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Chapter 799 - Seven Hundred and Ninety-Seven: "Minecraft.

Chapter 799: Chapter Seven Hundred and Ninety-Seven: "Minecraft.

"Fishwort," Su Ming’an repeated.

"This pot of fishwort is already dead," Noel said. "Who keeps plants under the bed? Without sunlight, of course it’s dead."

Su Ming’an set it on the windowsill. Rin Guang’s entire room was gloomy, with only a few strands of sunlight spilling onto the windowsill.

"There’s still a drawer over there you haven’t checked. He must have anticipated your arrival and left something for you," Noel said. "Perhaps it’s related to the Perfect Pass."

Su Ming’an turned and pulled open the bedside cabinet drawer.

The first drawer was filled with stacked Spring Festival couplets, probably written by Rin Guang, all in crooked and twisted handwriting.

In the second drawer, there was a safe freezer. When Su Ming’an pulled it open, it was full of bright red strawberries, apparently still unspoiled.

The third drawer contained a folded Hanfu costume, alongside several unfinished luozi.

These were all traces left by Rin Guang, each item forming a part of his life.

Then there was the last drawer...

This drawer was a bit difficult to open, probably because it had rusted inside. Su Ming’an exerted some force.

"Whoosh," came the sound when Su Ming’an finally managed to pull the drawer open, and countless ginkgo leaves flooded out, each marked with a year and a message.

"Rustle-rustle—!"

They fluttered freely in the confined space of the room, like dancing golden elves, brushing past Su Ming’an’s hair and cheeks. Under the trembling light, they resembled twirling golden specks.

Su Ming’an’s gaze travelled over the first ginkgo leaves that flew out, reading the inscriptions on them.

"Year 32 after the Catastrophe, our first meeting, I believe we can become good friends, until the very last year of my life."

"Year 33 after the Catastrophe, I saw him through the window of the City of Gods."

"Year 34 after the Catastrophe, gradually, making friends with him became the meaning of my life."

"Shantiantian, female Knight, Smiling Tiger..."

...

The content on the ginkgo leaves wasn’t much different from Rin Guang’s diary, except this part was handwritten by Rin Guang on the leaves themselves.

After a moment, Su Ming’an found the leaf that was at the very bottom. Several lines were carved into the bottom of the drawer.

"If one day after my death Lewis comes here. Lewis, please take the gift I’ve buried in the fishwort’s soil."

"I’m not sure if the gift I’m giving you will be lost or stolen, because I’m a failure, and I fail at everything. Maybe only by burying the gift in the soil, it can be kept safe from theft."

"Since you hate me, this is the only message I will leave here. If you don’t like me, you won’t come to my home, and you won’t see these words. That way, my gift won’t trouble you further."

...

Su Ming’an dug out the fishwort’s soil and found a sturdy mechanical ring. After cleaning the dirt off the ring, it gave off a faint iron-gray glow with two lines of small characters inscribed on it:

"Rin Guang’s true gift to Lewis."

"I’m so glad to have known you."

Su Ming’an stared at the ring for a moment before looking out the window.

This time, no one stood outside with a flute, reaching out to invite him for a walk under the moonlight.

The dawn rose, and the person’s existence and name were erased.

0321.

0321...

He, with two thousand three hundred simulated harsh winters, had embraced the sunrise, infused with countless rounds of existence or dissolution in Reincarnation, sorrow, demons, and confusion, becoming the last ice sculpture of this spring.

The room was empty and silent, with no one to respond.

Su Ming’an was lost in thought for a moment, intending to put away the ring, when Anjiang, the bionic body, spoke up, "Anjiang, bring the ring closer to me."

"What for?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Bring the ring closer to me, I’m not trying to trick you," Anjiang insisted. "I’m not like those silly systems of the Dawn System; everything I have belongs to you, and you can trust me forever."

Su Ming’an brought the mechanical ring up to his wristwatch, Anjiang, and in an instant, a blue light transferred from the watch to the ring.

A blue glow appeared on the ring.

Shortly afterward, a familiar voice rang out:

"Hello, I am T-0321."

Su Ming’an stared at the ring, recognizing the voice, "Rin Guang?"

