Four Split Personalities

"Is the plan still going smoothly?"

Feather Song asked with a worried expression. Although she had just confirmed the situation with several familiar players who had been ordered to retreat, everyone only knew the very small part they were responsible for. Apart from Motan himself, many people in the teams that had arrived in the designated areas the night before didn’t even know what they had actually done. Mostly, they monitored an area for a certain amount of time, caught a glimpse of Her Highness the Saintess during a move, or were ordered to scatter a few pounds of revitalizing powder in a certain place. So, the information she could provide Feather Song was indeed very limited.

It took Motan more than ten seconds to slowly nod, "Up to now, it’s okay."

Feather Song let out a sigh of relief and then looked somewhat hesitantly at Motan, who seemed to be meditating. She always felt that although he just said "it’s okay," those words seemed not to include himself.

Even though she had only gathered bits and pieces from a few friends, she could guess what this guy, who looked as if he had just been fished out of water, had probably done...

Feather Song had known that Motan would control the overall situation in the role of an Operator, so he definitely had to stay in frequent contact with everyone dispatched outside for surveillance, including Yu Chen. However, she had never imagined that his rate of instructions and feedback would be so high.

[From as short as three seconds to as long as two minutes each time, synchronously handling over twenty pieces of effective intelligence in a long session and providing feedback almost like holding hands— is he still human!?]

Feather Song instinctively wanted to express her concern, but then felt it wasn’t quite in line with her current style, so she swallowed the words "He won’t suddenly die, will he?" and instead casually asked, "Should I call you in five minutes?"

"Thank you..."

"Mm."

Feather Song nodded, thinking to herself that he really must be extremely tired; he couldn’t even bother to check the system time.

At that moment, Motan wasn’t thinking about anything. He was just trying to clear his mind as much as possible, fighting against the headache that had been growing intense since half an hour ago.

As Feather Song had silently contemplated earlier, what he had done in the previous hour and a half was truly not something an ordinary person could manage...

Even though The Realm of Innocence was only a game, as Motan often mentioned to Yu Chen recently, the drain here was not unrelated to reality. Although physical fatigue could be said to be simulated, the mental workload was not entirely so.

Perhaps the black technology of Innocent Company could indeed ensure that most people get sufficient rest in the game while socializing, thinking, solving major problems, practicing exams, memorizing formulas, and learning English. However, this arrangement wasn’t limitless. At least, Yu Chen continuously treating patients and Feather Song working at full capacity had reached their limits. Although both did not mention it deliberately, they still felt a bit tired when they returned to reality, comparable to the weariness from a night’s dream.

The reason why Motan had never had this problem was firstly, his tolerance for fatigue was significantly higher than that of the two ladies, and secondly, he could always find time to rest, as he switched roles almost every night.

Different from actively switching personas, the passive switches in his daily life did not consume Motan’s energy.

Thus, even if being Hei Fan kept him busy and tired, he could still find opportunities to rest while being Tan Mo or Mor, and vice versa. After all, his various personas were in different situations, and it was almost impossible for them all to be busy to the limit simultaneously. If there were any signs of this happening, Motan himself would actively make adjustments to avoid piling up all the troubles together. Thus, until half a day ago, he had not experienced extreme fatigue in The Realm of Innocence...

But today, he was really struggling. As mentioned before, Motan had been synchronously processing massive amounts of intelligence throughout that hour and more. He had to manage the positions of the Mutants, the movement speed of the Princess Guard, Yu Chen’s range of enmity, the safety of all surveillance teams, and every potential risk that could lead to poor outcomes. Then, taking all these factors into account, he had to find or create the safest route for Yu Chen and others, repeating the process over and over.

He was a self-aware man, so he was clear that he could not make certain illogical moves due to those indescribable feelings. Simply put, if the situation ultimately turned irreversibly bad, Motan would definitely choose to sacrifice Yu Chen to regain a tactical advantage.

Could the situation really turn that bad?

Yes, any single mishap or the slightest mistake by Motan could quickly deteriorate the seemingly smooth situation.

Could sacrificing Yu Chen really salvage the situation?

Yes, because no matter how out of control those thousands of Mutants might be, Yu Chen was always their primary target of hatred. Thus, by using him as a pawn, they could effectively minimize losses and buy enough time for subsequent reparative measures.