Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 643 The Realm of Sin (Part 2)
"Meeting is fate, especially since you, Le Jia, thwarted an infected conspiracy."

The man named Aida, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "If you don't mind, come to my place and tell me in detail what happened just now, so I can keep a record?"

Li Zheng pondered for a moment and then said, "Okay."

"Then come with me." Aida took to the air, a small whirlwind appeared beneath his feet, carrying him away into the distance.

Li Zheng spread his lightning wings and quickly followed.

Le Weida looked up at Li Zhengyuan as he left, thinking to himself, "This person impersonated Le Jia but didn't know my name, which means Le Jia isn't familiar with him. When I get back, I'll ask Le Jia in detail. If this person has any ulterior motives, it will help her get away sooner."

"Let's go back too."

The man who brought him over picked up Leweda again, flicked a leaf out of his hand, and let it float in the air. With a light leap, he landed firmly on it.

Using its power, the leaves swelled to the size of a person standing upright, then carried them away into the distance.

After the infected had burned to ashes, the two of them left.

The sudden invasion of infected beings was thus successfully resolved.

"We've arrived." Aida pointed down. She had left in such a hurry that she hadn't even packed up her storage items before rushing to the scene where the warning had appeared.

It was a beautifully designed small castle, with three floors in appearance, and the whole thing was made of obsidian.

But Li Zheng knew that there was more to this small castle than met the eye, and it was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Following Aida, we landed on the ground, and she opened the door and went inside: "I've granted you access, but you can only stay in this room. Other places are more private and you can't go there."

"Okay." Li Zheng nodded.

After entering, there is a small space resembling an entryway, only eight square meters in size. Several metal storage cabinets are placed in the corners. After examining them with Preys' Eye, it was discovered that they contained Aida's clothes and shoes, mainly disguises, and there was a large quantity of them.

Li Zheng was left to wait there, while Aida entered another room through a side door.

Not long after, when he returned, he had a 3D phonograph machine in his hand.

The camera was small and hung around the neck after being turned on. Aida reached out and pressed a few times on the wall next to her, which brought up a virtual panel. After operating it, two metal stools slowly descended from the ceiling of the entrance hall.

"Sit down." After Aida sat down, she said, "Next, please repeat how you discovered the infected, how many you found, where the infected went after entering the gathering point, which buildings they communicated with, how you killed the infected, how you eliminated their evil aura, etc."

The requirements are quite complex, which also shows that Aida is very meticulous in his work. The archives he left behind have extremely high reference value.

"I had just come out of the portal a few minutes before those two infected appeared. I saw a black shadow flash behind them, but at first I didn't pay much attention, thinking I was just seeing things..."

Li Zheng slowly began to recount his experiences, describing in detail his mental journey throughout the process, and finally ending with the elimination of any evil thoughts.

"Do you have any other questions?"

"That's all, very detailed, thank you for your cooperation." Aidashi put away the camera with satisfaction. Every experience of contact with infected individuals could potentially help the outer city in its future fight against emotional storms, so he had to be cautious: "Please sit for a while, I'll go and archive the data first."

Li Zheng was left alone to wait again, and this time it took longer, a full five minutes before Aida returned.

He glanced at Li Zheng, then sat back down: "This must be your first time in the Sin Domain, right? Next time you want to hide your identity, don't choose the Optimistic Clan; it's too obvious."

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng was shocked: "You...you've all seen through me?"

"Haha." Aida laughed, "Putting aside the fact that Le Weida knows Le Jia, even if he didn't know Le Jia, we wouldn't believe that a hybrid with the blood of the Optimus Clan could have such strength, instantly killing three infected. After all, the upper limit of the Optimus Clan is there. They do have unique abilities in the mental field, but the price is that it's difficult to improve their strength outside of mental power, let alone to the level you have."

“This…” Li Zheng chuckled dryly, “Actually, you violated the rules of the Sin Domain first, which is why I gave a false identity.”

