Xu Yan said, "That's right. There's one more thing I haven't told you. I also have a ticket, for the same time and the same game as the one you found in Li Li's pocket, in the next seat."
"Mr. Xu, tell me the truth, that miniature, exquisite model was also assembled by Li Li and given to you, right?"
"How do you know I didn't assemble it myself?" Xu Yan asked, displeased.
“Because you’re not very good with your hands, it’s easy to assemble this thing incorrectly. Song Tao’s was custom-made by Li Li and took a long time to assemble. As for yours—it should have been assembled by Li Li as well.” Zhou Luming exposed him mercilessly.
Xu Yan's face darkened further. "Li Li gave both Song Tao and me two tickets at the same time, which must have a deeper meaning. He's inviting Song Tao and me into his world. Then he gave Song Tao and me two aircraft carrier models... What exactly is he trying to imply to us?"
“Go and take a closer look at the aircraft carrier model,” Zhou Luming said. “The clues may have already been delivered to you.”
Xu Yan's eyes lit up as she looked at the model placed separately on the table, then took out her miniature version and compared them. Wang Anjing joined in, saying, "We also need to install batteries here so the lights on the aircraft carrier can turn on."
"Batteries?" A thought flashed through Xu Yan's mind, and he suddenly realized something. "I need eight pairs of batteries, four pairs of AA batteries and four pairs of AAA batteries."
Wang Anjing ordered someone to fetch it, and when she turned around, she saw that Xu Yan had already opened the battery compartment of the miniature model. Xu Yan said, "I never knew there was a place to put the battery here. Thank you for reminding me."
“I discovered it by chance. Li Li was very angry once. He said he forgot to install the battery compartment when he was halfway through assembling the machine, and everything had to be started over.” Wang Anjing smiled.
Xu Yan installed the batteries and turned on the light. The light cast shadows on the wall, which were combinations of two pairs of numbers and letters: "122E, 133N".
Xu Yan smiled faintly, "It seems this ship is just the beginning of everything."
Chapter 7 07
==================
“122,133,” Zhou Luming muttered to himself, and quickly realized, “These are latitude and longitude coordinates. The ship should be hidden at these coordinates.”
Xu Yan turned to Wang Anjing and asked, "Did you find it?"
Wang Anjing typed rapidly on the keyboard, imported the map of the metaverse world, and then entered the coordinates. "Found it, it's a sea area." She turned the game world map into a 3D animated image and projected it onto the large screen in the conference room.
Xu Yan squinted slightly; it really was in a vast sea. Without coordinates, it would probably take hundreds of years to find this ship by hand.
“Song Tao has already set off. Follow him and don’t lose him.” Xu Yan was alert because she had a vague feeling that Song Tao was going to leave Zhou Luming behind.
Sure enough, Song Tao had already left the house, gotten into the driverless car, and headed to the coordinate sea area.
Zhou Luming, lacking convenient transportation, scratched his head and asked, "Boss Xu, could you recharge some gold coins for me to buy a car? It would be best to also buy a boat, as we'll be going out to sea later."
Xu Yan coldly replied, "This cannot be reimbursed."
Wang Anjing smiled and said, "I'll take you."
Suddenly, a heavy motorcycle appeared in front of Zhou Luming. Zhou Luming put on his helmet, revved the engine, and thanked Wang Anjing, saying, "Thank you, Sister Wang."
Wang Anjing said, "You're welcome. There's a button on it that can switch to flight mode. Once we get to the sea, we can fly over the water. It's even faster than Song Tao's self-driving car."
Zhou Luming gave the camera an "OK" sign and even winked at it before confidently mounting his motorcycle, stepping on the gas, and speeding away with a roar.
Because it was a game world, although he still needed to wear a helmet, there were far fewer restrictions here, allowing Zhou Luming to truly experience the feeling of speeding at lightning speed.
Xu Yan glanced at Wang Anjing out of the corner of his eye, "Why are you helping us?"
Wang Anjing is Song Tao's wife, and logically she should help Song Tao stop Xu Yan and Zhou Luming, but unexpectedly she stands on their side, which is indeed puzzling.
Wang Anjing smiled and said, "How do you know I'm helping you and not trying to gain your trust to become Song Tao's mole?"
Xu Yan nodded, "That's certainly possible."
