Game Theory

The old wooden door slowly opened, and Captain Wang directly ahead saw Xiao Hao, alongside the narrow bedroom behind him, the yellowed painted walls, and a small bathroom of only two or three square meters fitted in the corner.

The entire rented apartment had no living room, let alone a kitchen; the front door opened straight into the bedroom. There was only a small table, a small chair, and a bed that took up a third of the floor space, leaving not even a chair to host guests.

It was just past noon, yet the stiflingly hot afternoon bedroom lacked air conditioning, and the air was muggy.

Captain Wang, who had just wanted to speak, felt a tightness in his chest as an indescribable emotion suddenly surged up. His words clogged in his throat, and he could say nothing at all.

Investigation data showed that the other man had achieved excellent grades during his student days, but after dropping out, many jobs eluded him; he had sold insurance, worked in sales, and served as a business representative.

Was he truly foolish, or lacking in eloquence?

No, that was not it.

Everyone tacitly understood what the real reason was.

Now, was he still going to exploit the other man's kindness?

Captain Wang felt a pang in his heart.

As a middle-aged man in his forties, he also had a son around the same age.

Associating this with his own son, if his son were to suffer such an encounter, he would undoubtedly feel heartbroken.

Struggling to suppress the emotions in his heart, Captain Wang knew that everything was for the Dragon Kingdom.

"Hello, Xiao Hao. I am the captain of the Criminal Police Team from this morning, Wang Hegang."

With that, Wang Hegang extended his right hand.

Looking at the hand suspended in mid-air, Xiao Hao hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out to shake it.

"Hello, I am Xiao Hao. Did Captain Wang seek me out to understand what happened this morning? It's not very convenient to host everyone here; I know a nearby café, so how about we go talk there?"

Looking at the other man's sunny smile, Wang Hegang nodded. "Alright."

Xiao Hao picked up his phone, locked the door, and took the lead down the stairs. In the narrow stairwell, several team members remained completely silent.

Halfway there, Xiao Hao booked a private booth through an app and led the team members directly into it.

Wang Hegang had originally intended to order something, but the waiter had already brought the coffee over.

"Everyone, the specialty of this café, the iced cappuccino, is very good. Give it a try."

Back when Xiao Hao used to hustle in sales, he liked to negotiate deals in this café. Anyway, the expenses were reimbursable, so he wasn't afraid of expensive coffee.

Wang Hegang responded to Xiao Hao with a nod while secretly signaling one of his team members.

Any team member who could enter the Bole Group was no fool. Catching a single look from the captain, he immediately understood. "Excuse me, you guys chat first, I'm going to the restroom."

The departing team member didn't even forget to close the door properly. Wang Hegang took a sip of his coffee, knowing that the main topic could finally begin.

Composing his mood, Wang Hegang put away unnecessary emotions and said, "Xiao Hao, the 'Fear-Based Survival Method' you brought up this morning was quite novel, but I have a few questions and hope you can help me answer them."

Xiao Hao's expression turned serious, and he immediately replied, "Don't worry, Captain Wang, I will certainly tell you everything I know."

"Can you tell me why you could remain so calm when facing the cockroach? An average person encountering such a situation would consider themselves lucky just to keep from being frightened out of their wits, yet you handled the Mutant Cockroach with composure despite having undergone no training whatsoever."

Xiao Hao did not answer immediately, nor did he ramble on eloquently.

At a time like this, the more outstanding one appeared, the easier it was to arouse suspicion.

Moreover, Xiao Hao caught the trap in Wang Hegang's words the moment he heard them.

By using words like "calm" and "composure," Wang Hegang had already assumed from the start that Xiao Hao had confidence when facing the cockroach; the moment he went along with Wang Hegang's phrasing, his cover would undoubtedly be blown.

Gathering his thoughts, Xiao Hao said with a seemingly awkward expression, "Ah? I was actually quite scared back then, but I realized the door was blocked and I couldn't escape, so I just tried to scare it. I never expected it to actually work."

Captain Wang, who had already prepared a series of questions, was suddenly thrown off by Xiao Hao's "cowardice."

With the trap of that question evaded, the subsequent string of questions could no longer be pursued in that direction.

Wang Hegang had no choice but to adopt an alternative plan and approach from a different angle.

