Chapter 2308: Hypnosis and Disappointment
The place specially prepared by the state was, of course, much more strictly managed than the facility Dr. Zhang had borrowed. From the moment Xu Huo entered, he was interrogated twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Although he didn't have to take medication, the 360-degree surveillance and monitoring by special personnel permeated every day of his life. Moreover, they were not allowed to talk to each other. Under such an atmosphere, as time went on, anyone who entered would inevitably develop some problems.
On the third day of Xu Huo's stay, a man suddenly went mad while out for a walk. He didn't attack anyone else, but instead slammed himself into the wall, banging his head repeatedly and shouting, "Everything I said was a lie! I'm not an alien! I don't know any secrets about wormholes! It's all fake! Let me out! Let me out!"
Special personnel quickly escorted him away, but those who witnessed the scene were somewhat terrified. Some were used to it, and there were even those who immediately sneered, "If you come here, you still want to leave? You unstable elements, you'd only harm society if you got out. Dying here is a relief!"
Xu Huo turned to look at him. "Then why are you here?"
The other man said with a hint of pride, "I traveled back from a cultivation world. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy here is thin and not suitable for rapid cultivation. I've already compiled my cultivation techniques and insights into a book and submitted it to the state. Someone will come to take me out soon."
"How long have you been waiting here?" Xu Huo asked.
"Half a year." The man showed no awareness of being forgotten. "The spiritual energy is thin. It takes time to verify my cultivation techniques."
Xu Huo seemed very interested. "I've never seen a cultivator before. Do you have any special skills?"
"Didn't I tell you? The spiritual energy here is thin and not suitable for cultivation. Even a clever housewife can't cook without rice. But recently, I've sensed a bit of a breakthrough," the man said. "I can feel it. The shackles trapping this world are about to disappear. Soon, cultivators will emerge in large numbers. Then, not just the country, but the entire world's structure will change!"
Xu Huo applauded.
"And you? Why are you here?" the man condescendingly asked.
Xu Huo then explained the game and evolution to him. After listening, the man was silent for a moment before saying, "There's a flaw in your story."
"What flaw?"
"Since the time difference in evolution across different wormhole points is so large, all the zones in the later wormhole points should be nothing but sheep pens for the earlier ones. How could they allow super players to appear in the later wormhole points? If it were me, I'd kill every batch of advanced players as soon as they emerged. A sheep pen doesn't need a lead sheep."
He spoke with conviction.
Xu Huo, however, smiled. "Maybe it's not that they don't want to, but that they can't."
The ticket was arguably the strongest spatial teleportation item in the game. As long as the game wasn't isolated or the player wasn't sealed inside an instance, the ticket was the best escape tool. Take Zone 017, for example. When it was destroyed, the players there were still very weak, but many still escaped. For a zone with a population of billions, it was nearly impossible for any other zone to completely seal them off, except through game channels. As long as someone escaped, there was a chance that among them, a strong individual who opposed the game and Stellar Corporation would emerge.
Compared to the higher-level wormhole points, the later ones had far more players.
If they had killed everyone from the start, that would be one thing. But they also wanted the resources that developed in the new zones. So, killing off batches as they grew, as this man suggested, would only invite greater resistance.
"Therefore, my logic is sound." Xu Huo sat down facing the man. "On the other hand, there's a problem with your story. Since you said spiritual energy accumulates over time, and you became a strong cultivator in that cultivation world, you should have accumulated a considerable amount of spiritual energy. Even if the spiritual energy here is thin and you can't accumulate more, or even if there's a certain chance of dissipation, you shouldn't have become an ordinary person so quickly."
The man rolled his eyes. "I told you, I traveled through time. Of course, I traveled from the future to the past. The 'me' in the past is naturally an ordinary person. Aren't you also someone who traveled back from the future? What evidence do you have for your evolution theory?"
"Makes sense." Xu Huo raised his hand and waved it in front of the man's eyes, then said, "Do you see that special personnel member to my left and behind me?"
The man asked strangely, "I'm not blind. How could I not see him?"
"In a moment, when he comes to take you back to your room, give him a kiss," Xu Huo said.
The man snorted coldly. "Why would I kiss him? He's so ugly, and he's a man!"
"Good. Remember that thought." Xu Huo reminded him, "Don't you want me to prove my evolutionary power? It just so happens that I'm related to the mental aspect. Let's see if your will can resist my hypnosis."
The man laughed. "Hypnosis? That's nothing compared to divine sense manipulation."
Just then, his outdoor time ended, and that special personnel member came over to remind him to return to his room. The man stood up, grinning at Xu Huo. "You've lost."
"Is that so?" Xu Huo leaned back leisurely in his chair. When the man reached the special personnel member, he said, "Kiss him."
The man, who had been smiling, suddenly seemed to be controlled. He turned and lunged at the special personnel member. Of course, his speed was no match for the special personnel member, who flipped him to the ground and pinned his arms behind his back. However, unexpectedly, even at this point, the man still struggled to turn his head and kiss the special personnel member's shoe.
The special personnel member looked up, his expression indescribable as he stared at Xu Huo.
Other auxiliary personnel came over. After confirming that the man on the ground was not aggressive, they let the special personnel member release him. But the man refused to get up. He covered his face with both hands and begged the staff for a hood.
He was quickly taken away.
Xu Huo was then arranged for another round of questioning.
This time, a famous psychology professor came. Xu Huo had once seen an interview with him in a well-known magazine. The professor brought instruments to examine Xu Huo's brain.
"Don't resist. This won't cause you any burden."
"No need for such trouble." Xu Huo pointed to the chair opposite him and commanded, "Sit down."
The psychology professor immediately turned around and sat down. After sitting, the smile on his face stiffened, and he asked an extremely unwise question, "How did you do it?"
From the moment they met, less than three minutes had passed. Xu Huo had used no suggestive language or gestures, yet the professor had obediently followed the command.
"Just now, I tried it." Xu Huo sighed. "Because it succeeded."
"It succeeded. What does that mean?" the psychology professor asked.
"It means I haven't actually traveled through time. Instead, I'm trapped in a vivid hallucination. That's why everything in the hallucination changes according to my thoughts."
"There's just one thing I can't figure out."