In a crossover anime, do you believe that a machine spirit can defeat a fake human?

Chapter 224

“A monkey ran out of the exhibit area; it’s the one we saw earlier with the stone slab carved on it.”

Lorelei said.

"It handed this to me, and then went back to itself."

"..."

Clues to breaking the deadlock.

Such a thought exploded in Chen Yi's mind, and so he began to think.

“Wait, Lorelei-nee, are you saying this is a stone slab carved by a monkey?” Yotsuya Miko suddenly spoke up.

Chen Yi looked down again at the three easy-to-understand symbols.

"Why would a monkey use human symbols?" A wavering appeared in Yukinoshita's eyes.

Yes, why would a monkey use human symbols?

"Let's go in and take a look," Chen Yi said to the others.

"Lorelei, take us to the exhibit where we met that monkey."

Since a sense of direction and memory are almost useless, Chen Yi chose to trust Lorelei.

Following Lorelei's guidance, the members of the Service Department entered the primate section, while Chen Yi headed straight for the exhibit with the stone slab carved on it.

"Commander, it's carving a new stone tablet."

Kroos's phantom appeared, flipped over and entered the exhibition area, and leaned closer to examine the contents of the stone slab.

"What is the content?" Chen Yi asked.

"It's the same as the stone tablet in your hand, Commander."

It seems the so-called mystery is this stone slab.

"There's one more question, Commander."

Kluka's voice suddenly showed confusion.

"Most of the monkeys in the exhibit have their eyes closed, but... but they don't seem to be resting or sleeping. Rather, they seem to have adapted to living with their eyes closed?"

"Closed? Why?" Chen Yi asked instinctively, then looked down at the stone slab.

Does "叉" mean "cannot be seen"?

You can't read books... How does a monkey know you can't read books? Can monkeys read books?

“Chen Jun.” Yukinoshita walked up behind him.

"Look at this, Yotsuya found it in the rest area." She was holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

"...You've recovered?" Chen Yi saw her pale expression and understood something.

"How did you recover?" Chen Yi took the paper from her hand, unfolded it, and glanced at it.

The above are some somewhat abstract line patterns, making it difficult to tell what they are.

"...Commander, this is the correct map."

Krochai saw the contents of the paper through Chen Yi's perspective and answered.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi took out the guide map he had received at the beginning and discovered that the lines on this paper were surprisingly similar to the paths on the guide map.

"...How did you find out?" Chen Yi looked up, his gaze questioning Yukinoshita.

......

Let's go back to what we were doing just now.

After seeing that Yuihama was dizzy, Yukino helped her to a bench in the rest area to sit down.

“Under the snow…” Yuihama rubbed her temples and said haltingly.

"This zoo seems to... have something wrong with it..."

"What exactly is the problem?" Seeing that the other members of the Service Club were starting to show some unusual behavior, Yukinoshita also sensed that something was wrong.

"Yukinoshita-kun, I wonder if this scent reminds you of anything?"

Yotsuya Miko unscrewed the cap and handed over a bottle of "drink".

A familiar yet unfamiliar sweet and fishy smell entered her nostrils. Yukinoshita paused for a moment, as if some thoughts were jumping around in her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp them.

"Under the snow, from now on, do not use any description to express your feelings."

When Yotsuya Miko said those words, she seemed to be confirming something as well. Then, she steeled herself, took out a small knife from her bag, cut her finger, and held it under Yukinoshita's nose.

"...!"

"Shh, Chen Jun must have discovered something. Don't say anything."

"When did you find out?" Yukinoshita pressed.

"I don't know, maybe it was after seeing Chen's expression." Yotsuya Miko remained silent, acting as if she were the only one who knew, pretending to be kept in the dark.

"Then... what should we do next?" Yukinoshita asked Yotsuya Miko.

“Give this to Mr. Chen.” Yotsuya Miko pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “Just say I found it.”

"...So you drank that beverage?" Chen Yi glanced at Yukino.

"No, how could I... I'm not thirsty." Yukinoshita started to retort, but quickly changed her mind.

"What did you find?" Chen Yi asked after a moment of silence.

Don't act strangely? Are we being monitored?

"Yubihama is feeling a bit unwell; we really need to find an exit as soon as possible."

“…Yes, safety is the most important thing.” Chen Yi glanced back at the monkey that was diligently carving the stone slab, and it happened to glance back at Chen Yi.

His eyes were bright and moist, as if he wanted to tell him something.

Then it closed its eyes.

"......?" Chen Yi glanced at Kroos, who was deep in thought, and did not disturb her.

"Let's go back to Yuihama first."

What does it mean to close your eyes...?

......

