Saving Unpermitted

Chapter 50: Sigma

“The ability of that little Erosion Swamp is most likely ‘Crush’,” Ai Xiaoxiao said. “Cutting itself into pieces, sneaking into the command center in batches, and then restoring itself—other Erosion Swamps can’t do that.”

Having no luck finding Luo Duan, and with alarms sounding all around them, the two had to retreat. Ai Xiaoxiao wasn’t on duty at the command center today, so they went straight to Ai’s Clinic.

It had been less than a week since she had started studying the brain sample, but Ai Xiaoxiao had at least gone through everything related to Monday and managed to draw a lot of preliminary conclusions.

She had been studying tirelessly lately, eating only one meal a day. Now she was sitting across from the two of them, wolfing down noodles and explaining things in a muffled voice.

“I have some idea of how it entered the command center,” Ai Xiaoxiao said, tapping her fork. “But let’s start with the basics. You’re probably most concerned about the special abilities of Erosion Swamps with brains.”

Zhu Yanchen nodded.

“Based on what I’ve seen so far, the special abilities of Erosion Swamps with brains are more like using the first obsession or wish generated by the brain? It’s roughly the same thing. When Shu Jun wanted you to rest quietly, it resulted in ‘Suppression’. As for Sweet Edge, her thought was to restore her body, resulting in ‘Creation’. As for the Erosion Swamp you encountered, I suspect that the last synthetic human consciousness it contacted was ‘wanting to see what it has become’.”

Therefore, it gained the ability to replicate the appearance of objects, which did make sense. Shu Jun stirred the mixed noodles on his plate with a fork and listened attentively.

“From here on, I need to give someone a refresher on the basics of the Erosion Swamp.” Ai Xiaoxiao wiped the sauce from the corner of her mouth and gave Shu Jun a sidelong glance. “What I’m about to say is related to that so-called ‘behind-the-scenes mastermind’ Erosion Swamp, so you two better listen carefully.”

“Erosion Swamps don’t intentionally seek out people. You should know that the Erosion Swamp doesn’t discriminate and doesn’t even choose between organic and inorganic matter. As for why they are now imitating humans—firstly, humans are the only species that can threaten their existence, and secondly, humans are generous and know that the Erosion Swamp don’t really understand their own bodily intelligence. This is why they made synthetic humans that resonate easily with the Erosion Swamp and delivered them straight to the swamps’ doors, as if giving them a detailed instruction manual.”

She poured herself a large glass of water and sneered, “Humans brought this upon themselves. Without synthetic humans as a springboard…look at Monday. Monday is the natural limit of an Erosion Swamp. Do you think it would be difficult to deal with?”

Shu Jun lifted his sword and placed it on the dining table. Monday seemed to sense the solemn atmosphere, choked out a sob, and started playing dead.

Monday was cunning and had a bit of a brain, but compared to humans, it was more like an “animal”.

Intelligent animals understood how to seek benefits and avoid harm, and unless the situation was extreme, they wouldn’t provoke humans. Before encountering Sweet Edge, Zhu Yanchen had also followed this line of thinking.

Unfortunately, things didn’t always go as planned.

“I understand what you mean. The Erosion Swamp learns from humans at most one-tenth or one-twelfth, and they may not be focused on it. With us as raw materials, they can focus on us as their targets and can learn six or seven-tenths of what we have to offer. I didn’t misunderstand, did I?” Shu Jun squeezed the sword handle. “But what does this have to do with the mastermind?”

“What’s the rush? I was just about to tell you. The Erosion Swamp is different from normal organisms. They don’t undergo cell differentiation, and their nature is more like a set of identically sized building blocks. Based on intelligence, they form a structure similar to a cell, which is the origin of the Erosion Swamp’s ‘brain’, and at most can be considered a group of erosion substance playing house at a higher level.”

Monday heard that this wasn’t a compliment and quietly spat out a “pfft”. Ai Xiaoxiao gave it a cold glance, and it instantly straightened its body, pretending it hadn’t done anything.

“They aggregate synthetic human remnants together, regardless of their quality, and cram them in. Apart from your exceptional case, the Erosion Swamp’s special abilities are derived from the residual subconscious of synthetic humans. Surname Zhu, your research is more inclined towards this aspect, right?”

Zhu Yanchen nodded again.

“They’re not just borrowing logical thinking.” Shu Jun started to pick up.

