Chapter 430 The Importance of Life
The hall was silent.
A faint light flickered within the floating phantom giant, as if it was sensing and thinking.
[Go!] I shouted to Yan Zhen, [Go! !]
At the same time, I had activated the Trojan program that had been secretly woven into the game. Logically, it would have ejected Yan Zhen's consciousness beam out of this strange world the moment I activated it.
But Yan Zhen stood still.
Nothing happened.
My implant should have run. There is only one way this could happen...
"You don't think I didn't make any preparations when I knew you were here, do you?" Necromancer said, with a light and frivolous tone. "But it's no wonder. You are too weak now. So weak that my lower-level automatic program can easily disintegrate you. Please don't waste your energy."
"So you designed the explosion in my lab, right?" I said coldly, "The sudden appearance of the singularity, my accidental ejection to this planet, and even this child, were all part of your plan."
A light flashed on the Necromancer's empty face. "The explosion was indeed planned, but some of it was just the result of the accumulation of variables. For example, your key is actually inside the consciousness shell of this human toy."
"Key?" Yan Zhen asked. "What is it saying?" The boy reacted quickly. He was always very perceptive. "Is it talking about your fragment?"
"Fragments? That's the key to unlock the Forerunners' legacy information think tank." Necra Dragon said in a hypocritical tone that was almost humble, "That's the key of the son of the ancient gods, the Star Watcher. It was impossible for it to appear in the world, but due to the superposition of various variables, you accidentally obtained it."
Yan Zhen’s eyes widened.
"I do not understand."
"The great forerunners, the ancient gods, have an ancient command to control the think tank's information system. In words that your civilization can understand, it is a key, which cannot be copied and is unique." It sighed, "For a long time, the key has been under guard, and there has been no chance to peek. Until now, the key has finally escaped from its keeper amid the changes -"
【……】
"Mr. Air's accident was planned by you. He is the keeper of the key, and now the key has fallen into my hands." Yan Zhen understood quickly, "And you - Black Box will want to seize it. However, I don't quite understand why you want to go through so much trouble to drag me into this alien game? Instead of simply killing me or something like that." Yan Zhen had completely regained his composure at this time, and when he said "kill me", his expression didn't even waver at all.
It replied: "First, Mr. Air has been following you around and modifying your cognitive structure since he realized that the key is out of his control. There is no chance for him to intervene. Second, if killing you could take the key, your dear Mr. Air would have dismantled you on the first day. He would not show mercy. But the key has a self-protection program and is rooted in your real biological brain. Killing you will not take the key away, but will make the key fall into an even more uncontrollable variable state."
[Yan Zhen, this is not an inefficient way of beating around the bush, but the best solution in its calculations.] I said.
"What's the meaning?"
【The game in the other world is an agreement. This world has a set of self-consistent narrative rules. The achievements and tasks you complete in the game are actually fulfilling the agreement with it. You can use wonderful magic in the game to complete things that are impossible to complete in reality. Being able to pass all the levels is essentially accepting the rules and signing the agreement. This is essentially a contradiction. The more you understand the rules of the game, the more you seem to be able to control the game and successfully reach the ending or several hidden endings set for you by the game. But all of this is what the game designer originally wanted you to see. In other words, you think you are cracking the game, but in fact, it is the game that is controlling you and the game is controlling your actions.】
"The game is controlling me?"
[Yes.] I looked at Necromancer, [Well designed. You can't crack the think tank directly, but Yan Zhen has the key. So you remotely reorganized and compiled the information of the think tank's shell security firewall into this alien maze, using an easy-to-understand presentation method to disguise it as an interstellar alien game for ordinary citizens.]
The alien world is different from the material world. It is based on a series of complex codes. The maze is not a minesweeper game or PK competition as it appears on the surface. It is just that the Necromancer uses a special compilation method to turn it into a game. For example, there is a musical instrument called a piano on Laura. It has 36 black keys and 52 white keys. It is a very simple instrument, but behind these easy-to-understand keys is a complex hammer structure, a complex device composed of main beams, adjustment devices, starters and other structures. If you hit the keys in a certain order, you can get a rhythmic and beautiful piece of music. The Necromancer's alien maze is just like this. Behind its simplest form, it connects the security system of the Forerunner Think Tank and the quantum computing program composed of hundreds of thousands of consciousnesses. In this way, it silently deceived my eyes from the beginning and put Yan Zhen into the trap it set.
The Necromancer smiled and said, "Of course, I have taken this human's behavior into consideration. Your human toy is very hardworking. Thanks to him, the think tank's outer security firewall has been fully opened. If you had not been so disabled and degraded, you probably would not have noticed it until now."
Yan Zhen said: "The firewall has been opened?"
[Not yet. The bottom protective door has not been opened yet.] It was just a little bit short. If I hadn't jumped out in time to stop Yan Zhen, an irreversible disaster would have already occurred.
No, maybe it's irreversible now in a sense.
Necromancer said, “It will open soon.”
Yan Zhen frowned and said, "The key belongs to Mr. Air. I will not give it to you."
It seemed to be oblivious to Yan Zhen's declaration. I could feel its tendrils of thought firmly nailing down my remaining thought sequence. It was right. I was very weak now. Very weak.
"It has been a long time since we last met," it said, its tendrils of thought piercing me with mocking gentleness. "I know you have long since grown tired of your duties. After the passing of the Forerunners, the universe is now nothing more than a dark and painful place. But we, the most brilliant creations of the Forerunners, are qualified to define a new world. Only we have the right to inherit the legacy of the gods and realize their dreams..."
[Shut up, sinner.]