"Anjiang," Anjiang said, "after Rin Guang dissipated, when I booted up, I captured traces of Rin Guang in the data flow and preserved that segment of his data. This mechanical ring also contains a bit of Rin Guang’s initial program, likely left over from years of accumulation. Now, it’s about combining that segment of Rin Guang’s data I intercepted with the initial program in this mechanical ring..."

"Could this combine to form Rin Guang?" Su Ming’an asked.

"It’s a possibility. He really wanted to survive before he dissipated, and this ring was the tiny hope he left behind," Anjiang said. "Right now, this mechanical ring is just a simple initial AI. But think positively, maybe in the future when you experience another sci-fi world, you might find ’Props’ to revive him, right? Maybe he could become a ’Player’ like Su Rin, right?"

Su Ming’an knew Anjiang was comforting him. But as long as there was a possibility, it wasn’t 0%.

He slipped the ring onto his index finger. With this, his person was bustling with activity—Anjiang on his left wrist, Yeah on his right, T-0321 on his finger, and Mu Team’s communication chip on the back of his neck.

T-0321 was still in a dim-witted state; apart from saying "Hello, I am T-0321" upon booting up, it didn’t say another word.

Su Ming’an left Rin Guang’s room, walked through the darkened gallery and hall, and pushed open the front door—

To his surprise, there was someone waiting at the door.

Black hair, gray eyes, a black robe, and a white lab coat.

The sunlight dallied around the person’s hair as if twining a halo of liquid gold. The person appeared to be fused into the splendid afternoon sun, his entire figure seemingly coated in molten gold. A white bird perched on his upraised finger, affectionately pecking at it.

The man tilted his head down slightly, his deep gray eyes reflecting the white feathers, his demeanour exceptionally gentle, a kindness even extended to a bird.

Su Ming’an had observed that face numerous times, but now, its owner stood right before him.

"You are..." Su Ming’an said.

The person turned to the side, looked at Su Ming’an, and a white bird took off from his fingertips, soaring into the sky.

"I apologize for only being able to meet you in the form of a white cat before," the person said with a smile, "Now that the deities have been chased away by you, I can meet you in the form of a bionic body."

Across the vast distance, the person reached out:

"Hello, nice to finally meet you in person and formally introduce myself. I am the owner of the ’Source of Civilization’ in the Ruined World, Yasa Acto... AI."

"So you are the representative of that civilization—Su Ming’an. For now, as the ’Number One Player’, you indeed deserve to be called the civilization’s representative. Pleased to meet you, Su Ming’an."

Su Ming’an’s heart was pounding fast.

Previously, the white cat had been evasive and secretive because Ta Wei’s surveillance was omnipresent, turning the people of the Ruined World into enigmatic beings.

But now, he was finally about to make contact with the truth.

There was an indistinct fear in his heart, like a sixth sense. It seemed that after he learned this truth, he would also fear it.

"Su Ming’an, could there be a trap?" Noel warned. He did not believe in the truth that presented itself so readily, unsure whether this self-proclaimed Acto AI was friend or foe.

"The likelihood is very low," Su Ming’an said.

He looked at the hand Acto extended, taking big steps forward,

Sunlight streamed down in strands, falling on the path between them. Su Ming’an, stepping on the hall’s ceramic tiles, walked resolutely towards Acto waiting at the entrance. One step, two steps, three steps...

The tiles reflected the light, shining between the two of them, as if a slender bridge between two civilizations.

A moment later, Su Ming’an reached out, and their hands clasped. Their palms were both cold, perhaps due to the chilly weather, or maybe they had always been this cold. As they shook hands, Su Ming’an thought he had touched a piece of painful ice.

After a three-second handshake, Acto said softly, "It’s so cold."

Su Ming’an replied, "The Ruined World is cold, and today is the Fuyuan Festival, so it’s colder."

Acto smiled, sunlight spilling onto his pale face, tinging the corners of his mouth with a trace of blood he coughed up:

"Maybe it won’t be cold in the future."

Although he never saw spring before he died, there would definitely be one in the future.

"I am here, and you are too; of course, it won’t be cold," Su Ming’an said.

Acto smiled briefly before becoming serious, "Su Ming’an, what do you think the ’Thing of Truth’ is?"

"Brain in a vat," Su Ming’an pondered for a moment before answering. His Ruler’s Quest was to [find the Thing of Truth]. He had thought about this question for a full nineteen days, and this was the answer he found most reasonable.

