Princesa Mercenaria

Capítulo 18

"You've already seen him!"

"who?"

"You'll find out soon enough!" Xiaozhi bit her pink lip nervously. "Okay, you want to know the truth, right? Then I'll tell you—it's not just my house, the entire Nanming City is full of cameras!"

22:00

stadium.

Tong Jianguo could no longer hear the heavy rain. The surroundings became as silent as a tomb. There was only a deep staircase, illuminated by white lights. Could it lead to the nineteenth level of hell?

His left arm was still in a sling, and his right hand remained under his armpit, so he almost always walked on tiptoe. He had been walking for several minutes, and the stairs seemed endless, reminding him of the deep tunnels of the Rakshasa Kingdom.

Could we discover some ancient treasure?

Suddenly, the stairs turned into flat ground, and a large door appeared in front of him.

The door was locked, but that didn't stop Tong Jianguo. He took a small gadget out of his pocket and easily unlocked the door with only his able right hand.

He cautiously pushed the door open and found himself in a large space with countless bright lights hanging from the ceiling several meters high, illuminating the stadium's interior as if it were daytime.

The space was divided into many small areas by simple plastic partitions, much like the venue of a large exhibition, with each small space representing an exhibitor. He walked along the edge with his head down and, sure enough, saw several figures moving in the distance. There were men's and women's restrooms along the wall, and the trash cans outside were overflowing, indicating that people lived or worked here.

Tong Jianguo quietly walked to the back of a cubicle and peered inside through a crack. He saw two people sitting, working in front of several computers and several surveillance camera screens, but he couldn't make out the images. One of the men turned around, a bald Black man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He was speaking in American English to the man next to him—a white man in his forties with an enormous belly.

Unable to understand what the two men were saying, he made his way to another cubicle and found a large television screen broadcasting an English news program. Below the screen were numerous machines and equipment, some with smaller screens embedded in them, several control computers nearby, and a dense web of wires and sockets behind them. All the equipment and setup indicated a television broadcasting center—equipment used by many large national sporting events, especially closed-circuit television systems.

Just then, footsteps approached, and Tong Jianguo quickly hid behind the screen. He saw a young man enter the cubicle; the man had a Chinese face, picked up the phone, spoke a string of English, hung up, and sat down at the computer, seemingly working on something. The young man looked very tired; he put on headphones, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes to rest. Tong Jianguo then quietly slipped out of the cubicle and returned to the lobby.

Several more figures approached, and he immediately ducked into the shadows of a corner, seeing them from the side—they were dressed in distinctive work uniforms, completely covered from head to toe, like firefighters, with only their faces showing. Two were white, one was black, and one looked Thai. As they walked, they removed their uniforms, their expressions grave, conversing in hushed tones in English.

The corridor seemed to be a necessary passage, and soon two more people approached, a man and a woman, both with Chinese features. The man was in his thirties and spoke fluent Mandarin, while the woman had a distinct Hong Kong or Taiwanese accent. They communicated without difficulty, and Tong Jianguo heard them mention the word "doomsday" several times.

The woman asked nervously, "Tom, I feel like this is the last night."

Did the boss say something like that?

"Although he didn't say it explicitly, everyone had already guessed it."

"I hope so!" The man sighed wearily, tilting his head back. "Let's end this nightmare soon and go home!"

As the two talked, they turned and disappeared at the fork in the road. Tong Jianguo followed silently behind, watching them go into two small rooms. He didn't dare follow them into the rooms, but only walked a few steps outside and found more than a dozen such simple rooms, all built together on one side of the hall.

He gently opened one of the rooms, and thankfully, no one was inside. The room contained a simple wire bed and sleeping bag, along with some personal clothing and even women's underwear, in addition to the most basic necessities. However, he found no cell phones, telephones, or other communication devices, nor any television or similar items; it seemed to be just a temporary dormitory.

Convinced no one had seen him, Tong Jianguo left the room and began to explore. He discovered another storeroom, filled with various foods and canned goods, as well as dozens of water jugs. There were also many work clothes and machines, including state-of-the-art cameras and complex electronic equipment.

What exactly is this place? It has all sorts of facilities, enough to accommodate dozens of people to work and live, but it's enclosed underground in the stadium, like Hitler's bunker when the Nazis were defeated!

