Chapter 1759: Do You Still Remember Her?
Many people were holding various terminals to record and share the grand spectacle at that moment, so the moment the amber embedded with an arm pierced by a steel needle fell to the ground, it was instantly uploaded to the public network via advanced communication tools. At the same time, the crowd gathered in the square began to panic. In the exceptionally peaceful 019 District, suddenly seeing something resembling a "corpse" naturally caused fear.
However, there were also some bold individuals who gathered around.
"This person's hand seems fake. There's also writing on the stone slab next to it."
"The sins of the government and the mining group in burying miners alive will be passed down through generations. The souls of the dead thirsting for revenge will also haunt them eternally. The 019 District, forged from blood and corpses, will likewise perish in blood and corpses..."
Someone read the sentence aloud, then asked in confusion, "Burying miners alive? Are there miners in the 019 District?"
This was a doubt shared by many younger people, but they didn't wonder for long. The arriving players and armed robots quickly took away the two pieces of amber.
The items were taken away, but more people could see them on the message collection terminals. Someone even brought up, "I've heard from the elders in my family that over a hundred years ago, all mining relied on human labor. Back then, every earthquake would kill many people, and almost every mine had deaths... Is this what the stone slab is talking about? Weren't those accidents? Judging by this, it wasn't an accident?"
Many people didn't realize the potential implications behind this sudden incident. They were merely unusually interested in the ripple stirred up in their peaceful lives, calling friends and family to get to the bottom of it.
The same thing happened in several other major cities, quite a distance from Green Sun City. But just a few minutes apart, similar ambers were thrown into crowded areas. Some were embedded with puppet hands, others with feet or body parts, but each time, they were accompanied by the same stone slab amber.
This incident quickly escalated.
The puppet amber itself was not a concern, but the text on the stone slab thrown along with it was too controversial. As a result, the message collection terminal control center began cleaning up related information within just twenty minutes—images, holographic recordings, text records—anything related was blocked.
This action backfired, sparking even more curiosity and digging into the matter. Especially those receiving government subsidies as family members of the victims—many who had direct experience with the mining disaster a century ago were still alive, let alone the fact that they would recount this "sacrifice" as an honor to their descendants, even if the younger generation didn't care at all.
But when this "honor" was cloaked in the guise of a "conspiracy," people began to think in different directions. Regarding the mining disaster, there had been doubters back then, but most cases were dropped without resolution. Coupled with the subsequent thorough work by the government and mining group, everyone had to let it go.
However, the text on the stone slab told them that their loved ones might have been killed, which was nothing short of earth-shattering.
Thus, just half an hour after the information was blocked, many people took to the streets, gathering in front of the city government office building, demanding the removal of the block. They wanted to know the truth.
At the same time, people began promoting the "difficult years" of the 019 District a century ago on the message collection terminals. This included some publicly available data and preserved materials from that time, which revealed that the district government and mining group had colluded to conceal the true number of victims and had even deliberately harmed family members who came to seek explanations.
People in the 019 District had long lifespans, meaning many survivors of the mining disaster era were still around. Even in Wine Mulberry Town, there were those who could clearly recount how many people from the original town had died in the mines, let alone other more populous cities or towns.
More and more voices appeared on the message collection terminals. Some were well-founded, genuine doubts, including those who had retrieved or failed to retrieve their family members' remains, as well as rational, fact-based individuals. Others were simply troublemakers who wanted to stir up a new wave of excitement for various purposes.
The 019 District government held the highest control over the message collection terminals. Even if local authorities opened permissions, blocked information could not be seen without the district government's approval. So, half a day later, citizens spontaneously gathered in front of the district government, demanding full access.
During this time, various local governments issued notices, characterizing the incident as a prank by players from other districts—since puppets were used, not real corpses. They claimed to have arrested one or two players but couldn't disclose the interrogation results yet, urging citizens to stay calm and wait for news at home.
The governments at all levels in the 019 District had always performed well in administrative affairs, building trust with the district's residents. So, when such notices came out, many people were willing to go home and wait, as only a minority were directly affected.
However, just as the fervor was about to subside, new puppet ambers appeared. This time, besides some limbs and the stone slab, there was also an inscription by Master Solan, marking a specific date.
This was like poking a hornet's nest. Master Solan's "Ember Maiden" had been a topic of fascination in the 019 District for over a decade. Countless people had tried to find that painting without success, and now it was linked to the puppet amber?
An expert specializing in Solan's paintings publicly stated that, based on the handwriting, it was undoubtedly Solan's. However, given the advanced technology available, mimicking handwriting was not difficult, so it couldn't be confirmed.
But just ten minutes later, a photo of a corner of a canvas bearing Master Solan's handwriting appeared on the message collection terminals and was pushed to the top of the hot news.
Shortly after, Master Solan's son personally came forward to identify his mother's handwriting and expressed a hope that whoever had found the "Ember Maiden" would release the painting publicly—first, to understand Solan's intentions, and second, to avoid dragging other matters into it, so as not to disturb the deceased.
However, the account that posted the photo sent no further messages. When players and armed robots from the 019 District traced the signal to its location, they only found a temporary terminal, with no trace of the poster.
With no other option, government players had to search everywhere for those distributing the puppet ambers, while simultaneously combing through big data to identify and inspect all factories capable of producing puppets.
But these tasks were not being carried out by a single person. The scattered players, who struck and then vanished, found it easy to hide. Thanks to the proper use of items, they managed to carry out their actions without creating any suspicious disturbances.
Before the government players made any progress, a video was pushed to the top of the trending list. It contained no blocked information, no puppet amber, and no mention of the mining disaster. It simply showed a man wearing a black mask—not even his eyes visible—sitting in front of the camera and asking:
"Do you still remember Xixi Duolaiti?"
(End of Chapter)