Chapter 418

Boom—the latest chapter of Deep Blue!

Lightning tore through the space, bringing bursts of thunder. Neo let out a miserable cry and rose from the bed. He looked around in confusion, his hand touching his own mouth, then he opened his black T-shirt to check his stomach.

"Was what just happened only a dream?"

"That was no dream." Ye Nan walked in from outside, looking at Neo, who was known as the Savior, with a smile on his face.

"Who are you? How did you get in?" Neo looked warily at the suddenly appearing Ye Nan, his hand reaching for the flashlight by his pillow.

"Don't be nervous." Ye Nan sat on the edge of Neo's bed, his smile becoming even brighter. "My name is Ye Nan. As for how I got in..."

"Your house door wasn't locked."

Neo instinctively checked; sure enough, there were no signs of forced entry on the door. But even so, he still could not trust Ye Nan.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am merely acting under the orders of a guy named Morpheus to come here and save you. But unfortunately, it seems you don't need it anymore." Ye Nan walked to the phone, looked at it, and continued: "Before long, that guy will call. At that time, they will help you break free from this virtual world, and I, this poor wretch, will be able to follow you and leave this virtual world together to regain my freedom."

Neo's phone was a rather old-fashioned model; it was hard to imagine that in this technologically advanced Matrix world, there would actually be such an old phone.

"Yes, regain freedom. Once I get out, I will obtain the maximum degree of freedom." Ye Nan added in his heart.

"Virtual world? Freedom? What are you talking about? I don't understand." Neo asked. Ever since that woman named Cui Cui Nidi appeared, he had been in a daze, his heart full of questions, yet he knew nothing.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. In any case, I am just a poor person who wants to leave." Ye Nan shook his head and carefully examined the phone in front of him, though his thoughts were not on it.

"As for your questions, Morpheus will tell you."

"But I want to know now." Neo said in a deep voice.

"Curiosity?" Ye Nan's gaze shifted to Neo, a half-smiling expression appearing on his face.

Being looked at like this by Ye Nan, Neo instinctively turned his head away, feeling guilty, but soon he turned back, meeting Ye Nan's eyes directly. "You could say that."

Neo's eyes were clear and deep; one could tell at a glance what he was thinking.

"Fine, I will satisfy your curiosity. Before they find you, I can let you ask questions. As long as I know the answer, I can tell you." Ye Nan walked back to Neo's bed and sat down with a thud. "Of course, if it involves certain secrets, I might not speak, because these secrets relate to the deal between me and them."

Seeing Ye Nan agree, Neo asked impatiently, "What is this virtual world you speak of?"

"The virtual world I speak of refers to the Matrix world; in reality, it is a virtual world." Ye Nan glanced at Neo, and seeing him lower his head, not knowing what he was thinking, he continued: "By using cloning or other methods, infants are created, and then through equipment, the infants' consciousness is connected into this Matrix world, letting you live here forever, treating this as your real world."

"For example, when you eat, you aren't actually eating at all; it's just that the Matrix tells you what this thing tastes like, what the flavor is, and then you believe that is what you are tasting. Then, after you eat it, you feel that this is what it tastes like."

Actually, Ye Nan did not understand the operating principles of this Matrix world, so he could only quote Morpheus as much as possible.

"You mean, from the moment we were born, we have already entered this Matrix world? Our eating, drinking, and excreting are all told to us by the Matrix, and are all virtual?" Neo looked at his own hands and touched his mouth. He still remembered the men in black he had encountered. If what Ye Nan said was true, then what just happened was not a dream.

"Bingo, you got it right, but unfortunately, there is no prize." Ye Nan snapped his fingers, looking happy.

Neo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he didn't say it. He just lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.

"I know what you are thinking, but I want to tell you that you, being called the Savior, are very likely to destroy the Matrix world and save all of humanity."

The reason he said "likely" was because of the nature of American directors; they like to kill off protagonists, especially in *Final Destination*, where changing protagonists is like changing clothes—it can be said they are diligent. That is why Ye Nan said it was "likely." Of course, this was assuming Ye Nan did not intervene; if he did, then the result would unfold according to his will. He had this confidence.

"The Savior?" Neo murmured, lowering his head even further.

Ding...

The phone rang. Ye Nan immediately stepped forward, grabbed the phone, and said into the receiver: "Mr. Morpheus, I am already with Neo."

"But you didn't put in any effort." Morpheus's voice was somewhat cold.

"True, I didn't put in any effort." Ye Nan didn't care about Morpheus's mood. "But I succeeded. I am with Neo now. You wouldn't want to ditch me, would you? If you want to ditch me, I wouldn't mind, but please think carefully about the consequences."

On the other end of the phone, there was a sudden silence. Morpheus understood very well what the consequences Ye Nan spoke of were. Although he was very unhappy about being threatened, he had to consider the consequences.

"Fine, take Neo to the Adams Street Bridge. Our people will meet you there."

"Very good." Ye Nan hung up the phone and called out to Neo, "Let's go, Neo. Let's go meet your future companions together."

Surprisingly, Neo did not respond to Ye Nan, but instead asked coldly, "What are the consequences?"

"The consequences are that I tell those black-suited agents your identity." Ye Nan said indifferently, not caring at all what kind of thoughts Neo might have after hearing this.

"In fact, if they hadn't agreed to my terms, you might have already been killed by the black-suited agents. Don't blame me; I just want to break free from this virtual world. Unfortunately, they wouldn't offer me salvation, so I can only find a way to save myself."

"Let's go. To Adams Street Bridge. Now, I am tied together with you. If you refuse to go, I might be abandoned by them."

"I agree." Neo pushed aside the quilt and climbed out of bed. "Let's go."

