Soul Patch

Chapter 244 Yes, you're right.
Upon hearing this, a hint of excitement flashed in their eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

The tall man rubbed his hands together, looking troubled, as if he had encountered some difficult problem.

Wenjie was puzzled: "I've told you the key times and places that will influence your life trajectory, so why don't you just go and correct your life trajectory? Why...?"

The tall man glanced at Wenjie, and instead of answering, asked, "Did you just switch from single-player to online missions?"

From this, what problem did they discover?
Wenjie tilted his head and asked, "What...what impact will this have?"

The two sighed in unison, and the taller one said, "We discovered that the system information received by each patch carrier is different for this mission."

"What do you mean?"

"This is the system selectively blocking information. I think the system may have enabled safe mode."

"Safe Mode?"

The short, fat man continued, "Yes, many functions are unavailable in safe mode, including time and space settings."

"In other words, the system has severed all connections with other time and space, including the real world before we entered the system."

Wenjie nodded thoughtfully, seemingly understanding.

The real world is just a point in spacetime for the system.

This time point is: 10 PM on July 8, 2019.

"Then why?" Wenjie pressed.

Why is it that even though the system has set up system tasks, it cannot switch time periods to correct one's life trajectory?

Does that mean this online mission cannot be completed?
The tall man chuckled, "That's why I said you're a newbie; you don't understand online tasks. There must be factors that threaten system security for the system to activate safe mode."

What factors threaten system security?
Just like a computer getting infected with a virus and freezing, an improper shutdown and restart will put the computer into safe mode. Only by performing a normal virus scan, shutdown, and restart can the system return to normal.

Do you know what's threatening system security?

Finally, they got to the point. The two people in front of them looked serious and shook their heads simultaneously: "We don't know!"

The tall man squinted and glanced at the window beside him.

Through the window, three dark figures could be vaguely seen moving towards the building from outside.

He pointed at the three dark figures and said meaningfully:
"We'll know soon enough!"

Wenjie looked in the direction he pointed and saw three people in the darkness.

Why does it look familiar?
He strained to make out who it was and suddenly realized that the thin, bony old man in the middle, who walked with an air of otherworldly wisdom, was the one who had been picked up by the Audi.

To the right of the old man, the petite and elegant figure was the mysterious woman from the private room just an hour or two earlier.

It's that mysterious organization!
Wenjie slowly said, "I recognize them. They are a mysterious organization, and their symbol is 'soul'."

"Heh, a mysterious organization?" The tall man laughed heartily.

The short man chimed in, "What mysterious organization? That's giving them too much credit. They're just a bunch of people who got together to try and cause some trouble. A bunch of overconfident fools!"

After hearing this, Wenjie thought about what this group of people had done and speculated:
"What are they trying to do? Hack the system? Create a threat to the system?"

"I don't know, who knows what they're doing, just constantly courting death!" The tall man rubbed his hands together and said disdainfully.

"Ultimately, what they really want is to control the system. However, the system is not as simple as they think. I think they most likely won't be able to return to the real world after this mission," the short, chubby man said leisurely, touching his chubby cheek.

Control system?

No!
That's really courting death!

After obtaining the system, Wenjie faced two choices: first, he could not pass the test and his life would be destroyed, leading to his death;

Secondly, it is bound to the system through system testing.

It seems like there are two options, but in reality there are no options at all: either die or be bound.

I believe no one would actually choose to die.

Those who crossed the system's red lines and entered the minefield were dealt with by the system, but in the real world, they had legitimate causes of death.

Wenjie felt that ordinary people could not contend with this system that exuded mysterious power and possessed extraordinary abilities.

“Yes, they can’t go back. Let’s go down and take care of them. After we complete the mission, we’ll split the prize pool.” The tall man said, patting the short man on the shoulder.

The two, one tall and one short, walked down the stairs. Their height difference was quite endearing, but their backs exuded a rather bold and imposing air.

So cute and so bold... *covers face*

He glanced towards the doctor's office in the corridor, where Song Fei was walking towards him.

Wenjie hurried over, his expression now one of concern, and asked, "How are things, Dr. Song? How are Xiao Dong and the injured man?"

Song Fei wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a slightly tired voice, "The situation is stable! Fortunately, it was handled in time, Dean Meng..."

Wenjie looked at Song Fei, who seemed hesitant to speak, and thought to himself: What does this guy want to say? Should I guess?

What if I can't guess?
Wait... Calm down, think about what would happen if the leader couldn't guess or didn't know how to handle it?
Let's play a riddle!
Leaders are good at speaking in riddles.

For example: What do you think of this matter?
That means you should speak first. If what you say makes sense, I will praise you for having ideas, promise you a great opportunity, and then directly assign the work to you.

For example: It's good to be able to identify problems!

Does that mean you think the company paid you to be an opinion leader?

If you discover a problem, you should solve it; otherwise, shut up and get to work. Don't be pretentious!

Wenjie leaned closer to Song Fei, his face showing admiration, and said earnestly, "Little Song, just say what you need to say. You handled today's matter very well. I will hold a special meeting tomorrow to talk to everyone about it."

Upon hearing this, Song Fei was stunned and remained speechless for a long time.

His professional skills were among the best in the ward, but because he wasn't tactful enough in dealing with people, he remained a resident physician for eight years.

All the other doctors have been promoted to attending physician, but he's still stuck at the junior level. He graduated with a bachelor's degree and it's been six years since he passed the medical licensing exam. Sigh!

