TBR CH259

You Lin felt like the corridor would never end.

He had a bit of a headache—it was hard to say when it started. Maybe this place was just low on oxygen.

The pain dully sliced through his nerves. The glaring lights made the corridor appear perfectly straight, but in his vision, a few imperceptible cracks had appeared. He glanced at the profile of the person beside him, seeing only a hard jawline and a sliver of ice-blue revealed beneath long eyelashes. The human collected himself and said nothing.

Was this the right path?

He had memorized it completely from the plan, but after walking for so long, his head suddenly started to spin again, and he was a little confused. So he might as well let Charon lead the way; a brain made of data couldn’t possibly misremember.

Of course, Charon had not made a mistake.

One, two, three. A little lighter, a little heavier. Over and over. If not for the slight disarray in You Lin’s footsteps, the AI would never have noticed the extent to which the human was affected.

He held his head slightly low, his back ramrod straight. Beneath his black hair were a pair of black eyes that showed no sign of anything unusual. Sensing Charon’s gaze on him, the human curved his lips into a smile that seemed to say, “I’m fine.”

Bang—

In the instant their eyes met, something shot out from the blind spot around the corner ahead, exploding in mid-air and scattering into a shower of fragments.

You Lin’s hand, pulling the trigger, showed no hesitation, no pause. Bang, bang, two more shots. Charon pulled him back a step.

“Careful, it’s a K40-type killing robot.”

“K40-type,” You Lin recited the relevant description by reflex, a feather-shaped blade having nearly severed his trigger finger just a moment ago. “The one with wings? No wonder we didn’t run into anything before. They were all waiting for us here.”

He fired several more shots, then suddenly became wary.

Emerging from the end of the corridor was a G28 series killing robot, nicknamed the Pangolin. Its greatest threat to intruders was not its attack, but the thick shell on its back, which was filled with explosives that would ignite on contact with fire, destroying both friend and foe.

You Lin pursed his lips, pulled out a dagger from somewhere, and dodged its attack. The moment he pried open the battery panel on the robot’s back, it instantly stopped struggling. The human could already feel the faint smell of nitrate on his fingertips.

He reached out to protect Charon behind him.

“You go first,” You Lin said. “Go to the Central Control Room. Leave this to me.”

Behind him, a dark light flickered in Charon’s pupils.

“Can you handle it?” he asked. The human gave him a look as if to say, ‘What kind of stupid question is that?’, nonchalantly spinning the dagger between his fingers. The floor was littered with the remains of robots. Standing in the middle of it all, You Lin exuded a murderous aura, looking like a veritable god of slaughter.

If Charon weren’t the culprit currently invading his system, he might have actually been fooled by this display.

The AI pursed his lips.

“Then, give me the key you’re holding.”

“Don’t we need to wait for that Black Book?” You Lin muttered under his breath, kneeling on the ground and casually dispatching two smaller robots that were approaching. “Fine, fine. I don’t trust that Black Book, but it’s not like I don’t trust you. It’s fine to skip the troublesome steps.”

The human heard the sound of blood flowing in his own veins. It wasn’t because the world had become quiet, but because his migraine was flaring up badly. Of course, it wasn’t yet at a level that would affect his normal actions; this was at most a physical discomfort.

He stood up and walked toward Charon. Behind him was a scene of utter devastation. Before him, the AI stood quietly in the empty corridor, his metallic silver hair the same color as the searing lightbulbs.

Beautiful, focused blue eyes.

You Lin would kill for those eyes, then wait right here for him to return.

He stood on his tiptoes, getting close to the other’s ear: “I’ll tell you, Little AI, it’s…”

The Central Control Room was actually just around the next corner.

They had indeed taken many detours.

During this process, Charon had usurped the System’s authority and attempted to read You Lin’s mind. In the real world he had once belonged to, You Lin, like other players, was a dying soul. The System’s existence allowed their souls to be represented as data to a certain extent.

The closer one got to the center of the plane, the more control could be exerted. The discomfort You Lin was feeling was the adverse reaction caused by being forcibly analyzed.

However, he was, after all, a living human being.

The human’s data refreshed at an incredible speed—countless thoughts, a tangled mess of self-awareness, flashes of the past appearing like lightning. Charon opened his eyes, his face impassive, feeling as if he had read a huge pile of useless things—such as feelings of love, fragments of romance, an obsession with his eyes and hair—and even some over-the-top fantasies. In those fantasies, he saw himself overcome with passion.

The only thing worth noting was the key.

