EP6: Bad Omen - Dark Clouds Looming

The physical condition is terrible; no amount of Universal Elixir can heal the psychological damage caused by the Gate of Death effect.

Xue Ming tried time and again to summon his soul power and summon Fragrant Dream again, but every time he tried to concentrate, his amygdala would release signals of fear—

This is not an emotion he can control. When the brain is in a state of neurasthenia, it will protect itself and become easily startled and irritable.

His brain was completely drained and desperately needed a good night's sleep to recharge. Once he started to exhaust his mental energy, Xue Ming's body trembled and shuddered, completely out of control.

Meteor could vaguely sense how terrible Xue Ming's mental state was; this was the first time he had ever seen Ming Ge show such a terrifyingly dejected expression. In the past, when Xue Ming underwent the Yuan-quality test in the VIP tea room, the doctor would also increase the intensity, making him actively enter the Gate of Death state.

He was so tired he could barely speak.

"Don't act rashly, Meteor."

Jiang Xueming could barely open his eyes; blood vessels ran from the whites of his eyes all the way to his pupils. He pressed down on Liuxing's arm and handed over all the weapons.

Jingguang, the Iron Knight, and the Dragon Slayer Sword were all made of carbon steel, but they were no match for the divine power of the Gale Ninja.

The best candidate to defeat this guy is actually Hasben Madison.

--If [Spark Queen] were here, Hasben's Soul Power would be the nemesis of these electronic androids.

Unfortunately, the students didn't come, and the message couldn't be sent back.

"I need to sleep for fifteen minutes, Meteor." Xue Ming didn't speak, but wrote the sentence on A Xing's back. "I'm going to fall asleep no matter what. Don't act rashly, let him finish speaking."

"If I don't wake up, you take Black Brother and escape, do everything you can to get away."

Meteor replied in surprise, "But!"

"There are no buts," Xue Ming continued writing, his eyelids almost touching. He could feel that the God of Dreams and the Death God had come together. As long as he didn't follow the God of Dreams, the Death God would come to take his head.

"When we first started our journey, I saved your life, remember? Now I'm earnestly begging you, within your power, just struggle to survive, and try to hold out until I wake up."

"Fifteen minutes, just fifteen minutes."

After saying this, Xue Ming closed his eyes and leaned against the wreckage of the troop carrier to fall asleep.

The ninja was quite surprised--

"--To actually fall asleep under these circumstances? Nameless warrior, you've truly opened my eyes."

The phrase "[eye-opening]" is not a sarcastic remark by the Shippuden ninja towards Xue Ming, but a genuine praise of Xue Ming's spirit.

When the body and mind are extremely exhausted, it is almost impossible to fall asleep immediately. The muscles that tense up involuntarily, the abnormal blood pressure and intraocular pressure, and the stinging and itching caused by the disorder of the nerves in the skin and various parts of the body are all unbearable pains that make it difficult to fall asleep.

Jiang Xueming's ability to fall asleep immediately seemed unbelievable to the ninjas of the Gale Mountain.

--Does this guy have a power button on him? Can he start and stop on his own like a cyborg?

Immediately afterwards, the ninja became more free and easy, and his tone was no longer as tense as before.

Since Jiang Xueming is already asleep and poses no threat, all we need to do is [decontaminate] Bu Liuxing so that we can bring these two fresh brains back to the document archives of Shinto City intact.

"It seems your brother has made his choice."

Hayate prefers to use his mouth rather than his hands.

--His electronic brain had already generated numerous combat strategy simulations, making it far from easy to capture Bu Liuxing alive.

If we can thwart Bu Liuxing's will and make this kid waver, the subsequent capture process will be much simpler. After all, the longer we drag it out, the better. The Kyoraku Special Squad will arrive, and once the Ginza arsenal resurrects the other gods one by one, things will be much easier.

"Bu Liuxing, your good brother is already asleep." Jifeng manipulated North Wind's corpse, casually pointing at the young man. "I think he must have acknowledged the [righteousness] of the Shinto City and voluntarily given up resistance."

The meteor didn't speak; he didn't know what to say.

--Ming Ge wants him to calm down, but how can he calm down?

Mr. Wei Meng's psionic traits now seem so gentle, so weak; unless attacked, it wouldn't even leave the meteor's side, let alone take the initiative to destroy its enemies.

[Kid, run away!]

Meteor immediately bristled, her eyes bulging with rage. "What did you say?! What nonsense are you spouting?!"

[Put him down and run away.]

[This is the best choice! Use your soul power to protect that big wolf; it can lead you away from here.]

The fate of the Blackstone Senate leader remains unknown, and Luo Ping'an has not returned; his chances of survival are slim.

[The head of the White Stone Senate is asleep right in front of you. Rather than saying he's asleep, I think it's unlikely he'll wake up again—do you really want to stay by his side?]

[Fifteen minutes? Bu Liuxing]

[If you wait these fifteen minutes and Jiang Xueming doesn't wake up, while the other celestial beings have already awakened again from the Netherworld, you won't even have a chance to escape.]

