1TWITF[C Chapter 152

“What did you say?”

After a moment of silence, Lu Yanli seemed to regain his voice and reason, his voice dry as he looked at the brain with disbelief, then turned to look at his future self.

He didn’t want to believe it was true, but his intuition told him that it might be.

The belief he had held firm for so many years collapsed at this moment. He wanted to seek an ordinary life, to make the world normal, to bring back all those people from the past… but he never thought that he was the most abnormal one.

Oh, he couldn’t be considered human.

Perhaps he was the culprit behind the world’s mutation, a monster.

“No wonder… no wonder I wanted to erase my memories.” The other, future Lu Yanli, raised his hand to cover his face, his shoulders shaking with laughter, “No wonder…”

No wonder he hadn’t been able to destroy the research institute in the previous attempts, only to inexplicably return to the past, continuing to repeat the act of killing his past self again and again.

“So, my parents…” Lu Yanli paused.

If the memories were all fake, how could his family and friends be real?

He didn’t voice this question, but his future self seemed to know what he wanted to ask, answering on his own, “What’s the difference between real and fake?”

Two pairs of identical eyes met.

After a long while, he continued, “What’s the point?”

“Perhaps, have you heard of the concept of a brain in a vat?” the brain continued to speak.

“I…” Lu Yanli was stunned like never before.

This question was not a problem for people with straightforward thinking, because they wouldn’t think about it in detail. But Lu Yanli was different. He was intelligent, and when faced with this kind of logical paradox, especially a question related to him, it was difficult for him not to think deeply.

How could he prove that everything he had experienced wasn’t an illusion?

This chaotic, bizarre, and fantastical world, perhaps it was just an illusion of his?

“No need to think, when I believe I exist, I exist.” The future Lu Yanli answered without thinking, “But you, do you know that you are just a brain?”

The brain answered readily, “I know, I often ask them for a mirror to see my image. Honestly, I’m very satisfied with my current life. When illusions can satisfy all needs, the real and the fake don’t seem so important.”

“People always have irrational thoughts, no one can do everything correctly, but calculations can, that’s who I am.”

This time, he specifically chose the year when the power of the god statue was predicted to be the weakest, and he had prepared for a long, long time.

Even if it was an illusion, he would choose the illusion he wanted.

As long as the gods of the two timelines started fighting, he could leave.

Brain: “I indeed cannot prove it, but I advise you not to disturb my illusion.”

“Or else what?”

The brain suddenly let out a laugh.

Its voice was very special, very generic, without any discernible gender or age, yet seemingly ubiquitous. It laughed for a long time, and Lu Yanli kept staring at it, the knife in his hand never lowered.

A door frame appeared on the pure white wall behind the brain, the door opening as if to signal them to enter.

Lu Yanli put away the knife, his gaze flicking to the man beside him who looked exactly like him, but he didn’t move.

After entering the room, Lu Yanli asked his future self, “Is what it said true?”

“I hope it’s not.”

For a moment, the room fell into an unspeakable silence.

After a long time, another question echoed in the room.

“Then… what exactly are we? What kind of containment object are we?”

This question remained unanswered.

After waiting in the room for a long time, they suddenly heard voices coming from outside the room.

It was the brain talking to someone.

Whether intentionally or not, the brain allowed them to hear everything.

It did need to handle many things, such as dealing with the ocean infection problem, the total death of the fourteenth batch of investigator volunteers, the total loss of control of containment objects, and so on. Just as it said, humans were always affected by irrelevant emotions, and only machines would not be affected and could make the best choices in the face of multiple difficulties.

It also specifically mentioned the development of the space-time shuttle machine, urging those people to conduct experiments immediately.

The human brain is the most sophisticated instrument. Did those scientists really develop an instrument that was completely identical to the human brain?

Lu Yanli didn’t think so.

“Is it possible that that half of the brain does indeed belong to a human?” Lu Yanli proposed a guess to his future self.

Currently, both of them were facing unknown dangers, and they tacitly stopped fighting and began to think.

“Perhaps.” The future Lu Yanli felt a slight headache. He had been constantly experiencing labyrinths, and every time he thought he had solved the final mystery, the world would reveal another layer of malice to him.

“Our bet? I’ve destroyed every world I could go to, and then came back after completing it.”

“Why do you know?” He quietly stared at his past self, his gaze deep and carrying a hint of guidance.

He told everything, without reservation.

Zhuang Ci, Chu Xian, Lin Chu’s deaths… it sounded like the time it took for their memories to awaken until they died was getting longer and longer?

If it was simply because the psychological cues were failing, then it should be a collective failure, and this kind of time increase effect wouldn’t occur.

“In an instant.” The future Lu Yanli said.

Now both of them felt that something was wrong.

Before they could figure it out, the wall behind them slowly became transparent, and as soon as they turned around, their attention was immediately drawn to the scene before them.

Looking further ahead, they could see a faint red shadow. Falling down along with it were the bones of unknown creatures, both human and beast, surrounding the red shadow, falling down one after another, the flesh on their bodies constantly dissipating. When they fell to the bottom, only a skeleton remained.

Lu Yanli suddenly thought of an inappropriate term: whale fall.

In legends, when whales die and sink to the bottom of the sea, their corpses will provide sustenance for other species for a long time.

These corpses seemed to be also…

The room trembled slightly.

“Damn, they still retain their vision.”

“The room is very strong, friends, you don’t have to worry.” Before they could say anything, the voice of the brain rang out from the corner of the room.

“What are we waiting for here?”

“Waiting for the machine to be completed, this place is absolutely safe.” The brain answered him.

“Absolutely safe?” One of them pointed to the huge red shadow in the distance. The shadow was too huge, its upper body completely out of the water, and the position of their room was level with the shadow’s legs. “It won’t find us?”

“They are fighting, it is devouring those things, it won’t see here.” The brain answered.

The intonation of its last sentence rose, making Lu Yanli suddenly feel a chill run down his spine.

“Just like we used to devour you.”