Wang Anjing looked at Zhou Luming on the screen again, "She is indeed a lovely and interesting girl, very energetic."
Xu Yan glanced at Zhou Luming. Objectively speaking, Zhou Luming was indeed a stunning beauty, but her lively personality surprised Xu Yan. Xu Yan decided to continue observing her.
"Why are you still carrying that sunflower?" Xu Yan found it unbelievable.
Zhou Luming smiled and said, "How can you just throw away flowers given by someone? They represent their good intentions."
Xu Yan remained silent, increasingly convinced that Zhou Luming's thought process was different from that of ordinary people. At that moment, the sunflower on Zhou Luming's back was swaying wildly in the wind, as if it were about to break at any moment, but it persevered tenaciously all the way to the sea.
By this time, Song Tao, who had gone ahead, was already out of sight. Zhou Luming switched modes, hovered on the sea surface, and sped toward the coordinates.
Her expression was focused and her goal was firm, completely different from her usual carefree attitude.
Don't be too late...
Xu Yan looked at Zhou Luming's expression and a thought suddenly struck him.
How many faces does she actually have?
The location is a vast sea area, devoid of islands, seagulls, seabirds, and any trace of player presence; it can be described as a desolate wasteland.
When Zhou Luming arrived, he saw Song Tao's dark figure in the distance. He was sitting in a driverless car, hovering on the sea, with a look of doubt in his eyes.
Zhou Luming was also puzzled.
Where is that aircraft carrier? Are the coordinates wrong?
"Boss Xu, what's going on?" Zhou Luming asked.
Xu Yan pondered for a moment, "Perhaps beneath your feet, or deep in the sea."
"Could this be a submarine? Or a shipwreck? This is too exciting!" Zhou Luming said. "I've got it now, could there be a big fish in the sea that swallowed an aircraft carrier and sank it to the bottom of the sea?"
Xu Yan: ...
Zhou Luming watched as Song Tao switched modes again, sealing off the surroundings, presumably to go into the sea to search.
"Sister Wang, can my motorcycle go underwater?"
“Sorry, we don’t have that feature yet,” Wang Anjing said. “I’ll arrange a submarine for you right away, but the nearest one will take at least thirty minutes.”
Zhou Luming narrowed his eyes, watching helplessly as Song Tao dived down. "That's too late."
Xu Yan watched her start to take off her coat and had a bad feeling. "Zhou Luming, what are you trying to do? Although this is a game, the feeling of suffocation is real. If you stay in the water for too long or too deep, your brain will feel suffocated and lack oxygen, and you may not be able to get out of the game and wake up."
A yellow warning light started flashing on the game screen.
Wang Anjing chuckled, "Miss Zhou, your figure is too good. The system is about to flag you for violating regulations. You can't take your clothes off anymore." She turned her head and saw Xu Yan staring blankly at Zhou Luming, and laughed again, "Even your boss Xu is mesmerized—"
Zhou Luming raised an eyebrow confidently, "A good figure is meant to make people jealous, what am I afraid of? Don't worry, I won't break the rules." Then, like a mermaid, she darted into the azure sea.
Xu Yan said, "What other skills do you have that I don't know about?"
Zhou Luming said, "We have a long way to go. You'll gradually discover more of my strengths. By the way, Boss Xu, remember to give me a raise."
Xu Yan: "We'll talk about it after you find the will."
Zhou Luming: "I am determined to get Li Li's will. This is our first collaboration, and I must make a good impression on you."
Xu Yan hesitated for a moment, but still advised, "Don't push yourself too hard. If you can't take it anymore, just float to the surface, and we'll think of another way."
Are you worried about me?
“Your injury is a work-related injury,” Xu Yan said. “I don’t want to ruin my reputation.”
"Understood." Zhou Luming continued to descend, occasionally spitting out a small bubble. It must be said that the game world of the metaverse was exceptionally realistic. She could feel the surrounding water pressure increasing, her movements becoming sluggish, the light growing dimmer, and her ears becoming increasingly painful. But after all, it was a virtual world; she could still communicate with Xu Yan through her headset.
She didn't intend to beat Song Tao to it; she simply went down to observe.
The sea was far deeper than she had imagined, and without diving equipment, she couldn't go any further. Just as she was about to give up, she saw a bright light gradually rising from below.
