Chapter 1166: The Branch of Good and Evil
The game continued to advance. In order to find the superpowered individual with flame abilities, Lin Xue chased all the way into a cannery and found a heavy iron chain to use as her melee weapon.
Moreover, this iron chain could be imbued with flame abilities. When swung, it would erupt with blazing firelight, boasting astonishing destructive power. When not in use, the chain would coil around the protagonist's arm, making it very convenient.
"Why does this feel a bit like Kratos's weapon? Hmm, a watered-down version of the Blades of Chaos..."
Lin Xue pressed deeper in, using the iron chain to destroy the flame barricades set up by the superpowered individual. Amidst the firelight, explosions, and collapsing buildings, Lin Xue swung the chain wildly, feeling absolutely fantastic.
"Wow, this really brings back the feeling of playing Prototype a long time ago. This weapon kind of feels like Alex's tentacles! But the sensation of a next-gen VR game is definitely different!"
Lin Xue savored the feeling. Prototype was, after all, an older VR game with many limitations. Now, the Delson that Lin Xue controlled was inside a Matrix game pod, where every move was completely free. This feeling offered stronger immersion and greater freedom.
Inside the cannery, Lin Xue finally caught the superpowered individual. But the moment she grabbed him with both hands, her vision went completely black, and she saw some fragmented memory clips.
This time, Delson once again invaded the superpowered individual's memories and witnessed his escape from prison.
Lin Xue began fighting the prisoner in the factory. The prisoner had no weapons in his hands but could fire flame projectiles at Lin Xue. However, Lin Xue was no ordinary person now; she could use her rapid movement ability and the iron chain's melee attacks to catch the prisoner and beat him down.
"Wow, the impact feedback is great!"
Lin Xue swung the iron chain, brutally beating the superpowered prisoner. The flame-infused chain flowed as smoothly as the Blades of Chaos when swung. When it lashed against the prisoner's body, it would kick up a burst of blazing firelight, scattering dust and sparks.
Lin Xue could also feel the warm heat of the flames coming from the heavy iron chain in her hands. When it struck the prisoner, the feedback from the force made her incredibly excited.
The prisoner fought while retreating, clearly unwilling to engage. He kept warning Delson to give up immediately, or else no one would escape once the pursuers arrived. But Delson wanted the prisoner to tell him how to abandon his superpowers. The two of them darted around the factory, leaving a trail of roaring flames wherever they went.
However, by the time Lin Xue chased him out of the factory, the prisoner had already been sealed in concrete and captured alive by the "relevant authorities."
A woman who looked to be in her forties appeared. She was the leader of the United Defense Department, Augustine. She was also a superpowered individual, capable of using concrete abilities. Yet now she was hunting down these superpowered individuals, intending to lock them all up in prison.
Lin Xue thought this was the end of it, but Augustine was indeed a cunning and treacherous old fox. Her words were laced with attempts to pry information out of Delson, trying to squeeze every usable detail from him.
Delson had now become a superpowered individual. If this were exposed, he would be locked up in prison like the others, never to come out again. Moreover, his current strength was nowhere near enough to fight Augustine.
This segment was a cutscene. Lin Xue was inside Delson's body, feeling his emotions, observing everything through his perspective, and listening to his conversation with Augustine.
Lin Xue could feel Delson's nervousness. He didn't dare meet Augustine's eyes, and his speech was somewhat hesitant. Fortunately, Delson was quick-witted and managed to brush it off with the excuse, "I get nervous around beautiful women too," which made Lin Xue silently applaud his survival instinct...
Augustine didn't notice anything amiss and turned to leave.
But just then, who knows what got into Delson, but he started an epic bout of loose talk, asking, "But I have to say, isn't this a bit ridiculous? Aren't you a bioterrorist too?"
However, what Delson never expected was that this loose talk gave Augustine, an expert in analyzing criminal psychology, a clue. She determined that Delson was hiding some key information from her, because someone who is nervous in this situation is either a coward or has something to hide. Delson's earlier loose talk had revealed that he wasn't a coward.
After failing to interrogate Delson, she turned her gaze to Delson's tribesmen, telling him that if he didn't tell the truth, she would interrogate each of them one by one and insert concrete into their bones.
"Hey, is this allowed? Doesn the Lighthouse Country value freedom and human rights the most?!"
Lin Xue was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected this damn woman to be so unscrupulous. But according to the plot, in this world, Augustine and the United Defense Department indeed had powers that far exceeded their boundaries, even allowing torture and forced confessions. In this world, the public viewed all superpowered individuals as terrorists, and when dealing with related matters, the United Defense Department could even temporarily suspend all civil rights.
Lin Xue fell to the ground, facing two choices: either surrender or sacrifice the tribesmen.
"What the hell! Why do I have to make such a difficult choice? Isn't this supposed to be a fun, action-packed game?!"
Lin Xue was about to lose it. She had originally thought this game would be like Prototype—just kill, kill, kill, and be done with it. But from this choice and the UI layout behind it, it seemed to be a branch in the story's direction.
Choosing to sacrifice the tribesmen to save herself was the first step toward the evil branch, while choosing to surrender was the first step toward the good branch.
There was no time limit on this choice. Lin Xue agonized for a long time before finally deciding to surrender.
"Sigh, I'm still too soft-hearted. I can't let my tribesmen suffer for me. That chubby auntie among the tribesmen has been so kind to me. I think even if the protagonist gets caught, he should be able to break out of prison, right? Alright, I'll surrender..."
But what Lin Xue didn't expect was that even though Delson told the truth—that the superpowered individual had infected him with his ability—Augustine didn't believe him at all. Instead, she intensified her torture, and Delson passed out from the excruciating pain.
When Delson woke up, he found himself in a modified hospital room.
Lin Xue instinctively felt that something was wrong. In the last scene before he lost consciousness, she had seen Augustine walking toward his tribesmen.
The TV was playing news about superpowered individuals. Lin Xue sat up from the hospital bed, and this ominous feeling grew stronger.
The longhouse had been converted into a hospital room. In the individual compartments, Lin Xue saw that all the tribesmen had concrete blocks inserted into their bodies. This pain would stay with them forever. Clearly, Augustine hadn't believed Delson's words and had interrogated every single one of the tribesmen.
What was even more infuriating was that this bitch had left after the interrogation, abandoning these tribesmen to fend for themselves.
"Damn it, is this dead woman a psychopath? I already surrendered, so how could she still go after innocent people?!"
Even Lin Xue, who usually had good composure, couldn't help but curse loudly. Although she knew full well that this was probably all arranged by Chen Mo in the plot, the earlier buildup still made Lin Xue feel emotionally unable to accept it.
She couldn't help but want to immediately find Augustine and beat that damn woman to a pulp!