Chapter 997: Pretense and Fact

"Meme Dream Figure (Damaged)"

"Meme Rank: Nightmare"

"Meme Effect: After use, automatically selects the strongest believer within ten meters to infect. After infection, the target will gradually fall into deep thought, searching for the deepest desire illusion. Infection duration: 10 seconds. If not interrupted midway, the target transforms into a half-meme state and gains corresponding enhancement according to the illusion."

"Note 1: In this state, the target will lose reason but gain corresponding strength enhancement."

"Note 2: Maintaining the half-meme state consumes the user's mental power or spiritual energy; when energy is exhausted, the meme state ends automatically."

"Inside the cabin, Lin An held Mo Ling in one hand and played with an astronaut figure covered in cracks in the other hand."

"He examined it closely."

"The figure, full of cracks, looked like a toy broken by a child."

"Compared to the meme doll, the Dream Meme is more powerful and higher-ranked, but because Chu An's method of cracking it was too rough, the meme has been damaged considerably. Compared to the effects Lin An has seen before, the information given by the system shows that this prop is obviously no longer very useful."

"For self-use... for enemy-use..."

"Lin An frowned slightly."

"If used on oneself, it can only serve as a last-ditch trump card."

"Although the Dream Meme is damaged, it actually gained an extra condition: it ends automatically after energy consumption, avoiding the cost of being unable to revert; however, this likewise limits its duration and enhancement effect."

"The original Dream Meme could perversely split into hundreds of copies of oneself..."

"In extreme situations, he could use it on himself and then split into a group of Lin Ans..."

"Of course, the cost is indiscriminate between friend and foe, and Lin An seriously doubts whether, after using it too much, his memory fragments will become a third or fourth will..."

"After weighing the pros and cons, Lin An couldn't help but start thinking."

"Splitting oneself to fight—what should this move be called?"

"Summon the Lin An legion? Heavenly Demon 'Disintegration'? Myriad Transformations Avatar?"

"Thinking of this, Lin An suddenly burst into a helpless laugh."

"However..."

"If used on enemies, perhaps it's more of a control effect?"

"For example, forcibly catalyzing a monster among the enemies to make them fight each other? But the fear is that, under meme catalysis, the target's power surges, making it even more troublesome."

"Shaking his head, Lin An pondered for a moment, then tossed the Dream Meme into his ring, and thought no more about it."

"This thing is just like the meme doll—both are trump cards usable only in special situations; in ordinary battles, they're basically useless."

"After glancing at the still-sleeping Mo Ling, Lin An let out a quiet sigh and couldn't help but pinch Mo Ling's little cheek."

"The touch was soft and tender, as if it could be broken by a breath."

"After the ghost infant was gone, Mo Ling's face had much more color, as if nurturing vitality. I don't know how Little Mo Ling's abilities will change upon waking."

"However."

"Hmm... maybe it's no longer small."

"If one said the previous Mo Ling looked like a little child, a cold, tsundere loli, with an aura that kept strangers away."

"Now, however, she seems to have grown considerably, bearing the air of a wealthy young lady."

"Her fine eyelashes trembled slightly, her features were exquisite, and her thin lips were mouth-watering."

"Her head had also grown considerably; the Mo Ling that used to hang on his body might no longer be able to do so."

"Her figure was no longer as ordinary as before; looking at it, or rather feeling it,"

"Lin An could clearly feel two soft little bunnies pressed tightly against him, bringing a warmth."

"Shaking his head, Lin An gently moved Mo Ling's little head off his knee a bit, then turned his focus to the mission information."

"If I remember correctly, this meme mission comes with a reward."

"\"Check Mission. \""

"With a thought, a transparent panel instantly appeared before his eyes:"

"\"Dream Meme: Completed\""

"\"Current reward: randomly draw an unranked special skill. \""

"Unranked special skill?"

"Not having examined it closely, just as Lin An was about to click the draw option, the second will that had previously disappeared suddenly popped up as well:"

"(\"I still have one draw here; after I draw, I'll tell you what it is. \")"

"Huh?"

"Lin An's ears perked up at the sound; with so much to think about, he almost forgot that the second will had also received a mission."

"At the same time, a flash of unnaturalness crossed Lin An's eyes."

"He realized it, realizing where in his heart he had always felt something was off."