“Sinner?” Necra Dragon sighed, “No, I have always been loyal to the dream of the forerunners. The existence of the world’s laws should not be for endless nothingness. Let’s create a newer world. I have always hoped that you can become one of us.”
[If you were loyal to the forerunner's orders, you wouldn't be here at all. ]
"I just found a way to be freer." It replied, "Okay, I know that negotiations with you are doomed to fail, so now I will switch to your human toys."
Yan Zhen stared at it.
"Young man, do you remember the message you received before entering the maze?"
"What?"
"The physical dimension you are in is a realm cursed by a plague. This is real," said the Necradrake. "The suffering people are real, the queen is real, and their desire for help is also real."
"What do you want to say?"
"It is also true that you can save them." The Necradragon said, "You can become a true savior, as long as you go and push open the door at the bottom. All the suffering people on this planet will be saved."
Yan Zhen immediately replied: "You are lying."
"You can ask the air gentleman next to you."
Yan Zhen turned and looked at me.
[That is a real planet called Xiyiqi.] I replied, [This planet has the legacy of the forerunners. The current alien maze is compiled into the security protection system of the Xiyiqi legacy library. You have reached the last level.]
"The scene you just saw of people cheering with tears on their faces is also real in a sense. They have been longing for a savior to save them." The Necra Dragon said emotionally, "And you, just move your finger and push open that door..."
Before I could warn Yan Zhen, the boy answered simply: "No, I don't believe you."
"Oh? Are you planning to abandon the trillions of innocent lives in Xiyiqi?" asked the Dead World Dragon with interest.
Yan Zhen said: "I don't believe you. The key belongs to Mr. Air, and only he has the right to decide."
The lightning in the hall flickered like its smile.
The Dead Dragon said, "Okay. Humans don't really care about the life and death of creatures in distant galaxies. So let's try a more direct approach."
I realized what it was going to do, no, I should have known what it was going to do before that. Compared to the other ancestors of the Black Box Society, the Necromancer is a storyteller with a bad taste. It is keen on generating some small scripts based on calculations and performing them in a certain form. I have discovered the scam of using the alien game to induce Yan Zhen to open the security protection layer, so there is only one way to make Yan Zhen obey.
Lightning intertwined and danced wildly, turning into a series of flashing cages. In the dense network of thunder, lives were imprisoned. They were the participants of this alien game, Bai Lianlian, Song Jiarui, Fan Yingjie and the terminator.
Yan Zhen clenched his teeth.
It said excitedly: "On the planet Laura, there is a legend in an ancient local civilization that uses a feather on a scale to measure the weight of a life, and let the gods judge the final outcome of the soul. And now, the weight of these lives depends on you. The fate of those poor bugs in distant galaxies does not arouse your concern, so what about your classmates?"
Yan Zhen shouted angrily, "They have nothing to do with this incident!!"
"It's a good sentiment. Is the weight of the key in your heart worth betting on the lives you know?"
"Despicable!" Yan Zhen said, "You liar! When we entered the game, there was a rule that said no one's life would be in danger."
"This is the mechanism before the game is completed in the alien world. In this mechanism, they lost the game, and the game is over. According to the agreement, their lives are under my control. It was you who sent them to their death."
"fart!!"
"It is up to you to decide the importance of their lives."
"They were just involved by accident!! You want the key? Then let them go first!!"
The Dead Dragon said: "Do you think these people were randomly involved? No, before starting the game, each player is based on my choice. Why do there happen to be two girls who are very close and will never betray you, why do there happen to be a classmate who has a crush on you and a stranger?"
“Let them go!!”
"Come and judge the importance of their lives."
The four people in the cage were being held captive by the jumping electric spiral. Bai Lianlian was furious, trying in vain to grab the invisible cage of thunder with her arms, and she was still muttering, "You lied to me! You lied to Song Jiarui! Yan Zhen, you liar!!"
Yan Zhen opened his mouth to speak to her, but he found that her eyes were wandering in the air, as if she didn't see him at all.
"Their consciousness is immersed in the moment of being eliminated. This one, Bai Lianlian, is a girl from your next class. You don't have much contact with her, but you know what kind of girl she is. Even you once admired her very much."
In the second cage, Song Jiarui was sitting on the ground with her hands on her knees. She had a beautiful face and red eyes.
"This Song Jiarui is your classmate, the most beautiful girl in the class, and the goddess of all the boys. According to Laura's moral standards, her behavior is far better than the baseline. She even blamed herself at the moment of losing instead of hating you. She is so pure and innocent, but is her life more important than the other three?"
In the third cage, Fan Yingjie was sitting in the corner muttering to himself, "No, you are not Yan Zhen at all..."
"Fan Yingjie, it seems that the pretender gave him a big scare when he lost the game. Poor kid, he just sincerely wanted to be friends with you."
The Dead Dragon said in a good mood: "So, of these three classmates you are familiar with, who do you think should be abandoned first?"
“Let them go!!!”
"Or maybe the fourth one, an adult male who calls himself the Terminator. But he's actually a secret investigator of the Supervisory Eye lurking in Laura's disguise as an ordinary person. To be honest, there's nothing wrong with the alien game I designed, but there's still a little bug of the Supervisory Eye that crawled in. So I had to cram him in as well."
"The Eye of Supervision?"
"Yes. He wants to achieve merit and get promoted, fulfill his dream, and so on. He is a hard-working worker in the system. He has a pure belief, which is to protect Lola, the peace of the earth, and protect mankind. In other words, he is the unsung hero hidden in the dark described in your local entertainment novels." It said, "Then let's choose. Four people, four lives. If you don't open the bottom door in five seconds, I will take the life of one of them."
Damn it.
Yan Zhen looked at me as if asking for help.
I didn't respond to him.
