Chapter 210: The Mad State

District 19.

The city is divided into thirty-four districts in total; it is not large, but every area is highly prosperous and extremely three-dimensional.

Huge billboards carve up the space into a highly three-dimensional form.

In the gaps between numerous electronic screens, billboards, and neon lights, there is a relatively small plaque that reads, "District 19 Psychological Clinic."

Generally speaking, those who come here to receive consultation are all patients with severe mental disorders.

At least, that is what this doctor told Wen Xishu.

It is said that once you come here, a file will be kept, making it difficult to find work in the future; of course, one could also undergo a prefrontal lobotomy to become a superior factory worker.

To work on an assembly line in a factory, doing that kind of high-end work that requires no brainpower, only mechanical repetitive movements and the use of muscle memory.

"Are you saying... that everyone who comes here is someone with a serious potential for mental illness? Do you think I look like one?" Wen Xishu asked the doctor.

The doctor’s smile was very stiff:

"Of course."

"But I only slacked off while sweeping the floor," Wen Xishu said.

The doctor shook his head, but because his memory was not very good, he had equipped a voice version of the operational manual; through his Bluetooth headset, Wen Xishu heard these words:

"The amplitude of the head shake must not be too large, in accordance with the doctor industry standard for head shaking."

Although the sound was very faint, it could not stop Wen Xishu, who at this moment possessed the Power of Three Phases and extremely powerful five senses. Hearing this, Wen Xishu very much wanted to capture the... pain in the doctor's eyes.

Being tortured and constrained, could one really feel at ease?

But Wen Xishu quickly remembered that he was wrong.

Because pleasure and enjoyment appeared in the doctor's eyes, which also made the doctor begin to follow his behavioral operation manual even more closely.

Wen Xishu remembered that when he completed certain actions that complied with the norms, he would also feel a huge sense of pleasure.

Dog training mechanism.

If you do something wrong, you are punished; if you do something right, you are rewarded.

Once a conditioned reflex is established, the dog will become very obedient.

Without a doubt, this island... or rather, this mental world, all the citizens are very obedient.

As long as they are not made to realize within twenty-four hours that they shouldn't be so obedient, then Sirius... will likely also become very obedient?

But what exactly is that word?

Chaos? Irregularity? Selfishness? Variable?

Wen Xishu thought of many words, but still could not remember it.

The doctor saw Wen Xishu in this state:

"As expected of someone who can single-handedly bring about a two-percent butterfly effect fluctuation, sir, you make me feel afraid."

"What do you mean by slacking off? You should know that this society follows a unified will; how can we slack off when we are supposed to be doing something?"

"The birth of such a thought will itself, like a virus, corrode you bit by bit!"

"Your situation is too serious. The last time I saw a situation like yours... it was a student who, when encountering a multiple-choice question he didn't know how to answer, chose to pick one at random instead of leaving it blank as the operation manual dictates."

"This is too serious. This incident caused a sensation throughout the school; he was expelled, and his parents also accepted the advice of the parent operation manual and severed ties with him..."

"He indeed became a criminal, just as the operation manual predicted. And then... justice was executed upon him."

The doctor was indeed afraid of Wen Xishu. Would such a person do something unexpected? Would he cause some variable to appear in this orderly and harmonious world?

He gave his suggestion.

Of course, this suggestion was also provided by the operational manual.

Wen Xishu frowned.

This action scared the doctor again.

Wen Xishu himself realized that doing this was wrong; now he should accept the suggestion and let the doctor help him book a surgery at the Fourth Hospital. Go to District 11 and have a small prefrontal lobotomy.

In this way, his life would be envied by countless people—becoming a superior factory worker.

Is there something wrong with this world?

And for a student to make a choice on a multiple-choice question he doesn't know is, logically speaking, not a problem. Choosing doesn't mean it's right, but leaving it blank is definitely wrong.

But inexplicably, once Wen Xishu thought deeply, he would feel a headache. He remembered that before, too, once he thought deeply about women and gender, he would have a headache.

Only when the level of dissonance is high enough is it possible to get an answer.

But the problem is, Wen Xishu now seems to feel that some external force is restricting him from thinking deeply.

He can only rely on instinct to deal with this world.

"Doctor, do you have your own thoughts?" Wen Xishu couldn't help but ask.

The doctor looked at the butterfly effect dosage meter and found that Wen Xishu's butterfly effect dosage had become 0.025.