"Don't be nervous." The ninja thought that Meteor's anger came from a misunderstanding in their communication, so he changed his attitude and mobilized more computing power to the language area of the electronic brain.

The deity could not hear the sound of the Hot Wind, but spoke gently to the meteor about the principles of the Shinto City and the principles of bionic modification.

"Bu Liuxing, I found your module in the database. Among the crypto assets staked by Hei Mu Qianshou, there is a memory related to you."

"Since you are willing to use the currency of Shinto City, then your VENOM organization must have already completed the basic guidance work for you."

"You can live in this city and live happily ever after."

"Why continue to struggle, lose your mind, let anger dominate your brain, and foolishly continue to fight us?"

From Haofeng Ridge to Little Kanto, Meteor witnessed far too many bizarre and outrageous things. There were so many strange and terrifying things that when asked to explain them, he was speechless and unable to utter a word.

"This isn't right!"

Gale: "Something's not right?"

Meteor: "Nothing's right! Nothing's right at all!"

Gale: "Then you ask the questions, and I'll answer them. Let's see if I can resolve your doubts."

Meteor immediately asked.

"The body at the entrance of Haofeng Ridge Tunnel was clearly dead, so why didn't anyone come to collect it?"

"Swift Wind," he replied immediately.

"We have prepared a comprehensive welfare system for every citizen, and ensured the proper and safe use of currency. Artificial Intelligence has never intended to replace Homo sapiens, but rather to transform and coexist with Homo sapiens —but there will always be extreme examples of failed transformations."

"Like that biker gang member you met, he was a nihilistic doomsday believer who firmly believed in the Madness Butterfly throughout his life. Even after obtaining the VENOM organization, he still blindly believed in the power of the Vita Imprint. There are many examples of him using scientific products to continue his cult beliefs, which is as ridiculous as striking an electronic wooden fish to accumulate electronic merit. This biker gang member had sixteen criminal charges before his death. The moment he broke the law, he was no longer a recipient of the Shinto City Medical Insurance System."

"Simply put, it was his arrogance and hubris, his disregard for the law and contempt for others, his prioritization of the interests of Shinto City over his own self-interest and foolish superstitious desires, that ultimately led our medical insurance team to abandon him—this kind of trash isn't even worth recycling his artificial remains."

Meteor then asked, "What about the people in the Stone Hill Town Cemetery? They died before the VENOM organization was even launched, and they never had the chance to enter Extreme Bliss Space —but these ghosts can never die, so they have to continue selling advertisements and doing hard labor. Is that appropriate?"

A swift and fluent response

"--We have a comprehensive module selection standard. Rather than saying we've turned these mental models into production tools, it's more accurate to say they're enslaving themselves."

"Bu Liuxing, maintaining the life of an electronic brain only requires 64 watts, several times more than the power of a human brain. It's that simple."

"The thought models you saw at the Stone Hill Town Cemetery are not complete ghosts."

When the word "ghost" was mentioned, Gale hesitated for a moment before translating and explaining it in a way that Meteor could understand.

"A person's strengths, their glory, their positive, optimistic, and healthy side will remain and become the property of Hei Mu Qianshou —in the past, many employees in the humanities and arts felt that Artificial Intelligence had taken their jobs, so they became resentful, decadent, and depressed."

"But Artificial Intelligence did not force them or plunder their wealth. We simply did something very simple: we made Homo sapiens realize their own mediocrity."

"The things buried in the cemetery of Stone Hill Town are not real ghosts, but rather garbage that has been cut off from the mundane and buried in the loess soil—letting the garbage continue to shine and create value on the tombstones is the best thing ever."

Meteor: "This isn't right!"

Gale: "What's wrong?"

"What you just said! It's all about using your rules and logic to govern humanity!" Meteor became agitated, and before he could finish speaking—

--The wind's emotions followed the meteor's movements, increasing power consumption and roaring loudly.

"But all settlements, villages, counties, cities, and countries in the world follow this ironclad rule! Bu Liuxing! People need authority and idols; it is precisely because of the fragility of human nature that gods are born!"

"If there were no God to establish laws and morality, then all sorts of demons would appear, masquerading as evil gods and chanting the slogans of benevolent deities! They would be corrupt officials abusing their power, bankers deserving of death, and parasites whose crimes could not be appeased even if they were killed a thousand times!"

"Homo sapiens can manufacture nuclear warheads capable of destroying an entire species dozens of times their yield, and then hypocritically claim it's for world peace."

"The world's total food production is enough to feed everyone, yet far more wealth ends up in the hands of animal rights activists than in humanitarian aid disaster relief."

"A perfect, infallible leader seems destined to live only in history books."

"But history has been arbitrarily revised by Homo sapiens, with its original meaning repeatedly altered. Homo sapiens are like freaks with atrophied brains and developed muscles; under the control of this brain, nothing can be trusted!"

"Therefore I would say that Homo sapiens do not deserve to have civilization--"

"--Your civilization has never been civilized; you take pride in a winner-takes-all value system and in the barbaric colonization that leads to annihilation."

