"Bzz—bzz—"
The irritating crackle of electric current hovered by his ears, making him restless.
Chen Dong's eyes snapped open.
The glass cover of the Experimental Capsule in front of him slowly opened, accompanied by the creak of rusting hinges.
His fingers curled, and his long, untrimmed nails scraped against the leather pad beneath him, producing a faint scratching sound.
He tried to stand.
His joints were stiff and sluggish, like a metal robot that hadn't been oiled in ages.
This body was still usable.
Ignoring the discomfort in his muscles and fascia, he climbed out of the Experimental Capsule once more.
Chen Dong didn't bother tidying them up, simply letting them hang in a messy tangle.
The new room he found himself in was also a specialized laboratory filled with machinery, though most of it was covered in dust.
The layer of dust on the floor was thick enough to leave clear footprints.
As he walked, the abrupt noise awakened the nearby motion-sensor lights.
When the white light flared to life, it startled even Chen Dong himself.
"Click, click, click, click—"
The light sources on the ceiling and walls turned on rhythmically, layer by layer, spreading out from Chen Dong's position until they illuminated the entire thousand-square-meter laboratory.
At the same time, hundreds of identical Experimental Capsules were revealed, arranged neatly in the lab like soldiers in formation.
Leaning on the cover of his Experimental Capsule, Chen Dong slowly turned in a circle to look around.
Inside every Experimental Capsule beside him lay a person.
All of their eyes were tightly shut.
The only difference was that while some were highly decomposed, the chests of others still rose and fell with breath.
But whether dead or alive, the corners of their mouths were slightly raised in relaxed expressions, as if they were in a wonderful mood.
It was as if they were having a beautiful dream they would never wake from.
Chen Dong clutched his throbbing forehead and closed his eyes. No longer looking at the people lying around him, he turned and headed for the door.
He walked with difficulty, stumbling and staggering, having to support himself on the nearby Experimental Capsules from time to time.
However, his steps gradually smoothed out as he regained control of his body.
Chen Dong arrived before the main doors.
A horizontal beam of red light shot out from the doorframe, scanning his body.
"Identity confirmed: General. Opening doors—"
The massive, heavy alloy doors in front of him slowly parted, receding into the walls on either side.
But when one of the doors was halfway open, it suddenly snagged on something and ground to a halt.
Even as the other door completely vanished into the wall, the stuck one continued to shudder, vainly trying to force itself open.
Chen Dong made no attempt to fix it, simply stepping through the gap and leaving.
This time, what lay outside the Laboratory wasn't an elevator car.
It was a long corridor.
At the opposite end of the corridor was the outside world—a sight Chen Dong hadn't seen in who knew how long.
But the outside wasn't as he remembered it.
There were no blue skies or white clouds, no towering skyscrapers of varying designs, no aeroshuttles darting across the sky, and no spherical dispatch robots—
There was only a sky that looked like it was on fire.
Broken walls and ruins stretched endlessly, completely devoid of human life.
Ferns and thick vines had reclaimed the earth, piercing through high-rises and concrete floors, looking like fungal colonies and maggots on a corpse.
But eventually, even those plants had withered and died, turning into dark brown streaks sprawled across the boundless urban ruins.
Chen Dong stared blankly for half a minute before snapping back to his senses. Leaning against the wall, he continued forward.
He walked faster and faster, passing by identical alloy doors one after another until he finally saw the escalator at the end of the corridor.
"Thank goodness the escalator still has power."
Following a heart-stopping series of creaks, the moving stairs finally began to carry him upward.
It stuttered and snagged from time to time, but fortunately, it didn't completely jam like the alloy doors in the Laboratory.
"I remember there used to be hoverboards in the corridors. They must all be scrapped by now."
Finally freed from the effort of walking, Chen Dong's consciousness wavered for a moment.
He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last left the Neural Platform.
Ever since the General had split into two personalities out of agony and despair, he—the so-called kind personality left behind in the Ring World—had become the Laboratory's new director.
Chen Dong stared blankly at the receding walls.
Perhaps because he was missing his other personality, the pain he had faced in the past was now nothing more than a hazy memory.
Yet he also knew exactly why his other self had chosen betrayal, which was why his weak-willed self could never find the resolve to hunt down Du An.
It was right at that time that the Director had appeared, taking over his Neural Platform and extracting everything he knew through a series of operations like brainwashing and hypnosis.
