Chapter 423

The warship slowly headed toward the depths of the underground, passing through one defensive line after another, descending at a steady speed.

"Because of certain reasons in the past, the programs of Skynet were modified, and then Melina Shilu separated from them, which is to say, Melina Shilu and Skynet have no intersection anymore," Ye Nan said on behalf of Melina Shilu.

He knew that Melina Shilu was unwilling to face the past; even when he asked Melina Shilu about past events, Melina Shilu would carefully avoid them, and even if she couldn't avoid them, she would use vague terms like "mechanical empire" and "intelligent life."

"What kind of reasons were those?" Jessica asked, getting to the bottom of it.

"This..." Ye Nan and Melina Shilu looked at each other, and suddenly he hugged Melina Shilu, "It's just like this."

Everyone present saw this scene and couldn't believe it. Their eyes widened, darting back and forth between Ye Nan and Melina Shilu.

A great demon king who destroyed the world fell in love with an ordinary human, and for the sake of her lover, she decided to give up destroying the world—ah, no, she decided to draw a line with her former self. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a melodramatic plot, but such a melodramatic plot was happening right in front of them, and they couldn't help but believe it.

Because no one could modify the database of the Matrix, and no one could control the Sentinels without tools, yet Melina Shilu had done it, which was enough to prove her identity.

"What a melodramatic plot."

It was Andy Lin who spoke. Having just woken up, he blurted it out.

Ye Nan looked over, and seeing it was Andy Lin, he waved his hands helplessly, "It is indeed a very melodramatic plot, but the even more melodramatic part is yet to come. That is, I have many girlfriends."

Ye Nan looked at Jessica provocatively and then laughed out loud. "Of course, they have all left this Earth. It will take some time to find them."

"Hmph." Jessica snorted coldly at Ye Nan, which counted as a response to his provocation.

Ye Nan continued, "Actually, I came back because I want to join you."

"Join us? Why?" Morpheus asked. "As Melina Shilu's boyfriend, you could live very well in this world without worrying about being hunted by Sentinels."

"Morpheus, you..."

"I know what you are thinking."

Morpheus waved his hand, interrupting what Jessica was about to say. "I know you want to say that with Melina Shilu, we could be safer, but I want to tell you that we don't need to rely on outsiders at all."

"Isn't Andy Lin also an outsider?" Jessica said faintly.

"He is not an outsider; he is our hope. I hope those things are not spread out," Morpheus said with a stern expression.

He knew Andy Lin was not the One, and his faith had already collapsed, but he understood that the news that Andy Lin was not the One must absolutely not be spread, because they needed a hope.

It had been unknown how many years; they had been hiding in the underground Zion, lingering on in a steadily worsening condition. The tribesmen had long since been unable to see the light. If it weren't for an idea in their hearts, a thought of the One, they would have probably collapsed long ago.

Yes, the theory of the One was not believed by many, but no matter whether they believed it or not, it was a hope after all. Many people didn't believe it in their mouths, but they often fantasized about the sudden appearance of the One leading them to overthrow the Matrix. This thought was not held by one or two people, but by many. It could be said that as long as the One was still there, they wouldn't despair; conversely, they would collapse into despair.

"If the rumors of the One were not true, then the people of Zion would be in a panic. I'm afraid they would collapse themselves before those Sentinels could kill them," Morpheus murmured. He said these words to himself, and also to the others.

"Don't worry, I said that although Andy Lin is not some One, he is a very special program. He is a specialized tool for killing those Agent Smiths," Ye Nan let out a strange laugh, "The Matrix simply can't do anything to him. On the contrary, he can destroy the Matrix. If you say he is the One, it's actually not wrong."

"However, the Zion world is also just a virtual world," Ye Nan thought to himself. Of course, he didn't say it out loud. In fact, he suspected that those people in Zion also knew, otherwise why would they be unwilling to believe in the existence of the One?

You know, things like the Oracle were always believable, and coupled with humanity's thirst for hope, they would naturally be willing to believe in the rumors of the One. However, those high-level officials didn't believe it, even when Andy Lin showed something special, they still didn't believe in the existence of the One, because they fundamentally knew that the Zion world was also a virtual world.

"Like Morpheus, clearly knowing that the One didn't exist, yet they were still willing to build Andy Lin into the One to give other companions a hope. Otherwise, the obvious flaws of the Sentinels—it's impossible they didn't know."

