Chapter 139
He walked slowly forward, his metal-soled boots making a soft but clear echo on the pure white ground.
"Why are you locking me up?" Xiao Huasheng asked.
"Because you are too special."
The voice, though dry, was steady as it responded to her.
The old man stopped in front of the cage.
Xiao Huasheng instinctively shrank back, but the iron cage restricted every possible movement.
"Don't move, let me touch you."
He stretched out his left hand, a wrinkled, slightly trembling hand that still revealed its once strong outline, and slowly passed it through the gap in the railing.
His fingertips touched her cheek.
In that instant, Xiao Huasheng froze completely.
The touch was extremely light, even gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable, overwhelming authority.
The skin on her fingertips was rough and dry, and the sensation as she brushed her cheek was terrifyingly clear, like a silent verdict slowly written on her skin.
And so, the old man gently rubbed her face.
She sensed neither malice nor kindness in that touch.
Xiao Huasheng felt a chill run down his spine.
Its touch held only a bottomless scrutiny, like an existence already weary of miracles and horrors, confirming through the most direct contact whether she was an object, a phenomenon, or... an error that occasionally uttered an interesting sound.
"Are you trying to flirt with me...?" Xiao Huasheng looked at him and continued, "Although I know I'm cute, I don't have those two things... You can't do anything bad."
"And, you're not O5-1, right?"
Xiao Huasheng said.
After touching it for a while, it seemed to understand something.
The old man in front of me smiled. "Of course, but if I've seen you before... just as you said, if I've seen you before the world reset."
His fingers pressed directly onto Xiao Huasheng's cheek.
The red-haired Angel's face was soft and supple, displaying amazing elasticity.
Xiao Huasheng still didn't understand what he had done.
A youthful phantom appeared before her; it was one of the two O5s she had seen at Lobotomy Corporation.
The illusory figure of the youth spoke.
"The entity has been contacted by the O5 Council and confirmed to be safe."
He spoke arrogantly, just as he had before.
Xiao Huasheng stared in disbelief at the scene.
[Why is this thing still here even though the world has been reset?] Even Angela was shocked by O5's methods.
"Hmm..." The old man, whose face was obscured, looked at the young man before him and finally said, "This is a meme directly implanted into your soul. It will only be triggered when you see any O5 member."
"I have Anti-Memetics Module..." Xiao Huasheng said weakly upon seeing this.
"That means the opposition isn't thorough enough. It's like Reality Stabilization Anchor; if the Hume Index can't overcome the Distortion, the Distortion will still manifest." The old man smiled.
Then, he changed the subject.
"However, anti-memes? That's quite a novel term. Perhaps we should establish Anti-Memetics Department, hehehehe..."
"Who knows, maybe you guys had this before?" Xiao Huasheng quipped.
"..."
This only earned him silence from O5, who eventually simply stuck a Foundation logo on Xiao Huasheng's magical girl costume.
It clashed completely with her pink dress.
"In short, live well here. As long as you don't abuse your abilities, everything is acceptable."
Looking at the armband on his arm, Xiao Huasheng asked curiously.
"Don't you need my help? I can cleanse the impurities in your souls simply by singing."
"Before you help, can you let me see it?" O5 asked. "In this space, no message can be transmitted, and it certainly cannot know this message."
Before Xiao Huasheng could make any move, the O5 Council had already implemented a full set of confidentiality measures.
They've all gone to another world, they're not even in the same dimension anymore.
Let alone leaking secrets, even if Xiao Huasheng were secretly executed here, no one would know.
"Uh..." Xiao Huasheng stared blankly at the large black worm wriggling behind him.
[I've started the Anti-Memetics Module, which can be shared with non-employees. Touch it.] Angela reminded me.
Then, Xiao Huasheng spoke directly to him.
"Give me your hand."
The old man in front of him did as instructed, after touching him.
The Anti-Memetics Module has been activated.
Xiao Huasheng could clearly see his face, and he could also see the strange black worms wriggling behind him.
"Oh." The old man glanced at it, narrowing his eyes. "This is certainly not good news."
"I came here specifically to solve this problem..."
"It should have the ability to share information, constantly transmitting information among its kind. If I know about it, then all these things will know—" The old man paused, "I... know about it."
"I think I've heard that before, it's true." Xiao Huasheng nodded.
"That makes sense. If it weren't for that, the Foundation wouldn't have needed to take such drastic measures to destroy the world."
However, Xiao Huasheng was still astonished by the old man's amazing reasoning ability.
As expected of an O5 member, their reasoning is practically scripted.
The old man rubbed his head.
"I could feel it trying to manipulate my mind, but clearly, it couldn't."
"This thing must not be known to humans, otherwise even if it comes again, it will just be another cycle."
Xiao Huasheng looked at him and said, "How about I sing you a song to get rid of this thing on your back?"
The old man waved his hand and shook his head, saying, "No, that would let it know that humans already know of its existence. We must eliminate it all at once to minimize its impact."
"What should we do then?" This question also gave Xiao Huasheng a headache, indeed, this was a complete dead end.
