Infinite Nightmares

"This time, Tan Yougen wasn't just acting as the bait; he *was* the bait."

Even after staring at the chessboard before him and piecing together what was happening, Zhang Wenda was still in disbelief.

'Him? Tan Yougen? That cunning old fox, using himself as bait?'

But when he remembered what Maomao had said earlier, he felt the news was highly credible. If Old Tan wasn't the bait, it was hard to imagine what kind of situation would require dispatching six Thought Wave Strong People.

Bureau 507 only had fifteen of them to begin with. After Big Circle Leopard's death, that number dropped to fourteen. And now, almost half of them were being deployed at once. Only he carried that much weight.

Besides, if they were using Tan Yougen himself as bait, the "big fish" this time definitely wouldn't be small. Their status would only be higher than Qianxi's, not lower.

While Zhang Wenda was mulling this over, he was grabbed and forcefully pushed out of the office.

"When the Director returns, we'll give him a full report about you, you connection-hire!"

Just then, Hu Maomao, who had heard about Zhang Wenda's return from Wang Xiaohua, rushed over. "Why are you only back now? I thought something had happened to you."

When she saw that Zhang Wenda wasn't speaking and was instead standing there with a grave expression, thinking about something, she gently placed one hand on his forehead.

In an instant, everything Zhang Wenda was thinking appeared in her mind. Her expression changed dramatically, and she turned to float away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Zhang Wenda quickly grabbed her.

"Do you even have to ask? To save Director Tan, of course!" Hu Maomao's usual calm was gone, her voice filled with anxiety.

Zhang Wenda looked at her in surprise. "Why?"

Hearing this, Hu Maomao stared at Zhang Wenda in disbelief, as if looking at a stranger. "Do you have any idea what a huge loss it would be to the Third Line's Bureau 507 if something happened to Director Tan? He alone is worth more than the entire Security Department! He absolutely cannot die!"

"But what does that have to do with us? Besides, this isn't a situation we can get involved in. It's too dangerous," Zhang Wenda analyzed calmly.

Hu Maomao's voice trembled slightly. "Yes, it has nothing to do with you! But it has everything to do with me, because the Third Line is my home! I have nothing else besides this place!"

She turned to leave but stopped. Without looking back, she said, "Wenda, you've changed a lot since you got the blue back. You'd better think about what's wrong with you. There's no telling how many people are ruined by Trial #2 every year. On this path, you must always stay vigilant."

After offering this last piece of advice, Hu Maomao quickly floated away, leaving Zhang Wenda standing there alone.

'Have I changed?' Zhang Wenda stood there, stunned. This was the second person after Fatty to say he'd changed.

'Have I really changed?' Zhang Wenda began to reflect. But no matter how he thought about it, he still felt he was in the right.

Just then, Zhang Wenda watched Hu Maomao, wearing her yellow Crocs, disappear completely from his sight.

Seeing that color, Zhang Wenda instantly understood something.

Unlike the red and the blue, this yellow seemed to be alive, always guiding him to do something.

'But why should I go save Old Tan? Why do the yellow's choices always involve acting against my own self-interest?'

'What does Old Tan's plan have to do with me? And are we really that close? Why should I risk my life to save him?'

'Besides, in a situation like this, what good could a minor player like me do by rushing in?' After his rational analysis, he remained convinced he was right.

But as he saw the yellow appear again, Zhang Wenda started to hesitate.

'Of the three colors, only yellow is left. Logically, I should follow the yellow's guidance.'

'But this clearly goes against my own interests. Besides, I followed the yellow's guidance to help Pan Dongzi before, it's true, but I didn't gain any yellow from it whatsoever.'

At this moment, Zhang Wenda couldn't make any sense of it at all.

'Could what Hu Maomao said be true? Is it really my fault? Is that why I didn't pass the yellow trial before?'

After thinking it over and over, this was the only possibility Zhang Wenda could come up with.

Just then, Zhang Wenda saw Song Jianguo approaching with a group of cats. "Hey, what's with the rush? Is it payday today?"

Zhang Wenda looked at her, thought for a moment, then asked very seriously, "Have you noticed any change in me?"

"Nope," Song Jianguo said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Old Tan's in trouble. It's reasonable for me not to go save him, right?"

"Yeah, totally reasonable. He's screwed you over so many times. If it were me, I would've gotten back at him ages ago," Song Jianguo replied with absolute certainty.

"They're using Tan Yougen as bait, so the operation must be huge. It's also reasonable for me not to help, right? My being there won't make a difference anyway."

Song Jianguo nodded repeatedly in enthusiastic agreement. "You're so right! Wouldn't it be better to use this free time to lie around at home and watch TV? What's his life or death got to do with us?"

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda, who had been rattling off his reasons, stopped and sighed deeply. "Well, if that's the case, then there's no doubt about it."

If he had only been suspicious before, this was now proof that he had changed without even realizing it. Gradually, an expression of utter grief and indignation appeared on Zhang Wenda's face.

When had his own perception and thoughts pathetically sunk to the same level as someone like Song Jianguo! There was no way in hell he'd pass the yellow trial like this!

Fortunately, it wasn't too late. Once Zhang Wenda understood the situation, he immediately started looking for a solution.

Obviously, he had encountered a situation like this before. The last time, it was an excess of red. This time, it must be the blue.

He then looked down at his abdomen, at the red flame, and seemed to recall something. He immediately raised the blue scythe and made a light slash at the wall.

When the gate to his Inner World reopened, he stepped right through.

Once inside, Zhang Wenda noticed something was clearly wrong. The island, which should have been teeming with life, was dead quiet, shrouded in a thin blue mist.

"Just as I thought," Zhang Wenda muttered to himself as he took it all in.

Too much red is a problem, and too much blue is a problem as well.

At that moment, Zhang Wenda suddenly recalled the words of that woman from before. Sure enough, a single misstep on this path could lead to eternal damnation.

Zhang Wenda slowly raised his right hand toward the sky. Soon, a red orb of light emerged from his palm and floated into the air.

As the blazing red began to illuminate the entire island, the thin layer of blue mist instantly dissipated, and the island regained its vitality.