Chapter 140 System Battle
Where else can we find the so-called electronic ghost? The entire real-dimensional world is its consciousness.
It has always been there, always observing my every move, but I just can't feel it.
Just like in the real world, generally speaking, you can’t feel the existence of air, but it exists all the time.
Lin Guantang landed lightly on the ground and watched the villagers laughing and talking happily. Even a wild cat passing by was meowed and greeted, but it was completely unaware of his presence.
To them, I don't exist either.
Another figure landed beside him, with the same facial features as him, but looking much more mature and stable than him.
Of course, he is also much smarter than him. At least Lin Guantang doesn’t think he has the ability to tinker with the system.
At this moment, he looked at the group of villagers in front of him, and the attachment and relief in his expression were greater than that of a real person like himself.
Lin Guantang spoke:
"You forced me to kill my best friend with my own hands because you wanted me to be forever trapped in the condemnation of my conscience, forever trapped in a false and cyclical world, or afraid to face the real world;"
"You made me break my fingers and break my vows, suffer the punishment of hunger, and see all the evil people and evil deeds, so that I would hate the real human world;"
"You made me have a perfect emotional world in order to make me indulge in a false fantasy world;"
"You altered my memory, chaining together many worlds, making me think I was back in the real world. I shouldn't have been able to distinguish between truth and falsehood. After you chained together even more worlds, there's a high chance I'll never be able to tell the difference, and become a ghost wandering the world like you."
"But your last two worlds are full of loopholes. Huo Shizhen shouldn't have appeared at that time, nor should he have been so friendly to me on our first meeting. The world before me doesn't even allow me to participate. It's like I'm immersing myself in a film."
"And, in that most perfect world, if those characters had been more proactive in trying to keep me, perhaps I wouldn't have been able to escape. But they did nothing. They just watched me see through the illusion and left without even a word of explanation."
"Are you soft-hearted and decided to let me go so easily in the perfect world, and even just give me a half-hearted break in the last two worlds? Or is it because—"
He turned his head to look at the person standing next to him - no, it would be better to describe him as an electronic ghost, since he was used to using this word anyway.
Lin Guantang looked at the electronic ghost and slowly said his final conclusion:
"You are increasingly unable to freely control the system world, but I have always acted in accordance with your rules in this world. There is no situation that you cannot control, so—"
"What Huo Shizhen did has shaken your foundation, requiring you to devote more of your consciousness to supporting the world he destroyed, so you can't take care of me, right?"
Electronic Ghost did not refute Lin Guantang's previous words, but only responded at the end:
"It seems that asking you to separate different worlds was a wrong decision. I fell into your trap. Before coming here, you had already agreed that you would attract my attention and make him destroy the True Dimension World."
Lin Guantang shrugged lightly, feeling helpless and not knowing what to say:
"I just know him well enough."
It is enough to understand what a cold-blooded and ruthless person Huo Shizhen is.
Just like in the first dinosaur world, Lin Guantang’s own choice is to follow the rules of the world to seek a way to survive and find loopholes to pass through the world.
But Huo Shizhen is different. If he is trapped in a virtual world, he will break out as quickly as possible.
What is the fastest speed?
Of course, it would destroy the world directly.
Lin Guantang gave an answer, but did not deny the electronic ghost's guess. However, knowing this, the electronic ghost did not seem surprised and had no extra emotions - it was no longer human, and it would be abnormal to have emotions.
But it doesn't stop it from saying something biased:
"He is essentially a demon who will destroy the world without restraint. It's just that the rules of the real world have restrained his devilish heart. Do you still think he is a good person?"
Lin Guantang nodded:
"That's why we have to go back to the real world, right?"
Only in the real world, Huo Shizhen is the imperial weapon that protects the world, not the silver-haired devil that destroys the world.
So after all, the ultimate goal is to leave here.
The electronic ghost seemed to think for a few minutes before saying:
"Forcing you to stay here is not impossible."
"Becoming part of the void and staying here?"
