Lin Zhaohe felt that the situation had reached a stalemate.
Zhuang Lao said, “The opponents are searching for the location of the server. They plan to shut down the server.”
Lin Zhaohe felt that things were not as simple as they seemed. “Would the proponents just surrender?”
“Of course not,” Zhuang Lao chuckled. “They all believe they are right.”
Lin Zhaohe thought about it and realized that from the current situation, it was difficult for either side to convince the other. Both sides believed the other was insane, and it seemed impossible to establish any form of communication.
“So, there isn’t much we can do,” Zhuang Lao said.
“What about the boss? What do you think about fusion and all that?” Lin Zhaohe asked.
Zhuang Lao shook his head and didn’t answer.
Indeed, even Zhuang Lao didn’t know what to do. Lin Zhaohe thought to himself that the world seemed to be getting worse and worse.
“Their approach is definitely not feasible,” Zhuang Lao said. “When works are fused, they undergo many changes. At the very least, if fusion is to occur, the elements within the works should not be too complicated. Otherwise, there will be too many uncontrollable factors.”
It seemed that Zhuang Lao also believed the proponents’ plan was reckless.
Lin Zhaohe sighed. “Their server is definitely not an ordinary machine used in the three-dimensional world. I wonder if they can find it.”
Zhuang Lao said, “We have to come up with a solution.”
He glanced at his watch and asked Lin Zhaohe if he had eaten yet.
“Not yet,” Lin Zhaohe replied. “I hurriedly rushed over here and didn’t have time to eat anything.”
“Well, let’s go have a meal then. I have someone waiting for me,” Zhuang Lao suggested.
“By the way, why was that administrator still here?” Lin Zhaohe recalled the administrator outside. “Shouldn’t he have disappeared along with the library?”
“That wasn’t his assigned library,” Zhuang Lao explained. “I saw that he had nowhere to stay, so I had him join the company as a support staff member. He’s quite useful, after all.”
Lin Zhaohe: “……” “Quite useful” was an understatement. Who would dare to wreak havoc in the company and tear everything apart? However, he noticed that the administrator treated Zhuang Lao in a special way. If he had to describe it, it was a mix of vigilance and respect.
What exactly was Zhuang Lao’s identity? Lin Zhaohe had never thought about this question before, but now he couldn’t help but ponder. Zhuang Lao possessed formidable strength and had a mysterious identity. He ran a peculiar insurance company in this chaotic world… Could such a person really exist in the three-dimensional world? But if he wasn’t a character from the three-dimensional world, which work did he come from? Unexplainably, Lin Zhaohe remembered those works in the library labeled with his own pen name, but with no memories attached to them.
Why did these works appear in the library of the fusion zone?
[A/N]:
Lin Zhaohe: Is it against the rules to date within the company?
Zhuang Lao: Not dating is against the rules. Let the administrator tear apart those who don’t date.
Employees: ??
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