Damn it, rounded up, that's three percent!

A person with a two-percent butterfly effect variable comes to him and it becomes three percent; how can he continue to work after this gets out?

Does he have no shame? Being a psychologist is already an extremely lowly, dangerous, and bitter job; say one wrong word, and you might turn from a doctor into a patient.

Actually, the doctor had applied for a prefrontal lobotomy many times, but because of the needs of his high-level position and insufficient butterfly effect variables, the applications were not approved.

He didn't understand much before, but now he seems to understand: this man in front of him actually asked if he had his own thoughts?

This is a question he could never ask anyone else in his entire life.

The doctor decided to speak according to the content of the operational manual:

"Of course, we all have our own thoughts; our thoughts are not under any control, but we must be neat, we must be in step."

"You only need to do what the operation manual says to be happy; why would you want to violate it?"

"Look at our city; everything is so neat and orderly, everything is full of the beauty of order, and the dust on every floor tile is distributed evenly!"

"Everyone's movements are uniform; everyone is the same! Why do you want to be special?"

"Your illness is too serious, but precisely because of this, you have an opportunity to reach the sky in one step. Honestly, I envy you."

Wen Xishu stood up.

At this moment, his movements did not conform to the "Behavioral Norms Manual: Patient Regulations," so Wen Xishu's butterfly effect variable had already broken through three percent.

The doctor was terrified.

Wen Xishu said:

"You seem to have become addicted to that kind of huge pleasure, that reward mechanism. It's a pity, Doctor, I don't think I'm sick."

Wen Xishu did not say this sentence coherently. After saying it, Wen Xishu's butterfly effect variable had already reached 0.037.

Heading toward four percent.

At this time, the Behavioral Norms Manual: Doctor Version issued an instruction to the psychologist.

[Potential criminal detected, please execute paralysis measures immediately! This action will include more pleasure value rewards and be evaluated as a social contribution measure.]

The doctor didn't hesitate to take out a pistol capable of firing an anesthetic from under the table.

Then he pulled the trigger.

In his eyes, this was a weapon that, once the trigger was pulled, would hit the opponent and make them fall into a deep sleep.

But in Wen Xishu's eyes, everything was very slow.

Wen Xishu didn't even dodge; he simply activated the invincibility frames of a perfect parry and precisely blocked the attack.

[Your behavior does not conform to the Patient Operation Manual; current butterfly effect variable 0.049.]

About to break through five percent.

The doctor immediately raised his hands:

"I'm sorry, don't kill me... don't kill me! I'm just trying to make a living! My job is already very hard!"

"If... if I lose this job, I'll have to go into the more dangerous and lowly novel and film industry!"

Wen Xishu almost couldn't keep a straight face. The more dangerous and lowly novel and film industry?

He was stunned for a moment, then pondered the logic behind it. The more creative and unconstrained an industry is... the lower and more dangerous it is?

Wen Xishu certainly wouldn't kill the doctor.

He just asked a question, but this question immediately scared the doctor until he fainted.

"Tell me, how can I get rid of these prompts? You should be able to see them, right? How do I remove this so-called operation manual?"

Wen Xishu's behavior now counts as very crazy.

He himself felt it was crazy; there was a huge, abrupt emotion trying to stop this madness.

But on the other hand, although Wen Xishu couldn't think deeply, his instinct still sensed—everyone in this city was connected to something.

Something that could make everyone feel "I shouldn't do this" and "huge pleasure."

At the same time, it would constantly prompt the variable that each person's behavior produced for society.

This variable was controlled to an absurd degree.

Wen Xishu felt that he was about to find the answer.

The concept of... not producing variables.

But after he asked this question, the doctor had already fainted.

[Your behavior does not conform to the Patient Operation Manual; current butterfly effect variable 0.072.]

It soared directly to seven percent.

[Apprehension personnel have been dispatched; if you choose to surrender now, you can enjoy the free prefrontal lobotomy policy.]

Wen Xishu felt the dissonance again.

Those novelists and directors looked down upon by the doctor... if the underlying logic is the desire to do better, then why don't these people choose to have a prefrontal lobotomy and go to the factory to work as a superior?

Didn't he get this opportunity very easily?

But after pondering slightly, Wen Xishu understood the logic behind it.

"They are not as rebellious as I am."

"They have already been conditioned to be sufficiently obedient."