Under the Adams Bridge, heavy rain flowed continuously down the bridge's drainage pipes. The clothes of both Ye Nan and Neo were already soaked through.

"Although I know this is just virtual, this feeling is still very unpleasant." Ye Nan looked with disgust at his own soaked body, appearing somewhat disheveled.

Despite knowing this was a virtual world and that all sensations were fake, the inability to shake off the falsehood made Ye Nan somewhat irritable.

Compared to Sla's illusionary realm, this Matrix world was much more real; at least he could not rely on his own willpower to break free from this Matrix world.

"In the movie, Neo can exert power in this world through training. There must be some other trick to it." Ye Nan guessed secretly in his heart. Before understanding the Matrix world, he naturally knew nothing, but after understanding it, he realized that breaking through the rules of the Matrix world to stabilize some special power was a very difficult thing.

Because the Matrix world is not a purely mental world, it does not move according to your fantasies like a mental world; it leans more toward a traditional online game.

For example, when you play a game, every move of the character you control must follow the game's settings. The character will not perform a certain action just because you strongly want it to. The Matrix world is the same.

In the movie, Neo trained himself from a shut-in into a super-expert proficient in all kinds of combat, which is simply unreasonable. There must be some secret, something that allows him to exert the physical power of the real world within the Matrix world.

Creak, creak!

A car slowly drove over from the other end under the Adams Bridge. With a *pop*, the car door opened, and a head poked out.

"Get in."

After saying this, Cui Cui Nidi made room for two people.

"Get in." Ye Nan grabbed Neo and dragged him in. Just as they entered the car, they heard two *clicks*—a gun was aimed at Ye Nan, and a gun was aimed at Neo.

"What do you want to do?" Ye Nan's face darkened instantly. Although he knew Neo would encounter this, when the gun was actually pointed at him, he still felt unhappy.

This is the Matrix world. Although he didn't know what the consequences of dying in this world would be, Ye Nan didn't want to try.

"Just for self-protection." Cui Cui Nidi said.

"Who would hurt you?" Neo asked.

"The two of you." The blonde beauty in the front pointing the gun at Neo said, "One of you threatens us, and the other is cooperating with the black-suited agents."

"I didn't!" As soon as the blonde beauty finished speaking, Neo shouted.

"Stop the car." The blonde beauty said to the driver, then turned her head. "Listen, the police will be here soon. We are not in the mood to answer questions. Now we have one thing to say: are you going to walk your own path, or are you going to walk theirs?"

"Doing this will only be counterproductive." Ye Nan kindly reminded her. "Neo is a person with a very strong rebellious streak. Whatever you tell him to do, he will deliberately not do it. To be precise, they respond to soft tactics, not hard ones—of course, provided they don't know the stakes."

Neo, who had been preparing to get out of the car, stopped immediately upon hearing Ye Nan's words.

"Sure enough, it's like that, Neo." Ye Nan chuckled and continued: "Neo is your Savior. From the moment he was born, it was destined that he is the only one who can destroy the Matrix world and destroy the Matrix itself. If he dies, you must wait for the next cycle. Are you sure you have that much time?"

A cycle might be eighteen years, or it might be twenty-eight years. No one can accurately calculate this number. Perhaps before the next cycle arrives, all the rebels will have been purged by the Matrix. Therefore, they must seize the current Neo and strive to make him awaken, to become the leader who can lead the rebels—the Savior of humanity.

"Who exactly are you?" The blonde beauty turned and pointed her gun at Ye Nan. "Morpheus said you know a lot, so tell me, how much do you know?"

"I know more than you imagine. Many things you don't know, I know. Even your Prophet might not know as much as I do." Ye Nan spoke in riddles.

"Speak." The blonde beauty pulled the safety off the gun and aimed it at Ye Nan's head, her finger tightening on the trigger. As long as her hand trembled slightly, Ye Nan's head would bloom.

"Very good." Ye Nan laughed in anger. "You are the first person who has dared to pressure me like this. Very good, really very good. I hope you won't regret it."

"I won't regret it. Tell me, what exactly do you know?" The blonde beauty's eyes became even sharper, like a keen sword.

"I know Neo, I know this Matrix world, I even know the truth hidden behind this world, its past and its future." Ye Nan said through gritted teeth, swearing in his heart that once he got out, he would make these people pay.

"What is the past?" The blonde beauty asked.

"The Great Cataclysm of Earth, the departing Noah's Ark, the machine ruler Sister Tianwang, the mastermind behind the nuclear explosions, and everything else in the past—I know it all like the back of my hand." Ye Nan bluffed.

Ye Nan didn't know if this Earth was the former Earth, nor did he know if there had been a deviation during his transmission, but this didn't mean he couldn't substitute past events here. Anyway, the people here didn't know their past at all; what they knew was merely a sliver of information.

"Great Cataclysm? Noah's Ark? Sister Tianwang?" The blonde beauty murmured, her eyes becoming unfocused. "Tell me specifically."

"Before the Great Cataclysm came, some people sensed the end of the world, so they built Noah's Ark and left this planet before the end arrived. As for Sister Tianwang, it was an intelligent life form that controlled Earth's network. When the end arrived, it launched nuclear missiles and bombed the world. In fact, the Matrix you speak of is Sister Tianwang." Ye Nan wove a story based on the movie's background to demonstrate his omniscience.

"Sister Tianwang is the Matrix?" The three people in the car were shocked. They looked at each other, seeing the incredulity in each other's eyes.

"Tell me everything you know." The blonde beauty no longer pointed her gun at Ye Nan, but her tone remained unchanged.

"I can, but don't you think you should help Neo get the electronic bug out? I don't want to be killed by the Matrix's black-suited agents. In the Matrix world, no one can completely kill them except Neo."