Chapter 2005: Mantis Capturing Cicada 1

"If you're still going to say the same things next, then there's no need to keep talking."

"That seemingly logical but flawed reasoning—I don't think the so-called ultimate would be this crude!"

"Bang!"

"Before Andre could even react, Lin An sprang to his feet, his icy gaze fixed on the portal above."

"He admitted that Andre's points had some merit; each logic was interconnected and self-verifying. But it was too rough, and these theories allowed too many interpretations!"

"Rather than calling it the truth, it's more like a madman's raving!"

"Especially..."

"Lin An clearly felt Andre was stalling for time! Andre might actually know something, but he deliberately beat around the bush, refusing to speak!"

"You're angry? Do you think I'm messing with you?"

"Seeing Lin An want to end the conversation, Andre flashed a strange look in his eyes, yet remained indifferent."

"He merely shrugged, spread his hands, and said with a smile:"

"Lin An, what are you angry about? Angry that I'm wrong? Even if I'm wrong, couldn't these things enlighten you? Would they harm you?"

"Of course, I can understand your feelings. People instinctively resist anything that contradicts their cognition. It's a protective program encoded in our genes—or rather, a shackle."

"Have you said enough?"

"Are you still going to say that humans are like machines, stamped with a mark at birth? The proof is the fear etched deep in our genes?"

"Brain marrow hell? Are some cognitions and limits innate?"

"For the first time interrupting Andre's words, Lin An's gaze swiftly swept over the surrounding void darkness."

"This conversation has lasted until now, and he has vaguely guessed what Andre is actually up to!"

"This isn't the original appearance of Ghost Skull, is it? Since entering the mission, I've been wondering why everything here feels so familiar. At first I thought it was the familiarity from a restart, but now it seems this place is none other than that city in the trial of will!"

"You're fabricating logic using my most familiar memories?"

"Constantly awakening my memory, constantly letting myself verify..."

"No longer pondering whether Andre's logic was correct, at this very moment Lin An actually felt he had grasped that fleeting thought that had flashed by earlier!"

"In less than a second, Lin An's expression changed drastically—he realized he now knew what Andre was up to!"

"Ghost Skull... Meme... cognition... invoking thought... reshaping the scene...!"

"If a large amount of information in the Ghost Skull mission was hidden by Andre, there is something that cannot be hidden, yet it still hasn't appeared!"

"(Meme! Where are the characteristics of the Meme!?)"

"(The difficulty of previous missions mostly focused on paranormal traits; although there were also Meme-like traits, they were too weak! No one got infected, and the only one who died from a cognitive error was Andre himself!)"

"Memories flashed forth one after another; Lin An's pupils contracted sharply, and the next second he lunged straight for the light gate without hesitation!"

"Damn it! He knows it! There's no ultimate answer here at all—Andre is just using this question to lure him into staying!"

"Andre can't kill him! So he can only invade his thoughts by contaminating his cognition!"

"As long as he accepts any piece of logic, a gap will appear in his mental defenses!"

"However, contrary to Lin An's expectations, Andre at this moment seemed utterly indifferent to his having discovered the problem, showing no intention to stop him at all."

"Lin An, you're indeed smart, but you guessed wrong on one point: I haven't been contaminating your cognition; there really is an answer here."

"I've gone round and round saying all this not to stall for time, nor to harm you..."

"I just want...."

"To test where the system's bottom line actually is?"

"The sound behind him flickered near and far; Lin An's body jolted, and his steps toward the exit stiffened to a halt."

"He wasn't held back by Andre's words; the light gate had simply vanished!"

"The light gate automatically generated by the system has disappeared!"

"(Why... why did it disappear!?)"

"Before Lin An could turn his head in shock, the next second Andre's voice echoed throughout the whole world."

"Lin An, quite unexpected, huh?"

"The light gate disappeared because the mission never actually ended."

"If it were before the mutation, the mission would indeed have ended; unfortunately, the final mission is to kill me."

"In an instant, the scene shifted like a curtain being dropped; a head enormous enough to be the size of a whole city instantly filled Lin An's entire field of vision."

