Who lurked in the shadows, and who fell into the cage?
"Reincarnation?"
As Ren Gu spoke, his brows furrowed slightly.
"There's no power in the Barren Realm that could create something like 'reincarnation,' and I've never even heard of such extraordinary technology in the Ten Realms... Are you referring to a cycle in 'space'?"
As he spoke, Ren Gu looked in the direction from which Loquat Candy had come—that was also the way he had come to enter this cave and secret research base.
This is indeed a relatively simple passage located inside the cave. With "spatial" technology or some complex and ingenious Alchemy Mechanism, it is indeed possible to achieve the effect of "easy to enter but difficult to leave," making people feel as if they are trapped in some kind of "loop" and constantly return to the starting point after leaving this place.
But after hearing what Ren Gu said, Loquat Candy gently shook her head. "No... it's not a 'cycle'."
"You'll understand if you come with me once. The way this passage trapped me in the Ren Gu was by making me unknowingly walk back to the starting point—I thought I was going outwards and upwards, but when I finally reached the cave entrance, I found myself back here."
"Although this can be explained using 'spatial' technology, I don't think Ren Gu, because every time I return to this underground area and try to walk out again, the marks and markings I made before, as well as the changes I made to the internal structure of the passage, are all 'reset' and become the way I first walked through."
With that, Loquat Candy paused, turned around, and walked back into the passage. "Anyway, I don't see any danger for now, come with me."
Ren Gu thought for a moment, then followed the Loquat Candy.
The two walked down the corridor, and soon...
Ren Gu suddenly discovered...
The passage ahead was buried under rubble and debris.
The passage, which he had just cleared away with his own abilities, is now blocked again.
"Did it really 'reset' the status?"
Ren Gu spoke, Loquat Candy nodded slightly.
"Yes, that's why I said... it's more like a 'cycle' than a 'circle'."
Ren Gu stood before the rubble-strewn passage, ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed in bewilderment, "Why is this?"
Loquat Candy shook her head. "I don't know either... but I think this might be a trap, a 'trap' created to trap us."
"But the 'Director' sent us here, so it can't be that the 'Director' set a trap for us, right?"
Ren Gu murmured to himself, his hand resting on the wall of the passage, then seemed to have figured something out.
"Wait a minute... it actually seems possible!"
"Although the 'Director' certainly wouldn't frame us, the one who showed us the 'Director's' message was 'Nightless Sky Fire Apricot'... that's 'Schreiber's' Partner, not 'Director's' Partner."
"The Director brought us here because we deduced it ourselves from the messages he left behind, which shows that he was also wary of Schreiber... But what if the messages the Director left behind had been pre-processed?"
"Perhaps the Director intended to guide us to location A through the messages conveyed by metaphors A and B, but if those messages have been manipulated—whether partially concealed or rearranged—they could very well interfere with our reasoning and lead us to location B, which is where this 'trap' lies."
"At the same time, the 'Director' himself has also been interfered with by 'Schreiber' —after all, Schreiber is a master of Psychological Suggestion and hypnosis, and a successor to the First Generation 'Freud'."
Ren Gu spoke with a very solemn expression.
"There's even a possibility... that 'Schreiber' didn't change locations, but simply deciphered the 'Director's' message, arrived here before us, and laid these traps to ensnare us."
"And this passage seems to be a mechanism that traps us like a 'cycle'... to be honest, it does seem to be related to 'Schreiber'!"
"No, I'm even more than 50% certain... that the traps here are related to Schreiber."
As Ren Gu stood at the end of the passage, the more he spoke, the clearer his thoughts became.
Loquat Candy countered, "Why do you say that? The possibilities you've mentioned would likely also apply to the Native of the Barren Realm and that mysterious 'Creator,' wouldn't they?"
Ren Gu whispered, "That's why I said I'm more than 50% sure it's not that 'Schreiber' laid anything here, but... the evidence is my method of clearing the way."
"Loquat Candy, you know, most of the time I clear the way, I use methods of 'elimination' and 'transfer' to turn obstacles into my [Temporary Item] and store them in my [Item Space]."
As he spoke, Ren Gu patted the thick pile of rubble in front of him.
"And now, I can feel that all those Temporary Item I previously stored in my [Item Space] have disappeared without me noticing."
