The night before the promotion

Chapter 75 Ghosts
After countless resets, Huo Daochuan seemed tired of indiscriminately punishing Zhou Si. He disappeared, taking the two medical staff with him.

Zhou Si lay in the dark clinic covered in blood. Before they left, the scene was not reset. Zhou Si's body was riddled with holes, like a rag doll torn apart by a giant bear, with all the white cotton exposed.

An unknown amount of time had passed before Zhou Si's scattered pupils gradually became focused. He blinked tiredly, his eyes lowered, staring at the ground and his own broken body.

"Ha ha……"

The painful breathing sounds rose and fell. Although the execution had stopped, Zhou Si could still feel the pain lingering in his mind and the horrific scenes that kept flashing before his eyes.

The body trembles and twitches instinctively, the chest rises and falls violently, and the strong feeling of panic is like a heavy hammer, hitting the heart repeatedly, making it difficult to calm down.

"Quiet."

Zhou Si gave himself orders in his heart.

His mind was like an overloaded and restless machine. Zhou Si forced it to fall into absolute tranquility and return to its original rationality.

Therefore, Zhou Si closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth, as if he was enduring another even greater pain, and spent a long time again until he opened his eyes again.

"call……"

Zhou Si let out a long breath, narrowed his eyes, and waited quietly like a corpse gradually cooling down.

After a long time, cracks with strong light spread all over the clinic. The light continued to expand, completely destroying and dissipating the clinic.

When his vision became clear again, Zhou Si returned to the familiar living room again. It was like a halftime break. There was no Huo Daochuan or Ruan Linrui here, only him, all alone.

Zhou Si had no idea what Huo Daochuan was going to do to him, but since he couldn't resist, he might as well enjoy this brief moment of peace.

He lay on the sofa and stretched his body freely. This familiar environment made Zhou Si involuntarily think of the good old days, those times that he was nostalgic for and could not let go of.

From this angle, the work titled "Potential" just caught Zhou Si's eyes. He stared at the man and woman holding their bows and arrows in the black and white photo.

Perhaps the mental pressure that Huo Daochuan put on Zhou Si was a little too great. Even though Zhou Si had tried hard to bridge the gap, his thoughts were still full of cracks and were shaky, and his thoughts could not help but diverge.

Zhou Si recalled the story that happened after this work. Many years after completing this work called "Potential", the two of them set out from both ends of the Great Wall and met at the midpoint. They shook hands, hugged, and then parted in tears...

A dazzling white light lit up from the edge of Zhou Si's vision. Zhou Si turned his head and saw another crack blooming in the living room, but then the light turned into deep darkness. A strong sense of detachment rose from the bottom of Zhou Si's heart, as if someone had grabbed his thoughts and forcibly stuffed them into a container.

In an instant, Zhou Si's vision went completely dark and he couldn't see his hand in front of him. At the same time, he felt dizzy, as if he was put into a bottle and shaken hard, causing his internal organs to vomit out.

Then, the sound of splashing water rang in Zhou Si's ears, and the cold touch came from all directions, outlining the shape of the body in Zhou Si's senses.

Zhou Si's vision brightened again.

"It's time to wake up, Dr. Zhou."

Someone spoke in Zhou Si's ear, and Zhou Si remembered the voice, it was Huo Daochuan's voice.

In the dim cabin, Huo Daochuan lifted the metal cover of the medical cabin, grabbed Zhou Si's hair, pulled him up from the medical cabin, and roughly pulled out his trachea, as if a cold sword was cutting through Zhou Si's throat.

Zhou Si fell naked to the ground, his body twitching involuntarily, accompanied by coughing and tears. His body was covered with a thin layer of biological gel, and under the biological gel was a body with extensive burns.

The medical cabin did not treat Zhou Si for long, and its repair ability was far inferior to that of a regular hospital. What's more, Huo Daochuan had no intention of completely curing Zhou Si.

Someone covered Zhou Si with a thick blanket, and someone else tried to help him up. After finding that Zhou Si was completely unable to stand, they pushed a wheelchair and put Zhou Si on it.