"Looking at the head beneath his feet, Lin An finally realized why Andre had deliberately restricted their view of the city's full layout!"

"The giant mouth opened and closed; the head hanging in the void was like an indescribable supreme being!"

"Within the eyeball spanning kilometers, Andre seemed to be savoring Lin An's shock, speaking with pity:"

"Lin An, have you ever wondered why I wanted you to leave with the corpses?"

"The answer is simple: there truly exists an ultimate capable of opposing the system here, but the system has trapped me here, forbidding me from taking my cognition out."

"That bear actually guessed right—your bodies are like USB drives, capable of storing information."

"I originally wanted to disperse Ghost Skull's cognition among each person, to evade the system's judgment."

"I didn't want to offend the supreme being behind you; in the original plan, I even considered that, even if the plan went wrong, that being could step in to save you, increasing the odds of success."

"The voice paused; Andre, looking down at Lin An frozen in place like an ant, sighed:"

"Too bad, you're too vigilant—you've sensed my presence."

"Then... I can only gamble everything..."

"Beep! Phase three mission has commenced! Please immediately eliminate the Ghost Skull mutant!"

"Mission time limit: 180 seconds!!"

"Lin An, Ghost Skull isn't a second head; rather, knowing it makes you become Ghost Skull."

"I actually don't want you to become Ghost Skull, but just in case, I have no choice but to do this."

"Don't worry, I will carry your body... and live on well..."

179!

178!

As the countdown sounded, Lin An felt an invisible force pressing him down firmly before the ghost skull. Like a possession, a head the size of a city kept approaching him.

Strands of black mist mixed with sound frenziedly drilled into his mouth and nose, instantly rushing into his consciousness!

"Lin An... give up resistance..."

"Even if you restart, you don't have time to escape..."

"You don't want to end the Apocalypse? Leave it to me... We'll become one, I am the only Awakened One!"

"Get... out...!!"

His face twisted, as if heaven and man were at war. Watching the constant struggle, Lin An would rather crush his own brain than be possessed.

Andre, now a ghost skull, couldn't help but his gaze grew icier.

"Lin An, even if you survive and leave, it's meaningless; only I can oppose the Apocalypse."

"You really think you have free will? You're just a pitiful worm who knows nothing..."

"Do you know? Humans in this world go mad because they glimpsed the truth, and I am the sole existence that has broken the shackles!"

"Id, ego, super-ego!"

"Think carefully! If our actions precede consciousness, what exactly is consciousness? Everything we do is unrelated to consciousness, and to survive we only need biological instinct!"

"If we truly had consciousness, why would there be an inner monologue when we think? People only dialogue when speaking to others!"

"So! Who are we talking to? Who is the voice in our hearts!?"

"The so-called consciousness is merely us explaining why we do something—like when you instinctively pick up a cup of water and drink it, your so-called consciousness is just a hindsight explanation for why you drank water!"

"Take a madman as an example! A madman can't explain what he's doing; a lunatic executioner who can calmly give a reason for killing wouldn't be considered mad!"

Thus we can reverse-engineer it.

Why does our consciousness need to explain what we're doing? And who is it explaining to?

Andre's voice suddenly paused, and Lin An's resistance stopped as well. It was like a bolt from the blue, freezing Lin An's thoughts.

The next second, seeing Lin An stunned just as he himself was, Andre spoke coldly, word by word:

"Have you played a game, Lin An?"

"In the game, each NPC has a line of text above its head. That is their inner monologue."

"And this is what is called consciousness. After all, if the text above an NPC's head were meaningless gibberish, players would find it annoying."

"Heh.."

"Do you really think the 'Player Lin An' mentioned by the system refers to you?"

With a "crack", it was like glass shattering.

Andre looked pityingly at Lin An, who had learned the truth; in his eyes, the inner monologue above Lin An's head was already an empty void.

He wasn't surprised by Lin An's reaction, after all no one can accept being merely an NPC—a self-conscious being that sees nothing, just a walking corpse arranged by 'fate'.

He could awaken and realize this because of his ability as a Mind Controller. Of course, perhaps it's also because he himself was manufactured.

