Chapter 543: A Real-Life Game
"Most of the people here are neither injured nor infected, yet in the eyes of the other side, they appear as xenomorphs. If it were just one person's holographic glasses malfunctioning, or one person being infected in a way that isn't outwardly visible, this kind of mutual opposition wouldn't arise."
"One side is red, the other blue. Regardless of infection, they all see the other as xenomorphs. It's like a game—there must be an enemy and a friendly side."
Zhuo Wangsun suddenly understood. "So the targets and flags mentioned in the clearance mission actually refer to the blue faction?"
Xu Huo nodded, unconcerned about how much his words had shaken Tu Shi and Sister Shan and the others. "The designated location should be the blue faction's main base, or at least on the other side of the canyon."
Given the current setup, the real main base was likely Clown City. But considering this was an E-rank instance, the difficulty shouldn't be that high.
"Impossible... this is impossible..." Tu Shi was severely shaken, forcing himself to ask, "If the area outside Clown City isn't completely overrun by xenomorphs, why would the government keep it from everyone? They could have worked together to clear the Cleanup Zone..."
Zhuo Wangsun felt a pang of pity for him, but that was all. He destroyed his own holographic glasses and said to Xu Huo, "Should we cross the canyon now?"
Xu Huo released the player Wen Ping and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Sister Shan called out to him, pressing further, "What do you mean by two Clown Cities and the red and blue factions? You're not leaving until you explain clearly!"
"You want to stop us?" Zhuo Wangsun became wary. "We've exposed the Clown City government's conspiracy—you should be thanking us!"
Xu Huo wasn't angry. He patted Zhuo Wangsun on the shoulder, signaling him to step back, and said, "Let me ask you a few questions."
"First, if the goal is to clear out xenomorphs and reclaim your homeland, why not use high-lethality weapons? I've already tested it—neither high-frequency sounds nor massive sonic vibrations trigger a xenomorph tide."
"Second, if the Cleanup Zone is so dangerous, why are so few players here? And most of the soldiers involved haven't undergone rigorous training and are poorly equipped."
"Third, the food and water sources in the Cleanup Zone are contaminated. Consuming them causes normal people to lose their minds. Clown City must know this. Why don't they inform everyone of the truth or prepare sufficient backup resources?"
"These points alone prove that the mission to clear xenomorphs is nothing but a farce. No government would act this way when territorial resources are at stake."
"The xenomorph transformations you've seen—some might indeed be genuine degenerations into xenomorphs. But I can tell you clearly: if someone loses their mind only from the food and water in the Cleanup Zone, they won't turn into xenomorphs. A single dose of antidote can verify this. Conversely, if the things growing in the Cleanup Zone could cause xenomorph transformation, then the soil and groundwater would be severely contaminated. Clown City would either have to relocate entirely or implement strict protective measures."
"Ask those people." Xu Huo pointed at Tu Shi. "Some of them have lived in the high-temperature zone for years. They repaired and modified the city's old water filtration system to purify drinking water, and not one of them has shown signs of infection. And this is inside the Cleanup Zone."
These words shattered the deeply ingrained beliefs of everyone present. Many lowered their guns, especially Sister Shan and her group. Unlike Tu Shi and his people, who had already gone through that experiment, they were in the midst of hunting "xenomorphs" when hit with this "devastating news." Their minds probably couldn't keep up, caught between disbelief and utter contradiction.
The only ones who might be happy were the two injured people. They wept with joy. "I won't turn into a xenomorph! I won't turn into a xenomorph!"
"So, those people didn't have to die at all..." Sister Shan murmured.
Wen Ping looked at her with conflicted sadness. "Sister Shan, what happened to Sister Hu... it's not your fault..."
To eradicate xenomorphs, some might have killed their own comrades, their own family. Tu Shi's group had even resorted to cannibalism. If the government could use a colossal lie to toy with countless lives, nothing happening in Clown City was surprising.
Xu Huo said all this to spread the information.
"Wait, wait!" Sister Shan called out again, but this time her tone was much gentler, though still laced with doubt. "Whether there's another Clown City and whether what you said is true—none of that can be confirmed yet. Come back with us to testify!"
"The holographic glasses aren't very well-made," Xu Huo said instead of answering directly. "I can create a fake wound, and the glasses will identify me as a xenomorph. But if I put on a protective suit, I return to normal."
"When red glasses see blue glasses, they perceive the other as xenomorphs. But if you take off the glasses, everything returns to normal."
"The details of this real-life game are very sloppy, full of loopholes. Do you think anyone has ever noticed the problems here?"
With that, he didn't linger. He and Zhuo Wangsun left the woods together.
"These people born in Clown City are truly pitiful," Zhuo Wangsun sighed. "Maybe some people in the past realized the infection wasn't fatal or sensed the existence of a second Clown City, but they were probably secretly executed."
"In the arena, these people were fired up, talking about reclaiming their homeland, never realizing their lives were worthless."
"There are even more pitiful ones." Xu Huo stopped at the canyon cliff and pointed to a spot in the valley below. A large group was engaged in a firefight—some with red glasses, some with blue.
Without knowing the truth, it might not seem strange. But now, it looked utterly absurd.
"Are they that stupid? Do xenomorphs use guns for group battles?" Zhuo Wangsun found it hard to believe.
"You forgot that areas covered in vegetation can cloud people's minds," Xu Huo said.
"But that still doesn't make sense..." Zhuo Wangsun remained skeptical. "Are they so blindly trusting of what the Clown City government says? Why not just take off their glasses and look!"
"Those who took off their glasses are probably dead," Xu Huo said. "After all, most people here are ordinary."
"No wonder Clown City doesn't let high-level players in. Besides not wanting anyone to expose the truth about the Cleanup Zone, they also want to maintain complete control. That way, even if someone notices something off, they can handle it." Zhuo Wangsun paused. "So, the reason we were attacked in the Gobi Zone was because there were too many players, and the goal was to split us up?"
"That's likely the intention." Xu Huo looked toward the dense forest on the other side of the canyon. "Let's get a map first."
(Chapter End)