Given that it's highly likely there's no such thing as 'reincarnation' technology within the Ten Realms, the most reasonable explanation I can think of is... that my 'Memory' are unreliable.
"Although I just thought I activated my [Item] and ability to remove the 'obstacles' here, that might just be my [illusion]."
"The mental abilities that Schreiber inherited from the First Generation Freud make it... not difficult for him to do this."
"Although both are 'Tier 3,' as you've seen—this guy can even secretly manipulate the consciousness of tens of millions of people in Shenzhen."
"Since he was plotting against us in the shadows, it's only natural that we would fall into his trap."
Loquat Candy whispered, "But don't forget... the 'Creator' also demonstrated similar abilities. When he appeared, he hypnotized all the Truth Company's armed personnel in the base. And if the Murder Case in the Barren Realm was indeed the work of the 'Creator,' then it proves that the Creator can also alter people's perceptions and possesses mind technology similar to that of the Mist Island Realm."
Ren Gu shook his head. "But the 'Creator' is probably far less capable in this regard than 'Schreiber'... At least, you resisted the Creator's first attempt at hypnosis using mind technology."
Loquat Candy nodded. "That's true... So, I'm actually quite inclined to believe that all of this was Schreiber's doing."
"After all, if it were the 'Creator,' while his abilities would make sense, he shouldn't have known we would come here—this 'reincarnation trap' here shouldn't be a pre-arranged scheme, but rather a targeted trap he just laid."
"However, there's one point where we disagree."
As Loquat Candy spoke, Ren Gu became somewhat curious.
What's different?
"In the earlier part, you analyzed that 'Schreiber' knew this location because he might have altered the message left by the 'Director' or secretly deciphered it to make prior arrangements," Loquat Candy whispered, "But I don't think so..."
In my opinion, there was no disagreement between the "Director" and "Schreiber" on this matter; they were the two who planned it all together—'passing on the message about the hidden location' and 'setting a trap at the target location' were simply different divisions of labor between the two!
Loquat Candy said with a firm tone.
"Ren Gu" looked at "Loquat Candy" with some confusion.
"What... are you saying?"
He and Loquat Candy have been partners for many years. Although Loquat Candy lives on the island most of the time, as the "Doctor" with the best treatment level in "Order", Loquat Candy always Fei Dao over to provide emergency care or consultation whenever there are any difficult cases or seriously injured people.
Therefore...
Even after Loquat Candy left the area in South China, Ren Gu still helped Loquat Candy with the affairs within his jurisdiction.
The two frequently handed over work and communicated, and could even be described as having a tacit understanding.
Therefore, Ren Gu is very clear...
Loquat Candy is powerful, but its medicinal properties go beyond just its medicinal abilities.
His communication skills are in no way inferior to his artistic abilities.
In terms of work, this guy's communication is extremely efficient. Every time he hands over work, he can organize the things he needs to pay attention to and the recent tasks to be done in Qiong City in a very orderly manner.
At the same time, another aspect of Loquat Candy's communication skills is that he also handles interpersonal relationships very well—when he takes over work in Qiong City and even the entire island, the relevant personnel clearly show Loquat Candy great respect.
This is not just because most of them have had their lives saved by Loquat Candy.
Moreover... Loquat Candy is indeed a very comfortable person to be around.
Although he could be quite stern and even sharp-tongued when he lectured people, Loquat Candy never truly made anyone resentful or hold a grudge against him.
This is also Ren Gu believes is the reason why Loquat Candy has such strong "communication ability".
But...
This was the first time Ren Gu felt that he couldn't quite understand what the Loquat Candy was trying to say.
Or rather...
He already understood what the Loquat Candy was trying to express, but it was a direction he had never considered before.
"Are you accusing 'Director' of being unreliable, Comrade 'Loquat Candy'... do you think he deliberately colluded with 'Schreiber' to set a trap here?"
Ren Gu spoke with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"This doesn't make any sense at all... Aren't you thinking a bit too far off-topic? If the 'Director' needed to help 'Schreiber' set up a trap to ensnare us, why would he be so cryptic? If he didn't need to hide it from Schreiber, why would he use such an awkward way to convey the information?"
When faced with Ren Gu's question, Loquat Candy calmly answered.
"Because... he still needs to 'screen' people—he doesn't intend for this trap of 'Order' to ensnare everyone."
"What he wanted to trap was only a specific member who could decipher this message."