NFM Chapter 92

In the conference room, the director and others were already seated, and a heated argument had erupted among them.

“I can’t accept this,” Dr. Luciel said with a grim face. “This is an insult to me!”

He began to regret his decision that morning to stay and humiliate Lin Huai. Was this person a little lamb? A wildcat? A mouse? No, he was more like Archimedes—give him a lever, and he could lift the heavens!

“This exhibition is no longer a decision you can make alone,” the director tried to mediate. “This is everyone’s decision…”

“Come on, no one is interested in your therapy,” the head of Star Sky Station interjected with a roll of his eyes. “It’s just aversion therapy, dressed up as something extraordinary.” He ignored Dr. Luciel’s murderous glare and continued, “We’re collaborating with you for the buzz, for the traffic! Look—”

He pointed at Lin Huai. “Isn’t he a living, breathing source of traffic?”

“His presence here is an insult to the entire greenhouse…”

“An insult? This is entertainment,” the head of Star Sky Station spread his hands. “What was the point of all those sensational stories about born criminals? It was for entertainment, to divert people’s attention… And,”

He paused, then smiled. “He’s just one person. How much trouble can he really cause? Once the buzz dies down, we can use him however we want, play with him however we like. Isn’t that perfect? The public is fickle; they’ll forget about him soon enough. One goes, another comes.”

“But…”

“Dr. Luciel,” a man in uniform spoke up, “you must have heard about the recent events in the south.”

After he said this, the atmosphere in the conference room grew heavy.

“…Indeed.”

“The remnants of those who defected two hundred years ago,” the man in uniform said calmly. “For two centuries, they’ve been active in the southern border, gathering in groups, using it as their base. Recently, they captured a city in the south.”

“They want to open the skylight and go to the surface.”

“The surface?” someone gasped. “But… isn’t it still winter there? And the radiation levels…”

“Two hundred years ago, the surface was already habitable for humans,” the man in uniform said simply.

What followed didn’t need to be said. Everyone understood. The “greenhouse” was called so because it was underground, and under the leadership of the thirteen hereditary governors, it had maintained relative stability.

But if they went to the surface…

“We need to divert their attention during this time,” the man in uniform concluded. “This person is a good topic. Keep him under control.”

He tapped the table with his finger.

“If he becomes uncontrollable,” he said lightly, “kill him.”

The chilling aura he exuded at that moment silenced everyone in the room.

It took a while before Dr. Luciel finally said, “Alright.”

“Is this the place?” Lin Huai asked, looking at the mahogany door in front of him.

The two guards nodded. Lin Huai then spread one hand and said, “Alright, I’ll go in first. You wait outside.”

With that, he walked through the door.

Behind the door.

Guard A: “Why do I feel like I’m his bodyguard?”

Guard B: “…”

Once inside, Lin Huai’s first impression was that it was very lively.

The conference room was filled with people. There was Dr. Luciel, the familiar “magnetic storm infantryman,” who was giving Lin Huai a look that said, “I can’t stand you, but I can’t do anything about you.” There was also the director of the Capital Museum of the Greenhouse, elegant and refined. Additionally, there was the head of Star Sky Station, draped in a fur coat, picking at his nails, and giving Lin Huai a flirtatious smile when he saw him.

…To be honest, the head of Star Sky Station was quite good-looking, but when Lin Huai met his gaze, he felt a deep, dark fantasy of terror surge through his body.

However, the one who caught his attention the most was the man in uniform sitting in the center.

When Lin Huai saw him, he had only four thoughts.

Handsome.

Really handsome.

Too handsome.

Want to skin him.

At that moment, Lin Huai’s mind raced through the process of knocking him out, skinning him, and wearing his skin, and he finally showed a kind smile.

The man in uniform was tall and straight, with thick black hair, a chiseled, mixed-race profile, a straight nose, and icy blue eyes. His posture was upright, and his aura was cold, like a hawk ready to strike.

—A hawk soaring in the sky.

“Sit,” he said.

Lin Huai slouched into the chair, and the man in uniform merely pursed his lips, saying nothing. After a while, he asked, “You’re Lin Huai?”

For some reason, the tone in which he pronounced “Lin Huai” sounded familiar to Lin Huai. After a moment of thought, he nodded at the man.

“Alright,” the man in uniform looked at him again and said coldly, “You can leave.”

Lin Huai: ???

He was escorted back to Display Case 81 with great confusion.

Before coming here, he had prepared himself for a battle of wits against the scholars and to resist dark conspiracies, ready to perish in silence (along with others) for his recklessness, but…

“What did they call me here for? Just to look at me?”