However—the most critical part of what Chen Dong knew had been obscured by Du An.
That was a man who, when ruthless enough, would even deceive himself!
Back in the Wizard World, Chen Dong had wondered why Du An, despite knowing Li Ban was a mole, still arranged for him to enter the Myriad Ancient Pagoda? Why let him get so close to the Core Element?
But when Chen Dong disconnected from the Wizard World, the cognitive shock and the agony of a forced logout suddenly made him remember a great deal.
Brainwashing wasn't omnipotent, much like how they still couldn't understand why Li Ban had experienced a Level 3 memory frame loss.
Chen Dong recalled his own identity, and he remembered the bomb Du An had planted in his memories before breaking out of the Laboratory!
There was a problem with the Core Element.
Except Chen Dong didn't know exactly what the problem was!
He needed to find the Director as soon as possible, explain the situation, and urge him to treat the Core Element with caution.
Even if this entire world was waiting for the Core Element to save it.
Just then, he bumped into the barrier at the top of the escalator.
The escalator had reached the end.
A pair of hands reached over to steady Chen Dong, preventing him from falling.
"Thank you. It's nice to finally see someone who is awake." Chen Dong looked up to see a smiling face.
However, it was a face he didn't recognize. "You are?"
The man standing opposite him wore the standard red uniform of a soldier. He brimmed with youthful energy and sported a blindingly bright smile.
"I am the Leader's near-guard. My name is Zhang Yang. I'm new, so the General probably hasn't seen me before."
He seemed to be a bit of a chatterbox.
"Haha, I was just reading a novel when I noticed the escalator here suddenly start running. I wondered who would willingly wake up from a beautiful dream to run around outside. I came over to check, and to my surprise, it's the General! What an honor!"
Chen Dong deeply envied Zhang Yang's optimistic attitude.
He pulled at the muscles around his mouth but couldn't manage a smile. "Hello, Zhang Yang. Have you seen the Director? I have an urgent matter to discuss with him."
"I saw him. The Director went into the Classified Room. He looked incredibly happy. I figure something good must have happened, right?"
Zhang Yang glanced outside.
One of the walls on this upper floor was also lined with a long row of windows.
The red glow cast its light over Zhang Yang's face, but the apocalyptic ruins outside failed to erase his smile.
"It's been a long time since anything good happened."
Chen Dong ignored Zhang Yang's sentiment and grabbed his arm. "I need to go to the Classified Room. Take me there right now!"
Zhang Yang turned slightly and pointed behind him.
The room directly across from the escalator bore the sign for the Classified Room.
Chen Dong remembered that the Classified Room was supposed to be on a higher floor.
Why had it been moved here?
Could it be because the upper floors had also been abandoned?
Still, having to walk a shorter distance was a small comfort.
Chen Dong immediately stepped forward, but Zhang Yang stopped him. "You can't. The Director locked the doors from the inside. He said he had something very important to do. Not even I have the authorization to open it."
Chen Dong tried to push Zhang Yang aside, but the younger man was simply too strong.
"I have vital intelligence regarding the Core Element that I need to tell the Director! No, I should report this to the Leader and have him use his supreme authority to open the door."
Hearing this, Zhang Yang scratched his head. "General, did you forget? The Director—is the Leader now."
Chen Dong froze, his mouth opening and then closing again.
If that was the case, didn't that mean supreme authority was concentrated entirely in the hands of the Leader?
"What about the previous Director?" he asked weakly.
"The previous Director committed suicide," Zhang Yang replied, his tone as casual as if he were saying the man had gone out to eat. "He chose to be euthanized within the artificial dreamscape. I was even the one who picked out his final dream."
Chen Dong swayed on his feet.
Even the developer of the Neural Platform had chosen death?
How many people in this world were still clinging to hope amidst the despair?
Leaning on Zhang Yang for support, Chen Dong looked toward the Classified Room.
The person with supreme authority had personally locked the Classified Room. No one else could open those doors.
Would the Director—or rather, the Leader—immediately fuse with the Core Element?
He wouldn't do that, would he?
He would have to at least research it, discuss it, test it... Chen Dong suddenly paused.
But who would he research it with? Discuss it with? Who would run the tests?
All known survivors of the Ring World were in this very building.
But to conserve energy, the vast majority were fast asleep within artificial dreamscapes.