Acto listened but neither confirmed nor denied.

"In this world, space and time are interconnected in ways unimaginable to tri-dimensional beings. To them, time and space are singular. However, the dimension of the Dawn System opened a new window for them, unifying the two," Acto said:

"Su Ming’an, do you feel that the ’brain in a vat’ is actually another form in the evolution of humankind? Since ancient times, human bodies have been very frail, easily killed by creatures such as tigers and elephants. The superiority of humans lies only in consciousness and thought. If the body were eternally preserved, we would essentially be free of a constraint."

"I agree with your view," Su Ming’an said, "From the perspective of the ’World Game,’ we, the players, have also shaken off our original flesh and blood bodies on Zhai Xing, becoming data incarnations. If not for the one-year time limit, I would consider this an evolution."

"Have you played sandbox games before?" Acto said.

The subject changed quickly, but Su Ming’an responded promptly, "I have."

"Let me use ’Minecraft,’ a sandbox game, as an analogy," Acto said. "If you haven’t played the game, you should still be able to understand—if a God invaded your civilization, and humans uploaded their consciousness to hide in ’Minecraft,’ the God learned to use computers and wanted to continue the invasion. Eventually, humans created another ’Minecraft’ within ’Minecraft,’ using the endless sandbox to build their own worlds, establishing forests and villages, escaping deeper and deeper—would you consider that self-preservation?"

"Of course," Su Ming’an said. "By whatever means necessary, even if it’s a struggle to prolong the life of a civilization, it’s certainly better than being instantly destroyed by the invader. To live is to have a chance."

He greatly admired Acto.

Acto’s three-dimensional defense plan had somehow managed to drag humanity to the 102nd year. The gap in technology between humans and Them was too vast, collapsing upon contact. Su Ming’an had known since Qiu Li had introduced the idea that humanity stood no chance in a head-on fight; "delaying" was the only method.

Without dimensional overlay, humans wouldn’t have survived until now, just like the numerous simulations in Kaius Tower where the human side was completely annihilated. Humans wouldn’t even have made it to the 72nd year.

"It’s a good thing if you understand. However, the crucial problem now is—you’ve been stuck in a trap for many years," Acto said.

"A trap?" Su Ming’an was puzzled.

"You’ve signed a ’Civilization Gambling Pact’ with the Deity. If you fail to restart the Dawn System within twenty days, the Deity will claim the Source of your civilization." Acto stated.

"Yes," Su Ming’an also remembered this looming threat. Today was the nineteenth day, and he wasn’t sure if he could restart the Dawn System in the City of Measurement by tomorrow. The actions of the Deity must have some effect; there must be a big pitfall waiting for him.

"Please follow me to a place, and I will help you solve this problem," Acto suggested. "Let me borrow your wheelchair for a moment to show you the way."

Su Ming’an noticed that Acto had always been very polite and composed. Indeed, civilizations are different from one another, as shown by Acto’s contrast with Su Rin’s occasional childish behavior.

Su Ming’an summoned his wheelchair, and as soon as he sat in it, Acto familiarly sat on the armrest, his white gown brushing against Su Ming’an’s knees.

"This way," Acto’s hand stretched out, starting to direct the way.

"Su Ming’an?" Noel, patting the back of a nearby raven, used his gaze to ask if help was needed.

"Noel, you can go back and rest," Su Ming’an said, realizing that Acto did not want anyone to follow and shaking his head at Noel.

The wheelchair took off, and Su Ming’an looked back; the villa in Lin Guang still stood in the midst of a garden full of flowers, behind the blue and white grid, the fountain’s spray soared, like a rainbow bridging the water and sky.

It was as if an agent with white hair still stood there, holding a silver pistol adorned with lilies and butterflies, waiting for him two thousand three hundred times over.

Su Ming’an thought this might be his last visit here.

The wheelchair glided through the sky, the brilliant sunlight casting onto their black hair, turning it into fluttering strands of golden fireflies.

Su Ming’an turned his head forward, suddenly feeling weak, recalling he hadn’t replenished his energy in a long time, and he pulled out a bar of chocolate and began to unwrap it—

As Su Ming’an’s index finger, fitted with a mechanical ring, brushed against the chocolate wrapper, the usually silent T-0321 suddenly made a dry, steely sound:

"Chocolate."

"Lewis."

"Like."

...

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