At this point, Lin Guantang didn't think there was any need to chat here anymore, nor did he think it could be so cruel as to allow the entire Zhenwei World Cup to be destroyed just for two people:
"That's not worth it. If I keep insisting, he might destroy all the worlds here just to find me. Who knows."
The electronic ghost laughed:
"So you think he destroyed the world so quickly because he loves you and wants to find you?"
Lin Guantang tilted his head and thought for a moment:
"Even if I say that there is such a reason, it wouldn't be considered presumptuous."
The electronic ghost chuckled in an ambiguous manner, and its eyes fell on him, but with a hint of pity.
Before Lin Guantang could confirm whether it was his hallucination - why should he pity him.
The voice of the electronic ghost sounded in his mind.
"Since you want to see him, then let you see him."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the surrounding mountains, rivers, villagers and villages merged into one, like colorful ink marks on glass being washed by water, and slid down, leaving behind a pure white cloud.
Before this world completely dissipated, Lin Guantang heard a voice:
"You were born into this world for me, weren't you?"
A voice that was almost identical to his own sounded from all directions in the west. The content of the voice made Lin Guantang stop where he was and look at the two people standing in the middle of the blank space that gradually appeared after the thick ink was washed away.
One is Huo Shizhen and the other is an electronic ghost.
Lin Guantang thought for a moment that this sentence was said to himself, but the electronic ghost's next words made him confirm that it was actually said to Huo Shizhen:
"The reason I fell in love with Lin Guantang was simply because he and I had the same face and inherited the same genes, which triggered your original source of life."
"Take a good look at this face. Do you really have the heart to hurt it?"
Huo Shizhen stood there motionless, holding a sharp blade with flashing light in his hand, as if his words had really hit the mark.
Lin Guantang also stared at the scene in front of him in silence, motionless, as if he was really affected by these words. Something in his mind was eroding his consciousness, and he kept saying over and over again:
"Don't you understand yet? He was created to kill the electronic ghost in front of you. That was his only innate mission, not because of you that he decided to take the risk."
"It's just a substitute."
"He never loved you from the beginning. It was just that when he saw you, his instinctive reaction was triggered, and he mistakenly took the murderous intention as special care and love."
…
What you love deeply, what you rely on, what you firmly believe in, turns out to be nothing more than an illusion of light and shadow reflected as a substitute. Is there any reality in the world more painful and cruel than this?
Lin Guantang shook his body twice, put his hand on his eyebrows, and felt dizzy. He didn't want to believe these words, but he couldn't control the unknown shaking of his heart.
Think about it carefully. The electronic ghost has even completely revealed his past to him, so why would he lie about something like this?
Once the seed of doubt is planted, even if there is a complete explanation later, it is like a complete mirror split into two halves. No matter how tightly it is put together later, the crack will always exist.
But there is still room for remedy.
——Although it is not a forced remedy because it is not true.
At least Huo Shizhen had no intention of commenting on such nonsense.
Even if he wanted to respond, he would only say "go to hell" or something derived from these two words.
There is no need to say any unnecessary nonsense to the enemy, unless you really want to hear his sharp tongue.
But he had already sensed the presence of Lin Guantang in this void space——
In order to provide some unnecessary protection, he patiently gave further explanations.
Although the explanation sounded more like a mockery.
“When a man is about to die, his words are good; when a system is about to die, the consequences are endless.”
Huo Shizhen spoke with undisguised contempt in his words:
"You've abandoned your human credentials, and your final choice of means to defeat the enemy is still to use human language to instigate. It seems that you are not only a traitor to humanity, but also a disgrace to the system."
Everything is just a desperate struggle at the end of the road.
***
How long will it take to destroy the world?
Just one minute.
Lin Guantang couldn't get whatever he wanted simply because he was a completely human being. When he entered the virtual world, he was no different from other humans—at least he couldn't create objects out of thin air.
Huo Shizhen, however, is innately bound to the system.
