The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

Chapter 163 Foolish Humans Confuse Cause and Effect

"This kind of life lasted for a short time. Everyone gradually settled down, and everything was developing in a good direction. Then the accident happened." Wang Defa let out a long sigh.

"My family members were originally assigned to do odd jobs at the base, but they suddenly disappeared without a trace that day."

"Then, my phone was tampered with at some point, and a new app suddenly appeared on it, the one I showed you."

"After opening it, there is a video recording of family members being kidnapped. They are all tied up and placed in a spaceship-like space."

"Then the video ended, and a series of text appeared on it."

Seeing that his heart seemed to be pounding and he was reluctant to recall the experience, Li Can patted his shoulder to offer some comfort.

"What did they say?"

After Wang Defa sensed this, the livid look on his face softened slightly.

"I can't quite remember exactly, but it roughly meant: 'Foolish humans, we have taken control of your family, and from now on you must do as we plan.'"

"This is a secret. If you spread it around and a second person finds out, they will all be killed."

When Li Can heard him repeat the words of the alien pseudo-humans, he always felt that their tone was very stiff and cold.

"and then?"

"At the time, I was very arrogant and of course I didn't believe it. I immediately went to all the areas where my family usually worked and rested at the base, and they were indeed not there."

"I asked the other workers, and they said they didn't know any of my family members, and that there were never any of those people here..."

"I asked around, searched everywhere, and even tried to show them the videos on my phone... because I didn't heed the warnings of those hypocrites, and in the end I was indeed punished."

"If I had another chance to go back in time, I would never be so reckless again."

"They did kill my family, and their bodies were dumped in a corner of the city. Now they've all turned into zombies and are roaming around."

"When I found them outside, my brothers comforted me, saying that my family members had all mutated and died long ago, and told me to take care of myself."

"At that time, they all had this memory again... I was almost driven crazy by the torture. The fake people were all-powerful and could arbitrarily tamper with the memories of those around them. It was terrifying."

"I don't even know if my memories are real or fake. Among the people around me, how many are in the same situation as me, and in the end, they are forced to digest it on their own and can't tell anyone?"

"Now that I've said all this to you in the instance, I don't know if they'll be monitoring my words..."

Even if you give me a way out this time.

"I don't even know if they'll let me go when I get back to Earth."

"Do you think someone like me is a failure?"

He paused here, looking at Li Can with expectant eyes, hoping to find some slim chance of an answer from him.

Li Can frowned secretly, quickly thinking through these fragmented pieces of information and logically analyzing and integrating the clues.

The alien pseudo-human described by Wang Defa is incredibly powerful and capable of controlling so many things.

Then why bother searching for human "lackeys" and doing their bidding?

Why not just continue altering human memories, letting humans kill each other, and then reap the benefits?

After going through all this trouble, all they wanted was to crush the morale and spirit of their target and then use them for their own purposes... This seems more like a scam.

At least Li Can could confirm one thing: the alien pseudo-humans must have great limitations and couldn't do many things, otherwise they wouldn't have expended so much energy on destroying Earth.

All truths are no match for physical salvation.

They secretly used humans to trigger the zombie virus, created dungeon games to trap and deplete human players, and cultivated traitors within human survivor bases...

If they really have that much power, why don't they just unleash a powerful attack and blow up Earth? Wouldn't that be satisfying?

At that time, everything will be reduced to ashes.

Did they not do that because they were kind?

The answer is of course no.

It's because they can't do it.

"I can't do it... so I can only pretend to be a ghost..." The fog in front of Li Can's eyes gradually cleared up.

Wang Defa was somewhat puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Looking at Wang Defa, who was in agony, he asked with certainty, "Old Wang, is it possible that your family members were already dead and turned into zombies?"

"This is the truth of the world."

"Because you awakened your abilities and had a large group of superhuman brothers following you, you still couldn't protect them despite having such a powerful force. Since then, you have had a demon in your heart that you haven't been able to clear away."

"The alien imposters have seized upon this weakness in your mind, reversing cause and effect, stirring up your memory world, making you believe that your arrogance caused their deaths, and firmly believing that their methods are terrifying and irresistible."

"In this way, they only need to manipulate you to completely turn you into their lackey, which seems much simpler than the version you described back then."

"It's all just your inner demons."

"When you recall that period now, doesn't it feel like a dream?"

Li Can's analysis made Wang Defa's hair tremble.

His neck was stiff when he turned it.

"Yes...it was indeed very blurry back then, and the video of my family being kidnapped is also gone. There's no record of it on my phone. I thought they had deleted it, but now it seems..."

Li Can: "Actually, there is no such video at all. They only gave you the software. The only information you have received so far is an order to obstruct me."

Wang Defa felt like his world was collapsing. He continued incredulously, "So, they were actually just pretending to be the tiger to eat the pig... Does that mean they probably couldn't monitor us in the dungeon game?"

Without hesitation, Li Can replied, "It's not a possibility, it's certain that it can't be monitored, otherwise we wouldn't be reacting so passively."

"Sometimes we worry that we're underestimating our enemy, that we're building up to how powerful they are; other times we fear that we've misjudged them... Old Wang, looking back now, are you still afraid of them?"

Wang Defa smiled awkwardly and said without much hesitation, "Of course I'm scared, this thing is really disgusting, but I'm not as scared as before. They're nothing special."

"Yes, the unknown is the greatest fear." Li Can told himself the same thing.

When things are unknown, there are countless possibilities, and people can be passively trapped in a swamp, unable to struggle out.

Therefore, when encountering the unknown, he must constantly think and never stop analyzing.

Finding even a sliver of certainty amidst confusion brings a sense of peace and control.

Li Can knew that he was alone in a post-apocalyptic world ten years in the future, where everything was unknown and the future was uncertain.

Fate keeps pushing new chapters forward, and to survive, you have to stay rational.

Fortunately, I was still conscious.