There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Xu Shuo followed the path Pianning had indicated, turning left and right until he arrived at a spacious hall resembling a laboratory.

There were quite a few people wearing white lab coats moving to and fro, making the hall seem rather lively. One side of the hall had walls filled with mechanical screens, and the other side was lined with neatly arranged cylindrical cultivation tanks.

Some of the tanks were empty, while others were filled with a green liquid and had people floating in them.

Those people had their eyes tightly shut, and their skin was deathly pale, like corpses. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

When he walked in, for a moment, Xu Shuo thought this was some evil human experimentation base.

But he quickly realized that those people were not dead and had voluntarily sealed themselves in the cultivation tanks because their lives were drawing to a close.

Only members of the core team of the New An Bureau were allowed inside the Trigonal Tower, and the core team was always fixed at twenty-four people, to be replenished only when there was a shortage.

The former members, those not naturally deceased, could choose to slow down their body functions and enter a state of suspended animation at the end of their lives.

Subsequently, their spiritual consciousness could be transferred to electronic data, allowing them to move again using mechanical bodies.

In fact, at the current stage of society, many humans were doing this. The average lifespan of a human body was now two hundred years, while survival with the help of machinery could reach up to three hundred years!

However, if New Humans did this as well, their superpowers would disappear.

This was why so few New Humans chose to replace parts of their bodies with mechanical components.

Because the spiritual power they relied upon existed within every living cell, mechanical skeletons could replace limbs and even organ functions, but could not perfectly replace human cells.

Moreover, after long term absence of the human brain, their spiritual power would gradually dissipate. This would be the true death.

This was also the death process for most people nowadays.

Even with today's technological developments, humans still had not achieved immortality.

The New Humans, who suddenly awoke to incredible superpowers, might be a new direction for human evolution.

This was also why they called themselves "New Humans."

In this laboratory, most of the researchers were retired New Humans. When their lives had reached the end, they simply changed careers to do clerical work and started researching their own bodies.

The direction of evolution for New Humans was derived from these valuable data.

When Xu Shuo entered, there was a Mechanical Man at the door recording the data of his own body's cultivation tank.

Seeing him carrying someone in, he looked slightly puzzled but then seemed to understand.

"Omega just mentioned there was an injured person, is this him?" the other party came over and asked.

"Yes, there are no external injuries, but his brain has fallen into a slumber. It seems to be caused by psychic abilities," Xu Shuo said.

"The Director did this?" the other party blurted out.

"..." Xu Shuo.

The scene went silent for two seconds.

The Mechanical Man realized his mistake, waved his hand with a smile, and said, "Sorry, I really can't think of any other psychic who could do something like this."

Someone else came over and said, "Maybe it's not psychic ability, but some other superpower that caused it. After all, many people's abilities are quite strange. Put him on that table over there, and we'll take a look at the situation first."

The people here seemed to have a mysterious trust and admiration for the Director of the New An Bureau.

Without any change in expression, Xu Shuo placed Yin Banqian on the experimental platform.

Afterward, a few researchers came over to check, and he stood watching for a while before excusing himself to leave.

...

Xu Shuo walked slowly down the silvery corridor, his psychic ability quietly spreading out to encompass the entire City in the Sky, naturally including that separate laboratory.

However, the entire New An Bureau headquarters was an "Illusory Realm" created by Pianning, with every corner under her control.

In other words, even if Xu Shuo were to simply go to the restroom, she would know.

Xu Shuo: "..."

The people here could actually live with peace of mind.

He carefully searched his Memory Palace and then realized that everyone only knew Omega had control over the City in the Sky, but they didn't understand the specifics of her abilities.

After all, the public Character Cards only had a brief introduction to the abilities, without detailed descriptions.

Of course, some people might have guessed.

In short, any slight movement inside the City in the Sky would be detected!

Xu Shuo was now walking in the corridor. Pianning should know, and if Xu Shuo were to suddenly disappear, Pianning would know that as well.

So he simply let it go to pot.

While Pianning was still wrangling with the officials, Xu Shuo curiously looked this way and that.

Eventually, he naturally pushed open the door to that separate laboratory.

In the main control room, Pianning, who was impatiently dealing with the officials, suddenly stiffened and inwardly cursed, realizing something was amiss!

However, she was a step too late, the young man had quickly pushed the door open, and by the time she could have redirected him elsewhere, it was already too late.

Pianning cupped her forehead, covered in metaphorical lines of distress.

The virtual image opposite her, witnessing her appearance, softened its previously aggressive demeanor slightly, worried that angering the New An Bureau might mean leaving empty-handed.

...

The lighting in the laboratory was very dim.

It was empty except for a cylindrical culture tank in the center, in which a greenish liquid floated a little girl with short black hair.

As Xu Shuo entered, the little girl had already opened her eyes. Her hollow, silver-white eyes turned toward him. Even though they had no focus, one would feel as if she were looking right at them.

Even seeing right through them, inside and out.

According to Pianning, the moment Prophet Aurora saw her, she had seen through her false identity.

There were no records in Aurora's file; like the head of the New An Bureau, her origins were shrouded in mystery. All that was known was that she possessed the ability of "precognition" and was a psychic.

So standing there, Xu Shuo wasn't clear whether his identity had been exposed or not. He only felt a certain pang in his heart when he saw her.

But he didn't quite understand this feeling.

"What's the matter, took a wrong turn?"

Aurora suddenly spoke.

There was no expression on the little girl's face, but the voice that emerged was gentle and kind, like a breeze blowing softly through one's mind.

Xu Shuo silently observed her for a long while, waiting for the Character Card to trigger.

Check-in failed!

He felt regret inside but kept a neutral face, "Sorry, I was just wandering around here. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"What are you sighing about?"

Aurora asked him that.

Xu Shuo paused, "I didn't sigh."

"Then, is there something troubling you?"

Aurora didn't dwell on the question but seemed suddenly interested as she continued to ask, her voice still soft and soothing, with a hint of childish clarity.

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuo replied tentatively, "Perhaps it's because the Paradise Bird Organization has caused a lot of trouble recently, and it even hurt my senior. That might be why I'm a bit worried."

"Paradise Bird..."

The Prophet's voice suddenly took on an ambiguous tone.

As if a mix of subtle emotions intertwined, suddenly casting a veil of mystery over the matter.

Seizing the moment, Xu Shuo asked, "Is there a problem?"

But Aurora gently closed her eyes.

"I think you should leave this place now."

She wasn't changing the subject, but rather asking him to leave directly.

Her tone was gentle but left no room for argument.

Seeing this, Xu Shuo decided not to linger. He bowed slightly and turned to leave the laboratory, making sure to close the door behind him.

The laboratory was silent once more.

After he left, Aurora opened her eyes again.

Those hollow, silver-white eyes seemed to reveal a touch of doubt, adding a hint of bewilderment to the little girl's previously rigid expression.

—So why did she talk so much to someone today?

...