Even if he entered the Fugan area and the imperial system was forcibly shut down, when his consciousness awakened in the virtual world constructed by the system, his own system would also be activated again.
This prevents him from being assimilated by the world and thinking that he is a part of the virtual world, nor does he think that he has just traveled through time. He observes everything as a system, and it is clear to him that everything is an illusion.
Perhaps we should be thankful that many of those who initially built the Y system had experience with the X system, and escaped from the Fugan District with a large amount of data to devote themselves to the research of the Y system.
During this process, there were many plans and sacrifices that are too complicated to describe in detail at this moment.
Or to put it simply, system Y is a seed plucked from system X, and it is easy to integrate into system X.
But the Y system is different from Lilith. Lilith is just a branch extending from the X system, while the Y system is the result of the efforts of the elites of the entire empire.
A genius who transcends the times, or no one else can compete with him for ten or twenty years;
But a genius who transcends the times chooses to permanently stagnate at a certain stage and chooses to maintain the virtual world. The subsequent maintenance and development in the real world is just ordinary geniuses in a region. It is not certain who is stronger than the system pushed forward by the geniuses of the empire for decades.
In a sense, the Y system is actually the ladder to heaven that is built by everyone.
But Huo Shizhen didn't intend to let all this become an illusion.
If the entire empire is unable to defeat one person, wouldn't that be the most ridiculous thing in the world?
He tried to sense quietly but could not feel Lin Guantang's presence.
This might be a good thing. Being forcibly divided into different worlds at least means that Lin Guantang doesn't have to witness the destruction of the world with his own eyes.
Although he had planned it in advance, Lin Guantang might not stop Huo Shizhen's actions, but he could not stop him from feeling sad for these destroyed worlds.
Now, don't think about that.
Huo Shizhen was born in the apocalypse of zombies. With a wave of his hand, the zombie virus swept through everything, and the world became a carnival of the virus. With another wave of his hand, the virus had no living organisms to parasitize, and they devoured each other completely. Finally, the whole world returned to complete death.
He landed in a world where ghosts and monsters had revived, and simply created a gigantic gluttonous ghost, which devoured all the ghosts and monsters along with all the living beings in one gulp. The gluttonous body filled the entire world, and then with a bang—the glutton and the world were blown up.
He landed on...
He landed in a cultivation world, but before he could make a move, the world consciousness issued a stern warning to him:
[Huo Shizhen! The Imperial system created you to protect humanity, not to murder it. These innocent lives have tragically perished in your slaughter. When you leave Fugan District, you will be completely banned!]
"It's just a bunch of data, how can it be called life?"
Huo Shizhen showed no mercy and responded without delaying his quest to destroy the world:
"Then all game players are butchers with blood on their hands. However, the Empire doesn't prohibit games that kill people or monsters; that means it's permitted."
"If the Empire allows, I will carry it out."
He raised his hand, and the sky collapsed, and countless rivers of water poured down. He pointed downward, and the ground cracked, and countless fires from the earth's core surged up.
Countless lives were wiped out in an instant, and the world did not even have time to quickly produce a genius to save the world before it completely fell into utter silence and became a realm of water and fire.
The legendary link was forcibly closed, but a world was completely destroyed. He fell into nothingness, and with his eyes closed, he stepped directly into the next world nearby.
Destroy, destroy, descend, and fall.
As the cycle repeats itself, countless worlds are reduced to ashes.
The system sent him a series of warnings—system X and system Y.
[Warning! Irreversible damage has occurred... Stop...]
[Warning! This will be forced to stop... Please carefully consider whether to confirm... Confirm to continue...]
————
[Destroying the world will cause damage to the True Dimension World, but the system power you carry will also be continuously consumed, and this loss is irreversible. Perhaps before you can leave the Fugan District, you will die here completely.]
Is it worth it, whether to find him or to destroy me?
[Is it really without any effect? Murdering these living lives.]
