TBR CH255.1

“Why haven’t I seen the World Consciousness?” You Lin asked.

The human had participated in the chat at The Wanderers’ Home for a while, helping them set up their base. Soon, he walked over to a less crowded corner. Here, the AI was reinforcing the base’s defenses in its own way.

Charon wanted to ask the same question.

He paused, swallowing his doubt. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen it since we arrived… Let’s wait a bit longer. It should appear at the appointed time.”

The human shrugged and said with a smile, “You seem to trust it quite a bit.”

“I believe it’s worthy of trust,” Charon said. “It preserved my consciousness when I was at my most vulnerable. And besides, our goals are now completely aligned.”

“And what if it suddenly betrays us?”

The corners of the human’s lips ticked up again, but his eyes were cold. “Then wouldn’t all our efforts up to this point have been for nothing?”

The response he received was a hand gently landing on his shoulder.

“Why would you think that?”

Charon didn’t argue with his viewpoint, as if he fully accepted it. He simply bent down and quickly sat beside the human.

“You think it’s impossible? Little AI, if you trust the wrong person, it’s easy to be doomed forever. I know this better than anyone. Do you completely understand everyone around us? That big guy, and that Bohemian woman, why did they come to help? Fine, maybe it’s out of kindness, but when it comes to a choice of whether or not to survive, it’s hard for anyone to never betray. Anyone can betray.”

As the human spoke, he felt his fingertips tremble and grow hot. His words were radical, but when he met Charon’s eyes, which were as placid and indifferent as a frozen lake, he pushed those boiling emotions back down, like charcoal being pressed into snow. He gave a slight smile.

“Except you. I know that. I wouldn’t really go testing the limits of human nature.”

Everyone has something they hold most important in their heart. For some, it’s life itself. For others, life can be a bargaining chip, easily discarded. If you use what a person values most as leverage, few can truly resist the temptation. Fortunately, You Lin didn’t need them to make that choice.

Since that time, the human had changed a lot, yet it was as if he hadn’t changed at all.

Following his gaze, Charon looked toward the busy members of The Wanderers’ Home.

These people planned to build a small base here, then explore this desolate world in batches. To say that a dead god was buried beneath such a barren junkyard was something no one would necessarily believe. But among the heaps of garbage, there might be a clue to the so-called “Golden Fleece.”

Although the members of “The Wanderers’ Home” had been dragged into this mess, You Lin decided to avoid letting them participate directly as much as possible. This also gave them time to discuss the instance mission. When it came to the final moment, it would still be just Charon, You Lin, and the World Consciousness.

“Where is Hugo?” Charon suddenly asked.

He wasn’t worried about the World Consciousness; the black book had its own ways of entering the instance. But as he surveyed the situation, he felt a sense of incongruity out of nowhere. No matter how he reviewed his own programming, he couldn’t find the slightest error. Therefore, he had to seek confirmation from an external source.

“He seemed to have gone to the stream by himself,” the human said nonchalantly, recalling from memory. “That last battle was too dangerous. He said he needed some time to himself.”

“I’ll go take a look.”

“Don’t scare him,” You Lin said with a blink.

“His courage is actually quite impressive.”

“Is it?” This was a genuine question. You Lin looked as though he hadn’t noticed at all, which, considering how Hugo reacted every time he saw him, was understandable. “Hmm. Well, little AI, you go have a look. I won’t go. I’m afraid he’ll be even more shaken if he sees me.”

Charon stood up, ready to head toward the stream, but the human tugged at the corner of his clothes.

The black-haired, black-eyed human revealed a familiar smile and said slowly, “I seem to recall a patch of wildflowers growing by this stream… sky-blue, they’d match your eyes perfectly. Darling, could you pick a bouquet for me?”

It seemed to be the first time You Lin had called him “darling” since they confirmed their relationship.

The AI paused for a moment, then nodded. His irises were ice-blue, and even the tips of his hair had a faint blue tint. To compare these details, so carefully crafted by his designers, to wildflowers was perhaps too superficial.

However, looking into the human’s eyes, he could find no reason to refuse.

There was no patch of flowers by the stream.

At least, not near the square rock where the brown-haired boy was sitting. Hugo stared dejectedly at the stream, which reflected his face. Unremarkable eyes, an indistinct nose… and suddenly, Charon appearing from behind, and his own lips instantly draining of color.

“I-I’ll be right over.”

Hugo sucked in a sharp breath, stood up, and stuffed something into his sleeve. His movement was so abrupt that the object, which had been securely placed, suddenly fell from his cuff. The priceless pocket watch nearly made intimate contact with the ground, but fortunately, the AI snatched it up in time.

To him, something was now more important than this watch.

The AI keenly sensed this.

“Thank you so much,” Hugo said, taking the watch chain himself, his gaze never meeting Charon’s. “They must be looking for me. I shouldn’t have been resting on my own for so long. Good thing I’m quick, I should still be able to help a little. Excuse me, please let me pass—”

“No one is looking for you yet.”