Even before coming into contact with the ghost skull, he had repeatedly asked himself, 'Who am I?'

Everyone's thoughts appeared before him like speech bubbles, as if he were in a game, and only he was alive.

"Lin An, I know this is hard to accept. But the truth is indeed so."

"The origin of humanity is merely a machine bearing the super-ego consciousness; when the player has not descended, we are automatic operating vessels. Perhaps every race is like this, just as the character selection screen in a game, different races are different classes."

"In ancient times, humanity had only the id, like animals. We had no eyes, living in a dazed, beast-like manner."

"Until one day, the player descended, and to conveniently observe this world, they gave us eyes. Although we lack true consciousness, each time the player descends, the vessel retains a fragment of cognition, which remains like a database. This is why we fear 'humanity'."

"Players would not regard us as their kind; in the earliest games, some descending players delighted in slaughtering us, so this fear was deeply etched into our genes."

"Of course, some players were passionate about building civilization, playing gods, leaving technology and legends; and perhaps out of pity or boredom, they left the information that gods created the world and created humanity."

"Later, players perhaps became fewer and fewer, and our knowledge of them grew hazy; this information evolved into myths."

"But some things deep in our bones still exist."

"For example, we always feel lost about who we are, where we come from, where we're going, and why we exist—if we already exist, how could we have such questions?"

With a sigh of unknown meaning, Andre unconsciously looked up at the void above his head, intending only to completely possess Lin An.

"To be honest, I actually really want to fight side by side with you. After all, even if you haven't awakened, in the setting you are necessarily an important role. Your template is the strongest existence I have ever seen."

No need to despair, no need to suffer.

"Even if we are NPCs, NPCs have their own advantages. You know? Lin An... after I break free of the shackles and reorganize my consciousness, I can already see how this world operates."

"Like an endless data flood, I believe that with my ability combined with your body, we will surely be able to end this Apocalypse!"

As he spoke, a smile appeared on Andre's enormous skull.

Although he couldn't yet modify much, he was like a mouse in the code, believing that as long as he could get out, he would surely be able to steal more 'origin'!

"Rest in peace.. Lin An."

"Perhaps NPCs also have Perfect Ones; each of us trapped in painful cycles in this game will eventually gather a will to resist. And your existence may be what brought us into being!"

"A true Perfect One capable of resisting the system!"

"Your mission is already complete; next, it will be handed over to...!"

"Me."

Andre stared in shock, his huge face instantly filling with astonishment.

The reason was simple.

That final word wasn't even spoken by him!

"Who!? Who are you!?"

Andre lost his voice in surprise, no wonder he was so startled— in his eyes, Lin An, who had originally been twisted by the Meme, now wore a calm expression, even looking at him mockingly.

The emotion mixed in that gaze seemed helpless, yet he was extremely interested in him!

"Who am I?"

"Mm.."

"You can call me..."

Lin An frowned slightly, then after a moment let out a light laugh:

"Lin An."

"The true Lin An."

His words fell.

In an instant, Andre felt a brutally extreme will burst from Lin An's body like a pure mental entity, gulping him down like a snake swallowing an elephant!

"To be honest... you're really annoying..."

"Game? No self-awareness? Ultimate?"

"Only you would take such stupid logic seriously!"

"Boom!!!"

A sneer of extreme contempt, the Second Will seemed to instantly break through the "system" limit, like a galaxy's mental power surging violently and suddenly smashing the ghostly face!

"You think this level of cognition can contaminate me?"

"You dare?!"

"I've died more times than you've done * anything!"

"Bang!!!"

Black mist exploded across the sky like black blood, before Andre could cry out, the Second Will coldly smirked, pointed a single finger at his own brow, and sent ineffable consciousness shocks rushing back into the ghostly skull.

As if using his own method against him.

After Andre recondensed himself, he suddenly locked eyes with a pair of pitch-black eyes.

"Andre, have you ever considered that you're actually an idiot?"

"You haven't found the so-called ultimate, nor broken free of your shackles. You're just an idiot stuck in the mission."