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"Did he kill Chi Ming?"
Xu Nuan suddenly sat up straight, looking at Gu Ze in disbelief, while Gu Ze's heavy expression confirmed the truth of the matter once again.
"How could this happen?"
Xu Nuan was filled with confusion.
"The one who wanted to kill me killed Chi Ming."
Xu Nuan had always believed that it was someone from Another Founder who had killed Chi Ming. The reason for killing Chi Ming was the same as that for Wang Yiyun, Sun Ming, and others; they understood the game too well and had not been given any hints. Once these individuals came into contact with her, the person who had been lurking in the shadows or manipulating everything from outside the game would be exposed.
She had always thought that only by finding what Su Zihang had left behind would that person appear. Until then, that person would not kill her. But now, the one who wanted her dead had killed Chi Ming, which meant eliminating a target of Another Founder. Did this imply that this force had some connection to the founders?
If there was a connection between them, then she should not have been a target for He Jun and his group before realizing her value.
Xu Nuan tried to untangle the logic behind it all. The one who wanted her dead was helping Another Founder while preventing them from discovering what Su Zihang had left behind. This meant that Another Founder was unaware of this force's existence. However, if Another Founder was outside the game, they could not possibly be oblivious to her constant pursuit. Therefore, there could only be one conclusion.
Xu Nuan looked up, her eyes wide as she stared at Gu Ze, astonished by her own conclusion.
"Another Founder is also in the game!"
Gu Ze slightly closed his eyes and then opened them again. Meeting Xu Nuan's astonished and fearful gaze, he sighed.
"I think so too. However, there are very few First Batch Players left, and the Second Batch Players are relatively honest; so far, no suspicious individuals have appeared before us."
"We must have overlooked someone!"
Xu Nuan felt a whirlwind of emotions at that moment. She had thought it was already a rare achievement to catch Zhang Xiao in this game, but now, upon realizing that an even more significant figure had also appeared, she suddenly felt an urgency to find the items left by Su Zihang to draw that person out. Once that person was revealed, everything could come to an end. As for who was manipulating the forces behind Another Founder, it didn't matter much; as long as she could safely evade those assassins, that was all that counted. Currently, the only assassins she had encountered were Guo Xu and He Jun. Guo Dafu seemed more like someone lured into this, while Dong Keyong was clearly one of Another Founder's people.
She had unknowingly sorted out the relationships among these individuals.
No, there was still one thing she hadn't clarified.
"Ze."
Xu Nuan suddenly perked up, her almond-shaped eyes fixed on Gu Ze, her head slightly tilted back, a hint of confusion on her face.
"Do you remember in the Crying Forest level when someone used gunfire to lead us to Sun Ming?"
"I remember."
Xu Nuan's calm demeanor forced Gu Ze to suppress the complex emotions rising within him. In that level, Qin Yaojie had been killed by Zhang Xiao. How could he forget that? He couldn't shake off Xu Nuan's expression from that moment either.
Fearing that he might disrupt this rare reunion and the warmth between them, Gu Ze tried to appear more composed.
"Is there a problem?"
Gu Ze recalled many details; his thinking was meticulous and he had a broad perspective. However, no one in this game could compare to Xu Nuan's uniqueness. Whether it was her connections with the Second Batch Players—the current main force in clearing levels—or her relationships with the designers from the First Batch of Players, she was at the center of this game. Aside from the increasingly perilous Survival Game challenges, everything else revolved around Xu Nuan. Everyone was calculating against her, and very few truly stood by her side.
Gu Ze had thought about what would happen if he were no longer around. Would there be no one to support Xu Nuan? In that case, Xu Nuan would truly be alone, struggling through the game, with no one to turn to when she felt sad or wronged.
His thoughts drifted to this point, and Gu Ze couldn't help but pull Xu Nuan into an embrace again. He held her tightly, and they both felt a twinge of pain. The pain was a reminder that they were still alive.
"Ze?"
Sensing the emotional turmoil within Gu Ze, Xu Nuan felt a bit confused. She instinctively returned his embrace, mimicking his earlier gesture by patting his back gently.
"Let's continue. You must have discovered something."
In this regard, Gu Ze had great faith in Xu Nuan. Her intelligence had been evident since her university days, and he had quietly supported her throughout that time, understanding her better than anyone else.
"Mm."
Xu Nuan nodded, reassured that Gu Ze's mood had stabilized before stepping back to create some distance, allowing them to look into each other's eyes.
"The gun is special. Based on that, let's make a hypothesis," Xu Nuan said thoughtfully. "Let's assume only Zhang Xiao has a gun. We can further hypothesize that only Zhang Xiao and Ning Han have guns. In that case, the ones who drew us in must be one of those two."