"I know what you are planning, just as you guessed the purpose of my coming, but are you really sure—"
A sneer appeared on Huo Shizhen's lips, and what was reflected in his eyes was not blood and flesh, but flickering light.
"If we fight, would I care more about these meaningless electronic garbage?"
When we are in the world, from a human perspective, we see vibrant life. When we are outside the world, from a system perspective, all we see are fragments of consciousness.
As for another problem with the system -
The mission must be carried out, that is his innate mission, and death cannot interrupt it;
And to find his beloved... that is what his soul is attached to, the source of his life, a yearning that even death cannot stop, no matter how many worlds separate them.
***
Everything is just a nesting doll of mutual speculation.
Huo Shizhen and Lin Guantang came here and chose to enter the real-dimensional world. They were not forced to enter for the purpose of rescuing their companions - at least not completely forced.
Part of the reason was that they had to take the initiative to find the electronic ghost - this was expected by the real-dimensional world and they prepared for it.
The True Dimension World wanted Lin Guantang and Huo Shizhen to come, and specially prepared a special reception for them - this was also within the expectations of Huo and Lin.
In the final analysis, who will ultimately be the winner is the real winner of the nesting dolls -
Lin and Huo were lost in the real-dimensional world, and their consciousness was completely plundered;
Or they saw through the truth of the real-dimensional world and "caught" the so-called electronic ghost;
It just depends on who cares less about the irreversible losses in the system battle, and who cares less about these worlds and the human consciousness in these worlds.
Generally speaking, the electronic ghost certainly cares more about the world, while Huo Shizhen should care more about these human consciousnesses. This is a 50-50 bet.
The electronic ghost is not something that really exists, but the entire real-dimensional world - this is the winning condition hidden outside his equal gambling game.
But Huo Shizhen is far more ruthless than the electronic ghost - based on its own perspective as a system that abides by the rules, and from Huo Shizhen's birth, it judges that his principles and bottom line are to protect humanity.
But it has been working on the system for too long and has forgotten that humans love to break the rules the most.
——This is the way Huo Shizhen will never lose in a seemingly equal gambling game.
In the real world, he has neither the mood nor the time to care about innocent people, let alone persecution;
In the virtual world, he would not care about the existence of these fragments of consciousness.
In particular, he understood very well that the death of the world of nothingness represented the awakening of the real world, so there was nothing to worry about.
He is used to seeing life and death, and will not be shaken by the false death in the virtual world.
When he enters a world, he transforms into the most lethal weapon in that world, then destroys the world and moves on to the next world.
The True Dimension World has been operating for many years, and the number of worlds that exist is endless. Even if a world occasionally faces a crisis of destruction, it is quite common. They determine whether it still has value in existence, and then take appropriate measures...
Whether it is the electronic ghost supporting the real-dimensional world or the real human being in charge of related business in real life, it is not difficult.
But that is just an occasional world declining, or at most two or three, or three or four worlds suffering varying degrees of destruction. It can also respond with ease according to the specific situation.
But this kind of situation has never happened before. In less than an hour, countless worlds collapsed instantly. With Huo Shizhen's proficiency, he could destroy one or two worlds in a minute. The chain reaction caused by that was something the real-dimensional world could not cope with.
The speed of repairing the restriction is far less than the speed of destruction and collapse——
It wasn't just the electronic ghosts that were stretched thin. The business people in the real world, looking at the large blood-red warning in front of them, went from urgently pleading with their fingers flying at the beginning to sitting slumped at their workstations with lifeless eyes. They didn't even know how to save the situation and were just in a daze.
As the virtual world collapsed at a rapid pace, the real world also caused countless disturbances.
According to the basic rules of the real-dimensional world, once the experiencer dies in the world, he will wake up in reality;
In other words, with the destruction of a world, countless people are forced to leave the virtual world.
Or they sign an agreement to automatically jump to another world, but the world they want to jump to collapses before the jump is completed, making it impossible to complete normal operations. They are either randomly teleported to other remote worlds or forcibly awakened. Even worse, they get lost in the cracks between the worlds.
