The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 568 Neural Annihilation Protocol
Wu Chang, along with forty players, returned to Jacques University in a grand procession.

Outside Jacques University, Jason and his group first found a truck, put all the things they had taken from the Central Research Institute into it, and then drove the truck behind the convoy.

Because of the differential treatment and the hostile attitude, Jason and the others have developed other ideas about Mason. In this situation, they need to hide themselves as much as possible and wait until the time is right before they explode.

As the convoy entered the controlled area of ​​Jacques University, it was noticed by the drones in the sky. When they entered the campus, Mason and others had already led a group of people to greet them.

Mason originally thought that Wu Chang could copy the experimental data back and blow up the entire data center, which would be considered a perfect completion of the mission. Who knew that Wu Chang would do something far bolder than he imagined, actually moving the entire data center back.

He stared at the fully loaded truck and exclaimed in surprise:
"Sean, how did you do that?"

Wu Chang recounted their entire operation, from temporarily recruiting people near the Central Research Institute, using their sheer numbers to scare off other competitors, using the access card given by Mason to gain direct access to the data center, and finally moving all the servers away.

It sounded like a seamless whole, but Mason felt like something was missing.

After all, in the nine days since the Light of Collapse broke out, he had sent out more than one exploration team, and those people also carried his special access card, but none of them had ever been as successful as Sean.

In the past, the modified individuals he sent to retrieve data either died in the research institute or were lucky enough to return alive, but they had already developed mental problems and would go insane within the next two days, turning into flesh and blood monsters that would indiscriminately attack everything on campus.

This is why ordinary people at Jacques University are so hostile to the reformers, seeing them as a group of ticking time bombs that could go insane at any moment.

Mason surveyed the crowd, pondering to himself. Although Sean was intelligent and decisive, he was just a recent graduate and not yet a modified human, so he couldn't offer any help in direct combat.

Sean is fine; the problem lies with these outsiders.

These recruited outsiders are all from or employed by the military. It seems that after many failures, the Conservative Party and the military have made progress in dealing with the flesh monsters and have discovered their weaknesses.

I thought they were just cannon fodder, but they turned out to be somewhat useful cannon fodder.

Mason understood the problem and had already made up his mind.

Seeing how useful these people were, he naturally had no objection to Sean's unauthorized recruitment. He said:

“Sean, the Central Research Institute is actually far more dangerous than you think. Both above and below ground, it is teeming with mutated monsters. I know this trip is dangerous, which is why I arranged so many people for you.”

"You were able to complete the task so perfectly because of your calm thinking, quick judgment, and a lot of luck, but luck is also part of your ability."

As Mason spoke, he stepped forward and gave Wu Chang a hug, saying:

"Sean, you have proven yourself with your actions. Welcome to join us."

"Although I can't promise you too much right now, I can guarantee that when we rebuild the Lullaby Agreement, and when our deeds appear in history books and textbooks on biological networks in the future, there will definitely be a place for you."

He took out an ID card and handed it to Wu Chang, saying:
“Now, besides me, there are five other decision-makers at Jacques University. I introduced you to them during the day, and now you have joined us as the seventh decision-maker here.”

As Mason spoke, a notification popped up in front of Wu Chang's eyes.

"The player has completed faction main quest 1: Lead a group to the central laboratory to retrieve or destroy experimental data related to the Lullaby Protocol."

"Because the player completed the mission so perfectly, you received high praise from the faction leader Mason, and your expectations in Mason's eyes have risen rapidly."

"Players receive the following reward: Lullaby (Civil Rights Party) faction decision-maker privileges. As the faction's decision-maker, you have a great deal of autonomy and can issue tasks to other players in the faction to a certain extent."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow. Previously, he had gotten other players to cooperate by using Mason's banner, but now he didn't need to rely on anyone and could issue faction missions directly on his own.

Compared to the rewards Wu Chang received, the rewards Jason and Xianyu received were much worse.

