Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

As for the children who took the failed medicine...

Without exception, they all turned into mindless monsters.

"Our guess has been confirmed, but there is still a contradiction."

Lu Xining put down the documents and said, "Children who take failed potions will turn into mindless monsters, so why do those animals on the ground... still retain some reason?"

"You'd probably have to ask Director Chen himself."

Fan Xiao looked at the most prominent signature on these research materials—Dr. Chen.

If nothing unexpected happens, this Dr. Chen is Director Chen.

He spearheaded the research into a drug that could transform humans into evolved beings.

"Is it possible that Director Chen had a change of heart and developed a new drug that restored some of the sanity to the mindless monster?"

Lu Baizhi speculated, "If he can develop the J4 potion, which turns humans into evolved beings, it's not impossible that he can also develop a potion that can restore the sanity of monsters."

"A potion to restore sanity... that could indeed be the case."

Lu Xining thought for a moment and said, "Director Chen is collecting the corpses of demi-human players and cannibal players. In the bodies of demi-human players and cannibal players, human genes and alien genes are always well balanced, allowing the players to maintain their rationality at all times."

"Perhaps Director Chen wants to find a better way to restore the animals' sanity by studying the bodies of these two types of players, so that the animals can completely regain their former sanity."

"Is he... making amends to the children?"

"Compensation?" Fan Xiao shook his head: "Devils don't repent."

He handed a small booklet to the Lu Xining sisters.

"What is this?" Lu Xining took it.

She glanced at it and found a long list of names written on it.

This is a roster.

It contains many people's names, genders, ages, and other basic information.

Judging from the age information, this roster should belong to the children in the orphanage.

Lu Baizhi also leaned closer and took a closer look.

Fan Xiao then said, "All the names on it are unfamiliar; there are no animal names like Chen Xiao, Chen Qingquan, Chen Lie, or Chen Ran."

"Perhaps Director Chen gave the animals new names later. As for why so many of the animals have the surname Chen..."

Lu Xining shook her head: "It's not incomprehensible that a mad scientist might have some perverted hobbies, like making animals take his surname... Well, I can't understand it, but I don't deny that such people exist."

"Perhaps Director Chen wanted the children to be reborn and leave the past behind, so she gave them new names?"

Lu Baizhi guessed.

Fan Xiao gently shook his head: "I'll say it again, do you think demons can repent?"

The finished product of J4 medicine was obtained at the cost of countless children.

Behind the glamorous facade lies a darkness far beyond human imagination.

As the person in charge of all of this, is Principal Chen, a man who doesn't value human life, really going to make amends for the children he has harmed because of regret or a guilty conscience?

“People are complex; we can’t stereotype them,” Lu Xining reminded her. “You said that yourself.”

"Perhaps he has already repented?"

Lu Baizhi said, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the initiative to build such a zoo. Before the instance opened and the players came, the only person who took care of these animals' food, cleaned up their feces, and played interactive games with them every day was Director Chen. If he wasn't truly repentant, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths, right?"

"Okay, I'll ask it another way."

Fan Xiao said, "Do you think someone who has repented for their cruelty would leave the children's remains here unattended?"

"As you can see, all the rooms we inspected were covered in thick dust, and the corpses on the floor were left unattended."

"It shouldn't be too difficult to cremate these dead children and build a simple cemetery for their burial, right?"

After a pause, he concluded, "Director Chen has never cared about these children who became experimental subjects, just as he has never cared about the skeletons in these rooms."

"You mean..."

Lu Xining also noticed this detail and quickly asked, "Was there a purpose behind Director Chen helping the animals on the ground regain some of their sanity and taking care of them?"

“No,” Van Shaw said, “I think he was genuinely kind as far as he was concerned about the animals, which is consistent with the description in the dungeon’s background information.”

"Then how did you..."

Just as Lu Xining was about to ask another question, she suddenly realized: "Wait, do you still not agree with the conclusion that 'animals are children'?"

“Yes, I don’t agree.” Fan Xiao nodded. “If there were any doubts before, now it’s certain. Those animals on the ground are definitely not the child we’re looking for.”

"What did you think of?"

Lu Xining couldn't help but become curious.

She now realized that there were some contradictions in her guesses.

This is the downside of having preconceived notions.

If you set your mind on a certain conclusion from the beginning, it's easy to overlook other things around you.

"Don't rush, there's still one last piece of the puzzle to complete."

Fan Xiao stood up and said, "Let's go take a look at the other side of the research institute."

"What should we do with these materials?" Lu Baizhi asked.

"You can take them if you want. Once you get back, you can hand them over to the state. I estimate you'll get a generous reward in return."

Fan Xiao said, "However, these are all incomplete documents. The most crucial parts are missing, so they are not very useful."

"Take it with you for now."

Lu Xining picked up the documents.

“Um…would it be dangerous if we went to the other side of the research institute?” Lu Baizhi reminded, “Director Chen might be over there.”

"Don't worry, it's okay if you run into them."

Fan Xiao said, "We can't attack Director Chen, but he can attack us—do you think players have any chance of survival if the dungeon rules are so unbalanced?"

