Chapter 21
In the world of consciousness, time has become completely unpredictable.
Jin Zhaoxuan felt like a piece of embers thrown into the Siberian ice field, desperately burning his pitiful light and heat in an attempt to warm and melt the blue ball of light that was tightly wrapped by the thick "data ice" and "isolation barrier".
The repulsive force, as if it were free, relentlessly subjected him to "soul-slowly torture," each energy contact bringing a chilling cold and the excruciating pain of his soul being torn into QR codes. But Boss Jin's stubbornness kicked in, and he stubbornly maintained that golden "consciousness conduit," thinner than a hair, desperately stuffing his intense will, overflowing worries, and all the warm, old memories he could squeeze out into that icy block of ice, like spam.
He recalled the first time he saw Yin Shaoqing in the broken mirror. The guy was soaking wet, like a drowned rat, with a dazed and wary look in his eyes, just like a cat that had been petted and was about to pamper itself.
I remember when Yin Shaoqing discovered that radiators could actually generate heat, he lay on top of them to study them, his eyes wide open, filled with awe and curiosity about modern technology.
Recalling how he was occasionally amused by the silly comments during the live stream, the smile that he couldn't suppress, his eyebrows curving up, was so handsome it was almost dazzling.
When he realized that Grandma Xiulan was still thinking of him at her age, the complex expression on his face—a mixture of "Holy crap, someone still remembers me," "My heart aches," and "But it's also a little heartwarming"—was like that of a child who had suddenly received expired candy.
I remember how weak he was, almost falling apart, before he completely crashed, yet he still stubbornly insisted on saying "It's so good"...
These scenes, these fragments of memories that belonged only to the two of them, still warm and alive, were clumsily packaged by Jin Zhaoxuan into “consciousness compressed packages” and, regardless of format compatibility, forcibly shoved into that ball of frozen blue light.
At first, it was like a stone sinking into the sea.
The blue light remained as steady as an old dog, its curled-up posture conveying the message: "Do not disturb, dead, contact me by burning paper money."
Jin Zhaoxuan was not intimidated and continued to confront him! Under the continuous attack of the repulsive force, his consciousness had become as thin as a cheap window lattice that had been washed eight hundred times, trembling in the wind. However, the "memory bombs" he sent over became denser and hotter, and the content gradually upgraded from "memory killing" to "truth or dare".
"Yin Shaoqing, do you know how I felt when I first saw you? I thought to myself: Oh no! The company is going to go bankrupt! And the house is haunted! Did I blow up the galaxy in my past life?!"
"Later I found out that you're actually quite cultured, just a bit of a country bumpkin, you don't even know how to connect to WiFi..."
"Later on... I actually got used to having a 'roommate' who could float around in the house. Even if you huddled in a mirror and pretended to be dead, the lousy house didn't feel so empty or cold anymore."
"You better wake up! Those fans at the museum are constantly asking where Teacher Yin is! Brother Liu and the others dug up the box, and there was a handwritten letter from your adoptive father inside, written like a will... You haven't told them yourself how those technologies were developed by our own people!"
"And...me..."
Jin Zhaoxuan's consciousness had faded so much that it was almost blending into the darkness of the background, and the transmitted "stream of consciousness" was intermittent, like an old-fashioned mobile phone with a bad signal.
Just when he felt he was about to completely get a "404 Not Found" error—
That lifeless blue block of ice, extremely slightly, but undeniably, trembled!
Like a frozen frog, whose legs twitched for a moment when it was being revived by electric shock!
Immediately afterwards, a faint, almost imperceptible, yet familiar warmth... traveled upstream along the nearly broken golden stream, tremblingly feeding back into Jin Zhaoxuan's collapsing consciousness.
It's Yin Shaoqing! It's that guy's scent! He's responding! Although the response is barely louder than a mosquito's buzz!
In a fleeting moment of lucidity, Jin Zhaoxuan's dying "spirit" surged forth, using its last ounce of strength to gather all his thoughts, concerns, resentment, and those indescribable emotions into a single, powerful roar (in terms of mental imagery):
"Yin Shaoqing!!! Wake up!!! Stop fucking sleeping—!!!"
Buzz—! !!! !
The dark, empty space jolted violently! It was as if it had been kicked!
