Chapter 1012: The Doctor's Reward
Ten minutes of blank time, a secret room he had clearly entered but had no memory of, the signs of disturbance on the table—Xu Huo realized that it wasn't just his perception that had been tampered with; his entire memory of that period had been wiped clean. If he hadn't noticed it upon leaving, he might have dismissed this trip as fruitless and completely forgotten about it!
But now he was awake.
This meant that once the prop placed in this room was seen through, it would be useless.
He took out a detection prop and searched inside and outside the secret room, but unexpectedly, he only found a single D-grade prop.
A D-grade prop could never reach the level of deleting a person's memory, yet there was no second prop here. A multitude of possibilities flashed through Xu Huo's mind—single-use props, special spaces, special traits—but unable to reach a definite conclusion, he had to check the documents in the secret room again.
Luo Changren hadn't lied; the secret room indeed contained investigations related to Dr. Wu, along with a timetable posted on the wall. This record detailed the exact times and locations of Dr. Wu's appearances, the earliest dating back twenty years, the latest five years ago.
Xu Huo took photos, removed all the drawings, then went to the desk in the secret room. He collected the magazines and clippings on the surface, the blank notebooks and pens in the drawers, and stored them all in the luggage compartment. Finally, he picked up the D-grade prop box.
This box wasn't a particularly good prop, and there were no traps set on it, but its contents were truly unexpected—resting on a piece of red velvet was a P2S injection.
It wasn't that he could identify the type of potion out of thin air; rather, a label was boldly stuck on it, and next to it was another label with two words:
"Reward."
An uncontrollable surge of anger rose within him. Xu Huo slammed the lid shut, his breathing becoming rapid. His hands clenched and unclenched, clenched and unclenched again, before he calmed down after half a minute.
He reopened the box and took out the label. The handwriting on it was completely different from the notes he had just put away, yet it felt strangely familiar. Through the text, fragments of memory seemed to overlap with it—he had seen this kind of writing before, had also watched the person who wrote it trace the strokes on paper. A scene surfaced, dreamlike, uncertain whether it was real:
A doctor in a white coat patted his head, and he looked at the signature on the paper, saying with a smile, "I've made progress again today. You said if I don't make mistakes for ten consecutive days, I can see Mom and Dad."
"Can I see them tomorrow, Dr. Zhang?"
Dr. Zhang.
Xu Huo stared gloomily at the label in his hand. That doctor who had "taught" him at the Seventeenth Hospital was surnamed Zhang.
Triggering this piece of information, the memories related to this person in his mind quickly became clear. All the children called him Dr. Zhang, and the nurses in the hospital were willing to help cover up his obviously excessive "special treatments." Even the doctor he had clashed with the day before would forget the unpleasantness completely by the next day, showing him friendliness without any grudge.
The blurry faces that had previously appeared in dreams or under mental interference also became clear:
A face looking down at him from above, meticulously performing various expressions like a machine-controlled puppet. Its black pupils never revealed any emotion, looking at anyone or anything as if observing dust boiling in the air—life and death were insignificant.
But that was all.
In Xu Huo's restored memories, the most vivid impression was of Dr. Zhang's appearance, while other trivial matters—training, medication, and daily life in the hospital—were not as clearly remembered. Besides the possible manipulation by the other party, there might also be natural forgetting. His memory should have been enhanced over time with the medication.
As for the more recent events—Dr. Zhang leaving the Seventeenth Hospital and, most crucially, Xu Zhi's death—he still hadn't recalled them.
Looking at the mocking word "Reward," Xu Huo understood that although he had stayed in District 014 for a few years of peaceful life, he had never truly escaped Dr. Zhang's shadow. This secret room was likely prepared for people like him who had undergone Dr. Zhang's training. Ordinary players would, like he did the first time, leave without any awareness, perhaps even receiving a suggestion to clean the room thoroughly—only those with enhanced mental strength could see the true secret, could get the box and the potion inside. And this perfect potion wasn't just a "reward"; it meant that Dr. Zhang might still be cultivating players for perfect evolution!
What exactly did he want to do?
This was the first time Xu Huo seriously pondered this question.
Taking himself as an example, Dr. Zhang couldn't achieve one hundred percent control over the growth trajectory of the children he selected. And children like Chang Bei and Xiao Liang—some had limited talent, some had mental issues. Simply put, they were time bombs, not easy targets to manipulate. Spending so much effort to specifically select and train children in areas not yet game-ified—the ultimate goal certainly wasn't just to cultivate a few murderers.
The long time span and wide scope had already exceeded ordinary persistence.
When a person is obsessed with something, it's usually because they place hope in it. Regardless of whether the content of that "hope" is good or bad, it's generally something they can't obtain or can't accomplish. Every time Dr. Zhang appeared, he was alone. Being able to survive safely until now without being killed by his own students likely meant he had reached the level of a super player. A super player, to put it bluntly, rarely encounters anything in the game world that can stump them, unless it's to overthrow the game world itself—Dr. Zhang didn't seem like that kind of good person.
Perhaps he had a special obsession with transforming gifted children?
According to Luo Changren, Dr. Zhang had spent a considerable amount of time in District 002, and the laboratory he established was once sought after by people. What was he doing staying here during that time? Selecting new training targets?
The living environment in District 002 was harsh, and there would certainly be no shortage of children prone to psychological issues. If he needed children like Xiao Liang, finding them wouldn't be difficult... Or was he here this time to check on the results?
Previously, Shang Shuming and Jiang Jiang from District 009 had made him feel he had caught Dr. Zhang's tail, but at the time, he judged they might be abandoned targets, and Jiang Jiang might not have even met Dr. Zhang. It was only today that he had come into contact with the real Dr. Zhang. Although the things he left behind might have been doctored, doctoring itself was a reflection of his inner self. From the box and potion left behind, perhaps he was still waiting for the person who found this place to come looking for him.
He didn't know if this was a unilateral "invitation" or an automatic delayed feedback, but there was no way Xu Huo wouldn't take the S-grade potion. He tore off the label, put it into the luggage compartment, and even put the box in as well.
"Old Xu, open the door," Chi Minghong called from the entrance.
(Chapter End)