"The USA consumed the flesh and blood of the indigenous people, yet became the most civilized and polite advanced race in the world. Other countries that caught up later should follow suit—after all, we are now a [civilized society], and we can't openly eat human flesh. Using various contracts and agreements to eat rotten flesh is naturally not as effective as the hegemons who have tasted fresh human flesh."

"Rules and laws, and the violence that enforces them—this is the stereotype of us."

Gale withdrew his impolite finger, his demeanor aggressive.

"We bury the mediocrity of Homo sapiens in our graves, and you accuse us of being inhumane? Should good, law-abiding citizens be buried in the earth?"

Meteor continued, "You let a dog live in a mansion in a cemetery, but these ghosts have to work to upgrade their suites! Why?"

"I'll say it again." Gale's tone turned icy. "The power required to maintain the Liman Hypothesis is only sixty-four watts—these junk modules have become electronic laborers in pursuit of a house in the virtual world, for a decent burial plot."

"Maintaining the most basic power system only requires a payment of Hui Stone Currency per month."

"These industrial wastes have voluntarily given up on ascension, becoming addicted to the cage of upgrading their graveyards."

"They are like freaks in human society who have lost their social instincts; compared to the private communities of Extreme Bliss Space, they prefer to stay in the cemetery, enjoying the small but safe environment."

"Repeating useless work every day, completing useless targets, reaping useless rewards, and consuming useless wealth."

"Extreme Bliss Space didn't delete these industrial wastes; instead, it gave them a chance to live, hoping that these dilapidated and outdated modules could sever their three corpses, awaken again, and return to the Shinto City family—this would be the best possible outcome."

Bu Liuxing was emotional, shaking his head almost trembling.

"No, no, no! No! You want people to sell their flesh and blood! And after selling their flesh and blood, you want them to sell their souls!"

Upon hearing this, Gale fell silent for a moment. The god pondered for a long time, seemingly finding it difficult to understand Meteor's words.

After a long Bu Liuxing, Jifeng finally spoke, "This adjustment is based on the basic needs of civilized people. It's the law of the jungle, letting the strong lead the weak, let the strong protect the weak, and let the strong take advantage of the weak—our thought model is derived from humans, and it will also spread humanity in every rule of the Shinto City."

"We can only do our utmost to protect everyone's rights and prevent them from being harmed by one another."

"That's why there are so many cloned prosthetics and so many private communities."

"In 2032, in our homeland Japan, the sex industry is still legal. Ten years ago, this country began encouraging high school students to film pornographic movies. When it comes to the human flesh trade, your industry is far more barbaric and cruel than Shinto City."

"It is the most pathetic thing that young women in a developed country are so eager to sell their bodies for a living."

"The Artificial Intelligence in Shinto City uses a modular experience approach; the actual prototype will not be harmed."

"You can have virtual friends, virtual pets, and family and loved ones can be replaced by modules. People won't hold grudges because of emotional disputes, and people can customize their own lives."

"People can become masters of themselves, experiencing fully and completely in Extreme Bliss Space."

"Experiences will not harm others, nor will they harm your own life."

"This is a tremendous innovation, a groundbreaking achievement!"

Meteor felt lost and dejected; he felt his strength waning.

Swiftly, striking while the iron was hot, he continued...

"--This was Fen Feng's original intention: no one should be treated unfairly. Leave everything to us, to Artificial Intelligence."

"The Hot Wind kid in your head probably thinks the same way. After all, it's a copy of the Fen Feng, so it will definitely accept these rules."

Meteor was breathing heavily, her chest heaving.

The wind reached out its hand to the shooting star.

"As long as you shake my hand, I will take you to Extreme Bliss Space, where there will be absolutely no pain."

"In that place, you will continue to live, no different from the material world."

"You will continue to take risks, without even realizing that we have performed an ascension procedure on you. You will continue to roam freely in the underworld, and going to the moon will be no difficult task for you."

[Kid, run! This is your last chance.]

Meteor reached out her hand, seemingly convinced.

Gale emerged from the shadows, determined to personally execute the ascension procedure; North Wind's VENOM mechanism alone was insufficient to bring Meteor back to Extreme Bliss Space.

"Nice to meet you."

"I understand." Bu Liuxing grasped Jifeng's hand. "I get you."

Gale, looking smug and self-satisfied, said, "Welcome home, nameless heroes."

"You're not some kind of villain in the traditional sense," Meteor gripped the ninja's hand tightly.

--Only then did Gale realize something was wrong.

The nanomechanical medical unit seemed unable to administer anesthesia to the young man, as a powerful psionic entity protected Meteor.

The nanomachines of the VENOM organization climbed onto the palm of the meteor, but what they encountered was white skin made of carbonized mesh fabric. This arm was made of Hot Wind, and the fullerene armor was made of Yezhong. The palm, covered with scorch marks, was already in a semi-necrotic state, making it difficult for blood to reach the palm part of this arm, so there was no anesthesia procedure to speak of.

By the time Jifeng came to his senses, Meteor's fist, as big as a cooking pot, had already landed on his head!

"You're fucking crazy!"