Unusual Blackout!

Lin Xuan could tell that his second brother, Lin Wu, clearly held the bounty hunter known as Eight Machine Devil Machinery in some disdain.

With Lin Wu's further explanation, he also understood that Eight Machine Devil Machinery's consciousness transfer was indeed quite different from what he had imagined.

The reason Eight Machine Devil Machinery could switch his consciousness back and forth between his eight subsidiary bodies was that he had used technology from some civilization acquired from the Old Soil to divide his brain into eight parts and implant them into those eight bodies.

The prerequisite for transferring his consciousness between those eight bodies was that they had to remain within a certain range and could not be too far apart.

Nor could he use electronic data streams or networks to transfer his consciousness without limit. Naturally, that meant he was far from impossible to kill.

"Second Brother, are you saying Eight Machine Devil Machinery's eight bodies were actually all nearby at the time?" Lin Xuan asked after understanding.

"Not necessarily. Multitasking is extremely taxing on the mind. I'd guess he doesn't necessarily take all his bodies with him whenever he goes out."

Lin Wu shook his head.

"Then if he really had bodies that didn't come, while all the ones in Dragon River City were blown up, what would happen to the bodies he left outside?" Lin Xuan asked, letting his thoughts wander.

"I don't really know about that. But theoretically, if that situation really happened, the bodies outside could indeed revive. It's just that such a revival would inevitably lose part of its memories."

Rubbing his chin, Lin Wu pondered. "The technology he used is called 'Fission.' It isn't particularly rare in the Old Soil, but the modification process is extremely dangerous. On top of that, the technology itself involves some ethical controversies, so not many people are willing to try it."

"Ethical controversies?" Lin Xuan did not understand.

"Because under certain circumstances, separated bodies like his can develop different wills, much like split personalities. The difference is that the split personalities don't need to share the same body."

Lin Wu shrugged. "When that happens, which one is the real Eight Machine Devil Machinery? Or perhaps none of those separated wills are really him?"

Hearing this, Lin Xuan immediately rubbed his temples with his tiny hands, nearly feeling as if his brain was insufficient again, just like when he had first awakened.

"Ahem, ahem. I forgot your brain hasn't fully developed yet. Let's not talk about this for now." Seeing Lin Xuan clutching his head, Lin Wu immediately panicked a little.

He might be a genius boy, but if he gave his little brother Lin Xuan a headache, there was no telling whether his eldest sister would beat him up.

As the saying went, when a scholar met a soldier, reason was useless.

With his skinny arms and legs, he was not even enough for his eldest sister to beat with one hand.

Of course, his worries were somewhat unnecessary.

Lin Xuan had indeed gotten a slight headache from listening, but it had nothing to do with his brain being underdeveloped. His brain had long since finished growing.

His headache was simply because, as a poor student in his previous life, he had never been interested in such convoluted matters.

Ding-dong!

Just as Lin Xuan and Lin Wu finished talking, the doorbell rang.

"Come on. It should be time to eat."

Lin Wu picked Lin Xuan up from the bed and set him on the floor, then took his hand and headed for the door.

Before long, the family arrived at the restaurant on the hotel's third floor.

As one of Great Xia's tourist destinations, Skysea Island was indeed extremely expensive during the holidays, but its service was also beyond reproach.

Take the hotel Lin Hai had booked. Among Skysea Island's many hotels, it could at most be considered mid-range.

Yet even its third-floor buffet restaurant was not inferior in the slightest to the Jinma International Food Emporium the Lin family often visited in Dragon River City. It might even have been better.

And all of this was included with the room, requiring no additional payment.

Though the wool ultimately came from the sheep, the experience it offered was entirely different.

The family happily arrived on the third floor, planning to have a hearty meal as the opening ceremony of their trip.

But before they could even begin eating, the entire buffet restaurant suddenly went dark!

In an instant!

The restaurant erupted into chaos!

Children screamed, people accidentally fell, and all kinds of complaints rang out as guests demanded to know what was going on.

Very soon, a man who looked like the lobby manager walked onto the small stage in the middle of the restaurant with a megaphone.

"Hello... hello..."

After testing the megaphone, the manager continued, "Dear guests, please remain calm. My surname is Shi, and I am this restaurant's lobby manager. If any of you need anything, you may come to me at any time. The other staff and I will do everything in our power to serve you."

A voice from below shouted, "Cut the useless talk! We're halfway through eating here. What the hell is going on?"

Manager Shi patiently replied through the megaphone, "Hello, dear guest. There seems to be a minor fault with the power supply system, but please rest assured. Our hotel has its own backup generator, so it will be fixed very soon."

With Manager Shi's patient explanation, the crowd's complaints finally subsided somewhat.

"Don't be scared, baby. That uncle just said the power should be back soon." Ye Hongyu pulled Lin Xuan onto her lap and soothed him.

Seeing this, Lin Wu shrugged at Lin Xuan, wearing an expression that said there was nothing he could do.

At that moment, Lin Long suddenly said in a low voice, "Something's not right."

Lin Rou raised an eyebrow and looked at Lin Long. "What is it?"

Lin Long lowered her voice. "Even if there's a power outage, don't you think it's a little too dark? It's only seven o'clock. It isn't even dark outside yet..."

Indeed!

Sitting on his mother's lap, Lin Xuan's heart tightened when he heard the Demon Queen's reminder!

He truly had not noticed this earlier.

As a tourist destination, Skysea Island was practically at the southernmost end of Great Xia. Its climate was warm, and night fell later as well.

At this time of year, Dragon River City might already be somewhat dim at seven in the evening, but on Skysea Island, it would not get dark until at least seven-thirty or eight.

Although the restaurant they were in had its roller blinds drawn to block the sunlight, there should still have been light coming in from outside.

After Lin Long pointed it out, Lin Xuan and the others immediately looked toward the windows. Only then did they realize that even the gaps beside the roller blinds were extremely dark.

Lin Wu raised his hand and quickly fiddled with his watch.

A moment later, his expression turned grave. "There really is a problem. The communication lines have been cut off from the outside world..."

"Stay here. I'll go see what's going on." Lin Rou suddenly said in a low voice.

"Xiao Rou, don't do anything reckless!" Ye Hongyu was startled.

"It's fine. Let her go." Lin Hai patted his wife's shoulder, signaling Ye Hongyu not to worry. At the same time, he told Lin Rou, "Be careful. If anything happens, come back and discuss it with us first."

"Mm, I know."

Lin Rou nodded. Then, with a flash, she vanished from the Lin family's sight.

"Someone is watching this place!"

The instant Lin Rou left, Lin Xuan suddenly felt as though he was being watched, and his heart clenched.