Not long ago, Huang Yuanli had taken Engineer Gao to hunt a giant bug. On their way back, they had encountered a super-monster of the nuclear-explosion type.
She had nearly died from radiation overload just from looking at it once, and the memory was still fresh.
Professor Han calmly watched the scene and slowly moved forward, while the surrounding scenery rapidly receded.
Radiation, explosions, and flames were right before their eyes. Some attacks even passed directly through their bodies, yet they were completely unharmed.
"This—"
It was the first time Huang Yuanli had seen the true form of the nuclear-explosion monster.
It was a gigantic creature ten meters tall, like a skinned giant with four arms. Its flesh was covered in cracks, and high-intensity radiation energy surged within them.
Whenever the giant attacked, all the cracks on its body would light up. Then, a "small-scale nuclear reaction" would erupt from its target, transforming into a massive explosion.
"Fascinating, isn't it? An artificial nuclear reaction. It isn't uranium-235, but a new radioactive isotope. Moreover, this spontaneous movement and transformation should be a fourth sequence beyond uranium, thorium, and actinium."
Professor Han adjusted his glasses. "Although I'm not an expert in this field, I know that if this had happened during the age of civilization, this Fission Duke could have won the highest award in the scientific community."
"It—it's called the Fission Duke? They're—"
Huang Yuanli stared wide-eyed at the battlefield. Hundreds of large mechanical beasts crawled out of the metal nest and crazily charged the Fission Duke.
Not one of these large mechanical beasts was below Class C.
Around the Fission Duke, a carpet of flesh rose into waves across the ground. Every massive wave of flesh that rolled over could swallow a large mechanical beast. More importantly, those waves blocked most of the damage for the duke, allowing it to advance steadily.
"As you can see, this newly promoted Class A monster has already joined forces with the veteran Scarlet Queen. They're attacking another Class A monster leader, the Mechanical Fortress. The aftershocks of the battle have already spread from the high-risk zone toward the low-risk zone."
"What do the struggles between those monsters have to do with us?" Huang Yuanli retorted stubbornly, her eyes flickering.
"Is that so?"
Professor Han gave her a deep look.
"Then I'll take you to see some other places."
Next, under Professor Han's control, Huang Yuanli appeared in various corners of the Scavenger Market. Everywhere she went, the radiation beasts were plunged into inexplicable frenzy. They began leaving their habitats and launching attacks on their own initiative. Anything alive was within their range of attack.
"I can feel it, and I believe you can too. The urban circle has changed. It has become even more dangerous. I don't know whether someone is controlling it, but the food chain is accelerating."
"All species unable to survive within this fiercely eliminating food chain will become someone else's food."
Professor Han looked seriously at Huang Yuanli. "So, Lili, what should we do?"
Engineer Gao wiped the blade of Red Unicorn and, after confirming there were no cracks, got straight to the point.
"Forget the lip service. Let's just fight."
The young Professor Han opened his mouth, but Engineer Gao interrupted him.
"Personally, I don't dislike a form of existence like a 'brain in a vat.' There are all kinds of bizarre civilizations in the universe, and there are plenty even stranger than this."
"But expecting an immature scientific product to solve everyone's survival problems? I don't think the problem is the brain in a vat. I think the problem is your brain."
Professor Han's expression darkened, and he said no more, retreating beyond the plastic track.
The next moment, figures surrounded them from all directions. Each held a steel rebar or hunting rifle, their expressions vicious.
Needless to say, they were all lackeys of the Grand Elder's faction.
Or rather, they were living people who had already been devoured by the brain in a vat.
Engineer Gao calmly swept his gaze around, sheathed his blade, and crouched down. The next moment, the motor roared, and six heads shot into the sky.
Huang Yuanli stared fixedly at Professor Han, while Professor Han looked back at him with the same calm expression.
Around them, the scenery of the Scavenger Market gradually vanished, and scarlet brain grooves pressed out from every direction.
The cerebral cortex formed the ceiling overhead. The parietal and frontal lobes were on either side of the ceiling, while cerebrospinal fluid dripped down like rain.
Countless nerve bundles pushed out from the brain matter, and needle-like nerve fibers pierced into their bodies.
"We can leave this place, Professor," Huang Yuanli said, making one final struggle.
"Leave this place? Where would we go? In this man-eating world, could there be any other good destination?"
Professor Han began to laugh grotesquely. Countless nerve fibers had already pierced through his eyeballs, nostrils, and temples.
"Do you know? I once believed in a group of people. They told me they could restore this city, but they failed. None of their lofty ambitions could stop that terrifying dark beast tide."
"So this time, I'll do it myself."
Engineer Gao chopped off the Grand Elder's head, spat out a mouthful of blood, and gave Professor Han a provocative look. Corpses lay scattered all around him.
Apart from their fearlessness toward death, these scavengers were all utterly useless in battle. Only three of them could cause him even the slightest harm: the Grand Elder, who possessed the ability to control metal; a mutated warrior similar to Meng Duo; and a slave master under an indigenous warlord who used Molotov cocktails and flamethrowers. His lungs and respiratory system had probably been modified.
Professor Han said nothing, merely watching him calmly.
The next moment, the corpses around them slowly vanished, and living people surrounded Engineer Gao once again.
