Chapter 63
Deathly silence permeated the empty hall of the Paradise Ark. Crystal dice lay on the luxurious gambling table, reflecting Lin Yao's pale face and Otto's twisted and fanatical smile.
Lin Yao slowly raised his eyes, and a ray of light finally gathered again in the depths of those empty blue eyes - no longer confused, but filled with a poisonous coldness and an almost tangible, destructive boredom.
"You know," Lin Yao's voice broke the suffocating silence, carrying a deep sense of exhaustion and impatience. "I don't like to be like a detective, using a long speech to explain to the audience in detail the cause and effect of everything at the end of the story, and then ending the story with the criminal's tears and regrets."
He tilted his head slightly, and a sarcastic arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. "This is so stupid."
The wild elation on Otto's face paused for a moment, then turned into a deeper, more playful smile.
He seemed to enjoy Lin Yao's coldness and resistance at the moment. He sat back in the luxurious chair, leaning back with a relaxed look, and gently tapped the crystal dice on the table with his slender fingers.
"Well..." Otto's voice was lighthearted, "How about we play a game?"
His eyes fell on the dice.
"Compare the numbers." Otto's smile deepened, with a calm, controlled rhythm. "Whoever rolls the higher number gets to ask the other a question. The rules are simple: you can't refuse to answer, and you can't lie. How about it? Using a game to decide how the truth is revealed, perhaps... it's more interesting?"
Lin Yao's gaze swept coldly over the dice, then returned to Otto's face. Irritability surged in his eyes like a substance, but he didn't refuse.
He hated being passive, and even more so, Otto's controlling attitude. Since he wanted to play, he'd play along and crush his game in the most direct way possible!
laugh!
Invisible spiritual threads instantly swept up an empty dice cup and the crystal dice beside the gambling table. His movements were filled with obvious impatience.
The dice were thrown roughly into the cup. Lin Yao was too lazy to shake it with his hands. He just used the spiritual thread to swing it twice casually and with a sense of venting.
Bang!
The dice cup was opened and slammed heavily on the table.
Three bright red, standard six points lay there glaringly as if in a mockery.
18 o'clock! The biggest!
Otto looked at the three sixes and chuckled softly, as if he had expected everything. "Looks like I'm bound to lose."
He didn't look surprised at all, and even had a hint of appreciation, as if he was watching a wonderful performance.
He slowly picked up another dice cup and gracefully placed the dice into it, shaking his wrist lightly, his movements smooth and rhythmic.
After a few seconds, the dice cup was opened.
The points are indeed smaller than Lin Yao’s.
They both knew it was not a fair game.
Lin Yao, who has "emotional perception" that allows him to easily capture his opponent's intentions, "mind control" that can tamper with memories and affect judgment, and "mental thread" that can directly control the number of dice, has been invincible from the beginning.
This was simply a one-sided crushing victory for Lin Yao.
Otto knew it was a losing game, but he still suggested it.
"I lost." Otto spread his hands, his smile still gentle and indulgent. "Ask."
Lin Yao's azure eyes were like icy blades, piercing Otto: "You have lived for more than three hundred years?" His voice was full of undisguised sarcasm.
Otto nodded, then shook his head slightly, his tone carrying a strange sigh: "Not alive, but barely surviving."
He raised one hand and gently tapped his other arm twice with his fingertips.
Buzz...
A subtle mechanical sound echoed. Otto's elegant and handsome face twisted and faded like ripples. The texture of his skin and muscles vanished, replaced by a cold, metallic, and precise structure.
His head, neck, and even the chest exposed under the partially open collar all revealed an inhuman mechanical form composed of high-strength alloys and complex pipes.
Only those deep eyes still retained the spirit of humanity, embedded in the cold metal face, looking particularly weird.
"This is the only way to maintain the body's functions to the greatest extent possible and live longer."
Otto's voice resonated through the machinery, carrying a hint of cold metal. "Okay, the questions are answered. Let's continue the game."
