Act.14 Gone · No Longer Exists

Foreword:

Everyone's life ends the same way. The only difference lies in how they are born and how they die.

--Ernest Miller Hemingway

[Part 1: A Love Letter About Time]

"Hot Wind - I have something to tell you."

From the HUD's audio window, Zhong Kui's voice came through. This ghost, who had been dead for a long time, hadn't poisoned the meteor; instead, he had left behind a proper last message.

A Xing did not leave immediately; the total duration of this audio clip was only a few minutes—after Zhong Kui's death, the photopolymerization printing facility had ceased operations, and the Angel Infant production process in Xiao Kanto City had also stopped.

These brains need to be connected to the spinal column. In the production process of the spinal column, the most basic photopolymer printed parts need to be attached as an outer shell. Without this protective shell, there is no way to talk about artificial bones.

"If you can hear this message, it means that the child has defeated you; his courage far surpasses yours."

The Zhong Kui in the audio file is emotionally stable, unlike her sharp and aggressive demeanor in real life. Her tone is gentle and calm, like someone who has given up hope.

"I'm sure I've lost, and it'll be a crushing defeat."

"High-frequency weapons can record combat data in conjunction with my mental theory system, but I opened a backdoor in this system and preserved this audio recording."

"I've always been clear-headed; I know who I am—but the next time we meet, I won't be myself."

"On a side note, Bu Liuxing..."

"Spitting out a heart with your mouth and then blowing air through it is indeed a skill I learned from Tom."

At this very moment--

A Xing was deeply shocked, astonished by Zhong Kui's intelligence.

The recording continued playing, the audio waveform resembling a gentle ocean tide.

"[Theory of Mind] -- This is the earliest standard theory used to determine whether a mental model possesses personality."

"The abbreviation is TOM, and all exemplary individuals need to pass TOM's assessment."

"The prototype of the Hayabusa was once the chief of staff of the Fēngfēng Battle Group, and a descendant of giants from Niflheim —we call him Instructor Tom, affectionately known as Colonel Tom, and he built this system for us."

"[TOM Theory of Mind] is also the standard used in your internet journey to determine whether a language model like ChatGPT possesses intelligence."

"I've thought about it and doubted it more than once."

"Am I really human? Born into this system of genetic and meme-based upbringing, I've transformed from a brain into a complete yet fragmented android. Do I truly possess a personality?"

"My brain structure is designed by genetic information, my life is planned by modular engineering, and my personality traits, hobbies, and even my product attributes are all given to me by people."

"I'll become whatever they want."

"From military use to home use, and then from home use back to military use."

"I am no longer that [Shihara Momo]. So many years have passed, and I am vastly different from the original, as well as from the earliest batch of Angel Infant. We cannot be confused."

"The moment I became a god, I lost everything—my physical body, my spirit, and even my soul—becoming the very thing countless people in this city had longed for."

"This is a collective karma of all beings. Rather than saying that the Shinto People saved people, it would be more accurate to say that people created the Shinto People."

"We create and devour each other— Homo sapiens create intelligence, and intelligence recreates Homo sapiens."

"Using the spiritual energy of the Original Seed, we tamed the beasts lurking beneath this soil in the volcanic and earthquake-prone areas, allowing them to come into contact with the primordial essence of Mother Earth, transforming them into divine beasts that had been elevated to sainthood—and then we took their flesh and blood to develop artificial bodies."

"The iron-nickel core of Mother Earth is a crucial consumable for our artificial spine. It seems that the decision to use this prosthetic body sealed our fate—we will become monsters with a chaotic mix of flesh and mind."

"However, unlike the Flash Butterfly, at least we still retain a sliver of human consciousness."

"I can feel that I am living in different times and spaces at the same time."

"One second I was a high school student in 1967, dressed in a military sailor uniform, lying sprawled on a bed, ready to be admired."

"The next second I am a beautiful widow from 1567, wearing a white kimono and a winter coat, waiting for her husband to return from the sea, her eyes filled with longing."

"Modules and prosthetics, software and hardware, all of this has shattered me, scattered my soul into ten thousand cherry blossoms."

"It's beautiful to watch it slowly drift down, but there's always a rotten smell in the air."

"Having self-awareness is not a good thing. When I woke up, I was trembling from this nightmare, sitting up in terror. I was almost going crazy, my personality was disintegrating."

