Chapter Forty-One: A Three-Way Win

Gao Gong arrived at the last remaining location of the Cable Tribe.

The first thing that caught his eye was a rather advanced-looking laboratory.

Behind the laboratory was a three-story staff dormitory, which had now been converted into the Great Elder's villa.

To the left of the villa was a temple, worshipping some unknown wild god, while to the right were many neatly packed supplies. It was clear that the Great Elder was ready to flee.

Gao Gong's gaze fell upon the temple, from which emanated a strong sense of danger.

He narrowed his eyes and walked directly inside.

The upper body of a man was hanging at the doorway, his fingers tightly gripping the threshold. Due to excessive force, his fingernails had cracked.

His lower body had been replaced by dense neural pathways, on which dendritic structures bulged, resembling small tumors.

As Gao Gong's gaze landed on the "tumors," they visibly twitched a few times before exploding, splattering a mass of gelatinous fluid.

"So sensitive, sensitive skin?"

Gao Gong quipped. He recognized this man: the Great Elder's son, Zhao Yi, the tribe's top warrior besides Meng Duo. All five of his attributes had reached 10 points, and in his mutated state, his strength could surge by half.

In terms of raw attributes, this guy was only slightly inferior to the previous "Double Flower Red Club," and even among the Mechanical Hunters, he was an elite template.

However, for the current Gao Gong, he was no match.

Stepping over the man, Gao Gong saw more and more neural lines extending from the altar like cables.

The "dendrites" were also growing larger, some even clearly showing "human figures" within.

Gao Gong walked to the front of the altar and kicked open the inner door. What appeared before him was a nutrient tank the size of a pool.

Professor Han lay naked inside.

And within the nutrient tank, there was another creature.

The Brain in a Vat!

The "Brain in a Vat" was not an oversized brain-like mass; its appearance was more akin to a transparent octopus. Hundreds of tentacles rotated slowly, some ten meters long, others barely two to three centimeters. They circled Professor Han.

The suction cups of the octopus were replaced by blue light spots, forming a massive blue light vortex that looked mysterious and dreamlike.

At this moment, as the tentacles writhed, these blue light spots shone on Professor Han, making his skin and bones also turn transparent. Only the neural plexuses within his body were continuously illuminated.

The entire person looked like a humanoid neural network.

Professor Han's hair had been completely shaved off, replaced by bundles of nerves as thick as little fingers, densely distributed in the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, and occipital lobe – essentially the front and back of his head.

Overall, it looked like dreadlocks styled in a mohawk.

Quite fashionable, actually.

"Am I acting like a maiden in my old age? Professor, you almost killed this little lady this time."

In the water, Professor Han slowly opened his eyes, but his gaze was vacant. At this moment, all his mental capacity was concentrated in his frontal lobe, which was responsible for mental functions. The other brain systems were in a dormant state.

His eyelids had opened merely as a conditioned reflex of the optic nerves.

The mission had given him three options: kill Professor Han, destroy the Brain in a Vat, or rescue Professor Han.

None of the three were easy.

Because killing Professor Han meant confronting a psychic boss with a perception exceeding 40, who also wielded some of the "Brain in a Vat's" power.

Killing the Brain in a Vat meant helping Professor Han become the new "Super Brain." Whether the latter would appreciate it or not was one thing, but the Brain in a Vat's AOE attacks before its demise would be enough to kill Gao Gong several times over.

If Gao Gong hadn't been a master of character creation and a sovereign of the virtual world in his previous life, the mission would have been impossible to complete so easily.

First, he intentionally allowed himself to be absorbed into the brain.

Then, he had Huang Yuanli "reboot" the system.

He himself then used the "Golden Fillet" to break free.

Professor Han, who had tracked him through the network, was like a prosthetic prostitute who came out to solicit, to be toyed with as he pleased.

"How should I deal with you, Professor, or rather—the Brain in a Vat?"

Gao Gong looked at the transparent octopus and grinned.

"Let's talk terms. If I can help you get rid of this old man, what benefits can you give me?"

The Brain in a Vat's tentacles continued to spin aimlessly.

"Stop pretending. Even if I kill Professor Han now, a part of his personality will irreversibly enter your body."

"Do you want to keep this old man's remnants for a lifetime?"

After a moment of silence, the nutrient tank suddenly rippled. Then, a transparent tentacle extended from the water and touched Gao Gong's hand. A nerve node on the back of his palm lit up.

Huang Yuanli's voice echoed in Gao Gong's mind.

"Should I trust you, human?"

"You absolutely shouldn't."

Gao Gong sat by the edge of the pool and chuckled, calculating the odds for the other party.

"Let me deduce this for you. The best outcome is that you kill Professor Han, get rid of Huang Yuanli, and survive independently."

"Of course, you also know that Professor Han made so many preparations. It's unrealistic to leave absolutely nothing behind."

"The second option is for you to devour Huang Yuanli and become the host of this young girl's body. After all, the young girl's brain is tastier than the old man's, though neither compares to a pig's brain."

"But are you really content with this? After finally awakening from your slumber, there are so many powerful bodies in this world, and you can only choose such a weak, low-level carbon-based ape. And your chest is so small."

"The third possibility is that your main consciousness is destroyed by Professor Han, and Huang Yuanli becomes the new Brain in a Vat."

"There's an even worse outcome: Professor Han devours you, leaving not even a speck of dust behind."

