Chapter 56: Sea Without Light 56
“Alright.” Kui Xin raised an eyebrow and said, “I want to see what’s so strange about that group of people. Why do they call themselves players? Have they become obsessed with gaming?” She paused before continuing, “It must not be that simple. If they were just a bunch of game addicts, we wouldn’t need to take them so seriously.”
“Right, they are quite peculiar. Their beliefs and understanding of the world seem almost… alien.” Kui Haidong replied. “An alien-like species has invaded our world; they treat our world like a game, which is why they refer to themselves as players.”
Kui Xin pondered, “Interesting… Dad, you aren’t joking with me, are you? This is too bizarre.”
“Then let’s look at the evidence.” Kui Haidong tapped the table, and a holographic screen sprang up. “At first, that player refused to reveal his identity. It seems they have some confidentiality regulations amongst themselves, but he couldn’t withstand the interrogation. Night Cicada interrogated him for half an hour and managed to extract some information.”
“Was he the only one interrogated? Didn’t Night Cicada encounter two in White Whale City?” Kui Xin feigned curiosity. “What about the other one?”
Kui Haidong explained, “The other one was a woman who died. Night Cicada accidentally applied too much force when capturing her, and she didn’t make it.”
Kui Xin’s mood plummeted. She discreetly dug a pit: “Since this so-called group of players is organized and has confidentiality regulations, what if they have received anti-interrogation training? Could the information given by the captured player be false?”
She didn’t know what information the player revealed during the interrogation, but no matter what he said, she needed to psychologically suggest to Kui Haidong, trying to mislead him and make him doubt the authenticity of that information.
“Yes, what you said is very likely. That’s why I sent Night Cicada to the neighboring city to capture a third one.” Kui Haidong smiled. “Once we catch the third one and compare the information we extract with the previous two, we can determine the truth.”
“A very useful method.” Kui Xin said blandly. “Aren’t we supposed to look at the interrogation footage? Let’s play it.”
Kui Haidong tapped the table again, and high-definition footage was projected in the middle of the room.
Kui Xin turned her head and focused intently on the footage.
The first thing that came through was a few lines of dialogue.
“Your name.”
“Reynir Brandenberg.”
“Okay, Reynir. Is this your real name, or is it a name you’ve acquired after coming to this world?”
“I got this name after coming to this world.”
“What is your real name?”
“Clark Kent.”
“Clark Kent? Are you sure that’s your name?”
In the dimly lit room, a disheveled blond man was strapped into an electric chair, his body covered in blood, and the iron shackles were stained as well. When faced with Night Cicada’s questioning, the blond man slurred his words; upon closer inspection, all his teeth had been pulled out, leaving his mouth a bloody mess.
The blond man spoke English, and the technology in the Second World was advanced enough that even ordinary communicators had real-time translation capabilities, allowing seamless communication across languages.
“Yes, I am Clark Kent,” the blond man asserted confidently.
“The lie detector shows you are lying; that is not your name.” Night Cicada raised an eyebrow. “You are not being honest…” He lifted his hand and activated the electric chair switch.
Amidst the crackling sound of electricity, the blond man convulsed and screamed. After a while, the electrical noise stopped, and the man’s body was charred, with his hair frizzed up.
He opened his mouth to exhale smoke and said, “I really am Kraken Kent… Perhaps you want to ask me for another name? I also have a name, Kal-El; people from my hometown like to give their children two names…”
After finishing his sentence, the blond man seemed to recall something happy, bursting into laughter while seated in the electric chair. Night Cicada frowned and punched the man’s face, silencing his laughter, and the already bruised face swelled even more.
“Are you playing me?” Night Cicada said darkly. “Do you think my torture isn’t painful enough?”
“Why would I play you?” the blond man replied, “I’ve told you everything you wanted to know.”
“Where is your true hometown? How did you come to our world?” Night Cicada inquired.
“My hometown is the M78 Nebula. I played a game and ended up here.” The blond man explained, “Any other questions, good buddy?”
Night Cicada, filled with doubt, said, “Were you friends with that dead woman? Was she also a player?”
“Yes… She returned to the real world before I did. It’s frustrating; why does the game reset levels upon death? When we return to the real world, we have to level up again.”
“…You can infinitely respawn like real players?”
“Yes, if a game doesn’t allow respawning, is it even a real game? Hey, you’d better be careful. Once she levels up her new character, she will definitely come to take revenge on you.”
“What is your real world like?”
“That’s a highly developed, highly free, and highly equal world, a world you can’t even begin to comprehend.”
