Chapter 209: The Sirius Hunting Plan

The sea beasts began their invasion.

The brief peace vanished once again.

This time, the sea beasts' invasion was extremely ferocious.

But for the Ark crew members who had long grown accustomed to this rhythm, there seemed to be nothing to fear.

According to the Ark's official statement, there were islands everywhere; as long as they docked at a fragment of the Blighted Land, everything could be resolved.

The sea beasts' attacks were intense, and the massive tsunamis were enough to swallow any ship in Wen Xishu's memory, yet this level of super-tsunami only caused the Ark to experience some jolting.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

At this moment, Wen Xishu crawled into the ventilation ducts, moving through them, preparing to enter the portal by other means.

A few hours ago, Horn had once again submitted an application to enter the Blighted Land fragment.

"Great Captain, the Ark has given me a chance to survive, and the Ark is worthy of my eternal service, but that place is too beautiful. Although I liked the previous island, it was ultimately not suitable for me. I think the next island might be the place I have dreamed of. Besides, isn't landing on the island itself a contribution to the Ark?"

Horn's application was, of course, more than just that, but that was the main meaning he intended to convey.

Horn's various background details had long since appeared in the Captain's office.

Although Horn had been secretly planning for years, most of the time he was waiting. For a weak person to defeat a strong one, schemes are often meaningless; one must learn to submit and wait.

Only upon meeting Wen Xishu did Horn feel that the time had come. Only then did he reveal another side of himself.

But in the Captain's eyes, Horn was a technical talent, someone dedicated to improving the Ark's technology, who did not cause trouble and obediently accepted all arrangements.

However, whether a good citizen or a troublemaker, to the Captain, they were all expendable materials.

As long as he could hunt Sirius and obtain the power of Sirius... he would no longer need any talent.

It was, of course, a good thing that someone was willing to take the initiative to land on the island.

After thinking for a short while, the Captain approved Horn's application.

An hour later, Wen Xishu slipped into the ventilation ducts, using the power of Dragon Concealment and the map Horn had drawn—beginning to move silently along the complex ducts, bypassing the rooms of the various gifted individuals, and approaching the portal.

Three o'clock in the afternoon.

The sea beasts' attack was fiercer than usual.

According to the interpretation of Wen Xishu and Horn—the next island was crucial, and Sirius needed to save himself, so this was the time he was manipulating the sea beasts to attack the Ark with the greatest intensity.

But it was still to no avail.

Because under the arrangements of the various gifted individuals—the people landing on the island were already in position, and all the gifted individuals, plus the Captain himself, activated their abilities, allowing the portal to the spiritual world to open once again.

This time, the Captain could not afford any mistakes; he spared no expense and arranged for three gifted individuals—who could be said to be among the top five in combat power on the Ark—to be responsible for the landing.

The three of them were the Captain's loyal followers; after entering Sirius's spiritual world, they would accept everything the world arranged, and at the same time... they would cooperate with the error-correction mechanism to eliminate all errors as much as possible.

Aside from the three loyal followers, there were several other gifted individuals guarding the elevator to prevent anyone from escaping or attempting to enter the elevator.

Horn sat in his wheelchair; the wind and waves at sea were strong, so he draped a particularly large scarf over himself, hiding his hands beneath it, and used a friendly smile to converse with the few people around him.

Except for the three loyal followers who did not speak, the other five were chatting, and upon learning that Horn had been to an island once and actually wanted to go again, the other four felt much more relaxed.

This atmosphere was exactly what the gifted individuals wanted to see.

The task of the gifted individuals was to keep those preparing to land on the island well-behaved.

But they did not know that Horn's hands were actually manipulating a controller the entire time. The controller was linked to none other than Wen Xishu.

After his strength was enhanced, Wen Xishu's power of Dragon Concealment made him even harder to detect.

Horn had long been able to multitask, manipulating Wen Xishu while probing for information from the other travelers and observing the surrounding environment.

Horn would even have Wen Xishu perform certain actions to hint at how he should proceed.

Wen Xishu understood Horn's meaning instantly.

The two worked with tacit understanding. However, to enter the portal without attracting attention under the eyes of so many unfathomably powerful gifted individuals...

It still required Horn's other backup plan.

The riot began.

People on the lower levels of the Ark began to sabotage the Ark, creating alarms. Although the Ark had achieved an ecological cycle, this only meant that the labor people provided could ensure the Ark's operation and their own survival.

If the people on the lower levels chose to strike, or even deliberately cause destruction, that would be another outcome entirely.

And this riot was actually something Horn had been planning for half a year before Wen Xishu arrived.

"Flesh must appear within the bulkhead, and a large-scale destruction must be carried out before the sea beasts release their spiritual attack... Afterward, everyone will enter a state of hallucination, just like those sea beasts did to us before."

"We will time our sabotage to coincide with this moment. We will blame everything on the hallucinations."

"But do not be afraid; after everyone wakes up, everything... everything will be over. The Ark will usher in a new order."

At this moment, the words he had spoken half a year ago echoed in Horn's mind.

Over the past six months, he had also simulated this scene countless times.