The Grand Elder's claw-like palm suddenly jerked. The next moment, Engineer Gao clearly heard the creaking of his titanium-alloy bones.
His son, Zhao Yi, stamped his foot hard against the ground. His body swelled to two meters, and his muscular frame charged toward Engineer Gao.
On the other side, the tattoo-covered slave master clicked his teeth, and a huge fireball blasted from his mouth.
Facing the attack, Engineer Gao's finger twitched slightly. The next moment, a monomolecular wire claw shot out and sank directly into Zhao Yi's thigh. The launcher's powerful retraction pulled the two of them rapidly together, causing the fireball to miss completely.
At the instant they closed in, Engineer Gao abruptly drove his scabbard into the ground. The powerful repulsive force from the "electromagnetic exciter" sent him soaring into the air. His blade flashed, and a head fell to the ground.
At the same time, Engineer Gao whipped his hand back, and the monomolecular wire wrapped around the slave master's neck. The two rapidly closed in once more. Engineer Gao merely raised the tip of his blade slightly, piercing a bloody hole through the man's chest.
"Basic metal control is useless. If it were molecular-level metal control, that would be powerful enough to crush a warship."
As Engineer Gao chopped off the Grand Elder's head once again, the system notification sounded once more.
[You have killed the Grand Elder. Experience +130] [You have killed the Flame Slave Master. Experience +80] [You have killed the Mutated Warrior Zhao Yi. Experience +150]
After the Rainy-Night Knife Murder Mode had taken shape, Engineer Gao had truly become a grinding machine.
He looked around with some reluctance.
"If I didn't still have to complete the mission, this would really be a great place to grind monsters."
The next moment, the monsters respawned once again. Grand Elders, Zhao Yis, and slave masters emerged one after another, numbering in the hundreds.
Engineer Gao looked at Professor Han and said calmly, "Is this what you want? Turning everyone into puppet toys for you to play with?"
"This is the only path to survival!" Professor Han gritted his teeth.
"You've never been to the military supply base, have you?"
Engineer Gao suddenly spoke. He pulled a high-tech metal ring from the pouch on his back and put it around his own head with one hand.
"So you don't know that this isn't actually your imagination. It's a projection of my memories."
"I've dragged this out for so long. By now, you've probably already turned Little Woman into a vessel. What a perverted old man."
"What do you mean?" Professor Han asked coldly.
"You pulled me into the brain in a vat, so I'm also part of this 'brain.' Little Woman is the same, as are all those people you devoured before. All of us became characters in the life game you operate."
"And did you know that if you run a game too hard, the graphics card can burn out? Especially when you're in the middle of reinstalling the system."
Engineer Gao grinned and activated the "Central Nervous System Direct-Control Ring."
"Even if it hasn't burned out yet, it doesn't matter. Let Professor Yang, the Thunder-and-Lightning King, give you a hand."
The next moment, a powerful electric shock exploded from Engineer Gao's forehead. Not only did Engineer Gao feel the pain, but Professor Han and all the summoned humans revealed intensely pained expressions as well.
Name: Central Nervous System Direct-Control Ring Category: Auxiliary Equipment Quality: Fine Weight: 90 grams Operation Mode: Remote Control Auxiliary Module: Beast-Taming Mode Remarks: Can perform restrictive modifications on the nervous systems of small and medium-sized mechanical species. Applicable range: radiation value below 10,000
The principle of this thing was actually the "Professor Yang" mode combined with powerful mental suggestion, ultimately achieving the purpose of taming beasts.
Of course, if you wanted to be shocked half to death, you could wear it and play with it yourself.
When the brain received powerful, unbearable pain signals, it would perform self-blocking.
The switch controlling this pain was located in the amygdala.
In Engineer Gao's vision, Professor Han became twisted and ancient. Countless nerve bundles replaced the crowd, and bioelectric currents ran wild.
Before sinking down, he gave Professor Han the middle finger.
In my previous life, I spent who knows how much effort pioneering virtual worlds and worked through who knows how many technology trees. I hacked more than a thousand interstellar civilizations—if not a thousand, then at least eight hundred. Did you really think being a shut-in was easy?
Just a mere brain in a vat.
A face sculptor who only knew how to copy and paste had no soul!
According to legend, the first sensation a person experienced at birth was sinking.
On the mental level, or when entering or exiting a cyber network, "sinking" was an extremely important signal, much like the indicator light that appeared during startup.
Engineer Gao's vision went dark, and his body seemed to sink into an ocean formed from simulated sensory signals. After sinking to the bottom, he returned to reality.
"I finally understand why the Monkey King behaved himself," Engineer Gao said, rubbing his head fiercely. "An equipment effect that's too realistic isn't entirely a good thing."
There seemed to be something sticky beneath his feet. He looked down and discovered that half his body had already been swallowed by artificial protein.
He forcefully pulled his lower leg free and tore away the neural connection cable hanging from his calf. Looking around, he found that Huang Yuanli had been completely submerged by brain matter, with neural circuits filling the area around her.
He sighed.
"Hang in there a little longer. I'll pull you out in a moment."
"Look on the bright side. At least you're being used to store a brain, not some other item unsuitable for children."