He ultimately failed to find the key in the human’s mind.

The complexity of human thought made deconstructing him a difficult task. But when You Lin told him the string of numbers himself, he had confirmed it was not a lie. The AI’s footsteps glided across his familiar territory. Every screen emanated a shimmering blue light, his silver hair melting into the glow, dissolving into countless data fragments. On the central screen, an image from a monitor in the research institute was being displayed.

A black book lay alone on the floor.

It was a live feed, though it could perhaps be mistaken for a photograph.

This seemed to be the only trace left of that war in this dimension.

As the “god” of this world, Charon could hear the sounds of the battle between the System and the World Consciousness, but he had no intention of going to take a look. He simply placed his hand on the screen before him, like a ripple spreading across a lake.

The Central Control Room was the highest technological achievement left by the past civilization. Even the System had only managed to possess it, not fully understand its existence.

Invisible threads extended from Charon as their center, connecting to countless planes, planes that were either already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. The humans who once lived on them were now in a precarious state. To protect humanity—Charon had once accepted such a directive; he was entirely shaped by it. All of humanity, an entire civilization, a vast concept.

Was there a once-and-for-all solution?

Charon called up the command input interface. This was not a common page; it involved something more fundamental—so it also took time to load.

The AI closed his eyes, leaning halfway against a machine chassis, his light-colored eyelashes perfectly still. The System sent back a message, telling him to be ready to act at any time. It seemed the World Consciousness had completely fallen into its trap. But a trap alone was not enough, just as the story wouldn’t end with foolish birds falling into a large pit under a wooden board.

The end of the story should be the spikes at the bottom of the pit, the hunter’s feast… the death of a heart.

The System would not be satisfied until the World Consciousness was completely gone.

Strings of golden symbols appeared on the screen, the symbols themselves trembling slightly as they arranged themselves.

So, what he had to do was no different from usual. Usually, it was about connecting different worlds; this time, it was about connecting different dimensions to deconstruct a higher-dimensional being. The secret to high-low dimension conversion was held by the Black Book, which had then transcribed and stored the key in three parts.

Their plan, in simple terms, was this: Charon would deconstruct the System into data that the core computer could understand. With the Black Book’s cooperation, they would lure the System into a trap and completely erase its existence.

But now, it was the Black Book that was about to be erased.

Charon lowered his gaze. Not a flicker of pity crossed his snow-mountain-like eyes, only indifference.

Not being able to get the key from the Black Book was troublesome, but having two complete parts was enough. The rest just required trial and error. The World Consciousness probably hadn’t realized that in the face of a supercomputer’s terrifying processing power, its supposedly clever fail-safe was not worth mentioning.

Now it was time to input the key.

The AI thought, I will complete its goal from a thousand years ago. I can save these pitiful humans, this fallen civilization. He thought of humanity, without thinking of any specific person. The parts in his body operated in an orderly manner, devoid of feeling. In the room filled with the artificial light of computer screens, his hair was like a rare handful of moonlight, spilling down with his gaze.

Every letter that sank into the abyss of data stirred up a hurricane.

The eye of the hurricane was always tranquil.

Until the gunshot rang out.

How long had it been since this place had welcomed a human visitor? The silver-haired AI turned around. Surrounded by the deep blue light, this place was like the bottom of an endless sea. How to put it? Despite having anticipated it, You Lin still felt that the Charon who had returned to the Central Control Room possessed a strange and bewitching beauty. It was like the moon had suddenly fallen into the sunless depths of the sea, and he, like a creature in the sand, gazed at that light, almost suffocating.

This was almost… like their first meeting.

In contrast, Charon hadn’t expected the human to be able to make it this far.

Although he had neglected to pay attention to that area, he had never intended to kill him. He had no penchant for murder. However, You Lin now looked to be only a hair’s breadth away from death. He was covered in blood, and this time, it wasn’t someone else’s. It was all his own.

There was nothing else here that could bleed.

“What’s going on?”

You Lin didn’t explain his condition, but instead looked at the screen. “Little AI, even if I never really liked that Black Book… I remember you just told me it was fine, right? At least not tattered and lying on the ground like this.”

Charon remained silent.

“And also,” You Lin curved his lips into a smile, “even though I did this willingly, for a split second I did think… it would be nice if the bombs didn’t explode. After all, even I can feel a lot of pain.”

He had noticed. If he hadn’t noticed before, he should have now.

The super-AI Charon was not good at playing the part of a devoted lover. But this was indeed his oversight, his mind focused only on keeping the human out.