I picked up a can of luncheon meat at random and saw that the manufacturer was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the production date was only two days ago—meaning that this place is constantly connected to the outside world and receives a continuous supply of fresh food!

He cursed inwardly. The so-called sleeping city was not sleeping at all! It was not a closed-off city either. Only his tour group was in despair like headless flies.

He felt his way out of the warehouse and found himself in a passageway. There was no one else or any sound around him. Tong Jianguo carefully walked forward. The ceiling was only a little over two meters high, and the lights had dimmed considerably, indicating that he had entered another space.

Suddenly, he saw a strange mark on the wall: a dragon coiled above the Milky Way—

Cosmic Dragon

The Secret Season 4 Complete Version Chapter 8 Stephen King

Sorry, please bring the camera back to the base camp.

The heavy rain showed no signs of abating, and the entire house trembled in the gale, including the people inside.

"Is the entire city of Nanming now filled with cameras?"

Ye Xiao repeated Xiao Zhi's words again, and she lowered her head and stopped talking, like a child who had done something wrong.

“How is that possible?” Lin Junru shook her head, dismissing any answer Xiaozhi gave as a lie. “Such a big city, are there cameras everywhere monitoring us?”

"No, I want to go out and see!"

His mind was made up. He opened an umbrella, rushed out of the house, and plunged into the vast night rain.

Raindrops lashed his face like shards of glass, and Ye Xiao, whose head was still wrapped in gauze, felt another sharp pain. In such a torrential downpour, an umbrella was useless, so he simply threw it away and ran across the street.

Visibility was completely blurred; only a few streetlights were still on in the rain, appearing as halos to guide the way. In such a dark, rainy night, even if a camera were placed on the street, it would be impossible for it to be seen.

So he braved the rain and rushed into a small shop, turning on the light to find it was a laundry room. The cramped shop reeked of laundry detergent, and piles of washed clothes lay in the corner—they hadn't yet been claimed by their owners, and the entire city was now deserted.

Ye Xiao shook the rain off his head, carefully inspected the ceiling and corners, and rummaged through all the furniture and clutter. As a result, he found a camera hidden behind a large washing machine, with complicated wires trailing behind it as usual.

He angrily smashed the camera. It seemed that what Xiaozhi said was true—the whole city was full of cameras, not even a small street shop like this was spared. Even though these people from the tour group had never been inside—wherever they might go, there would be extremely hidden cameras installed.

How many cameras would be needed? He estimated at least 10,000 for the whole city. Assuming each camera costs 5,000 yuan, the cameras alone would cost 50 million yuan!

What exactly is the reason that would make those people dare to spend millions of dollars to create such a huge trap?

Just thinking about it is enough to send chills down your spine. There's no need to go to other shops and houses to verify it. Ye Xiao grabbed a blanket, covered his head, and rushed back into the heavy rain.

He ran back to the base camp across the street as fast as he could, and rushed into the living room, soaking wet. Everyone except Sun Zichu, who was lying on the bed, was waiting for him there.

"Yes, the whole city is full of cameras!"

He calmly told them this shocking truth, and they were all too terrified to speak.

Xiaozhi boldly said, "Your wound cannot be soaked in water."

"I can't worry about that now, it's better than everyone dying here!" Ye Xiao grabbed a towel and dried his hair. "I want to go upstairs to watch TV."

This statement suddenly reminded them that their faces might appear on the television again!

They rushed back to the bedroom on the second floor and found that Sun Zichu could already speak, lying on the bed and making a weak sound: "Thank you...you...for saving me."

"You've finally said something sensible!"

Ye Xiao walked up and patted him on the shoulder. Lin Junru also rushed to his side and asked with concern, "How are you feeling now? Are you still uncomfortable?"

"Ah...it's nothing...it doesn't hurt anymore..." Sun Zichu's complexion had improved a lot; he was no longer as pale as a corpse. He gratefully moved his head closer, pressing his face against Lin Junru's hand. "Why are you so good to me?"

Lin Junru was too embarrassed to be affectionate with him in front of everyone, so she put on a stern face and said, "Since you're not in pain anymore, then stop talking nonsense!"

