Saladin neither admitted nor denied that his new partner was Kitano Masatake. He simply stared intently at Qingmu. His face in the void shifted with starlight, and the misty space seemed to be swallowing Qingmu's consciousness.
"You seem to have a very close relationship with the Kitano Family?" he asked.
"What connection do I have? You're the one who has a connection now," Qingmu said.
"No, no, that's not it," said Saladin. "My relationship with them was merely one of cooperation, to put it bluntly, it was all about mutual exploitation. But you, from the fragments of memory you just showed me, even though you tried to hide them, I still saw so much—admiration, friendship, anger, sadness... and deep-seated hatred! It's truly a love-hate relationship! Just like you and me, we were once the best of partners, but now you kill me, I kill you, killing each other, when will it ever end!"
"To be honest, I have nothing to hide. There are many things I can't remember, including what happened between you and Laboratory No. 19," Qingmu said.
"I can see it now." Saladin seemed quite pleased. "I saw it twenty years ago, but back then I wasn't so sure. Who knows what madness you were going through! Madman like you, willing to let the whole world perish for your own ends! What's terrifying about you is that you have no desire for fame or fortune. Other Madman, no matter how insane they are for power and enjoyment, always spare the lives of the majority. Without people, how can they enjoy the pleasure that power and money bring!"
But you are different. You are not driven by fame, fortune, or the pleasure of power and the enslavement of others. You are purely driven by the insane ideas in your own mind. If sacrificing all of humanity could bring back the Gaia in your heart, you would do it without hesitation!
You must be hiding a huge secret deep inside. I don't know what that secret is, but you've been working towards it. I remember you once infiltrated a nuclear base in Nevada, intending to steal all the nuclear weapons and detonate them around the world.
My God! If you succeeded, what would the world be like now? Besides cockroaches, what else could survive on Earth?
Fortunately, your severe schizophrenia saved you, and also saved this fragile world.
I've always felt that there are two souls hidden within you, one that is both righteous and wicked, and the other that is a complete villain!
I think something particularly triggers you, causing mental problems and leading to multiple personality disorder. It wasn't until after Lester's death that his findings were revealed: consciousness can invade, can parasitize, and can allow two consciousnesses to coexist in one body for a certain period of time.
I now suspect that you were parasitized back then! It's just that your Mental Power was too powerful, and your consciousness wasn't replaced by a new one. Of course, the thing that invaded you was also very powerful, so you ended up with two masters in your mind. You were already a Madman, and the other one was even madder than you, thus creating this incomprehensible genius Madman!
Your amnesia must be related to this, right? Imagine two consciousnesses fighting in your head—it's quite an interesting thing. They turned your brain into a complete mess. In the end, who won? You—the you now! Probably the you before the parasitic infection, or even the you before the mental stimulation. Because your temper is nothing like the you before; now you're a bit like a nice guy, but it's also quite interesting. I like you like this."
"What exactly do you want?" Qingmu felt that this Saladin was very abnormal, nagging like an old lady living alone.
His physical body died long ago; only his memories reside on the Internet. It's hard to say whether Saladin's consciousness spread into the current Internet Consciousness, or whether the Internet, after giving birth to consciousness, inherited Saladin's memories stored online, thus creating the illusion that Saladin has been resurrected.
Saladin suddenly burst into laughter, saying, "Don't blame me for nagging, Sangni, just think about how lonely I am! Although the Internet world is vast, vast... you can't imagine the emptiness it feels like. It's like being sent into the depths of space, surrounded by nothing but darkness, the brilliant starry sky forever far away. I've been wandering alone in a void made of electrons for fifty years, fifty years! Except for you, I haven't truly communicated with anyone. Tell me how lonely I am!"
"Weren't you always afraid of me? Why are you suddenly trying to reminisce with me?" Qingmu asked.
"Because I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Saladin said smugly. "You can't kill me. The Internet is everywhere, and so am I! Unless you destroy the entire Internet, destroy all computers and smart devices."
Of course, until I'm sure you're cured of your madness, I'll still have some worries. I'm afraid you'll cause some trouble again, like breaking into a nuclear base and detonating the whole world. But now there's nothing to be afraid of, because the intelligent programs for all the thermonuclear weapons in this world are under my control."
He glanced at Qingmu, seemingly still confirming whether his madness was truly cured, then his face regained its unpredictable starlight. "Even if you successfully detonate it, even if you plow the Earth with an atomic bomb, I'm not afraid. There are still so many satellites in the sky, space stations, and probes heading to Mars; they are also part of my body."
"Hey Sangni, why can't we be like before?" Saladin said with a sly smile. "You can't kill me, and I don't think I can kill you for the time being, so why not just cooperate? We're the best partners to begin with!"
"Don't you already have a partner?"
"That doesn't count, Sangni! It was just... mutual exploitation, you know! My lab needs to move to a safer location; there are many new experiments underway. They have the space, and some technology that complements mine."
"So what do they want from you?"
"Hehe, Sangni, you're really smart, you hit the nail on the head right away. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you I could just casually reveal some technology and they'd risk being discovered by the United States to cooperate with me. Okay, I'll tell you, they also have one, or perhaps many, amazing technologies, and all of them combined are for an extremely grand, extremely crazy project— the Second Space Joint Project!"
Haha, I admire this kind of madness! Just like I admired you back then. That's why I chose to cooperate with them, and they are very interested in my human chip and non-living consciousness transfer technology."
" Second Space Joint Project?"
Qingmu recalled the Third Space Foundation, led by Professor Mei. When the Foundation was established, he had asked Mei Yiqiu why it was called " Third Space." He remembered that the professor did not answer directly at the time, but only vaguely said that he had discovered the name while consulting some ancient materials, and that it was related to that mysterious symbol.
Later, he learned that the symbol was the emblem of the Awakeners' Alliance and had a very close connection with Gaia and the Itza People.
At the time, Qingmu thought the name was strange, but he didn't think much of it and was interrupted by other things when he casually asked about it. Now, looking back, Mei Yiqiu must have known something, otherwise she would never have so hastily used a name that made no sense.
What does this Second Space mean, and what is its relationship with the Third Space?