Chapter 255

Deep in the core of the heavily encrypted data, he found the "virus" left by his father—an extremely simple, even somewhat crude, bun icon with a smiley face.

"Activate it." Xu Jianhua's shattered data image floated beside him, a relieved smile on his face.

Xu Chen's virtual fingers clicked on that bun icon gently.

The virus program was released instantly.

Like ink dropping into water, silently, yet irresistibly, it spread toward the entire vast brain-domain lock network.

Reality.

All the server arrays in the control center, as if infected, flickered frantically simultaneously, and sharp alarm sounds echoed through the entire space, piercing the eardrums.

Zhou Weihong's projection began to collapse, large chunks of data code gushing out of his seven orifices uncontrollably, like black blood.

"You... you destroyed thirty years of hard work!" He let out a desperate roar, his voice twisting and deforming, "Zero Return... the Zero Return Project is humanity's only way out!"

Lin Yu grabbed Xu Chen and Xuanyuan Qing by the arms and dragged them toward the crack they had come from: "The system is collapsing! Run!"

The three stumbled toward the exit, behind them, server after server exploding continuously, sparks and fragments flying everywhere, the entire pure white space shaking violently, on the verge of disintegration.

Zhou Weihong's projection looked at Xu Chen one last time before it collapsed completely.

That gaze was complex and hard to understand, anger, unwillingness, despair... but finally settled into a near-liberated calm.

"Perhaps... this way... is correct..."

The projection dissipated completely, leaving only a light whisper that was drowned out by the deafening explosion.

The three scrambled out of the collapsing control center, finding themselves in an even larger underground dome space.

Above their heads was no longer cold metal, but a layer of thick transparent material, through which they could see the sky of Si Jiu City outside.

The ominous, huge energy vortex that had shrouded the city was dissipating bit by bit, and the sky was slowly recovering its original color.

"We... succeeded?" Xuanyuan Qing supported her knees, gasping violently, her face mixed with sweat and dust.

The burning pain of the receiver on Xu Chen's back finally disappeared completely, and the light of the patterns dimmed, leaving only faint traces on his skin. He felt an unprecedented sense of relief, as if he had unloaded a thousand-pound burden.

"At least, we messed up that old lunatic's plan."

Lin Yu stood up straight, vigilantly looking around. He pointed into the distance, to the center of the dome space, where a huge circular platform stood: "What is that?"

The platform was empty, with only a peculiar metal device about a person's height standing in the very center.

Its shape... was actually a donkey meat burger magnified countless times! The surface of the device was covered in complex and precise lines, flickering with faint light, and the core part was a layered structure similar to a steamer.

"That is... the true Zero Machine core?" Xuanyuan Qing's eyes widened, somewhat incredulous.

The three looked at each other and cautiously approached the platform.

When they were about ten meters away from the donkey meat burger-shaped core device, the device suddenly lit up without warning.

It wasn't the cold blue light from before, but a warm, orange light like a furnace fire.

In the center of the device, that layered "steamer" structure slowly opened with a slight "click" sound.

A cloud of steaming mist permeated from it, carrying a certain unique, incomparably familiar aroma of food.

Amidst the swirling steam, a blurry figure slowly appeared.

"Dad...?" Xu Chen's voice was trembling uncontrollably, and he shouted almost subconsciously.

The steam gradually dissipated.

The person's face was clearly presented to the three.

The right hand was indeed missing the knuckles of the ring and little fingers, wearing a grease-stained, washed-white chef's uniform, and in his hand... he was holding half a donkey meat burger he had just taken a bite of.

He looked up at Xu Chen, revealing a somewhat tired, yet incomparably real smile.

"Xiaochuan," Xu Jianhua opened his mouth, his voice carrying a trace of hoarseness, yet incomparably clear, "I'm back."

"Xiaochuan, the seventh layer of the steamer..."

Xu Jianhua's voice trembled in the mechanical reverberation, his body surrounded by data particles constantly drifting and reorganizing, outlining a constantly deforming silhouette. The steam gradually dissipated, presenting that face that had appeared in Xu Chen's dreams countless times to the three—the grease-stained chef's uniform, the knuckle-less right hand, and the face branded with heavy marks by time and experiments.

His form of existence was between a holographic projection and a physical entity, flickering with the flashing lights of the server arrays, sometimes solid, sometimes transparent.

"Dad?" Xu Chen stepped forward, his school uniform soaked with sweat. He stared at the half-eaten donkey meat burger, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

The data stream beside the steamer suddenly vibrated, Xu Jianhua's image flickered, and then his voice became mechanical and harsh.

"This is just a preset emergency program, Xiaochuan." Xu Jianhua's image continued on its own, without any sign of interaction, "If you activated this program, it means Zhou Weihong has already started the final stage of the Zero Return Project."

Lin Yu's tactical boots crunched over the mirror-like floor, the sound of metal friction echoing in the empty data hub. He approached cautiously, but always kept a three-meter distance from the image. His white hair stood on end without wind, dark gold energy faintly rising, trying to perceive the essence of this "Xu Jianhua."

The last silver bell fragment in Xuanyuan Qing's palm was scalding, the bronze surface faintly flickering with weak blue light. She slowly closed her eyes, feeling the emotional fluctuations around her.

"There is... almost no emotional fluctuation here," Xuanyuan Qing broke out in cold sweat, "It's like a vacuum zone that has been artificially cleaned."

Xu Jianhua's image lifted his knuckle-less right hand, pointing to the countless server arrays flickering with indicator lights all around.

"The truth of the Observer Project is here, Xiaochuan. The Zero Machine isn't just a machine—it's a neural network covering the entire Si Jiu City. Every donkey meat burger shop is a data collection point, and every steamer is connected to the memories and emotions of countless people."

The image paused for a moment, as if searching for a certain memory.

"I once thought... we were creating eternal life, but Zhou Weihong's ambition goes far beyond that. He doesn't just want to collect memories, he wants to replace them—using artificially constructed 'standardized emotions' to replace real emotions."

Lin Yu's Void energy suddenly fluctuated violently, his brows furrowed: "Is this why you opened shops all over Si Jiu City?"

Xu Jianhua's image did not respond to Lin Yu's question, but continued its preset narrative: "Zhou Weihong believes that the chaos in human society stems from the uncontrollability of emotions. He wants to establish an emotional regulation network controlled by the 'Observer,' and through the hidden signals transmitted by the donkey meat burger shops, gradually replace people's natural emotions."

The silver bell fragment in Xuanyuan Qing's hand suddenly vibrated, emitting a crisp sound of metal collision. She opened her eyes abruptly: "Xiaochuan, don't get any closer! This image is absorbing the emotional energy around it—"

Before the words were finished, Xu Jianhua's image suddenly twisted and deformed, blue data particles disintegrating and collapsing, then reorganizing at an astonishing speed, forming an eye symbol with a metallic texture—the logo of the "Observer."