Chapter 522: Bai Daya (10/10, Autumn Subscription)

Yu Baiyi wanted to play the role of a righteous messenger and trip Fang Yue up, but the moment he thought of Fang Yue's battle record and the recent rumors, he dropped the idea.

"Desire for food and sex is human nature; who can claim to be without fault?"

Thinking this, he strolled past Fang Yue's room as if nothing were the matter, snuck a peek inside, and quickly left.

Faintly, he seemed to hear Fang Yue saying things like "relax," "it'll be quick," and "follow my instructions"—words that sounded very yellow and very violent.

"Beast! Damn it! So jealous!"

Outwardly composed, inwardly consumed by envy and jealousy, maintaining the demeanor of a gentleman, he tiptoed off to snitch.

……

Inside the room, Fang Yue had completely brainwashed Bai Xiaoya.

To confirm the effect, Fang Yue began quizzing her.

"What world are we in?"

"A game world called Blue Sea."

"Good! That's the spirit! Then what are you going to do in a moment?"

"I'm going to log out of the game and go to the real world!"

"Correct! Next question: when you log out of the game, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to tell myself that I can log out of the game, that this place is just a game, and that reality is everything!"

Mhm… the pupil can be taught!

Fang Yue nodded. "Stay right here."

After logging out and syncing information with the doctors outside, Fang Yue said, "In one minute, I'll have her log out of the game. You guys handle the pickup."

"OK!"

Re-entering the game, Fang Yue said to the bored Bai Xiaoya, "You can start logging out of the game now. Remember, outside is full of delicious food! Everything is delicious. The moment you log out, you'll get to eat delicious food!"

"Ohhhhh!"

Bai Xiaoya opened her mouth wide in excitement. Clearly, having just experienced a full Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, she believed Fang Yue's words without a shadow of a doubt.

She shouted at the top of her lungs: "I want to log out of the game!"

With just that one cry, in Fang Yue's view, the light in Bai Xiaoya's eyes went silent and dim.

Fang Yue's spirit jolted. He slapped his palm in excitement. It worked!

Logging out, Fang Yue excitedly looked toward the hospital bed.

He saw the doctors all shouting excitedly.

"It worked! It worked! It worked!"

"It synced! It synced! The brainwaves synced!"

"She's awake!!"

No one knew who let out that shout, but everyone fell silent at once.

After being thawed, Bai Xiaoya slowly opened her eyes.

She seemed to feel very weak and very confused, but she still slowly propped herself up and looked around.

"Xiaoya! Xiaoya! Xiaoya!!"

Yuan Jie threw herself at her, hugging her and sobbing loudly.

Fang Yue excitedly shook hands with the doctors. "It worked, it worked! That's wonderful! It succeeded! Thank you, doctors! Thank you!"

Fang Yue was just about to rush over excitedly to ask about Bai Xiaoya's condition, but the very first words Bai Xiaoya said after waking made him plunge into an icy abyss.

"Who… are you people?"

She… doesn't recognize us?

The excited cheers stopped.

Everyone's celebratory movements froze.

Fang Yue forced a stiff smile and said, "It's—it's me. Fang Yue. Yese Liming. Bai Xiaoya. You don't recognize me?"

"Ah! Ye Ge!"

Bai Xiaoya suddenly came to life. She shoved Yuan Jie aside, tumbled off the bed and hit the floor with a stagger, but she only looked confused for a moment before the whites of her eyes suddenly turned pitch-black. Black blood seeped from the corners of her eyes, and she stood up effortlessly.

She herself, however, didn't seem to notice anything wrong. She even looked up happily and said, "Ye Ge, I'm out! Is this the real world? Where's the food? Where's the food? Where's the food? Where's the food?"

The food… where is it?

In an instant, a chill surged into his heart.

Fang Yue looked at Bai Xiaoya on the floor in disbelief, his voice trembling as he asked, "Are you… Bai Daya?"

"That's right! Ye Ge was right—you really did change your appearance here! Oh right, can this be eaten?"

Saying so, Bai Daya began gnawing on the metal frame of the hospital bed.

Watching Bai Daya gnaw on the hospital bed, Fang Yue blacked out. His mind went blank.

And Yuan Jie, who had been pushed to the floor, stared at the scene in a daze, completely dumbfounded.

Beeeeep—

The alarm blaring through the entire building suddenly rang out.

……

"Mental illness! It has to be a mental issue! Probably from being confined too long…"

The attending physician tried desperately to defend his view, but the others just looked at him in silence. No one said a word.

When Qiu Dugu opened the door to the room, this was the suffocating silence that greeted him.

Scanning his surroundings, Qiu Dugu's gaze landed on Fang Yue.

"Where is she?"

"... Eating cake over there."

Through the isolation window, one could see Bai Xiaoya in the room, very healthy and unusually satisfied, taking big bites of cake, and behind her was a bewildered Yuan Jie.

"What's the situation now? Confirmed?"

"I believe it's split personality..."

"Enough!"

The attending doctor had just spoken when Fang Yue irritably cut him off.

Qiu Dugu looked at Fang Yue: "You explain."

"She's been swapped out... I should have thought of it from the start! Swapped out!"

Fang Yue gnawed on his finger, his eyes red, his hair messily clawed up by his own hands, both feet tucked under him on the seat, his gaze full of fury.

"How are you sure she's been swapped out? Maybe..."

"I've already checked! Stop playing dumb, I asked President Qian. When your Alliance registers personnel, you use a strange object to register a soul to make sure insiders can't have their souls swapped and secrets stolen. What went off earlier was because Bai Xiaoya's soul was different — after being swapped, it triggered the alarm!"

Qiu Dugu fell silent.

This kind of classified information, President Qian wouldn't have told Fang Yue for no reason.

It seemed the matter was true.

"What is she now?" Qiu Dugu asked calmly.

"I don't know... You want to get rid of her?"

"If necessary."

"You think I'd agree to that?"

"... Then what do you want to do?"

"I'm going to find Bai Xiaoya's soul inside the game, and stuff it back into her body."

"You know where to look? Her mind might already be dead."

"The Underground Stronghold — she has to still be at the Underground Stronghold!"

Fang Yue's face darkened, and he added: "Or, she's already been moved by the Phoenix Organization. As long as we find the Phoenix Organization, we can find her again!"

The doctor still insisted this was mental illness, wanting Fang Yue to accept their help, but was refused by Fang Yue.

Returning to find Bai Daya and Yuan Jie, Fang Yue said in a low voice: "What I'm about to tell you next, you must not be afraid."

"I'm the foodie Bai Daya, I won't be afraid!"

Bai Daya happily waved her little hands, like a child.

Fang Yue wanted to tell Bai Daya what had happened, but couldn't bring himself to.

After thinking it over, he pulled Yuan Jie aside and told her about it.

"Then, isn't Xiaoya still..."

"Mm, and I have to figure out a way to get the Alliance to prepare a body. When I find Xiaoya and bring her back to reality, I'll need it."

"Can't she just go back to her original body?"

"I don't know... two minds crammed together, I don't know what the result would be. After all, this is different from traditional split personality."

"Then what exactly is Bai... Bai Daya?"

"I don't know."

Fang Yue had too many questions that needed answering.

And these questions wouldn't have answers in reality.

So, he needed to enter the game.

"Enter the game? I'm coming too!"

Bai Daya came running over with a "gaga gaga," and lay down together with Fang Yue, entering the game.

Rest

(End of chapter)