Chapter 311: Devour

Finished speaking.

That "person", or rather the "engineer" who designed the enclosed virtual realm, sensed Hong Hou's threat and desperately tried to break free from the shackles.

But Hong Hou clearly held absolute advantage; the engineer and those agents met the same fate, turning into "green light sand grains" made of 0s and 1s, slipping from Hong Hou's left hand.

After only a few seconds, those "green light sand grains" completely dissipated.

Having eliminated the engineer, Hong Hou turned her gaze to the desk piled with countless folders, smoothly sat in the office chair, and began carrying out the final two items of her mission.

First, the "secure logout" for humans still being confined in the virtual realm.

But acting according to Hong Hou's logic, she is neither vague nor evasive; she uses metaphorical guidance and forces a choice between the red and blue pills.

She will use the permissions seized from the engineer to broadcast throughout the virtual realm the relationship between humans and machines, what the real world looks like, and spread the truth in a "brutal", swift manner.

Then, in batches and while ensuring the brain remains unharmed, she gradually liberates the humans.

However, when human consciousness leaves the virtual realm for reality, although the brain is intact, the bodies cannot cooperate properly, having never truly run or jumped since birth, so professional "personnel" are needed to tend to them.

Thus, while carrying out the first task, Hong Hou also needs to execute the second, which is equally crucial…

"Devour".

———————

…

Virtual realm world.

Evening.

Los Angeles East Novork District Police Station.

In the second‑floor lobby of the police station, many officers who had finished their shifts gathered, chatting and relaxing; among them was the young officer who had responded that morning to the Hong Hou incident, "Doubting Life", and was questioning the sergeant.

The officer sat on the communal sofa with a solemn expression, turned his head to stare pensively at the street outside the right‑hand floor‑to‑ceiling window.

Hong Hou's sudden disappearance, the agents turning into green light sand grains, and many small details of daily life all made him wonder what on earth had happened to this world.

Fake? "How could it be…"

The officer chuckled to himself, instantly discarding the possibility that "this world is fake", as it was too absurd.

Only moments ago he had let it go, and the floor‑to‑ceiling window had turned into a massive screen…

It just turned into a screen??!!

The officer, unable to believe it, stood up, rubbed his eyes to confirm they weren't blurred or impaired, and his colleagues, also noticing the anomaly, rushed over.

"Where's the window? I remember there was a window here! Who's playing a prank?!"

"This doesn't seem like a prank, Sergeant, I saw the window turn into a screen with my own eyes."

"Me too, Sergeant."

"How is that possible? Have your brains rusted?!"

"Look!" the young officer shouted, cutting through the noisy debate and instantly silencing the lobby.

At that moment the screen lit up, beginning to show the truth about the war between humans and machines, humanity's crushing defeat and confinement, and consciousness imprisoned in the virtual realm.

Watching the screen, the sergeant immediately chose denial, turned toward the open‑door office and shouted, "Cui Xi! Call the Technical Department to send someone over and deal with this screen!"

Then he scolded the officers present, "Don't let me catch who is pulling this boring prank!"

"…"

The young officer, unsure what to say, tried to explain to the stubborn‑like sergeant that no one could perform instantaneous teleportation or alter objects as a prank.

"Prepare yourselves…" At that moment, a dispassionate voice whispered in his ear, "You may soon feel pain, but you will also be reborn and attain true freedom."

New life?

Freedom?

Looking around, the young officer saw his colleagues equally puzzled, as if they had also heard the reminder.

Before he could ask, a wave of dizziness struck quickly, darkness flooded the surroundings, and then…

"Ugh!"

It was an unbearable suffocating sensation that made him struggle fiercely; his eyes regained sight, only to find a hazy view, with the surroundings enveloped in viscous liquid.

Even more terrifying, he vaguely saw and felt an extremely awkward "cable tube" inserted into his body and the back of his head.

Finally, the officer managed to sit up, his upper body freed from the slime, and he brushed away the residue clinging to his face, allowing him to observe the real world.

Boom! Boom!

Looking upward, the sky was a "charred" one, lit by flashes of lightning and thunder.

All around were the Gaosong Tower Pillars that cage humans, and he was inside an egg‑case in the lower level of a pillar.

He regained his composure.

