Strange game designer.

Chapter 737 Deeper Inside, Chaos Gradually Sets In
Gao Ming's speech became faster and faster, and his eyes became increasingly frightening. He was sometimes clear-headed and sometimes confused. It seemed as if he could really hear all sorts of voices.

The driver from Wansheng stood still, his pupils twitching. He heard nothing; all he could hear was the quiet sound of sewage flowing.

Listen carefully!

Like a wound-up toy, Gao Ming's emotions fluctuated rapidly, and his body trembled violently. The memories he had just had from looking at the photos overlapped with the darkness before him. He felt as if he had been dragged into the photos. The underground water network was pitch black, and he felt as if he had been locked in a darkroom, beginning to observe the world from a distorted perspective.

"Why defend death row inmates? Father, you argued for the abolition of the death penalty so that I could take revenge on the murderer who killed my mother. It was you! You planted the seed of death in me when I was so young!" Gao Ming blurted out. These were not words he wanted to say, but as soon as he opened his mouth, they came out directly from the bottom of his heart.

The trash in the sewage collided with the moss-covered walls like a soothing piano, and the abandoned dolls, their mouths half-open, sang a melodious song.

Gao Ming waved his arms in the darkness, as if greeting someone, or perhaps rejecting something. Li Sansi's mind had forgotten many things, but his body still remembered—the pain that had been suppressed since childhood.

"You made me kill him. It was your repeated abandonment that turned all the terrible premonitions into reality. It was you who turned me into a ghost."

Ghosts are memories that constantly bring fear; they live in the past and keep people from ever having peace.

"The cleaners are coming soon. If they see us, we'll probably be arrested and forced to do community service." The driver, who was tied up with ropes, tried to break free several times without success and could only whisper a reminder to Gao Ming.

“The cleaning company has contracted the underground water network, but the darkness doesn’t belong to anyone.” Gao Ming seemed to have regained his senses and grabbed the driver to walk forward.

They walked along the slippery path, their shoes splashed with sewage. The underground water network was intricate and complex, with numerous intersections and no signs. Yet, Gao Ming seemed to know every road in the area like the back of his hand. It didn't seem like he had memorized the map beforehand; it was more like he had lived there for a long time.

After circling around in all directions, the driver had completely given up on escaping; he had long since lost track of the way he had come from.

Many of the places Gao Ming went to had "No Entry" signs. The passageways that the cleaning company employees frequently used were cleaned with basic cleaning and had handrails and safety buckles installed. The roads that Gao Ming took the driver on were all dark, muddy roads, with smelly garbage on the ground. Occasionally, they would be lucky enough to see some rotting animal organs.

How can a child survive in this dark and gloomy place? Does the darkness offer him shelter, or does it bury his life?

Are you even listening to me?

"I'm listening, I'm listening, brother, I didn't miss a single word you said," the driver echoed.

“It’s not you, it’s them, those guys standing in the darkness.” Gao Ming walked ahead, one hand reaching into the darkness: “Why are you avoiding me? Are you disgusted by my filth, or out of guilt?”

A dozen minutes later, the road in front of Gao Ming was blocked by iron netting. The narrow passage was blocked by roadblocks, and the iron netting extended all the way into the sewage.

The large "No" sign on the wall was highlighted in red paint, suggesting that the cleaning company considered this a forbidden area and did not allow their employees to enter.

"There's no other way, we can't go any further, let's turn back." The driver had been on tenterhooks the whole way, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no road ahead.

Squatting on the bank, Gao Ming watched the quietly flowing sewage. A tattered mannequin floated on the surface, stopping after hitting the wire mesh. However, after being swept away by the current a few times, it slipped under the mesh and flowed into deeper water. "This mesh didn't completely block the river; there's a big gap underneath," Gao Ming said, scratching his head. He looked at the driver and asked, "Can you swim?"

"what?"

"If you don't know how, just hold your breath." Gao Ming grabbed the driver's shoulder, and the two jumped into the sewage, burying their heads underwater.

Cold, foul, and rotten smells clung to his body, seeping into his bones. Gao Ming saw the garbage that had settled at the bottom of the river. Li Sansi had once drifted on the dark river like countless pieces of garbage.

Through a gap in the riverbed, Gao Ming pulled the driver to the other side of the iron fence.

His head surfaced, the driver's face was purple, he was panting heavily, his whole body was soaked and ice-cold. He was grateful that he was still alive, but he was also desperate because he was alive. What would he face next?
As he climbed ashore, water droplets dripped onto the ground. Gao Ming turned around and vaguely saw a child being chased. With nowhere to escape, the child could only jump into the river and let the trash cover his face.

"You've rested enough, let's continue." Gao Ming helped the driver up; his eyes were a little red.

"Should we go any further? There's absolutely no light here. I've heard that some strange things live in the underground water network, and many people disappear here every year. Besides, this is an area that even cleaners are strictly forbidden from entering!" The driver didn't care about the stench on his body. If he could persuade Gao Ming to leave, he was willing to jump into the underground river again.

"What I'm looking for are those special things, and maybe I was one of them once."

"Brother, I swear to you, I will never tell anyone what I heard, so please don't take me with you anymore." The driver made several solemn vows.

"We'll be there soon, I have a feeling we'll be there soon." Gao Ming grabbed the rope and started walking.

The passage narrowed, and when they reached the next intersection, Gao Ming saw a dismantled mission sign on the ground with several missions faintly written on it.

"First task—recover telescopes, glasses, cameras, and projectors. Any discarded observation items must be brought back to headquarters for safekeeping! It is strictly forbidden to inspect waste and garbage privately, to use mobile phones, or to use any light source other than a flashlight."

"Second mission—Auntie, among the homeless people living underground, there is a madwoman known as Auntie. Find her at all costs!"

"The third task is to recover infected corpses. Strictly follow the chart to inject the corresponding level of decomposition fluid. Seal and store corpses with gang tattoos."

"The fourth task—harvesting Life Flowers, the main ingredient for making potions. They only grow in forbidden zones and the darkest, dirtiest places. Each Life Flower can be exchanged for..."

The lower half of the task board was cracked and missing, presumably sunk in sewage. However, Gao Ming wasn't interested in the tasks below; his gaze remained fixed on the first two.

"The cleaning company is also looking for a camera? Is it the one Li Sansi lost? Do they know something about it?"

As a force as powerful as the night watchmen, cleaning companies are much more discreet, always working in the dark to clean up abandoned trash.

(End of this chapter)