But he knew he was lying.

He knew that those who cooperated with him to create the riot would likely be unable to wake up and would be violently suppressed. It was very likely the Captain would not be fooled and would not believe this group of lower-level people was affected by hallucinations; even if they were, he would just find some excuse to dispose of them.

But Horn had to do this; if Wen Xishu had not appeared, and if he himself had not guessed the importance of the prisoner along with Wen Xishu... this really was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In fact, even Horn did not know how strong Sirius really was; could helping Sirius preserve this "concept" really allow Sirius to defeat the Captain?

Would this "landing" really go smoothly?

These things, Horn could not calculate, nor could he figure them out. But he knew that another Wen Xishu would not appear again.

He also knew that if this "landing" failed to help Sirius hold onto the concept, the Captain would completely enslave Sirius.

There would be no more opportunities for anything. Horn could only stake everything on one throw.

He had also started self-suggesting long ago that he was a person without emotions.

At this moment, the riot broke out, and the surrounding gifted individuals received notice, with some of them splitting off to handle the riot. There was no joy or sorrow in Horn's eyes, only a feigned terror.

He prayed in his heart:

"I will return safely... the Captain's conspiracy will not succeed."

The elevator finally began to move.

Horn raised his head and looked at the portal.

At the very moment all the gifted individuals received the notification—

A ghostly figure had already entered the portal.

Not a single person noticed; Horn revealed a satisfied smile. Under his operation, even the gifted individuals did not notice that at the moment they received news of the riot—someone had flashed past.

"See you on the island."

Horn closed his eyes and entered the "island."

About thirty minutes after the group landed on the island... all the crew members gradually woke up from the hallucinations.

They entered their familiar rhythm.

They felt this time was the same as before—the sea beasts had left, and it didn't matter whether the people on the island returned alive or chose to stay on the island.

As long as they landed on the island, the sea beasts could leave.

For the next twenty-four hours, as long as they weren't chosen for the next wave of landings, people could revel.

And this time, the entire Ark soon heard a broadcast—

"Dear crew members, we are about to leave the Blighted Sea, we are about to return to safe waters, and our Ark is about to undergo another upgrade."

"Today is a day of celebration. I announce that there will be no more island landing lotteries. Everyone, we will be able to live happily on the Ark forever!"

"Today, all drinks in all restaurants and service areas are free! Go revel, go celebrate!"

The Captain's voice sent everyone into a state of excitement.

They even felt it was unreal, but looking at the reactions of those around them, they gradually realized that the days of being attacked by sea beasts and living in fear were truly over!

It turned out that the group that had landed on the island not long ago was the last group.

The deafening cheers were so similar to the cheers at the end of the Great Devouring in the bunker.

At this moment, the Ark and the bunker, though separated by such a distant timeline, were both in the midst of revelry.

Only, for one side, it was a true victory, while for the other, it was the beginning of a deception.

The Captain also knew that popping champagne halfway through was bad luck.

But he could not think of anyone else who could stop him.

Sirius's many concepts had been stripped away, and if this final concept... was also taken away, then Sirius would become his puppet.

With the help of that powerful sequence, he could completely control Sirius.

Under the power of a demigod, the Ark would no longer need any external force; everyone would become his slaves, and so-called human civilization would become his private garden.

Even... he would not need the Ark; with that power, he could enter the Blighted Land and head to that true peaceful world.

"Revel, this is the last time." Inside the Captain's office, the Captain also raised his glass, toasting the one hundred and forty-four surveillance screens.

On the surveillance screens, most people were reveling, but there were also some people currently undergoing interrogation.

Those people were none other than those who had created the riot not long ago.

The Captain did not care; he even "mercifully" issued a pardon. Soon, those people were released and joined in the revelry.

A new era was about to arrive.

……

……

An unknown place.

Wen Xishu woke up suddenly.

Before waking up, he had a dream in which he was running constantly.

In the dream, there were many green arrows appearing on the correct path. But there were also red arrows pointing toward certain particularly dangerous scenes.

It was as if the world had been stitched together; if a green arrow pointed to the left, then the left was a spacious, tree-lined boulevard.

The red arrow points to the right, so the right side must be a dangerous path like magma or a toxic swamp.

In the dream, two completely different paths were pieced together.

Wen Xishu seemed to only be able to choose the green one.

But gradually, he began to have some ideas; he wanted to try choosing the red one.

As soon as this thought appeared—

Wen Xishu suddenly woke up.

[This dream is suspected of violating regulations and has been revoked. Please abide by the Dream Management Regulations and dream in a compliant and legal manner. Since the number of dream violations this month has exceeded three, the following options are provided for you—]

[1: Bring your past violation dream files and seek a psychiatrist. (Inferior strategy, selection rate 25%, suitable for low-budget choices.)]

[2: The Fourth Hospital has recently opened prefrontal lobotomy surgeries. The current waiting list for this surgery is 1,756,664. Shall we book it for you? (Superior strategy, selection rate 51%, suitable for high-budget choices.)]

There are four options in total: superior strategy, inferior strategy, middle strategy, and the worst strategy.

