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"Because I've been living with a corpse for two days already." Zhen Liu's answer was flawless.

Only then did Brother Hao realize what that slightly off smell he had caught earlier was. Without the humidifier's built-in fragrance, the odor would undoubtedly be even more horrifying. Brother Hao had no taste for self-torture, so he stopped insisting and unconsciously moved closer to the humidifier's outlet. "My men have left now. Tell me, what exactly are you planning to do?"

But Zhen Liu was not so easy to handle. He preferred to take the initiative, so he said, "I want to know what you're planning to do. One question for one question."

"You think you have a choice?" Brother Hao got worked up again.

Zhen Liu was even harsher than Brother Hao. "Then there's nothing to discuss."

Brother Hao grew even angrier, but before he could say anything else, a buzzing suddenly filled his ears. Once people reached middle age, all sorts of ailments they had never understood as children began to appear; even the toughest person could not overcome them. After waiting a while, Brother Hao calmed down as well. He could not fall out with Zhen Liu just yet. He needed to stall for time.

Because just moments ago, he had used his phone to order his subordinates to check whether the other four had escaped. Until the results came back, he could only keep up appearances with Doctor Zhen.

So Brother Hao compromised again. He did not know whether he realized it, but he had already yielded several times without even thinking.

"One question for one question. I'll ask first."

This time, Zhen Liu did not argue with Brother Hao. He merely made an inviting gesture, as pleasing to the eye as a painting.

Brother Hao went straight to the point. "Did you kill Ying De?"

"Who else could it have been but me?" Zhen Liu did not even blink. After answering succinctly, he posed his own question. "Did you have Ying De drug us with hypnotics?"

Brother Hao's eyes widened uncontrollably. Though he recovered quickly, that fleeting expression was enough to betray him—it really had been him. Professor Lu had only drugged the deceased, but the deceased had drugged everyone. That was also why Ying De had ordered Basketball Qiao out into the rain to buy milk tea.

Brother Hao asked again, "Why did you kill Ying De?"

"Just like how I killed your other brothers, people have to pay for what they've done. You can't just write it off with youthful recklessness." Zhen Liu sneered. There was not the slightest remorse for murder in his eyes—if anything, there was satisfaction.

"So it really was you." Brother Hao had not been entirely unaware of what was happening around him. His former brothers had either met with accidents or died; no matter how dull he was, he should have realized someone was targeting them. "I was still wondering whether it was you or that useless bastard." The useless bastard was probably Professor Lu.

Zhen Liu asked again, "Why did you drug us? To kidnap Second-generation Zhao?"

Zhen Liu had thought for a long time about Brother Hao's objective, and among them, Second-generation Zhao was the most valuable. If Brother Hao wanted money, kidnapping the Zhao Family's only son, Second-generation Zhao, was an immensely profitable deal. And if it really was a kidnapping, then there was a more reasonable explanation for why they had been trapped here for two days—Brother Hao had been using the opportunity to extort the Zhao Family.

Brother Hao raised his brows, not expecting Doctor Zhen to have guessed even that. He readily admitted it. "That idiot Ying De could clearly get close to Second-generation Zhao, yet he only knew how to dabble in petty extortion. It was utterly ridiculous."

Simply put, Brother Hao thought the other man lacked ambition.

Since they could trick Second-generation Zhao out, they ought to pull off something big. What was the point of merely threatening Second-generation Zhao for a pittance? But Brother Hao had been under police scrutiny lately because his second-in-command had been arrested, so he had no choice but to keep a low profile. That was why he thought of using Ying De to kidnap Second-generation Zhao.

Brother Hao simply had not expected Ying De to botch such a simple task. Not only had he failed to kidnap anyone, he had even gotten himself killed.

Brother Hao thought with relief that it was fortunate he had reacted quickly enough to trap them in the villa. The money would soon be his, and then it would be time to silence them.

Everyone who knew had to die!

Second-generation Zhao, hidden in the secret room, heard everything. At that moment, his mind went completely blank. Though he kept telling himself that all of this had been generated by data simulation and was not real, he still began trembling uncontrollably. Shock, disbelief, and regret burned through his very organs.

Because he knew very well that this might be the truth.

He was the one who had gotten everyone killed. The price of his arrogance in dismissing the bodyguards was not merely his own life, but the lives of his brothers and the other students as well.

Brother Hao was about to ask another question when a wave of dizziness struck him. Then specks of black appeared before his eyes. Only then did he realize it was not a decline in his middle-aged body, but that something was truly wrong. He tried to call out for help, but it was already too late. He, too, paid the price for his arrogance.

Zhen Liu, sitting across from Brother Hao, was not doing much better. When Brother Hao looked over, Zhen Liu had already collapsed heavily onto the sofa. His reaction was even more severe than Brother Hao's; his face was pale, and he looked to be in great pain.

But Zhen Liu was smiling, because his plan had succeeded. It was a mutually destructive plan, but one that could drug Brother Hao with absolute certainty.

—Drug the humidifier.

Brother Hao would never consume anything offered to him, and it would be difficult to fool him by any other means. Zhen Liu also had no way to awaken the primary personality; the game simply had no such mechanic. At first, he had not even known that the role he was playing was an alternate personality. But to confirm one thing, he had no choice but to take the initiative.

To determine whether the four had truly escaped, Brother Hao would definitely send his underlings to investigate the Zhao Family being extorted. By the time they went there and returned, there would be enough time for Brother Hao to inhale a substantial dose of the drug.

The only price was that Zhen Liu would inhale it too.

After Lucien rushed out, found Brother Hao's phone, and called the police, the game finally rang its ending bell.