"I want to watch TV!"

Sun Zichu had probably been listening to the TV, so Lin Junru put two pillows under him to make watching TV easier.

At that moment, all six pairs of eyes were fixed on the television.

It was still the news studio, with a black dragon painted in the background, majestically coiled above the Milky Way—this was the logo of "Dragon TV".

The Chinese-speaking female anchor spoke a string of English words before switching the camera to the streets of Hong Kong. In the bustling Causeway Bay, amidst flashing neon lights, the reporter and cameraman walked the streets, randomly grabbing a young woman and asking in Mandarin, "Miss, do you know about the 'Heavenly Secret' incident?"

“Of course I know! A Chinese tour group went to Thailand and entered a deserted city. They got trapped inside and couldn't get out, and people kept dying.” The Hong Kong girl spoke Mandarin with a Cantonese accent, and she was particularly enthusiastic in front of the camera. “I watch this ‘Secret of the Sky’ program every night, it’s so exciting!”

The reporter seemed to have come to the right person, and then asked, "Which person are you most interested in?"

"Ye Xiao! I think he's so handsome and brave, a really cool man. I want to find a husband like Ye Xiao!"

These words made Ye Xiao, who was watching TV, blush deeply. He said self-deprecatingly, "With my head wrapped in bandages, would anyone still want me?"

The reporter on television continued to ask, "Viewers around the world are debating: Is 'The Secret' program real or staged? What do you think?"

"Of course it's real! Even the best actors couldn't fake the look in their eyes on camera."

"What about those people who died in the tour group? Do you believe it's true?"

“Oh—” The Hong Kong girl frowned and thought for a moment. “I really can’t say for sure. Although it looks very realistic, I think it’s possible that it was just acting. Maybe those people who were supposed to die had already made preparations to escape. Their deaths were actually their escape from Nanming City.”

"Thank you so much!" The reporter turned to the camera and smiled, saying, "Viewers, the most-watched TV program in history, 'The Secret,' has entered its most crucial moment! People in every corner of the world are watching the mysterious Nanming City and the fate of every survivor in the tour group! Now, please return to the studio in Los Angeles."

Commercials were running on the screen again, this time a Pepsi commercial featuring Britney Spears.

Meanwhile, in a distant, sleeping city, people sitting in front of their televisions looked at each other in bewilderment—how had all the terrible events they had experienced suddenly become a television program, and even been named "The Secret"? They were the focus of the entire world's attention, achieving the highest global viewership ratings in history!

The Pepsi commercial ended, and a huge valley appeared on the screen. Amidst the endless, towering mountains, stood a large area of dark buildings—the Sleeping City.

Everyone's eyes widened. This was the view they had seen from the tunnel into Nanming on their first afternoon, overlooking the entire city. This breathtaking scene at the beginning of the book was forever etched in their hearts, and now it was being transmitted around the world via satellite signal.

Yes, the whole world is in the lens, turned into a bunch of lifeless buildings, an empty city.

This is God's perspective.

The perspective of God looking down on the universe.

The camera was likely mounted on a mountain in the south of the city, slowly panning downwards to make the city buildings clearer and clearer, finally settling on the city entrance, where Andy Lau is smiling on a billboard.

At this moment, an English subtitle appeared at the bottom of the screen, which Elena translated into Chinese:

"The Secret - The greatest reality show in history, watched day and night by 2 billion television viewers worldwide, and simultaneously streamed online by 1 billion netizens. A mysterious world, unknown dangers, a modern allegory, a prophecy of the future, where will they go?"

Then, several clips flashed across the television screen. First, Ye Xiao and his group, flashlights in hand, entered a residential building in the darkness—their previous base. Next, in a dark room, a candle suddenly illuminated the face of a dead man—the Butcher. This scene was particularly chilling, likely terrifying viewers worldwide and significantly boosting ratings. Then, on the edge of the city, the scene of Cheng Li being bitten in two by a crocodile while trying to save his daughter, with blood gushing out, sparked considerable controversy, with many social groups demanding a ban on the "Heavenly Secrets" program. Finally, the magnificent ruins of the Rakshasa Kingdom appeared, where Ye Xiao and his group arrived at the foot of a massive pyramid, gazing at the universe and kneeling in near despair.