It was as if he was just showing off an interesting little gadget.
Lin Yao's eyes did not fluctuate at all, he just rolled up the dice cup again with the spiritual thread.
This time, for the first time ever, the points were smaller than Otto's.
Otto looked at the points, a satisfied expression appearing on his mechanical face. "Tell me, when did you realize something was wrong?"
This was the first time he asked a question in the true sense, with a strong desire to explore.
Lin Yao's answer was decisive and cold as iron: "At the beginning!"
"Everything happened by chance!" Lin Yao's voice was filled with suppressed anger.
"I quickly discovered something was wrong with the E-427 instance. The moment I entered, I spotted the logo of the Psychic Association. That included the "coincidental" appearance of pharmacist Su Rui. Everything, every scene, was like carefully placed props, waiting for me to examine. If I had only suspicions at first..."
He paused, his azure eyes fixed on Otto. "When I saw the Ark Plan in that wreckage, and that brand new, out-of-place door, I understood everything."
The game continues.
This time, the points showed that Otto lost.
Lin Yao's question went straight to the point: "So, the door to 'Taoyuan Township'... is open? The world I used to live in—'Garden of Eden'?"
Otto's mechanical head moved slightly, making a soft grinding sound of gears. "Yes. Although the process was difficult, it was successful. The residents of "Eden" possess technology beyond this world."
His mechanical eyes flickered with a strange light. "But we have psychics. As long as we can take advantage of the information gap, victory will be... easy."
He looked at Lin Yao meaningfully, hinting at his terrifying ability to control information asymmetry.
The game continues.
Lin Yao's spiritual thread rippled imperceptibly. The score showed—he lost.
Otto didn't seem surprised. He asked the next question: "Why did you immediately think of me as the mayor of City A after learning about Project Ark and the videotape?"
Lin Yao scoffed coldly, "There aren't so many coincidences in this world! I just arrived in City A, and the 'Rotten Bone Forest' dungeon is about to open; Jhin's power is out of control and he needs me; the city lord 'just happened' to agree to add my name to the exploration team; and the dungeon 'just happened' to contain the shipwreck and door leading to the 'Ark Project'... You're the only one who can do all this, who can manipulate the situation so precisely and guide me step by step to the core!"
The game continues.
Otto lost.
Lin Yao's question was like a poisoned dagger: "Why don't you take the humans in this world to the Garden of Eden? Now that the passage is open, there's no reason not to do so, right?"
Otto's mechanical face simulated a thoughtful expression, then a cold rationality: "Because it's meaningless. Even if we go to the Garden of Eden, as long as people with special abilities exist, peace will never truly come."
He paused, a red light flashing in his mechanical eyes. "Possessing powers beyond those of ordinary people, capable of defeating even humans armed with high-tech weaponry... conflict is inevitable. Rather than bringing chaos, it's better..."
"So," Lin Yao interrupted him, his voice as cold as ice, "the 'Sword of Damocles' hanging high in the sky of the Garden of Eden, wiping out the bottom ten in the standings every week..."
He stared into Otto's human eyes. "Is it to make those powerful psychics kill each other? Internal consumption? Clear out those threatening psychics bit by bit like clearing weeds?"
Otto's mechanical fingers tapped lightly on the table, making a crisp metallic sound. "This is the next question. But obviously," he smiled a cold, metallic smile, "you already have the answer."
Lin Yao certainly had answers, almost all of them. With the terrifying insight and logical deduction abilities granted by Soul Control, combined with the clues he had seen, he had already pieced together the outline of the truth.
The information that Otto placed in various copies, including the one in City C that led him to the Purifier Organization branch, were all props that guided him to the final "stage".
Now, only one key character remains.
Lin Yao's question was like a final judgment: "What about me? What role do I play in this grand "drama" of yours?"
Otto's expression... or rather, the expression simulated on his cold, mechanical face, finally changed significantly. No longer was it the calmness of control, nor was it cold rationality, but a kind of almost fanatical, twisted piety.
