The anime broadcasted Dr. Forefinger’s inner monologue, and the comment feed instantly exploded.
“Thought Seal? For real?”
“Is it about to turn into a brainwashing, villain-turn plot that everyone loves?”
“Don’t do it, I just want to watch some pure romance, or something passionate and funny—is that not allowed?”
“Worse? Production team, you could at least spell it out clearly.”
“Is the production team slamming on the brakes at the last second? Wrong, they’ve sent their own parents off again.”
“Passing by in style, riding on the production team’s Old Fengzi.”
“Oh no, now I kind of want to see Xiao Xi get brainwashed. What do I do?”
“You’re not alone.”
Lin Zhen didn’t go to find Aili with Zi Jiu right away. Instead, he returned to his own dorm.
His mind was a mess right now, and he needed to calm the chaotic thoughts that came with his perfect awakening.
He also needed to sort through what Dr. Forefinger had said.
When he got back to his room, his roommate wasn’t there. Lin Zhen went straight to the bathroom and splashed his face hard with cold water.
Once, twice…
The freezing shock to his senses let Lin Zhen’s thoughts start moving again.
So…
If Dr. Forefinger wasn’t lying to him—
Yun Ruoxi would suffer a lot while imprisoned, but in the end, she would return to the camp safe and sound.
Lin Zhen clenched his fists. This solution wasn’t perfect—in fact, it couldn’t even be called good.
But there was no better way.
He wiped the water from his face and sat back down on the bed.
He couldn’t help but start thinking about something else.
Chicha’s active invasion of the Asha Star System’s security network had been discovered, and that was what set off this whole chain of events.
But he’d clearly told Chicha to keep quiet and wait for news.
Why did Chicha act on his own—did he not trust him?
And now that the mainframe invasion had been exposed, and with Yun Ruoxi saying that receiver came from the ancient battlefield—
The Hand of Saints would likely search the ancient battlefield.
And once they found Chicha, his entire escape plan would be exposed!
By then, Yun Ruoxi would have suffered for nothing, and he’d be taken away and judged because of all this!
Things happened so fast before that Lin Zhen hadn’t thought of this level.
Now, as soon as he thought about it, he broke out in a cold sweat, unable to sit still.
“No, I can’t put all my hopes on Dr. Forefinger. If we get caught trying to escape once or twice, even he might not be able to cover it up! I have to think of a way to get Chicha out of the ancient battlefield… Also, should I just give up on my escape plan?”
Lin Zhen knew the base was covered in surveillance. He didn’t dare show his fear too openly.
He could only clutch the bed sheet tightly, trying to suppress his terror.
He felt he was nowhere near as brave as Yun Ruoxi.
Just hearing Dr. Forefinger’s words had already made him uncontrollably afraid of the punishment he’d get if things went wrong.
If he had been in Yun Ruoxi’s position before, he probably wouldn’t have dared to confess and take the blame.
He laughed at himself, pulling his thoughts back to the present.
“Contacting Chicha is too diffi—”
“Lin Zhen… Hello… Can you hear me?”
Shua!
A familiar voice suddenly rang in his ear, like a bolt from the blue, shattering Lin Zhen’s train of thought.
He instinctively wanted to stand up, to look around, but forced himself to stop.
That wasn’t an illusion!
He was sure of it!
“Chicha?” Lin Zhen’s lips moved, uttering a sound so faint it was almost inaudible.
“It’s me—or, to be precise… my subprogram.”
The voice rang out again.
This time, Lin Zhen could tell where the sound was coming from.
His eyes shifted down, and he glanced at his collar in the corner of his eye.
“No need to panic. I’ve blocked the room’s surveillance. I need to explain to you what happened earlier.”
“Your subprogram?” Lin Zhen still didn’t really trust Chicha, so he spoke in an even quieter voice—not that it mattered, since the other side could hear him.
“Mm, back when I helped you alter the surveillance records, I embedded this subprogram. It wasn’t to guard against you, but to ensure I could contact you when it mattered most.”
Chicha’s voice continued to come from the collar.
“Now, you’re talking to my main program through this subprogram’s channel, but time is limited. If the camp’s people detect it, we’ll be exposed, so I’ll keep it short.”
“I’m sorry about what happened with Yun Ruoxi.”
“You heard everything?” Lin Zhen frowned.
“When the subprogram decided to contact me, it also sent along all the intel it had collected.”
Chicha paused, then said, “The subprogram can only activate once. Don’t worry about me spying on you after this.”
“How many times it can activate isn’t up to you?” Lin Zhen retorted.
“If I wanted, of course I’d make it activate twice. That way, I’d have one more chance to contact you.”
“Anyway, just listen to me.”
“Go ahead.” Lin Zhen didn’t trust Chicha anymore, but for now, they were in the same boat.
“A day ago, the Hand of Saints scanned the base’s mainframe. I don’t know if they got a tip-off or if it was routine, but their tech is more advanced than I thought—they actually picked up traces of my presence.”
Chicha’s voice was tense.
“I suspect they’ve either stolen top-level Imperial tech, or they’re deeply connected to the Empire itself.”
“But since I withdrew quickly, they didn’t find definite proof. You don’t need to worry about them finding me. I’ve already left the ancient battlefield and gone into hiding.”
“But because you withdrew so fast, my people got caught!” Lin Zhen’s voice carried a hint of anger.
Chicha was silent, then said, “That’s why I said… I’m sorry.”
“You risked contacting me just to say that?” Lin Zhen asked, keeping his anger in check.
“No, what I want to tell you is… I’ve pinpointed a possible Zhe Yue Engine jump node near the Asha Star System,” Chicha said softly.
“If you can leave the Asha Star System and repair the Zhe Yue Engine, you’ll be able to escape from here.”
It’s too hard. Lin Zhen didn’t even know how he could escape the Asha Star System again after Dr. Forefinger had seen through his plan, let alone repair the Zhe Yue Engine.
“Hang in there. Your Yi Neng has limitless potential, and your future shouldn’t be stuck in a quagmire. I can’t help you escape the Asha Star System, but when it comes to fixing the Zhe Yue Engine, I think I can help.”
“How? You’ll build it for me?” Lin Zhen scoffed.
“I borrowed some computational power from the base’s mainframe and managed to recover a portion of my old memories. From them, I’ve extracted the principles and structure of the first-generation Zhe Yue Engine. I’ll compress this data together with the jump node locations and upload it all to your collar.”
“Once you enter any virtual network, the data will automatically decompress and upload itself securely.”
“The camp won’t find out?” Lin Zhen asked.
“They won’t… it’s just data.”
“I’ll trust you one more time.” Lin Zhen sighed. No matter what, he still wanted to escape this place.
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