Zhang Zhiyuan abruptly pulled off the VR Goggles, and everything familiar came back into view: the cold-lit ceiling, the small room lined with soundproofing panels, the cluttered desk, and several colleagues watching him with concern.
"Hey, are you all right?" Cui Zhenen handed him a towel. "Wipe yourself off. You're drenched in sweat."
Only then did Zhang Zhiyuan notice the patches covering his arm and the medical monitor beside him, its steady hum filling the room.
"...You were measuring my heartbeat and blood pressure?"
"We didn't have a choice. You looked like you were in a lot of pain," another colleague replied.
Zhang Zhiyuan recognized her as Ning Jing from the medical room. Government offices always kept a doctor on hand for emergencies, though most of the time it was unnecessary. This was the first time he'd seen her in the office.
"Come on, it was just a VR game. Was there any need to react so dramatically?" Cui Zhenen looked baffled. "You were trembling all over and gasping with your mouth open. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought you were having some kind of fit. If you hadn't been on a mission and all your vitals hadn't been normal, I'd have taken off the goggles and tried it myself... Seriously, if a game can do this to you, you'll be a laughingstock when word gets out."
"Was it really just a game?" Ning Jing removed the patches and packed up the equipment. "When you came to the medical room to get me, you looked really worried."
"I... I wasn't!" Cui Zhenen hastily protested. "His reaction just scared me!"
Right... the Paradise game...
Zhang Zhiyuan pressed a hand to his head as a flood of memories surged into his mind, leaving him dizzy! An unfamiliar harbor city, its utterly different inhabitants, the burning grand theater, and North City Police Station... His last memories were of the fake corpse and a huge fist flying straight at him. Then came a deathly, pitch-black silence. It had all felt like a nightmare, and he had woken from it.
"How long was I in there?"
"You mean, after you put on the VR Goggles?" Cui Zhenen glanced up at the clock. "Not even twenty minutes. Officer Zhang, what exactly did you see in the Paradise game? Can you tell me already?"
Only twenty minutes?
His new memories clearly covered far more than that!
"I saw a..." Zhang Zhiyuan stopped halfway through, then met Cui Zhenen's gaze for a moment before changing course. "Where's Director Gao? I need to see him right away!"
"Director Gao is at a meeting. He probably won't be back for another hour." Cui Zhenen frowned. "What, did you find something you can't tell us?"
"Xiao Zhang, don't tell me you found some important intel and want to keep all the credit for yourself," a colleague teased from nearby.
"Hahaha... Of course not!" Zhang Zhiyuan grinned. "Director Gao gave me a separate assignment while I was investigating Paradise. I need to report to him first."
He stood and put on his uniform. "Where's the meeting?"
"So it seems you didn't invite me over for dinner?" Gao Wei walked into the room and casually hung his coat on the rack. "Tell me, what's so important that you had to bring me to your place to discuss it?"
Zhang Zhiyuan pushed aside the odds and ends piled on the sofa, clearing a place for his superior to sit. "Sorry, it's a mess in here. Please make do."
"Don't worry. I've spent time in jungles along the border. Just get to the point." Gao Wei gestured for him to stop fussing.
Zhang Zhiyuan knew he'd only managed to get his superior to come here because he was highly valued. But a leader's trust wasn't limitless; he had to get to the point quickly. "Director Gao, I feel safer talking at home. The soundproofing is good, so the neighbors won't hear anything... After thinking it over, this seemed like the only suitable place to give my report."
"A report?" Gao Wei looked momentarily confused. "It's about Paradise and Wayne Janster, right? You couldn't do it at the office?"
"It wouldn't be... appropriate."
Gao Wei studied Zhang Zhiyuan for a long moment. Zhang's gaze remained resolute.
"Fine. Go ahead. I'm listening," he said, sitting down on the sofa.
"Yes, sir." Zhang Zhiyuan saluted, then recounted every detail of his experience in the Paradise game. He spoke at a steady pace, but the story still took nearly half an hour. Gao Wei barely interrupted him, though the skepticism in his eyes only grew more pronounced.
"I know it all sounds unbelievable. Even though I saw it with my own eyes, it felt like a dream," Zhang Zhiyuan said, clenching his fists. "But I swear on my honor as a Party member that every word I've said is true. I haven't made anything up!"
Gao Wei rubbed his forehead, his expression tinged with helplessness. "You're saying Glorious Fortress isn't a city in a game, but a real place—and Paradise controls a secret route leading to it? Through a pair of VR Goggles?"
Zhang Zhiyuan felt his heart sink a little. He knew his superior didn't fully believe him.
But he'd expected that.
He knew this would be hard to believe.
Director Gao hadn't flown into a rage or stormed out, which was already open-minded of him. With some other leader, Zhang Zhiyuan suspected he'd have been kicked off the force as a fool before he'd even finished speaking.
But that was exactly why he had to do everything he could to make the case.
"Of course, there's another explanation: Paradise has such advanced virtual reality technology that it can perfectly simulate a real city, along with its people and surroundings," Zhang Zhiyuan continued. "The two explanations are equally unbelievable, but I'm more inclined to believe the first."
"Why?" Gao Wei thought it over. "If you mean a perfect simulation, that would certainly be difficult from a technological standpoint, but at least it's theoretically possible. Take that popular TV series lately, for instance. Someone gets alien technology and creates a miracle, doesn't he?"
"That's true, but I have my reasons. There hasn't been enough time for me to organize them into a complete argument yet..."
"That's fine. Just say whatever comes to mind."
"The biggest problem, I think... is the question of profit." Zhang Zhiyuan took a deep breath. "If Paradise really had this technology, turning it into a game would be about the least profitable thing it could do! Yes, it currently caters to the wealthy, and its tickets aren't cheap. But Director Gao, do you think an organization with technology like this would be short on money?"
Being able to transfer one's consciousness into a fictional world was, in a sense, immortality! What was a mere game compared with the allure of eternal life? If he were Paradise, he wouldn't even bother simulating a world with a steam civilization. Why not simulate reality directly? Even without offering immortality, just renting out a meeting room or a laboratory could provide dozens of times more working hours through the time difference. That alone would drive business tycoons and researchers wild!
Unless... Paradise couldn't change it!
"That does make sense..." Gao Wei said thoughtfully. "Anything else?"
"Yes, but this is just my personal impression." Zhang Zhiyuan paused. "If Paradise could create any world it wanted, it ought to be the master of the game. But I don't think... that's the case. Paradise came to us because it needs us."
"Needs... us?" Gao Wei was taken aback.
"Yes." Zhang Zhiyuan met his superior's gaze. "Paradise infiltrating the International Criminal Police headquarters' network wasn't a provocation. It was a deliberate invitation. It knew we were investigating Wayne Janster, and it knew we'd take the bait!"
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