Because the electronic ghosts used too much energy to repair the destroyed world, the energy to maintain the real world was in short supply, leading to countless chain reactions.
In less than an hour, [True Dimension World Collapsed], [System X Collapsed], [The End of the Fugan District Has Arrived], and countless other related terms dominated the headlines of all social media platforms.
It can even be said that wherever there are hot terms available for viewing and searching, this incident has completely taken over the position.
[The True Dimension World has gone crazy. Is it planning to close down? I've entered seven worlds in a row, and I've died in all seven. I'm so pissed I'm laughing. I'm just kidding.]
[I think there's something wrong with System X. All the smart devices in the area have stopped working. Just now, a robot suddenly started dancing in front of us, and then they all collapsed to the ground and didn't move. It was terrifying.]
[It's been an hour...are you still not going to fix it...?]
[It's been three hours, dear. Not only has the original one not been repaired, but countless worlds have been destroyed.]
[Coordinates: Fugan District, the True Dimension World building is fully lit, the Tower of Babel on the Sea is forcibly closed, and tourists are not allowed to enter or exit. Even the market has been forcibly closed. It feels like something big is going to happen tonight.]
[I was so moved that I cried. The True Dimension World clearly allows you to rob money directly, but it also allows you to choose your own death world. Who wouldn’t be moved after seeing this?]
[What the hell are you doing here! Damn, I clearly chose the highest price and was automatically redirected to the prosperous era to become an emperor, but instead I'm sent to a primitive world to fight tigers with a stick! True Dimension World, you're retarded! Give me back my money! @True Dimension World]
I don't know where I am. I woke up in a freezer, and there was a bloody smell. It felt like a slaughterhouse. I finally managed to sneak out...True Dimension World, tell me, what did you do to my body? @True Dimension World @True Dimension World @True Dimension World
[True Dimensional World, I'm going to kill you! @True Dimensional World! I took out loans from over a dozen lenders, and only chose you to permanently stay in the virtual world because I trusted you. Who told you to forcefully wake me up? Will you pay me back? Do you know what the interest rate is? I'm going to kill you! @True Dimensional World]
[Pay back! Pay back! Pay back!]
【Closed down! Closed down! Closed down!】
…
[You just lost the gaming experience, but we in the Fugan area are really going to die.]
[Is there anyone who can help the people of Fugan District? QAQ, the power and water have been out for hours. I wonder if the whole district will collapse and die.]
I'm really about to cry. How could this happen? Today should be a lively anniversary celebration. How could this happen?
That giant spider is right above our building! If it collapses, our entire building will be crushed to death! Everyone in the building has already run out for shelter.
[Thanks to System X's hidden self-protection feature, even if it completely stops, whether it's the giant spider or the elevator, it will default to stopping safely on the ground before completely shutting down... Hehehe. However, the activation of this self-protection program also means that System X is truly doomed this time.]
Is this the end of the world in the Fugan District?... System X has been stable for decades, yet it was destroyed in an instant, leaving no chance for reaction.
[What about the Imperial Capital System? Can’t the Imperial Capital System be connected to the Sugan District?]
[No, dear. It's your Sub-Gan District X system that refuses to connect to the Imperial Capital system. Even if we manually prepare for the connection on-site, it will take several days.]
[The suicide note is already being prepared...]
…
The chaos in the real world cannot affect people in the virtual world.
There was dead silence.
After a long silence, Huo Shizhen spoke again with ease:
"It's undeniable that one of the purposes of creating the Imperial Capital System was to counter System X, but other purposes are equally important. You can't even be ranked as the most important purpose."
"Besides, if you really think that the purpose of creation was to deal with you, and that I can't forget you because I'm in love with you, then you might as well die."
In the end, he still said these two words.
Then, in a rather casual tone, he explained the reason and offered sincere suggestions:
"After all, almost all the people who created the system are dead. You should go to the land of the dead and love them."
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