Unlike others, in Zion, there were many people who might have never seen a Sentinel in their lives, so they didn't know the truth, but the others...

Ye Nan scanned them and found that they were all lowering their heads, lost in thought about something.

"Could you come with me for a moment?" Morpheus greeted Ye Nan and walked to the other side.

"Hmm." Ye Nan agreed and followed.

Passing through the warship, walking to the other end of the warship, Morpheus stopped and asked faintly, "You knew it all."

"I knew it all," Ye Nan smiled faintly. He knew Morpheus was asking about the Zion virtual world, and guessing that the other party also knew the truth of the matter, he didn't need to put on an act.

"I hope you won't spread it," Morpheus turned around and looked at Ye Nan with a sincere expression, "Those people all carry a beautiful hope; I don't want to break this hope."

"Rest assured, I won't," Ye Nan knew what Morpheus meant and agreed immediately.

"Thank you." Morpheus bowed sincerely to Ye Nan. Morpheus quickly dodged out, but bumped into a stool on the side, knocking the stool over to the ground, and he himself had to take Morpheus's bow.

Melina Shilu, who heard the sound from behind, ran over quickly, and only after seeing that Ye Nan was fine did she let out a sigh of relief.

"You didn't have to do that at all," Ye Nan said with a bitter smile, then his expression turned serious, "Since I have accepted your bow, I have an obligation to give you a hint."

"Please remember, Andy Lin is a special program. Although he is not a human, he has feelings. I can see that he truly treats himself as a human. He can help you maintain the peace of Zion, and it is not impossible to even truly break these two virtual worlds."

Ye Nan remembered that the Architect of the Matrix couldn't do anything to Andy Lin, and even the mutated virus Smith couldn't do anything to Andy Lin. It could be said that Andy Lin was the most powerful program in the Matrix, no, it should be said, in the virtual world.

Morpheus heard this and fell into deep thought, not knowing what he was thinking in his heart. After about a quarter of an hour, he raised his head and revealed a smile, "I understand."

"As long as you understand," Ye Nan smiled as well, "Then do you have a machine here that can send me back to the Matrix?"

"The reason you said you wanted to join us was also to enter the Matrix," Morpheus more or less understood what Ye Nan wanted by doing so much, but a new doubt appeared, "I remember you were eager to leave the Matrix at that time."

"That was then, this is now. At that time, I thought the Zion world was the real world, but I didn't expect this world to also be a virtual world," Ye Nan shook his head, feeling ridiculous for his shallowness at that time. He only saw the surface of the problem, but didn't see the deeper parts, and was deceived by the movie.

"Reality is reality, not necessarily a movie. In the future, you must never treat a movie as reality," Ye Nan warned himself in his heart.

"Is there a way to leave the virtual world?" Morpheus suddenly asked, looking at Ye Nan's eyes, which were flickering with an inexplicable luster, "You appeared suddenly and have Melina Shilu as your girlfriend; you must know the way out, right?"

Morpheus's tone carried an intense expectation. His body trembled like a sieve being shaken by someone, and the inexplicable luster in his eyes completely transformed into hope.

Ye Nan looked away and said, "I don't know."

He only wanted to leave this virtual world now; as for the others, he hadn't considered them yet. He didn't plan to do the vague idea in his mind, at least not right now.

He didn't want to bear the responsibility at this time. Perhaps he would consider saving humanity only after he successfully got out.

"I see." Morpheus lowered his head, and the atmosphere was suddenly filled with a kind of sorrow.

"Ye Nan." Melina Shilu pulled Ye Nan, walked to the side, and whispered in Ye Nan's ear, "In the real world, humanity has already become extinct. If they can be saved, it will undoubtedly allow humanity to retain some sparks."

Ye Nan heard this and immediately fell into deep thought.

Although the Time Empire had already occupied the planet Pandora, it would undoubtedly take a lot of time to increase the population, and Zion had hundreds of thousands of humans. Assuming they were all saved by Ye Nan and became members of the Time Empire, it would be very beneficial for the development of the Time Empire.

And in the movie, Ye Nan also learned that most of the people in Zion were honest and kind citizens. These people would not be too resistant to the strong rule of others.

"Melina Shilu is right. Saving all the citizens of Zion is a good choice." Having made up his mind, Ye Nan walked back to Morpheus.

"I do know how to leave this virtual world and return to the real world."