Chapter 1 December 25, 2102

Maine, a small town.

Early morning, a nine-year-old boy woke up from a dream, stretching languidly.

He rubbed his eyes, glanced at the alarm clock by the bed, then jumped out of bed and ran downstairs in his pajamas.

"Wow!" A minute later, the little boy's joyful shout rang out in the living room on the first floor.

"Mom~ Mom~" A few minutes later, he ran happily upstairs, into his mother's room, jumped onto the bed, and said excitedly, "Look what Santa Claus gave me!"

His mother on the bed smiled, replying sleepily, "Hehe... looks like you're a mailman now, my little sweetie."

The little boy grinned, adjusted the mailman's hat on his head, and saluted his mother, "Ready to serve you!"

His mother reached out and pinched the child's cheek, "Alright, Mr. Mailman, go back to your room and get dressed, be careful not to catch a cold."

"Yes! Ma'am." The little boy replied loudly and skipped out.

Watching her child's departing figure, a warm smile appeared on his mother's face.

But a few seconds later, as if remembering something, her expression suddenly dimmed. And her gaze instinctively turned to the bedside table...

On the table, there was a photo frame, the photo in the frame was not too old. In the photo, there was a family of three—a handsome father, a beautiful mother, and a cute little boy.

"Mom, when is Dad coming home?" Two years ago, on Christmas, the little boy had asked his mother this question.

But his mother just hugged him and cried, unable to say a complete sentence.

On Christmas Eve that year, the little boy's father got off work from the post office and rode his bicycle directly to the shopping center to buy a toy for his child, but on the way back... a car accident took his life.

Since then, only the mother and son had been left in this family to depend on each other for survival.

…………

"Put your hat on properly, yes, like that."

At half past eight in the morning, after confirming that her son was dressed neatly, the mother took the little boy's hand and left the house with him.

"Hi~ Mr. Marvin, good morning."

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Dave. Hey~ look, whose little mailman is this?"

Their neighbors were an elderly black couple who always greeted each other when they met on weekdays.

"Hello, Mr. Fulde."

"Hmm? Oh... hello, Mrs. Dave."

Another neighbor, Fulde, was a fat man. The whole neighborhood knew he was a single shut-in. Usually, people only saw him when he went out to take out the trash.

"Mom, why does Mr. Fulde always look so listless?" Little Dave asked his mother, looking up after leaving the street.

"Because he stays in a place without sunlight all day, eats junk food, and doesn't do anything proper," the mother replied.

"Doesn't he have to work?" Little Dave asked curiously.

"Mr. Fulde inherited a large inheritance from a distant relative, so he doesn't have to work," the mother replied.

"Oh, he's such a lucky person, Mom," Little Dave added.

"Yes, he's lucky..." the mother murmured, then stopped.

After pondering for a few seconds, she squatted down to make her gaze level with her son's, and showed a stern expression, "Listen, Dave, you have to be like your father, be a hard-working and motivated person, don't envy people like Mr. Fulde. You have to understand... not everyone is so lucky."

"Hmm, I will, Mom," Little Dave nodded, replying as if he understood.

…………

At nine o'clock in the morning, they arrived at the town's park.

Many adults were already sitting on the benches next to the playground, and some stalls selling snacks, drinks, and toys had also been set up.

Little Dave quickly joined the ranks of other children and went to play on the side.

Mrs. Dave sat on the bench and chatted with the other housewives.

Half an hour later, an old man walked up to her and greeted her, "Hi, Wendy, long time no see."

"Oh, hello, Chief Nelson."

"I was over there just now, saw you, so I came over to say hello. Merry Christmas, Wendy."

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Nelson. By the way, how is your wife doing recently?"

"Not bad, she's at home dragging the kids to prepare for the party, so I can only bring my granddaughter to the park to play."

"Hehe... I thought you liked children very much."

"Yes, I like them, but I can't handle them." He shrugged in response, and a few seconds later, he seemed to see something, "Eh? Is that a street performance?"

"Hmm... Oh, yes." Mrs. Dave followed the other person's gaze and saw the two performers in the distance, "That's 'Archer and Yang', they are community volunteers, they often perform in parks and nursing homes, and the children like them very much."

"Oh?" Nelson seemed to be interested, "Then I have to go and see..."

They quickly came together to the side of a small truck, and stood with other parents behind a group of rugrats.

