Awake

North American Nature Reserve.

In the history of the previous civilization era, the cold of the Fourth Ice Age connected the Americas and Asia. The passage between them was known as the Bering Land Bridge, and ancient humans also used this area to enter the Americas. However, the terrain of the Americas was too flat, allowing cold currents from the north to travel south all the way to Mexico, which also resulted in a very cold climate in the Americas.

The cold climate and the ice sheets covering large parts of the Americas made it the region with the slowest population development among all continents. To forcibly develop the Americas, this area also became a reservation for exiled criminals. However, unlike Australia in later generations, most criminals exiled to the Americas died in the cold snow.

As times progressed, humanist thought was gradually accepted by the entire society, and the exile policy was abolished. By modern times, the population of the entire Americas was only tens of millions.

Decades ago, environmental scientists pointed out that human activities in the Americas had accelerated the melting of the North American ice sheets, which would cause drastic changes in the global climate and environment in a short period. Furthermore, the concentration of Honkai energy in the Americas was extremely low. The United Nations government announced that the entire Americas would be designated as a nature reserve, and the population of the Americas was gradually relocated to other continents.

Thanks to the history of the Americas, many Vaults were established in what would later be called Mexico, and Vault 111 was located inland on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Vault-Tech and Umbrella Bio-Corp had recently reached a cooperation agreement, with each Vault having a medical center under Umbrella's jurisdiction. They were nominally state-owned companies but still enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy, as long as they did not actively disobey the targets and rules set by Fire Moth.

The "Honkai Energy Adaptability Census" was a target set by Fire Moth, conducted monthly, with the data encrypted and submitted to Fire Moth. However, there were many areas that could be "manipulated" here.

Thump. The young man with blonde hair and purple eyes fell out of the cultivation tank. He tried to stand up, supporting himself with his wet palms, but his weak muscles couldn't give him enough strength to stand and he slipped.

"Pain..." A word flashed through the young man's mind.

He lay on the ground, gasping for breath. The darkness made him unsure if he was bleeding. After more than ten seconds, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with warm air, and stood up with all his might. The blonde-haired young man clenched his fists. He seemed to feel his strength increasing? The young man turned around and looked at the cultivation tank he had just fallen out of.

The blonde-haired young man didn't know who he was or where he was, but he knew that the thing in front of him was called a cultivation tank. He slid his fingertips over the label on the control panel below the cultivation tank, feeling the texture of the paper against his fingertips.

"Subject... 14... European race" Using the light from the blinking indicator light at the bottom, he painstakingly read out the words one by one. He knew what these words meant, but he didn't know how they were connected, nor did he know how they were connected to him.

Strange—a word popped into his mind.

He looked up. His cultivation tank was connected to many transparent plastic tubes, and some electrodes with unclear meanings were attached inside. The laboratory lights suddenly turned on, and his eyes involuntarily closed. He covered his head with his palms to shield himself from the bright light. His eyes, which had been in darkness for a long time, were unaccustomed to the bright light for a moment. Then, he slowly opened his eyes.

The laboratory door opened. "Clang... clang... clang", it sounded like some metal stepping on the ground, and the sound was getting closer. A cylindrical robot with an honest and simple appearance walked in from outside the door. Its exterior was round and smooth, with unseen wheels at the bottom and a track chassis that fit its upper body. The young man felt no fear, instead showing a look of curiosity.

The blonde-haired young man looked at the engineering robot and struggled to utter a word: "Ro... bot". The engineering robot swayed its camera in agreement. It extended a pincer-like arm and beckoned to him. Then, it drove towards a certain direction.

Ultimately, the young man chose to follow. The destination was a more spacious and brighter area, which appeared to be several times larger than the previous laboratory. However, the density of the wiring was enough to dazzle the eyes, with colorful data cables crisscrossing like a nest of coiled snakes.

After the engineering robot brought the young man to his destination, it disappeared without a trace. The blonde-haired young man looked around. Just as he was about to fiddle with the messy wires, a beam of blue light appeared before him. The lights intertwined and converged, finally forming a person who looked a few years older than him.

"First, I want to congratulate you." Qin Su applauded.

The blonde-haired young man looked confused: "Con... gratulate?"

"Yes, congratulate, because you have finally succeeded. Your previous sixty-three bodies..."

"In my records, most of them were destroyed due to premature aging, UV radiation, and mental disorders caused by the Law-Ruler Core."

"I'm a clone?"

The blonde-haired young man finally understood the three philosophical questions that had been bothering him: Who am I, Where am I, and What am I doing.

"That description is inaccurate." Qin Su smiled slightly.

"You are not a clone in the conventional sense. I stubbornly believe that humans with consciousness can be cloned and used for inhumane purposes, which is no different from killing an ignorant infant."

