The thing in that place?
High Engineer thought of that failed scientific expedition, his brows furrowing.
"What is it?"
Huang Yuanli shook her head in pain.
"I can sense its presence. It's huge, and it's in pain. It's like a mindless one, a ghost without a body."
"You contacted me through it just now, didn't you?" High Engineer asked, his heart stirring.
"Yes. I found Professor Han. At first, he didn't reject me. Instead, he had me drink a cup of coffee. After that, I kept having hallucinations, but they had only been intermittent before, so I didn't pay them any mind."
"But when our rebellion failed and I was being whipped, the hallucinations grew more and more severe. After I completely passed out, I discovered that I seemed to have become part of it."
"I can 'see' many things I couldn't before—the thoughts of the electronic bees, the moods of the mechanical hounds, and even the thoughts of this forest. It's angry too, and it's in a lot of pain."
High Engineer said nothing. Instead, he glanced at the system panel.
[You are being controlled by 'telepathy'. Your vision has been severed, and you have entered a state of blindness] Telepathy (Mechanical) (Beginner): A superpower capable of sensing people's minds—and what it can sense isn't limited to 'people's minds'.
"It seems what Professor Han gave you was some kind of 'extrasensory drug.' Fortunately, you awakened. In a radiation zone, mechanical-type telepathy is an extremely useful ability."
Huang Yuanli stared blankly. "An extrasensory drug? What's that? Wait, are you saying I have telepathy?"
"That's right. However, not everyone who takes an 'extrasensory drug' can awaken. This kind of drug enhances experiences beyond your five senses. During the process, your genes may produce a kind of antibody because of that experience. The nature of that antibody determines the nature of your superpower."
"Of course, most 'extrasensory drugs' aren't safe. The chance of overdosing and dying is far greater than the chance of awakening a superpower. You should thank that 'thing.' Based on my guess, it helped you bear part of the burden."
Huang Yuanli was stunned for a long while before suddenly exploding in rage. "Professor Han actually wanted to kill me! I knew it—no good person wears glasses!"
High Engineer ignored her. He retraced their path, found the original entrance, and climbed back up the fixed ladder. The pupils of both of them dilated almost simultaneously.
The once-empty Cable Tribe was covered in strange white brain matter. It slowly writhed along the roofs, walls, and tree hollows, while thick nerve fibers bored out of the brain matter and took root, sprouting like plants.
Even after High Engineer removed the 'amplifier,' he still felt an intense noise surge in from all directions.
"Ah!"
Huang Yuanli suddenly clapped her hands over her ears. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was in extreme pain.
"Take deep breaths. Deep breaths. Learn to control your ability. Try to accept it and operate it. Don't resist it. Remember, this is a part of you!"
Under High Engineer's guidance, Huang Yuanli's expression gradually calmed. As her eyelids blinked, a deep, shadowy gleam flashed through them.
High Engineer let out a sigh of relief. The superhuman civilization was a relatively major branch among carbon-based civilizations, but it was extremely niche on Machine-Split Star. If Huang Yuanli couldn't control her ability, things would become very troublesome.
Looking at the 'brain matter' that had spread over their feet, High Engineer suddenly drew the 'Red Unicorn' and severed one of the pink nerve bundles.
Information about it also appeared on the panel.
[You dealt 1 point of damage to the 'Brain in a Vat']
[You entered the domain of the 'Brain in a Vat'. Your brain functions have entered a state of confusion]
The Brain in a Vat!
High Engineer hadn't expected it to be this thing. He had thought it would be, at most, some kind of prewar bionic machine.
This thing was at least level 40. It was also a half-biological, half-informational monster, making it extremely difficult to kill.
Its mental attacks in particular dealt 'true damage,' ignoring all defenses. As long as he was caught in its area-of-effect attack, High Engineer estimated that he wouldn't survive more than two hits.
High Engineer looked around. It wasn't just the Cable Tribe—even all the mutated trees in sight had begun secreting artificial proteins. These proteins were the raw material for the 'brain matter.'
Damn, is Professor Han planning to put the entire Cable Tribe into the Brain in a Vat? Has he watched too much EVA?
However, it was obvious that this Brain in a Vat was still developing. The series of hallucinations earlier had merely been the result of Huang Yuanli operating it in her dreams.
"I—I 'saw it,'" Huang Yuanli said through clenched teeth. "Professor Han is contacting this thing. He wants to absorb it, but it's resisting. Professor Han is in pain too."
High Engineer took a deep breath and turned his head. He saw large quantities of 'brain matter' burrowing into the sewers.
The thing reproduced at a terrifying speed.
"Let's go. Stop it. You lead the way!"
High Engineer tucked Huang Yuanli under one arm. Huang Yuanli pointed toward the mountain path.
"At the Great Elder's temple. Professor Han's laboratory is in that direction too."
High Engineer sprinted down the mountain path. At the same time, the system panel rang with a 'ding.'
