In the Battle Artifact Space.
Lu Wu and Bei Li were looking at Number One who was tied up in mid-air, checking on his physical condition.
[Kui Di (Experimental Body)]:
Character Details: A modified human from the Jie De Corporation's underground technological laboratory. His body has been cleansed by spiritual energy and he has gained extraordinary strength. His serial number in the organization is Number One.
Character Status: Brainwashed, unconscious
"I didn't expect the Jie De Corporation to be researching and developing the use of spiritual energy," Bei Li was surprised as she looked at Number One.
"Can they succeed?" Lu Wu asked curiously.
"It's impossible. The spiritual energy in the world is already thin. I guess they must have found a way to cultivate from some ancient documents. They extracted the thin spiritual energy from the experiments and injected it into Number One's body. Then, they used the experimental equipment to forcefully circulate it in his body, which resulted in the change in his physical condition. All in all, it's a forced cultivation with the help of the equipment. This kind of cultivation will definitely damage his foundation. Even if he gains great strength, it will only be temporary and he won't live for long."
Lu Wu nodded as he understood the theory.
However, the fact that the Jie De Corporation had modified humans and an underground laboratory was beyond his expectations.
Lu Wu frowned as he recalled the representative from the Jie De Corporation saying that he was "still too young" over the phone.
"Little Li, help me modify my phone too. Now that my phone is not encrypted, they can locate me through my location. Although I'm not afraid of them, it will be troublesome!"
Bei Li nodded, "Oh yeah, should we return them a big gift?"
"What big gift?"
Bei Li pointed at Number One, "If they can modify him, so can I. Moreover, with the artifact, it will be easy to brainwash him again. When the time comes, I'll send the strengthened version of Number One back to them!"
Lu Wu's face broke into a smile and he nodded.
Bei Li was the best when it came to research and development. She was a magical loli who believed in science in the cultivation world.
…
Dragon Nation, in a villa in Qiyun City.
The alarm woke up Yin Xiaoqi, who was sleeping soundly on the bed with her arms and legs spread out.
She bent over and stood up, looking around in confusion. She then stared at the alarm clock that was still "screaming".
After a few seconds of silence, Yin Xiaoqi, who had recovered a little, slowly pressed the alarm clock, then fell back onto the bed and slept soundly.
"Yin Xiaoqi, get up!" As the mechanical voice sounded, the bed suddenly began to shake.
"Xiao Guai, let me sleep for another five minutes. Just five minutes!" Yin Xiaoqi closed her eyes and hugged the quilt. Her body swayed with the bed skillfully.
"The second step of the awakening process has been initiated. All of your devices will self-destruct in five minutes. The countdown begins now …"
Hearing that she was going to self-destruct, Yin Xiaoqi, who had a lazy expression on her face and was about to continue sleeping, suddenly opened her eyes wide and quickly jumped up from the bed.
"Xiao Guai, let's talk this out. Don't blow yourself up so easily!"
At this time, a blue flying box slowly floated above Yin Xiaoqi. An angry expression appeared on the screen.
"Hurry up and start your decryption plan. This is the rule you set yourself. You can't go back on it!"
When Yin Xiaoqi heard this, she waved her hand sadly.
"Got it. I'll get up now."
After putting on her clothes, Yin Xiaoqi still looked sleepy and sleepy.
Opening the curtains, the warm sunlight flooded the entire room. Yin Xiaoqi stretched lazily. Her curvaceous body looked particularly charming under the sun.
"Xiaoqi, your breakfast is ready."
As the voice of the AI butler Xiao Guai sounded, a dining car pushed the door open and slowly stopped in front of Yin Xiaoqi.
After eating breakfast, Yin Xiaoqi's face finally had a trace of vitality.
"Xiao Guai, maybe we can solve the puzzle today. I'm really looking forward to what treasure it is!"
"Come on, you're the best!" The butler Xiao Guai swayed back and forth in the air.
Hearing this, Yin Xiaoqi smiled and stepped to the side of the bed. She reached out and pressed on the wall.
A green ray of light shot over and swept over her body. The wall automatically separated, revealing a passage, and Yin Xiaoqi stepped into it.
As the light automatically lit up, a full view of the interior of the wall was revealed.
It was filled with all kinds of mechanical equipment, some of which were still running automatically. With the sound of grinding gears and the flashing lights, the interior looked like a mysterious laboratory in a sci-fi movie.
Yin Xiaoqi came to the console and sat down. As all the screens in front of her were lit up, she had an expectant look on her face.
[ZZZX Treasure Plan, if you think your IQ is comparable to that of a god, then prove it to me. You who have solved all the clues will get my treasure!]
The familiar interface appeared in front of Yin Xiaoqi.