"You mean... even Director Chen can't attack us?"

Lu Baizhi guessed, following Fan Xiao's line of thought.

"Nine times out of ten."

Fan Xiao reminded him, "Besides, we've already collected all the badges, so we can clear the dungeon and leave at any time. Our safety is guaranteed. Let's go."

After tidying up the materials, the three of them walked towards the other side of the research institute.

Along the way, they saw increasingly dilapidated research facilities.

Some of the corridors are filled with cracks of varying sizes.

Parts of the ground were scorched black, the floor tiles were broken, and there were visible pits and bumps everywhere.

In many places, the rooms were completely collapsed.

This underground research institute appears to have been ravaged by war.

However, Fan Xiao found no trace of modern weapons. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be a war between players.

Fan Xiao stopped and reminded him, "There's no need to go any further."

Upon hearing this, the Lu sisters stopped and looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Fan Xiao said, "I have solved the riddle."

"What is it?"

Lu Xining asked immediately.

Fan Xiao kept everyone in suspense before replying, "Let's go back to where we were before, and we can talk as we walk."

The Truth Behind Chapter 85's Dungeon

"A battle once took place in this research institute."

As Fan Xiao retraced his steps, he said to the two sisters, "And it's a battle between players."

“I can see that,” Lu Xining nodded. “Those damage marks don’t look like they were caused by modern weapons; they’re more like they came from all sorts of strange and unusual game props.”

"I think this might be because the institute's practice of capturing evolved humans for human experimentation has angered the players. After all, players are all evolved humans, and in a sense, we are all the same kind."

Lu Baizhi speculated, "So the players broke in here and destroyed a lot of research facilities, and this research institute has been abandoned ever since?"

Fan Xiao nodded, acknowledging the guess.

He continued, "Besides the research institute incurring the wrath of the players, some players' relatives and friends may have been captured by the research institute for experiments, so they took action out of anger, which can be considered a form of revenge."

"After all, evolved beings aren't like children in an orphanage; they're not all alone. Take us for example..."

Fan Xiao looked at the Lu Xining sisters, thought for a moment, and teased the older sister, "For example, if your sister, Zhi Zi, were captured and used for experiments, severely humiliated, and finally killed, what would you do?"

Lu Xining: "..."

Lu Baizhi didn't say anything.

However, judging from her eyes, if such a thing really happened, she definitely wouldn't show any mercy.

Fan Xiao then asked, "In terms of revenge, what do you think would be the most satisfying thing to do?"

“Of course, it’s about repaying them in kind,” Lu Xining replied. “Whatever the enemy has done to me, I will repay them in full… or even double!”

"Director Chen is the leader of the research project, and may also be the director of the research institute. What do you think the players will do to him?"

After asking the question, Fan Xiao added, "Ordinary people who inject...or drink failed drugs will turn into mindless monsters."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xining finally understood what Fan Xiao meant.

Following Fan Xiao's speculation, she said, "The angry players stormed the research institute and seized the J4 potion and the failed potion."

"They used the failed potion on Director Chen's family... No, not just his family. Judging from the number of animals on the ground, it's likely that Director Chen's relatives and friends have all been affected by the crazy players."

After making her deductions, she sighed softly and commented, "Treating someone in the same way as them is indeed the most satisfying way to get revenge."

"The players didn't kill Principal Chen in the end, either because they couldn't beat him, or... they deliberately let Principal Chen live, wanting him to live the rest of his life in guilt and pain towards his family."

"Is it really like this..."

Lu Baizhi also realized what was happening.

Fan Xiao's speculation was more reasonable than theirs, and there were basically no contradictions.

Chen Xiao, Chen Qingquan, Chen Lie, Chen Ran... these names also correspond to this speculation.

These are the animals' original names.

Because they were all relatives and friends of Director Chen, the surname "Chen" appeared very frequently.

This also explains why these names are not on the orphanage's roster of children.

They weren't from the orphanage at all.

They may not even be children.

"so."

Lu Xining asked, "Were the childlike voices of those animals the result of an experiment conducted by Director Chen later?"

"Maybe."

Fan Xiao said, "In order to save his loved ones, Director Chen developed a potion that could restore the monster's sanity, but the effect was not thorough. For example, the sanity could only be restored to the level of a toddler."

"That's why he collected the corpses of demi-human players and cannibal players, trying to figure out the secret to how these two types of players could maintain their sanity and create a more perfect sanity restoration potion."

"No wonder you said before that he was genuinely taking care of these animals."

Lu Xining asked, "You thought of that back then?"

“How could that be?” Fan Xiao replied, “It’s just a reasonable inference based on the background information of the dungeon.”

"It is just as you said. Human nature is complex, not stereotypical, and not simply black and white."

Lu Xining gently shook her head and said, "Principal Chen can be a demon who treats children as experimental subjects and tortures them, but he can also be a good father, a good colleague, a good friend, and a good son who is filial to his parents."

She was basically certain that Van Chau's speculation was correct.