Only a select few could be pulled into the Neural Platform to work.
Everyone else could only slumber in power-saving mode.
Sleeping away, waiting for hope to arrive, or quietly slipping into extinction.
They had no right to choose.
But the people who were awake didn't have it easy, either.
"Right, Li Ban might have been brought out by the Leader too. He could be inside. Did he recover his memories after exiting the Neural Platform? I don't know what his original citizen identity was. If his clearance level is high enough, maybe he could convince the Leader not to act impulsively!"
"Did the Leader go in with someone else?" Chen Dong asked, grabbing Zhang Yang.
"No, the Leader went in alone. There was no one else with him; he only carried a high-capacity mobile hub," Zhang Yang replied, looking bewildered.
Chen Dong was utterly lost.
He hadn't seen any other conscious people on his way here, either.
Where in the world did Li Ban go, then?
He realized that even though he had remembered so much, and even though he had left the Neural Platform, he was still completely powerless to do anything.
Chen Dong trudged listlessly to the window and stared blankly at the apocalyptic wasteland outside.
"What exactly is Du An trying to do? Is the Core Element really the thing we've been looking for? Why would Du An just hand it over for nothing? But if it isn't, then what is the Core Element?"
Zhang Yang's smile didn't fade. Standing behind Chen Dong and looking out at the desolation, he didn't understand why the other man was so dejected. "Why so down? Didn't you guys successfully retrieve the Wizard Embryo Fragment? Once the Leader fuses with the fragment, he'll have the power to prop up the world and stop the Great Collapse. We won't have to die out."
Chen Dong touched his throbbing forehead. "The Wizard Embryo Fragment? Yes, the Core Element was supposed to be the Wizard Embryo Fragment. Only by relying on the power of a Wizard could we sustain a collapsing world. But is the Core Element truly the Wizard Embryo Fragment? Would Du An really be that kind?"
Zhang Yang didn't know who Du An was. He looked at Chen Dong in confusion. "The Core Element is the Wizard Embryo Fragment. You were the one who told the Leader that."
He then seemed to mimic Chen Dong's voice: "The Wizard Embryo Fragment. A complete wizard embryo is the core that maintains the stable operation of the world. The wizard embryo of our world has shattered, but the Leader still holds a fragment. As long as we bring another one back from the Wizard World, they should form a complete wizard embryo, or at the very least, prolong the world's survival."
"Wow!" Zhang Yang marveled. "'The end of science is theology.' That was the moment I finally understood that quote."
"No, that's not right." Zhang Yang's recap triggered even more of Chen Dong's memories. "It's different. That is only a Wizard Embryo Fragment; we still need someone to become a Wizard. The power of the fragment alone cannot completely stabilize the collapsing Ring World."
Zhang Yang was taken aback, but quickly followed up, "It's fine. The Leader relied on that single fragment to sustain us for over sixty years. Now that we have a second fragment, we have more time. Someone among you is bound to become a Wizard during this period!"
Time seemed to act as a new trigger. Chen Dong remembered something else.
This newly resurfaced memory caused his face to instantly drain of color.
He whipped his head around and tightly gripped Zhang Yang's arm. "Over sixty years? It's been over sixty years since we moved into this building?"
Zhang Yang chuckled. "Sixty-seven years. Look, there's a timer right there on the screen."
Chen Dong jerked his head in the other direction.
It was such a violent motion that he almost snapped his own neck.
The electronic screens on the wall were half broken, but the section displaying the time remained perfectly clear.
The time displayed read: "Schism Era, Year 67, 05 seconds, 06 seconds, 07 seconds—"
Chen Dong stared blankly at the ticking seconds, looking as if he were about to faint.
Zhang Yang caught him by the arm and supported the weightless Chen Dong to a nearby sofa to sit down.
"General, are you alright?"
Chen Dong suddenly chuckled. The anxiety and paleness vanished from his face.
He looked at Zhang Yang, his tone shifting from frantic to gentle.
"I'm fine. Zhang Yang, most of the survivors in this world have already entered artificial dreamscapes, choosing to live out their days or die in a beautiful dream. Why did you stay out here?"
Zhang Yang leaned against a counter, lacking any of the bearing of a guard. He looked more like a student who hadn't yet entered society.
"Since everyone chose to sleep, someone has to be in charge of pressing the switch, right?"
