Chapter 336 Another Voice

Chapter 336 Another Voice

"Sounds like a teaching incident?" Zhuang Anping was not only a player in the nightmare game but also a father to a child in the real world. So, when he heard voices from the school building in the distance, he quickly made a judgment.

The commotion in the school building was on the first floor. Illuminated by the lights, they could see several figures standing there from afar. Judging by their voices and physiques, they appeared to be adults, and the person they were discussing was likely a student at the school.

"Let's get closer." Chen Xi concealed herself in the shadows, then crouched down and moved forward cautiously.

Zhuang Anping immediately followed suit.

Even though they knew that, as "deceased" individuals, they could no longer be seen or heard by the ordinary people in this city, it still felt strange to brazenly stand outside a window and observe.

And the voices from the school building continued—

"I've already had someone take that student to the infirmary to rest. His condition looks terrible; he probably won't be able to return to the study room."

"Another student couldn't handle it. Should we really keep going like this?"

"These enclosed study rooms are causing more and more problems. Perhaps we should abolish them and let everyone know about and freely use that system. It would also be a good opportunity for our school to transform and profit. There's really no need for cramped study rooms."

"Some schools already know what we're doing."

"I know. So at this point, even if we don't do it, other schools will take even more extreme measures. After all, our goals are the same. The only thing we can bet on now is this group of students we have."

"If, when that day comes, all the students leave the school and nothing changes, then what? Do we go find new students?"

"Where would we find new students?"

"..."

The speaker seemed to be moving around inside the school building, getting farther away, and their voice grew fainter.

"What are they talking about?" Chen Xi couldn't help but clear her throat. "It feels like I understand every word they're saying, but when put together, it sounds somewhat nonsensical."

"I have heard a bit about the system they mentioned. Whenever someone introduces Honghuai Tenth Middle School, they always bring up the learning system the school developed itself. I heard it contains the strongest question bank in Honghuai City, and it's the secret weapon behind the school's rising academic performance every year." Zhuang Anping also frowned. "But other schools actually have similar systems too. I don't know why Honghuai Tenth Middle School's question bank is so exceptional."

"And what they said just now does sound strange, as if those students are merely consumables. But aren't schools ultimately meant to benefit the students? Why would something like this happen?"

Both Chen Xi and Zhuang Anping felt that the conversation they had just overheard was problematic, but they couldn't immediately articulate why.

At that moment, Su Bai, standing in the shadows inside the school building, realized where the issue lay.

Because of his "deceased" status, Su Bai was restricted to the school building and could only move between different floors. While observing each floor, Su Bai found the study room located on the first floor, as remembered by Xiao Lou. One of the study rooms was locked, likely containing the student named Zhang Chen.

Until late into the night, that student hadn't left the study room. By the time Su Bai heard any movement, he already saw Zhang Chen lying unconscious on a stretcher, and then he overheard the conversation among the teachers standing outside the study room.

Regardless of why the teachers of Honghuai Tenth Middle School were still moving around the campus in the middle of the night, an anomaly occurred when they started speaking.

Su Bai could clearly hear what the teachers were saying when they gathered, but as those voices entered his mind, a distinct voice suddenly appeared—a second audio layer that forced its way into Su Bai's brain.

It was as if, when Su Bai first went downstairs, he heard the teachers say—

"Did he really pass out inside?"

"It's too dark inside; the surveillance isn't clear enough. We can only see the student lying on the floor. Should we notify this child's parents?"

...

But when these words entered Su Bai's brain, another overlapping audio layer emerged—

«Has this test subject failed again?»

«We can't see what happened, but this Mermaid Remnant returned from the Void Sea covered in injuries. Should we end the experiment here?»

...

«I've already had someone take that mermaid away. He looks half-dead; it's impossible for him to continue our experiments.»

«Another Mermaid Remnant has been lost. Should we really continue like this?»

«More and more Mermaid Remnants are being expended in these experiments targeting the Void Sea. Maybe we should really cancel the experiments and let the other remnants under the red moon know about the impending doom this world faces? Perhaps we can find another way out? There's no need for us to fight alone.»

«Other entities have already discovered that we've imprisoned all the Mermaid Remnants.»

«I know. But if those things find out about the impending doom this world faces, even if we stop the experiments, those things will use even more cruel methods to torture those mermaids. After all, our goals are the same. Rather than that, it's better to continue the experiments with the remaining mermaids.»

«If, when that day comes, all the Mermaid Remnants die in the experiments, and there's still no progress in the experiments on the Void Sea, what then? All the Mermaid Remnants are already imprisoned here. Where can we find more mermaids?»

«Where can we find other test subjects capable of entering and exiting the Void Sea?»

«...»

If it weren't Su Bai but an ordinary person who hadn't undergone infusion and enhancement receiving this information, they might faint from the overwhelming burst of information. But even though Su Bai could still stand firm in the corner, he was shocked by the strange voice that had appeared in his mind.

The teachers in the school building were obviously discussing a student who had fainted in the study room. Why did it turn into some unknown entities discussing half-dead mermaid test subjects returning from the Void Sea?

Su Bai even caught a term he hadn't previously encountered—"Remnants." The speakers referred to the mermaids as "Remnants," which didn't surprise Su Bai much. After all, he had met a mermaid named Luolimasi. She and her people were born from a collapsed civilization, so it wasn't strange for mermaids surviving from a destroyed civilization to be called "Remnants."

Su Bai also knew that mermaids had the ability to navigate the Void Sea. From what Luolimasi had said, it seemed to be their unique ability.

But who were the "beings" that captured and imprisoned all the Mermaid Remnants?

What was their purpose in conducting experiments related to the Void Sea using mermaids?

What did the impending doom this world faced mean?

And what was the purpose of the eerie entity impersonating Su Xuan making him hear these voices?

Yes, Su Bai was certain that it was "Su Xuan" who had made him hear these voices. He had been wondering why "Su Xuan" had trapped him in Honghuai Tenth Middle School. But if the voices in his mind were real, if the students here represented mermaids, the study rooms symbolized the Void Sea, the teachers represented some mysterious "beings" with unknown purposes, and the upcoming "college entrance exam" symbolized the impending doom this world faced or something else...

Then it seemed "Su Xuan" was merely using the shell of Honghuai Tenth Middle School to communicate some information to Su Bai?

Why?

What did the experiments on mermaids and the Void Sea have to do with him?

Just as Su Bai was feeling perplexed, the last question he had heard resurfaced in his mind.

«Where can we find other test subjects capable of entering and exiting the Void Sea?»

Test subjects capable of entering and exiting the Void Sea?

Su Bai was stunned for a moment. Although mermaids capable of entering and exiting the Void Sea were almost entirely gone, there had always been some beings that regularly crossed the Void Sea to the nightmare world.

In a way, couldn't people chosen as "players" also enter and exit the Void Sea?

"Could humans... also become test subjects?"