Aida was stunned for a moment before realizing, "We were wrong. The situation was urgent. We rushed to the scene as soon as we received the warning, but when we saw that someone had already dealt with it, we instinctively wanted to find out your identity."

One of the rules of color gamut is that you must not actively reveal your name, gender, or race, even if someone asks you about it.

Li Zheng was being polite, not wanting the other party to misunderstand him as someone difficult to get along with, so he made up a fake identity. He just didn't expect it to be exposed so quickly.

Moreover, Le Weida knew Le Jia, yet he didn't expose himself on the spot...

Don't know why.

Since Aida was sincere, Li Zheng didn't press the matter further. He took out the two inscription cards and handed them over: "These are things I found on three infected individuals. Take a look."

Aida took it and glanced at it: "Only two?"

“Yes, there are only two,” Li Zheng said. “One of them is a resident who was later infected in the cluster area.”

“Just as I thought.” Aida returned the inscription card to Li Zheng: “Keep these two cards safe. When you return to the outer city, you can use them to collect the crystals stored in your account at the currency exchange.”

"Can I receive the whole thing?" Li Zheng was overjoyed, not expecting such treatment.

The next second, his brows furrowed again: "If you can get the inscription card and claim the crystals stored by the other party, wouldn't some people make a fortune by doing this?"

This rule is the same as in the Matrix, where you can also gain some rewards by obtaining someone else's identity card.

"What are you thinking about?" Aida chuckled. "I'll give you a certificate proving the origin of these inscription cards so you can legally and legitimately claim the crystals inside. This is one of my authority as the captain of the guards at the Third Gathering of the Fourth Sin Domain. Only someone with that authority can issue you such a certificate."

Before Li Zheng could ask a question, he continued, "You don't need to worry about anyone abusing their power. If anyone dares to do so and is discovered, the best outcome will be that they will be hunted down and killed by the entire nation."

"Then I'm relieved." Li Zheng nodded. "You didn't seem surprised at all when you saw there were only two inscription cards?"

There are three infected individuals, one of whom is of unknown identity. As the captain of the settlement's guard, why doesn't he seem to have any intention of investigating?
“If you knew that many similar incidents have occurred throughout history, you wouldn’t be surprised,” Aida explained. “Starting about fifty years ago, similar incidents of infected individuals invading the Sin Domain have occurred every now and then, with the only common feature being that there are between one and ten unidentified individuals among them.”

Li Zheng asked, "Has no one been sent to investigate the outer city?"

“I’ve investigated.” Aida shook his head: “The terminal has issued no less than a hundred investigation missions. Without exception, all those who accepted the missions are now missing, and some... some of them will reappear in the next attack as infected after a period of time.”

"Then they still haven't found out who the mastermind is?"

“I couldn’t find anything, but I have some guesses,” Aida said. “It’s probably some organization in the wilderness. Only wilderness people would do something like that.”

"Deliberately creating infected individuals?" Li Zheng exclaimed in surprise. "Why would those people do that?"

He had just checked and found that the infected bodies did not contain magic crystals. Artificially creating infected bodies was a lose-lose situation.

"Why?" Aida asked in a complicated tone. "Because some wilderness people believe that actively accepting and integrating into the emotional storm is the future destiny of all races. To this end, they do not hesitate to harm their own people, creating one infected body after another, and releasing them into every corner of the outer city or wilderness through various means."

Li Zheng roughly understood. This was similar to some terrorist organizations on Earth in the past, who believed that humans were a scourge to the planet and that only by exterminating humans could the planet be saved.

Normal people cannot understand their beliefs, let alone the incredible things they do for their beliefs.

"Aren't you going to do anything about those guys in the wilderness? Are you just going to let them wreak havoc everywhere?" Li Zheng asked.

“It’s difficult to manage.” Aida smiled bitterly: “The composition of the wilderness is much more complicated than that of the outer city. All sorts of messy forces are intertwined. Once any force dares to stand out too much, it will be instantly crushed by the others.”