Mason's gaze shifted from Sean's face, his expression seamlessly changing. Although his tone and word choice remained largely unchanged, the air of superiority was unmistakable.

Although Jason and his companions completed the same task, the only reward they received was to officially join the Civil Rights Party, receive support in terms of food and water, and have the privilege of entering the Sky Tower to rest once every three days.

To be honest, this level of reward actually exceeded Jason and the others' expectations, but everything is subject to comparison.

Because of Mason's attitude, they were already prejudiced against him, and now that the two rewards were compared side by side, they felt even more that Mason was targeting them.

After acknowledging the success of their operation, Mason led Wu Chang back to the Sky Tower.

Inside the central monitoring room, he projected a map of the entire city of Yak onto Wu Chang's face, marked with eight red dots.

Most of the red dots are located in the western part of the city, with only one or two located at the junction of the eastern and northern parts of the city.

Wu Chang asked in confusion:
"what is this?"

Mason said:

"This is the area where Professor Eugene has been suspected to have been since the Light of Collapse occurred."

Mason spreads his five fingers outwards, zooming in on the map scene.

He took a screenshot of the map near the red dot and placed it in front of Wu Chang.

The Civil Rights Party conducted a detailed investigation of these areas, and based on their markings, it can be seen that there are factories or biological laboratories around these red dots.

It's clear that Professor Eugene is collecting certain instruments to accomplish something.

Wu Chang glanced discreetly at the laboratory inside the tower. He was certain that the scattered instruments Professor Eugene had collected were not as complete as the research equipment at Jacques University.

The Lullaby Agreement was initially funded by the Civil Rights Party, who were once allies and very familiar with each other.

Mason had the equipment and knew people, but Eugene preferred to find a solution himself rather than come to him.

This shows that Eugene does not trust Mason and is even avoiding him.

He could see this simple inference, and Mason naturally knew it too.

He didn't point it out, but waited for Mason to say what he wanted to say.

Mason said:

"Didn't you want to find Professor Eugene before? I said that as long as you can retrieve the experimental data from the Central Research Institute, the task of finding Professor Eugene can be entrusted to you."

"Professor Eugene's knowledge is an essential force in completing the Lullaby Protocol. He is far more important than the experimental data, or even the entire city of Jacques."

"So, I want you to take that group of outsiders to these places to search for Professor Eugene and bring him back."

A notification popped up in front of Wu Chang's eyes:
"Faction Main Quest 2: Find Professor Eugene, who is wandering in Jacques City, and bring him back to Jacques University."

"Note: Professor Eugene is very important to Lullaby (the Civil Rights Party). If Professor Eugene cannot be found, it will have a great impact on the subsequent main storyline of the faction."

Looking at the prompt in front of him, Wu Chang thought to himself that it seemed that the order of the main quests would be different for different factions due to their different ultimate goals.

For example, the default military organization, although it also mentions that Professor Eugene is very important, actually does not have a high priority in the task order.

Mason was only worried about not letting the Conservatives reap the benefits and about continuing to complete the Lullaby Agreement, so he didn't care where the Light of Collapse came from; he was just more eager to find Professor Eugene.

This difference in order disperses the players' activity areas, preventing each main quest from being crowded together, which is quite a thoughtful design.

Finding Eugene was the core mission, and Wu Chang wouldn't refuse, but as Sean, he still asked one more question.

"What if Professor Eugene doesn't cooperate?"

Mason said without hesitation:
"Then bring him back!"

“I had other tasks assigned to the previous outsiders, but I’m assigning these newly recruited outsiders to you to help you verify intelligence and rescue Professor Eugene.”

Wu Chang agreed verbally, but a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Mason said he was very good to him and that he trusted him completely, but in reality he didn't trust him at all.

Mason had stated that finding Professor Eugene was the top priority, even more important than retrieving the data, yet he only allowed him to command half of the players, taking back control of the other half.

It's alright, not too stupid.

