Sun Hang slowed his breathing and quietly listened to Chira 17 speak.
"So, if you want to kill , you must... give up one-third of your 'soul'," Chira 17 said, "I do want to make a deal with you, but it's not a life for a city; it's your one-third of a soul in exchange for my extinction."
"Are you really that intent on dying?" Sun Hang asked suspiciously.
Although Chira 17 was indeed a significant threat to the human world, if it could remain in this "pure land"...
"I know what you're thinking, I can't stay here indefinitely," Chira 17 sighed, "This is a preserved mory, but it will be consud... Haven't you noticed that changes have already begun here?"
Only then did Sun Hang suddenly realize that the sharp-edged rocks on the distant coastline had turned into a mass of irregular black polygons, and the forest planted around the residential area had blended into a patch of shifting, multi-hued splotches dominated by yellow and green.
If these scenes ca with the sll of a burnt graphics card, it would be perfect.
"Due to the defect of tics, my mories continuously fade into obscurity. Revisiting them repeatedly not only fails to deepen the impression, but it makes forget everything even faster... Before long, this 'pure land' will also turn into nothingness, and I..."
"Will also fall completely into madness," Sun Hang finished the unsaid part of the sentence for it.
"Correct," Chira 17 said, "Living... or rather, having consciousness in this world is like a punishnt for ... Now I just want to destroy myself, and if I can't do that, then I'll have to destroy everything I see."
"If you're seeking your own end, why not find those powerful anomalous entities?" Sun Hang asked, "I'm not sure where the other primal-level anomalies are, but I heard that deep within the Amazon Rainforest in South Arica lurks a primal-level anomaly, maybe you could try finding it."
"A primal-level anomaly cannot kill ... Even if my physical form is destroyed, I would be reborn in endless cycles."
Sun Hang felt this sounded familiar and suddenly recalled that Anna seed to have said sothing similar to him before.
"Is it because... of ?"
"Yes, the only solution is for you to give up one-third of your soul; only then can I truly return to silence," Chira 17 said.
"What is a soul anyway? So kind of special tic? Will relinquishing one-third of my soul have any effect on ?" Sun Hang was perplexed.
"I can't answer these questions because I don't know the answers," Chira 17 said, "In over a hundred years, I've been to many places, in human nations and in abandoned 'Surrendered Areas' they speak of. I've t many people and anomalies... The only thod I found is this."
"But the problem is, I don't even know what a soul is. How am I supposed to give it up... and precisely a third of it at that?" Sun Hang said, shrugging, "You said you've found a way, so this thod should at least have an operational procedure, right?"
"That thing can help you do it."
"Which thing?"
"The thing that sealed your mories and has been preventing you from retrieving them."
"Are you talking about the Three Apes?" ntioning the Three Apes, Sun Hang's wariness slightly eased.
Although Sun Hang greatly disliked the Three Apes, on another level, he trusted them too.
He initially doubted whether Chira 17 was trying to trick him into so "dangerous operation," but if leaving it to the Three Apes to handle, even if Chira 17 wanted to pull sothing, it probably wouldn't succeed—the Three Apes, compared to both Chira and Anna, is at least a dinsion drop in combat power.
Not to ntion, the Three Apes at least won't harm him.
Not only would it not harm him, but it would also try to protect him.
If it weren't for blocking Sun Hang from uncovering the truth, the Three Apes was practically an invincible life-saving card.
"If you are unwilling, I can also add a bargaining chip to this deal," Chira 17 slowly said.
"What bargaining chip?"
"Eternal Night."
"What?"
"If you agree to the exchange, I can help you dispel the Eternal Night."
...
...
Forty kiloters from Chira 17's cocoon, on the super-large aerial combat platform "Garuda".
"It's been an hour and seven minutes since we lost contact with Sun Hang," Song Yarong kept pressing the 'F5' key on the keyboard, refreshing the real-ti surveillance feed from the drones, "Yang Qi... do you think they might have been swallowed whole by Chira 17?"
"Losing the signal is a normal occurrence, Chira 17's cocoon is a top-level signal shield," Yang Qi said expressionlessly, sitting in her chair, "We ought to have faith in them... Don't rush, just keep waiting."
Yang Qi hadn't moved from that posture for over half an hour—she understood better than anyone else on the Garuda that the success of the entire plan now lay with those who ventured inside Chira 17, and as for them, the only thing left to do is to wait.
"Don't rush... How can I not rush?" Song Yarong grabbed the water cup nearby, planning to gulp it down only to find it was empty, with only a circle of brown coffee stains left on the cup wall, "Have you ever thought about what we should do if they fail?"
"Haven't thought, nor need to think," Yang Qi exhaled softly, speaking calmly, "The pesticide plan doesn't have a backup; we can only risk everything."
"Then I think now we can go ahead and write our farewells as an upload to the Dubhe Tower server," Song Yarong said, covering her face and speaking with utmost pessimism, "Even though I've spent money lavishly, I've saved up quite a bit over the years... I should give my bank card passwords to my parents... Also, I should donate so money to an orphanage, or help build a Hope Primary School... uh, do you think trying to hastily accumulate good karma when you're about to die will do any good?"
Song Yarong was muttering endlessly, but she didn't take any action; she neither picked up the phone to call her parents nor turned on her computer to write a so-called will.
Her parents lived in Tianfu City, and even if she gave them the bank card passwords, they wouldn't have the chance to enjoy their daughter's savings.
"What do you think if Chira 17 suddenly exploded right now..." Song Yarong turned to look at Yang Qi, "Would I still have ti to snap a photo with my phone and post it on social dia?"
As if on cue to echo her question, the piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout Garuda's bridge!
"Detected high-intensity energy reaction from Chira 17!!"
"How high?!" Yang Qi pressed her hands against the chair's armrests and stood up suddenly.
"Ex...Exceeded the monitoring equipnt's limit..."
User Comments
0 comments from readers