Void Jigsaw Puzzle

The unpleasant night with the Gu family passed quickly. Every day is new and the next day comes quickly.

Zhong Chenmu took the bus to Linjiang Building. Yesterday, he rushed directly from home to Leyou Pavilion instead of coming to the new puzzle team's office.

Walking into the lobby of the office building, he looked at the familiar layout and felt deeply moved.

He once saw Zhu Tong crossing the road in a rainstorm in the elevator here, and triggered the system to save her when she was almost hit by an out-of-control car.

Here, he and the Jigsaw team were once besieged by the aggressive Grape Moon team. Feng Yue, already possessed by the Silicon Clan, was lurking deep within, and at a critical moment, was even infected by Yue. Fortunately, the others quickly subdued the two, preventing further damage. He escaped under the cover of smoke and encountered an enraged Fan Ting, who was eager for revenge for the murder of her best friend, Dong Xingwen...

The scenes that had happened before were replayed in Zhong Chenmu's mind. His system could even pause, slow down, or fast forward these processes, just like watching a movie.

Now, everything has passed, and things have returned to normal and peaceful. He believes things will get better...

He took the elevator to the floor where the Jigsaw Team was. As soon as he stepped out of the car, he heard a few "bang bang bang" sounds coming from the corridor. He was so scared that he shrank his head unconsciously and looked in the direction of the sound.

I saw a group of people standing in two rows facing each other, each holding a paper hand-twisted firework tube. The noise just now was obviously made by this thing.

Everyone's face was filled with smiles, which made Zhong Chenmu feel warm.

Except for Guo Ling and Huo Yue, whom he had met last night, he saw almost all the people he missed in the crowd.

Fan Ting, Old Man Liu, Zhu Tong, Mu Yue, Guo Yue...

Everyone seems to have not changed much, and yet everyone seems to have changed a lot.

This change is more evident on the spiritual level.

After the "Reunification" game concluded, Zhong Chenmu disappeared for a while, as his existence was no longer necessary. The original Jigsaw Team existed in name only, but the main members remained together and formed a new Jigsaw Team, more like a corporate entity. Their fundamental goal remained "complete civilization," but with a higher mission: to find patterns and methods to help all the disabled people in Wuming City find their loved ones, rather than searching one by one. To achieve this vision, they needed funds and resources, so various businesses also needed to be developed.

So, after discussion, Guo Ling was elected as the person in charge, and Linjiang Building, the former base of the Huoyue Team, was selected as the office location because it has convenient transportation, is popular, and there is Leyou Pavilion next to it, which provides a one-stop service for eating, drinking and entertainment, making it convenient for receiving customers and partners.

Everyone feels that both life and career are full of promise.

Zhong Chenmu walked into the crowd and hugged everyone warmly. Zhu Tong even hugged his left leg tightly, unwilling to let go for a moment: "We can't let Brother Zhong disappear again. If you have to disappear, take me with you."

Zhong Chenmu looked at Zhu Tong with a smile on his face and gently stroked her hair: "Don't worry, little girl, I won't disappear again."

Everyone welcomed Zhong Chenmu into the largest conference room on the floor. The conference table was filled with snacks and canapés, and the whiteboard was projected with artistic words "Welcome Chairman Zhong Chenmu home."

Zhong Chenmu: “…”

After another round of greetings and reminiscing, everyone fell silent and looked at Zhong Chenmu.

Although Guo Ling has done a lot in the past period of time and has won everyone's trust, everyone still has an inexplicable idea, that is: when Zhong Chenmu is present, everything seems to have a solution.

They all knew that Zhong Chenmu’s return this time was definitely not just for show. There must be a lot of new things to share, and no matter whether these things were good or bad, auspicious or inauspicious, everyone would face them together.

"Everyone, I won't elaborate on how excited I am to see you all again. I've already shown it with my actions. Brother Guo did a great job bringing us together. I was grateful to him during my absence. I came back today to share with you my experiences and observations during this time. Although the Hydrogen Tribe has opened up to us, we still face many new challenges. These challenges pose no less of a threat to us than the previous closure of Nameless City..."

Everyone stared at Zhong Chenmu intently, not even daring to breathe, and listened carefully to every word he said.

No one touched the snacks on the table, for fear of making noise and disturbing Zhong Chenmu's thoughts and the concentration of others.

Zhong Chenmu spoke in great detail, sharing with the core members of the puzzle team his understanding of the "duality of reality and virtuality", the interstellar transmission mechanism of hydrogen element nodes, his experiences in Kunlun City on the helium Xumi star, and matters related to stimulants and sedatives.

Among the audience, except for Guo Ling who had some knowledge of it, everyone else was hearing it for the first time and was all stunned.

Too subversive!