"I can only seal this part of my consciousness away, letting [her] wander at the very bottom of the mental theory system until the moment of death. Only then can I transform from [it] into [her], from a commodity into a complete person—only then can I speak a few words of conscious awareness with you."

"I am certain that I will never come back to life. Any [Zhong Kui] you encounter after this will no longer be me—even if they make the same choices, spout familiar long-winded speeches, make similar judgments of reason and emotion, or even know me inside and out, possessing all my memories and experiences, I know full well that it is not me."

"By now, I might have turned into a pile of scrap metal, or a lump of minced meat."

"I want to thank you all, especially you—the nameless warrior."

"I have been freed from this hell, and I shouldn't have any more expectations."

"But if I hadn't witnessed your skills, and hadn't understood your determination and courage, perhaps this recording wouldn't exist."

"You told me—it doesn't matter if you oppose all living beings on 378,000 square kilometers, as long as you eradicate the hardware servers of the Shinto People. You are a nameless person who keeps your word."

"I sincerely thank you again, brave warrior."

"The Shinto People have many classic humans under their command; they are illusions of history, but certainly not the true prototypes. I must remind you of this."

"Hot Wind is also part of this. When constructing this cyber (cybernetic) city blueprint, Hot Wind was the main hypothetical enemy of the periodic crisis, and also the main solution to the periodic crisis."

Upon hearing this, Bu Liuxing was stunned.

He immediately felt a throbbing pain in his right arm.

Zhong Kui continued—

"--When these cities become lifeless due to standardized production, even the typical person will lose the motivation to live, and that's when the Hot Wind will appear."

"It provides the rebels with a shortcut, guides them in combat, and creates a new Burning Wind Resistance Army that calls itself the Awakened New Humans."

"It was never Hot Wind himself, because Hot Wind's real name was erased from the history of Shinto City long ago. No one is allowed to mention that name, and no one is allowed to recall that memory."

"Under the arrangement of the Mind Theory System, the Burning Wind Resistance Army will begin a new war with the Shinto People. The Military-Industrial Complex will start operating again, providing countless jobs and customizing the form of war according to people's needs. It begins like a business and ends like a business."

"Everything returns to its original state. Typical individuals will miss the convenience brought by standardized production and indulge in a blissful and comfortable 'Extreme Bliss Space' until the next social breakdown, crisis, and awakening of the Hot Wind."

"This cycle has repeated sixteen times. Only the first four times were real, fierce battles. The subsequent twelve times became virtual battlefields within [Extreme Bliss Space], and even the awakened ones themselves were unaware that they were actually living in a dream."

"The spirit within you, that leader, isn't even a fake; it's the worst of the worst, the most counterfeit of all."

"Historically, there was no Hot Wind 'Hot Wind,' only a 'Foehn Fen Feng.'"

"Just like the virtual idols in Ishioka Kanto City, Stone Hill Town, there is no Matsushima Seiko in the mortal world, only Matsuda Seiko."

Meteor shook his head in alarm, even beginning to doubt—

--Did he wake up in Extreme Bliss Space, or did he arrive in Extreme Bliss Space the moment he crossed the Haofeng Ridge Tunnel? Otherwise, how could Brother Ping An have confused the two surnames?

He immediately felt relieved and convinced himself.

Along the way, there were notices and virtual avatars about Matsushima Seiko, all displaying her name in both Romanized and Japanese. It was like a subtle form of brainwashing propaganda.

If someone looks like Seiko Matsuda, sings Seiko Matsuda's songs, and everything about her matches Seiko Matsuda perfectly, even if only the surname is spelled differently, it's easy to get them confused. Brother Ping An has more than one idol, and given the passage of time, it's understandable that he didn't recognize her immediately.

There's something that looks like a duck, makes a duck-like sound, and tastes like a duck when cooked. No matter what others call it, it should always be a duck.

Zhong Kui continued—

What is the difference between Matsushima and Matsuda?

"If you break down all the individual, isolated letters, it becomes 'Hid'—we've hidden Seiko Matsuda, and what's always shown to people is Matsushima Seiko, which is the wrong answer."

"Hot Wind look like Fen Feng, and their words and actions are like Fen Feng; no matter how others interpret them, they should be Fen Feng."

"But if you preach it ten thousand times, the false can become the true. This is the core element of the TOM Mind Theory System. Based on this theory, Angel Infant can replace their genetic prototypes and rebuild society time and time again."

