Chapter 25: Cognition Filter
There was a wide variety of infrastructure in the Babel Tower, including kinds of research facilities such as Mutation Technology Research Lab, Bloodline Mutation Research Lab, Remodeling Technology Research Lab, Soul Origin Research Lab, Special Affairs Research Lab, and so on.
Bai Yan tapped on the screen and spent 100 points to create a new facility.
Mutation Technology Research Lab (Primary)
Soon a new icon of a small house appeared on the third floor of the Babel Tower.
Mutation Technology Research Lab was responsible for researching the superpower of monsters. For example, the Gravity of Darkness, who Nightsaber defeated, would be sent here for research.
The research might produce some new technologies that the operators could use.
Bai Yan remembered that the Gravity of Darkness could produce a regenerative type of superpower in the primary research lab. However, the research lab could not be activated for the time being because it lacked the necessary logistics staff. The logistics staff were mostly transformed from cultists, criminals, and some bad guys. And Bai Yan was not sure how the transformation had taken place.
Every time the core operators went on a mission, there was a certain chance that they would bring back “logistic staff”.
“Hope they can capture some logistic staff. I need at least three support staff to activate the Mutation Technology Research Lab.”
The bus approached slowly. Bai Yan took back his phone and got on the bus at the end of the line. He went to a window seat and sat down, listening to music through his headphones.
After a while, Bai Yan arrived at the bustling upper-middle-class area near the city center. The surrounding crowd became denser. He stepped off the bus and looked through the people with umbrellas around him.
“It’s up here.” Today was Alan’s birthday. Bai Yan came here for the party. Alan had a lot of friends, and many classmates would be attending this party. Bai Yan felt that Alan wouldn't mind if he didn't come. However, Alan had specifically called him last night and told him that he had to come over!
“Ah, damn. Im busy saving the world right now...” Bai Yan thought a bit and considered Alan’s situation.
It was very likely that he was a Night Watchman from the DHA, who was responsible for maintaining order inside the city. However, he was undoubtedly still his friend.
The DHA would never tolerate the existence of the Babel Tower.
In fact, Babel Tower had frequent interactions with the DHA in the game. They were either enemies or allies. It all depended on what they chose and how they operated.
In Bai Yan’s thoughts, he wanted to unite all the organizations and righteous forces to face the impending crisis of world destruction. In order to achieve the perfect ending, he should definitely try and gain the favours of these groups.
“The DHA is now under pressure. They must search for the members of Babel Tower. As the leader of this organization, I’ll definitely be put behind bars, or worse.”
‘At least I can trust Alan.’
“It’s here.” He’d reached the entrance to a luxurious neighborhood. He asked the security guard, made a phone call, and went in.
Alan lived in a two-story villa with exquisite decorations. Ordinary people could never afford it. Bai Yan remembered that Alan came from a middle-class family when he was young, but now he could afford such a house. Was it really because of his identity?
“Which girlfriend of his will be here today?” This thought suddenly appeared in Bai Yan’s mind.
He arrived at the villa’s front door with an umbrella and found Alan in gaudy purple already standing in the doorway, smiling and waiting for him.
“Hey, you’re here. I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Bai Yan chuckled and walked forward. “You’re my only friend, bro. How could I refuse you?”
Alan looked enlightened. “So, if you make a new friend, you’ll immediately get rid of me, right?”
“Yeah, how did you know? Seems like you’ve gotten smarter.”
They chatted and laughed as they walked into the villa. The birthday party had already begun.
Many of Alan’s college friends were eating and drinking. He joined in with a smile. It looked like he was having fun with his friends. However, Bai Yan knew this guy’s little trick.
He secretly changed the wine in his glass to water without anyone noticing. Alan had proudly told Bai Yan that he would never drink in his life.
Bai Yan wasn't a sociable person. He stayed alone in a corner and ate snacks. However, he suddenly spotted a strange middle-aged man who seemed out of place at the party. His gray suit, his gray hair, and his dejected face. It looked like he was a man in his forties.
He lingered in the crowd with a glass of iced spirit in his left hand and a large silver pistol in his right.