Zhou Si's eyes were blank, like a puppet, being manipulated and pulled around by others.

They first pried open Zhou Si's eyelids to observe the dilation of his pupils, and then injected several drugs of unknown composition into Zhou Si's body, and put him on an IV and hung up a bottle.

By the time Zhou Si regained some consciousness, they had already pushed him to move. Zhou Si felt an empty left shoulder. He tilted his head to look and found that his prosthesis had been removed at some point, leaving only a bare patch.

The pale lights were arranged along the corridor, repeatedly shining on Zhou Si's face, causing him to close his eyes involuntarily.

There was a damp smell in the air, and I could faintly hear the noise of a fan and the sound of chanting. I could barely imagine a group of people kneeling and praying among the flickering candlelight.

"What the hell...what is this..."

Countless doubts arose in Zhou Si’s mind. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but the pain in his throat and mental fatigue made him only able to utter meaningless moans.

As for taking actual action, that is even more unrealistic.

As if he had been sleeping for a century, Zhou Si's muscles seemed to have atrophied and he felt weak all over. He was not sure whether this was caused by his injury or if Huo Daochuan had deliberately injected him with some kind of anesthetic.

The joints were like rusted gears. No matter how hard you tried, they couldn't move at all. They only made a creaking friction sound and shook off countless reddish-brown iron filings.

Huo Daochuan pushed Zhou Si into an interrogation room, then turned and left, leaving Zhou Si alone.

Zhou Si began to doubt whether he had not returned to reality, and everything he was experiencing now was still a dream of the Paradise System.

Is Huo Daochuan planning to use multiple dreams to break down his own psychological defenses?

In the midst of pain, countless messy thoughts blended and collided with each other. Zhou Si couldn't help but feel ridiculous after repeated guesses.

Sometimes human consciousness is so ridiculous. It is always disturbed in various forms, and then begins to doubt and distrust itself until it reaches its own destruction.

Time passes slowly in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Si recovered some strength and cheered up. He tried to move his wheelchair to another position.

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard not far away. The powerful shock wave brought about waves of heat, which surged through the corridor, causing the surrounding iron doors to tremble violently.

Zhou Si stared nervously at the crumbling iron gate in front of him, and then a familiar figure rushed in.

"Zhou Si!"

Li Weiyu picked up the electromagnetic rifle and stepped in with a nervous look on his face. After seeing Zhou Si in a mess, he smiled with relief.

"Zhou Si, I'm here to save you."

Li Weiyun pushed Zhou Si's wheelchair and tried to take him away. Zhou Si looked at Li Weiyun and shook his head in disgust. "Don't pretend, Huo Daochuan, there are more flaws this time."

The smile on Li Weiyun's face froze, and he asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying...we're still in the promised land."

Zhou Si raised his head and stared at Li Weiyu's face, his voice was extremely cold, "Whether it's Li Weiyu or Song Qiliang, everyone will call me Doctor Zhou."

Li Weiyu's smile turned awkward, and then he let go of the wheelchair, leaned against the corner, and looked thoughtful.

"You actually revealed yourself in a place like this? I thought it was just a polite expression. Is there any deeper meaning between you two?"

Li Weiyu... No, Huo Daochuan looked at Zhou Si with confusion. No matter what, he never expected that Zhou Si would see through it all from this angle.

Faced with Huo Daochuan's questions, Zhou Si said nothing.

Everyone who is familiar with Zhou Si will feel a profound sense of alienation from him. Zhou Si is like a magnet with repulsive force, always cleverly maintaining an insurmountable safe distance from others.

Li Weiyun once asked Zhou Si in confusion, "Doctor Zhou, we have known each other for many years and can be considered friends. Why do you always insist on calling me Team Leader Li?"

His doubts did not stop there. "Moreover, you refused to let others call you by your name Zhou Si, and instead repeatedly emphasized your professional identity - Doctor Zhou."

Faced with such an inquiry, Zhou Si responded calmly.

"Team Leader Li, please rest assured that the change of title will not have any substantial impact on our friendship and cooperation.

