My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World-Chapter 407 - 347: Superdimensional Projector

"Did you get the shot, Zhu?" Lu Shuhang asked helplessly.

Hearing the teasing chatter from colleagues around, the young man blushed and lowered his hand.

"All right, all right, I know you don't like taking photos, it's just documenting life," Xiao Xinzhu said cheerfully. As she looked at the developed photo, she tilted her head with a puzzled expression. "Hmm?"

"What is it?"

Xiao Xinzhu's gaze was fixed on a corner of the photo, where she spotted a strand of golden hair behind the young man, and half of a girl's face was hidden in the backlight. Was it that blonde girl who had just brushed past them?

"Didn't quite capture it well, want to take another one?" Lu Shuhang asked.

"Ah, it's okay." Xiao Xinzhu shook her head and pressed her lips together, resting her head on Lu Shuhang's shoulder. She knew he didn't like taking pictures and didn't want to bother him again. "It's good like this; life's supposed to have a bit of surprise."

As she said this, Xiao Xinzhu shared the photo documenting life to her social media space as usual.

As the vice president of 'Assassin's Creed,' her social media space naturally garnered much attention, quickly attracting numerous comments from netizens.

[: Sweet, sweet, sweet.]

[: Sister Xiao looks beautiful today too.]

[: What a lovely relationship, bless you both!]

[Yu Lan: Stop being lovey-dovey with Hang, Sister Xiao, get back to Oasis quickly. The Golden Navigator people are ambushing us in the wild, we can't hold on much longer!]

With her eyes reflecting the well-wishes from netizens, the girl wore a gentle smile. At this moment, a comment flashed by in her peripheral vision, attracting her attention.

[: Wait, you guys look, doesn't that corner resemble Dark Gold Rose?]

Nobody mentioned it before, but once brought up, the comments exploded instantly.

[: Hiss, now that you mention it, it does look a bit alike!]

[: It's not just similar, it's identical! I just compared, it's exactly the same as the Dark Gold Rose boss in the game!]

[: Is the Dark Gold Rose boss currently in Chichu Heaven?]

[: This background looks familiar, it's the Northern Territory Bank!]

For some reason, a chill suddenly crawled up Xiao Xinzhu's spine. Afraid of causing trouble for others, she quickly deleted the post and logged out of her social media account before more people focused on the matter.

Her anxious demeanor caught the attention of the young man beside her.

"What's wrong, Zhu?" Lu Shuhang asked.

"Nothing, nothing, let's go quickly."

Xiao Xinzhu seemed unsettled, shaking her head and taking the young man's hand to swiftly disappear from the bank's lobby.

The Curtain Web has a memory.

This post was eventually reposted by some sharp-eyed netizens, causing a massive stir online shortly thereafter.

...

Aboard the Land Air Vehicle, Xu Xiaoyou had a vague feeling of unease. It wasn't stemming from the shattered Chichu Yun nor from herself. As memories flashed in her mind, she finally pinpointed it to the camera of a girl at the bank.

Instinctively, she had already evaded the camera's flash; she shouldn't have been captured in the photo. Was she overthinking it?

Chichu Chun, who had left the underground vault, was unusually despondent, leaning against the car window, lost in thought. Normally, she'd be checking the Curtain for amusing and interesting posts at this time.

Xu Xiaoyou closed her eyes, choosing to set her concerns aside for now.

Returning to the Spring of the Gods hotel by evening, Chichu Chun stayed in her room alone while Xu Xiaoyou took the elevator to the Oasis Club on the 13th floor, where Dream Company's immersion pods were available.

Entering the club's entrance, she found almost every club member in the main hall fixated on the Curtain, likely because another major event was unfolding in the Oasis.

Xu Xiaoyou wasn't too concerned about it; she just wanted to return to her mission as soon as possible.

With that intention, she hurried to the front desk to register and gain access, walking through corridors to enter the designated immersion room, closing and locking the door behind her.

A sophisticated machine, resembling a crystal coffin, lay flat at the center of the room, emitting a faint blue glow.

—'Beep,' Xu Xiaoyou placed her membership card in the sensing area, activating the Dream Immersion pod.