“Yes, thanks to the information you provided, we have come to a preliminary conclusion—in words you can understand, the Erosion Swamps absorb all the despair and hatred of the players before they die. The more powerful players can even leave behind ‘special abilities’ through their obsession. Fortunately, the resonance among players isn’t so high, so the information that the Erosion Swamp gets is limited. Even if they learn six or seven out of ten things, their nature is still something else.”

The sound of a fork scratching the moist porcelain plate created an unbearable noise. The mockery on Ai Xiaoxiao’s face became even stronger.

“They should have learned everything—at least the ancestral fighting methods of humans.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me explain.” Zhu Yanchen took over the conversation. “Humans have a clear individual concept, but Erosion Swamps don’t. Luckily, Erosion Swamps with brains outside have developed independently, and the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s testing is the result of their negotiation. If we’re unlucky…”

“If we’re unlucky, there’s only one ‘mastermind’ behind it all.”

Ai Xiaoxiao let go of the fork, no longer making noise.

“It aggregates all the Erosion Swamps with brains, holding all existing information. Whether it’s the ‘Crush’ Erosion Swamp of the command center or the ‘Mirror’ type to probe you, they are all things it has split off. Sweet Edge was too powerful and retained her own thinking ability, so it didn’t dare to touch it.”

Zhu Yanchen sighed heavily.

Ai Xiaoxiao snorted. “And judging from your weird dream, we’re really unlucky—where did the ‘Crush’ Erosion Swamp get its information and intelligence from? The hidden Erosion Swamp with brains might really be just one. Calling it the ‘mastermind’ is too convoluted. I’ve already come up with a name for it. I’m going to call it Sigma.”

Shu Jun looked at the mixed noodles on the plate, completely losing his appetite.

“Let me summarize it,” he said in a daze. “You mean the one we’re looking for… Sigma, is the concentration of the negative emotions and obsessions of the dead. It sounds like—”

“It’s not sounds like. It is an evil god created by humans themselves.”

Ai Xiaoxiao smirked.

“Erosion substance is just erosion substance. It just follows its instincts to survive and doesn’t have any tendencies… Okay, hurry up and eat your food. After you finish, I still need to check your brain.”

After the examination, the two of them stayed in the basement of the clinic.

Having lost a potential collaborator, not obtaining the medicine for the brain shock, and being drenched with cold information, Shu Jun sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a little listless.

Humans had created an evil god, and synthetic humans not only couldn’t stay out of it but also had to pay the price. When the Erosion Swamp came, not to mention humans, even synthetic humans or dogs wouldn’t be taken into consideration.

But the hatred was there. Let alone his teammates, he himself didn’t want to fight to “protect mankind”. The conflict between humans and synthetic humans was irreconcilable, and outside there was a Sigma watching eagerly, not knowing when it would strike.

In such a messed-up situation, he still had to find the most appropriate solution. Shu Jun’s head was throbbing. He tried to find some good news—from the situation of Luo Duan, it seemed that Sigma preferred to provoke the conflict between humans and synthetic humans rather than directly attack them. At least they could control the situation and buy some time.

Shu Jun collapsed on the hospital bed stiffly, making a loud noise.

Surprised by the sound, Zhu Yanchen turned his head. He hesitated for a few seconds, sat on the edge of the bed, and covered Shu Jun’s forehead with one hand.

“The thing you dreamed of is probably a part of Sigma,” Zhu Yanchen said with concern in his tone.

“Then it’s pretty silly.” Shu Jun weakly smiled. “That’s not what I’m worried about now. What about Luo Duan… The combination of his splitting ability and water control is terrible. We can’t catch him.”

“Removing the brain chips from the players only means that they have the ability to know the truth, not that they will immediately accept it.” Zhu Yanchen withdrew his hand from Shu Jun’s forehead. “If he wants to spread the truth, he must take action. Although we can’t mobilize the regular army, I will ask the people from the Old Fourth to pay attention.”

“Okay,” Shu Jun looked at his slender fingers, feeling uneasy. At this moment, Luo Duan must be taking action, but he was idle here. He turned over and over like a hotcake, feeling uncomfortable.

He had to take action, but after this battle, the alert level of the command center would only increase. The enemy was in the dark, and they had no place to start.

Wait, the command center…

“What time is it now?” Shu Jun rolled his eyes.

“Seven in the evening.”

“The event at the Grand Theatre hasn’t ended yet.”

“I have arranged some waiters from the Old Fourth. If you are talking about intelligence…”

“No.” Shu Jun sat up straight from the bed. “I suddenly have an idea.”