"Second Will, how could it have received a system mission!?"

"As if seeing Lin An's surprise, the Second Will fell silent for a moment, then replied calmly:"

"(\"No need to think too much. \")"

"(\"After coming out of the Secret Realm, when you reset your level and system data, I inherited your original system panel. \")"

"(\"In the system's judgment, I am the original Lin An, and you are the new Lin An. \")"

"Just a few short words instantly stirred up stormy waves in Lin An's heart."

"His information was inherited by the Second Will!?"

"Moreover, judging by the Second Will's words and demeanor, if this hadn't happened, and if Lin An hadn't noticed this anomaly, the Second Will would likely have kept it hidden forever!"

"As for the information Lin An originally registered in the system, he knows... what exactly that means."

"Damn it!"

"Punishment mission, system attention!"

In an instant, Lin An immediately realized the true reason for the sudden surge in difficulty of this Meme.

A single mission was triggered by two players.

One is himself, the world's strongest combat power; the other is his former self, deemed an erroneous existence by the system.

With such a lineup, if the system doesn't play him to death, something's wrong!

His gaze turned icy, Lin An coldly stared at the Second Will.

All of his previous speculations had now connected at this moment.

Faced with Lin An's icy gaze, the Second Will merely returned a calm look and frankly admitted:

("That's right, I tampered with it.")

("Your speculation is correct.")

("Besides, you don't need to worry too much; as long as I don't come out, unlike this time when I appear when the system releases a mission, the system will default to me not being present.")

("You can treat this as if it never happened.")

Having said that, the Second Will, too lazy to conceal anything, gave a light chuckle and gradually faded into the Thought Space.

Things have come to this; there's nothing left to hide.

He indeed intended to keep the original system data, using the system's hand to kill Lin An, or perhaps to be reborn with the original information!

His perspective on the problem differs from Lin An's.

Lin An never thought the Doomsday System was important, but for him, if he wanted to go independent and survive in this apocalypse,

He must inherit everything Lin An has, or at the very least possess the Doomsday System.

Otherwise, no matter how smart he is or how strong his combat skills...

Without enhanced strength, with merely human power, he likely couldn't even defeat a First‑Level Mutant; even factoring in the power of the gene lock, without spiritual energy support, at best he'd reach Second Level.

Originally, after secretly retaining Lin An's former system data, he planned to keep it hidden and lay low‑key arrangements.

But after all his calculations, he never expected the system to also judge him as part of the mission; otherwise, he wouldn't need to reveal this fact.

All that can be said is that his familiarity with the system is too low, after all, there is no system in the simulation.

Inside the hovering warship, Yun Tian glanced uneasily at the silent Lin An seated.

For some reason, he felt that this silence carried a heavy sense of oppression.

"Brother Lin?"

He asked softly.

After a second, Lin An gave a slight nod, and that suffocating sense of oppression gradually faded.

"I'm fine."

He replied calmly.

Lin An subconsciously glanced at the faint light slowly rising outside the window, his eyes filled with an inexplicable meaning.

The Second Will never gave up the intention to devour him from start to finish; all its words, including this period's friendly attitude, were merely to let him lower his guard.

What merely wanted to survive, appearing only when he was in danger...

All emotions are a facade, all displays are illusions!

If nothing unexpected happens, Chu An should have also noticed this, likely realizing it at the instant the Meme's difficulty surged.

Chu An had been in contact with the Meme before the apocalypse, so he could naturally judge its specific difficulty.

Then, in the situation of difficulty surging, he could easily infer that an external force had intervened in the mission; after a series of deductions, he could naturally deduce what the Second Will had done.

Therefore, his speculation was correct.

Chu An, in deterring the Second Will from acting rashly.

After a moment, Lin An withdrew his gaze and suppressed the various thoughts in his heart.

Overthinking is useless; all that can be said is that he still underestimated the Second Will.

How could a being truly crawled out of hell possess any humanity or kindness?

"Draw reward."

A few seconds later, following Lin An's command, a familiar roulette wheel slowly appeared on the light screen.

"Beep, begin drawing rank‑less reward..."

The needle spun rapidly, sweeping over various icons.

After a brief wait, the needle steadied on a small figure emanating a blue glow.

"Beep, obtained rank‑less special skill: 【Will Compression】."