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "If we win, I want to be the one to personally wake everyone up. But if... then someone has to press the final button so they can pass away in bliss."
"Woo—woo—woo—"
—
Suddenly, a blaring alarm cut Zhang Yang off.
He immediately turned to look at the main doors behind him.
Yellow and red lights flashed rapidly across the door, broadcasting an extreme emergency signal.
At the same time, the doors opened on their own.
"Leader!" Zhang Yang immediately rushed inside.
An emergency had occurred; the Leader likely needed first aid.
Chen Dong was also startled, though he wasn't nearly as frantic as Zhang Yang.
Slowly walking into the Classified Room, his eyes immediately fell upon the elderly man lying in the center of the room.
Behind him was a massive machine connected to his body.
It was a Neural Platform Constructor.
There were probably only two or three of these machines still functioning properly in the entire building.
Hundreds, even thousands of people downstairs shared a single one.
Yet here, the Leader was using one all to himself.
It wasn't because the Leader was abusing some sort of privilege.
It was because he housed the Ring World's Wizard Embryo Fragment within his own mind.
Because of the Wizard Embryo Fragment, he required an entire Neural Platform Constructor all to himself.
The Leader wasn't a Wizard. He didn't know the proper method for fusing with a Wizard Embryo Fragment.
Even in the Wizard World, only the highest echelon of figures knew that method.
That was why the previous Director had worked with the Leader and the General to develop the Neural Platform, using a method unique to the Ring World to store the Wizard Embryo Fragment.
However, this constructor had been running on fumes.
During the late stages of energy depletion, they had even been forced to shut off the life-support machines of some citizens just to maintain this constructor's stable operation.
But now—
This Leader, who enjoyed sole access to a constructor, looked like he was about to die.
Large, red, swollen lumps had erupted across his exposed arms and face.
These lumps, the size of a baby's fist, were packed tightly together, overlapping and squeezing against each other, swelling the skin so it looked exactly like—
Like grapes!
Suddenly, the Leader opened his eyes and jerked upright, violently ripping away a large number of cables attached to his body.
Ignoring Zhang Yang entirely, he seized Chen Dong's hand, his fingers digging in so hard they almost pierced the skin of his hand.
"You lied to us!!!"
Chen Dong opened his mouth and slowly let out a breath. "—I'm sorry."
Fifteen minutes earlier, Li Ban's eyes had snapped open.
The instant he opened them, he went on high alert.
He had brought the successfully transferred Core Element out with him.
The Core Element should still be inside his Experimental Capsule's motherboard.
Li Ban waited for the glass capsule cover to open, then immediately vaulted out and moved to the motherboard.
However, he couldn't make heads or tails of this flashing, colorful piece of equipment. There weren't any symbols he recognized.
By this time, others had already logged out.
Some had received the mission completion notification and logged out normally; as soon as they got up, they looked around curiously, trying to see who had actually finished the mission.
Others had been forcefully logged out and were currently lying in their Experimental Capsules, nursing pounding headaches.
At that moment, the Laboratory doors opened, and the twenty-person room fell completely silent.
The Director briskly walked over to Li Ban, pushing past him to look at the motherboard. "The Core Element—"
His hands swiped back and forth across the motherboard. Li Ban had no idea what he was doing, but eventually, a long black strip slowly rose from the center of the board.
The Director reached out, gave it a gentle twist, and pulled the black strip free.
Yet the center of the motherboard remained perfectly smooth, without any visible connection ports.
The Director's face was flushed with excitement, though in his effort to maintain a strict facade in front of everyone, only the corners of his mouth twitched.
Turning to leave, he suddenly remembered something and looked back at Li Ban. "Come with me."
Without paying any attention to the other experimenters, the Director led Li Ban into the elevator car.
This was Li Ban's second time inside the elevator car.
The last time he took the elevator car, he had been hauled off to be brainwashed right after.
Because of that, Li Ban was on guard the moment he stepped inside.
'Mental Piercing' was ready to fire!
However, this time, after entering the elevator, the Director simply stood facing the opposite wall and reached up to knock on it.
[Please input command—]
"I am the Director, and I want to log out. Transfer the 'Core Element' into a Standalone Mobile Hub. Also, route Li Ban's brain signals to the constructor in the Classified Room."
[Command recognized. Logging out. Trans—trans—transferring—%&$...]