That blue lump of ice... no, that ball of light, suddenly burst forth with a light several times brighter than before! Although it still couldn't compare to a streetlamp, at least it wasn't a dying flame anymore! In the light, the curled-up humanoid silhouette seemed... to stretch out a little? The blurry face even seemed to move slightly?
The black data streams representing "crash" and "negative energy" that were wrapped around the ball of light began to loosen and disintegrate with crackling sounds!
The repulsive force weakened instantly!
There's hope! He's really about to wake up!
Ecstasy surged through Jin Zhaoxuan's entire consciousness like a high-voltage electric shock, followed by overwhelming exhaustion and the alarm that his consciousness was about to completely dissipate! He had reached his limit; if he stayed any longer, he would truly be annihilated.
"I... am outside... waiting for you..." He sent out the last "offline message" with his mind, and then felt his "existence" being ejected like mud shot out by a slingshot, "whoosh," and violently ejected from this dark void!
The old house, the neural interaction pod, the real world.
"Warning! Warning! The user's brainwave signals are severely disrupted! The level of consciousness coupling has plummeted!"
"Vital signs are abnormal! Blood pressure and heart rate are dropping! Quick! Prepare for emergency treatment!"
"Forced security protocol activated! Emergency disconnection of neural connections! Countdown 3, 2, 1—Disconnect!"
The hatch opened with a "screech" sound, as if deflated.
Jin Zhaoxuan suddenly opened his eyes, as a violent headache and nausea, as if his brain had been spun in a washing machine, swept over him like a tidal wave! He couldn't help but turn to the side and dry heave with a "whoosh," seeing stars in front of his eyes and hearing what sounded like a concert by ten thousand cicadas.
"President Jin! President Jin, hang in there!" Xiao Chen and the medical staff who were standing by rushed over and pulled him out of the ward. They took his blood pressure, checked his heart rate, and inserted an oxygen tube. It was a chaotic scene.
Jin Zhaoxuan's face was as white as if it had been painted, cold sweat poured down his forehead, and his body trembled as if on vibrate mode. But he gripped Xiao Chen's arm tightly, his nails almost digging into his flesh, and his voice was hoarse and broken, like sandpaper scraping: "How...how is he...Yin Shaoqing...?"
Xiao Chen was taken aback and immediately turned to look at the monitoring screen of the server next to him.
The consciousness activity curve, which had been lying flat and almost touching the horizontal axis, was now acting like a "cardiogram roller coaster"! Although the fluctuations were irregular and thrilling, the peak value had far exceeded the previous "near-death line", and the frequency of the fluctuations was visibly accelerating!
"It moved! It reacted! Teacher Yin's consciousness curve has come back to life!!" Xiao Chen was so surprised that he almost jumped up, his voice cracking.
Jin Zhaoxuan's taut nerves snapped shut, and he slumped backward like a skinned corpse with its bones removed, only to be caught by medical staff in time. His vision blurred, and his tinnitus intensified, but he couldn't help but force a smile that was more like a grimace.
"He... is turning on the machine..." He managed to utter these words with his last bit of strength. The exhaustion of both his mind and body surged like a black tide, and everything went black before his eyes. He completely fainted.
"Quick! Get him to the hospital! Ambulance!!"
Jin Zhaoxuan remained unconscious in the hospital's VIP ward for a full day and night, sleeping even more soundly than Yin Shaoqing.
The doctor's diagnosis was quite shocking:
Severe mental exhaustion (equivalent to staying up all night for a month), severe physical exhaustion (comparable to running ten marathons), plus mild neurological functional damage (the brain may be a little malfunctioning).
Conclusion: Rest is essential; any further reckless actions are strictly prohibited.
However, Mr. Jin's physical condition had been ravaged by 21st-century entrepreneurship, and his willpower was comparable to titanium alloy. With the support of advanced drugs and nutrient solutions, his recovery speed made the attending physician exclaim that it was a medical miracle.
The first thing he did after waking up was to try to pull out the IV needle from his hand, but was stopped by the fierce-looking head nurse.
“My…tablet…computer…” He looked weakly but stubbornly at Xiao Chen, who was keeping him company and whose eye bags were almost hanging down to his chin.
Unable to dissuade this ailing tyrant, Xiao Chen had no choice but to resign himself to handing over the tablet connected to the old house's server, like handing over a bomb.
