ATFBETIBM Chapter 500

“Actually, there’s a way to determine whether you’re the real Li Cangshan or a clone of Li Cangshan,” Bai Lixin looked at the dazed Li Cangshan and proposed a plan.

Li Cangshan suddenly raised his head. “What plan?”

Bai Lixin glanced at Dijia beside him before slowly saying, “Actually, this isn’t the real world.”

He then explained to Li Cangshan about the previous virtual world and how they had left it.

After listening, Li Cangshan was stunned for a while, then gulped and asked, “So, what’s the method to determine if I’m the player Li Cangshan?”

Bai Lixin: “Wait until we find the firewall and pass through it. On the other side of the firewall, there might be the real world or another level of virtual world. If you’re just a clone derived from this world, you won’t have a physical body whether in the real world or the next virtual world. Theoretically, you shouldn’t be able to reach the next level. If you can pass through the firewall and wake up in the new world while retaining memories of this world, then you should be the player Li Cangshan.”

Li Cangshan felt like his mind was overloaded, trying to grasp the concepts of virtual worlds, reality, and another level of virtual world. After a while, he repeated in his own words, “So, you mean… there’s a real world outside, where the players’ bodies are in the Dark Steel City in reality. But part of the players’ consciousness entered the virtual world. If the player Li Cangshan is defined as A, then the clones, no matter how similar to A, are just A1, A2, A3, not the same individual as A. Only A can pass through the firewall and return to player Li Cangshan’s body.”

Bai Lixin confirmed, “Yes, that’s it.”

Li Cangshan’s eyes brightened. “That’s a great method! Then let’s hurry and find the firewall. Where is it?”

“In the ruins of the Dark Steel City. I’ve basically pinpointed its location. Now we just need to get there,” Bai Lixin replied.

“Great!” Li Cangshan immediately stood up, his face rekindling with determination. “What are we waiting for then? We should set off now!”

“Wait a moment,” Bai Lixin looked at Dijia. “You didn’t finish explaining. How did you, who initially only had consciousness, end up like this?”

He was curious about everything regarding Dijia, curious about what he had experienced here, curious about his past.

Dijia: “I started trying different ways to guide the newly born clones. I found that if I told them they were clones, they would quickly collapse, so I stopped telling them this truth later.”

“If I told them they were astronauts, these clones would instantly feel a mysterious sense of mission. They would protect everything on the spaceship, which also accelerated their determination and speed in eradicating space creatures, of course, accelerating their deaths as well.”

“If I told them they were prisoners, these clones wouldn’t develop a sense of mission. They preferred to live idly on the ship, but ultimately, it didn’t matter because of the genetic programming, they would still enter the warehouse area, just a bit later.”

“Later, I no longer tried to prevent them from entering the warehouse area but assisted them to attack the space creatures. And by continuously fighting with the space creatures, I obtained data on the space creatures. I analyzed the data from both sides billions of times, and no matter how I analyzed it, the probability of the clones winning was close to zero, unless new forces were injected.”

“So I started considering making a body. If I could physically enter the warehouse area, our chances of winning would be 30%. It took me a long time to create this body and upload all my consciousness into the central nervous processor of it.”

“The process was long and complex. During the process of making the body, to ensure the highest utilization of energy, I kept the spaceship at the lowest energy consumption before starting the consciousness transfer. But there was a small accident during the transfer, and I fell into a deep sleep.”

At this point, Dijia’s voice faltered, and his gaze fell on Bai Lixin’s face. “That sleep led me to enter the next level of virtual space.”

Bai Lixin: “And then?”

Dijia: “And then? I woke up and found that the remaining energy could only sustain the ship’s operation for three days, and I also learned about the passage of the solar flare fragments. So, I told a white lie and joined everyone in wiping out those space creatures.”

Bai Lixin: “That’s not what I want to know. I already know all of this. I want to know what happened in the next level of the virtual world. You didn’t tell me before maybe because you thought your surroundings were the real world. Now that you’ve come out of that world, you can tell me what happened there, right?”

But Dijia shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”

Bai Lixin’s temples tightened. “Not even me? You can’t tell me?”

