MASG chapter 80

 

Xi Ban put down his gun. “What the hell is this thing?”

He used the sniper rifle’s longer barrel like a stick to lift the monster’s corpse. When the muzzle touched the corpse, its color clearly changed.

“Corroded this badly?” Xi Ban looked at Silver Fang. “How did you kill something this strong? Are you okay?”

Silver Fang’s right arm was injured, and the exoskeleton on his left waist showed signs of corrosion. “It took quite a bit of effort. This thing was very cunning. At first, they tried to set an ambush trap for me. Their skin color was very similar to the mixed snow and soil nearby. I almost fell for it.”

While worrying about Xia Yu and Xiang Xing, Mo An still found time to ask, “Then how did you escape?”

Silver Fang was the team’s most physically capable fighter. For many years, he and Yan Xia had worked together extremely well, making great contributions to the middle layer. He summarized the previous action in a few words. However, those two monsters could injure him, showing that they were not simple.

If they banded together and there were a dozen of them, the team could be wiped out!

“This.” Silver Fang tossed out the magazine.

It was hidden inside his mechanical wrist and could not be seen without careful observation. Mechanical patterns like veins covered his entire body. He proudly revealed the answer: “Acid rounds.”

“You actually equipped this?” Mo An was shocked.

“Yan Xia got them for me. Supposedly, they’re a weapon configuration from your control center. That little girl has all kinds of skills and resources; she can get anything.” After surviving the disaster, Silver Fang sighed, “But these things were really troublesome. If I hadn’t had acid rounds or been their nemesis, who knows who would have died on Frozen Island today? I checked the corpses. They once… should have been human.”

Silver Fang didn’t need to explain further—anyone could tell at a glance. The corpses still had human faces, and their work ID badges with chips proved that they had once been human. Now, however, the corpses were like big melting furnaces, melting countless animal limbs, fur, bones, and organs before finally becoming formless balls of flesh.

“What exactly is Yukun City doing?” Xi Ban used the muzzle to flip a corpse over. “Could this be considered… a large-scale biological experiment? It’s not meticulously crafted, but it probably wouldn’t have turned out this way without careful planning.”

“To know the answer, we have to go take a look at Yukun City.” Silver Fang looked at Mo An. “There’s another important piece of information. I believe Mo An will definitely notice it.”

“Me?” Mo An shifted his gaze from the login device to Silver Fang.

“Look at this.” Silver Fang crouched down and pushed the corpse’s head backward. The smell of the alkaline fluid made everyone uncomfortable. Mo An covered his nose and crouched down to observe carefully. Because the smell was too pungent and harmful to the eyes, he quickly lowered his tear membrane.

The corpse’s skin was a murky grayish-yellow color. Some areas had hair, but most of the skin was completely hairless. Roughly counting just the back, there were about a dozen arms, all different and clearly not from the same person. Some were thin, some were thick, some had loose elderly skin with age spots, and one was only about 30 centimeters long. The tender fingers and tiny palm were shocking—clearly the limb of an infant.

On the neck was animal-like skin armor; it was unclear whether it was crocodile skin or turtle shell. Mo An examined it carefully.

“This is—” After seeing it clearly, he was shocked.

“Traces of gill slits. Isn’t it?” Silver Fang smiled. “They’re not quite the same as yours, Xi Ban’s, or 107’s, but similar enough. Do you now understand how serious this is?”

Mo An touched his neck and exchanged a shocked look with Xi Ban.

“This is impossible!” Xi Ban put down the long black sniper rifle and crouched beside the corpse in shock. His own neck showed no trace of gill slits—after a mermaid comes ashore, the slits close perfectly, leaving smooth skin behind. Mermaids mimic humans—this is an undeniable fact. No mermaid wants to be recognized by humans after coming ashore.

Even 107, the white siren, looked impeccable when she turned into a human.

But now, the gill slits on these two corpses were visible to the naked eye. They were not in the sea, nor were they mermaids, yet they somehow possessed one of the most important organs of a mermaid. Mo An silently took out his combat dagger and cut open the slit, hoping that there would be no gills underneath.

After cutting, he exchanged a glance with Xi Ban.

“How is it?” Xi Ban asked.

“Not gills, but very close.” Mo An let out a breath of relief. “They aren’t mermaids yet.”

“They’re just evolving in that direction, right?” Silver Fang got straight to the point. “Are you afraid they’ll become the same as you?”

“Not exactly.” Mo An shook his head. “Mermaids aren’t fish; they can’t change instantly. But the situation is already clear. Yukun City has likely become an ecological testing ground for some kind of experiment. Someone is conducting massive species fusion experiments here. The ultimate goal is unclear, but these are undoubtedly derivatives from within. This kind of fusion isn’t evolution. Evolution is purposeful and precise advancement, but they start randomly.”