The reason why I prefer to be called Dr. Zhou is because I tend to identify and cherish everything that comes with my role as 'Dr. Zhou' rather than just being Zhou Si as an individual. "

Faced with this more serious answer, Zhou Si's words are always so cautious and comprehensive, like a friendly AI.

He further elaborated, “The same is true for you, the so-called Team Leader Lee.”

"I don't care about what kind of person Li Weiyun is, nor do I care about his personal life and emotions. What I value is the professionalism you have demonstrated as Team Leader Li and our cooperative relationship.

In this complex and ever-changing world, identification with one’s identity and role may be more stable and reliable than simple individual emotions.”

The memory ends.

Zhou Si had no intention of explaining. He just kept smiling at Huo Daochuan mockingly.

Huo Daochuan was silent for a moment, then he walked up quickly and pulled something off Zhou Si's head.

A tingling sensation of electric current spread along Zhou Si's scalp. He once again felt the inexplicable sense of detachment, and then the world in his eyes underwent slight adjustments.

Zhou Si noticed that he was still sitting in a wheelchair, feeling endless pain all over his body, but in this room, there was an extra sophisticated instrument next to him, and numerous electrode patches were densely hung on his body like a spider web.

"Oh... it's really wonderful, Huo Daochuan."

Zhou Si understood what was going on. "It was real that I woke up from the medical cabin just now, but then you tried to drag me into the paradise. The truth and lies overlapped, it was indeed a good scam."

This time Huo Daochuan didn't say anything, just looked at Zhou Si coldly. After the staff packed up the equipment, they left one after another, and the iron door closed heavily. This time Zhou Si was the only one left.

Zhou Si was enjoying the tranquility of being alone. Under the dim light, the walls were rusty and the damp vapor carried the smell of rust.

Although it was very slight, Zhou Si was still keenly aware that the ground would shake from time to time, as if Zhou Si was not on land.

An idea arose in Zhou Si's mind.

In order to verify this idea, Zhou Si moved the wheelchair with one hand and slowly leaned towards the wall. He stretched his neck as far as possible and put his ear against the cold wall.

Zhou Si heard bursts of low noises, a distant and heavy hum, and the disordered but loud sound of rolling waves.

He murmured, "So that's it..."

At this moment, the iron gate was opened again, and Huo Daochuan walked in with a gloomy expression but still a smile, as if Zhou Si was an unwelcome guest who had to be served.

Before Huo Daochuan could speak, Zhou Si spoke first, "We are on a big ship, right?"

Zhou Si laughed softly, "So this is the City in the Clouds, and this is the truth why the Land of Bliss has never been traced."

"Your base is a large ocean-going ship. If things get bad, you hide yourself in the deserted deep sea. No wonder the Supervisory Bureau has been tracking you for so long but hasn't gotten any useful information."

Looking at the silent Huo Daochuan again, Zhou Si challenged, "What? Do you want to continue the meaningless interrogation? I have no objection."

"Interrogation? No, that's meaningless and we have no interest in repeating it."

Huo Daochuan leaned against the iron gate and let out a long sigh. His expression was full of fatigue, which was completely different from the strong and perverted murderer he had just been.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zhou Si continued, "From the moment you came to see me for consultation, this was all a setup. You led me to the tiger and took me into this damn vortex, and... and Pei Dong."

"We really didn't expect Pei Dong's case."

Huo Daochuan said quietly, "Logically, you shouldn't have been there that night, but you did it. This really surprised us, Doctor Zhou."

Zhou Si smiled disdainfully. He was obviously sitting in a wheelchair and was covered with scars, but he looked like a king, as if he was in control of everything.

"Let's go, Doctor Zhou."

Huo Daochuan suddenly came over, held the wheelchair, and pushed Zhou Si out of the narrow cabin.

"Rather than continue to torture you, I'd rather show you around."

Huo Daochuan's voice rang beside Zhou Si's ears, "You should also be curious about what Yunzhong City looks like."

Zhou Si did not respond, but looked ahead. He heard faint murmurs and the air was filled with sweet incense.

(End of this chapter)