Bian Ziyuan sat up in bed, satisfied.
Mei Ziqing beside him was still slightly out of breath, his whole body flushed, and fine beads of sweat on his face. He remembered the most beautiful crabapple tree that bloomed in the campus in spring when he was a student.
He was a homebody who disliked wandering around campus and would never flirt with flowers or grass. He would rather let those rough, muddy men trample on the flowers and grass than even glance at him. Only that crabapple tree was pure; it bloomed high up, beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Now, this woman, as beautiful as a crabapple blossom, lies beside him. Her petals are still glistening with the morning dew, so delicate and captivating.
Bian Ziyuan took a cigar from the cigar box by the bedside and lit it with the Cartier watch lighter.
He used to be a non-smoker, his only hobbies being playing video games and programming, and he aspired to be a hacker. After joining Mei Laboratory, for a time he was brimming with confidence, feeling that his ambitions were about to be realized. Both Professor Mei's encouragement and the favor shown in Mei Ziqing's eyes affirmed his worth. He became confident and flamboyant, especially in front of his goddess, where every gesture he made was as spirited as a rooster.
Unfortunately, the goddess's gentle demeanor at that time was limited to the respect due to a colleague. The charm she exuded did not belong to him, but to the entire laboratory and to the entire world. But he still held onto hope, hoping to win the Beauty's heart with his genius and diligence.
Until one day, he discovered that he was nothing more than a tool in someone else's hands, and that his proud inventions and those miraculous lines of code were merely created by others through his hands.
Only he knew about this, but he always felt that people's eyes had changed when they looked at him, especially Mei Ziqing. From that time on, his confidence melted away like ice and snow under the sun.
He learned to smoke, hoping to numb himself with the smoke and also to conceal his cowardice, pretending that he could withstand all pressure and setbacks.
At first, he tried to imitate Professor Mei by smoking a pipe, but the way he held it was so bad that even he couldn't stand it. Besides exuding a strong sense of adolescent immaturity, he had absolutely no manners. He then tried to imitate Qingmu by smoking Paramount and lighting them with matches. But Paramount cigarettes weren't very pleasant to smoke, and the way he lit the matches wasn't much better than smoking a pipe.
If Professor Mei's pipe smoking could evoke the image of an old scientist with more than half a century of experience and wisdom, he simply couldn't understand why Qingmu, a man as young as himself, dressed strangely and lighting a cigarette with a match—a style that only became popular in the last century—could command such attention.
He carefully recalled each time he saw Qingmu and could only attribute it to talent. Yes, everything requires talent, even showing off!
In the end, he still chose cigars. Only this kind of thing could give him a sense of feeling, something that wasn't childish and allowed him to regain his dignity. It gave him a little bit of inexplicable comfort when he was lonely.
He got up, put on a bathrobe, walked to the mirror, and admired himself smoking a cigar.
Smoke swirled in front of the mirror, creating a hazy, beautiful effect. The man in the mirror was tall and handsome, with a slight stubble on his cheeks, his open robe revealing his muscular chest and the gleam of a spear that had just been through battle.
He felt like a triumphant general, having just slain the enemy's commander. If the enemy dared to attack again, he still had the strength to fight. If necessary, he wouldn't mind lighting the beacon fires like King You of Zhou to win a smile from his Beauty. But he wasn't King You of Zhou; he was Zhao Zilong of Changshan, who could ride his warhorse, carry a steel spear, and charge in and out of the enemy seven times.
The room was filled with the smell of cigars, and he also detected a different kind of fragrance within that smell.
Mei Ziqing gently wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, rested his chin on her shoulder, and breathed into Bian Ziyuan's ear like a spring breeze.
"You're so beautiful!" he said to himself in the mirror.
Mei Ziqing chuckled and said, "What kind of women haven't you seen? Why do you need to coax me like this?"
Bian Ziyuan's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to explain, but he didn't know where to begin.