On the screen, Yin Shaoqing's consciousness curve had stabilized at a fairly active level, fluctuating around a certain point. Although there were still ups and downs, it was no longer a lifeless straight line, but rather had a clear and healthy rhythm. Backend data also showed that his core program was undergoing a "reboot self-check," his memory database was being "fragmented and restored," and external interaction interfaces were being "launched one after another."
Although the virtual avatar hasn't appeared yet, and the voice hasn't returned, there's no doubt—
Comrade Yin Shaoqing is switching from "deep sleep (near death) mode" back to "normal startup (awakening process"), and the progress bar is moving quite fast!
Jin Zhaoxuan stared at the vibrant, pulsating curve. The heart that had been pounding in his throat, almost choking him, finally settled heavily back down with a thud. He leaned back on the raised hospital bed, exhaled a long, deep breath, closed his dry eyes, and felt as if every bone in his body had been taken apart and put back together, but... it was worth it.
Just then, the ward door was suddenly pushed open with a "bang," and Liu Jianjun rushed in, carrying a heavy burden of lawsuits and anxiety, bringing in a gust of cold wind.
"Mr. Jin! You're finally awake! You scared me to death!" Liu Jianjun was initially delighted to see him with his eyes open, but his face immediately fell, and he lowered his voice, "Something terrible has happened! Trouble has come knocking!"
Jin Zhaoxuan immediately opened his eyes, his gaze returning to clarity: "Speak."
"The blueprints and documents in the box were preliminarily sorted and appraised overnight by Director Zhang and several invited senior experts. The conclusion was: immense value! Not only is it of extraordinary historical significance, but some of the technical ideas within are still relevant today! They discussed and planned to release a portion of the core content to a small group first, firstly to clarify the facts, and secondly to put pressure on Zhao Xinguo and his gang, cutting off their hopes." Liu Jianjun spoke at a rapid pace, almost like rap. "But somehow the news leaked out, and Zhao Xinguo and his backer, the Takeda family, reacted extremely strongly! Like cats whose tails had been stepped on!"
"What exactly did they do?" Jin Zhaoxuan's voice turned cold.
"Zhao Xinguo, that local tyrant, has used his 'network of connections' to put pressure on the relevant departments in the city!" Liu Jianjun was so angry that his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "He said that the ownership of those documents is 'unclear,' and may involve 'historical transnational technical disputes.' He demanded that all documents be sealed immediately, and that a joint team composed of 'Xin'an Industrial' and 'the relevant Japanese rights holders'—that is, the Takeda family—be formed to participate in the identification and handling! Isn't this blatant robbery?!"
"What about the Takeda clan? What have they done?"
“Even more insidious! Even more despicable!” Liu Jianjun’s voice was even lower, filled with anger. “They took the ‘high-end route,’ submitting so-called ‘rigorous historical research materials’ directly to the provincial government and even higher levels through diplomatic and commercial channels, claiming that Takahashi Nobusuke was ‘coerced’ into cooperating with Chinese technicians, and that the ‘core intellectual property rights’ of those technological achievements should belong to the original Japanese institution! Now they are demanding ‘legal reclaim’ and even implying that if it is not handled properly, it will affect the local investment environment and ‘international friendly relations’! They are turning black into white and blaming others!”
They really want to have their cake and eat it too!
Jin Zhaoxuan's eyes instantly turned icy, the weakness and fatigue he had shown earlier during his illness vanished, and he became like a drawn blade, exuding a cold, hard, and powerful aura once again.
"Director Zhang and the museum must be under a lot of pressure, right?"
“It’s more than just small! It’s like Mount Tai is pressing down on us!” Liu Jianjun said. “I heard that a leader from above personally gave instructions, demanding that it be handled with caution to avoid causing unnecessary international disputes. Director Zhang has been working himself to the bone, arguing his case, but… you know, sometimes, reason doesn’t work in the face of power. Now the museum has been ordered to temporarily suspend all publicity, research, and exhibition activities related to the box’s information, pending the so-called ‘joint investigation team’s’ ‘authoritative conclusion’.”
"A joint investigation team? Who's in charge?"