Is it Song Tao?
Xu Yan turned to Wang Anjing and asked, "What's that thing floating up? Is it Song Tao?"
Wang Anjing looked at Song Tao's coordinates and said seriously, "He's still descending; it's not him who's ascending."
Xu Yan made a quick decision, "Zhou Luming, run!"
Judging from the bubbles rising to the surface, it must be a colossal creature. Since it wasn't Song Tao or any other player, it was likely something that originally lived in the deep sea.
"Has Li Li ever designed any deep-sea monsters?"
Wang Anjing choked up, "There really is. He once designed a huge fish, similar to an ancient crocodile, but with a lantern on its forehead that could light up on its own. It was about the size of five adult whales..."
The more she talked, the more panicked she became. Although it was just a game, the psychological impact of the oppressive feeling it created was not to be underestimated. This fish had been banned from being introduced by the game association because it was too terrifying, but Li Li was an unrestrained person. He was very likely to put this behemoth in a secluded place, and as long as it was not discovered, it would not exist.
Zhou Luming said, "I think I'd better make a run for it."
She tried her best to float upwards, but she couldn't keep up with the speed of that behemoth. Xu Yan kept a straight face. She could gradually see the shadow of the behemoth behind Zhou Luming. Zhou Luming was nothing compared to it, as weak as a shrimp.
"Zhou Luming, don't look back, swim upstream." Xu Yan's expression changed suddenly.
Zhou Luming was stunned. It was the first time she had seen such an expression on Xu Yan's face. Xu Yan was always calm, composed, and methodical. If he could frighten her like this, it must be something ugly and terrifying that was chasing after her.
Xu Yan said, "Your game—I'm afraid it should be set to be playable only by players who are 18 years of age or older, and it also needs to have a scare warning to avoid stimulating players with fragile hearts."
Wang Anjing said, "Without the key code, we cannot eliminate the fun that Li Li left behind."
Xu Yan said, "I will find the will and the key code as soon as possible."
At this moment, the giant beast had already approached Zhou Luming. Xu Yan frowned, deep in thought. Why had this huge fish, which had been peacefully staying in the deep sea, suddenly surfaced and started chasing Zhou Luming relentlessly? Why was it only chasing Zhou Luming and not Song Tao? What was the difference between Zhou Luming and Song Tao?
No, that's not right. Comparing Song Tao and Zhou Luming is pointless. Since this big fish is Li Li's source of enjoyment…
Looking at the bright yellow sunflowers swaying in the seawater, Xu Yan suddenly ordered, "Zhou Luming, it's chasing your sunflower. Throw it away."
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Luming obediently dropped the enormous sunflower.
A bright yellow flower sank silently into the sea, sinking until it reached the giant beast's eyes. Xu Yan saw the beast open its massive mouth and inhale the sunflower. Gradually, its enormous shadow shrank, and then the light from the lantern representing the beast's eyes disappeared.
Xu Yan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his guess was correct, and he had temporarily stalled the situation.
Zhou Luming slumped onto the motorcycle, panting weakly. "Boss Xu, what's going on? Is it chasing sunflowers?"
Xu Yan said, "Li Li probably comes here often too. The gift he brings for the giant beast is a sunflower, and you just happened to run into it this time."
Zhou Luming said, "I always felt that both sunflowers and giant beasts had other meanings in Li Li's games."
"What does it mean?" Xu Yan asked knowingly.
“The giant beast gives people a sense of oppression, and it is hidden in the deep sea, which represents the unfathomable fear and oppression hidden in Li Li’s heart. He carefully hides this fear and oppression, and the triggering condition is the sunflower, which is the source of his pressure and fear,” Zhou Luming analyzed.
"Have you studied psychology?" Xu Yan asked.
"No, I was just guessing." Zhou Luming caught his breath. "You're questioning my resume again, testing me all the time."
Xu Yan did test her when she was most tired and relaxed, but she passed the test easily. In fact, Xu Yan also had the same thoughts as Zhou Luming: the giant beast and the sunflower were secrets hidden deep in Li Li's heart, and they were related to his depression and eventual suicide.
“Song Tao has come up too,” Zhou Luming said. “It’s obvious he didn’t find the aircraft carrier, so he also missed it.”