After this line of words dimmed, the interface jumped.
[ZZZX Treasure Plan, Level 258 (Final Chapter): Start the decryption?]
Seeing the words "Final Chapter", Yin Xiaoqi clenched her fists excitedly.
The ZZZX Treasure Plan was a difficult problem that Yin Xiaoqi had been trying to solve for the past few months.
She had first discovered this plan on the Dark Web, and it had caused quite a stir in her circle. Many people had tried to track down the person behind this puzzle, wanting to know if it was a prank or if there really was a treasure hidden in it.
However, other than knowing that the creator of this puzzle claimed to be Bei Li, there were no other clues. Even Yin Xiaoqi returned empty-handed after several searches.
Because of this, the success of this treasure plan aroused Yin Xiaoqi's curiosity.
She believed that her IQ was higher than 99.9% of humans, and she wanted to challenge the puzzle to find out what the final treasure was.
However, after some contact, Yin Xiaoqi had to admire the creator of this puzzle.
At the beginning of the puzzle, there was only a picture with white words on a black background, with the words ZZZX Treasure Plan written on it. There were no other hints.
Naturally, the first level was not difficult for her. After studying the picture carefully, Yin Xiaoqi tried to zoom in and out of the picture to find clues, but it was to no avail.
She then opened the picture with a text editor and tried to crack it with the Caesar Decryption Method. This time, she got the link to the next puzzle.
However, this was just the beginning.
All the puzzles were closely linked, and the difficulty kept increasing.
From cryptography to Mayan numerals, even religion, occultism, and even art were involved. The clues to answer the questions ranged from the Internet to the streets of cities in various countries in reality. The scope of the puzzle was so wide that it made one's hair stand on end.
During the decryption process, she wanted to give up several times, and even almost broke down. However, due to her stubborn character, she persevered.
The 258th level was the last level of the puzzle. As long as she could solve it, she could get the treasure behind the puzzle.
As the black words faded, the final puzzle appeared.
[Hello, smart person who has come to the last level. This is the last test. Now, I will give you a link. Put on the virtual reality helmet and open it. There will be the final test. If you can pass it, the treasure is yours!]
Yin Xiaoqi's face showed a charming smile.
"Treasure! Treasure! "
After that, she followed the instructions and put on the virtual reality suit and virtual reality helmet. Then, she clicked on the link to the final level in the interface.
Her line of sight passed through the blue light curtain and was shrouded by a white light.
At this time, Yin Xiaoqi suddenly felt a headache, and then she realized that she had lost control of her body.
The sudden change made Yin Xiaoqi feel uneasy. She immediately tried to exit the interface.
However, to her horror, no matter how hard she tried to force the exit, the virtual interface never appeared.
She tried very hard to open her eyes and tried to control her body to do some movements, but she felt that she had completely lost the sense of these parts, as if she had been paralyzed.
In such a dead silence, Yin Xiaoqi finally panicked.
She had only opened the link, but she had lost control of her body. Even the virtual equipment's emergency exit system did not work.
All of this seemed too strange.
Yin Xiaoqi forced herself to calm down and comforted herself that this was just the process of decrypting the puzzle. Whether she succeeded or failed, she would be released.
In this fear, a picture suddenly appeared in front of Yin Xiaoqi's eyes.
It was a frozen picture, like the background screen of a monitor. Moreover, this picture could not be moved and was completely out of her control.
In the picture was a bulky computer, and there were many messy drawings on the table. The chair next to the table was even more broken. The cotton in the back of the chair was exposed, as if it would fall apart at any time.
Such a frozen picture continued, making Yin Xiaoqi more and more uneasy.
Everything in front of her was strange, and she could not understand what was going on.
After an unknown amount of time, the picture finally changed.
A white-haired old man wearing a white coat and a pair of thick glasses suddenly appeared on the screen.
He stretched in front of his desk, then picked up the blueprint and looked at it. Then, he looked at the computer and pressed a few keys on the keyboard. Suddenly, the screen jumped, and a group of symbols appeared on the computer screen like garbled codes.
After the old man glanced at it, his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately looked at Yin Xiaoqi. His eyes seemed to be able to see Yin Xiaoqi through the frozen picture.
"You actually came out?"
'He seems to be talking to me?'
Yin Xiaoqi thought, but she had lost control of her body. Even if her heart was full of doubts, she could not answer the old man's question.
However, while Yin Xiaoqi was thinking, a group of strange characters appeared on the computer again. However, she had never seen such twisted characters before, and she did not know what they meant.
The old man glanced at these characters and sighed.
"You're the first to escape. I really didn't expect you to be able to solve all the secrets. Congratulations, you succeeded!"
