MASG chapter 112

 

Everyone rushed toward Midou.

Inside the sample cabinet emitting white vapor was a bottle. White mist seemed to rise from inside the bottle, as if it contained an entire foggy forest.

“This…” Silver Fang was a little disappointed. “How do you know this is Xiang Xing? I thought his name would be written on the bottle.”

“How could there be a name? Do you think the researchers here would name mycelium? They wouldn’t.” Midou pointed at the small bottle. “But look carefully. Doesn’t this look like Xiang Xing’s mycelium?”

Xiang Xing was a strange species. He didn’t have a distinct appearance; he relied on replication. No one could identify him by his looks, but everyone had seen his mycelium. The white mycelium was like a flowing solid with an elastic texture and a slight gelatinous quality. The dense, thin threads inside the bottle really did look like Xiang Xing’s mycelium, just smaller.

“It must be him.” Midou’s eyes lit up. “I’ve found another companion. I want to find his information in the laboratory and raise him. I want to raise him up!”

“Your thinking is too simple.” Lao Gui shook his head. “First, we can’t be sure this is Xiang Xing. What if you end up raising a super monster species from Yukun City? Second, if you can’t provide a suitable environment and the mycelium dies, will that count as you killing Xiang Xing with your own hands?”

“I…” Midou hesitated.

“You know how hard it is to keep these things alive in the lab. Sometimes, you look at it one more time, and it dies.” Lao Gui painfully rubbed his temples, clearly having been a victim of this himself.

“I can take samples and raise them in batches.” But Midou still didn’t want to give up. “The lab must have compartments. I can isolate and cultivate them. If we find out it’s wrong, you can take direct action.”

Talos shrugged. He was more concerned about the several sleep pods leading into the virtual world than whether this sample was Xiang Xing. “So… have we already confirmed the next plan? We’re going in to save Xia Yu, right?”

“Yes.” Mo An put the Jingwei bracelet on his wrist.

“Okay.” Talos had already accepted it. He had already been to the Black Sea, so going to Nuwa’s world wouldn’t be a bad idea. This trip would be worthwhile. “There are three sleep pods left. Let’s decide how many people are going. Mo An definitely has to go. I—”

“You can’t go. You control most of the monster species on land, so you can’t leave them.” Lao Gui stopped him. “Midou can’t go either. He’s a child who still needs to cultivate spores and mycelium. Silver Fang can’t go either. He’s our last weapon, a firepower unit. The only one who can go is me.”

Everyone looked at him.

“I’m not a monster species. I’ve taught Midou everything I know, and he’s already successfully graduated. I don’t have many weapons, and my combat value isn’t the highest among us.” Lao Gui had already made up his mind. “Listen to me. Let me go with Mo An, okay?”

No one spoke because everyone knew how dangerous it was.

“Actually, I can go in alone.” Mo An spoke first. “I’ll find Xia Yu, wake him up, and bring him out. You protect this place. How about it?”

“Not good.” Lao Gui shook his head. “In an artificial intelligence world, you need at least one helper. It’s decided. Tonight, we’ll rest here. Tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, we’ll go find Xia Yu.”

The matter seemed to be decided without discussion. Lao Gui was firm in his resolve and no longer consulted anyone. Nightfall cloaked Yukun City in mystery and danger. When it was completely dark, Mo An stood by the window and looked down at the city.

Jingwei: [What are you thinking about?]

“I’m thinking about what all this is for.” Mo An’s hand rested inside the glass bottle, and Little Blue curled up obediently in his palm.

Jingwei: [I’ve never seen you this gloomy.]

“I just can’t figure out what Nuwa really wants to do. She did so much, only to be forced to stop by reality. Was it worth it?” Mo An shook his head. “Forget it. I won’t think about it. How have you been these past six months?”

Jingwei: [Not very well. I feel like I already died. It feels okay after restarting, but I still can’t fly.]

Mo An chuckled softly. “Xia Yu has always believed you can fly.”

Jingwei: [He may have believed in me too much. Maybe in this world, I’m a Jingwei bird that can’t fly. I know very little about this world. For example, I never thought that Xia Yu and the Blue Jellyfish could achieve thought convergence. That kind of group consciousness is astonishing.