Quest: Bionic Brain Difficulty: Hard Quest Briefing: Professor Han predicted the arrival of the beast tide, but he had no means of suppressing it. In desperation, he chose the most extreme method: releasing the sealed scientific product. He planned to absorb it and become the sovereign of consciousness. Quest Objectives: Kill Professor Han / Kill the Brain in a Vat / Rescue Professor Han Quest Rewards: Experience +4500, Cable Tribe Favorability +500, Clue to Bionic Technology
High Engineer's spirits lifted. It really was 'bionic technology.' A professional knowledge chain contained at least eight to ten max-level professional skills.
More importantly, if High Engineer wanted to retain a human form during his future biological modifications, he would likewise be unable to do without the aid of 'bionic technology.'
However, they had not run far when the earth shook violently. Before their eyes, the ground split apart and skyscrapers rose from the earth one after another. The dusky-yellow radiation atmosphere was replaced by a clear sky. In the sky, magnetic levitation cars flew along their tracks. On the ground, living animals hopped around, while ordinary people strolled, chatted, and sat on benches basking in the sun.
"What is this?" Huang Yuanli murmured.
"This is a city from the Old Civilization era, and also a memory in Professor Han's mind. We've been pulled into Professor Han's brain."
High Engineer shook his head. "I guess what Professor Han wants to do is let you all live here."
"We living people are supposed to live inside his brain?" Huang Yuanli said blankly.
"Yeah." High Engineer shrugged. "It's much better than the cruel reality. Great idea, right?"
Huang Yuanli looked around at the beautiful surroundings. Then she took a deep breath. The fragrance of flowers and grass filled her nose, making her feel refreshed.
She suddenly threw her head back and cursed:
"Great my ass!"
"I refuse to become part of this old man's body!"
"Use your ability to sense it. You should have some kind of connection with this Brain in a Vat."
High Engineer narrowed his eyes. "If my guess is correct, then in Professor Han's plan, you're the second option."
"If he fails, you'll be the next container."
"That old lunatic!"
Huang Yuanli gritted her teeth and reached out a hand, trying to sense the feeling she had experienced while asleep. That hazy yet transparent and pure sensation emerged once again.
High Engineer looked around. Countless masses of flesh burrowed out of the skyscrapers, spreading over them before sinking down.
Everyone 'froze' in place. In the next moment, they all began to melt like candles being burned.
Huang Yuanli tightly shut her eyes and walked in one direction. High Engineer tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade and followed close behind.
However, as they walked, Huang Yuanli disappeared, while High Engineer arrived at a simulated training battlefield.
"Sorry, I'm not a professional. The experimental base only has one VR room for relaxation, so I don't know how realistic the simulation is."
A young man in a white lab coat appeared beside High Engineer at some point. The young man smiled apologetically.
"It's realistic enough. It looks exactly like the Public Security Corps' training base."
High Engineer pressed his toe against the plastic running track, then turned to look at the younger version of 'Professor Han.'
"You deliberately separated me from Huang Yuanli. Your condition must be pretty bad, Professor."
Professor Han nodded. "The base has been shut down for nearly fifty years. I thought that thing had already 'crashed.' I didn't expect the fusion to be difficult, but it turns out it was still alive—and its 'appetite' was so strong."
High Engineer asked with interest, "So you and it are currently in a state of mutual consumption."
"That's right. I made some arrangements, but the advantage from making the first move is constantly being eroded."
"Fortunately, Lily awakened successfully. Now the only chance is for it and me to perish together, after which Lily can become the new 'brain vessel.'"
High Engineer looked up at the sealed ceiling. "Do you think she'll agree?"
Above the sky, Huang Yuanli stood on the clouds and said excitedly, "Look, we're in the sky!"
Huang Yuanli turned her head, only to discover that High Engineer had vanished at some point. In his place was an old man on the verge of death.
Her expression immediately became complicated.
"Lily." Professor Han smiled faintly and looked down. "Look how beautiful the city beneath our feet is."
"No matter how beautiful it is, it's fake." Huang Yuanli's voice was cold. "I don't want to become someone else's brain, and I don't want someone else to become my brain."
"That's right. In fact, I don't want that either." Professor Han nodded in agreement.
"Then what should we do now?"
Professor Han lowered his head, and the two of them suddenly returned to the Scavenger City.
Before them, a mechanical beast war involving tens of thousands of combatants was raging through the city.
Countless red lanterns drifted through the air. A blood-red carpet of flesh spread wildly, swallowing buildings, overpasses, and expressways before burrowing into all kinds of mechanical bio-beasts.
Up ahead, explosions, radiation energy, and high-temperature smoke were like a small nuclear bomb exploding without pause, radiating terrifying power.
Under its might, mature metal nests were destroyed one after another, reduced to flat ground.
Huang Yuanli stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
She knew this monster!