Except for Zhu Tong who seemed to understand what was said, everyone else was extremely shocked.

Old Man Liu even lowered his head to look at his body, muttering to himself, "Can I turn into a string of numbers?"

Fan Ting, who was standing next to him, smiled and said, "It's not digital, it's digitization. There's a difference between the two. However, I'm really looking forward to being able to switch between virtual and real so effortlessly, just like Xiao Zhong. How cool would that be."

Guo Ling said, "Just think about it. I haven't fully mastered it yet."

Zhong Chenmu patiently watched the people at the scene whispering and discussing, but he didn't say anything else. He needed to let everyone accept and get used to this new world before he could raise his own concerns.

After returning from his visit to the Helium Clan, and especially after last night's unpleasant dinner with the Gu family, he was deeply concerned. If this problem wasn't resolved, the Jigsaw Team's goals would remain castles in the air.

When the novelty wore off and the discussion gradually died down, Zhong Chenmu continued, "Everyone may be surprised, or even think it's absurd, but my own personal experience proves that all of this is true. I'm no better than you; we're all the same. How to achieve the 'dual nature of reality and virtuality' in Quan Wuming City is a matter for me to think about. However, I'd like to raise a question, and I invite your brainstorming..."

Before he could finish his words, Fan Ting interrupted him: "Why should we let those lazy, ungrateful people master the dual nature without paying any price? If you do this, aren't you just like Mr. Dongguo and the wolf?"

She was referring to the Gu family's performance last night. Early this morning, Huo Yue complained about this matter to the entire floor, and even wanted to take a microphone and announce it to the lobby downstairs.

Zhong Chenmu smiled slightly. "I also thought about this problem last night, but I finally decided to do it. We can't give up the whole forest just because of ungrateful people. The one million people in Wuming City should have the ability to do this."

Fan Ting shrugged: "Well, this is your business anyway, and the rest of us can't help."

However, her respect for Zhong Chenmu deepened.

"This young man has an extraordinary vision!"

Zhong Chenmu continued, "What I'm worried about is: after the opening, will the fate and future of Wuming City be more optimistic than before the opening?"

Old Man Liu was confused by this question. "Xiao Zhong, wasn't our original goal to open up Nameless City? Whether it's to 'complete the incomplete civilization' or to find our lost loved ones, how can we possibly get out if Nameless City isn't open? Why are you doubting our original intention now?"

"No, Uncle Liu, I don't doubt it. I still believe that opening up Wuming City is the right move. We can increase the chances of completing our incomplete civilization and finding our lost loved ones. But will Wuming City, after opening up, definitely have a bright future? This is my concern now."

Old man Liu rolled his eyes but couldn't understand what was going on for a moment.

At this time, Reyue asked cautiously, "Captain Zhong, what you mean is that Wuming City used to be a closed world. Although it was lifeless and stagnant, it had no external interference. Now that it has opened up, the uncertainty has increased, and the threats and risks it faces are likely to increase as well. Therefore, it may be more dangerous?"

The original members of the puzzle team still habitually call Zhong Chenmu "Captain Zhong" or "Little Zhong", even though he has been elected to the position of "Chairman", none of these old friends call him "Mr. Zhong".

Zhong Chenmu nodded. "Captain Thermidor said it very well, that's pretty much what I meant. My limited experience with the Hydrogen and Helium Clan tells me that their technological levels far surpass ours, and Kunlun City can be considered a complementary civilization to our Wuming City. They were fully open from the very beginning on the Helium Clan's Xumi Star, and this openness wasn't just to the Helium Clan, but to all cosmic races. This resulted in them facing complete competition from other civilizations right after they completed their reappearance, from their 'singularity moment'. However, they had no competitive advantage, which quickly pushed them to the bottom of the entire value chain. They put in a lot of work but earned very little, with almost no hope of getting ahead. The people of Kunlun City are our compatriots, and we must avoid repeating the same mistakes."

Reyue was very encouraged by the recognition and continued, "But aren't you worrying too much? The fate of Kunlun City may not be repeated on us, right?"

Zhong Chenmu and Huo Yue answered almost in unison: "No!"

The two looked at each other, and Huoyue signaled Zhong Chenmu to continue.

Zhong Chenmu also took the lead. "Last night, we learned from the Gu family that they wanted to build an airplane, so they sought help from the Hydrogen Clan to learn aerodynamics. They ended up quoting a astronomical price. Everyone knows about this, and while we may be focusing more on their ingratitude and suspecting we're profiting improperly, I'm more concerned about the trend this represents. Putting aside whether it's a good thing for the country to build airplanes, is it possible that when we hope to achieve new breakthroughs in any field and have to turn to the Hydrogen Clan for help, they'll demand exorbitant prices because we have no other choice. Isn't this a form of disguised plunder?"