Wu Chang summoned the newly joined players and immediately instructed them to investigate the locations that appeared on the map.

As a newcomer, Ma Jia was naturally under his control.

To facilitate the data transfer for Ma Jia, he assigned her the only activity point in Eugene, which was close to the North District.

The other players weren't idle either. Mason, realizing how useful the players were, personally took over control from Jason, String Whisper, and the others. Professor Eugene only had eight or nine locations, but according to big data calculations, he could appear in at least thirty or forty different places.

These places left no trace; the only way to find anything is to stake them out.

Compared to the places Eugene had been, Mason paid more attention to the places Eugene might go, and the task of staking them out was handed over to Jason and others.

Wu Chang's team of twenty players investigated eight locations. Together with other players at Jacques University, they had to investigate thirty or forty locations. This difference in workload made them think Mason was worth even more.

Meanwhile, Wu Changzhen had already brought Niels back to the city hall.

Wu Changjiang piled the equipment he had taken from the research institute directly in the city hall lobby and set up a protective barrier using a mystical array.

He then gave a brief introduction to Nils's identity, only saying that Nils was a survivor of the night of the incident and a domain-level expert, without going into further details.

After a brief introduction, Wu Chang got to the point and said:
"This is our base. As long as we are here, we don't need to worry about security."

"You must know a lot of secrets to be able to appear on the tenth floor. Tell me, what exactly happened on the night of the anomaly? What was that white light that affected everyone? Why did the cyborgs who were exposed to the white light turn into flesh and blood monsters?"

Niels thought for a moment and asked:

How much do you know about what happened on the night of the incident?

Wu Chang said:

"Thanks to the area you set up to enhance the immersion of the story, I was able to see a lot of what happened that night through those fleshy monsters."

"I saw that on the night of the incident, two groups of people launched attacks on the research institute."

"Judging from the corpses on the eighth floor, both groups of people were modified. One group was dressed as ordinary citizens, while the other group was wearing the same equipment as us and should be the military's elite."

While Wu Chang was speaking, Jian Xing and the others looked blank, only then realizing that so much could be seen from the ground floor of the research institute.

Niels did not question Wu Chang's claim of hallucination, since he believed Wu Chang was a divine messenger, and it was not surprising that a divine messenger could hallucinate.

On the contrary, the fact that Wu Chang could see so much only proves that he is extraordinary.

Niels glanced at Wu Chang and the others, and said:

"If you want to know what happened here, you need to know where you are first."

From Niels' perspective, including Wu Changzai, they are all unaware of the existence of Yak City and are simply uninformed individuals who have arrived here due to a mission or duty.

So he started with bioreticulosis and talked about the Lullaby Project for treating patients.

Jianxing and the others did not expect that these mutated modified humans had actually been gathered together by someone.

If they were to dig into the underlying reasons, it would take them a lot of effort. But now, all they need is Nils, and they can know the whole storyline.

Everyone looked at Nils with shining eyes, thinking to themselves that they had struck gold.

Niels noticed that Wu Chang was not as surprised as the others, and seemed to know many of the details as if he had known them all along, which made him even more convinced that Wu Chang was no ordinary person.

After explaining the reasons why extraordinary individuals gathered in Jacques City, Niels finally got to the main point.

He looked at Wu Chang and said:

"You asked me what happened that night. Do you remember you just said that one of the two groups that attacked the research institute was dressed as an ordinary person?"

“They are just ordinary people in Jacques City, patients like me who suffer from bioreactivity and need treatment.”

“They call themselves a self-help group, or a character-saving group, while the Civil Rights Party, which is hunting them down, calls us a mob. And I am one of them, and their leader.”

Upon hearing this, Jianxing and the others' eyes almost lit up.

They thought they had found a survivor from the research institute, but it turned out that the person they found was actually a mob that had participated in the attack on the institute, and the leader of the mob organization at that.

This is more than just finding a treasure; the dungeon involving Niels is at least 25% complete. This isn't just a treasure; it's practically a walking reward for clearing the dungeon!