Dijia: “…I’m sorry.”

Bai Lixin’s shoulders relaxed. “It’s okay. If you don’t want to say, then forget it. I won’t force you. I have another question. Now that two clones have died, will the next generation of clones appear?”

Dijia: “No, there’s a life detection system for clones in the cloning device. Only when all clones are detected dead will the device produce new clones.”

Li Cangshan: “Can’t the cloning equipment be turned off?”

Dijia: “It can be turned off. It wasn’t turned off before because the space creatures hadn’t been eliminated, so I didn’t bother with the cloning device, and the mode set by the first generation of humans was still running. Do you want to turn off the cloning device?”

Li Cangshan: “Then let’s turn it off. I don’t know how future humans in the Dark Steel City view clones, but they probably don’t regard clones as humans, right? If they truly accept clones as independent individuals, why would they impose jobs they don’t want to do on clones and implant codes into them randomly?”

Dijia’s eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed again after two seconds. “Okay, the cloning device has been shut down. From now on, there won’t be any new clones.”

“So fast?” Li Cangshan was somewhat surprised. “You just shut it off like that? Without any hesitation?”

Dijia: “The original purpose of making clones by the first generation of humans was to supervise the prisoners on the spaceship. Now that so much time has passed and almost all the prisoners are dead, the clones’ mission is basically complete, and there’s no meaning in continuing to make clones. The surviving clones can start new lives. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them the truth that they’re clones. They’ll just think they’re ordinary humans.”

“Although clones look no different from normal humans, there are still many drawbacks.”

“Their lifespan is short, only half of that of normal humans.”

“And as time goes on, hidden genetic diseases will gradually appear on them.”

Li Cangshan’s eyes flashed with disapproval. “Then why make clones at all? In our world, technology simply can’t compare to this planet. It’s not that the technology there can’t complete cloning technology, it’s just that we respect life and have legally banned cloning technology.”

Dijia paused slightly, his eyes flashing with sarcasm. “So that’s why this planet eventually met its doom.”

Li Cangshan was speechless.

Dijia: “When humans abandon their most important things and have a morbid obsession with scientific and technological exploration, it’s like a kite with a broken string. The kite feels like it has no restraints and flies to heights it has never reached before, thinking it can touch the edge of the universe, but it doesn’t realize that it’s getting closer and closer to destruction.”

“To make it perish, you must first drive it mad.”

Li Cangshan fell into thought.

——————————

In the live broadcast room.

[… It seems like I’ve just attended a class on ethics and morals from the big boss.]

[A very meaningful lesson, deeply moving.]

[To make it perish, you must first drive it mad. The humans of the ultra future constantly explore technology, even crossing the bounds of ethics and morals. With no restrictions, they do whatever they want, and the result is self-destruction. It’s so ironic, but so true. The future cyber era, where technology is so advanced, ended up destroying itself like this.]

[After destruction comes rebirth, right?]

[The planet is all rotten, what rebirth? Not everyone can start over after making mistakes.]

[So, it’s not that the faster technology develops, the better. We can’t blindly pursue development.]

[Sigh, it’s so sad, but a lesson to be learned!]

———————————-

An hour later, everyone left the spaceship wearing tight protective clothing.

Dijia didn’t land the spacecraft directly on the planet but let it hover above the planet.

The dozen or so people split up and flew three aircrafts away from the spaceship, heading towards the misty and lifeless Dark Steel City below.

Just by looking at the devastated wreckage, they could imagine how brutally the planet had been battered. A thick gray fog covered the surface of the planet. It was not water vapor, but dense smoke that had accumulated in the sky and on the ground.

When the aircrafts penetrated the gray fog, the visibility in front of them instantly dropped to within three meters.

Bai Lixin’s aircraft took the lead, and he drove it based on the rough location of the firewall provided by S419M. He only stopped when he couldn’t go any further and found a flat place to land.

The other two aircrafts behind followed closely behind and descended slowly.

As soon as the aircraft doors opened, a strong, pungent smell hit them.