"Under the circumstances at the time, after being frightened by you, the cockroach ran into the hallway and faced a group of armed police officers who weren't afraid of it either. Why didn't the cockroach escape back the way it came? Did the cockroach feel that the danger behind it was even more terrifying than the danger ahead?"

Xiao Hao had already prepared his rhetoric, yet he said with a completely blank expression, "How would I know that? It's like when you pick up a slipper to hit a cockroach-it might flee straight away, or it might just be blind and dart right onto you. I'm not a cockroach, so I can't understand what it's thinking."

Wang Hegang furrowed his brow slightly. Did the other man genuinely not know, or was he playing Tai Chi with him?

Wang Hegang did not ponder for very long, because if he paused too long to think and stopped asking questions, that would also leave Xiao Hao with more reaction time.

"I learned from Liu Hegang that in his fear, he pushed you with all his might, yet he couldn't move you at all. Why is your physical fitness so strong?"

Before Xiao Hao could reply, Wang Hegang quickened his pace and asked loudly, "You're a player! Right?!"

With that, Wang Hegang stared fixedly at Xiao Hao's eyes, hoping to find a flaw!

Facing Wang Hegang's sudden and aggressive questioning, Xiao Hao had long since prepared himself psychologically.

Therefore, his heartbeat was not frightened into speeding up.

Tempered by the trials between life and death, Xiao Hao's growth rate exceeded imagination!

When people lie or are exposed, they always instinctively look away and dare not make eye contact.

Yet Xiao Hao looked straight at Wang Hegang, his expression utterly blank, tinged with a mix of shock and confusion.

Wang Hegang instantly grew doubtful. Was this person truly not a player?

As he blinked, he swiftly glanced down at the other man's feet.

Make no mistake, he didn't have any strange fetishes; he simply wanted to see whether the other man's toes were pointed toward the direction of the door.

He had interrogated many criminals, and when criminals felt fear, worry, or the urge to "escape this place," their toes would subconsciously point toward the exit.

And the door was precisely the exit of this enclosed space, as well as the subconscious "escape route."

Yet with this glance, Wang Hegang did not find any issue with the other man's toes, but he did spot a flaw that wasn't a flaw.

The other man's toes were indeed not pointed toward the exit, but his legs hadn't moved at all since the moment he sat down!

Looking up, the other man's hands had been gripping the coffee cup the entire time; from the start of their conversation, his body had barely shifted!

Why didn't he move?

To prevent him from reading his body language!

Fixating his gaze on Xiao Hao's fingers, Wang Hegang felt another thought pop up in his mind: The iced coffee is so cold, yet he keeps holding it. Sure enough, is it to prevent flaws from showing in his body language? If that really is the case, this person is even more terrifying than he imagined!

It seemed like a long time had passed, yet only two or three seconds had ticked by.

Elites were not just for show.

Wang Hegang's thoughts spun several dozen times faster than an ordinary person's!

Xiao Hao seemed to have just reacted, directly dodging the pitfall of "physical fitness" and tossing the question right back at Wang Hegang with a puzzled tone: "Director Liu, I know Director Liu, but what does 'player' mean? Is it a game? If it's Honor of Kings, then I certainly am a player..."

As he spoke, Xiao Hao seemed to notice Wang Hegang's gaze and pulled his hand away from the iced coffee, pressing it against his neck.

This unremarkable gesture abruptly amplified the pressure on Wang Hegang, giving him the illusion of facing a high-IQ criminal!

He could have used the unusual body language as a breakthrough to further unearth Xiao Hao's secrets, but a single movement by Xiao Hao completely neutralized it!

The other man was telling him through body language that the reason he kept holding the coffee cup wasn't to suppress his gestures, but because the weather was hot and he wanted to cool down!

There was air conditioning in the private booth, but even so, using that as an excuse posed no problem at all.

Wang Hegang deliberated for a moment and decided to abandon the aggressive style of questioning. Adopting a sincere approach, he said earnestly, "If you are a player, please be sure to tell me. The Dragon Kingdom won't do anything to you; on the contrary, we will do our utmost to cultivate you!"

Xiao Hao wore a face full of question marks: "What players?"

"The Dragon Kingdom will do its best to cultivate players, increase their survival rate, and players will no longer be bound by material conditions."

"What are you talking about?"

Still not tempted?

Wang Hegang continued, "Furthermore, the Dragon Kingdom will redress every injustice players have ever suffered!"