The little audience in the front row clearly had high expectations for the performance. As early as when Archer and Yang were setting up the stage, the children had already gathered around and sat down cross-legged; this naturally included Nelson's granddaughter and Little Dave.

"Alright~ kids, the performance is about to begin~"

After getting ready, the two main actors jumped onto the makeshift stage next to the truck. The two of them... one was a big bearded man dressed as a cowboy, and the other was a bald, burly guy in a shirt and vest.

"Kids~ today, what we're going to perform is... an incredibly thrilling... breathtaking... dart-shooting apple!"

Although it didn't sound like a very interesting show, it was still enough to coax the little ones... and the children happily gave applause and laughter.

…………

Glug glug—glug glug glug...

The sound of liquid surging rang in Feng Bujue's ears again.

At the same time, fragments of memories from just now poured into his mind...

[Warning, Test Subject No. 8775 is waking up... Warning, the test subject's brain is producing pulse reactions, source unknown, please adjust immediately...] That mechanized voice came again.

"Fucking hurts..." This time, Jue Ge gritted his teeth and directly opened his eyes, "Tch... still can't speak. Oh well... being able to see and think is enough..."

While thinking, he turned his eyeballs, trying to observe the surrounding environment as much as possible.

"I see... I'm also soaked in liquid..." He quickly realized that he was also wearing a light-colored jumpsuit and floating in a glass container filled with liquid. His state... was the same as that Enoch he saw the last time he "opened his eyes" (if he's also called Enoch in this world).

"Nasal cavity, lungs, ears, all filled with this unknown stuff, but no obvious discomfort or suffocation; the moment I opened my eyes, my eyeballs were a little sore, but after a few seconds I got used to it, easier than opening my eyes in water..." Feng Bujue's eyes moved rapidly, his mind flashed, "Whatever this liquid is, it's definitely not a technological product that this universe should have in 2002... Could it be... a Matrix setting?" He quickly denied this idea, "No, the calluses on my hands are still there, a body that's been soaked in a tank for years wouldn't have this kind of thing..."

[Warning, the test subject's brainwave is over-frequency, the test data exceeds the normal value, a forced termination program will be initiated in twenty seconds.]

"What exactly is this test? Mental state? Brain function?" Feng Bujue listened to the system voice, speculating on his situation.

"Anton! You bastard! How did No. 8775 wake up again?"

"Sir, Anton went to the bathroom."

"Wtf?"

"Uh... he said he ate something unclean for lunch."

"Alright, you don't have to explain for him, hurry up and go to the console and fix things. That guy Anton... I'll deal with him later..."

"Yes, sir."

The people talking outside the liquid container were still the same two as last time. Judging from their conversation, they should be the staff responsible for this "test" and have a superior-subordinate relationship.

"Phew... buddy, you really know how to find trouble for me..." A few seconds later, a blurry shadow came to the front of the container where Feng Bujue was and muttered to himself in a low voice, "Your test values are almost up to standard, and you keep waking up... hmm..." He pondered for a moment, then let out a cold laugh, "Hmph... forget it, I'll give you a hand, add some 'stuff' for you... Please pass quickly, and don't cause me any more trouble..."

When he heard these words, Feng Bujue really wanted to get out of the container and hug that NPC. Although he didn't fully understand what the other person meant, he already understood... the NPC in front of him, whose name and appearance were unknown, was the man who could truly help him see through the "truth."

People who exist on the level of "nothingness" can only give "nothing" answers; while people who exist in "reality" can give him "truth."

[Solution concentration is increasing, special solvent added... forced termination program has been turned off, emergency pulse is being prepared, countdown five seconds, five, four, three, two, one...]

Zzzzzz...

At the moment of being hit by the "pulse," Feng Bujue heard a familiar sound. After a little thought... he immediately felt that the sound was like the sound of the ghost mailman riding his bike.

In the same second, another wave of memory fragments flashed before his eyes...

…………

"Pfft—" A mouthful of old blood was spat by Jue Ge onto the marble floor.

When his consciousness returned to that magnificent hall, he was still in the same posture of smashing his phone to the ground.

The time here... seemed to have not flowed at all.

"Have you found the answer?" The six people surrounding Feng Bujue said the same sentence again in unison.

"Hmph..." The corner of Jue Ge's mouth curled into a cold smile, he slowly stood up and walked towards the long table at the far end of the hall, "I think... it's about time to eat."