Scarlet suddenly realized, but at the same time, she felt a chill down her spine.

The guild discovered modern facilities in certain planes that completely contradicted the world view settings—corporate buildings, research institutes. She could hardly imagine any developer in their right mind incorporating such elements into the design, but now Merlin resolved her confusion.

"We aren't the first ones to come in."

Merlin looked at the closed window, "Previous individuals... or teams have completed their mission, successfully implanting an idea into the girl's consciousness, and this idea brought an unprecedented stable plane for the project team, capable of accommodating thousands of people."

"But what's interesting is that those people disappeared after completing their task. I couldn't track their identities, nor do I know what happened to them afterward."

Hearing this, Scarlet frowned deeply, "But you said the entire project team was cut off."

"Because the girl's father discovered what they had done. As I would put it, this is the side effect of implanting ideas into someone's mind—the girl completely accepted her new identity, entirely forgetting her father and family, even becoming a completely different person, turning into the character fabricated by the project team."

"...This is not a clue a private detective could investigate."

Scarlet gazed deeply at Merlin.

He knew too many details, "You mentioned earlier that the company planted someone among us... I suspect only he knows the real mission of this trip."

"To implant an idea, to make her remember her true identity... but after meeting the girl, he changed his mind."

"Why?"

Confronted by Scarlet's question, Merlin merely responded with silence.

Moments later, he said, "Some things will happen in the guild, and I will somehow visit that plane to investigate. In the future, many things may seem incomprehensible to you... and the way out of here is hidden within them, but I hope you can keep it secret from others."

...............

The memory fragments ended here, followed by a long darkness.

This was the scene Scarlet was witnessing at this moment.

The way out of here was hidden within.

She couldn't tell if she was still alive, only continuing forward in this endless darkness.

But she remained optimistic.

This work had lasted for thousands of years, and the time to clock out had finally arrived.

Upon waking, she would receive a generous reward, then she would leave this city, go to a place where no one knew her to start a new life. She missed air-conditioned rooms and soft big beds, missed the sound of cars driving by.

She also missed the internet, the milk tea downstairs, and the luxury goods that always aroused her desire to spend.

More importantly, that was the real world, where she should live.

As for everything that happened in the other world, such a bizarre story even if told, would only be treated as the imagination of a delusional novelist.

Before long, she saw light.

A cacophony of sounds came from the other side of the light, as if someone was there to welcome her back.

She quickened her pace, briskly walking towards the strip of light.

When her vision cleared again, what appeared before her was a white ceiling, and upon seeing the incandescent lamp, she was almost moved to tears.

She took several seconds to adapt to her body, then looked at the elderly man sitting by the bed.

The old man was almost at a loss for words, constantly murmuring, "Thank you, you've worked hard…"

This was not the scene Scarlet had imagined.

The old man didn't look like someone from the company, his dress was very decent, like an official seen on TV.

"Colonel Zhuang Xiao, thank you once again for your contribution to humanity."

Zhuang Xiao...

This was her name.

But, Colonel?

What on earth was he talking about?

If she remembered correctly, her identity should be that of a swindler, and if caught, she would be spending over a decade in prison.

In her confusion, she was assisted up by people rushing over, each person she encountered was overwhelmed with excitement.

And through the crowd, she saw two familiar figures.

She recognized Merlin and the King of Gold, who killed Merlin in another world. They wore similar outfits, standing together, looking like they had been comrades for a long time.

"Leave her to me… you guys go report in, say we're going up to the surface."

Merlin said to the person in a white coat supporting her.

This looked like an underground experimental facility, he walked ahead, following the stairs all the way up.

Merlin flashed a sly smile, "Don't be nervous, dizziness is normal, as I said, it's a side effect of the idea implantation."

The end of the stairs was a sealed iron door.

Looking at the tightly sealed iron door, Zhuang Xiao felt an unprecedented fear.

But Merlin didn't give her time to rest, entering the password right before her eyes.

The long-sealed iron door slowly opened.

No vehicles, no skyscrapers.

What came into view was a gray sky, and... ruins visible everywhere.

There were no milk tea shops she missed, nor the company-promised generous reward that would ensure she lived worry-free for the rest of her life. Nothing human was visible in the ruins, perhaps they all existed once, only now buried beneath the ruins, and all of this reminded her of a cold and cruel reality.

Memories long sealed flooded back at this moment.

This world…

Their world had been destroyed.