Seeing that no one was hostile towards him, but instead looked expectant and only cared about what he would say next, he was a little at a loss.

A group of oddballs.

Niels shook his head, a look of reminiscence in his eyes, and said:

“Initially, we were just a non-profit organization that came together spontaneously. As I mentioned before, most patients with bionetosis also suffer from dissociative identity disorder.”

"The patient envisions themselves as a perfect version of themselves, aided by a bio-network, and cannot accept mediocrity or even physical limitations."

“In this situation, many people develop a self-destructive mentality and want to escape from the world. Many patients who come to Jacques for treatment find that the initial treatment only relieves the symptoms and cannot fundamentally repair the bio-network, so they choose to end their lives.”

"To prevent this from continuing, we encourage each other, share our stress, and find the motivation to keep going."

"For a long time, we firmly believed that this was just the darkness before dawn, and that Professor Eugene would eventually find a cure for us."

At this point, he let out a long sigh and said with a wry smile:

“Until a year ago, someone approached us and told us that the Lullaby Protocol was not as strong as it promised, and that the damage to the bio-recognition network was permanent and irreversible.”

"The so-called Lullaby Agreement is just a nice-sounding and friendly name. Within the Civil Rights Party and the Conservative Party, it has another name: the Nerve Annihilation Agreement."

Wu Chang frowned slightly. The name "Nerve Annihilation Protocol" alone gave people an ominous feeling.

He recalled Mason's answer to him when his true self, in his identity as Sean, inquired whether the research being conducted inside the Sky Tower at Mason University was for the purpose of repairing the bio-recognition network.

"Repairing: Why repair broken tools? Our research is about how to make broken tools continue to work, ignoring malfunctions."

Considering Mason's attitude towards the modified ones, perhaps the Lullaby Protocol is more appropriately called the Neural Annihilation Protocol.

Niels continued:
"He told us that the so-called 'mind-stabilizing element' and 'sky tower' are not only for stabilizing our minds, but also for testing whether we can survive in a stable state when we are under low psychological burden, and for using the bio-network."

"The real goal of the Civil Rights Party and the Conservative Party is to use the Sky Tower and the 'sedative' to implant a special program in our brains, causing our consciousness to collapse and leaving only the most basic and instinctive work reactions."

“If they succeed, we will no longer have our own consciousness, and thus will not be affected by dissociative identity disorder, and will be more stable than when we are treating them.”

"At that time, we will become flesh and blood machines, no longer possessing our own consciousness, only knowing how to work."

“They can sell us as machines all over the Federation. We will be useful consumables, inferior to the modifiers but far superior to ordinary people.”

"They will put us in the most dangerous, most demanding, and most undesirable jobs in the city, jobs that the transmuters are unwilling to take on."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room gasped.

The so-called treatment was merely a test of the stability of the patients' "low-power" form when they were not affected by the identity dissociation barrier.

Once the test is successful, these factors of social instability will be completely eliminated, and they will be used as useful flesh-and-blood machines.

Even though Wu Chang had a vague idea of ​​what was going on inside, he was still amazed when he heard Nelson say it out loud that the Civil Rights Party and the Conservative Party were inhuman.

He couldn't help but ask:

"Isn't the Civil Rights Party the one that values ​​human rights and freedom the most? How could they agree to or even lead this plan?"

Niels scoffed and said:

"Because in their eyes, when we signed the Lullaby Agreement, we agreed to all the consequences of the treatment. We were voluntarily becoming flesh and blood machines, giving back to society with our remaining value."

"As for respecting human rights, it's just a repeated emphasis that when erasing our spirit, we must do it painlessly, at least not make us cry out in pain."

Sword Star couldn't help but ask:
"Didn't you firmly believe that Professor Eugene could find a way to cure the biological network? Why do you believe this?"

Niels said calmly:

"Because it was Professor Eugene himself who came to us and told us the whole truth."

(End of this chapter)