Suddenly, a multitude of images flashed through his mind, strange and varied. There were photos of celebrities, selfies taken by netizens, feature films, adult films, and all sorts of private moments that ordinary people would never see, even scenes of the United States president and his lover having a tryst.
Those are things that exist in the online world. If your hacking skills are strong enough and you have enough patience, you can indeed find them. But no hacker would dedicate their entire life to learning such techniques just to find these things. Bian Ziyuan certainly wouldn't either. But he unconsciously admitted that he had indeed seen these things before; otherwise, why would such memories appear in his mind?
The smoke filled the room, growing thicker and thicker, blurring the image in the mirror. Suddenly, he saw himself in the mirror undergoing some changes—the young computer scientist with black hair, black eyes, and thick glasses suddenly transformed—his hair became curly, his eye sockets sunken, his nose became high, his cheeks became thinner, his stubble increased, and even his chest grew a thick layer of curly hair...
Before Bian Ziyuan could speak, the person in the mirror spoke first:
"What good is seeing so much? Do you know what kind of life that is? If you were locked in a gloomy, indifferent, lifeless, dark world for decades, how would you feel?"
Mei Ziqing smiled Ruhua and said, "Ah, I thought the Internet world would be a very interesting one. How could it be so boring?"
The person in the mirror said, "Look at the stars in the sky, so dazzling, but you know, the entire universe is filled with darkness and lifelessness. If you were thrown into outer space beyond the Milky Way and wandered for decades, you'd know what that's like."
"Then you must have accumulated immense resentment. If that's the case, why don't you kill him? Why do you still cooperate with him?"
"I did want to kill him, and I did, but I didn't succeed." The expression on the person's face in the mirror shifted. "But now I've changed my mind."
"What is it about him that could make you let go of decades of hatred and choose to cooperate with him?" Mei Ziqing tightened her grip on Bian Ziyuan's waist, shifting her chin from his left shoulder to his right. "Actually, what he can give you, I can give you too. Since you've already chosen to cooperate with me, why cooperate with him?"
"I see curiosity in your eyes." The person in the mirror removed the cigar from their mouth, squinted, as if scrutinizing something intently.
"When a woman becomes curious about a man, there's only one possibility: you've fallen for him. Okay, I admit it, he's a charming man. If I hadn't been a roughneck back then, I would have been attracted to him too. But I never imagined that after all these years, he wouldn't have turned into a decrepit old man, and you would actually fall for him!"
"I admire outstanding men," Mei Ziqing said with a smile, stroking Bian Ziyuan's chest, "Just as I admire outstanding men like you."
Bian Ziyuan's body trembled, and a strange fire ignited in his chest. He wasn't sure why this fire was burning—was it excitement or anger? He only knew that this fire was igniting his soul.
The person in the mirror maintained the same posture as him, yet appeared so elegant, showing no sign of excitement or anger.
Bian Ziyuan saw him gently raise his hand and touch Mei Ziqing's cheek. Of course, he did the same thing himself; he looked completely different from the person in the mirror, but his actions remained consistent.
With a mocking expression, he asked, "Do you really admire me?"
This seemed to be the question Bian Ziyuan was thinking. He didn't know whether it was his own question or the question from the person in the mirror.
Mei Ziqing replied, "Of course, you are the man who controls the entire world."
Bian Ziyuan and the person in the mirror burst into laughter at the same time. The person in the mirror laughed so easily, but Bian Ziyuan's laughter was inexplicable, even a little bitter.
"You're quite adorable when you lie," the man said. "Comparatively, I think you admire that old man who thinks he's Einstein, even his hair is so affected. You've been his assistant for over a decade, even washing his feet and scrubbing his back. Of course, I've seen many female assistants of scientists do that. Science can sometimes be more fanatical than religion; without exception, those women fall madly in love with their professors. I attribute this to intelligence, but you're clearly different. You're very intelligent; you couldn't possibly be simply captivated by that old man's genius and achievements. So, I can only conclude that you've fallen in love with him!"
"You're jealous!" Mei Ziqing said with a smile.
"No, I wouldn't be jealous of a dying old man."
