CHAPTER 556: CHAPTER 554 TRANSMISSION

Xing Hechou closed the chat page and rubbed his tired eyes.

He was currently in a sterile, though not particularly spacious, isolation room. The room was dimly lit with pale light, sparsely furnished with only a single bed, a table and chairs, a body scanner, a workbench, and a physiological monitoring system. On the left wall hung a huge LCD screen, and embedded in the front wall was a one-way mirror.

Since players might carry germs or other deadly substances upon exiting a scenario, the Special Affairs Bureau had specifically built these single-person isolation rooms to conveniently accommodate recently returned agents.

HISS—

The door to the buffer zone outside the isolation room opened, and two medical personnel in specialized workwear entered, carrying a metal box.

Since Xing Hechou’s physiological and psychological monitoring system readings were normal, the medical personnel merely opened the metal box. They used the instruments inside to test the Meme concentration on his body. After confirming that everything was normal, they asked him a few simple questions and then proceeded to remove the sensors stuck to his body.

"How is it going?" A woman’s voice inquired from the speaker in the ceiling corner. Xing Hechou looked up to see Jien Rushuang standing behind the isolation room’s one-way mirror.

"Not bad," Xing Hechou replied with a nod. "I had a brief chat with Li Rising."

"Him again?" Jien Rushuang raised an eyebrow. "It seems like you two are constantly running into each other."

"Probably because we’re both in Yin City," Xing Hechou said, scratching his head. "Apart from his somewhat odd words and actions, this Brother Li is quite reliable. I have to thank him for surviving this time.

"Let’s not discuss this now; I’ll detail the mission specifics in my report. How are the others doing?"

"They’re gradually waking up," Jien Rushuang said. "The various outposts are tallying casualties. However, since agents could exit the mission at any time, the losses shouldn’t be too significant."

"That’s good." Xing Hechou breathed a sigh of relief. "What about Scholar Zhu?"

"He woke up a bit earlier than you and is currently giving his report. You should come and see."

"Alright." Xing Hechou nodded, then stood up. Under the instructions of the medical personnel, he disinfected his entire body and put on an isolation observation suit.

He left the isolation room and followed Jien Rushuang into the elevator, descending to a certain floor of the Special Affairs Bureau building.

When the elevator doors opened, Xing Hechou was greeted by an L-shaped corridor. The signs on the corridor ceiling indicated this floor was the "Meme Control Center of the Special Affairs Bureau’s Research Department." To the right of the L-shaped corridor were numerous conference rooms and offices. The left wall of the corridor was fitted with panels of transparent, explosion-proof glass. Standing behind the corridor railing and looking through the glass, one could see a vast, three-story-high space below. Numerous instruments and devices were arranged on the ground, with research personnel in heavy isolation suits moving among them.

At the center of the hall stood a huge circular metal platform.

"This is..." Xing Hechou gasped, instinctively placing his hand against the explosion-proof glass.

There, above the circular metal platform, floated a massive, semi-transparent infant. It was naked and genderless, floating with its eyes closed, engulfed in blue light projected from the metal platform.

"This is the anomalous entity that Scholar Zhu brought back. If I’m not mistaken, this should be the King of Shengnan," Jien Rushuang nodded. "Scholar Zhu and his comrades from the Heterodox Academy are different from you. Their entry point for the sleep state was within the isolation rooms of the Meme Control Center. After detaching from the dream, Scholar Zhu immediately went to the Meme Control Center’s Reality Stabilization Device—the circular metal platform in the hall. He then compressed his own head and squeezed the King of Shengnan out from the back of his skull."

"Squeezed... out?"

Jien Rushuang’s expression turned somewhat peculiar. "It seems that before leaving the dream, he stuffed the King of Shengnan into his own brain and brought It back to the real world."

Xing Hechou fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "...Sounds like something he would do."

"As soon as the King of Shengnan appeared, the surrounding reality began to distort," Jien Rushuang explained. "Fortunately, the restraints of the Reality Stabilization Device prevented It from causing greater destruction."

Xing Hechou was familiar with the so-called Reality Stabilization Device. Its fundamental purpose was to reinforce the physical laws of reality within a defined area, thereby nullifying various supernatural phenomena. The handcuffs used by Special Affairs Bureau agents against anomalies were, in fact, a miniaturized form of the Reality Stabilization Device.

Xing Hechou pursed his lips. He stood behind the railing, observing the King of Shengnan for a long moment before turning and following Jien Rushuang into the conference room.

The conference room was brightly lit. The leadership of the Special Affairs Bureau, appearing as virtual projections (a precaution often taken for meetings to prevent unforeseen incidents), were listening to Scholar Zhu deliver his report.

"...This mission actually revealed quite a lot. Since it’s a dream, there must eventually be a time to wake up."

Scholar Zhu, still in his isolation suit, stood behind the oval conference table and said slowly, "After entering the King of Shengnan’s mind and reaching the third layer of the Dream Realm, I saw a small infant lying in amniotic fluid.

"The King of Shengnan is a collective consciousness of all the infants that died young throughout history. According to the think tank’s prior analysis, the three layers of the King of Shengnan’s Dream Realm correspond to the three layers of Its subconscious. Its surface consciousness manifests as chaotic and horrific urban legends. Beneath that is a more logically structured and complete world. Beyond that world lies the King of Shengnan’s deepest subconscious.

"By instilling thoughts into this third layer, one could induce changes in the King of Shengnan. Thus, using the Taoist Demon Seed Cultivation, I infused the concept of ’awakening’ into Its brain. I also transferred some of my own memories to It, making It become me."