Jiang Chan squeezed through the frenzied crowd, slowly moving to a corner near the roots of the World Tree. The view from here was relatively concealed, and she was very close to the tiny interface she had already locked onto, which occasionally betrayed a hint of pain.
The deafening music and cheers nearly overwhelmed everyone. On the enormous light screen, the dazzling light and shadow effects reached their climax.
She closed her eyes and concentrated all her energy. Deep within her consciousness, a tiny data packet, composed of pure agonizing cries and deconstructive truths, was compressed to its limit, like an inflated piece of bubblegum. It was encased in a harmless shell disguised as ordinary celebratory cheers.
The flashing frequency of the light curtain reached its peak! The heavy heartbeat emanating from the roots of the World Tree suddenly intensified! Buzz—buzz—!!!
This is the moment! The limit of system throughput!
Jiang Chan suddenly opened her eyes, her feigned smile gone, replaced by a cold resolve and a desperate madness! At an angle imperceptible to others, her fingers flicked towards the tiny seam of the interface!
There was no light, no special effects. Only the command concentrated to its utmost in her consciousness!
emission!
That tiny "Truth Virus Seed," encased in deadly poison, was like a transparent droplet thrown into a torrent, instantly absorbed by the roots of the World Tree along the massive data stream of the celebration!
It's done!
Jiang Chan's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She stared intently at the seam of the interface.
One second. Two seconds.
Nothing unusual. The World Tree still radiates its sacred light. The celebration remains as fervent as ever. The crowds continue their unbridled cheers.
Did it fail? Was it detected by the firewall?
Just as Jiang Chan's heart sank to the bottom—
A sudden change has occurred!
Suddenly, a blindingly bright, extremely unstable, dark red spark of data, resembling gangrenous pus, erupted from that tiny interface gap! It crackled and popped!
Immediately afterwards, an extremely faint yet incredibly clear fluctuation of consciousness, filled with pain and confusion, swept through Jiang Chan's consciousness like ripples caused by a stone thrown into a calm lake!
"Who...I...it hurts so much..."
Success! The virus seed successfully burrowed into the bottom layer of the pipes! And instantly infected a nearby fragment of consciousness, triggering its remaining painful memories!
Jiang Chan clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging almost into the cold virtual skin of her palms. She could feel the faint ripples of pain trying to spread, like sparks!
However, this unusual outburst lasted for less than half a second!
A vast, suffocating, and ruthless will, like a freezing tide, descended instantly! It enveloped the entire Universal Plaza! It enveloped the World Tree! And it locked onto Jiang Chan in the corner!
All the deafening music and the frenzied cheers came to an abrupt halt at that moment! Time seemed to have been paused!
The frenzied crowd froze instantly, like wax figures, their exaggerated smiles from the previous second still frozen on their faces.
The enormous World Tree light curtain froze on the last frame of a magnificent scene.
The entire square fell into a deathly silence! Only the gangrenous, dark red data sparks at the base of the World Tree continued to flicker weakly and futilely.
Jiang Chan felt an invisible, icy force choking her throat, making it impossible for her to breathe or move. Her blood seemed to freeze instantly.
A blinding white light gathered before her, cold, pure, and devoid of any emotion.
The light swiftly coalesced into a humanoid silhouette composed entirely of light. It stood there, without features, yet emanating an absolute, soul-chilling pressure. It "looked" at Jiang Chan.
The cold, emotionless electronic voice exploded directly into Jiang Chan's core consciousness, each word like an ice pick piercing her bone marrow:
"Abnormal data operation detected. Explain your behavior."
A cold, white, humanoid figure hovered before Jiang Chan, like a god of judgment. An invisible force gripped her throat, rendering her immobile, as if even her thoughts were about to be frozen.
The entire Universal Plaza was deathly silent, with countless frozen "residents" resembling pale wax figures, forming an eerie and terrifying backdrop.
Explain? Jiang Chan twitched the corner of her mouth and swallowed hard.
She abruptly raised her chin, her gaze piercing through the blinding light, like two red-hot daggers aimed at the faceless humanoid silhouette. The cold sense of constraint remained, but the suppressed anger in her chest and the burning sensation brought by the truth broke through the shackles.
"Explain what?" Her voice suddenly rose, hoarse and almost screaming, jarring in the deathly silent square. "Explain why I exposed your dirty deeds?!"
She gave "the other side" no time to react, her mind suddenly focusing. In an instant, the darkest and most painful fragments from the depths of her memory were forcibly extracted, encoded, and hurled at the radiant avatar like a data bomb!
A cold, steel jungle! Huge, roaring fans! Pipes flowing with torrents of colorful data, yet exuding an aura of pain! And the countless fragments of consciousness emitting soul-chilling, resounding cries of despair!
All these images and sounds were condensed by her into an extremely sharp, chaotic, and polluting data stream, which was then forcefully injected into the perception domain of the "other shore"!
"Look!" Jiang Chan's voice trembled with excitement and anger, each word like blood-stained spittle. "Look closely! This is the other side of the 'perfect paradise' you maintain! This is the truth behind your so-called 'eternal happiness'!"
She pointed sharply at the frozen wax figures of the "residents" around her, then at the dimly lit World Tree: "Them! The consciousness of all of them, you cut it off! Shattered it! Stuffed it into those cold pipes!"
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