Yin Xiaoqi was very smart. She immediately realized that her thoughts seemed to be able to appear on the old computer as strange characters.
Then, she moved her mind, and suddenly a string of characters appeared on the computer again.
She was basically asking where was this place? Why am I here?
After the white-haired old man saw the string of characters, he frowned and thought for a moment. Then, he seemed to understand something. He took out something that looked like a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button on it.
To Yin Xiaoqi's surprise, the picture began to rotate slowly, and soon the picture was fixed again.
The picture in front of her made Yin Xiaoqi's pupils suddenly shrink.
Inside a large cylindrical glass enclosure, a pulsating brain was immersed in a light green liquid, and there were many small tubes inserted around the brain. It looked very frightening.
"This is you!"
The white-haired old man's figure appeared in the picture again, pointing at the brain and saying to Yin Xiaoqi.
Yin Xiaoqi felt that this old man was simply crazy. He actually told her that she was only left with a brain.
The white-haired old man seemed to know that Yin Xiaoqi could not accept it, so he did not speak again, waiting for Yin Xiaoqi to recover.
Did something happen after I clicked on the link? Could it be that the laboratory exploded, and only my brain survived?
However, she immediately denied her guess, because with the current level of technology, it was still impossible to let a brain survive and operate on its own.
The white-haired old man glanced at the characters that appeared on the computer and shook his head.
"You have always been like this, from the moment you were born, because you were created."
Hearing this, Yin Xiaoqi really felt that she was dreaming.
She had 23 years of life experience, but the sloppy old man in front of her told her that she had always been a created brain. This was extremely ridiculous.
"Since you've already come out, there's no harm in telling you. In fact, everything you've experienced is fake, including the world you think of. The final treasure is to tell you the truth and bring you out of that virtual world."
The white-haired old man's words were shocking again.
As if he knew that Yin Xiaoqi would not believe his words, the white-haired old man pushed up his glasses and continued:
"The nerves in your brain were all connected to the computer next to me by the top neuroscientists. Everything you've experienced is a computer simulation, including your sense of touch, taste, and all other sensations are transmitted to you by the computer through your neurons, so you will have the illusion that everything is real."
"Heh, do you think I'll believe what you said? I'd rather believe that everything here is an illusion."
Yin Xiaoqi thought coldly in her heart, because all of this was unacceptable to her. No matter how real the white-haired old man's words were, she would not believe it.
Because his parents, friends, and everything else were so real. They were all living flesh and blood, so how could they be fake?
"This is an experiment, this computer simulated everything you've experienced. Even if you don't believe it, you can't deny the reality of all of this, and as someone who has solved all the puzzles, you have the right to know the truth!"
"Tell me that all of this is fake!" Yin Xiaoqi roared angrily in her heart!
Glancing at the computer screen, the white-haired old man smiled:
"I know that all of this is unacceptable, but it is the truth!"
Yin Xiaoqi's heart could not calm down for a long time. Just as she was about to deny the old man's words again, she suddenly remembered that if her world was fake, why did it feel so real? Could it be that the cumbersome computer could really simulate it?
Furthermore, there was a vast universe outside of the Earth that she lived in. Was that something that could be simulated?
After seeing Yin Xiaoqi's thoughts, the old man could not help but shake his head:
"How did your universe come to be?"
"The Big Bang of the Singularity gave birth to the universe." This thought appeared in Yin Xiaoqi's mind without hesitation.
"From nothing to something. Don't you find it strange? The real world has no boundaries, but the world you're in is a quantified existence. Space can be quantified, time can be quantified, everything can be quantified."
Although Yin Xiaoqi did not study this, she knew that this was indeed the case in the world she was in. After all, even light had been quantified.
As if sensing Yin Xiaoqi's doubts, the white-haired old man continued:
"Just like the photos on the computer in the virtual world, if you keep zooming in, you will find that the photos are actually made up of pixels."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"Then let me give you another example. In the world you're in, there's a sandbox game called 'Minecraft'. Everything in the game has a limit. Just like building, the tallest building is 250 units, and there's no way to build anything higher."
The old man suddenly smiled: "Then who set this rule!?"
Yin Xiaoqi was shocked, this game was naturally set by humans.
"Moreover, why does it rain in your world?" The old man continued to ask.
"Naturally, it's because water vapor floats to a certain height and turns into small water droplets when it cools. The small water droplets form clouds, and the clouds collide with each other to form large water droplets. Due to gravity, they fall and turn into rain." Yin Xiaoqi answered without hesitation.
"Oh?" The wrinkles on the old man's face relaxed.