His mechanical body even leaned forward slightly, and his human eyes burst into an incomparably scorching light, like a pilgrim looking up at God!
"god!"
Otto's voice trembled with excitement. "The God of Eden! Above all other psychics! The only SSS-rank psychic psychic since the birth of psychics—"GOD"!"
The corners of Lin Yao's lips slowly curled up into an arc of extreme sarcasm, and his azure eyes were filled with undisguised contempt: "But I, a 'god'..." His voice was like an ice knife scraping across metal, "and you designed to kill me."
Those attacks against him, which were carried out by the top powerful people in the old world, now seemed to be the work of this "mentor".
"Is a god who can be killed still a god?"
"That's because you knew a secret you shouldn't have known." Otto's voice suddenly rose, with a hint of anger at being exposed.
"A secret that shouldn't be known?" Lin Yao's smile grew increasingly cold and insightful. "For example, the passage connecting the old and new worlds has always existed? It's just become a private passage that you can use alone, coming and going freely? Or for example..."
His gaze dissected Otto like a scalpel. "As a 'waste' who wasn't chosen and didn't awaken any superpowers, how come you have this morbid desire and... twisted worship for superpowers?"
boom!
The metal structure of Otto's face seemed to stiffen, and his human eyes instantly widened, his pupils shrinking sharply. A huge shock and disbelief hit him like a physical object.
It was a terrifying feeling, like a carefully constructed fortress being instantly seen through, all his dark thoughts being exposed nakedly in the sunlight. His carefully maintained posture of control was crumbling under Lin Yao's cold words.
"You...you recovered your memory?!" Otto's voice was filled with unconcealable horror and trembling. This was completely beyond his plan.
Lin Yao looked at his out-of-control appearance and showed his first real smile since he set foot on the Paradise Ark, which was filled with the pleasure of being in control of everything.
The smile was cold and sharp, full of sarcasm.
"A 'god' who possesses 'soul control'...will lose his memory?"
Lin Yao's voice was filled with undisguised contempt, as if he was looking down at an ant beneath his feet. "This in itself... is quite ridiculous, isn't it?"
Otto's mechanical body trembled violently! He finally realized something was amiss. A sense of crisis washed over him like ice water. He was no longer the mastermind, but a terrified clown on the stage, caught in the spotlight.
"You...you knew it from the beginning?!"
Otto's voice was distorted by shock. "Then why...why do you still..."
He couldn't understand. Since he knew everything, why would Lin Yao follow the script he designed?
"Why should I continue to follow the script you gave me?"
Lin Yao finished speaking for him, the smile on his face like a declaration of victory, with pride and the calmness of being in control of everything from beginning to end.
He leaned forward slightly, looked directly into Otto's horrified eyes across the gambling table, and spoke clearly, word by word.
"Of course, that's because... I, your former disciple, want to give you, your former mentor, a most precious gift!"
Lin Yao's voice was creepily gentle.
"How about it?"
"It feels like I'm playing tricks on the gods of the old world..."
"Isn't it fun?"
"My performance..."
"Is it satisfactory to you?"
"Everything is going as you expected..."
"You must be... crazy with joy, right?"
Every word was like an ice-cold chisel, striking hard at Otto's fortress built of metal and conceit!
“That’s enough—!!!”
A roar of extreme anger suddenly exploded, accompanied by a huge roar like breaking metal.
Otto's cold mechanical palm, with terrifying force, slammed down on the extremely hard gem gambling table!
Boom!!!
The priceless gambling table shattered in an instant. Glistening shards of gemstones and crystal dice exploded and flew like fireworks. He abruptly stood up, his cold, mechanical face twisted with utter fury. His human eyes were bloodshot, burning with the fury of being fooled and the murderous intent of destruction.
The carefully arranged stage completely collapsed.
The identities of director and actor are completely reversed at this moment!
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