“Yes, even our mermaid race can’t achieve thought convergence.” Mo An had seen many mermaids these past six months. “It turns out my people all look different, but our genes are the same.” He teased Little Blue with his finger. “Tell me what to do. You can build your own virtual world, so you must know how to wake someone up.”

Jingwei: [Find his anchor point.]

“Anchor point?” Mo An asked back.

Jingwei: [Yes, his cognitive anchor point—the boundary between himself and the virtual world. You can’t just tell him. If you tell him the moment you see him that everything around him is fake and that it’s all made by AI, the artificial intelligence will immediately detect the contradiction and fluctuation in his mental consciousness and erase him.

Jingwei: [But if he remembers on his own, it’s different. His consciousness will affect his body, allowing him to awaken and exit the pod before being erased.]

“That’s a bit complicated.” Mo An thought for half a minute. “Can you tell me what an anchor point looks like?”

Jingwei: [Anchor points have no unique shape or features. Everyone’s psychological anchor point is different. The last person to enter the virtual world with Xia Yu was Xiang Xing. Maybe he knows the anchor point, but he’s still mycelium right now.]

“It’s fine. I’ll go in and slowly make contact.” Mo An made up his mind and looked toward the edge of Yukun City again.

Although it was clearly a dead city, the whole city seemed alive. Only at night, observing from fifty stories up, could one see countless lifeforms moving around. Even half of a building was moving. Birds in the sky were fused with tires, and people on the ground were fused with fish. As Mo An marveled at a small car growing human legs, a crack opened in the ground, swallowing the car completely.

It was like a hundred ghosts roaming at night. Mo An believed their relative safety wasn’t due to weapon suppression but to Talos. As one of the land’s ancient monster species, they didn’t dare approach.

Everyone spread bedding on the lab floor. The kitten army surrounded them. Most of the kittens gathered on Talos’s side, almost burying him. Mo An held the glass bottle; Little Blue’s glow reflected on his face. He slept beside Xia Yu’s sleep pod to keep him company.

They hadn’t been this close in a long time.

Tonight, Little Blue was especially excited, as if it knew what was going to happen tomorrow. It kept pressing its tentacles against the glass. Mo An fell into a deep sleep. After dawn, he opened his eyes. Little Blue’s tentacles were still pressing against the glass, but they had already formed a clear outline.

With its tentacles, it formed a heart-shaped circle.

“Is this for me or Xia Yu?” Mo An was shocked. Its learning speed was even faster than he had imagined.

Little Blue proudly waved its tentacles and began to bob up and down. The result of thought convergence was that the jellyfish gained a human perspective—they understood humans.

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring him back.” Mo An drew a heart-shaped circle on the glass bottle as well. Sunlight streamed through the window, filling the laboratory in Yukun City.

Two hours later, everyone woke up. To ensure that they wouldn’t vomit during the connection process, Mo An and Lao Gui skipped breakfast.

“What if they get hungry?” Midou asked, his dark circles and red rims revealing his worry.

Yan Xia’s yawning voice was also transmitted over: “Is there danger during the connection? Don’t mess up their brains.”

Ling Shi: [Everyone rest assured. This is a new-generation connection device. It’s safe, just not that comfortable. However, if Mo An and Lao Gui are injured in the virtual world, they will also be wounded in the real world. This point must be noted.]

Mo An and Lao Gui stripped down to their underwear and stood beside the activated sleep pods.

Ling Shi: [Using my final level of authority, I’ve done one last thing for you: identity injection. Each sleep pod needs to correspond to an identity, which is your identity card in the virtual world. Once verified, your identity card will be accepted by the entire virtual world. For example, if your entry identity is female, then everyone in the virtual world will recognize you as female.]

“Don’t mess it up!” Lao Gui was about to scream.

Ling Shi: [It won’t happen. Please rest assured. After you enter, your identities will activate naturally, like plugins, and be ready to use.]

“Then will our appearance change?” Mo An was more concerned about this. He took off the Jingwei bracelet and gently set it aside.

Jingwei: [Safe travels. I’ll wait for you to come back.]

Ling Shi: [Appearance will not change.]

“Okay, I understand.” There was no time to delay. Mo An had already stepped one leg into the sleep pod. After activation, the pod filled with water, which rose past his knees.

“While we’re gone, Midou, help me take care of Little Blue.” Mo An turned back for one last look at his companions. “Silver Fang, Talos, I’m leaving this place to you.”