"But you are different." Qin Su gently touched the blonde-haired young man's head. Although it was a projection, the blonde-haired young man could clearly feel the soft touch, like a benevolent creator in mythology.

"Your body was created by yourself, and I merely provided you with energy."

"During the test on the Tenth Law-Ruler Core, which was similar to the Law of Death, electromagnetic interference caused by natural disasters caused the Law-Ruler Core to accidentally fall into the petri dish. The Hela cells within began to grow rapidly, even repairing some of the genetic errors in the Hela cells, and underwent dedifferentiation and redifferentiation."

"—By the way, although you have just woken up, I believe you understand what I mean."

"Therefore, I had an idea: If the cells in the petri dish were undifferentiated stem cells, would the Law-Ruler Core create a body for itself?"

"The answer is yes, because you are standing here. But the initial results were not satisfactory." The rigor of a scientist made the blonde-haired young man unexpectedly feel that he was not a proud creation in the eyes of his creator.

"Your first body retained its previous will and memories and was quickly eliminated. The second body, and the third, seventh, and so on."

"When I was creating different bodies for you, I used stem cells from different people. The new bodies were not compatible with the Law-Ruler Core, causing the Law-Ruler Core to lose control, and the bodies experienced genetic mutations. All these bodies were destroyed due to premature aging and UV radiation."

"When your fourth body matured, I infused you with a vast amount of information, including science, history, combat, strategy, etc. I hoped to erase your human personality with this massive amount of information. However, besides making you more astute, it could not erase your original personality."

"Later, I discovered a significant flaw: humans are not a species that can maintain rationality at all times. So, I infused you with a stream of information containing personal emotions. Initially, it caused your mental disorder, but your condition gradually stabilized until now."

"But our experiment is not over yet."

"Drip." The sound of liquid dripping onto the ground, as if dripping from his own face? "Cold sweat." The word flashed in his mind, and his body trembled uncontrollably. He was afraid. Afraid of being cut open on an operating table like an experimental animal, piece by piece.

"Are you ready? It's time to say goodbye to your past and welcome your new life." Qin Su gently placed his hand on the blonde-haired young man's forehead, giving him a slight chill.

He didn't know that his violet eyes were turning red. Instantly, an excruciating pain struck him.

"Ugh...!" The blonde-haired young man covered his eyes and roared madly, scratching his head as if thousands of sirens were screaming in his mind. The Law-Ruler Core still retained its original will, attempting to defend the last vestiges of its bodily sovereignty.

The Honkai energy detector in the preservation room emitted a piercing alarm. The Honkai energy concentration here had exceeded the standard level, and Honkai energy was continuously emanating from the blonde-haired young man's body.

"Almost successful. The information infusion strategy has successfully split the mental power of the Law-Ruler Core. Now, we can only hope that the new personality can gain control of the body."

The young man's consciousness was enveloped by countless dark tentacles. The black fleshy tentacles swayed violently, clinging tightly to the young man like octopus tentacles with suction cups, looking incredibly horrifying. The black tentacles gently caressed his eye sockets like family, allowing him to see past scenes. They whispered in his ear like lovers, allowing him to hear the sounds of history.

The history of humanity for billions of years unfolded before his eyes, with endless scenes of slaughter and destruction. Beneath the brutality, there was the fearlessness of protecting beauty. The sweet fruits of indulgence and decadence fell into his hands, but he only smelled the fragrance of beauty and love. The thoughts of billions of people flowed through his mind, forming insidious and malicious whispers, while wisdom made the starry sky above his head shine brightly.

Countless faces flashed by, and countless voices spoke. They came from the past and the future. Here, the scale of time was erased, leaving only pure thought and consciousness.

In the study, the fireplace blazed with warm light, and a fountain pen scratched across the paper, leaving black ink. The young man stood beside the writer. "Morality—all correct moral norms—originate from the instinct for survival. Moral behavior is a survival behavior that transcends the individual level. To establish a correct moral view, one must face humanity squarely and understand what a 'human' is—not what a kind old lady with a benevolent smile expects it to be." ①

The scholar took a thick history book from the library shelf. He held the book in his hand, and the bright light illuminated the cover. "People make their own history, but they do not make it as they please, under circumstances they choose, but under circumstances directly at hand, from those handed down from the past." ②

The elders and believers gathered around the campfire. The firewood crackled and popped from time to time. The campfire in the desert dispelled the cold of the night, and the believers gazed directly at the elder's weathered and kind face. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." ③

The boy instantly woke up. He found Qin Su sitting right beside him. After a moment, the boy looked up and met his gaze for a few seconds. This time, the confusion in his eyes had significantly lessened. The boy hesitated before saying, "You..."

Finally, he carefully asked, "Do I have a name?"

"Constantine."

P.S.:

① -- Starship Troopers

② -- The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

③ -- Revelation 21:4 (Revised Standard Version), The Bible