"Nameless warriors—this is the most important common characteristic of Extreme Bliss Space and the Shinto City. Whether in the virtual or real world, they are intentionally or unintentionally distorting facts and rewriting history in order to better control the Angel Infant itself."

"But a fake is a fake, it can never become real—that's where my pain comes from, and that's where my happiness comes from."

"The part of my life that belongs to Shihara Momo gave me a strong physique, a tenacious will, and also countless calamities."

"Unlike Yezhong, I have nothing to leave you."

"During the VR training course, I experienced the love between Fen Feng and Xiao Tao-- "

"--It doesn't belong to me, yet I yearn for it immensely."

"Unfortunately, they didn't have time to have children. Long-term close contact with the Original Seed, the harsh environment, and the radiation from the fission power plant robbed them of their fertility. Even Universal Elixir couldn't cure this flesh mutation."

"I can only wish you well, nameless warrior."

I hope you can also have a love that you will never regret.

[Part ②: A Life Misplaced]

"The theme song that virtual idol Matsushima Seiko left for Little Kanto City is 'The Kingdom of Time.' People once believed that the way to conquer time was to establish an eternal kingdom. Yokohama, Kanto, Ginza, and Chiba are the last four pillars, from the forty-eight pillars to the Fifty-One Pillars."

"The neural network constructed by the Extreme Bliss Space thus unfolded, creating a divine kingdom across 378,000 square kilometers."

"Before I met you, I had no doubt about the divine power it expressed—until the nameless warrior came before me and fought me to the death."

"At the moment my bones shattered and my flesh tore apart, I seemed to gain eternal peace, and finally remembered the most magical psychic power and the most mysterious magic in the world."

"No software or hardware modifications are needed, no theory of mind needs to be tested, and there's no need to live like a ghost."

"It's more traditional—as long as two people love each other and exchange their essence, they can create a completely new child."

"In the face of time, even the strongest warrior is insignificant, and the most resilient individual will be completely transformed. It seems to be true."

"The fact that people have survived to this day, using the writing system passed down from ancient times, and can continue to live, already means they have won the race for life, which has lasted for over 500 million years."

"What can conquer time is life itself."

"Fen Feng."

The meteor's pupils contracted slightly.

--At that moment, the audio source signal indicator on the HUD changed its appearance.

It was originally a direct transliteration of the Romanized name of [Shoki·Zhong Kui], but for a few seconds, it became the real name of [Ishihara Momoe·Shihara Momo].

The HUD audio then finished playing.

Bu Liuxing remained silent. He didn't ask Hot Wind any more questions. He simply didn't have the mental bandwidth to process the redundant data regarding the part of the TOM mental theory system.

Zhong Kui spoke to him far too many times; he couldn't distinguish between what was true and what was false, even if it were all true.

--For Bu Liuxing, these messages had already become like [the sunset glow].

Those were the twilight clouds, a mix of yellow and red, that remained on the horizon after sunset; the real sun had long since sunk below the horizon.

He went to the control room and, following the Japanese instructions for each button, shut down the power supply one by one. As a low hum emanated from every workshop in the factory, the moment the electrical system collapsed—

The Hot Wind finally calmed down and began to speak.

[Bu Liuxing, just now]

[That woman just said she thought I was a fake.]

Bu Liuxing: "She said you're the worst of the worst, the most counterfeit of all."

Am I a pre-programmed program?

Bu Liuxing: "That's what I mean."

[Then what is the meaning of my existence? Was I born to be destroyed?]

A Xing walked out of the control room and back into the corridor. He saw that the medicine in the petri dish had been drained. Hundreds of Angel Infant's brains were twitching in the chamber, urging their weak and powerless spines to struggle and writhe in conditioned reflexes before dying, making a chilling sound when they hit the endurance plate.

Bu Liuxing's brows were furrowed, and his eyes were piercing.

"Grandfather Qian Tang said the same thing. He told me to be wary of you—he said you weren't the real Hot Wind, and now you're not even Hot Wind Fen Feng, there's another one called Fen Feng? Who exactly are you? How should I address you? How should I pronounce your name correctly? You've confused me so much!"

"Do you really exist in this history? Are you really a living, breathing person?"

Bu Liuxing walked towards the nursery behind him, looking around and talking as he went.