Bai Yan quickly realized something strange. Everyone present ignored this man. The middle-aged man staggered as he held the pistol and pointed it at a girl’s head. He nudged her gently for a while and simulated the sound of shooting.
Bai Yan swallowed silently.
The girl was oblivious to what was happening around her. The man staggered to the side of another and repeated the movements.
Until the middle-aged man came to Bai Yan and pressed the gun gently against Bai Yan’s chest, he spoke in a muffled voice.
“Bang.”
Bai Yan ignored him and listened quietly to his classmates’ sing. Those who dared to sing in public were either good singers or were very brave.
Alan suddenly came over and pushed Lin Bian, the middle-aged man, to the corner.
“Are you insane? I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
Lin Bian took a sip and swayed, “You think I’m too old to keep up with you young people, right?”
In a low voice with a dark face, Alan said, “I wanted you to come here to relax, not to scare my classmates with a civilization-level relic. Anyways, how the hell did you bring this without applying for it?
Lin Bian laughed and said, “The cognitive filter has already been activated. It doesn’t matter even if I run around naked… If someone really sees me, it will be interesting.”
Alan thought of the mysterious Babel Tower. They had activated a high-level cognitive filter. There were clearly many clues in the video, but they couldn’t pinpoint the people involved.
Some claimed to have witnessed crime hunter Mu Ling, but they could not pinpoint her location. It was just like in a case involved with cultists, the bookstore owner clearly sold books related to superpowers, but in the eyes of ordinary people, it was no different from normal books.
Of course, the cognitive filter was not an omnipotent force. It was just a form of psychological suggestion and illusion. If Mu Ling appeared in front of them and attacked, the cognitive filter would also lose its effect.
Lin Bian seemed to know what Alan was thinking and continued, “I think that the little girl’s identity with psychic powers must be very important. She can’t be exposed casually. Otherwise, Babel Tower wouldn’t have replaced her with a pixelated figure in the video.”
“Alan, why are you facing the wall?”
Someone interrupted their conversation. Alan immediately turned and left.
Lin Bian shrugged and staggered to the corner. He stood beside Bai Yan and drank.
Bai Yan stood calmly and ate, his expression unchanged.
‘Why can I hear and see him?’
When he met the Child of the Star previously, Bai Yan was not affected at all. He felt that his body and mind might not be the same as ordinary people.
He wanted to stay away from this middle-aged man with a gun, but he didn’t dare move.
Lin Bian suddenly snatched a snack from his plate.
“Huh? Where'd my food go?” Damn you. Bai Yan remembered the man’s face. By the way, his silver pistol looked familiar. Perhaps it had appeared in Babel Tower.
The party was very lively. The villa had become a mess, but Alan had been ready to call in a specialist to clean it up. It was no big problem.
It was night. All classmates were drunk, sleeping on the floor, sofa, and table.
Alan and Bai Yan stood on the second-floor balcony. They hadn’t drank much and gazed calmly out at the night sky. Bai Yan wanted to take out his phone to check his auto-play profits several times, but he held back.
Alan's voice suddenly broke the silence. “You've changed, Bai Yan.”
Bai Yan was slightly stunned. “Oh?” he replied.
Alan answered, “I actually admired you thirteen years ago. You were mature and disciplined. Not like the others at all. You were like my elders.”
Bai Yan smiled.
‘Well, you were just a kid at that time.’
They had met thirteen years ago. Bai Yan, who had started as an orphan, had shamelessly come to Alan’s house to freeload. Alan was touched that he had made his first friend.
Bai Yan smiled, “Perhaps this is the so-called ‘work hard when you are young, lie flat when you are old.’ I don’t want to work hard anymore.”
Alan muttered, “That's cheeky.”
Bai Yan thought for a moment and continued, “You’ve also changed a lot. Thirteen years ago, you barely spoke. Your parents were still afraid that you were autistic.”
“Hahaha, I was indeed very timid at that time. I was always bullied in school.” Alan laughed.
“Bai Yan.” Alan was silent for a moment. Then he asked, “What do you think about the Babel Tower?”
Bai Yan did not answer him directly. Instead, he wanted to ask the middle-aged man standing aside him with a silver pistol in his hand.
“My opinion...”