His lips trembled for a long time before he managed to squeeze out a few words:
"Dean Meng, thank you, thank you so much! Your guidance is invaluable! We were so grateful that we treated that man first. He had been injured for a long time and lost a lot of blood. If he hadn't received a blood transfusion in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"

"Hmm!" Wenjie then adopted the demeanor of a senior, looking at Song Fei with a kind expression and said:
"Xiao Dong is a medical worker. In critical moments, we should prioritize saving lives. This is the awareness we, as medical professionals, should have!"

Xiao Dong has also made a contribution this time. Once she recovers, she will be the first one to be given a place for further study.

And Xiao Song, you're still too young. You need to consider the social impact of things like this. Think about it, if an ordinary citizen dies and the media sensationalizes it, how will our superiors view our hospital? If Xiao Dong dies in the line of duty, that's a different story.

To be honest, I weighed the options carefully. They were both precious lives, and I wouldn't want to sacrifice either of them! So, I'm very grateful that you saved them both today!

After Wenjie finished speaking, he looked at Xiao Song, who was moved to tears, and slowly said, "By the way... what were you about to say?"

"I...I was going to ask you if you wanted to call the police. But now it seems...that...it's probably not necessary!" Song Fei stammered.

Why bother calling the police? The system will reset anyway. Wenjie smiled approvingly at him and said, "Yes, Xiao Song is right."

"Dean Meng, I'll keep an eye on things here. Would you like to find a ward to rest for a bit?" Dr. Song asked Wenjie inquiringly.

"Alright!"

After hearing this, Dr. Song went back to the duty room, found a bunch of keys, rummaged through them, took one out, and ran back to hand it to Wenjie.

"Dean Meng, room 508 on the fifth floor."

"Thank you, Xiao Song!"

Wenjie took the key and slowly walked towards the staircase.

As Dean Meng walked down the stairs, Xiao Song was surprised and wanted to remind him, but he swallowed the words back down.

Leaders consider issues from a certain perspective, which is beyond my comprehension.

Besides, surely Dean Meng knows that the fifth floor is accessible by going upstairs. The dean must have something to deal with, and it would be inappropriate for me to remind him rashly.

He discovered that with the dean's guidance
While he was talking to Song Fei, part of his mind was on the fight between the two groups downstairs.

The old man on the other side looked unfathomable; those two men, one tall and one short, might be at a disadvantage.

When he got downstairs, the scene he least wanted to see happened:

Two corpses, one tall and one short, lay lying on the ground below. Both had been killed with a single blow, their carotid arteries severed.

Listening to the two people talking, he realized that this group was mysterious... Alliance. He originally wanted to use "organization," but then he remembered the two people correcting him, saying that the group couldn't be considered an organization, at most it was just an alliance.

What does it matter if it's called a gang? Why are you still nitpicking over the words at a time like this?

Although he only had a brief interaction with them, the two people who were alive and well just ten minutes ago were now corpses in the blink of an eye, which saddened Wenjie.

The blood was still warm when the heart stopped beating and vital signs disappeared...

Those people are truly ruthless.

He dragged the two bodies to the front garden by himself, found a spot with flowers and plants, and laid the two bodies side by side.

That's all we can do. If we had gone with them, we'd probably be three corpses by now.

He smeared a few handfuls of dirt on the two men, observed a minute of silence, and then turned and walked toward the staircase leading to the east building.

He quickly arrived at 508, inserted the key into the lock, and gently turned it, the lock making a crisp "click" sound.

He pushed open the door and dragged his heavy steps into the room.

The room was laid out the same as Jia Nan's ward. He went straight to the single bed without even turning on the light when he entered.

The bed frame is a bit hard, unlike the soft bed in my own bedroom.

He was exhausted, and even though the bed was hard, he felt comfortable lying down.

It's probably one or two in the morning now, and Wenjie is very sleepy, but he can't fall asleep at all while lying in bed.

The moment I closed my eyes, I heard those two people say: "Safe mode, you can't change the course of your life!"

The system can only return to normal after the factors that threaten it are eliminated.

I saw them in the system both in the last Li Shiman murder case and this one.

They are not patch carriers, nor are they target entities, yet they can freely enter and exit the system environment.

This indicates that the old man and his accomplices are the factors that pose a threat to the system.

But they're too powerful! I can't defeat them, and the system can't return to normal. How can I correct my life's trajectory?

Now that two patch carriers are dead and one is seriously injured, only Andy is left.

How could he and Andy possibly take on three people?
Jia Nan is still a ticking time bomb; she might explode at any moment!
Wenjie's previous friendly illusions about this mission were completely overturned.

Just as I was racking my brains for a solution and feeling frustrated, the system interface suddenly lit up.

[WARNING: The system has detected a cheat program intrusion]

[Should we manually perform task cleanup for the target unit?]

Manually select what to clean.
Wenjie stared blankly at the system in front of him, somewhat at a loss.

When the system displayed this line of text, Wenjie noticed faint dark patterns in the background of the text.

It was a graffiti painting, very faint, almost impossible to discern what it depicted.

But Wenjie felt that the painting had a familiar feel to it, just like when he was wronged and he was hiding in his mother's arms, giving him a sense of security and comfort.

He stared intently at the painting in the background, trying hard to make out what it was.

His eyes started to sting without him realizing it, so he took off his glasses and rubbed them.

(End of this chapter)