Strange game designer.

Chapter 842 I am number two, so who is number one?
Shortly after the group of caregivers carrying body bags left, a second group of people sneaked out of the side door of the Institute of Ethics; they all had some degree of deformity.

"What are these people doing out so late at night?" Old Ma squinted and peeked, mimicking Dr. Gao.

"He must have gone to the forest to find me." Dr. Gao had probed Dr. Bu a few times during the day, and the other party's reaction was not quite normal, so he was much more cautious this time than before.

After waiting for another twenty minutes, Dr. Gao and his team sneaked into the Institute of Ethics. Using the two keys given to him by Dr. Bu, he successfully entered the laboratory where the brain-sharing device was stored.

With practiced ease, Dr. Gao didn't dare to waste a moment. He placed the brains labeled "number two" on both sides of the pool and connected them with a dense array of wires.

"Lately, I've been forgetting things faster and faster, and I have this feeling that... my mission is coming to an end."

After confirming that the equipment was functioning properly and had not been tampered with, Dr. Gao replaced one of the brains, injected himself with the medication, and lay in the pool wearing Pig Village's clothes.

He made a gesture to his uncle, and the moment the switch was pressed, Dr. Gao felt as if he were struck by an electric current. He could almost hear his own brain crying out for help, as if it was about to escape from his body.

Brain swapping is not a soul exchange. It was originally intended to allow doctors to empathize with the suffering of patients. Later, it gradually evolved into a form of punishment because for some patients, living is far more despairing than dying.

Each wire seemed to extend the thought process; the electric arc turned into bubbles in the liquid medicine, thoughts exploded, and memories hidden deep in the brain were slowly activated. The vague phantoms and past feelings were gradually transferred into Dr. Gao's mind.

“Remember, you are not a brain with autism. You are number two. You are the most rational child in the orphanage.”

"This is a delirious world. Everyone will go crazy, including me."

"If I want to leave, I must be the last one who hasn't lost his mind."

"Number Two, I will temporarily preserve your absolute sanity. Please use everything you have to hold off those eight insane unknowns."

“You are more suited to this place than anyone else. I will keep changing your body and finding a suitable brain for you before you collapse! I will do whatever it takes to maintain your sanity until your brain can no longer take it.”

"You must do these three things!"

"Find the dream! I can sense it's in too. I must make it go mad before I do!"

"Make everyone believe that you are me! You are the master of the Blood City of Vast Ocean!"

"Remember these eight unknowable names. I will hide them inside Grandpa's head. I will..."

"..."

His memories after that were completely blurry, and the excruciating pain was unbearable for Dr. Gao; he felt like his brain was melting. Those brains, having undergone too many brain-sharing sessions, had become completely abnormal and could no longer share useful information, and his own brain could no longer withstand any more brain-sharing sessions.

“I know what I’m doing now. I’ve driven the gardener half-mad! What he said is the truth!”

"I remember now... I'm number two!"

The memory became clear, but this time he didn't know how long he could hold on. Dr. Gao opened his eyes, and the confusion completely disappeared.

"It turns out that every time I use the shared brain, someone is supplying me with rationality and sharing a sense of clarity."

The brains brought from the dean's office had become severely abnormal after multiple brain-sharing sessions; they all appeared to be brains that Dr. Gao had previously removed.

I glanced into the depths of the laboratory. During the day, there was a "volunteer" locked up there, his head sawed open, his brain and body almost separated. By nightfall, the "volunteer" had long since disappeared.

"This crazy world." He carefully put the brains away, though it didn't really matter; they were already broken. This was probably Dr. Gao's last shared brain. "How long can I stay conscious?" He quickly cleaned up the scene, but didn't leave immediately. He had something very important to do.

By packing special drugs used only by the brain into his backpack, Dr. Gao also used the key given to him by Dr. Bu to steal some special drugs that only the top leaders of the ethics oversight group could access, including a banned drug that could completely destroy the brain and sanity.

He not only wanted to remember the names of those eight terrifying beings, but also wanted to take one of them with him before he went completely insane.

The whole process didn't take long, and the security personnel at the Institute of Ethics seemed to have already returned to their posts.

"Go, evacuate immediately!"

"Where to retreat to?"

"forest."

The nighttime hours are precious to Dr. Gao. As his memory returns, he no longer acts solely on instinct. He recalls the many dark nights he spent working, participating in one heinous incident after another.

Instead of taking the autopsy route, Dr. Gao took a detour into the forest. He was racing against time, and halfway there, his phone suddenly vibrated.

"Dr. Bu? It seems this guy is in a hurry. This is the first time he's called me since he left the entrance to the human world."

"Doctor, pigs can't answer the phone," Old Ma said, expressing his doubts.

After the call connected, Dr. Gao did not speak immediately, but waited until he heard Dr. Bu's voice before replying.

"Are you still awake?"

"wide awake."

Why did the dean fall into a coma?

"Because we used the latest treatment plan for him."

"It was you who made that decision, and I strongly opposed it at the time." Dr. Bu breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that the person who answered the phone was Dr. Gao. "It's so good that you're alright. My people couldn't find you. Tell me your exact location; only then can I help you."

“I was forced by the police to walk a long way into the heart of the forest. Now I’m disguised as a tree. Look for me by following the direction the branches are leaning. The ‘trees’ around me are all deformed. Don’t call again, it will expose us.”

After hanging up the phone, Dr. Gao handed the phone to his uncle: "From now on, you are me. Wear your hat and mask, and go to the forest with Lao Ma. You don't need to do anything specific, just don't go into the center of the forest."

"It's that simple?"

“I don’t need to use my brain anymore. Every step I take is open secret. Even if they guess or find out something, they will follow me.” Dr. Gao’s words carried a self-destructive tendency. He wanted to use the last bit of his sanity to pave the way for “Number One”.

"Something's not right with your tone! Please don't do anything foolish!" The three uncles advised Dr. Gao in unison.

"Foolish thing? I'm very clear-headed now, clear-headed like never before." Dressed in the clothes of a resident of Pig Village, Dr. Gao handed all the medicine to Old Ma, keeping only a few syringes for himself before parting ways with his uncle.

He wasn't going to do anything foolish; he was preparing to kill someone.

(End of this chapter)