The Chess Game and the Illusory Dream

The mouse cursor continuously slid, while Gu Yan rested his chin on his other hand, deep in thought.

He was using the equipment within the Ability Bureau, so he could easily access certain information. With such a significant loss of high-level combat power among Ability Users worldwide, even with strict censorship, rumors would inevitably leak out.

However, what he cared about wasn't this. He wanted to look for something Li Shi had casually mentioned before.

"A team of our researchers took a special plane to the Beautiful Country the night before yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, they provided us with a piece of information, which is this image. Those red spots represent the disaster-stricken areas that have appeared around the world."

Thinking back now, it was clear that humanity had initially grasped a method to observe Honkai Energy.

And it required a Kui Niu's brain to decipher the information. Could they already be using the brains of other Honkai beasts to decipher it?

If the higher-ups had indeed obtained information about the Honkai, Gu Yan wasn't worried they would hide it from Ability Users. It would be too foolish to keep their combat strength in the dark in the face of such a disaster.

Still, he only cared slightly. He was very certain that the world's situation would change drastically before long.

Looking up this information was merely a way to pass the time at work.

After searching for a long time without any useful clues, Gu Yan became somewhat bored. He opened his personal homepage. This page could only be viewed by himself and required iris verification and fingerprint recognition through a dedicated phone before entry. Anyone else opening it would only see his avatar.

Within the personal homepage, besides some miscellaneous information, the most eye-catching thing was that shining golden symbol:

A six-pointed star with a vertical pupil in the center. Even through the screen, one could feel its magic, as if under the gaze of the vertical pupil, one's soul would be purified. Below the six-pointed star were the words "S-Class Ability User."

Following Gu Yan's excellent performance this time, he wasn't awarded extra merits but was directly promoted to S-Class Ability User.

Although besides a higher salary and more generous benefits, it was of no personal use to him.

"You have one unread email in your private mailbox."

A suddenly appearing message made Gu Yan pause his hand, which was about to shut down the device. He then noticed that the personal homepage had an email function.

But who could have sent it to him? He hadn't revealed his Ability User account to anyone. It seemed like it must be an official email.

Without overthinking it, Gu Yan opened the email. However, its contents made his expression change drastically—

It was a sapphire-blue crystal. Although it looked like a mere fragment, it was undoubtedly part of an Insight Gem!

Gu Yan's gaze was captivated, the sapphire-blue light engulfing his thoughts. Sleepiness washed over him, and in an instant, he fell asleep.

In the last moment before losing consciousness, he remembered the Herrscher's gaze—

We will meet again.

"Where is this?"

Opening his eyes, all he saw was white.

It wasn't a white light, but emptiness.

Gu Yan stood up and examined his situation, pinching his thigh hard.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

He could feel pain, which meant this wasn't an ordinary dream.

Tentatively stepping forward, he found he could stand anywhere. After trying a few more times, he realized he could move freely in this space, whether underfoot or overhead.

"Should I walk around?" Gu Yan thought that since this wasn't a normal dream, the possibility of him waking up was likely very low.

Moreover, what he saw before fainting undoubtedly indicated that this matter was extremely unusual.

Strange!

"What did I see before I fainted?" Gu Yan couldn't recall. His memory had gaps, and they were continuously growing.

But inexplicably, he didn't want to investigate the reason, nor was he worried about forgetting everything. All he wanted now was to walk.

Walk forward, keep walking.

He strode forward.

His gaze fixed ahead, he stopped thinking about other things, even as his memory slowly faded.

Who am I? Not important.

What am I doing? Not important.

He had completely forgotten everything, becoming a blank slate, abandoning the identity of Gu Yan, abandoning the identity of a human.

The current Gu Yan knew nothing. The current him was a qualified "spectator."

The real dream had begun.

"Only one test subject from Group G survived?"

The slender girl showed no emotion at the words of others. She numbly brought the food to her mouth.

"What's the point of surviving? She'll face the subsequent experiments!"

Hearing this, the girl's hand, holding the spoon, paused.

[She's afraid of pain.]

Gu Yan seemed to hear the girl's inner thoughts, sensing her emotions.

["She's not afraid of death, but she's afraid of pain?"]

["What is 'pain'?"]

The girl didn't eat anything else. Instead, she wanted to leave, as if that would allow her to escape the painful experiments.

"G142, no, from now on, you are G. You still have surgery to undergo. You can't do that without eating something!"

The speaker was a man with blurred features that Gu Yan couldn't see clearly.

As for the surgery, it was of course not a normal operation, but a live experiment attempting to transform people into Ability Users, and the food was mixed with drugs.

Shaking her head frantically, the girl didn't want to be a lab rat, didn't want to experience pain. She knew she was a living person!

"You really think highly of yourself. Hold her down!"

How could her small, thin frame resist? After the man kicked her in the abdomen, she curled into a ball in pain, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, a surge of Giant Strength acted upon Gu Yan's abdomen, making him, the observer, want to roll on the ground. The girl's senses were being shared with him.

["Is this pain?"]

This wasn't the end. Several hands pinned down the girl's limbs and pried open her mouth. She opened her eyes to look, and the faces of those people were shrouded in mist.

The food was shoved into her stomach roughly, and only then did those people relent.

"Hmph, remember, in this world..." The man lowered his head and lifted the girl's chin.

"A life like yours is the cheapest!" As he spoke, he heavily patted her face, his gaze filled with disdain.

The man turned and walked away, leaving only the silently weeping girl.

Gu Yan wanted to comfort her, wanted to wipe away her tears. Gu Yan didn't know what this girl had done wrong, but undoubtedly, everything she was enduring was unjust.

She should be living under the sun, not in a prison-like laboratory, serving as a human lab rat.

["Hey, can you hear me?"]

Unfortunately, Gu Yan couldn't influence anything. No matter how he called out, banged on the walls, or shouted loudly, it was all to no avail.

"Wuwu..."

The girl began to cry.

There was no grievance or pain in her tears, because she knew no one cared.

She was just crying numbly, as if venting, her voice not loud, but it struck Gu Yan's heart.

She was born into this world, yet she was not treated with gentleness.

["Why?"]

He didn't know, and she didn't either.

The surrounding scene began to shatter, and only Gu Yan remained in place.

["Is it over?"]