"Age-wise, you seem to be a little older than the professor!"
"But I won't die!... Okay, that's exactly what you wanted, right? Tell me, how much longer does that old man have to live?"
"I understand, you're not jealous." Mei Ziqing's smile deepened. "You're envious! You're envious of his talent! Envious of his achievements! Because you, who always consider yourself omnipotent like God, can't create the Space Box, and can't even enter that world."
"Aren't we inside now?" the man said.
Mei Ziqing turned her head and glanced at Bian Ziyuan's chin. Her left hand slowly slid up Bian Ziyuan's back muscles, all the way to his cervical spine, stroking a slight, barely noticeable bulge there.
"Yes, you can go in now. But you still can't break through the bottom layer of the Space Box, you can't find the Key to the Dreamscape, and you can't control that world, can you?"
The person in the mirror seemed somewhat discouraged, their facial muscles contorted, and the smoke from the cigar they had been smoking earlier seemed even thicker.
"So he's still alive. Remember, you must find the Key to the Dreamscape before his condition worsens!"
"Are you ordering me around?" Mei Ziqing's voice was still as gentle and pleasant as ever, like soft silk, but a sharp blade was hidden within the silk.
"Oh, don't be so sensitive. We're a match made in heaven, aren't we? Don't worry, even without the Key to the Dreamscape, I'll succeed!" The person in the mirror waved their arm. "Humanity's current technology can't escape my control. The reason we can't break through now is because those dreams are too narrow; all spaces are independent. As we unite more and more spaces, I'll be able to control more and more. One day, I'll control the entire dream world. When I completely connect the Internet and the Dream Network, merging the real world and the dream world into one, then I'll be the true God, and the whole world will be mine. Even if Gaia returns, he won't be stronger than me!"
"And what about me? Will I become your queen?" Mei Ziqing chuckled.
"You..." the person in the mirror murmured.
Mei Ziqing laughed even harder.
"You are indeed a captivating woman. Kitano Masatake has given birth to a wonderful daughter!"
Upon hearing this, Mei Ziqing's expression changed, immediately turning frosty.
You know my father?!
The person in the mirror shrugged. "So what?"
"Tell me, how did he die? Who killed him?"
"If you don't know how he died, how do you know someone killed him?"
"I've been investigating this for decades, and I know he died in southern China."
What good will it do you even if you know?
"I want revenge!"
"Forget it, this might be the only thing you can't do. At least not right now."
"Why? Who exactly is that person?" Mei Ziqing asked sharply.
The person in the mirror remained unmoved and said, "Since you can't do it anyway, there's no point in me telling you. I'll tell you when you can."
Mei Ziqing finally calmed down, and a smile returned to her face. It was like a tree branch that had just frozen over suddenly blossoming into a beautiful peach tree when a spring breeze blew on it.
"Actually, I really want to know..." Mei Ziqing looked in the mirror and said meaningfully, "Who exactly are you now? -- Are you Saladin, who parasitizes the soul through the space of the Internet; or is the Internet, whose consciousness is born through the soul of Saladin?"
The person in the mirror paused for a moment, as if a philosopher were seriously pondering the chicken-or-egg question, finding it difficult to make a choice.
"It doesn't matter..." he mumbled through the smoke of his cigar.
"No!" Bian Ziyuan suddenly straightened his chest, his face contorted with rage, veins bulging on his cheeks, and shouted, "This is important! I... I am Bian Ziyuan!"
The light in the mirror distorted a few times, and the person in the mirror changed, reverting back to the bespectacled, refined-looking computer science PhD.
Mei Ziqing opened her eyes wide in disbelief and turned to look at Bian Ziyuan. Just as she was about to say something, the thick smoke that had been billowing out quickly dissipated, like autumn sunlight shining through. The mirror suddenly emitted a dazzling light.
She looked in the mirror and saw that the person in the mirror had changed again. The person was wearing golden armor and a robe like clouds, radiating seven-colored light.
"No, I am Kronos!"