Zhu Yanchen raised his eyebrows.

“If I were Luo Duan, I might take the opportunity to start from the inside. No, I’m not talking about killing people. There have been many assassinations among the three major families, and the defense measures must be good. If he exposes himself now, he will be picking sesame seeds, losing sight of the watermelon*.”

*Idiom which means to gain a little but lose a lot or to lose sight of the bigger picture by focusing on small gains.

Due to the tacit understanding cultivated since childhood, Zhu Yanchen quickly picked up his thoughts.

“You think he won’t leave Y City.”

“He won’t leave easily without enough intelligence. After all, we have conflicting positions. If he leaves Y City, I can easily pursue him. But if he stays in Y City, I can’t do anything to him—at least not openly.”

Zhu Yanchen’s gaze gradually changed.

“Ahem, so we need to go to the Grand Theatre… I guess you have figured it out.” Shu Jun made a subtle gesture. “You can consider the situation and take back your position in advance.”

Zhu Yanchen stared directly at Shu Jun’s grayish-white pupils, quickly calculating in his heart.

Threatening or even kidnapping the substitute and regaining some of the resources in the United Government. Even if there were guards in the Grand Theatre, they were only guarding humans, which was much easier to deal with than the command center. It was a very risky move, but not impossible.

“Let’s go take a look first.” He didn’t refuse.

The Grand Theatre was brightly lit. The alarm in the command center was being handled by special personnel, and for now it was deemed to be caused by human interference. Although the alarm level was high, it wasn’t to the extent that all top-level officials had to come out.

The performance was still ongoing.

The current act was a dance, and Xia Liang was resting backstage. She had already finished doing her makeup and was reading a boring love story. “Marshal Zhu,” who had narrowly escaped death, was sitting on a nearby sofa with his arms crossed and eyes fixed on the ground.

‘I’m bored to death,’ Xia Liang grumbled inwardly with a sour expression. She still had to take charge of the final performance before the curtains closed. She finally had some time to rest, but she had to be with this impostor.

It was bad enough that she had to be with him, but she also had to pretend to know nothing.

She didn’t know what the impostor was thinking, but she was disgusted. Fortunately, she had acted out a breakup scene with the real Zhu Yanchen before, so she didn’t have to act affectionately with this stranger.

“Xiao Liang.” The man spoke hoarsely.

“Hmm?” Xia Liang looked up, and her eyes immediately filled with tears. She had a look of five parts resentment and five parts sorrow, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Faced with such a look, the man awkwardly stopped talking and fell silent again.

Judging from the situation, the Zhu family was planning to act until the end. Her “romantic relationship” with “Zhu Yanchen” was likely to be restored. After all, what the two families wanted wasn’t the so-called happiness of their children. In this era, marriage was just a guarantee in disguise.

Xia Liang chuckled to herself and continued reading her boring novel.

Well, if this guy dared to touch her, she could expose his fake identity in an instant. Regardless of where this substitute was found, once his identity was leaked, they would both be silenced together. The other party looked like a coward who didn’t have any guts.

But it was still annoying. She didn’t know how long this idiot would be here, and the awkwardness in the air was almost overflowing out the window.

Just then, there was a sound at the door handle. Xia Liang perked up—even if it was an assassin, it would be more interesting than the man in front of her.

The door opened, and two men walked in.

One of them was wrapped tightly, with a bit of a medieval knight vibe and a protective posture in his movements. The other had a bold face and looked like a twin of “Marshal Zhu” on the sofa.

Oh, who else could it be—Marshal Zhu had come to visit, and he even brought Shu Jun disguised as a bodyguard.

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but Shu Jun kept glancing at her, intentionally or unconsciously. Xia Liang picked up her book, hiding her smile, and pretended to look shocked.

“You… You…” The “Marshal Zhu” on the sofa was dumbfounded.

“Shh.” Zhu Yanchen’s gun was pressed against his forehead, and his other hand made a quiet gesture. Shu Jun locked the door and leaned against the door panel nonchalantly.

“It’s impossible. Zhu Sheng told me… This can’t be…” The impostor was completely confused.

“Zhu Sheng doesn’t know everything,” Zhu Yanchen replied coldly. “Who are you?”

The man looked at Xia Liang again, opened his mouth, and then slumped down completely. “Xia Yufeng.”

“Hah?!” Xia Liang exclaimed.

