Ji Li hoped that guess would prove to be a false alarm. Perhaps the host should not have appeared on the stage at Orange Lake Plaza at this very moment.
But unfortunately, things went against his wishes.
Barely three seconds after the order was issued, Li Mochou relayed the reality to everyone in a deeply shocked tone:
"The host really appeared. He's standing on the stage, pointing at his mouth for Gao Hang, like his tongue has been pulled out."
Ji Li's expression darkened at those words. He gripped the handle of his cane with both hands and squeezed hard.
Tongue Extraction itself was not important. The harm caused by projections could be treated as nonexistent, but the fact that his projection had appeared after 20:30 was a discovery that overturned everything.
Before this, Fang Shenyan and everyone else had firmly believed that the host should have died before the Fireworks Show ended.
After 20:30, the one standing on the stage was the replaced Eye monster.
But clearly, the second-to-last projection had appeared outdoors, bringing with it a shocking reversal—the Eye monster had not completed the replacement.
It had never appeared in the Real World from beginning to end.
Ji Li was unwilling to believe it, because if that guess was true, this project was practically unsolvable.
There was still one final sliver of hope—once all the projections were gathered, the secret should reveal itself.
20:58. The final two minutes.
Hou Guisheng and Huang Banxian finally pushed open the dressing room door. Urgency overflowed from their faces as they hurried over, bringing the group of four together.
Fang Shenyan's expression shifted with complicated emotions. He silently turned around and sat back down in the chair the host had once occupied.
His face, cold on the surface but faintly unsettled