Without any preparation, everyone could smell this unpleasant odor even through the protective shields.

“Ugh! What’s this smell?”

“Fuck, it almost made me vomit out my breakfast.”

“It’s like a biochemical weapon, so unbearable, its destructive power is too bug.”

“I probably won’t be able to eat for three days after I go back. I’ve never smelled such a terrible odor before.”

“This is still through a protective shield. If we take off the protective shield, wouldn’t we be smoked to death on the spot?”

The team members all looked pale and uncomfortable.

Even Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan, who usually remained calm, couldn’t help but furrow their brows. Only Dijia, who was made of steel, maintained his aloof poker face, unaffected by the odor.

———————————-

In the live broadcast room.

[I’m curious about what this gas smells like. Even God Xin can’t stand it. Just from their expressions, I can almost smell the stench through the screen.]

[This is a smelly live broadcast room.]

[Friendly reminder: The screen doesn’t transmit smells, so everyone can breathe normally.]

——————————

The dozen or so people endured the foul odor as they stumbled out of the aircrafts.

They were fully armed, carrying heavy weapons on their backs.

The wreckage was what stopped the aircrafts from moving forward.

S419M told Bai Lixin that the firewall was buried within this wreckage. Since the aircraft couldn’t enter, they had to walk in on foot.

Bai Lixin, Dijia and Li Cangshan had a clear goal: to find the firewall. However, the other people were just there to visit the ruins of the Dark Steel City.

Seeing Bai Lixin’s group heading into the wreckage, the others followed suit.

Metal debris was scattered everywhere. Bai Lixin could still recognize what they used to be based on their shapes.

Long arc-shaped pipelines with semi-transparent glass on top contained remnants of maglev aircraft.

These were probably passages suspended in the air for the maglev aircraft to fly through.

Next to the arc-shaped track was a slightly leveled metal panel with many small lights. This should have been a neon sign that once stood here.

The metal surface was pockmarked, looking quite weathered.

Beneath the scattered ruins, one could still vaguely see some robot debris and charred human bones.

The litter strewn on the ground indicated that this had once been a bustling city.

Disaster shows no discrimination.

Whether it’s a bustling metropolis or a leisurely suburb, both were turned into ruins.

As they walked, the team members kept their eyes on the ground, occasionally sighing and lamenting.

S419M: [Lord Host, there are ruins of a large building at your three o’clock direction. I detected that the firewall is inside the ruins of the building.]

Bai Lixin turned his body towards the three o’clock direction. After walking for a while, he saw a vague abandoned building in front of him.

The outline of the ruin was blurry, but one could vaguely see it leaning crookedly in the city. It hadn’t collapsed yet, but the surrounding walls had fallen off, supported only by exposed steel bars. The roof was long gone, and the building was cut off halfway, swaying as if it would collapse at any moment.

S419M: [This is it, Lord Host. Due to the complete destruction here, Sister System and I couldn’t obtain useful information from here. But I compared the map of the Dark Steel City obtained from the previous virtual world with this location and found that this place used to be the registration area of the Love District.]

Bai Lixin: [So, you’re saying the firewall you found now is in the same position as the one in the Love District?]

S419M: [The positions are close, but not exactly the same.]

Bai Lixin: [So this place was still the registration area of the Love District?]

‘After so many years, they are still playing the role of electronic matchmaker?’

S419M: [It doesn’t seem to be anymore. Judging from the remaining architectural structure here, it’s no longer a registration area.]

Bai Lixin nodded inwardly and entered the building ruin.

He didn’t even need to look for an entrance. The ruin had been so badly damaged that there were doors everywhere.

Inside, it was still a ruin, no different from the outside, except there were many different kinds of debris.

There were many square and flat frameworks scattered on the ground, resembling the support columns of disassembled boxes.

Several dark and tattered picture frames hung crookedly on the walls. Many of the things protected inside the photo frames were missing, but one thing remained.

Bai Lixin walked to the wall and scrutinized the cracked picture frame covered in spider webs.

Inside the frame was a photograph taken from space, depicting the Dark Steel City as its subject.