He was now deeply confused and felt a sense of sorrow that all his energy had nowhere to go. When he returned to Room 81, Wang Fatty, seeing the guards leave, approached him. “Brother Lin, what did they do to you? So quickly?”

Lin Huai: “They seemed to just take a brief look at me.”

Wang Fatty: “Huh?”

Wang Fatty was incredulous, and so was Lin Huai. He pondered for a long time in the room but couldn’t figure it out.

At that moment, the cold voice of Zhao Jingtian came from the glass room opposite him.

“You had a chance to escape earlier,” Zhao Jingtian said. “Why didn’t you leave?”

Lin Huai looked at him in confusion. “To stay and complete the mission.”

Zhao Jingtian fell silent, and soon, he showed a look of being moved by his own words. “…I understand.”

Lin Huai: “…Huh? No, buddy, what do you understand?”

“People like you always do more and say less,” he said.

“Um…” Wang Fatty, who had been tormented by Lin Huai’s foul language deduction notifications all day, timidly raised his hand. “I think he didn’t say less…”

Zhao Jingtian completely ignored him. “…You just didn’t want to leave us behind and escape alone.”

Lin Huai: “…?? What??”

“I’ll remember this favor,” Zhao Jingtian continued coldly. “This time, I owe you. But that doesn’t mean you can hold it over me.”

Lin Huai: “Huh??”

“If someone treats me well, I’ll return the favor,” Zhao Jingtian said, sitting cross-legged. “That’s the principle I, Zhao Jingtian, live by!”

After delivering this classic “I don’t care what you think, I care what I think” statement, Zhao Jingtian sat back in his seat. He closed his eyes and began to rest.

After a while, he said, “Go to bed early. Tomorrow, you’ll have to debate with the scholars again.”

Lin Huai: …

Laughter echoed through the fifth corridor. The sunflower girl covered her mouth, laughing uncontrollably. “Hahaha… haha…”

“Hey, miss, what are you laughing at…” Lin Huai squinted.

“Nothing, just seeing you like this is quite amusing,” she said.

Lin Huai: …

The next day, the museum opened at nine in the morning as usual, but unlike the previous day, a large portion of the visitors headed straight to the fifth corridor.

The previous day’s visit to the museum had left Su Li feeling very uncomfortable—so he left early and didn’t hear the later verbal battles. However, this day, he had planned to rest in his dorm all day but was woken up by his roommate, who had been watching live streams online.

“Old Su, did you go to the museum yesterday?”

Su Li was completely baffled and could only say, “What?”

At this, he complained, “I told you to come with me, but you refused.”

“I said I’m not interested in that stuff. Those potential criminals being treated, Adam, Eve, all so dull, what’s there to see?” his roommate habitually belittled, pulling his hand. “But yesterday, I saw a video on Douyin, hahaha, it was so damn funny!”

“What?”

“Here, look.” His roommate pulled up a video for him. “This guy in display case 81, with the sharp tongue, is really hilarious! A bunch of netizens are planning to go to the museum to debate with him.”

Su Li: “?? What the hell??”

Under his roommate’s strong insistence, though unwilling, he was dragged to the Capital Museum of the Greenhouse. Before they even entered the fourth corridor, they heard laughter coming from the fifth corridor.

As they entered the fifth corridor, they were startled by the scene inside. The corridor was packed with people. Visitors who would usually tease and bully the other potential criminals weren’t doing so anymore; instead, they were craning their necks, wearing expressions of watching a show.

The two of them: …

Even the other potential criminals, though pretending to go about their business, were secretly eavesdropping on the conversation inside.

Now, Lin Huai was in the heat of battle. After three rounds, many of the elegant gentlemen realized they couldn’t defeat him through refined means and were instead thunderstruck by his finishing move: “Oh my~~ you’re so annoying~~ I don’t want to listen to you~~” After discussing tactics, they chose a war of attrition—trying to defeat him strategically and emotionally.

Elegant Gentleman A: “Don’t you feel that what you’re doing is disrespectful to Dr. Luciel, to the Capital Museum of the Greenhouse that gave you this stage?”

Lin Huai: “I don’t see it as a problem!”

Elegant Gentleman B: “Don’t you feel that what you’re doing is morally corrupting?”

Lin Huai: “I don’t care what you think, I care what I think.”

Elegant Gentleman C: “Why do you always dodge my questions? Answer me truthfully!”

Lin Huai: “You’re so stubborn!”

Elegant Gentleman D: “Do you think anyone will vote for you like this? Why should they vote for you?”

Lin Huai: “They like me because I’m young, and I love to bathe.”

Elegant Gentleman E: “I, Wang ○ze, would rather starve to death, die outside, or jump off this building than give you a single vote!”

