The Heretical Husband Is Too Good at Acting! - Chapter 16

From that night onward, they remained stationed at the newly established base.

Strangely, those high-level “overseer” Split-Mouth monsters never appeared again. That night, only ordinary blue-clad faceless monsters came to besiege the base; compared to the previous aggressive onslaught, the frequency and intensity of their attacks that day were noticeably lacking. Additionally, with three espers rotating on watch and everyone cooperating in harmony, the defensive work was orderly and systematic.

The following day was much the same.

This made their response significantly easier, and two consecutive days passed without a single incident of bloodshed.

In truth, this situation was somewhat abnormal—one could even say it was going too smoothly.

However, no one felt any regret over the monsters’ absence, let alone expressed any suspicion.

The exhausted people finally found a chance to catch their breath. They were willing to accept any reality that appeared “safe,” happily enjoying this period of “peace.” No one was willing to delve deeper into the underlying reasons.

They feared that once they understood the truth, these “good days” would be gone, never to return.

During the day, Shen Junyao and Zhang Tao would take their surveying equipment out to conduct exploration and recording in different areas of the supermarket.

Since there was nothing else to do, Chen Mo followed along to help, though he didn’t quite understand the significance of what they were doing.

On this day, he finally couldn’t help but ask, “Is it actually useful to measure these things? I mean, the environment of the Inner World changes every moment. Won’t the results you measure become invalid immediately?”

Zhang Tao didn’t really understand either. He simply followed orders; whatever Shen Junyao told him to do, he did. However, hearing Chen Mo ask, he also became curious and looked toward his captain.

Shen Junyao was a man of few words and remained tight-lipped about many issues—for instance, during that previous conversation about whether “the Messenger of God would come,” he had been very vague.

This time, however, he seemed quite interested in explaining.

Shen Junyao bent down to pick up the rangefinder from the floor, stood up straight, and said unhurriedly, “The environment here does change frequently, but this change follows a pattern.”

Chen Mo was slightly stunned.

“A pattern? How come I can’t see it? Everything around us is clearly moving chaotically.”

Shen Junyao smiled, his tone guiding: “Think about it. If there really is a so-called Inner World Consciousness or Inner World God, it couldn’t possibly keep an eye on things personally 24 hours a day to manage these changes. It must have established certain rules to let them run automatically.”

Chen Mo fell into thought; that seemed to make sense.

“Since a pattern exists, there must be a way to find it.” Shen Junyao walked over to a row of shelves, gestured toward a few spots, and looked at his two companions. “Can you feel it? There are some remnants of energy fluctuations in these places.”

Chen Mo and Zhang Tao exchanged a glance, their faces both written with confusion.

Zhang Tao looked carefully at the spots he pointed to and shook his head: “To be honest, I can’t see it.”

Chen Mo closed his eyes to feel for a moment before echoing, “Same here.”

Shen Junyao wasn’t surprised. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Watch this.”

He pulled a black marker from his pocket, wrote numbers on several nearby shelves, and then returned to where he had originally been standing.

“I happened to make some discoveries; let’s verify them together.” As Shen Junyao spoke, he lifted his wrist to check the time on his watch. “According to my calculations, the shelf marked with ‘2’ will shift in two minutes. The one marked ‘5’ will move in five minutes, and the one marked ’10’ in ten minutes.”

Curious, Chen Mo pulled out his phone and opened the timer.

Zhang Tao stared wide-eyed.

In the vast, spacious supermarket, the three waited quietly.

Sure enough.

Two minutes later, the two rows of shelves marked with the number 2 seemed to vibrate slightly. In the next second, the life-sized shelves that originally held stationery transformed into snack shelves so tall—nearly two meters—that one had to look up to see the top.

Five minutes later, the stationery shelf marked with the number 5 transformed into a cleaning supplies section, hanging several rinse-free mops and soft-bristled brooms.

Ten minutes later, the bath products shelf marked with the number 10 turned into a mountain of fruit piled with apples, oranges, and bananas.

Not only that, but Shen Junyao led them through a few turns and down a path, easily finding the shelves that were originally marked with the numbers.

His two companions were dumbfounded.

“How is that possible? Captain! How did you do it?” Zhang Tao cried out in surprise, hardly able to believe the facts before his eyes.

Chen Mo was also shocked. “How did you know these shelves would move here?”

Shen Junyao said, “You can do it too. Once you master the pattern, you can calculate it.”

He casually pulled a drawing pad from a stationery shelf and wrote a long string of formulas on the paper with the marker.

Zhang Tao’s eyes darted away for a moment, while Chen Mo waved his hand abruptly, declining politely, “I think you should be the one to do the math.”

Shen Junyao smiled and did not force them.

Chen Mo couldn’t help but start imagining: “Since we can calculate the positions of the shelves, does that mean the map of the Inner World can be drawn, and we can find the exit?”

Being trapped in this place, though he didn’t say it aloud, he was indeed anxious. When he rested, it was hard to fall asleep, worrying that his family would be sick with anxiety because they couldn’t contact him.

“It’s only a matter of time now,” Shen Junyao said with certainty. Then, thinking of something, he added, “Actually, it’s not just the exit. We can also find the so-called God of the Inner World.”

Zhang Tao: ? Chen Mo: !

Shen Junyao seemed exceptionally talkative today: “Do you remember the five Split-Mouth monsters we defeated that day?”

Chen Mo nodded: “Of course I remember. That battle was incredibly difficult. I was actually a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle it if it happened again. Those monsters were too unnatural; every time we knocked them down, they would recover rapidly, as if some endless power was supporting them.”

“Exactly,” a glint of deep meaning flashed in Shen Junyao’s eyes. “There is indeed a power supporting them from behind. If I’m not mistaken, it is exactly the ‘Inner World Consciousness’—the God the people at the base speak of.”

“How can that be?” Chen Mo was shocked.

After all, the “God” in the mouths of the survivors recognized espers and allowed them to settle in the Inner World, acting as a guardian. If the supporter behind the monsters was also that entity…

Then what kind of existence was it exactly?

“Haven’t you noticed? Ever since that battle, the environmental changes haven’t been as frequent, and the monster attacks haven’t been as violent?”

“That day, we faced off against the Split-Mouth monsters. Although we won with great difficulty, in reality, we also caused the fellow providing them power to suffer a very heavy trauma.” The corners of Shen Junyao’s lips curled slightly as he looked at his two companions. “After all, we have two S-ranks and one A+. What kind of existence do you think could withstand the full-force attacks of the three of us for nearly ten hours?”

His words were like a sudden wake-up call.

Zhang Tao, who had been listening silently, suddenly realized: “You mean, the Inner World Consciousness is significantly injured, so it can no longer change the surrounding environment frequently, nor does it have the strength to send out high-level monsters?”

“It’s very likely exactly like that,” Shen Junyao said. “Actually, based on the patterns of environmental change, we can not only calculate the true map of the Inner World, but by tracking energy fluctuations, we can master the trajectory of the Inner World Consciousness’s control over environmental changes—and thus reverse-engineer its specific location.”

“Find the master of the consciousness, and then change its consciousness?” Zhang Tao couldn’t help but nudge Chen Mo. Back when he first heard that an Inner World Consciousness existed, that had been his first thought.

Chen Mo also laughed: “Did my words actually turn out to be a prophecy?”