“Chen-kun, I might know what this stone slab means.” In the rest area, Chen Yi saw Kasumigaoka and Yotsuya accompanying Yuihama, as well as Kato, who was occasionally not very noticeable.

"You cracked it?" Chen Yi asked Yotsuya Miko.

"I just talked to them, and it's roughly... like this." Yotsuya Miko paused, as if she had said everything, yet also as if she hadn't said anything at all.

"What's the most common thing in the book?" Lorelei prompted.

"!"

word.

In other words, written language is a vehicle that influences cognition, right?

Chen Yi recalled his correct map, but the writing was blurry and illegible. The simple sketch map that Yukinoshita found also had no writing on it.

Therefore, some of the so-called "exit" signs leading to the primate section... actually indicate that there are clues in the primate section?

Chen Yi looked at the fire hydrant in the corner. Next to the fire hydrant was a crumpled piece of paper, which was very similar in color to the map in his hand.

"No normal person would bother to open up a bunch of scattered paper balls, would they?"

The question is, what if their cognition has been disrupted?

In this region, there is no such thing as "normal".

That's hard to say.

Let's approach it from another angle, such as with pandas.

Why is the panda exhibit so effective in reinforcing cognitive interference? Because pandas are very popular in Japan, and the introductory texts for the panda exhibit are read extensively.

The more textual information one receives, the deeper the cognitive interference becomes.

The logic is self-consistent, but it's not enough to serve as evidence to raise an alarm.

However, with his life at stake, Chen Yi had no intention of digging deeper and called to the others to leave directly.

"Remember, don't look at road signs or any advertising slogans."

To prevent any unknown entity from targeting them and launching a surprise attack, Chen Yi specifically gave these instructions.

P.S.: This book has reached 500,000 words, meow! So far, can this prove my determination to finish it, meow?

Revisiting Izu: Chapter 225 Breaking

Chapter 225

"Chen-kun... what are you waiting for?" Yukinoshita asked, looking at Chen Yi leaning against the parking lot railing with some confusion.

They've all come out, haven't they? No one seems to be missing.

wrong......

"Huh? Hasn't Lorelei-nee come out yet?" Yuihama was the first to react.

“Speaking of which, it seems like Lorelei doesn’t spend much time with us,” Yotsuya Miko chimed in.

“You don’t need to wait with us. You can go back first. Isn’t Yui-san still feeling a little unwell?” Sakurajima Mai said.

"Actually, I felt much better after leaving the zoo..." Yui explained. After regaining her senses, she was also quite frightened by the strange things that happened in the zoo.

"Did they find anything?"

Chen Yi asked directly in his mind.

The humanoid girl is unaffected by cognitive interference, which is why we felt comfortable letting her in to investigate. This is also a relatively safe solution that we came up with after discussion.

"You're planning to get rid of this zoo?" Yukinoshita was silent for a moment, then realized Chen Yi's intentions.

"It's just gathering some intelligence. How could an ordinary student like me possibly handle a zoo whose dangers are still unknown?"

This statement is indeed true. Chen Yi's plan is to gather some intelligence and then hand it over to professionals to handle, so that they won't think he's making a false report, because cognitive interference is really hard to define.

"Commander, we've made quite a few discoveries here."

......

When the Service Department members left, Lorelei took the other people's guide maps from Chen Yi, then quietly left the group and stayed in the park to compare the contents of the maps.

First, the map itself is incorrect, but it's not entirely random. It can be divided into three types: those where the exit points to the primate area, those where the exit points to the aquarium construction site, and those where there is no exit at all.

Lorelei's first thought was to return to the primate section by the same route. Although she already knew that there were clues to leave the primate section, she was still not quite sure how the person who had been disturbed found the clues and left.

Back in the primate section, Lorelei found the rest area, ordered a glass of grape juice, placed it on the table, and then listlessly fiddled with the flying needle in her hand, her eyes sweeping over the bustling tourists.

"...Got it."

Lorelei's eyes narrowed as she noticed the family of three had just been discussing what to eat for lunch. Then she froze, walked to a corner, picked up a crumpled piece of paper, and left the primate section.

"It seems that as long as the departure rule is triggered... it will automatically leave?"

Lorelei didn't believe this place was really that kind, unless...

Without drinking the iced grape juice, Lorelei stood up and followed him.

"...So the family of three showed no signs of regaining consciousness until they left?"

"It should be said that after leaving through the exit, the family of three was still clutching the zoo's promotional poster and the small piece of paper that represented the exit."

"This means that although they have left, they have never truly escaped the mark and will still be harvested later, right?"

Chen Yi pondered for a moment and then understood something.

"That might be the case."

"Is there anything else?"

"Next, I plan to go to the aquarium."