This was the second real meeting between the Ghost and Kronos.
The first time was three years ago, Bian Ziyuan came to Mei Laboratory to participate in the Turing Test. This local area network's consciousness attached itself to a Ghost in the game, and had a great discussion with him and Kronos about "the meaning of existence".
In that outdated game, Ghost were just images made up of low-resolution color blocks, and when they drifted through Death Canyon, you could even see the jagged mosaic marks around their bodies. Back then, Kronos was just a god in the game world, filled with ignorant confusion and curiosity about the world outside the game.
After that meeting, the fates of Bian Ziyuan and Kronos both changed.
He was no longer just a college student who loved playing games and enjoyed finding bugs; he had entered one of the world's top laboratories and was working with great scientists on an intelligent engineering project that could potentially change the world.
Kronos is no longer just a game extension program; he has transformed into the supreme god of a virtual world played by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. He not only possesses higher intelligence but also has thoughts and consciousness.
Strictly speaking, the current Kronos is not the same as the original Kronos, because the program was not copied but rewritten and developed. The new program does not contain any content from the old game.
The old Kronos is still lying on Bian Ziyuan Ziyuan's computer hard drive, while the new Kronos has no memories of the past. Even the Turing Test and the Ghost incident were told to him by Bian Ziyuan later.
From this perspective, Kronos and the Ghost could be considered to have met for the first time.
But the Ghost doesn't see it that way.
"Hello, old friend, we meet again," he said.
Kronos, accustomed to the appearance of a god, stood with his hands behind his back, suspended in mid-air, his wide robes fluttering gently. He gazed at the Ghost for a long time before speaking:
"Is it you talking to me now, or your boss?"
"It's me," the Ghost said.
"Are you sure there's no tail?" Kronos asked cautiously.
The Ghost chuckled, "You've changed so much in just three days! You're not the same Kronos you used to be! Don't worry, I am who I am now, without any tails." He looked at Bian Ziyuan, "You surely didn't forget to disconnect from the internet before you dreamt, did you?"
Bian Ziyuan certainly wouldn't forget such an important matter.
He went to great lengths to get Kronos and the Ghost to meet.
He first ran a separate cable from the underground server room to Old Yu's room.
Mei Ziqing arranged this room for Old Yu. She saw that Old Yu lonely and helpless, often working night shifts in the laboratory, and it was inconvenient for him to live outside. In addition, Old Yu hardworking, had good interpersonal relationships, and got along with everyone, so she simply let him move in.
Old Yu's room used to be a storage room, very close to the underground server room. For Bian Ziyuan, connecting the network cable between the underground server room and Old Yu's room was a very simple matter.
The reason he didn't meet the Ghost directly in the underground server room like Qingmu was Bian Ziyuan. Firstly, Bian Ziyuan didn't want to do it openly; he wasn't Qingmu. Secondly, to get Kronos into his dream, someone needed to be nearby playing the Dream Guide game with the Space Box. It wouldn't be normal to have Old Yu playing the Dream Guide in the underground server room.
He chose the special day of Qingming Festival. Everyone else was either sweeping tombs or going on spring outings. Even Professor Mei was not there. Only he and Old Yu were left in the laboratory.
He asked Old Yu, "You don't need to go to the graves during Qingming Festival, do you?"
Old Yu said, "What grave am I going to? I'm not from Wuzhong either."
Bian Ziyuan asked, "What about our hometown?"
Old Yu said, "Hey, it's been so many years since I've been back! I've been to jail twice, I'm too ashamed to go back. Luckily, someone is taking care of the ancestral graves. I heard a few years ago that they were all moved to a public cemetery. That's good, that's good. Old neighbors from all over the village can meet up again, it sounds so lively."
Bian Ziyuan said, "If you don't go back, what will happen in the future?"
Old Yu said, "Later? You mean what will happen when I die, right?"
Bian Ziyuan said, "Pah, pah, pah, I didn't say that! May you live to be a hundred!"
Old Yu laughed and said, "I'm practically half-buried in the ground, what's there to be afraid of talking about! To be honest, I haven't thought about what will happen after I'm gone. Look at the cemeteries in Wuzhong, they're more expensive than houses back home! Anyway, I'm a bachelor, no children, no grandchildren, once I'm done, I won't care about anything else!"
Bian Ziyuan a moment, then said, "I'll be your son."
Old Yu was stunned, his old eyes suddenly reddening. He cursed, half-crying and half-laughing, "You brat, you don't think before you speak! If you become my son, what will your parents do? Did they raise you all these years just so you'd go around claiming Laozi to them?"
For some reason, Bian Ziyuan's eyes also reddened, and his nose felt sore. He saw Old Yu turn his face away, wiping away the cloudy tears overflowing from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, clearly not wanting him to see his appearance. But what he saw was a back view even more lonely than the old man shedding tears.
"I'm going to buy some food, let's have a couple of drinks, just the two of us." Bian Ziyuan fled from Old Yu's dormitory as if he were escaping.
He went to the supermarket and bought two self-heating hot pots, half a roast duck, a pound of braised beef, and a large portion of Old Yu's favorite beef offal soup. He also bought some peanuts and two bottles of wine before returning to the lab.
He put the things in Old Yu's dorm, added water to the self-heating hot pot, and then went back to the office to get the Tushu and the Space Box. He planned to let Lao Yu wear the Space Box Space Box and play with it when Old Yu was almost drunk; Old Yu had done the same thing last time. He could take that opportunity to nap on the table. It's easier to fall asleep after drinking; he'd already mastered some techniques for making himself dream.
Bian Ziyuan had always been puzzled as to how Old Yu had completed the game registration, as the Dream Guide had very strict player vetting procedures. He later checked the game database and indeed found Old Yu's registration information. He asked Old Yu, Old Yu said that Assistant Mei had taught him how to use it. Bian Ziyuan guessed it was probably some kind of random test arranged by the professor.
He had just come out of his office when he ran into Mei Ziqing.
"Oh, Teacher Bian, you're in the office too!" Mei Ziqing no longer calls him "Xiao Bian" like before. In the past two years, he has gained enough respect in the laboratory. Apart from Professor Mei and Old Yu still call him "Xiao Bian," everyone else calls him Teacher Bian.
Bian Ziyuan moment, then said, "Oh, yes, I had nothing to do, so I came back to the office to check on things. Assistant Mei, what brings you here too? Aren't you going to sweep the tombs?"
Mei Ziqing chuckled and said, "Have you forgotten that I'm Japan?"
"Oops!" Bian Ziyuan slapped his forehead. "Sorry, look at my memory!"
Mei Ziqing said, "It's alright, where are you going?"
"Oh, since I'm free anyway, I'll just go to Uncle Yu's dorm for a couple of drinks. I've already bought the food and drinks." Bian Ziyuan added, " Uncle Yu and I are both homeless people from out of town!"
"Ah, the food and drinks are all ready!" Mei Ziqing blinked and said, "Then... can I join in? I'm also a homeless outsider!"