All her hypotheses were grounded in reason; at least among the fifty people in Game Base, they had encountered more than half of them, and casualties were already over half as well. Her assumptions seemed reasonable.
"So?"
In fact, Gu Ze had already considered a possibility, but seeing the spark in Xu Nuan's eyes as she spoke made him choose to wait quietly for her explanation. He would express his agreement at the right moment. To him, Xu Nuan was like a cat—proud and calm most of the time but sometimes quite clingy, just like now.
“Zhang Xiao is related to that founder.”
With Gu Ze's approval, Xu Nuan took this hypothesis as a fact and continued her analysis.
“We already knew that the founder is the son of the Rao Group's lady. Although he has no relation to Chairman Rao, he has the rights to inherit the group. At first, I thought Zhang Xiao was unaware of this person’s existence, and so was Rao Tingxue. Therefore, I had no thoughts about Rao Tingxue being abandoned. However, Ning Han was originally with Chairman Rao but eventually sided with Zhang Xiao. Clearly, Zhang Xiao and that founder have been competing for a long time.”
Recalling Zhang Xiao's odd behavior and the words he said when they fell out, Xu Nuan increasingly felt that this possibility was very high.
“Zhang Xiao once said that what he wanted wasn't the Billion Dollar Prize or merely succeeding in the challenges. I suspect he made some kind of agreement with that founder. This agreement forces Zhang Xiao to step in and resolve certain issues when that founder is unable to.”
“For example, preventing you from getting too close to Wang Yiyun or Sun Ming?”
Gu Ze completely followed Xu Nuan's line of thought and clarified things she had previously been confused about.
“Zhang Xiao is actually connected to that founder and may even be at a disadvantage. So Zhang Xiao is just a smokescreen released by that person, causing us to focus on him from the beginning while overlooking that individual.”
Initially, they had always believed Zhang Xiao was Another Founder. However, as the challenges increased, Zhang Xiao's objectives became increasingly monotonous—one was the secret passage, and the other was occasionally obstructing Xu Nuan's contact with the main designer. This led them to notice something amiss.
However, these clues did not clarify much. But if Xu Nuan's hypothesis held true, then everything would fall into place. In this case, Zhang Xiao would become secondary; the real target in this game might be that person who clearly existed but had perhaps been overlooked or remained hidden in the shadows. If they disrupted this game in front of that person, his expression would surely be fascinating.
Gu Ze's expression twisted for a moment before quickly returning to normal; that person, like Qin Yaojie, was one of the culprits leading Xu Nuan down this perilous path. It would not be gentlemanly to leave this grudge unavenged; those who harmed him must be prepared for retribution.
Xu Nuan was still reveling in clearly distinguishing between the three factions and did not notice the danger flashing in Gu Ze's eyes. In the next moment, she thought of something related again.
"The founder allows Zhang Xiao to act recklessly in the game, even coercing and enticing other Players. This person not only wants to obtain what Su Zihang left behind but also seeks to uncover the location of the secret passage. His possessiveness over the game is incredibly strong, and he is cunning, always calculating. He likely won't let Zhang Xiao discover any flaws in the game."
Xu Nuan narrowed her eyes, clearly thinking of something deeper.
"Flaw?"
She didn't know who that founder was, but everything that had happened to her had been part of that person's scheme. To some extent, Xu Nuan understood that individual very well. Since she understood him, she could follow his line of thought to uncover his intentions. It was as if he knew her temperament and style, always setting traps for her.
Xu Nuan was lost in thought and didn't notice Gu Ze suddenly displaying a strange expression.
"If that founder wants to monopolize this game and is so talented, then he definitely wouldn't allow any flaws in it. Therefore, he must want to use Zhang Xiao to find the secret passage and then destroy it."
She wondered if Zhang Xiao realized he was being used. In her perception, Zhang Xiao was somewhat insane but also sharp-minded and even a bit paranoid. Would someone like him willingly be used? Or did he have enough confidence to turn the tables on the founder even if he was being manipulated?
Xu Nuan's mind was nearly in knots. She hadn't anticipated that the appearance of He Jun and Ning Han's gun would open up her thoughts so much, allowing her to discover numerous flaws. If she could exploit these flaws, she would have a chance.
Feeling suddenly much better, Xu Nuan realized Gu Ze had been silent all along. She hurriedly glanced over at him and saw the turbulent emotions swirling in his eyes. She also noticed Gu Ze's lips move slightly, his voice coming out hoarse.
"Su Zihang?"
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