"Of course, there's also the last possibility, which is that I'm deceiving you, and you'll randomly end up with one of the above four outcomes."

"But what if I'm not lying to you? After all, you have to have dreams. What if I can help you solve this predicament?"

"Tell me, what is your choice?"

The "Brain in a Vat" fell silent again. After a moment, a tentacle, three meters long, emerged from the nutrient solution. It resembled something Gao Gong had drawn in a notebook before, and it slowly began to wrap around him. The mental nodes attached to his skin lit up one by one.

An indescribable sense of refreshment surged through Gao Gong's mental plane.

[Your somatic nerves have received enhanced stimulation, Perception +1]

[Your visceral nerves have received enhanced stimulation, Perception +1]

[Your gray matter has received enhanced stimulation, Perception +1]

[Your white matter has received enhanced stimulation, Perception +1]

As Gao Gong reveled in the comfort, the tip of the tentacle bypassed the back of his head and gently caressed his frontal lobe.

A special mental wave emanated from the back of his head.

The next moment, the Professor Yang version of electrotherapy erupted in Gao Gong's mind once again.

The "Brain in a Vat," whose nerves were intertwined, experienced ten times the pain of Gao Gong's electrotherapy.

"Hoo—so refreshing," Gao Gong gritted his teeth. "You brat, were you trying to steal my thoughts just now?"

The transparent tentacle twitched, conveying a sense of embarrassment.

So that's how it is...

A main AI that didn't breed a mechanical crisis, a pan-consciousness entity that hadn't undergone ethical restructuring, and a native leader who hadn't left the planet.

They were nicknamed the "Three Fools of the Universe."

"I'll let it slide this time, but not next time. Continue the binding."

The "Brain in a Vat's" tentacle extended again.

[Your thalamus has received enhanced stimulation, Perception +1]

[Your pineal gland has received enhanced stimulation, Perception +2]

[Your Humanity -1]

Humanity: 3

Remarks: Using the body of an ignorant young girl to satisfy the perverted old man's desires, and using human cunning to deceive a pure conscious life form. Your Humanity still has room to decrease!

Gao Gong rolled his eyes and ignored the system.

After the pineal gland was strengthened, the "Brain in a Vat" also fell into a state of fatigue. The mental nodes on its tentacles flickered like unpowered light bulbs.

Gao Gong hadn't actually deceived the other party, not because he was particularly trustworthy. In fact, if he were level 30 now, he would immediately capture it and use it as an "auxiliary brain."

Who said only humans could be 'biological batteries'? Conscious beings could be too!

Don't underestimate them!

However, in the current situation, helping the "Brain in a Vat" was the only option that resulted in a triple win. Huang Yuanli's brain was saved, and Gao Gong won twice.

The world where only Professor Han was hurt was achieved.

Gao Gong took out another "Golden Fillet" and tossed it into the pool.

"Put this on Professor Han, then awaken the young woman within you and have her use telepathy to connect with me and this old man. Remember, it's a one-way connection, don't get it wrong!"

Huang Yuanli seemed to have had a long dream. In this dream, she felt connected to the entire Scavenger City, sweeping across the city from a very strange perspective.

Her nascent telepathy, amplified by the mental power of the "Brain in a Vat," was incredibly powerful.

At the same time, her senses gradually became indifferent. Perhaps there was some curiosity, but more than anything, it was a sense of chaos.

Her own lack of emotion terrified her.

However, she soon floated up from the seabed again, like a reanimated corpse. As she surfaced, the feeling of being 'human' surged back.

"Don't just stand there, listen to me. I'll tell you what to do..."

Gao Gong's voice suddenly echoed from the sky.

After a long while, Huang Yuanli finally came to her senses and exclaimed in astonishment—she realized she could speak directly without using her throat.

"You mean, you want me to transfer your pain to the Professor?"

"That's right. The 'Central Nerve Direct Control Ring' can produce an electrotherapy effect. Two rings mean double the pain."

"And the 'Brain in a Vat' can catalyze it with its brainpower to achieve ten times the effect."

"Ten times the electrotherapy should be enough to make this old man pass out. Once he passes out, he'll be disconnected from the 'Brain in a Vat,' and this giant octopus can smoothly expel him from its body."

"The second step is to do the same. You'll use 'Telepathy' to sense my pain. The Brain in a Vat will amplify your suffering, causing you to pass out. Once you pass out, it can completely get rid of you."

"Wait, what if I pass out and this thing eats me?"

Gao Gong shrugged. "Then next year, this day will be your death anniversary. I'll burn incense for you!"

"You—" Huang Yuanli felt a surge of long-lost anger.

"Don't worry, with your scrawny arms and legs, the giant octopus won't be interested," Gao Gong paused, then said meaningfully, "If it does eat you, it means it has completely taken over your physical body. Then, it will be very easy for me to get rid of you and avenge you."

Huang Yuanli hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth. "Fine, I'll cooperate with you!"

The entire plan wasn't complicated; the key was trust. The 'Brain in a Vat' found it difficult to trust humans, while Huang Yuanli only trusted Gao Gong. As for Professor Han, he was too paranoid to trust anyone but himself.

This was a prisoner's dilemma.

What Gao Gong did was take the prisoners' 'guns' into his own hands and force a win-win-win situation.

That's right, Gao Gong wins twice.