Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 643 "Private Life"

Lin Yi opened his mouth in surprise, completely at a loss for words.

The previously completely opaque "principal's office" has now become exquisitely translucent. Between the vines, transparent membranes resembling bat wings have grown, each membrane displaying wondrous images.

The images resembled a row of color TVs stacked together in a furniture store in the 1990s, each one turned on, with different "television" programs playing on different screens, filling the entire interior wall of the "principal's office".

Most of those scenes were unfamiliar to Lin Yi.

Some scenes depict a post-apocalyptic wasteland...

The twisted steel remnants of the tower lean precariously in the reddish-brown desert, its wind-eroded iron frame draped with tattered fluorescent graffiti tarpaulins that flutter in the sandstorms like ghost flags...

In the distance stands an obelisk made of scrap from some kind of technological product. Inside the glass chamber at the top of the obelisk is half a mechanical skeleton, like the corpse of a warrior wearing exoskeleton armor after death.

Giant, rusty gears are scattered among the sand dunes, with the bones of unknown creatures stuck in their teeth—as if they were pulled from the earth's core by some immense force and carelessly discarded in this desolate landscape.

Other scenes are set in a near-future cyberpunk sci-fi style...

Holographic neon advertisements floated in the leaden-gray rain curtain. The dim sky made it impossible to distinguish between day and night. Neon advertisements with traditional Chinese characters flickered on some high-rise buildings. The dazzling light and shadow overlapped and flickered, like a scene that only appears in some games.

On the wet streets, mercenaries wearing partial exoskeleton equipment moved about freely, as if heading somewhere to deliver a mission. Between the high-rise buildings, a maglev train, resembling a giant steel dragon, seemed to shuttle back and forth. Inside the train windows, one could vaguely see some elegantly dressed figures. Their air of nobility was out of step with this era, their elegance as if they had the word "capital" stuffed into their ass.

In the depths of that scene, a colossal server matrix tower pierced the dark clouds, its vents spewing steam that mingled with acid rain to form a thin mist…

On the towering Matrix, a sign is faintly visible, bearing the words "Stark Tower" in large traditional Chinese characters: "China Heavy Industry - HK-02"...

Aside from that, there were a few other scenes that Lin Yi found familiar, such as a church in Europe. The Gothic church looked like it had stepped out of a vampire comic, but its spire was torn vertically, with a viscous dark gold fluid flowing between the cracks. In the dim light and shadow, some battle nuns dressed in black and white habit could be vaguely seen...

For example, on the ancient Great Wall of China, some characters similar to the admonitions on the inner walls of bell towers have appeared on the surface of those ancient bricks and stones. Some figures that look like Qi cultivators are patrolling the wall, and below that majestic wall, some strange creatures that look like nocturnal creatures seem to be wriggling between the mountains.

For example, there is a group of towering stone pillars on an island. The entire group consists of seven broken giant pillars. Some of the broken pillars are inserted into the earth, while others, like the quantum giant clock "Sanctuary" in the layer hierarchy, are suspended in the void in the form of countless fragments. The pillars are wrapped with secret rune chains that are constantly decomposing and recombining. The group of stone pillars occasionally ripples out in circles of air waves, causing waves to surge in the surrounding sea.

It was as if some ancient, evil god was imprisoned in the abyss below, and that being was constantly releasing its aura...

There is also a colossal group of humanoid sculptures resembling Stonehenge on Easter Island, with blood-drop-like patterns seeping from the deep carvings on each megalith, patterns that even faintly outline the shape of the starry sky...

These images cover almost all the anomalies around the world. Lin Yi suspects that the scenes depicted in these images are likely different dark zones around the world and some human settlements.

In addition to the regions filled with elements of styles from all over the world, there are also some smaller scenes, such as a hospital, a circus, an ancient courtyard, or even a highway covered in rain and fog that seems to exist in a nightmare.

A few scenes also show the uniform black surface of the sea, filled with monotonous and uninteresting waves.

Besides these, the last few scenes show some of the situation on campus.

But what Lin Yi noticed was that there was only one picture of the campus, taken from above, while there were eight pictures of the gymnasium.

These eight images cover almost the entire activity area of ​​the stadium, more than the number of images of observing the black sea.

"There's only one 'camera' on campus, but eight in the gymnasium?" Lin Yi was extremely surprised. "Wait! These cameras?!"

Lin Yi saw the figures of the boss and Li Huiyuan in one of the scenes, and he also saw his own figure!

"Are these images time-lapsed?" Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the pendulum clocks could be seen in the parts of the images related to the campus.

It's the kind of pendulum clock that every classroom has. Through this surveillance-like screen, you can see part of the pendulum clock, and the time displayed on the clock is also included in the screen.

"Is the pendulum clock in the campus not only to provide time for the students, but also to let the 'principal' who is 'monitoring' know the time?" Lin Yi did not realize the significance of the pendulum clock at first, and only thought that it was a simple way to show people the time, until now.

Time is etched into the image in this way.

Suddenly, another flash of inspiration struck him!
"So many cameras on campus pointing towards the gymnasium, could they be used to monitor the boss?"

Upon closer inspection, he could see the boss's figure in almost every scene—all of those scenes were locked at different moments!
And in all those moments, the boss was always there!
If Lin Yi didn't know anything about the "principal," he would definitely think that the principal was a complete voyeur who wanted to keep a close watch on his boss.

But now... it seems the principal is indeed keeping a close watch on the boss, but... why?
Why does the principal need to monitor the eldest son?

Does the boss know she's spying on him?
Lin Yi's thoughts raced. Thinking of his boss's fragmented memories, which were similar to his own, some terrifying suspicions suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Could it be... that the boss's memories hold some unknown secret?"

