Chapter 37: The State of Affairs

"This, that, how..." Finally, someone spoke, stuttering. This immediately jolted the others back to their senses.

"The Director-General, the Director-General has actually..."

"Why would something like this happen? Who is the murderer!"

"Mr. Chu, Mr. Chu, did you, did you know about this all along?"

Some had already deduced from Chu Zhu's previous abnormal behavior that he was an insider. In fact, were it not for Chu Zhu's unique status and position, his actions would have made him the prime suspect.

To this, Chu Zhu merely lowered his eyes and sighed: "Call the police."

Then, Chu Zhu turned and walked away.

...

The Police Bureau.

Chu Zhu re-entered the base, sat in a chair, and stared at the silver walls for a long time.

"I was careless!" Finally, Chu Zhu muttered to himself. He had attempted to skip a step, but in the end, it only triggered a worse outcome.

Even setting aside Chu Zhu's personal feelings for the deceased Director-General and the officers... this incident effectively struck a heavy blow to the stability of the Union.

What would a violent organization that encompassed the entire shantytown district do now that it had lost its rational brain? That was almost beyond doubt. One only needed to look at their savage remarks toward Guan Fei earlier to draw a conclusion...

They would only vent and retaliate without reason, and then... clash with the authorities, whom they should not be antagonizing for the time being! In the end, they would be completely eradicated.

"The only solution for now is for me to step forward and take over the position of Director-General! Then, promote a new batch of people, carry out a gradual transition, and stabilize the situation." Chu Zhu narrowed his eyes.

However, Chu Zhu now realized that the mastermind behind the scenes could surely foresee this as well. It was even highly probable that the mastermind had killed these officers precisely for this purpose—

Considering this, if he were to take command now, the next target for the mastermind's assassination... would inevitably be him!

"Then let me see how many lives of mine you can burn through!" Chu Zhu smiled, but there was not a hint of warmth in his smile. "Nuwa 17, continue playing 'The Three-Body Problem 3', right where we left off."

"By the way, do not interfere with the playback; work in the background—integrate the footage from the area near the shantytown, and extract key information... From the cameras in the affluent area 500 meters to the left of Sector 17 of the shantytown, find the person who broke into the storefront wrapped tightly in layers. And from the cameras at the entrance of the Jinghai City Fourth District Government Office in Sector 19 of the shantytown, find the person dressed in similarly suspicious attire, and have them all..."

Chu Zhu expertly recited the intelligence on the suspicious individuals that Nuwa 17 had detected in the previous timeline, commanding Nuwa 17 to directly lock on, search, and track them...

Time ticked away, second by second.

7:15.

The giant screen turned silver. Chu Zhu knew Li Kang had come looking for him, but he felt no emotional fluctuation and continued, "Ignore him, keep playing!"

Then, the darkened screen lit up once more.

A few breaths later.

"That..." Li Kang, looking grave, his heart filled with anxiety and unease, froze the moment he stepped into the underground temple base.

A deafening sound of dialogue rushed into his ears.

In the vast hall of the underground temple base, the surrounding walls were no longer silver at this moment; they had formed a holographic cinematic screen!

Yes, above, below, left, right, front, and back—all the silver walls were reflecting images from the film. Being inside it felt as if one were truly standing on the set... or rather, as if one had traveled into the movie, watching everything unfold on the scene...

This immersive sense of shock was unimaginable without experiencing it firsthand!

At this moment, the scene was playing the part where the future Swordholder held her child, looking toward the distant sun with a brilliant and gentle smile: "Because she knows, the sun will rise again!"

"..."

Where on earth had this brought him? Was this still the underground temple base?!

"A-Ah-Zhu, you! You!" Li Kang choked, stuttering for a long while before managing to say, "What are you doing?"

Even as he said it, Li Kang realized he had asked a very stupid question.

"Watching a movie!" Chu Zhu said calmly. Seeing the end credits for "The Three-Body Problem 3" begin, he continued, "What else would I be doing? Nuwa 17, continue playing 'The Three-Body Problem 4'!"

"Acknowledged!"

The screen shifted once again.

"Skip the opening credits! Go straight to the plot."

"Acknowledged." Nuwa 17 followed the instruction.

Li Kang: "!!!"

To be fair, Li Kang had thought he had asked a redundant question, but he never expected Chu Zhu to give such a shocking answer. A movie... are you kidding? Do you think he's never seen a movie before?!

Well, it actually seemed to be a movie! Li Kang touched the wall in disbelief, only then confirming that, perhaps, it really was... Chu Zhu wasn't wrong? It was just that this movie was beyond imagination...

But the key issue was...

"How, how did you get, get..." Li Kang didn't dare to continue. He desperately wanted to ask something presumptuous: What did you do to the gods last night? Why, in just one day, does he feel as if he has traveled through time?

What have you turned the great, revered deity into?!

"Oh, right, Nuwa 17, mark a small square in the area in front of Li Kang! Display all the data I had you collect earlier on it, let him search through it, and then go catch the culprits," Chu Zhu said peacefully.

Then, he recited fluently to Li Kang the same words he had spoken in the previous timeline—telling him to check it and see if he could catch the murderer.

Li Kang: "..."

Li Kang's mind was a mess. He didn't even know how he had walked out of the underground temple base.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Li Kang looked at the sun in the sky, doubting his life.

After taking two more steps, Li Kang suddenly realized, "Wait, shouldn't I have asked him why he appeared at the crime scene and became the first discoverer? And why he left in such a hurry, doing nothing, only to return to the base..."

Li Kang turned his head stiffly, thought about it, but didn't dare to re-enter the underground base. Dejectedly, he prepared to carry out what Chu Zhu had told him to do.

...

Underground Temple Base.

"Tsk tsk! Looking at Uncle Li's expression... it seems he didn't expect, nor did he fear, the political turmoil that could be triggered once the news spreads that I can communicate with Nuwa 17!" Chu Zhu thought to himself while continuing to watch "The Three-Body Problem 4".

It was natural! Chu Zhu could actually understand it well. After all, the shock he had brought to Li Kang with his current actions... was completely different from last time.

Last time, he only displayed that he could communicate with Nuwa 17, but now, he even showed a hint of being able to command Nuwa 17.