Chapter 883: Resolving the White Mist

The pen tip scratched, the vehicle body swayed.

On the armored vehicle, Chu An, to make it easier for everyone to understand, quickly drew a mind map, then continued speaking calmly:

Just as I said before, humans within the white mist are all affected by the meme, falling into confusion and hallucination.

But in fact, at first the white mist's range was small, or put another way, the white mist meme was weak.

Most areas were safe; for those affected, whether the degree of auditory hallucination or otherwise, it wasn't too strong.

In fact, it could only produce simple hallucinations at first.

Everyone nodded slightly, looking at the range Chu An drew representing the initial white mist, and could understand this.

The white mist was indeed small at first; the Huanjiang Military Region also mentioned this.

The meme strengthens with the degree of killing and fear; likewise, this also means that when it first appeared, it wasn't as terrifying as later.

What do you mean?

In a low voice, a high-ranking Awakened One asked, seeming to half-understand, vaguely guessing what Chu An wanted to say.

Nodding, Chu An continued speaking:

Three humans, during the early stage of the white mist meme, came into contact with its effect.

After falling into hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, they fled into the broadcast station to avoid zombies.

Of course, they themselves were unaware of this.

Under prolonged torment and auditory hallucinations, one Chen-surname man mistakenly took the auditory hallucinations as reality, or rather the meme kept attacking him.

Under hunger, dehydration, and high-intensity pressure, his mindset grew increasingly desperate.

Especially when the meme, through his imagined broadcast, transmitted a thought to him, his pressure grew even greater.

(Outside there are zombies, cannot go out, cannot look outside.)

Under this deceptive auditory hallucination, he locked his family inside the broadcast station, causing them to die.

Meanwhile, the white mist meme continually fabricated false information for him, such as that a rescue team was nearby.

This gave him a sliver of hope.

Rescue information?

An Jing Tian, upon hearing, showed doubt in his eyes and instinctively countered:

Isn't the white mist meme meant to kill people? It shouldn't be giving those in contact more desperate information to drive them to suicide?

How could good news appear?

Chu An gave a half-smile, half-not, and slightly shook his head:

True despair isn't simply giving people despair... but first giving hope, then strangling that so-called hope. Only then does one feel utter despair.

After hearing the false rescue broadcast, the Chen-surname man stubbornly held on until the sixth day.

Actually, his will was also quite steadfast.

But later, when he was full of hope and awaiting the so-called rescue, the meme again transmitted the news that the troops had been repelled by monsters.

Thus, he again fell into an unsolvable situation.

This was the first hope dashed.

After a brief pause, Chu An sighed, as if the content he was about to speak was truly cruel.

Anyone hearing this would likely lament, 'Why is the white mist meme so perverse?'

Next, seeing his nearly hopeless situation, the Chen-surname man decided to commit suicide.

No food, no water; even his urine was drunk.

In his remaining sanity, suicide was far better than being eaten by outside zombies or starving to death.

Under the meme's deliberate coercion, he ultimately chose to shoot and kill his wife first, then after a struggle and 'urging', he shot and killed his child.

Dying painlessly, for him, could also be considered a kind of 'hope'.

But just as he was in extreme collapse, planning suicide to escape.

The meme again prevented his death, leaving him facing even greater despair.

This was the second time.

His voice calm, several people unaware of what happened next looked at Chu An with solemn expressions.

Next... what is it?

Just thinking about what Chu An just said, they could feel how desperate that family of three must have been at the time.

Pat

He took out a cassette tape and placed it on the table; Chu An showed a faint smile and slowly spoke:

The white mist meme actively lifted the auditory hallucinations and illusions.

It let this person see with his own eyes that outside the broadcast station there were no besieging zombies, nor any giant monster that had repelled the rescue team.

What was there were merely soldiers from the military who had long since reclaimed this area.

Moreover, he heard from the soldiers that they had previously knocked on the door, but thought there was no one inside.

The zombies knocking on the door was fake; that was the rescue force.

The cannon fire was real, but that was the sound of eliminating the surrounding zombies.

Not letting him look outside was fake; that was the meme deliberately deceiving him, preventing him from knowing what had happened.

Just think about it.

He spoke word by word, pausing.

If you were an ordinary person trapped in a foodless room by zombies and mutants.

When you endure the long period, hope dashed time after time, and when you finally become desperate enough to kill your wife and children with your own hands, only to discover that the world outside the door is completely normal and utterly safe.

No monsters, no danger, only humans who could save you.

Even, if you just held on for one more minute, delayed firing by a little, you and your wife and children could have survived, instead of dying by your own hand...

You...

What would happen?

Inside the car, there was complete silence, and everyone felt the fear as if it were their own.

Their faces froze; several people exchanged glances, each seeing deep despair and dread in the other's eyes.

If it were me, after experiencing all this, I'd probably go mad no matter what.

So...

Jing Tian's voice was a little hoarse as he asked Chu An:

So, what happened to that person in the end...

Chu An shook his head slightly and gave the final answer with a calm expression:

Very simple.

He completely collapsed and went mad.

After his spirit was tormented, in utter despair he chose suicide because he could not face the truth.

And he, under those emotions, became the second carrier of the meme.

Reason, emotion, thought, belief... all collapsed.

When emotion and thought become twisted, eventually beginning to rot and mutate, he began to hate the truth, hate himself, hate everything, even hate why outside the broadcast station are humans.

If he didn't know all this, he might not have endured this pain.

So, the second kind of meme was born. 'He' despises all humans who enter the white mist, and 'he' wants everyone to die in the same despair as him.

Like a stress response, his thought pattern retained only spreading fear, and... sharing this despairing emotion.

He drew a sharp breath of cold air.

Everyone unconsciously looked toward the distant white mist, only feeling their scalps go numb.

No wonder we never encountered any concrete monsters from start to finish, no wonder those people went mad..

With a bitter laugh, Jing Tian, after hearing all the information, finally realized just how unsolvable the white mist meme had become.

It has no physical form, relying entirely on thought transmission and illusion attacks.

To uncover the truth behind the meme, one must not only resist mental erosion for a long time, but also, under extreme despair's emotional interference, calmly find the two facts.

It's hard to imagine how this guy Chu An managed to do it.

If it were him, even if he could withstand the illusion attacks, he'd likely still place himself in that ultimate despair.

If there's the slightest waver in reason, one would probably fall into madness.

Having killed his beloved with his own hands, he then discovered hope right before his eyes.

Who could withstand such a blow?

When Anxia first fled, he and Lin An almost went crazy, wanting to use the broadcast to find Anxia.

How could we talk about staying calm?

So... Colonel Chu.

Can we really solve this meme?

As you say, this meme no longer needs a physical form; we can't even find where it is...

An unsolvable meme.

Several people looked grim, asking quietly; although Chu An said he had a method, they couldn't think of any approach.

He lightly lifted his glasses frame; Chu An was not surprised by everyone's unease and doubt, he just gave an easy smile:

Yes.

And I said before, it's actually very simple.