It is precisely because the wilderness is chaotic enough that it provides space for those with wicked intentions to survive.

Moreover, the development time of the wilderness is no shorter than that of the outer city. Not to mention that individuals or organizations cannot manage it, even if the terminal itself comes forward, the wilderness will not give them any face.

After all, in a sense, the Wilderness People are actually the players abandoned by the terminal. They have no sense of belonging to the outer city or the matrix. They only need to take care of their own survival. What does the life or death of others have to do with them?

Ultimately, the problem stems from the initial actions of the terminal manufacturer. Now, it's too late to make amends.

Li Zheng suddenly realized that the reason why the infected person was infected was actually because there was a problem at the mental level.

The patients admitted to the doctors were also those with mental health issues.

Is there any connection between these two?
Thinking of this, he shared his observations and questions, hoping that Aidahi could provide an explanation. However, after listening to his questions, Aidahi only smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Although the research on the spiritual aspects of the outer city has never stopped, the progress has been very slow. There are still many unsolved mysteries that are troubling experts in this field."

"I've heard about what you're talking about, but unfortunately I can't give you an answer."

Li Zheng listened quietly and remained silent for a long time.

Perhaps I should find an opportunity to go back to 950 Street. The Lamp Holder's transformation is complete, and I now have the ability to deal with Hisahi.

Perhaps we can get some clues from the cured patients.

Seeing that the conversation had gone on for a while, Aida Xi stood up to see the guest out: "You dared to come to the Sinful Realm alone on your first visit. I must say you have a lot of courage. Let's end this exploration here for now. Next time, it would be best if you could form a trustworthy team."

Team exploration has its advantages; if you encounter trouble along the way, you can help each other out.

Most importantly, if someone in the team is corrupted by the Sin Domain, it can be dealt with immediately.

Each of the seven Sin Domains is explored separately every day. The outer city residents who dig for Twisted Magic Crystals are corrupted in the depths of the Sin Domains, causing the number of monsters in the Sin Domains to increase.

Li Zheng had no such concerns. He came here to explore the Sin Domain properly, so how could he stop here?

After thanking Aida for the reminder, Li Zheng left the building and continued walking deeper into the canyon.

Before long, he arrived at the edge of Gathering Area No. 3.

Upon reaching this point, taking another step forward, the influence of the Sin Domain environment increased to another level. A seductive sound seemed to rise in one's ears, but upon closer listening, it was like an illusion that vanished.

The more this happened, the more Li Zheng subconsciously tried to hear those sounds, but after waiting for a long time, the sounds never appeared.

Once he stopped concentrating, the ethereal, swaying, and decadent music returned, becoming utterly annoying.

He retreated back into the settlement area, secretly alarmed: "No wonder the settlement area only goes this far. With the willpower of most people here, it would be difficult to resist such erosion."

If one doesn't have a strong foundation, one might fall into a trap the moment they take that first step.

Looking around, all I could see was desolation. There wasn't a single human figure in sight, not even a single one of the legendary twisted creatures.

"Strange, could it be that we need to go deeper?" Li Zheng thought of the Wind Demon Cat he had encountered before. Given the strength of its mental power, it shouldn't have been able to last long in the following environment. How did it manage to obtain the Twisted Magic Crystal?
"Ok?"

Just then, Li Zheng noticed several staggering figures walking slowly in the distance.

Their steps were unsteady, their postures contorted, and they were arm in arm, unlike ordinary people.

"Twisted creature?"

[Injured Residents]

The residents of the outer city who were being evacuated from the front lines were seriously injured and disoriented, clinging to life by their last breath. Without medical treatment, their lives would be in danger.

"The front line?" Li Zheng's expression changed, and he was about to rush out to provide support when a figure suddenly flashed past him, heading towards the returning seriously injured residents at an extremely fast speed.

Idahi!
Li Zheng quickly deployed his Thunder Wings to catch up, and only when he got closer did he see that the residents' injuries were extremely severe.