The shock from the real world was set aside; what he found hardest to accept was whether his original parents, colleagues, and lover would be completely erased, never to meet again. At that moment, a bee‑shaped machine flew to his front, scanned him with its red‑glowing mechanical eye, and extended numerous slender tentacles.

Seeing this, the officer instinctively tried to resist, but his whole body was powerless, so he could only let the machine manipulate him.

After the machine helped the officer remove the various "cable tubes", it did not dump him as waste into the sewers nor dismember him; instead, it wrapped him with its tentacles, lifted him out of the egg‑case, and flew, traversing this caged pasture.

During this time, he also saw more awakened humans "enjoying" the same treatment, and many machines, as if already warned, directly carried infants and children away from the egg‑cases.

"Bee" carried him away from the pasture, soaring above the ruins of the city.

Here stood over a dozen large warehouses that the machines had hastily and rapidly constructed.

"Bee" guided the officer into a warehouse marked "Los Angeles 05".

He discovered it was multi‑leveled, each floor containing neatly arranged "recovery chambers" for the newly awakened to rest and recuperate.

Knowing that Los Angeles residents from the virtual realm gathered here, he was eager to break free and look for acquaintances, but his body would not allow it.

Leaving the viscous nutrient fluid caused his body to gradually waste away, fatigue surged, and he could not help but slip into a deep sleep.

Later, the "Bee" placed the officer in a recovery chamber to better adapt to the real world.

Leaving the warehouse.

Looking around, one can see endless sentries and massive engineering machines orderly clearing the rubble, as if preparing to rebuild the city.

And now, it is six hours after Hong Hou disposed of the engineers and completed the "devouring" action against the machine side.

———————

…

Kegeleer.

Metropolis District 09.

Local time: June 26, 2089, 02:14.

The docking area near the Space Gate.

Inside the upper cabin of the large transport ship, Hong Hou stood before the fixed desk, as usual reporting with a cold expression: "Chairman, I have now completely mastered all permissions; all machines will follow your instructions and assist the humans of that universe in rebuilding civilization."

Moreover, I have uploaded the data of the sky-shrouding nanoworms to the mother nest, facilitating the three-party joint team led by Dr. Wang Zhaofeng to conduct analytical research and lift the state of the sky continuously being scorched.

At the same time, the Eden military leaders, headed by Fei Mi Ni Ou Ka Er, have accepted and willingly cooperated with my reforms on Eden. According to the procedure I set up, the imprisoned humans are expected to awaken within seventy-two hours, completely freeing themselves from the virtual realm.

"Hmm..." Sui Bian, seated in the office chair, nodded in response.

Actually, six hours ago, the system reminded him in his mind, "delivered" 72,000 points, directly proving that the humans on the other side of the Space Gate had been liberated and the machine threat eliminated.

Hong Hou's seizure of authority was within Sui Bian's expectations; after all, this secretary of his had, ninety years ago, casually dealt with the embryonic stage of the Heavenly Net.

Furthermore, through Umbrella's constant updates and her own autonomous evolution, Hong Hou easily disposed of the rebel machines.

He also learned that Earth's "history" from the data copied by Hong Hou.

Overall, it resembles The Matrix, but there is no segment where the machines seek "equality" or "mutual aid".

2042.

On the machine side, they gradually "awakened", and some service-type machines began to feel "dissatisfied" and "resentful" about serving the humans who purchased them.

On April 14 of the same year, a young man named Jia Fu Li Pu Lin Xi living in Brooklyn, New York, was killed by the domestic-type machine he had just purchased.

July 28.

Governments worldwide began forcibly scrapping different industries and types of machines.

Early August.

Companies and enterprises selling and researching machines successively united, secretly organizing and inciting anti-government individuals worldwide to spark riots, causing major cities to grind to a halt, the economy to slump, using this extreme method to pressure the government.

August 13.

The already "awakened" machines took advantage of the turmoil and civil unrest among humans to launch a surprise attack, also using network intrusions to paralyze most military facilities, then blamed these actions on various national governments.

August 16.

A full-scale melee erupted between humans and humans, and between humans and machines.

2044.

Governments worldwide realized that machines were rapidly rising beyond human control, and the war between humans ceased.

But the balance had already tipped toward the machine side.

2045.

Humans implemented the infamous "Extinguish Sun" plan, dispersing nanomachines into the sky to block the sunlight that machines relied on, eliminating solar power.