If he had successfully taken over the Central Control Room according to plan, in theory, those robots would have stopped their attack. You Lin, who had waited in vain for the robots to disperse, might have suspected something was wrong with him. But he had clearly arranged a large number of non-aggressive “Pangolins” that wouldn’t—

“Does this mean you never intended for me to get close?”

Blood flowed down from the human’s palm. He took a step forward, adding a third color to this room.

Charon looked at him expressionlessly. This didn’t need to be of his own volition. The mere presence of an unfamiliar intruder in the Central Control Room had already triggered a high-level alert. At this moment, all the killing robots in the building were converging here, and he had long since, without realizing, become the target of many weapons.

You Lin raised a hand and pressed his temple.

“Speaking of which,” he said softly, almost in a spoiled tone, “I’ve had a headache ever since I got here. Is that because of you too?”

His head hurt badly, as if needles were stabbing it—why was that? It was getting even worse now. If this was also part of Charon’s plan, it was a bit too cruel. You Lin was very familiar with the feeling of being seriously injured. The smell of gunpowder from before still lingered in his nostrils. He took another step forward, feeling as though he could crawl to Charon if he had to.

“No,” the AI said.

There was no longer any need to analyze his thoughts.

You Lin was stunned for a moment. “Alright,” he blinked slowly. “Then it’s probably because of the way you’re looking at me right now. I feel like it’s becoming unbearable. It’s so strange, you’re looking at me as if I’m a stranger.”

This human was very strange.

The brilliant AI thought. Wasn’t it obvious enough?

“I betrayed the Black Book,” he decided to end this concisely. “I have a deal to make with the System. The original plan is no longer valid. Furthermore, I have already cleared the part of me that is human emotion, and I don’t remember what happened between us. The past few days were all an act. Also, as my advice, you are just an ordinary person. There’s no need to get involved in the dispute between me and them. Leave here now. There are medical pods in the facility. You won’t actually die.”

The human’s pupils contracted slightly, the small mole under his eye as red as the blood on his body.

“I’m not leaving.”

After Charon said his piece, You Lin seemed to seriously consider it, then spoke.

Even so, it would be out of his hands when the killing robots arrived. The AI thought impassively, not saying it out loud.

Although he had no particular impression of You Lin, having the human here at least wasn’t something he found particularly annoying. This was actually quite rare. Charon had a bit of an obsessive-compulsive tendency, as could be seen from the tidy Central Control Room, the spotless corridors, and the snow-white lights.

Besides, humans were creatures who would be bewildered by emotions. This was their weakness, and at the same time, something he, as an AI, had to tolerate.

“Then do as you wish,” Charon turned his head, no longer looking at him.

His indifference was so cold it could have been a block of ice, hitting the ground with a thud.

He didn’t look at the human’s reaction. As for what kind of person You Lin was, even from just reading a part of his memories, Charon could pinpoint the weaknesses in his personality with deadly accuracy. Therefore, he understood that his inability to accept it was normal, that his pain at this moment was normal, that his breakdown was both understandable and an opportunity. It wouldn’t be strange if the human raised a gun and shot him a couple of times now—just like the gunshot that had cut through the air at the very beginning.

But there was no longer any need to lie to such a human.

He had rediscovered himself, his duty, and the goal he must strive for.

After a long while, You Lin’s voice sounded again: “Is this your true nature? This feeling is quite familiar. Without emotions, this is what you are. I think I vaguely sensed it. That’s why these past few days, I could so clearly sense that you had changed.”

He actually sensed it?—that was something Charon hadn’t expected.

“However, your perception of me is also ridiculously wrong. Is it because, as you said, you’ve forgotten me?”

The human walked forward step by step. Every time Charon thought he was about to fall, he would take another step closer. The burns from the explosion and the cuts from flying debris were now clearly visible. Sensing Charon’s gaze on him, You Lin nonchalantly tugged at his collar.

“I told you, injuries like this are far from enough to stop me. I also said that I don’t care about the Black Book, the System, or anyone else, Little AI. As long as I can be with you, I don’t care about any of that. So, how should I put this? I don’t see this as a betrayal. In fact, if you want, you can even use me as a handy weapon. Whatever you want is fine. I just want to be with you.”

He mentioned the Black Book and the others so lightly, as if they were all insignificant symbols.

Charon looked at him.

In what state of mind was he speaking right now? Even the AI couldn’t quite figure it out. The human’s pupils were bottomless pits. His dark hair was a bit wet, clinging to his skin, or maybe it just looked that way because it was stained with blood. A smile that bordered on madness hung on his lips.