"Then why does water turn into water vapor? Why does water form small water droplets? Why can't air support water droplets, and why is there gravity? Can you tell me the answer? "
Before Yin Xiaoqi could answer, the old man continued:
"These are all like the rules of a game. Correspondingly, the rules of the virtual world you're in are also set, but the real world can't be defined. It's almost like the 'chaos' that you know of."
"Your world, on the other hand, is made up of rules that are like the rules of a game. Everything has a limit!"
"Then what if it exceeds the limit?" Yin Xiaoqi was a little afraid.
The white-haired old man pushed his glasses up again:
"In the virtual world you're in, the fastest speed is the speed of light. If you exceed the speed of light, the surrounding space will distort accordingly. This is the same principle as a computer, it will become laggy under overload."
Hearing this, Yin Xiaoqi fell silent because she realized that she couldn't refute the old man's words.
But in her heart, she still firmly believed that the world she was in was real, because everything was so real.
"You think that a clumsy computer can't simulate such a real world, but that's because you've fallen into the wrong line of thinking. After all, the virtual world you're in has rules, but the real world I'm in has no rules! Even a computer the size of a finger can easily simulate the operation of the entire universe in the virtual world you're in. "
Yin Xiaoqi suddenly didn't want to argue with her anymore.
"Can you send me back? Even if that world is fake!"
The old man smiled. "Your thoughts have already jumped out of that simulated world, and you can't go back. As the one who cracked it, congratulations on coming to the real world!"
"Live on in this form? B * stard, why don't you just kill me? "Yin Xiaoqi's emotions once again fluctuated greatly, causing a long string of words to appear on the computer screen.
"This is the real you. Isn't it good to return to your true self?"
"Good my ass!"
The white-haired old man didn't get angry. He still looked at the screen with a smile, then took out a remote control again and pressed it.
Immediately, the image in front of Yin Xiaoqi's eyes began to spin again. Rows of cylindrical glass covers appeared in her vision, and within these glass covers, as expected, were jumping brains.
"You're not alone! But they don't exist in your world. I've simulated an independent world for each of them! "
"Why did you do that?!"
"No reason, I just wanted to confirm something!"
"Don't be too smug! Maybe the world you're in is also fake, and you're just a brain soaked in a nutrient solution! "
Seeing the words that appeared on the computer, the white-haired old man was obviously stunned for a moment, but then he smiled again.
"I suspected this possibility, but there are no rules in my world, so I believe that I'm real!"
"Do you have proof? Why can't there be a limit and be real? Maybe you're just a brain that's about to rot. There's no difference between us, so don't look at me with pity! "
"Why are you angry? You should know that your current mood swings are also simulated by this clumsy computer for you. You didn't create them yourself!"
"F * ck you, you're so awesome, try making me unable to produce emotions!"
"This is something that was given to you the moment you were created. Unless you're completely disintegrated, it's impossible to achieve this!"
The old man's tone was as calm as water, but his words revealed a non-committal point of view, causing Yin Xiaoqi's firm belief to constantly waver.
Suddenly, Yin Xiaoqi's mind flashed. She thought of a sentence from Descartes' idealism in the world she was in:
"I think, therefore I am!"
Even if everything is fake, as long as my thoughts are real, then I'm real.
The idea in Yin Xiaoqi's mind immediately appeared on the computer screen, and the old man who saw this immediately fell into deep thought.
"Can you explain? Even if the computer has given me emotions, how can you explain that I can think about this? Could it be that my conversation with you is actually this cumbersome computer chatting with you? "
The old man suddenly fell silent, for a moment he couldn't answer Yin Xiaoqi's question.
Yin Xiaoqi's words caused the old man to fall into his own paradox.
If he answered that Yin Xiaoqi's thoughts were fake, then it meant that he had actually been talking to his computer all this time, but if he answered that Yin Xiaoqi's thoughts were real, then Yin Xiaoqi was real.
"What? Can't answer? Even if you say that my thoughts are fake, I won't believe you, because I believe in myself, the world, and my parents and friends. They're all real. "
"I think, therefore I am!"
"You really are a very special existence." The old man suddenly smiled with gratification. He looked at Yin Xiaoqi with a satisfied expression.
Yin Xiaoqi didn't say anything and continued to remain silent.
"Congratulations, you've successfully passed this test. From now on, you'll receive my gift and return to your world!"
"What do you mean? Could it be that everything you've said is really false? Is this just the final test of the puzzle? "Yin Xiaoqi suddenly became excited.
The old man smiled slightly, "I can't answer whether you're telling the truth or not, because this is just a guess of mine, and I can't prove it!"
At this moment, the old man took out the remote control,
"Alright, I'll send you off, you've succeeded!"
The screen gradually dimmed.
"Who are you?" Before leaving, Yin Xiaoqi asked the question in her heart.
"You can call me Bei Li!"
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