Then she realized that her tone wasn’t quite appropriate and added softly, “W-What?!”

She had heard of Xia Yufeng before, who was considered a distant relative living miles away. The Xia family had always been grooming him to be Zhu Yanchen’s vassal, so Xia Yufeng had followed Zhu Yanchen for several years and knew of his habits. Zhu Sheng absolutely considered this aspect when choosing this person.

Even though both the Xia family and Zhu Sheng knew that she wasn’t interested in men, this was still too much of a waste. Xia Liang felt nauseous.

According to the information she had received, Xia Yufeng found out about some of Zhu Yanchen’s research and went to report it to Zhu Sheng. Later, Zhu Yanchen’s research materials were destroyed, and Xia Yufeng disappeared from the social circles of the three major families, probably exiled to some remote corner.

Although they were distant relatives in name, they had never had any contact, and she had not paid any more attention to him. Who would have thought that their first meeting would be in such a situation?

When he heard the name of the informant, Zhu Yanchen remained expressionless.

“Oh,” he said lightly. “It’s you. No wonder. They did a good job with the plastic surgery.”

“I’m sorry.” Xia Yufeng was shocked and confused, unable to distinguish whether Zhu Yanchen was human or ghost. “Back then… I didn’t mean to…”

Zhu Yanchen ignored him. “It’s simpler with you. From now on, you will listen to my orders. If I need you to appear, you will appear, and if I need you to disappear, you will disappear. If Zhu Sheng finds out that I’m still alive, even if there’s only a hint of it, you know what he’ll do.”

“If you want to eliminate me and continue to occupy this position, you’d better succeed on the first try. If I hear any rumors, you know what I will do.”

Xia Yufeng choked in fear, as if someone was holding his throat.

Seeing this expression on “Zhu Yanchen’s” face, Shu Jun turned his head uncomfortably. The lounge was small, and the other person came into his view.

Xia Liang was still using the book to cover the lower half of her face. Her eyes were moist and terrified, looking quite pitiful. Before they broke in, he had politely raised the question—should they lure Xia Liang away so they could deal with the impostor alone?

“It’ll be too easy to expose ourselves. Xia Liang’s lounge doesn’t have any surveillance. Don’t worry, she won’t say anything.” Zhu Yanchen had answered like that.

As it turned out, Miss Xia didn’t scream. She just rolled her tearful eyes around, scanning the other three people. Whether she was scared or just had lingering feelings for Zhu Yanchen was still unclear.

Well, if everything could really settle down, the road to pursuing the marshal would still be difficult. If A’Yan was really straight, he had no intention of forcing it.

Shu Jun stared blankly at Xia Liang, ignoring the gaze that Zhu Yanchen threw at him. Marshal Zhu frowned, and his face became even stiffer.

His right hand continued to point the gun at Xia Yufeng, and his left hand patted Shu Jun’s neck. The latter looked at his stiff face and said “Oh”, sounding particularly complicated.

Xia Liang: “…”

She had seen countless men who were infatuated with her. Not to mention Zhu Yanchen, even the synthetic man’s gaze wasn’t one of amazement or admiration. She always felt that his eyes were a bit like those of a wolf protecting its prey. But in the next second, Marshal Zhu turned to touch Shu Jun’s neck and looked at him.

That gaze was just like Shu Jun’s, and the wolf that had been protecting its prey suddenly became two.

…These two people are interesting.

“What do you want me to do?” On the other side, seeing that Marshal Zhu hadn’t mentioned any conditions for a long time, Xia Yufeng’s legs went weak with fear. He summoned all his courage and spoke up.

Xia Yufeng was clear about Zhu Yanchen’s methods. He wasn’t as ruthless as Zhu Sheng, but he wasn’t soft-hearted either. He wasn’t the waste that was rumored in the market at all. When he went to inform Zhu Sheng, on the one hand, he wanted to gain Zhu Sheng’s backing, and on the other hand, he was really frightened by Zhu Yanchen’s research.

The command center had been researching synths and the Erosion Swamp. They were trying to reduce the cost of manufacturing the hibernation pods, strengthen control over the fragments of the brain, accelerate the growth of synthetic humans, and adjust their appearances to match other species… All sorts of things like this.

But Zhu Yanchen had no interest in those studies.

Thinking back to those times, Xia Yufeng felt a bit complicated.

He had been raised as a subordinate of Zhu Yanchen since he was young, and he had some resentment, but not much. When he turned sixteen, he officially began to assist the young master of the Zhu family. Although the two weren’t close, Zhu Yanchen never blamed him or instructed him to do any unsavory “tasks”.