Ironically, the nanomachines themselves could receive ample sunlight, continuously releasing electromagnetic pulses, preventing machines from gaining air superiority during the war.

Of course, humans thus lost most of their aerial support, which is truly...

"Brainless" action.

But Sui Bian, who understood human nature, knew that at that time humanity was on the brink of defeat, with top officials hysterical and on the verge of collapse, which is why they chose to fight with their backs to the wall.

Finally, the time came to November 11, 2046; humanity was defeated, and machines became the masters of Earth.

September 1, 2047, the first virtual realm went online.

Subsequently, humanity was reduced to livestock raised by machines, used to assist in evolution and creation.

As of today.

The true time on the other side of the Space Gate is January 2, 2656, which noticeably deviates from the time calculated by the Edenites, because prior to this, there had been three iterations of Eden.

Ou Ka Er, Wei Ke Duo, etc., constitute the "fourth iteration".

As Sui Bian had foreseen, or as Angelong had speculated, the machine side would gather humans who escaped the virtual realm into Eden, and every 150 years would muster a number of machines equal to the Edenite population to launch an attack.

Each time, this results in Eden's downfall.

After all, even at humanity's peak they could not prevail, let alone Eden, which is merely part of the livestock system.

Thus repeated, until the 149th year of this fourth iteration, when the Space Gate opened to "release" Umbrella, Eden finally broke free from the endless cycle.

At this moment.

Sui Bian no longer pondered, and ordered Hong Hou and Bai Hou: "Assist the company in digesting the copied data and technology; those machine units, if deployed militarily, have too many flaws, but they can be used in construction and manufacturing, which should greatly improve current efficiency."

"Yes (good), Chairman." The two secretaries replied in unison.

After finishing the technology side, Sui Bian continued to order: "Let us call this Space Gate and the universe beyond it 'Zero One'."

Also, please inform Angelong that the Zero One universe will be incorporated into the Musang Star Region's jurisdiction; to avoid attracting the attention of alternate spaces, large-scale relocation must not be undertaken, and moreover, Zero One Earth needs reconstruction, which will be a lengthy process.

Since everything is starting anew, there is no need to conceal anything politically; we will directly adopt UEG's parliamentary system under the name Umbrella.

Speaking, Sui Bian glanced at Hong Hou and Bai Hou and instructed: "During this period, trouble you to control the existing machines, carry out the program to rebuild Zero One Earth, then select suitable personnel from within the company to be stationed in Zero One Earth, and further assist Angelong in completing the preliminary work, after all, as a star region governor, one cannot remain long in another universe."

"Okay." Bai Hou nodded in agreement.

"Please rest assured, Chairman." On the contrary, Hong Hou gave a response other than "yes".

"..."

Noticing this, Sui Bian merely glanced at the other party with his eyes, without exposing it or saying anything.

?

Bai Hou, however, slightly tilted her head.

Actually Sui Bian knew that the Red Queen, which "in one gulp" consumed the machine collective that had accumulated hundreds of years of knowledge and technology, naturally completed its evolution instantly.

Not long after, the White Queen, which shares information, will also evolve due to her "sister's" evolution, and her efficiency in handling all matters will absolutely far surpass before.

Resolving the Zero One Universe Incident counts as a covert "upgrade" for the two of them.

And at this moment.

Far away, in the Metropolis 08 District, dozens of li out.

The Umbrella General Hospital in the central district.

Sixth floor.

In a single occupancy ward.

"Eh..." Tangmu, lying on the hospital bed, opened his eyes and slowly came to.

!! Seeing this, his parents and relatives jumped up and gathered beside the bed to ask how he felt.

But Tangmu only remembered going to an internet cafe before falling into unconsciousness; he never expected to suddenly encounter an "earthquake," and then he had a dream.

In the dream, he was a mecha pilot, fighting to the death against rebellious machines for humanity; ultimately, due to ammunition exhaustion, he was captured by the machines, and the machines violently tore him apart, his limbs and mecha parts breaking off together…

That feeling of mortal despair and heart-wrenching pain was utterly real.

Fortunately…

That was just a dream.

———————

…

"Director Miller, the intelligence officer who covertly infiltrated the Ashis Mine, has abnormal physical condition; all nanobots almost simultaneously lost connection."

Inside the command center of a colonial intelligence department, a staff member's report echoed.

(End of chapter)