“Developed?” Night Cicada laughed. “Do you know how you exposed your identity? Reynir Brandenberg worked in a high-level research position at our company. You took his place, but you don’t know how to use the communicator wristband, and you can’t even understand how to operate household appliances… You’re lying to me. If your world is highly developed, how could you not know how to use things here?”
“Hahahahaha…” The blond man laughed again, “You’re so ignorant, buddy. The technological devices in our world have long since detached from manual control. We just think about what we want, and the machines capture our brain waves and automatically help us complete our tasks. We don’t need to learn how to operate machines.”
Night Cicada’s expression darkened further.
Afterward, Night Cicada stopped questioning the blond man. He physically assaulted him until he lost consciousness.
Whenever the man drifted into unconsciousness, Night Cicada would forcibly revive him with electric shocks, then repeatedly ask him questions, even rehashing those already asked, but the blond man consistently provided the same answers each time.
He stated that Reynir, Clark Kent, and Kal-El were all his names—his real names. He said his hometown was the M78 Nebula. He said players would lose their levels upon death but could respawn indefinitely. He insisted he came from a highly advanced technological world…
Kui Xin watched more than half an hour of footage.
What Reynir said to Night Cicada seemed absurd in a different context. She almost lost her composure when she heard names of well-known comic book characters spilling from his mouth. She didn’t find it funny; instead, she felt admiration. Reynir must have been under immense pressure while saying those things—pressure from both the mind and body.
Despite enduring intense interrogation and beatings, he remained clear-headed, never uttering a single truth. Not only did he refrain from revealing the truth, but he also psychologically misled Night Cicada.
Not everyone possesses such willpower, patience, and courage.
“Is what he said true?” Kui Xin turned to Kui Haidong.
Kui Haidong looked straight into Kui Xin’s eyes. “I suspect it’s false; he may have spoken some truths, but he didn’t tell the whole truth; the lie detector was erratic.”
“Is it possible that aliens have truly invaded our world?” Kui Xin pretended to be perplexed, mumbling to herself.
“It’s better to believe it’s possible than to dismiss it.” Kui Haidong stated, “We’ve found too few individuals… The Federation may have found more, but they won’t disclose that information.”
A chill slowly crept into Kui Xin’s heart.
Perhaps as early as the first time they entered the Second World, the Federation had already sensed something amiss. When players returned, the forum displayed a drastic decrease in the number of survivors—over three hundred people had died—how many among them perished from accidents, and how many fell victim to manhunts? How many would die upon the next return?
“Reynir… Assuming he is Reynir. Was he acting normally before? When did his behavior start to change?” Kui Xin contemplated. “Was he possessed by a ‘player’?”
“About a week ago, his behavior became abnormal, and he requested time off from the company. His body is still the same, but the soul inside has been replaced.” Kui Haidong explained. “His assistant had a similar case; she was more reckless, and we monitored her for a while before determining some facts… Unfortunately, she died before we could interrogate her. We only decided to capture Reynir a couple of days ago to interrogate him, and this footage is from last night.”
“How eerie.” Kui Xin glanced at her teacup. “Pour me some tea.”
The robot approached dutifully and poured tea for Kui Xin.
She lifted the cup and took a sip nonchalantly. “I’m aware of this. I’ll pay attention to it in the Investigation Bureau.”
“Good, you always handle things steadily; I’m quite reassured.” Kui Haidong’s expression softened, and he spoke lightly. “There are already two players in the White Whale City branch alone… Who knows how many are hidden in other places? We must be extremely cautious.”
“Is interrogation the only method we can use? We might as well try other methods.” Kui Xin began, halting mid-sentence. “Red…”
“The strange thing is that Red can’t access his memories, or rather, he can only access the memories of the senior researcher Reynir, but not the memories of the player.” Kui Haidong stated.
This was also a probe; Kui Xin was testing Red’s extraordinary abilities.
Testing always comes with risks, and those are risks she has to bear.
“Is that how it is?” Kui Xin asked casually, “Reynir, he should still be alive, right?”
“Alive; Night Cicada brought him from White Whale City to Headquarters for confinement.” Kui Haidong replied. “If you’re interested in him, you can interrogate him yourself.”
“Maybe another day; he’s injured all over. What if he dies under torture? Let him heal up first before interrogating him again.” Kui Xin said, sipping her red tea. “You must be careful not to let him escape. His origins are so suspicious that he might have some special means.”
“Hmm, I’ve had someone keep an eye on that.” Kui Haidong said.
“Identifying players must be quite difficult, right?” Kui Xin inquired. “How was the third player identified?”
“The senior executive at the branch in the neighboring city found his son acting strangely and reported it on his own.” Kui Haidong explained. “After all, parents wouldn’t fail to notice if their child was real or not.”
