Chapter 443: Cooperate?

Although the officials treated them fairly well, they still weren't allowed to have things like mobile phones.

However, it's understandable; the authorities definitely still need to enforce basic information controls.

The situation of Xirensheng and Ying Duo is unclear, but as long as they also came back alive, they were probably taken away by the authorities.

But the authorities probably don't know Xirensheng; the only ones with identity exposure risk are the strategy team, and indeed Ying Duo's notoriety is just too widespread—his headshot appears everywhere in the game world.

I don't know how his situation is over there; Hua Jian Lei temporarily doesn't plan to act rashly.

"Sir, someone is looking for you two; would you be willing to go with us?"

After all, they will come looking for us themselves.

Hua Jian Lei lifted those captivating peach-blossom eyes and glanced at the person before him—exactly the uniformed man who had just invited him and Lao Bao.

They've been here for a while; whether it's the authorities' cleanup of those aberrant species or the statistical work on players, both should be about done.

So the authorities will definitely come looking for them.

Whether it's the reputation of Entropy Increase among players, or the series of events they caused in the Dome, once exposed, Hua Jian Lei will definitely be summoned by the authorities.

However, Hua Jian Lei's current identity is fake; if the authorities investigate thoroughly, they'll discover the identity issues with him and Lao Bao.

"Of course, no problem."

Hua Jian Lei replied with a beaming smile, but the man's vigilance toward him rose sharply.

Lao Bao's recent scene of dealing with that aberrant species left him with a significant psychological shadow, and Hua Jian Lei, being with him, is certainly no good bird either!

The man's authority can't let him know too much; he only knows that Hua Jian Lei seems to be an administrator of a powerful player group in the game, but Hua Jian Lei wields such power yet has no record in the authorities.

This alone can explain many things.

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Unlike the externally renowned Entropy Increase, although Meng Kexin's status in the Chen Family of Tianmian City has reached a very high level, she is not famous.

If she were to have any external fame, it would surely be something like "ungrateful toward the Zhao Family," "seducing the young master," that sort of vase-like bad reputation.

Such minor squabbles between aristocratic families would definitely not make it onto the authorities' radar, nor would they attract much attention.

Meng Kexin is still relatively unfortunate; for example, as soon as she woke up, three people in her room had completely mutated into aberrant species.

But perhaps this is also the reason the authorities dare not excessively test the players in that room, immediately killing the fully mutated aberrant species at first notice.

For these ordinary players, all they need to do is rest properly.

However, thanks to the Chen Family's influence protection, aside from having a lot of work, Meng Kexin is exceptionally safe in the game world.

Those jobs come easily to Meng Kexin; all things considered, she counts among the safest batch of players.

Moreover, the Chen Family's influence also lets her grasp much information unknown to the outside world.

But this way, her work certainly can't be done.

Meng Kexin rubbed her slightly aching head; she had previously not chosen to connect with the authorities, a large part of which was to keep her job.

She is currently in a career upswing!

Being favored by her leader and directly brought to the capital's urban development, although she's merely the leader's little secretary, both high salary and a reasonable superior are rare finds for many.

Meng Kexin frowned tightly, gritted her teeth, and glanced at the electronic watch on her wrist.

Although mobile phones were all confiscated by the authorities for unified storage, this watch that only tells time was not confiscated.

It's been almost an hour since they woke up at 12 o'clock.

The authorities came in waves, taking some people away, but more ordinary folks simply gathered in various places to rest together.

However, those gathered here seem to be players who had never registered with the authorities before; although their freedom here isn't restricted, dedicated guards are stationed at every entrance and exit.

They don't fully trust the authorities, and the authorities naturally can't fully trust them either.

For this reason, most of them feel uneasy about the current situation, but the authorities' attitude toward them is entirely friendly.

She slipped her hands into her hoodie pockets; before being sent to this place, she had been alone at home preparing to enter the game, so her attire was fairly casual—just a hoodie, and she was still a bit chilly.

Meng Kexin prepared to go ask someone for a blanket, but her wristwatch suddenly vibrated.

Meng Kexin lowered her head to look; it was 12:47, with no change.

But just how simple is this electronic watch? Besides telling time, it doesn't even have a timing function.

She thought it was her own illusion, withdrew her gaze, and prepared to ask the officials for a blanket.

The watch face then jolted again, this time more noticeably; Meng Kexin jerked her head down and saw a string of luminous green data stream flash on the dial.

She almost thought she was seeing things, or that the watch screen had malfunctioned.

Meng Kexin's fingers pressed the watch's only two buttons; the screen suddenly went dark, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Then she saw luminous green lines tracing the outline of a cat inside the watch—triangular ears, round face, two oval eyes, pupils gold vertical lines.

Before she could react, the pixel cat outlined by those simple lines jumped in place, and a bubble popped up above its head.

"(´･ω･`)"

Meng Kexin stared at the cat for two seconds; she was certain the watch she bought absolutely couldn't raise an electronic pet, nor did it have any function to receive external information.

It's just a watch, a street‑stall good—apart from telling time, it can't do anything else.

But that cat on her watch face wagged its head again, and another bubble appeared above it.

"Cooperate?"

Meng Kexin poked the watch face with her finger; although faint, she could still sense a thread of unfamiliar energy fluctuation within her watch.

Meng Kexin temporarily abandoned the plan to go ask the officials for a blanket, simply sitting with her knees drawn up in an inconspicuous corner.

"Ying Duo?"

She tentatively spoke, mainly because this luminous green is truly representative.

Given that person's outrageous conduct, this color has become synonymous with that person in her mind.