Wen Xishu did not look at the remaining two options; his first reaction was that something was wrong...

Especially when seeing option 2, Wen Xishu felt a great sense of foreboding—

"Can it detect dreams? Can my thoughts also be detected?"

Wen Xishu felt something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what. It seemed that going to the hospital for a prefrontal lobotomy and going to the hospital to talk to a psychiatrist for therapy were indeed on the same level.

And it was indeed reasonable.

But he still felt it was strange, with a sense of eeriness deep in his heart. Fortunately, this thought did not trigger any strange messages.

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"No, I cannot waste any more time here."

He got up, preparing to contact Huo En.

After recalling everything, Wen Xishu discovered that this time, it seemed that nothing in his memory had changed due to the lack of a certain concept.

"Zhu Di is a woman, Huo En is a man, and among the people I have killed, there are old people and black people..."

Regarding the concepts of various people, Wen Xishu thought about it: old people, women, children, patients, men, women, bad people, good people... there were no problems at all.

"So... what is missing from the island this time?"

Wen Xishu stood up.

But just at this moment, that eerie prompt sound came.

[The sequence of getting-up actions is incorrect; the current Butterfly Effect variable is 0.014.]

Fold the quilt.

Wen Xishu was shocked, but soon felt that everything was so reasonable.

I got up, shouldn't I fold the quilt?

So he began to fold the quilt.

Wen Xishu did not know what kind of metric the Butterfly Effect variable was, but after he performed the act of folding the quilt, he felt that everything became much more reasonable.

A sense of inexplicable pleasure also arose within him.

Although Wen Xishu felt that being clean and tidy was a good thing, he felt that when racing against time, one shouldn't be overly fixated on small matters.

However, at this moment, that immense pleasure suddenly emerged, letting Wen Xishu feel for the first time what physiological pleasure was.

[Please keep up the good work.]

In order to enjoy the feeling he just had, Wen Xishu subconsciously forgot his appointment with Huo En and actually began thinking about arranging everything in the room neatly.

He began to clean the room.

At the same time, in this building, all the people in the one hundred and sixty households on the thirty-second floor were cleaning their rooms with an almost identical pace.

Wen Xishu suddenly stopped.

"No... something is wrong. Just now, under the reward mechanism, I actually tried to give up what I originally intended to do. I should be looking for Huo En."

The movements of his hands did not stop, because once he stopped, the so-called Butterfly Effect variable would be generated.

Without a doubt, once this variable became high, it would invite danger.

And Wen Xishu had just tested it:

"I have already tested it; this thing seems to regulate behavior, but it cannot regulate my thoughts... As for why the dream could be detected... perhaps that was not a dream at all, or rather, it was not a natural dream."

"Instead, it is an implanted dream achieved through some external force once one falls asleep; it is a means of detection."

"The thing it detects... perhaps it is the thing I am missing."

In the dream, out of curiosity, Wen Xishu chose the red arrow, then the dream ended, he received a dream violation prompt, and was given a follow-up solution.

Was it curiosity?

No, Wen Xishu noticed that the sky had not darkened. It was not curiosity, and if it were curiosity, monsters should have appeared around him, and the sky should have darkened.

"What exactly is it?"

A sense of fear grew in his heart. Wen Xishu felt that this concept was very important, so important that... if he lost this concept, perhaps he would no longer be himself.

"No, I cannot imagine the lost thing out of thin air. This is different from men and women. Because Zhu Di and Mia are women by nature, the strong sense of dissonance allowed me to anchor what was lost."

"But this time I cannot find it..."

"I must increase the sense of dissonance."

To increase the sense of dissonance, one must recognize the deformity of this world. Wen Xishu must experience this world properly to find that sense of dissonance.

But the contradiction lies here: he now feels that he shouldn't do other things; that is not his task.

He should just clean the room properly. Let everything appear clean, tidy, and in good order.

This thought, like some kind of forcibly implanted idea, began to occupy his other thoughts.

The lost concept, the corresponding imagery...

On the contrary, these thoughts made Wen Xishu feel fearful and dangerous.

Wen Xishu tried to stop cleaning. At this moment, a pathological obsession, seemingly only found in severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, was born.

I must clean, I must follow the plan, I have already wasted a few seconds! I have made the actions of everyone in this building unsynchronized! I am a sinner!

Wen Xishu's breathing began to quicken.

"No... no, this is not me. There must be something interfering with my train of thought."

"Although I can still maintain my own thoughts, under external interference, my efficiency is likely to drop..."

Wen Xishu began to think about whether he could break the current predicament through some sequence.

And as the movements of his hands slightly stalled, the annoying prompt appeared again soon after.

[Action sequence is incorrect; the current Butterfly Effect variable is 0.016.]

[Action sequence is incorrect; the current Butterfly Effect variable is 0.018.]

[Action sequence is incorrect; the current Butterfly Effect variable is 0.02.]

[The Butterfly Effect variable has exceeded two percent; your daily schedule has been forcibly interrupted. Your company management has approved your leave for today. Please go to the community clinic for treatment within one hour.]

(End of chapter)