24: Chapter 24 A Massive Social Scene

Downstairs, Gu Changan listened to the hysterical screaming coming from the dark window on the fourth floor, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Nuclear missile silo?"

Dealing with such a shut-in who immersed himself in his own world and had psychological defenses thinner than paper, any overreaction would only fuel his delusions.

The best approach was to use reality to peel away his fake "God" skin, layer by layer.

"Ignore him."

Gu Changan waved his hand at the Special Police Captain standing by in full battle readiness.

"Set up a table and two chairs downstairs."

He turned and instructed another subordinate.

"Go to the night market nearby and get me an order of crayfish, an order of grilled kidneys, and two bottles of ice-cold beer."

The Special Police Captain was stunned.

What... what kind of tactic was this?

The suspect was still upstairs clamoring about destroying the world, yet the commander was starting to have a late-night snack?

But an order was an order. A few minutes later, a simple folding table and two stools were set up within the police cordon, illuminated by flashing police lights.

Under the "escort" of several Special Police officers, the delivery guy tremblingly brought over the steaming late-night snack.

The aroma of spicy crayfish mixed with the charred scent of cumin-spiced grilled meat drifted wantonly in the night breeze, precisely wafting into that half-open window on the fourth floor.

In the dark room, Chen Xiaobei's stomach let out a pathetic "rumble."

He hadn't eaten anything for a day, surviving solely on soda.

This overbearing fragrance was nothing short of torture for him.

"Chen Xiaobei."

Downstairs, Gu Changan unscrewed a bottle of beer and spoke into the megaphone, his voice clearly projecting upward.

"Stop shouting. The nuclear weapons System isn't on the same network segment as your computer; you can't connect to it."

This understated remark was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing half of Chen Xiaobei's arrogance.

"Chen Xiaobei, male, twenty-two years old, originally from Anqing City, Anhui Province. Computer Science major at Yanjing University of Technology, voluntarily withdrew in his junior year due to failing multiple courses and an addiction to online games."

Gu Changan picked up a document and read it slowly and methodically, like a teacher taking attendance in class.

"Currently renting Room 404, Building 4, Xingfuli Residential Community. You are two months behind on rent and owe one hundred seventy-two yuan and fifty cents in utility bills."

"Your only daily social activity is bragging in a QQ group called 'We of the Second Dimension'."

"You have secretly loved Su Muyue, a girl from the Art Department at your former university—online name 'Su Su'—for three years, yet you have never dared to say a word to her in person."

The sound of the megaphone echoed throughout the entire residential complex.

Some neighbors, who had been startled awake and were watching the commotion from their windows, immediately broke into irrepressible chatter.

"Oh my, is that the young man who orders takeout every day and never leaves his house?"

"Owes rent? No wonder Landlady Wang is downstairs cursing every day."

"And he has a crush on a girl, yet he pulls something like this? Isn't that just perverted?"

These comments were not loud, yet they pierced through the night air like needles, stabbing straight into Chen Xiaobei's ears.

His face instantly turned the color of a pig's liver, and his whole body was trembling.

This was his darkest, most self-deprecating secret, yet now it was being broadcast to the public via megaphone, forcing him to undergo a grand social death.

"Do you think Su Muyue will be touched because you created such a spectacle?"

Gu Changan's voice carried a hint of mockery.

"Just half an hour ago, Su Muyue publicly responded to this matter on Weibo and took the initiative to report it to the police."

He took out his phone and played a recording.

"Hello, Officer? I want to report a crime! A perverted hacker is harassing me across the city! Yes, I don't know him at all! It's so disgusting! Please, catch him quickly!"

The girl's crisp voice, filled with extreme disgust, was clearly projected to every corner via the megaphone.

In the room, Chen Xiaobei sat on the floor, dazed, hugging his knees.

"Disgusting... perverted..."

He kept repeating these two words, tears welling up without warning.

The earth-shattering romance he fantasized about, the grand gesture he thought would move his goddess, was merely a disgusting harassment in her eyes.

He was no hero; he was just a clown.

A self-delusional, nauseating pervert.

"Waaa—"

Chen Xiaobei could no longer hold it together; he wailed like a child, his face covered in snot and tears.

All his pride, all his fantasies, were smashed to pieces by reality in this moment.

Gu Changan gave him no chance to catch his breath and continued to twist the knife.

"Your landlady, Wang, is also here, right downstairs. She says that it's one thing to owe rent, but you also drilled holes in the wall to hang six monitors, damaging the load-bearing wall. She wants you to pay thirty thousand yuan in renovation fees."

"Oh, right, we have already notified your parents back in Anhui Province."

"They bought tickets for the earliest train overnight and are on their way. I estimate that by tomorrow morning, they will be able to see you at the detention center."

"Your father has a bad heart. I hope that when he sees you, he won't be so enraged that he has to be hospitalized on the spot."

Parents...

Detention center...

Heart disease...

These words were like a final heavy hammer, completely crushing Chen Xiaobei's mental world.

He could disregard the law; he could disregard millions of people.

But he could not imagine the look of despair on the faces of his honest, hardworking parents—who were so proud of him—when they saw him in handcuffs at the detention center.

"Stop reading! Stop reading!"

A shrill scream came from the darkness.

"I surrender! I'll tell you everything! Please, stop reading!"

"Creak—"

The door to Room 404 was flung open.

Chen Xiaobei scrambled out, his hands raised, his face covered in snot and tears.

He didn't even dare to look at the dark muzzles of the guns in the hallway; he collapsed to the floor, shivering like a sieve.

Two Special Police officers quickly stepped forward, pinning him down from the left and right, and slapped on cold iron handcuffs.

Gu Changan leisurely walked upstairs.

He looked at the young man on the ground—wearing thick-rimmed glasses, greasy hair, and skin pale from long periods without sunlight—and shook his head.

"Calling the wind and summoning rain online, yet in reality, you can't even afford the electricity bill?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaobei cried even harder, shouting intermittently through his sobs.

"I... I didn't want to... it was the System... The System said that as long as I created a major incident and gained enough 'fame,' I could level up..."

"Once I leveled up... I could make big money, and then Su Su would think highly of me..."

Just as Chen Xiaobei was being dragged downstairs like a pile of mud by the Special Police.

A mechanical voice, audible only to Gu Changan, echoed in his mind.

[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully captured a "Divine-Grade Hacker" type Luck Child (Chen Xiaobei).]

[Target individual has lost all will to resist; the Protagonist Halo has been completely stripped.]

[Special mission option triggered. Please make a selection, Host:]

[Option 1: Punish according to the law. Transfer the target to judicial authorities and proceed with the maximum penalty for his crimes. Reward: Divine-Grade Hacker Skills (Passive Fusion). You will become a God in the cyber world.]

[Option 2: Forced recruitment. Use your authority to specially recruit him, making him a 'Technical Consultant' (non-staff) for the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs. Reward: One technical tool-person with 100% loyalty lock, and a copy of the "National Cyber Security Defense Protocol V3.0".]

Hm?

Recruitment?

Gu Changan's footsteps paused slightly, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

The likes of the previous Defendant Ye Tian and Divine Doctor Lin Chen were nothing but violence and slaughter; they were pure social tumors, and there was no other path but to eliminate them.

But this Chen Xiaobei before him... although his mind was not clear, his skills were real.

If this sharp blade could be held in the hands of the nation...