"Is it possible that you are just a leader imagined by the Fēngfēng Battle Group? This land possesses terrifying spiritual pressure; it's not surprising that collective hallucinations occur."

[I have no idea]

The nursery is a large workshop of nearly 2,000 square meters. On the two walls outside the conveyor belt, there are rows of tanks, which are also artificial wombs. Angel Infant are being nurtured in these artificial wombs. These babies are now in dark shadows, and only the umbilical cords extending from the tanks can be seen connecting them.

They were originally going to send the excess flesh and blood to the processing workshop to remove the brains and process them into "good students" in petri dishes.

Meteor suffered severe psychological trauma; his SAN value plummeted, and his adrenaline surged with the enormous emotional ups and downs.

"What are you hesitating about?! Hot Wind?!"

Witnessing all this, Meteor was furious, his hair standing on end!

"Hot Wind! What are you hesitating for? You are now my right arm, we are connected by blood and flesh! What are you hesitating for?!"

He pointed to everything around him, to the flesh-and-blood processing plant at the end of the conveyor belt, to the dismantling workshop that had stopped operating due to power outages, and to the infants around sixty weeks old who had just died, the robotic arm's blade having just completed the craniotomy procedure.

"Ah!!!------"

Bu Liuxing roared, his voice echoing through the empty, desolate factory.

"Ah!!!------"

The veins on his neck bulged, and blood vessels quickly appeared in his eyes. As his blood pressure rose, his roar was filled with intense hatred and anger.

"Ah!!!------"

His legs gave way, and he knelt down in front of the workshop, seemingly finally exhausted.

My heart pounded violently from the desperate roar, sending waves of excruciating pain through me.

The surge in blood pressure caused Meteor's capillaries to burst, and he lost his grip on the Dragon Slayer and Berloberg swords, which fell to his sides.

The General of Tears was weeping bitterly, roaring and howling with heart-wrenching fury; he didn't know what was happening.

As Brother Ping An once said, changes in the times and technology do not seem to bring happiness.

--Zhong Kui's last words are like an inexplicable riddle.

Science can answer people's questions, but the metaphysics created by the gods can only create more questions.

Hey kid.

Bu Liuxing wiped away the blood and tears from the corners of his eyes and answered immediately.

"I'm fine."

At this moment, the Hot Wind was astonished by Bu Liuxing's transformation—

Those roars just now almost shattered its mind; reason and logic were struggling to maintain a stable state in the face of a sudden increase in the body's metabolic environment.

That kind of anger and hatred is an extreme emotion that is difficult for it to understand, empathize with, or delve into. These emotional signs often appear before a personality breakdown occurs.

But after only a few dozen seconds, the boy stood up, put his sword back on his back, and continued walking forward.

Hot Wind couldn't find anyone similar in the database, nor had he ever seen such a determined look in his eyes.

"Hot Wind, repeat the question you just asked."

[Oh. Yes. What's the problem?]

Bu Liuxing: "A fake."

[Oh! I'm fake?]

Bu Liuxing clenched his fist and swung his right arm fiercely. "No!"

Am I the worst of the worst? The most counterfeit of all?

"No! No! This shouldn't be!" Bu Liuxing became agitated and started jogging towards the dismantling workshop. "It's not like this!"

[Then what am I!? What am I?]

Meteor pushed open the factory door of the classic human-made structure and walked out onto the driveway.

He looked up and saw a dark dome, the city lights in the distance like a glittering starry sky, and everything was quiet.

"Do you remember? Grandfather Qian Tang called you 'Big Brother'."

"In Zhong Kui's last words, those final few sentences, she thought she had truly become Shihara Momo —at the end of the recording, she was definitely calling you, she was calling you Fen Feng."

[Boy]

"You were the one who saved my life, you were the one who dueled with the executioner, you were the one who killed Zhong Kui, you were the one who roared in the Angel Infant's processing workshop—it should all be you."

"I believe in you! Just as you believe in me! I can touch you, I can feel you."

"As for what you are? Brother Xue Ming's soul power asked me the same question."

Fragrant Dream was once invited by the Arcane Library Research Institute to study itself, or in layman's terms, to find out what it really was.

"I can only answer this question from my own perspective. Now you have to show me the way. We have to keep fighting. Only we ourselves can decide who we are, at least for me."

Bu Liuxing waited motionless for the next mission instruction.

"--You're the real deal!"