Chapter 972: A Feeling Never Experienced Before
Zhou Jiangping obtained the first clue and immediately went to the living room to search for more clues on the victim.
Reconstructing the entire timeline again, Zhou Jiangping discovered that this victim, the hostage's father, was still holding an object in his hand when he was shot.
Following the reconstructed timeline clues, Zhou Jiangping found a tablet computer lying in the corner.
Bending down to pick it up, Zhou Jiangping saw it displayed the product details page of a shopping website, along with a prompt: "Your AP700 android order has been registered."
"So, this deviant android is about to be replaced by its owner?" Zhou Jiangping pondered.
The estimated success rate interface appeared in his field of vision again. After unlocking two more key pieces of information, the success rate had risen to 60%.
The surrounding situation remained very tense. SWAT officers were still getting shot from time to time, and with the tense background music playing, Zhou Jiangping knew it was all virtual, but he couldn't help quickening his pace to search for more clues.
In the daughter's bedroom, he learned the android's name.
Under the table beside the fallen police officer's body, he found a pistol.
There was a puddle of blue blood on the floor. Before Zhou Jiangping could react, Connor had already touched it and brought it to his mouth.
Zhou Jiangping: "..."
Hmm, why does it taste like blueberry? This has to be Chen Mo's twisted sense of humor, right?
Through the blue blood, he could determine that the android was injured and also identify its model.
After collecting all the clues in the room, the success rate had climbed to nearly 90%. Zhou Jiangping began walking outside, ready to talk to the deviant android holding the hostage.
But the moment he stepped out, he was hit by a bullet. Fortunately, it hit his shoulder and wasn't fatal.
Zhou Jiangping's mind was filled with curses. The shot startled him, but luckily there was no pain because androids don't feel pain. It just felt like his left arm had been bumped.
An option appeared in his field of vision: [Address the deviant by name].
Obviously, this was the start of the negotiation phase with the criminal. But the negotiation couldn't just let players organize their own words to talk. Besides the issue of operability, many players who weren't good with words or quick enough to react probably wouldn't even know what to say...
Playing up to this point, Zhou Jiangping roughly understood that one of the core gameplay mechanics was reasoning and puzzle-solving. By gathering clues in the scene to infer the cause and effect of events, players then negotiate based on the criminal's psychology. Different actions and dialogues lead to different outcomes.
At this moment, a string of information appeared on the left side of Zhou Jiangping's field of vision.
The final mission was [Rescue the hostage at all costs].
Under this final mission, there were several steps, such as [Locate the hostage], [Gain the deviant android's trust], and [Approach slowly]. Right now, Zhou Jiangping had only completed the first task, [Locate the hostage]. The other two tasks remained gray, indicating they were unfinished.
As Connor kept walking forward, Zhou Jiangping continuously chose options to converse with the deviant android.
Many topics and options in the dialogue weren't unlocked by default. Some required finding relevant information in the room beforehand, while others required selecting a specific topic in a preceding conversation.
"They're planning to replace you. You're not happy about it, are you?" Connor said as he walked forward.
The deviant android reacted violently: "I thought I was part of this family! I thought they cared about me... But to them, I'm just a toy!"
The distance between the two grew shorter. Zhou Jiangping could now clearly see the android's twisted expression and the tear stains on the little girl's face.
Finally, the negotiation reached its end. The deviant android had calmed down emotionally. He demanded a car, saying he would release the little girl after leaving Detroit.
At this point, four options appeared in Zhou Jiangping's field of vision: [Use firearm], [Sacrifice yourself], [Compromise], and [Refuse].
"Obviously, I should use the firearm. No more wasting words!" Zhou Jiangping, being a boss himself, didn't hesitate to choose the first option.
His right hand quietly moved behind his back, gripping the pistol. Two more options appeared: [Shoot the head] and [Intimidate].
A wave of exasperation washed over Zhou Jiangping's mind: "Only an idiot would choose the second option!"
"Bang!!"
A gunshot rang out. A massive amount of blue blood exploded from the deviant android's head. His eyes instantly went blank. He couldn't even mount a counterattack or hold onto the little girl any longer. Losing consciousness, he fell backward, tumbling down the stairs.
The little girl screamed, but Connor immediately stepped forward, grabbing her arm and pulling her to safety.
Zhou Jiangping was stunned: "...That was kind of cool!"
The moment he chose [Shoot the head], Zhou Jiangping felt his right hand whip out like lightning, pause for an instant to aim at the criminal's head, and then pull the trigger. The entire process probably took no more than 0.5 seconds.
Zhou Jiangping could clearly feel the whole process—how the shoulder muscles exerted force, the precise aiming, the recoil from the pistol when pulling the trigger... But the whole process was too brief, less than 0.5 seconds, so this feeling lingered in his mind, refusing to dissipate.
It was like when some people kick a perfect shot in soccer and can clearly remember the sensation of that kick, but ask them to do it again, and it's absolutely impossible.
But that momentary feeling was wonderful enough.
Zhou Jiangping was immersed in this wonderful sensation. In the virtual world, he had become a sharpshooter who never missed, and he could even feel how each muscle exerted force. This feeling could only be described as dreamlike.
Connor automatically walked forward to the edge of the building, looking down at the falling deviant android. Then he turned around, unloaded the bullet, and handed the gun to the bewildered Captain Allen beside him.
Even Zhou Jiangping himself felt it: Hmm, that was a perfect show-off!
Leaving the rooftop, everything around suddenly froze. The SWAT officers were still dealing with the aftermath, and the helicopter was still flying in the sky, but everything had stopped moving, as if time had frozen at this moment.
Zhou Jiangping regained control of his body and asked in confusion: "What's going on, Boss Chen? Did the game glitch?"
Chen Mo's voice came through: "No, your trial content has ended."
Zhou Jiangping was speechless: "What do you mean my trial content has ended?! I just got hooked!"
Chen Mo chuckled: "Sorry, that's all the trial content there is. If you want to play the rest of the story, wait for the official version."
Zhou Jiangping's mind was full of curses, but he had no choice but to obediently exit the game pod.