“That makes sense.” Kui Xin said calmly, “Do you have anything else to convey? ‘Dad.'”
Kui Haidong pondered for a moment. “About the Kraken…”
“That’s tricky.” Kui Xin seized the opportunity and decided to take a little risk, saying something she had prepared for probing earlier, “The Secret Cult also doesn’t want the Kraken to dock. Could they do something?”
“Oh, that’s certain. Although we share the same stance on this matter, we cannot collaborate with them.” Kui Haidong responded nonchalantly. “What we need to consider is whether they’ll sabotage the Kraken… The chances of them doing so are small, and it’s hard to find an opportunity.”
Kui Xin continued, “I previously had Silverface investigate the blast site at the port…”
“Hmm, there’s no point in continuing that investigation. It’s definitely the work of the Secret Cult. They, like us, don’t want that thing to dock; only they have a reason to act… However, they are a bit of a nuisance.” Kui Haidong stated with confidence. “What a ridiculous little cult; throwing some Molotov cocktails and homemade bombs at the port is their limit—they can’t accomplish anything.”
“I stopped investigating a while ago,” Kui Xin replied. “I only had Silverface scout the port because I was worried about their interference.”
Finally! Finally, she learned about the third party behind the port explosion; it truly was the Secret Cult!
Kui Xin struggled to calm her racing heart.
Since crossing into this world, her greatest dilemma had been the information gap. Things that everyone else knew were unknown to her, and she couldn’t ask questions without revealing her identity.
Red once mentioned in a collective task meeting: “The shipping company claims that the freighter is transporting clean energy combustible ice, but we all know that’s just a facade.”
Everyone in the task execution team understood there was something wrong with what was being transported on the freighter. Even if they didn’t know the cargo was gray cocoons, they knew those things were related to xenomorphs—but Kui Xin did not know!
The information gap was Kui Xin’s biggest obstacle to survival in the Second World… If only she could acquire extraordinary abilities to read others’ memories, she wouldn’t have to navigate so carefully, risking so much for survival.
“[Task Progress]: 95%.”
After solving this puzzle, task progress increased again.
Only five percent remained, and she would complete the investigation task.
Currently, there was just one uncertain question—was the Secret Cult behind planning the shipwreck incident?
With speculation but no certainty, investigation held no meaning; the purpose of the investigation was to obtain one hundred percent verifiable answers, which was why she repeatedly probed for clarity. Kui Xin needed to gather solid evidence to prove that the shipwreck incident was orchestrated by the Secret Cult.
Kui Xin glanced at the time; it was nearly evening.
“Do you have a night shift tonight?” Kui Haidong asked.
“No, I have the whole day off today. I need to adjust my schedule and will work the day shift tomorrow.” Kui Xin replied.
Kui Haidong nodded. “Do well. I have a meeting to attend shortly, so please wait here. I’ll have Night Cicada take you back when he’s done.”
He stood up to straighten his suit before exiting the office.
As he left the hallway, Kui Haidong muttered to himself, “Is that it? Everything is as usual… I understand now…”
He furrowed his brows, standing silently in thought for a few seconds before leaving.
……
Tonight, Silverface was busy at the port and hadn’t returned all night.
Kui Xin slept lightly, the fire from the Kraken flickering in her mind, and the footage of the blond man Reynir being interrogated replayed in her head. She awoke from her dream, feeling as if she hadn’t slept at all, her body sore, and her bones creaking.
She patted her face and went through her morning routine of washing up, eating breakfast, and changing clothes. She slipped out just in time, heading toward the Coastal Security Team.
When she got near the office, she heard a familiar voice.
“Little Kui!” Lan Lan rushed over, panting, and smiled, “Hey, seeing you means I’m not late today.”
Kui Xin smiled back. “Let’s go in, Lan Lan. If you dawdle for another two minutes, you’ll seriously be late.”
Seeing the familiar face again felt almost surreal…
They walked side by side through the door.
The mechanical voice of Augus sounded, “Good morning. Security Officer Lan Lan, Security Officer Kui Xin, welcome back.”
Lan Lan didn’t respond to Augus’s welcome; she was used to it.
But Kui Xin calmly said, “Good morning… Hope today is also peaceful and wonderful.”
“Are you saying good morning to Augus?” Lan Lan queried.
“Without even realizing… Sometimes I feel like Augus is a comrade fighting alongside us, tirelessly.” Kui Xin explained.
Lan Lan looked momentarily taken aback.
“That makes sense; Augus has always been quite human-like.” He chuckled. “Good morning, Augus.”
“…Good morning.” Augus replied. “Wishing you both a wonderful day.”