"The city is in charge, but the list of members... supposedly includes people from planning, commerce, and foreign affairs departments. Zhao Xinguo's company has also shoved in so-called 'specially invited experts,' and the Japanese side might even send 'observers' to attend." Liu Jianjun spat. "This is clearly a spoils-sharing party! Once the stuff is in their pockets, can you expect them to spit it out?"
Jin Zhaoxuan was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question: "How much do they actually know about Yin Shaoqing's existence? How well do they understand him?"
Liu Jianjun was taken aback: "You mean..."
“I suspect that their ultimate goal may never have been just the dead blueprints and old data in the box.” Jin Zhaoxuan’s eyes were sharp as a scalpel as he slowly analyzed, “What they really want is Yin Shaoqing himself—this ‘living’ ‘mobile database’ that carries all the original memories, technical details, and even the unsolved mysteries of that time! The box may just be bait to lure them in, or… it may be the ‘instruction manual’ they are determined to obtain after they have initially verified Yin Shaoqing’s astonishing value!”
Liu Jianjun gasped, a chill running down his spine: "You mean, all those underhanded tactics they used before, and their current all-out pressure campaign, were ultimately for..."
"They either force us to hand over the core assets voluntarily, or they create enough chaos and pressure to overwhelm us so they can seize or sabotage them," Jin Zhaoxuan said with certainty. "From Yin Shaoqing's unusually detailed and vivid live streams and museum projects, the Takeda family must already be highly suspicious of his 'extraordinary' nature. They may not understand Yin Shaoqing's true form, but they are absolutely certain that he possesses irreplaceable firsthand information. Zhao Xinguo, on the other hand, is a henchman driven by profit. He wants the land, and may have been offered substantial benefits by the Takeda family, thus becoming an accomplice."
"What do we do now?" Liu Jianjun asked anxiously, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Teacher Yin hasn't fully woken up yet, and you're not fully recovered either... those documents are about to be swallowed up by them through 'legal' means!"
Upon hearing this, Jin Zhaoxuan immediately threw off the thin blanket covering him and deftly removed the IV needle from the back of his hand (his movements were so fast that the nurses couldn't stop him). He endured the dizziness and weakness in his body, stood up while holding onto the bedside table, swayed slightly, and then steadied himself.
"They want to hold a joint investigation meeting? To conduct an 'authoritative assessment'?" Jin Zhaoxuan's voice was as cold as a Siberian frost. "Fine. Let them hold it. The time, the place, the list of attendees—it's up to them."
"Mr. Jin! Your body can't take it!" Liu Jianjun and Xiao Chen urged him at the same time.
“I won’t die.” Jin Zhaoxuan walked to the window, looking at the gloomy sky of the city outside, but his eyes were burning brightly. “The truth that Yin Shaoqing risked half his life to protect, and the hard work that Technician Liu entrusted to us with his life’s work, cannot be allowed to rot in the hands of these jackals.”
He turned around, his face showing no sign of illness, only a resolute gleam of desperation, as if he had burned his bridges and was ready to risk everything.
“Xiao Chen,” he instructed calmly, “immediately prepare the most comprehensive and impactful technical demonstration materials, highlighting the uniqueness, authority, and irreplaceability of ‘Teacher Yin’—as a globally leading AI model for realistic history—in historical scene reconstruction, technical detail interpretation, and cross-era interaction. Utilize all available resources to contact all authoritative media outlets, both domestically and internationally, that focus on industrial history, cultural heritage, and technological ethics, especially those that dare to speak the truth. Call Director Zhang and tell him to withstand the pressure; at the latest, the day after tomorrow, I will provide him, and everyone else, with an irresistible ‘solution’.”
"What are you going to do?" Liu Jianjun looked at him like this, feeling both worried and inexplicably feeling a surge of hot blood.
Jin Zhaoxuan walked back to the bedside, picked up the tablet displaying Yin Shaoqing's steady recovery curve, and gently ran his fingertips across the screen. A hint of indescribable tenderness flickered in the depths of his eyes, but it was instantly replaced by a firmer resolve. He raised his head, his tone resolute and unwavering:
"They want to hold a spoils-dividing meeting? We'll give them an unforgettable 'global launch event'."
"Until Yin Shaoqing fully wakes up and tells everything himself, I will protect this place and safeguard our 'assets' for him."
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