Talos made a flying-kiss gesture toward Mo An. Silver Fang raised his gun. “Be careful, too.”

“I’ll take good care of Little Blue! When you come back, I’ll bring Xiang Xing back too!” Midou was about to cry again.

“Don’t cry. Wait for us.” Mo An smiled at him and lay down in the sleep pod without hesitation. As he did, Lao Gui lay down inside as well. The transparent lids of the two fully activated sleep pods slowly closed. Wires began to flicker, and brand-new biological signals were fed into the main system.

The water injection continued, quickly submerging their bodies. Oxygen masks automatically deployed inside the pods and covered their faces. A few minutes later, the water injection stopped completely. Apart from the oxygen masks, there was no oxygen inside the pod. With the help of the pod’s tentacles, the people inside were connected to signal ports and nutrient drips.

Silver tentacles seized their arms and pierced them with needles. An electric current seemed to punch through their spines, surging from their tailbones to the backs of their heads. Their temples were also struck by the current. Everything happened in the water.

Half a minute later, Mo An and Lao Gui could no longer keep their eyelids open and they finally closed. Once closed, their eyeballs began to tremble rapidly as they entered a profound, long dream.

“Mo An…” Midou couldn’t help but walk over to the pod.

In the water, Mo An had already returned to his mermaid form. His gill slits and oxygen mask worked simultaneously. Countless lit wires transmitted their life signals to the main system. On the holographic screen, two new identities were officially activated.

Heart rate normal. Blood pressure normal. Brain waves normal.

The rescue operation officially began.

“Ah…” Xia Yu had just opened his eyes. He was lying on the bed, stretching lazily. He looked at the alarm clock; there was still an hour before his usual wake-up time. But today, he had woken up especially early, as if something big were about to happen.

Last night, he had stayed up late reading and had even forgotten to turn off the desk lamp. The window wasn’t closed either. The fresh sea breeze stirred the white curtains and brought the sound of waves.

“Good morning.” Xia Yu rubbed his messy hair and sat up; his eyes were so sleepy that he could barely open them. Strange—why did he wake up so early?

What was it again… It really seemed like there was something important. Xia Yu rolled out of bed, put on his flip-flops, and went to brush his teeth and wash his face. In the mirror, he looked bleary-eyed with unruly hair sticking up. After washing up, he changed into his school uniform and threw his homework and books into his backpack. Then he knocked on the door next door.

“Xiaoxiao, get up!”

There was no sound inside. Xia Yu pushed the door open and walked into his sister’s room. Xia Xiaoxiao was still sleeping, and her sleeping posture was even messier than his. Xia Yu patted his twin sister awake. “Hurry up, hurry up! We can’t be late. We still have to feed the fish later!”

“Huh?” Xia Xiaoxiao barely opened her eyes. “Mm-mm-mm, awake, awake.”

“I don’t believe you’re awake at all.” Xia Yu doted on his sister and was also helpless. “I’ll go downstairs and start cooking. Hurry up.”

He ran downstairs with a thump-thump-thump and rushed into the kitchen to make breakfast. The living room was spotless, but because they lived by the sea, the air was damp and salty. When the second fried egg was done, Xia Yu suddenly had a flash of insight, as if he had just remembered something important.

The moment he remembered, the doorbell rang!

He’s here? Wearing an apron, Xia Yu hurried to open the door. His stepfather’s son was coming today. He said he had transferred schools and would live there from now on. Oh God! Something this big, and he had completely forgotten about it. He only remembered when the person arrived at the door.

When he opened the door, there was indeed someone standing outside. He was wearing sporty casual clothes and was very tall. He had silver hair and was standing with his back to Xia Yu, looking around at the surroundings. It was obvious he was there for the first time.

“Hello.” Xia Yu called out to him. “May I ask you—”

“It’s me.” Without waiting for Xia Yu to finish speaking, the person turned around and hugged him tightly, as if they hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

Startled, Xia Yu’s eyes went wide. He flailed his arms, ready to push the person away. Suddenly, a backpack flew over and hit the strange boy right on the head with a dull thud.

“Let go of my brother!” Xia Xiaoxiao had just come downstairs when she saw this scene. Why did the stepfather’s son have such poor boundaries?