As the blue liquid filled the inside of the pod, the lid started to open, releasing a hissing cool mist. Xu Xiaoyou didn't remove her clothes, stepping into the pod with her boots, a curious sensation slightly raising her eyebrows.

Her legs didn't feel submerged in liquid but seemed cocooned by a mildly cold gas, reminiscent of stepping into a cloud of cotton.

Lying fully inside the pod, the soft coldness gradually shifted to warmth. She found herself able to breathe freely in the liquid; as the lid slowly descended and enclosed the pod, she closed her eyes.

Her consciousness submerged into the deep sea, the world flipping over, everything reconstructing anew.

"Welcome back to Oasis, player OE3604."

A gentle female voice echoed, prompting Xu Xiaoyou to open her eyes to the scene of a train.

The rumbling sounds enveloped her ears, white light blindingly bright. Accompanying a shrill buzzing, she discerned her surroundings.

A dim ceiling, a narrow space, a tranquil atmosphere, some figures in green sterile suits standing around an operating table, rubber gloves raised, they exchanged glances through glass lenses, none daring to break the silence.

She seemed to be in a...

Operating room?

It appeared the surgery hadn't officially started yet.

Wait, Xia Li was supposed to be dead, so who was the current surgical subject?

Xu Xiaoyou couldn't help but ponder.

Pale lighting fell upon a cold operating table where a girl lay, connected to a tangle of infusion tubes, her body covered in various life monitoring devices, her pulse and heartbeat barely discernible.

"Doctor, are you okay?" someone asked.

"We've injected her with Red Thorn Flower Essence, but the antibodies don't seem to be effective. We need to open her heart and extract a tissue sample for analysis..."

"Who is she?" Xu Xiaoyou inquired.

"Doctor, I don't understand your question."

"I'm asking you, who is the subject on the hospital bed?"

The tone of the girl's voice sent a chill down everyone's spine.

The group exchanged glances, unable to comprehend why the doctor, who had previously approved the experiment, suddenly appeared so disturbed, nor why she was asking such a question.

This experiment subject had been handpicked by the doctor herself, so why ask this?

Xu Xiaoyou gently lifted the dust cloth, revealing a familiar face. The blue-haired girl appeared weakened, her dress snow-white, her face veined with dark crimson marks, sky-blue hair flowing beneath her. She resembled a sick porcelain doll, teetering on the edge of life.

It was Tang Qing, her research assistant.

Xu Xiaoyou recalled the clues she initially found in the lab, remembering that Tang Qing had also been part of the 'Frosty Winter Plan.'

The girl's vital signs had dropped to a critical point; regardless of whether the surgery succeeded or not, her fate was sealed...

"Doc...tor, I'm so cold..." the blue-haired girl's cracked lips moved, her voice nearly inaudible. "Could you...hold my hand?"

"I want...to feel the doctor's warmth."

"I'm so scared... when I'm alone, I'm really scared, please don't leave me."

The girl's expectations were doomed to remain unanswered.

"Voices...gone, could you offer me a warm hug?" Tang Qing extended her hand, pausing momentarily in the air, gently curling her fingers.

"I don't want to disappear alone."

Xu Xiaoyou remained unfazed, watching silently as the hope in the blue-haired girl's eyes dimmed, the life signs monitor's display turning into a flat line, its prolonged electric noise piercing through the heavy stillness.

Silently, someone observed Xu Xiaoyou's expression, beads of sweat trickling down their forehead as they slowly reached for the alarm device.

"Doc..." another person's words were cut off as a gleaming Willow Leaf Blade appeared across their neck, their pupils dilating rapidly as they collapsed to the ground, a pool of blood spreading beneath them.

"She's gone mad, watch out!"

Before the person could hit the alarm, the Willow Leaf Blade had already pierced through their wrist, pinning them to the wall, and a bloodline tore open at their throat.

Xu Xiaoyou extracted the final blade buried in another's chest, sending a spray of blood flying. In the blink of an eye, no one else was left alive in the operating room, cold silence engulfing the darkness.

With a few gestures in the air, she found the artifact she wanted in the inventory

—"Superdimensional Projector"