Gradually, Xia Yufeng began to like this job. With a boss like this, as long as he didn’t cause trouble, he could live a comfortable life for the rest of his days.

However, the good times didn’t last. At that time, the young master of the Zhu family was still young and couldn’t keep everything under wraps. Xia Yufeng saw the disease on his body one day—terrifying and twisted. It shouldn’t appear on someone from one of the three major families.

Zhu Yanchen asked him not to say anything and made many promises. Xia Yufeng didn’t know if too many painkillers were used, but at that time, Zhu Yanchen always had a strange and dreamy feeling. Xia Yufeng was only fifteen years old at the time and had never seen a “bigshot” beg him before, so naturally he agreed.

Out of a sense of responsibility to his work, he even expressed his willingness to be Zhu Yanchen’s assistant and hide things for him.

Since then, Zhu Yanchen probably saw him as a reliable subordinate and would occasionally reveal some of his thoughts to him.

Xia Yufeng didn’t like those thoughts; they weren’t normal at all—since the first day they entered the military academy, the teachers had repeatedly emphasized the importance of the player system and the nature of synthetic humans. In Xia Yufeng’s eyes, Zhu Yanchen’s thoughts were almost diametrically opposed to those of the course materials.

Xia Yufeng was terrified.

The player system was the foundation on which they all depended on for survival. In the eyes of a teenager who saw things in black and white, at that time, Zhu Yanchen was no different from an anti-social element.

So he “swallowed his anger” and worked as an assistant for Zhu Yanchen for a year. When Zhu Yanchen allowed him to access his research materials, he immediately reported relevant information to Zhu Sheng. Zhu Sheng destroyed Zhu Yanchen’s research but didn’t commend Xia Yufeng. Instead, he put him on the bench and didn’t give him any important work until today.

‘This is all karma,’ Xia Yufeng thought bitterly. But at least he didn’t make a mistake in judging Zhu Yanchen—this person’s mental state was indeed not quite right. He was about to sit in the leadership position. He couldn’t afford to fake his death at a critical moment.

“What do you want me to do?” Without Zhu Yanchen’s reply, he repeated the question.

“Stay in my office for meals and lodging, except for necessary travel. My office is equipped with a single lounge.”

“Do I have any other options?” Xia Yufeng muttered dejectedly. “Even if you don’t require it, I still have to do it.”

“Prepare enough food in the lounge. I may have to replace you at any time. You will be locked in the lounge when I come back, so keep quiet.”

“……?!”

“That’s all for now. I’ll find a way to send the remaining instructions to the office computer.” Zhu Yanchen put down his gun. “I’ll have someone watch you all the time, so don’t try anything stupid.”

“Yes.” Xia Yufeng gritted his teeth and looked at Xia Liang—it didn’t matter if he, an unknown pawn, was treated this way, but he wanted to see how the “dead” Zhu Yanchen would threaten this popular singer.

“Ah, can I breathe a sigh of relief now?” Xia Liang almost instantly changed her tone. She put down the book covering her face, and her panic and weakness disappeared. “If you’re coming, you should at least tell me in advance, right? Feng Ge, let’s get along well in the future.”

Xia Yufeng looked at Xia Liang in horror.

‘Ah, they were working together from the start,’ Xia Yufeng thought in despair.

However, he wasn’t the only one who was shocked. Shu Jun looked at Xia Liang, then at Zhu Yanchen, and then at Xia Liang again. He hadn’t had a chance to speak when footsteps could be heard from outside the door.

Zhu Yanchen acted very skillfully. He hooked Shu Jun’s waist, and the two squeezed into Xia Liang’s wardrobe.

The visitor knocked on the door twice casually and entered the room without waiting for a response.

“…Father.” Xia Yufeng bit his tongue and quickly adjusted his emotions. He didn’t expect the first test to come so soon.

Shu Jun looked out through the crack in the wardrobe. Even if he didn’t care about the plot of <Erosion>, he still recognized that face.

The person who came in was Zhu Yanchen’s father, Zhu Sheng.

The author has something to say:

Miss Xia Liang sees through everything√

——

The capitalization of Sigma is ∑, which means summation ←

Kinky Thoughts:

Quite an apt name considering Sigma is the summation of many Erosion Swamps.

Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen are two gays who act like straight boys. They really should get their gaydar fixed.