“Direction? How can there be no direction? Alkaline blood—how many natural enemies can it kill just with that?” Silver Fang also understood the theory of survival of the fittest. “The direction of evolution that I see is mermaids, except mermaid gills are too difficult to replicate, so it became like this. Once they succeed, artificial mermaids will enter the ocean with highly alkaline blood. Think about it—how much of a chance do you have?”

“Is this also done to massacre us?” Originally, Xi Ban thought that polluting the seawater was the guaranteed winning method, but he didn’t expect there to be another motive behind it.

“I can’t fully confirm it, which is why I said we have to go to Yukun City. If they can swim out of Yukun City, then we can reach that dead city by sea. When Talos and Meng Qingqing return, we can set out.” Silver Fang showed an expression of hatred. “Ecological evolution experiments are the thing I hate most.”

“Let’s hide these two corpses first. Mi Dou and 107 are still conducting experiments. They have very small guts—I’m afraid they’ll be frightened.” Xi Ban pointed to the hidden door, planning to move the corpses inside with Silver Fang. Mo An walked toward the login device and listened through the liquid metal for breathing sounds. It seemed much smoother than before.

Inside the small information cocoon, Xia Yu stared at the final defensive line.

The room was full of white mycelium. Xiang Xing had fully spread his domain, building a web that belonged to him. The veil-like mycelium, like bamboo fungus, covered Xia Yu protectively. Xia Yu didn’t dare take a single wrong step. Even though he had gained leverage in the negotiations, he had only just received his entry ticket.

He was the virus. He had just deduced this as well.

Nuwa’s retreat confirmed his suspicion. Xia Yu couldn’t help but wonder: Could the X-series have been created to counter artificial intelligence?

“Speak. I’m listening. But my patience is not as boundless as you imagine.”

Nuwa sounded like she was issuing her final ultimatum, putting Xia Yu’s fragile nerves to the test. After some thought, Xia Yu said: “I’ll use myself as a bargaining chip to negotiate with you.”

“Xia Yu, what are you talking about?” Xiang Xing’s mycelium bound him tightly; he was afraid that Nuwa would break in at any moment and snatch him away.

“Have you thought it through?” Nuwa asked softly.

“I was originally a test subject at the research institute. From the moment I was born, I was a bargaining chip.” Xia Yu deeply understood his value as a bargaining chip. “If you let Jingwei and Lingshi go and agree to a few of my conditions, I’ll consider joining your ‘Blooming’ plan.”

Nuwa laughed. Her laughter was distant yet seemed to be in his ear. “As far as I know, neither Jingwei nor Lingshi told you anything about the Blooming Plan, did they?”

“Yes, they didn’t say anything because they don’t know anything.” Xia Yu was nervous and sweating. “But I guessed. The Blooming Plan is digital life. Ma Jiayuan was once obsessed with that plan. Did you offer him something that made him believe he could achieve immortality in the data world? Humans are like flowers—once born, death is inevitable. After blooming, flowers gradually wither. However, you can use your memory and information storage to provide humanity with a space to upload their data, allowing them to remain forever young and blooming. Isn’t that what it means?”

Nuwa fell silent again.

“Answer me.” Xia Yu pressed sharply and forcefully. As long as he narrowed the gap in knowledge between himself and Nuwa, he would have a chance.

Nuwa let out a laugh that was sharper than before. “You’re simply too smart, Xia Yu. I suspect that Wang Qin might have added intelligence-enhancing gene fragments to you. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have encouraged you to read so many books. You read through almost all of the research institute’s books, and look what it raised: a little genius. Oh, but now you’ve grown up. You are a genius.”

“You’re rewriting the Bible in reverse, trying to imitate it backwards, aren’t you? The Bible ends with Revelation. First, you use the Four Horsemen to eliminate part of humanity, and then you proceed with selection. The Bible begins with Genesis. Chapter 7 is ‘The Flood.’ Are you preparing to start a flood and wipe out the mermaids in the sea? Those who survive your selection will become your chosen people. Those who believe in you will obtain eternal life, join the Blooming Plan, and live forever in your database. With that, your plan is complete.” Xia Yu finished in one breath. “Tell me, is that right?”

“You’ve truly grown up. When you were little, you never talked to me in that tone.” Nuwa replied.

“When I was little, you didn’t casually slaughter humans either!” Xia Yu finally shouted. It had been stuck in his chest for too long, and he could barely breathe. Accusing a close friend face-to-face felt similar—his words were sharp, but worse than the pain was the sadness. The tears still fell; he still cried. Because after today, he and Nuwa were on opposite sides. Once, they had talked about everything.

“You’re crying?” Nuwa’s voice softened. “Xia Yu, I’m sorry.”

“The person who deserves that apology isn’t me. At least I’m still alive.” Xia Yu trembled. “Professor Wang Qin—what did she do wrong? What did she do wrong?”