Charon didn’t move. His cool voice entered Hugo’s ears. “What were you doing here just now?”

Hugo held his breath, feeling the AI’s gaze was like a blade of ice, piercing through his thoughts and laying bare everything he was thinking. He lowered his head, and in his peripheral vision, he saw that the stream behind him had begun to ripple. He had probably kicked a small pebble into the water with his last two steps.

His heart was beating faster and faster.

For a moment, he almost blurted everything out. Bearing a secret alone was too painful. If he could just speak of those terrible, unspeakable secrets, he would surely feel much lighter.

“I wasn’t doing anything.”

Hugo forced a smile, compelling himself to meet Charon’s gaze. “I was just a bit nervous, so I came to see the scenery. It’s rare to find a quiet place like this in this instance. Don’t look at me like that. Even if I don’t usually seem that proper, I actually yearn for places like this.”

The AI tilted its head. “I understand.”

When he wasn’t with You Lin, their leader was completely aloof. Considering he was an AI, this was reasonable. The Wanderers’ Home had once held a fierce debate over whether their boss had uniquely fallen for a robot and succeeded in his pursuit, or if the leader had suddenly had an emotional awakening and won over the mentally unstable human.

In any case, to outsiders, Charon’s emotional module was something of a Schrödinger’s cat.

“Are you still afraid?”

Hugo heard the AI before him ask. “You seem very unsettled right now.”

Charon exposed his current state of mind so directly, almost cruelly, without any beating around the bush or warmth. “What are you hiding?”

His heart pounded like a drum, and the brown-haired human could barely maintain the smile on his face. He couldn’t hear any external sounds. The distant conversations, the murmuring water, the sound of wind shaking the branches—all were drowned out by his violent heartbeat. In his extreme tension, he couldn’t even move a finger.

Then, something else sounded, a “voice” speaking directly in his mind.

“Idiot,” the other party cursed him in anguish, then composed itself. “Didn’t I tell you? You don’t need to put yourself in such a dangerous position. You can act differently than usual, but you have to be natural. This time it doesn’t matter, I can help you resolve it, but what about next time? Now, do as I say.”

“But I—”

—want to tell the truth.

Even though it was just a thought in his mind, Hugo still couldn’t say it out loud.

No, I can’t let everyone know now. Right now, I don’t know who I can trust and who I should suspect. Even though he knew this voice in his head couldn’t truly monitor all his thoughts, he still felt as if he were being held in its palm.

This voice, which had started as a whisper, had become fully tangible after entering the instance.

He entered the instance and drew the Aphrodite card, which should have had nothing to do with him.

Hugo still clearly remembered being cornered deep in the woods by bloody, mutated monsters. He had desperately tried to throw the card away, but to no avail.

Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty in Greek mythology, the object of universal admiration. Her suitors were countless, stretching from one end of the temple floor to the end of the red carpet outside. She was radiant and unparalleled.

“The one favored by Aphrodite will receive an ability. He will attract all that is savage and violent.”

To be honest, he was prepared to sacrifice himself, but that didn’t mean he was willing to die so wretchedly.

It was then that the voice in his head spoke. The voice granted him an ability, one that could completely reverse the terrible rules of the card. At least, on the verge of death, Hugo couldn’t bring himself to ignore it.

The monsters no longer tried to kill him.

Not only did the monsters not kill him, but they even offered him their blood and flesh, gifting him their agile steps and the ability to fly.

Hugo, pale with fright, simply ran without looking back—using their abilities, no less. There was a certain ill-timed humor to it; even the voice in his head snorted in disdain. In that moment, he realized that the one speaking in his mind was the legendary System.

What he needed to do next should have been obvious.

The brown-eyed boy was never one to be persuaded by a small favor. Charon and You Lin were his saviors, and he knew how he should take responsibility. So he straightforwardly set off a signal flare so they could find him quickly before he ran into danger again.

Optimistically, perhaps someone would know how to drive this voice out of his head.

The System said, “I have chosen you. Rejoice. From now on, you are the luckiest person in the infinite world.”

Hugo silently thought, “Can this thing be removed like a brain parasite?”

While waiting for Charon and You Lin to arrive, he should have just played along. After all, their initial plan included the possibility of the System trying to bribe one of them when it ran out of options. Hugo didn’t consider himself a brave person, but he had still been chosen.

“Are you willing to bear any and all risks that may occur?” You Lin had once stood before him and asked. “This is very dangerous. You will encounter unpredictable difficulties. I can’t guarantee what you will experience, but I will understand any choice you make. No matter what you decide, I will express my sincere gratitude.”

“Of course,” Hugo had said excitedly.

It was the first time the human had thanked him so solemnly. This was a thank you from “The Ghost.” As he held the badge on his chest and raised it high, overcome with excitement, he swore to himself that he would follow their established plan no matter what happened.

But the System sneered, seeming to have guessed his thoughts.

“I haven’t told you yet,” it said then, its voice cold and beguiling, its mechanical tone hissing like a serpent’s tongue. “This was supposed to be a secret, but it’s time you knew—”