In this photo, the colors transformed the planet into a colorful and dreamy appearance. Three majestic black bronze statues stood solemn and dignified.

Bai Lixin carefully removed the picture from the frame, looked at it for a few seconds, then pocketed it.

He probably guessed what this building used to be. From the wreckage here, it was probably a museum or an exhibition hall.

S419M: [Lord Host, proceed forward in the two o’clock direction.]

Bai Lixin followed S419M’s prompt and continued forward. As he went deeper, the surrounding debris increased, and the path became more difficult.

The metal surfaces here were also pockmarked, looking as messy as leaves chewed by insects.

They carefully navigated through the garbage piles, their footsteps making crunching sounds.

Suddenly, an odd “crackling” sound of electricity rang out beside them. Everyone stopped in their tracks, looking cautiously towards the source of the sound.

Big Guy froze, his face tense as he lowered his head to stare at his feet.

Amidst everyone’s puzzled gazes, he slowly lifted his foot. The moment his foot lifted, a translucent t blue light shot up from beneath him, followed by a holographic projection of a woman wearing a surreal silver robe appeared in front of them.

The woman was smiling, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

“Zzzt zzzt…”

“Dear visitors, welcome to the Dark Steel City Exhibition Hall.”

“Here, we will showcase the magnificent moments of the Dark Steel City.”

The scene changed to an aerial view of the planet, similar to what Bai Lixin had seen in the photograph earlier.

The only difference was that while the photo showed the planet at night, the image now displayed it during the day.

“This is a planet filled with happiness.”

The woman’s voice, still accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity, continued as the image gradually moved forward.

“This planet has three guardian statues, symbolizing three virtues: Order, Love, and Fairness.”

“At one time, this place also faced the baptism of rebel forces. However, under the leadership of the mighty Dark Legion, the rebels were defeated, and the Dark Steel City returned to its state of happiness.”

The camera pierced through the clouds, and the once small city gradually enlarged.

As the image zoomed in, a city more technologically advanced than the previous virtual world appeared before Bai Lixin.

The sky was filled with flying vehicles, and the entire city was surrounded by a network of intersecting pipelines. Maglev trains and other vehicles traveled orderly through the pipes, while passengers in various clothes disembarked from the high-speed elevators upon reaching their destinations.

There were no ordinary cars on the ground anymore. Some people drove cylindrical vehicles, some rode two-wheeled maglev motorcycles, and others had installed two reverse maglev devices under their feet, allowing them to move directly above the ground.

On the screen, Bai Lixin saw people flying past one after another, their expressions calm, already accustomed to this sight.

With the assistance of technology, everyone had become superhuman.

The city was filled with robots, and surprisingly, there were fewer humans than robots.

“After the conspiracy of the rebel forces was annihilated, the Dark Steel City ushered in another era of development, all thanks to the great father of technology, Dr. Serkhi.”

The scene changed again, showing the face of a person.

The man appeared to be in his fifties, slightly chubby with a round belly, and a neatly trimmed beard.

He wore a white coat, with slightly darkened eye sockets, and he looked over with a serious face.

“It was Dr. Serkhi who popularized the technology that was once only available to the military into our daily lives. He has brought about revolutionary changes in our lives. Although Dr. Serkhi’s achievements are unmatched, he still works tirelessly, immersing himself in research every day, and striving to bring us more advanced technology.”

“In this exhibition hall, you will be able to see the past of the Dark Steel City, as well as the genius works of Dr. Serkhi.”

The crackling sound of electricity emanated from the screen, and the image began to distort and blur.

The woman’s voice became intermittent, with heavy interference.

“Zzztt—please—technology—create—”

“Wish you all—visit—zzztt—pleasant—”

The holographic projection suddenly shut down, turning into a blue light that drilled into the ground.

Bai Lixin lowered his head and noticed a small black metal object in the cracks between the stones on the ground. The holographic projection had emanated from here.

He picked up the black metal from the crevice and tried pressing it a few times, but it remained unresponsive, as if broken.

As a collector who valued everything, Bai Lixin turned and stuffed the seemingly unremarkable black metal into his pocket.