Faced with these retrospective clips, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, especially when their own faces appeared on screen. It was as if a high-voltage current passed through their bodies, and they immediately lowered their heads in shame—they knew that their every move and word, whether good or bad, true or false, had been seen by audiences all over the world.

The long trailer, accompanied by a high-energy background music track, transformed into a music video featuring Michael Jackson, who hadn't been seen in a long time! Moreover, it featured a melody and lyrics never heard before, presumably a new song he wrote specifically for "Tianji," which was truly astonishing.

As Michael Jackson's song ended, the scene shifted back to the Los Angeles studio. Besides the familiar female anchor, there was a white man in his fifties with a wise face and a full beard.

The female anchor began by speaking a string of English words to introduce the special guest to the audience—Stephen King, the world's most famous thriller novelist!

Even Sun Zichu, lying in bed, was stunned. He had seen Stephen King's picture before, and it was indeed the man on TV—the literary master who created masterpieces such as *The Shining*, *The Shawshank Redemption*, *The Omen*, and *The Dream Catcher*, once the world's richest writer, had been invited into the studio by "Dragon TV," leaving everyone in front of the television speechless.

Stephen King appeared somewhat nervous in front of the camera; it was unexpected that the renowned author could be a little stage-frightened. He forced a slight smile and greeted the camera in American English, "HELLO! I'm Stephen King."

The host immediately followed up: "Mr. Kim, you are the world's most famous novelist, with hundreds of millions of readers and admirers. Your works contain both thrillers and suspense, and many have been adapted into famous movies like 'The Shawshank Redemption'. What are your thoughts on a special suspense reality show like 'The Secret'?"

“This… this… hehe…” Our master of horror chuckled twice. “Ever since the ‘Secrets of Heaven’ program first started airing, I’ve been glued to the TV every night. I can honestly tell you, I’m now a staunch supporter of ‘Secrets of Heaven’!”

"Mr. Jin, thank you very much for your support. The whole world is now focused on 'The Secret'—the biggest reality show in history, focusing on the fate of the Chinese tour group and everyone in Nanming City. However, it has also generated a lot of legal and moral controversy. Many people question the authenticity of the show, believing that it is a fake reality show and that the characters in the show are all acting. As a great novelist, what is your opinion on this?"

“Indeed, the world of ‘Heavenly Secrets’ is incredible. It’s something that could never happen in reality. It looks like a novel, and the most exciting and imaginative one at that! If all of this was really designed by humans, then only a first-rate novelist could have done it.”

The female anchor reacted very quickly: "So you think none of this is real, but was designed by someone?"

“This—” Master Stephen King scratched his head, “I can’t be sure, maybe half of it is real and half of it is performance? But there must have been a careful design beforehand, such as this sleeping city, and the Rakshasa Kingdom in the suburbs—by the way, is that ancient ruin real?”

"It is indeed a real site with a mysterious history of over a thousand years. It was only discovered in recent years. Because of its remote geographical location, it has not been opened to the public, and only a few archaeologists in the world know about it."

“Truth!” Stephen King took a deep breath. “Truth is the greatest! This ‘Secrets’ program shows that people all over the world are tired of novels and movies. They want to see people’s real stories and pry into other people’s real privacy. Perhaps, after ‘Secrets’ airs, all of us novelists will be out of a job!”

"Mr. Jin is very humorous." The female anchor quickly steered the conversation back on track. "Speaking of the truth behind 'The Secret of Heaven,' it has also caused a great deal of controversy. Many people believe that if everything that happened in 'The Secret of Heaven' is true, then 'Dragon TV' has seriously violated the law. What do you think?"

Stephen King's response was quite diplomatic: "I'm not a legal expert, so I can't offer you advice."

“In fact, Dragon TV had already announced the agreement signed with the tour group members. They all participated in this reality show voluntarily. If they did not withdraw halfway and successfully completed the program, each person would receive a prize of one million US dollars. The person most popular with the audience—voted by the global audience on Dragon TV’s official website—would receive a prize of ten million US dollars.”

"However, I heard that the families of the tour group members are joining forces to sue your TV station, hoping to rescue their loved ones as soon as possible and demanding huge compensation from you."