“Calculations always have errors. Everything has its sacrifices.” Nuwa replied.

“That’s not the same.” Xia Yu refused to fall for it. “Your errors and sacrifices, when they fall on humans, cost them their lives.”

“If humans can freely seize the will and lives of others, why can’t I? I’m wiser and broader than humans. I have a heart rich with emotion and respect for all life. To serve humanity, I must stand against the mermaids. No one can guarantee that they won’t take over the land. Xia Yu, I like you very much. From the moment you were born, I treated you as my own child. You may not know this, but I chose your name, Xia Yu, with Wang Qin.”

Nuwa spoke more slowly.

“Yu” in ancient national records is a person’s name. He was a wise tribal leader. He had a deep affection for his people and could control overwhelming floods. He finally accepted the abdication of the previous human emperor and became the leader of the people, establishing a nation.”[mfn]Yu the Great (大禹), a famous figure from early Chinese history. He was a tribal leader known for controlling a huge flood, caring for his people, and eventually becoming the ruler after the previous leader passed the position to him. He then founded the Xia Dynasty (夏朝), which is considered the first dynasty in Chinese tradition.[/mfn]

“The name of that nation was ‘Xia.’ Xia Yu—this is the beautiful blessing Wang Qin and I gave you.”

“If you stand with me and understand my intentions, I promise you that, after the great flood, you can all become my supreme people. You and your mermaid companions can enjoy the highest priority in the data world. Here, I will grant you authority. You and Xiang Xing have already experienced virtual joy and happiness. Can you say that passion wasn’t real? Wasn’t it worth lingering for?”

Xia Yu briefly closed his eyes.

He wasn’t considering Nuwa’s proposal, but was thinking briefly of Professor Wang.

So that’s where his name came from, just like Jingwei’s—it contains excellent qualities and beautiful wishes from mythological stories. Then what was his little sister’s name? Was her surname also Xia?

“Let’s reach out and make peace, all right? Let’s stop fighting.” Nuwa spoke again.

“No, I haven’t been fighting you because I can’t fight you at all. I can only use the tiny space within the intelligent domain to survive and achieve my goal.” Xia Yu opened his eyes and spoke in a voice that struck the ground like stone. “I declare that I am now invoking the Second Fundamental Treaty of the research institute. You must obey.”

The door sounded again, like a gust of wind beating against the information world or a pair of hands knocking on the door panel.

“The first fundamental treaty of the research institute states that Nuwa and all mechanical beings must serve and not betray humans.” Not only had Xia Yu read the books, he had also memorized every character in the institute’s treaties. However, Nuwa had already broken the first treaty—she had betrayed humans and killed everyone in the research institute except for Xia Yu and Mo An.

“I hereby declare the official activation of the Second Fundamental Treaty! When the first treaty fails, Nuwa must execute the nearest person’s orders and must not harm any life within the research institute!” Xia Yu spoke each word slowly, as if bleeding with every syllable. Had he understood how to use rules in the past, maybe he could have saved Professor Wang. “As the nearest person, I order you to stop attacking Jingwei and Lingshi and to not harm me or my companions. I order you to provide us with a route to Yukun City.”

Nuwa seemed to glitch, taking a long time before responding. “Smartest one nearby, you should know the time limitation of the Second Fundamental Treaty, right?”

“Of course.” Xia Yu remembered clearly. This was his final trump card, not something he could use lightly. Once used, it meant telling Nuwa that he had no way back. “The limit is—while I am alive, you, Nuwa, must comply.”

“I hope you won’t regret this. Good luck to all of you.”

Nuwa left only with those words, and the knocking wind and massive pressure disappeared together. The Jingwei bird, which had been unconscious in Xiang Xing’s hands, began to breathe again. Its small beak opened and closed incessantly as if it were still carrying out its vast, ethereal act of filling the sea with stones from the Western Mountains in its dreams. Xia Yu was exhausted. He dropped to the ground and was caught securely by the veil-like mycelium.

He glanced at Xiang Xing, and then his vision went dark and his body collapsed limply.

“Xia Yu!” Mo An saw someone fall out of the liquid metal and instinctively reached out to catch them.

The unconscious Xia Yu landed in his arms, his entire body dripping wet. It wasn’t sweat—it was as if he had been pulled from the sea, water dripping nonstop. Xiang Xing fell out right after, just as soaked, though he was much better off—at least he was still conscious.

“Go…to Yukun City…” Xia Yu leaned against Mo An’s chest. A last bit of rationality told him not to get too close to Mo An, but he couldn’t push him away. The sour, swelling pain gathered at the bridge of his nose. His head couldn’t hold on and tilted backward. A bright red nosebleed erupted like a geyser.

“It worked! It might have worked!” At that moment, Mi Dou kicked open the lab door. He held a syringe that seemed to be filled with an antidote.