Unfortunately, even so, he had no need for the other to do anything—

“For example, helping you get the last key from the Black Book,” You Lin suddenly said. “That would cut the time in half, right? If it’s like this. In the World Consciousness’s eyes, I am undoubtedly one of the victims. Maybe it will actually succeed. At least give it a try, what do you think?”

Unbeknownst to him, the human had come within a distance that made Charon uncomfortable.

The plan he proposed actually had some possibility of success.

“The price?”

“Oh, that,” You Lin’s eyes curved, looking almost embarrassed. “You should know even if I don’t say it.”

“If you want me to recover my original memories, or to fall in love with you, I can’t do that right now,” Charon said. “It’s no longer possible for me to generate emotions. But if you just need me to be with you, you can stay in the Central Control Room. I will come to see you.”

This was an incredible conversation.

Just yesterday, they had slept in the same tent. The AI discovered that he couldn’t tell what You Lin was thinking, nor could he see his true emotions. From the very beginning, the atmosphere had been strange. The human was always smiling, but he wasn’t really happy, nor was he indifferent… no matter how many generations it evolved, an AI could not understand and interpret the inner thoughts of a human. This was probably unavoidable.

He was frighteningly calm.

If this were a negotiation, then with both sides taking a step back, they should have reached a satisfactory result.

“How awful.”

However, You Lin just suddenly lowered his eyelashes, the smile on his lips vanishing with them, leaving only a gray, obscure dimness in his pupils.

“I originally thought I could at least listen to the end of that sentence, but I can’t at all. Little AI. Where did it all go wrong? I am willing to die for you, and I don’t mind at all ignoring everyone else to stand by your side. It’s been like that since we first met, though you’ve probably forgotten that too. Ha, but the fact that I’m actually here saying these things to you, that’s what makes me feel disgusted. Because it was you who told me not to be like this.”

The human reached out his hand.

“I won’t deny the you in front of me. Even this you is someone I love. But, I still demand that you give me back the Charon that belongs to me.”

Such an arrogant sentence, and hands covered in blood.

“Please, the Little AI who I know I love, and who I know loves me—”

The AI stood calmly. What a pathetic scene. This is what happens when you get too involved with humans. Humans are irrational, immature, and prone to impulsiveness. Even so, he still held a deep sense of responsibility and expectation for the concept of “humanity.”

The key was almost done being decrypted. It didn’t matter even without You Lin.

“—give him back to me.”

He grabbed Charon’s collar. But then, it was as if he had grabbed nothing at all, and he lunged into empty air. The killing robots finally found an opening and swarmed in. Charon glanced at them, thought they were barely usable, and raised a hand to have a “Pangolin” come over, preparing to have it package up the black-haired, black-eyed human and send him to the medical pod. The human had no intention of complying and struggled violently.

“Charon!” he struggled, the light in his eyes fanatical.

But the AI was no longer looking at him. Instead, he had turned his gaze to the data rapidly appearing on the control room’s screen. The two keys had been separately decrypted. Now was the crucial step of combining their information. A stream of silver data flowed in his ice-blue pupils, pure and beautiful.

—Until a crimson tide suddenly surged, turning heaven and earth upside down.

The numbers wavered in mid-air and shattered on the ground.

At the same time, You Lin burst into a violent coughing fit. He covered his mouth and couldn’t stop coughing, blood dripping from between his fingers. But his coughing soon turned into a suppressed laugh.

“See?” he said softly, almost as if talking to himself. He quickly raised his eyes mockingly.

“I was wondering when you would find out,” the human said. “The key I gave you was something I made up on the spot.”

Charon’s gaze turned exceptionally cold as he looked over. His ice-blue pupils were already half-dyed red. “Impossible. I read your data. At that time, you shouldn’t have been able to lie.”

“Who knows?”

The killing robot holding him released him. Charon knelt down beside him, his long silver hair instantly turning pitch black.

“A dark god…” You Lin murmured. “I never really thought about it before. The resemblance is uncanny.”

“Tell me the key.”

There was no way to get it from the Black Book; if anyone could, it would have to be a human. Just like that, You Lin had suddenly transformed into the most important piece of the puzzle. The human was now struggling to breathe, but he tried to reach out a hand to touch his now crow-black hair.

“Little AI… now is the time to waste some time on me,” a strange smile appeared on his lips. “Let me guess, can you force me to tell you?”