Lin Huai: “Don’t you think you’re being a bit rebellious?”

By 5 PM, when the museum closed, many challengers had returned defeated. Lin Huai, drinking water, said to Wang Fatty beside him, “Hmph, not a single one could put up a fight.”

Wang Fatty: “Damn, you’re really something.”

“Brother Lin, is your throat dry?” Lu Xiaotian ran over with starry eyes. “What do you usually read to have so much knowledge?”

“I just make a small contribution…” Lin Huai waved his hand.

He looked at the red bar above his head. After today’s battle, it had reached 50 and was still slowly rising…

“I still have two months left here…” he counted on his fingers. “I wonder if this red bar can still max out at 100, and if I can become the most hated person in the greenhouse…”

That night’s dinner was delivered as usual through a slot in the wall. The delivered meals always looked sumptuous, with bread and two beautiful side dishes—but when Lin Huai tasted them, he was surprised to find that they all tasted the same, a sweet and salty substance that could simultaneously provide protein, sugar, and salt. The only difference was their form.

Such meals undoubtedly made everyone’s taste buds numb, but today, when Lin Huai ate, he felt something different.

“Strange…” he was puzzled. “This scrambled egg with tomato is actually sweet?”

He shared his discovery with Wang Fatty beside him. Wang Fatty, hearing this, began to eat voraciously, but after a few bites, he said with a grimace, “This isn’t sweet at all; it’s the same as always!”

“It really is sweet,” Lin Huai insisted.

“Bro, feel your forehead,” Wang Fatty looked at him with concern. “Have you gone crazy from being criticized so much?”

Lin Huai: …

After finishing his meal, he was about to send the plates out when he found something in the tray.

“Strange, what’s this?”

He opened the small box and found several packs of lozenges.

…They were actually throat lozenges.

“Wow, Brother Lin, you brought throat lozenges into the Game,” Lu Xiaotian leaned over. “Prepared for the worst, that’s smart.”

Lin Huai: …

He looked at the box of lozenges, wondering who they belonged to, and after a moment’s thought, he popped one into his mouth.

Sweet, cool, and refreshing.

“Tastes good,” he thought, then covered his face with a book and dozed off.

In his dream, he held the lozenges and said to the camera, “Thank you to my fans for the gift, love you.”

Meanwhile, in the command room, a conversation was taking place.

“Sir,” the deputy in a white uniform hesitated for a long time before speaking. “You didn’t sign it. Will he know it’s from you?”

“I trust his judgment,” a cold voice said.

“Alright,” the deputy hesitated, then continued to report. “The map we’ve been searching for has some leads. It’s said to be in the hands of the leader of the southern resistance army…”

Outside the command room, the guards watched nervously as the doctor in a white coat, wearing glasses, walked past with a grim face, saying nothing.

After a while, he waved his sleeve and left!

“Crazy, absolutely crazy…” he thought to himself. “That lord is paying so much attention to such a person…”

Halfway through, he stopped, adjusted his glasses, and thought calmly, “No, I need to see for myself. I want to see what kind of monster that person is!”

Lin Huai spent a wonderful night with the lozenges in his mouth, but in a corner of the greenhouse unknown to him, a group of people was gradually fermenting.

“Team up to challenge Greenhouse 81, (4/20), join quickly.”

“I’ve never seen such a shameless person!”

“Ahhh, Brother Lin Huai is so handsome, I love him!!”

“Did the person above forget to add ‘5 cents per post, delete the brackets’?”

“I don’t care, I’m a fan of his looks. Brother is not only handsome but also talented. I’ll vote for him! Protect the best sharp-tongued brother!”

“I’m dying of laughter. This year, even potential criminals have fans. What a twisted world.”

“Net police, there’s a group of potential criminal fangirls here. Go get them!”

“Incense brother, I’ve brought twelve votes to save you!!”

Some even formed a small organization called “Ninety-nine Difficulties,” referring to how challenging it was to deal with “Number 81.” Their theme and purpose were to record Lin Huai’s daily life, making them as happy as immortals!

“Across the four seas, through the ages, there is only one Number 81!” was their slogan.

But at that time, they were just watching the fun and didn’t know that this small organization would later become something like the Akatsuki… But that’s a story for later.

At this moment, Lin Huai was not prepared for the dual blossoming of culture and sports. The next day, he sat on his bed as usual, debating with the scholars, providing Wenli Wenli with a wealth of meme material and golden quotes…

However, that night, he woke from a dream to see an uninvited guest.

The person was dressed in white, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and his shirt was buttoned up to the top.

It was the general’s best friend—Dr. Qiao Qi.