"So in this world, for those who are sufficiently obedient, there is no need for them to act as puppets, because appropriate thinking ability allows them to better execute the laws of this world. But for those who do not obey the world's rules, they are all recommended for prefrontal lobotomies."

"At the same time, they promote the tool-people who lack thinking ability after a prefrontal lobotomy. They hold these people up as superior beings..."

"Damn it, why is Sirius's world so perverted?"

Wen Xishu seemed to be able to understand as well.

After losing many concepts, Sirius must already be very much like a "puppet," but he is not yet a true puppet; only after this most important concept is lost—

Will Sirius truly be tamed by the Captain.

Sirens wailed outside. Less than a kilometer away from Wen Xishu, several police cars began to rush toward him.

Wen Xishu had a premonition—the law enforcers had come to arrest him.

It was also at this moment that Wen Xishu suddenly received a message. A call from Huo En.

"Huo En?"

"It's me, Wen Xishu. How are you? You haven't been domesticated by the operation manual, have you?"

"A redundant question."

"That's good. I thought if it were you, you would definitely be able to realize something was wrong, just like me."

"Shall we meet up first?"

"No problem, but before we meet, you need to remove something from your arm."

"So there really is an implant."

"Yes, it seems you realized it too." Huo En's tone sounded very happy.

"Left hand or right hand? About where? Have you removed yours?" Wen Xishu asked.

"Hmm... it still hurts a bit." Huo En laughed.

Wen Xishu was secretly shocked. How on earth did Huo En find it? His own five senses were so powerful, yet he had reasonably accepted the fact that his body had been implanted, and he was unable to detect exactly where it was.

How did Huo En manage it?

He thought of a possibility: perhaps other things had long been implanted in Huo En's body. In order to deal with the Captain, Huo En had likely undergone many perverted tests as well.

For someone like Huo En to say it hurts a bit, it must truly be very painful.

"Right hand, three centimeters above the wrist. But I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone, though based on the almost perverted uniformity of this world, it should be the same."

"Are you safe now, Huo En?" Wen Xishu asked while using the Scorpion Blade to slice open his right wrist.

Huo En said:

"Not great... I'm hiding. I'm hiding in an office building. Logically, this place should be full of high-level white-collar workers. But their social status in this world is not very high."

"This place also frequently provides patients for the psychiatric hospital, so I'm hiding inside. But I will be discovered soon. Wen Xishu, I'll have to trouble you to save me."

"I think we both realized what this world is missing, but we just can't find that precise word..."

"If we exchange information, perhaps we can succeed."

Wen Xishu indeed found a chip inside his right arm. Under his perverted recovery ability, the wound began to scab over rapidly.

"No problem. Although I can't beat the Sin Sea Giant Beast, I think in controller mode, I can easily deal with the law enforcers in this city."

Huo En's tone, however, was somewhat pessimistic:

"Don't be careless. You've already removed the chip, right? Although this way they can't track your location for a short time... but this city is full of electronic eyes."

"Also, Wen Xishu, this time, besides dealing with the core of the mental world... we also have to deal with three companions."

"That is, the three ability users arranged by the Captain."

"Their abilities are terrifying; they have violently suppressed riots on the Ark many times. Their strength... is likely even above yours. Three people, and not one of them is simple."

To find the missing concept in a city like this, and to face the Captain's three capable lieutenants...

And even to cope with the even more powerful, once-again-evolved Sin Sea Giant Beast.

Wen Xishu also felt that this trip to the island would not be simple.

But it was strange to say.

"Huo En, I won't be careless, but you might not believe it, I just feel that if we join forces, we can do anything."

Huo En was silent for two seconds, then laughed:

"Me too. Let's meet up first. I'm on the thirty-fifth floor of the tallest office building in District 14."

"Come over first. You might see many strange sights along the way. But those are all irrational."

The sound of sirens drew closer.

Just because he didn't obey, and just because he asked a few questions, Wen Xishu had become a wanted criminal and had to hang up the phone at this moment.

Wen Xishu left through the back door of the clinic and used parkour techniques to start sprinting between the buildings.

Everything was as Huo En had said; the strange world began to reveal itself.

And he couldn't help but think... what exactly was Sirius's ability? Ding Dong's was creating objects, but what about Sirius?

Were these mental worlds of his really completely unrelated to the outside world?

(End of chapter)