The bones of his limbs were all twisted into bizarre angles, and there were several holes running through his torso from front to back, with blood of various colors around the wounds.

"Help me, take two people with you and help me send them to the Medicine Clan."

Aida picked up the three of them, turned her head and glanced at Li Zheng, recognizing him as the man.

Just after Li Zheng left, he received news that several wounded soldiers had retreated from the front lines and he was asked to come and meet them.

They arrived at the edge of the gathering place shortly after Li Zheng, but did not disturb Li Zheng, only showing themselves when they saw the wounded.

Without saying much, Li Zheng picked up the two of them. Only then did he realize that the two people he was carrying had more broken bones than he had imagined. In his arms, they looked like two lumps of human-shaped rotten flesh hanging down.

If they weren't born with such features, Li Zheng couldn't imagine how they managed to survive such severe injuries and return to the settlement.

The two dared not delay. Li Zheng increased his speed to the maximum and followed closely behind Aida. In less than two minutes, they landed in front of a thatched hut-like building.

Aida rushed forward and kicked the door open, leading the three seriously injured patients inside.

A resident wearing a hood and a Red Cross pin on his chest entered and pointed to the rows of medical beds next to him: "Quick, make them lie down."

As she spoke, she saw Li Zheng bring his men in: "You too, have the injured person lie down on the medical bed first, and move them as gently as possible to avoid secondary trauma!"

Li Zhengyi immediately went over and placed one of the injured on each side onto the medical bed.

Turning his head, he saw the medicine clan member take out several thin silver needles from somewhere and stab them all into his head, turning him into a hedgehog.

Only then did they begin examining the five injured people.

Aida walked to Li Zheng's side and whispered, "Come out with me. You can leave things here to Yao Lian'er."

Seeing Yao Lian'er take out a pair of scissors and cut open the clothes covering the injured person's face, Li Zheng knew he couldn't stay any longer, so he quickly followed Aida Xi outside and waited there.

"Why did that medicine clan member just now..." Li Zheng wanted to ask why she pricked herself with a needle.

“Do you remember the rules of the Fourth Sin Domain?” Aida explained, “That’s a unique technique of the Medicine Clan… called ‘Golden Needle Forbidden God’. It involves inserting golden needles into different places on the body… what are they called ‘acupoints’, to achieve different effects.”

The acupoints that Yao Lian'er needled could temporarily block her from all sensory stimulation, and she would not be affected by the patient's true appearance for a short period of time, thus preventing the Fourth Sin Domain from eroding her.

However, this method has significant limitations, and maintaining it for an extended period is extremely harmful to the body. Therefore, except for those engaged in the medical profession, residents of the outer city are prohibited from learning or using it.

Like the Optimistic Clan, the Medicine Clan is an essential race in every settlement area, and they need to rotate shifts frequently.

Unlike the optimists, the medicine practitioners need a very long rest period after each shift to completely repair the damage to their bodies caused by using acupuncture before they can return to work.

Several members of the medicine community have suffered physical breakdowns and turned into pieces on the spot due to working for long periods of time with acupuncture needles inserted.

It was from that time that the Medicine Clan began to pass on this unique skill, allowing more healers to learn and use it.

However, very few are willing to enter the field of crime and serve as doctors.

The main reason is that I need to prick myself with gold needles to treat patients here.

People's physical constitutions are different. Some people can work for more than ten hours straight with acupuncture needles inserted, and then only need three days of rest to recover.

Some people can't even last five minutes after being pricked with acupuncture needles.

Nobody knows if they'll become the next pile of minced meat.

Therefore, in every community, doctors are always the most respected profession among the other residents.

none of them!

The two waited outside for a while before Yao Lian'er opened the door and handed Aida Xi three inscription cards: "Take these back and return them to their relatives."

After speaking coldly, she turned and went back into the house.

Li Zheng was shocked: "This is..."

Aida let out a heavy breath and said, "There were three, but they couldn't be saved."

(End of this chapter)