Xiao Hao's tone stalled.

What was the use of saying these things now?

Back when he was at his weakest and most helpless, even his teachers had sided with the children who had parents. Once he became strong, "justice delayed" was worth less than dog shit.

As for the saying "good and evil will be rewarded in the end; if retribution hasn't come, it's just not time yet," Xiao Hao considered it mere self-consolation for the weak.

An evil person commits wrongs for a lifetime, enjoys a lifetime of glory and wealth, and finally gets sanctioned and dies miserably in old age; a good person suffers grievances for a lifetime, only to be understood and respected in their twilight years.

Is that fair?

If justice arrives tardily, then justice can go eat shit.

What was more, the justice coming his way apparently still came with strings attached.

Xiao Hao smiled: "You're making me tempted."

The corners of Wang Hegang's mouth lifted, but before he could speak, his smiling face froze.

Because he heard Xiao Hao's next sentence.

"So what kind of game is it anyway? I want to play too-the perks are actually this good!"

At that moment, the companion who had gone to the restroom finally returned.

He exchanged a look with Wang Hegang, and Wang Hegang understood immediately.

The bill had already been paid.

In truth, they could have claimed reimbursement; it was impossible the other man didn't know that.

Yet even so, the other man had still preempted them and paid the bill.

He knew very well that the other man was dirt poor, yet even under those circumstances, the other man paid up readily.

Some people liked taking advantage of others.

And there were others who wouldn't take advantage even when you offered it to them, because they didn't want to owe you anything.

Wang Hegang remained silent for quite a while, feeling a trace of fatigue in his heart.

He sensed that the other man no longer loved this world.

Money, power, women-the other man could clearly obtain them with ease.

Yet the other man had not only refused, he had done so cleanly and decisively.

He probed tentatively: "The Dragon Kingdom will grant you justice. Not a single one of those bullies will get away."

"No need. It's been so long, I've forgotten all about it a long time ago."

Wang Hegang took a deep look at Xiao Hao; the other man wasn't giving him even an ounce of an opening.

If forgetting were truly that easy, there wouldn't be so many psychological issues.

Psychologists had studied the matter: the psychological trauma of bullied victims generally took until the age of forty to heal, and some suffered for a lifetime.

This man was too cruel to himself.

Once a person suffered injustice, they always wanted to punish the evildoers to alleviate the pain within.

Yet when the opportunity was delivered right to his doorstep, the man didn't want it.

Was it to keep the pain actively festering in his heart, serving as a constant urge to make himself even stronger?

Or was it because he didn't want to owe anyone anything, intending to cold-ly watch everything unfold in the upcoming turbulent times without lifting a finger to stop it?

Had this world already extinguished the fire in his heart?

He had arrived too late.

Even the quality of kindness could be worn down.

The other man's kindness had already been armed, and no one could ever easily exploit it again.

Wang Hegang stood up with a sense of desolation.

He knew that today he would return empty-handed.

Regardless of whether Xiao Hao was a player or not, he would not join the Dragon Transformation Pool.

In that case, his staying here was completely meaningless.

"My questions are finished. Thank you for your hospitality."

Many failures stemmed from getting carried away by success just before the finish line.

Even after Captain Wang had spoken those words, Xiao Hao remained cautious, showing not the slightest expression of relief. Instead, he smiled and said, "Captain Wang still hasn't told me what game it is."

Experienced as he was, Wang Hegang could no longer read Xiao Hao.

Wang Hegang spoke with hidden meaning: "Tomorrow, you will know."

Watching Wang Hegang and the others depart, Xiao Hao did not forget to appropriately display a look of confusion.

Today's news had been building up the hype, and the game would be announced tomorrow-that was why Wang Hegang wasn't afraid of leaking information.

Sitting back in the commercial vehicle, Wang Hegang thought it over, but ultimately still didn't remove Xiao Hao's name from the list of suspects.

He hadn't found any evidence to prove the other man was a player.

Yet he still trusted his own intuition; that feeling had been very strong.

Since the other man wasn't willing, he couldn't force it.

After all, even if players didn't join the Dragon Transformation Pool, their interests remained aligned.

The commercial vehicle slowly drove out of the residential area. Beside a window screen on the seventh floor, Xiao Hao watched the departing vehicle and finally set his mind at ease.