Player 0

Bai Shuang hurried back to her bedroom and found Zhuang Mo sprawled seductively on the bed, striking an enticing pose.

She cursed silently: Just two weeks of "training," and he's already turned into such a temptress?

Zhuang Mo crooked a finger at her like an emperor summoning a favored concubine.

Bai Shuang quickly turned her face away and recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra Wu Qiong had taught her—three times in a row. Barely managing to resist, she held her ground, refusing to be lured in by those wickedly seductive fingertips.

Seeing that his tactic had failed, Zhuang Mo flipped over and switched to an even more tantalizing position, beckoning again.

Bai Shuang was truly impressed with her own self-control. Facing a handsome man who was practically a feast for the eyes, and still managing to maintain the calm of form is emptiness, emptiness is form—she took a deep breath and said with a troubled look, "Brother Xiaohei, I'm suddenly feeling a sense of crisis."

"Pfft!" Zhuang Mo assumed she was still rattled from tonight's preliminary press conference. The rules announced by Principal He had indeed sounded like they were stacked against Bai Shuang.

Essentially: No matter how defensively perfect Bai Shuang made the Whale-Fall game, as long as a contestant won the prelims, the five noble families would recognize that winner as the next Lord of Whale-Fall City.

Zhuang Mo reached out, grabbed Bai Shuang, and pulled her into his arms. "Nurse sis, don't forget—physicians can't heal themselves. I may not know medicine, but I'm an expert at easing people's burdens and lifting their spirits."

He gave her shoulder a light, teasing kiss. That brief contact sent tingles all over Bai Shuang's skin—goosebumps instantly sprang up!

No, this won't do! If this continues, she'll definitely miss something important! This was a critical moment—how could she let herself get distracted by a pretty face?

Bai Shuang pushed the flirtatious boy away. "I need to adjust the game parameters. I just got a spark of inspiration—I can't put it off! If I don't update the code tonight, it'll be gone by morning!"

Zhuang Mo was left empty-handed. For the past half-month, they'd spent every night together. This was the first time his girlfriend had rejected him—his heartbreak could've filled an ocean.

Bai Shuang spared him one last glance, then gritted her teeth, grabbed her laptop, and walked out the door.

With heavy steps, she entered the Whale-Fall game platform. She opened her laptop and studied every line of code on the screen with full focus.

Once she confirmed everything was in place, she set the computer aside and sat cross-legged in meditation.

The platform grew chillingly silent. The laptop screen cast a soft glow, lighting up a small area in the pitch-black space. Bai Shuang sat within that light, looking like she was doing yoga—or deep in trance.

Time passed.

Suddenly, Bai Shuang broke the silence. "Player Zero, you've been hiding in the dark watching me all this time. Aren't you going to come out and say hello?"

As soon as she spoke, a shimmer peeled itself away from the darkness.

Player Zero floated in midair, tilting its head to look at the beauty on the ground. "I'm curious. How did you know it was me?"

"Heh." Bai Shuang let out a cold laugh. "I've known all along. I just wanted to figure out why you were approaching my father. Every time he sleeps, you fill his dreams with lies, making him believe he killed my grandfather with his own hands."

Player Zero had only a vague humanoid outline, no facial features at all. It leaned down, studying Bai Shuang intently. "Still, I don't get it—at what point did I slip up?"

"You really want to know?" Bai Shuang opened her eyes, sharp and clever. "You thought you were well hidden, but I saw through you from the start. If it were just an ordinary dream, my father would've only seen a phantom—he wouldn't have touched anything real.

"But you couldn't resist. You had to bite his neck. If there's a physical mark on him, it means a real entity left it. And in all of Whale-Fall City, the only thing that can mimic real objects so convincingly… is you: a plasma colloid."

Player Zero nodded thoughtfully, but asked again, "My physical form is made of plasma colloid particles, yes. But what made you so sure it was me specifically?"

Bai Shuang replied, "I won't waste time on the minor clues. Let me give you the top three reasons why you blew your cover—each one was enough for me to pinpoint you immediately."

Player Zero: "I'm listening."

Bai Shuang: "First, the bite mark you left on my dad's neck. Second, during your battle with Brother Xiaohei, you deliberately wiped your own data. Third, in every room with surveillance, the cameras always turn to follow my movements."

As she spoke, Bai Shuang revealed a small mirror from her palm. "I hid this in my hand. That's how I noticed the cameras were tracking me."

Clap, clap, clap! Player Zero burst into applause. "As expected of the former city lord's daughter! I thought I'd hidden myself flawlessly, but in the face of your keen eyes, I was riddled with flaws."

Bai Shuang flicked a glance at the laptop beside her. She had deliberately brought a PC into the game tonight—to trace the IP address controlling Player Zero remotely.

Someone was clearly manipulating this plasma decoy from afar. If she could find the IP, she could uncover who was behind it.

Lately, Whale-Fall City had been plagued by strange incidents. Bai Shuang had suspected for a while that Player Zero was being remote-controlled, but hadn't found a chance to catch the hacker in action.

First, the hacker used Zhuang Mo to win the game test. Then they leaked the news to the media days later, fueling a media frenzy.

If she didn't root this hacker out, the Whale-Fall Game would soon spiral out of her control.

The hacker had already manipulated game characters to do all sorts of things—seducing Wu Qiong, feeding him terrifying hallucinations…

If this continued, the hacker would learn every secret of Whale-Fall City. Worse, they could disguise Player Zero as an employee, and cause even greater chaos inside the city.

But when Bai Shuang looked at the screen—her heart skipped a beat!

The IP address controlling the plasma puppet was coming from inside Whale-Fall City!

Could the traitor be among them?!

Come to think of it, that made sense. It was far more likely that a mole inside the city would know its layout like the back of their hand. Only someone on the inside could manipulate a plasma puppet with such ease.

Bai Shuang calmly held her expression, though her mind was racing. She deliberately goaded Player Zero: "You're nothing but a creep, doing shady things in secret. If you're so obsessed with my father, why not confess your love face-to-face? Pathetic! Hiding behind a fake body to indulge your dirty fantasies."

Player Zero fell silent for a moment, his voice tinged with dejection. "My desires aren't dirty. My love for the Daoist is real. If I could have chosen a better way to express it, I never would've met him like this…"