In this case, the entire campus was built only after the principal negotiated with the authorities, so the principal should be the head of the campus.

As for the boss, he initially thought she was just the boss of the sports department, but now it seems that she is much more than that. Even the night watchman is called "Little Er" in her mouth. That status seems to be no different from "Little Zhou" or "Little Xie" in her eyes.

Therefore, Lin Yi knew that the boss was the boss of the entire campus, and even the boss of the art students and the boss of the night watchmen.

That's why Mu Daxian said he "asked the boss for help".

But if the top leader is the top leader of the campus, then what about the principal?
What is the relationship between them?
The eldest brother seems to have a good relationship with the principal, but why is the principal secretly monitoring him?

The only possibility is that the principal is wary of the eldest brother.

Of course, it wasn't out of fear of the boss's character, but rather, or more likely, out of fear of the complete version of her within the boss's fragmented memories!
A thought suddenly popped into Lin Yi's mind—

"What kind of person is the boss...?" Unconsciously, he seemed to have developed a strange curiosity about the boss.

This curiosity is different from romantic love; it is a pure curiosity—curious about the leader's background, her origins, and even... everything about her.

Many doubts point to one direction—the leader is very likely from the era of the Black Moon Outpost, and may even be an "Apostle".

An amnesiac "Apostle" whose rank is higher than that of the "Mourners (Night Watchmen)".

Lin Yi frowned. The "depth" of this campus was truly terrifying. As he learned more about it, the campus's inherent horror began to unfold. But just as he began to confront the campus's terrifying background, he discovered that what was more terrifying than the campus itself was not the campus, but the "people" within it.

"Wait! The principal previously asked Ryoko in an accusatory tone: 'You want her to be released completely, right?'..."

"I now know that this 'she' is Master Difa."

"But as the principal left the campus and the eldest brother started entering the art building, his memories began to return... Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any strong logic in this, but I always feel like there's some connection..."

Could it be that the leader is not just an ordinary apostle, or perhaps, he was once the "first apostle"?

Lin Yi became more and more confused. He couldn't figure it out, but he knew that the principal must know something about the boss. He could ask the principal when he returned.

"But wait, if the principal finds out... wouldn't that mean Ryoko knows too, and 'I' know too?!"

He quickly found Tian Bufan and Mao Feiyang in the expanded principal's office, hoping to find out about the boss's background from them.

At this moment, the "principal's office" was like a giant surveillance camera, and the scene that Tian Bufan and Mao Feiyang were watching was a "screen" with the boss's figure on it!
Lin Yi composed himself and called out again, "Young Master Tian, ​​Maozi."

Tian Bufan then slowly turned around and looked at Lin Yi.

His gaze swept over the notebook in Lin Yi's hand, his eyebrows curved slightly, and he smiled, "You got the notebook? Very good."

Lin Yi then said, "Is this what you call a side job? How did the principal's office become like this? And... what exactly is the boss's identity? Why are you all observing her too?"

Tian Bufan smiled slightly and said, "That's right, this is the 'side job' we were talking about."

"Remember when I said that the 'Principal's Office' is essentially the 'Star Prison,' and the 'Star Prison' is the hub for all anomalies in the Black Moon Outpost layer?"

"Hmm..." Lin Yi nodded.

Tian Bufan continued, "That's exactly right. 'Star Prison' can monitor many anomalies around the world. This was a function designed in when it was first built. Our side job is to use 'Star Prison' to observe the situation in other dark zones so that we can carry out other operations in the future."

Lin Yi pointed to the expanded principal's office and asked for confirmation, "So every image here is a dark area?"

"Not entirely, but pretty much," Tian Bufan said.

Lin Yi opened his mouth: "This... is completely different from my impression of the outside world."

Tian Bufan said calmly, "That's natural, because your memories are still stuck on the 'normal timeline'."

Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly: "Is this the problem with my memories?"

“It’s not just that, but you need to know that no matter what kind of memory it is, it’s real,” Tian Bufan said slowly.

"Reality is the reality for some people."

"Like The Matrix?" Lin Yi narrowed his eyes.

Tian Bufan chuckled: "It's pointless to say anything now. It's been six days already. Can't you even wait until the last day? Your memories weren't altered by us, but by yourself. Once you reach a certain depth, your memories will naturally surface."

"We're getting closer to that point."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi gritted his teeth, then stopped thinking about it and focused his attention back on the matter: "I've noticed that you guys seem to have been watching the boss's 'surveillance' the whole time..."

"Just who is the boss?"

He asked the question again.

“Boss…” Tian Bufan narrowed his eyes, “If I’m not mistaken, she is one of the ‘First Apostles’.”

Although he had already guessed, Lin Yi's heart still trembled violently when Tian Bufan said it himself, and even his mouth went dry: "Who is she?"

"I don't know about that," Tian Bufan shook his head slightly. "Even the 'First Apostles' have ranks. The most powerful ones are honored with 'Titles,' followed by the 'First Apostles' who don't have titles, and then the 'Apostles,' namely the 'Black Moon Apostles.'"

"Like the Night's Watch's predecessors, the 'Mourners,' who were followers of the 'First Apostles,' their strength could rival that of the 'Black Moon Apostles.'"

"As for which level the boss is, we may find out when we release the Difa."

Lin Yi pondered, "What exactly is the relationship between Boss and Master Di?"

"I don't know either," Tian Bufan shook his head again. "Theoretically speaking, any 'Apostle' can have some connection with a Master of the Dharma, but this connection can be big or small; no one can say for sure."

Tian Bufan paused, his tone suddenly becoming serious: "My only concern is that after the boss's memories are fully restored... he won't be one of us."

(End of this chapter)