Forget about repeat concerts; just the mere mention of it would trigger a chain reaction, causing everything to explode.
Xiao Huasheng doesn't have the ability of the Silent Orchestra to spread his songs globally; he can only do it piece by piece, which takes time.
"Then I think your Foundation isn't as powerful as ours," the old man chuckled and said slowly.
"Why?"
"You should know that the essence of SCP-2000 is a reset created by stacking an entire world onto another parallel world, right? In other words, it actually destroys your original world before the reset, and then transfers a parallel world to this location, creating the sensation of a reset."
"In other words, your previous world has been destroyed, and the world you are in is just another parallel world. Any object contained, except for the Supreme Divinity, can be replicated..."
"Coincidentally, I recognize a few such beings, beings of Supreme Divinity," the old man said softly.
Chapter Six: Even a Dumb Angel Can Become Doctor! [1 Update]
"Ah..." Xiao Huasheng asked belatedly, "Are you going to use Supreme Divinity to deal with the thing behind humanity?"
After all, in the previous Foundation World, Xiao Huasheng hadn't seen a single trace of Supreme Divinity.
In response, the elderly man in front of him only gave a slight smile.
He remained silent, seemingly implying something, yet also seemingly not.
"But judging from the Foundation's track record, they'd definitely prefer a one-time solution, right?" Xiao Huasheng said, adding that the Foundation was quite receptive to advice.
Having nothing to do, she looked through some internal Foundation documents and came across a bizarre containment plan.
What it contained was none other than another world.
In another world, everything died and ceased to exist.
To prevent death from spreading throughout the universe, the Foundation chose to contain the entrance to that world.
"This is really..." Xiao Huasheng's lips twitched.
But the old man in front of her then made a promise, "Thank you for your contributions to humanity. Don't worry, you won't be subject to too many restrictions after you get out. Enjoy your life."
"But I still want some permissions," Xiao Huasheng said, stroking his chin.
She still wanted to see if those two doors were still there.
But just as O5 said...
In her previous Foundation, she had never heard of any Supreme Divinity, nor did she know that the Foundation had used such power.
The worst injury she had ever suffered was from a nuclear explosion.
This is a negligible amount of power for the Foundation.
The previous Foundation lacked many things, but this Foundation World has the presence of Supreme Divinity.
Just as Angela said.
These are just two similar worlds, yet they possess completely different powers.
The red-haired Angel wondered if he had stumbled into a particularly powerful Foundation World. The old man O5 remained completely calm throughout, showing no concern whatsoever, even knowing that such a thing existed behind humanity.
In response to Xiao Huasheng's request, the elderly man from O5 spoke up.
"Do you still want to be a member of the task force? In fact, the Pandora's Box Task Force is indeed being planned. Do you want to be the captain?"
"Mmm--↓." Hearing this, Xiao Huasheng hummed softly, shaking his head vigorously. "I don't want any fighting, I just haven't finished reading all the files yet... I want to peek at some."
"All the files? Hehehe..." The old man chuckled, looking at the curious Angel before him, and said, "You're really greedy."
Xiao Huasheng seemed to realize he had said something inappropriate and quickly said, "If it doesn't work, then forget it..."
She didn't want to be targeted and killed by this Foundation just for making this request.
In response, the O5 elder said, "Of course we can give you authority, but with great power comes great responsibility. Power and responsibility are inseparable. Since you don't want to become the Foundation's henchman, there is actually another option."
"What choice?" Xiao Huasheng asked curiously.
"You'll find out when you get out," the old man O5 said, then pointed something at his head. "Alright, now I need to deal with this."
The old man said no more. A device had appeared in his hand without his knowledge.
Shaped like a silver shuttle with a cold, eerie blue tip, it resembles a sophisticated medical instrument more than a weapon.
Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and aimed the device at the silent, writhing, pitch-black shadow that clung to human concepts.
There was no earth-shattering light, no deafening explosion.
There was only a very faint "hissing" sound. The vast, indescribable darkness, like pencil marks erased by an eraser, rapidly faded and disappeared from the edges, finally ceasing its violent writhing as it tried to control the thoughts of the old man O5.
The process was eerily quiet.
Then, he turned the device around and steadily pressed it against his temple.
His movements remained unwavering, as if he were simply performing a routine task he had done countless times.
A slight twitch of the fingertips.
The same faint light flashed by.
The old man's body swayed almost imperceptibly, and the deep, star-like light in his eyes instantly dissipated.
But it was quickly reorganized afterward, and the reorganized gaze had shed all its complex heaviness, leaving only a cleansed, pure gentleness.
The old man O5 used memory erasure on himself, and also erased the memory of the monster behind him.
O5's methods in this world are numerous and varied.
He then looked at Xiao Huasheng with the same gaze one would give a long-lost, admirable old friend, a look that carried an almost hollow friendliness.
He said nothing more, only nodded slightly to Xiao Huasheng, then turned around and walked slowly but with unusual determination toward the end of the pure white space.