by N. Heller
The skin on the double-ponytailed young lady's face kept sliding off. Sitting on top of the mutilated body, Soulsqn sighed. "Before that, can you trap this guy in one of your barriers first, Lord Puppeteer? We cannot afford to allow him to run away."
The body was just another human body on the floor. On top of that, Soulsqn had crushed half of his skull, so he was definitely a deadman. Puppeteer glanced at it suspiciously, but in the end, he nodded in assent.
After Soulsqn came out of the barrier, she scrutinized the grand prize and the body inside the seemingly glass box and said jubilantly, "Alright, it's done!"
"What?" Lin Sanjiu asked, still perplexed. "You lost me. Please explain, Soulsqn."
Although Soulsqn had lived for a long time, her method of solving her problems was always straightforward, brutal, and simple. She would go forward and wear the person she disliked as her skin pouch. This method was handy and did not require wit and eloquence. Hence, it was a taxing job for Soulsqn to explain the current situation to the two humans.
"Let me start from the beginning," Soulsqn sighed after multiple failed approaches to make the two humans understand the situation. She looked ruefully at them. For her, it was simple and clear. "We saw this Graham the moment we stepped out of the wormhole, right?"
Puppeteer and Lin Sanjiu nodded blankly.
"A Veda created him in here, so the Veda should still be around. It's just that it is hiding somewhere around here."
'That's not necessarily true!'
Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she swallowed her doubt back into her stomach in the end. She did not want to mess up Soulsqn's already not-so-clear explanation further.
"What if the Veda returns to its group and notifies the other Veda to come after us?" Soulsqn continued, appearing elated like a cat that had eaten a canary. "So I suggest that we kill this guy. When the Veda realizes that we are going to kill his creation, he will certainly come out of hiding to save him."
'Is that so?' Lin Sanjiu questioned Soulsqn's strange theory inwardly.
"When Lord Puppeteer put down the barrier, I knew the Veda would try to seize the opportunity to make its move, so I kept an eye on the area around the barrier. Since Lord Puppeteer already stopped turning the human bodies into puppets, the moment this person opened his eyes, I knew he must be the Veda," Soulsqn said delightedly. "I knew that, like us Souls, the Veda could wear skin pouches as well. So I pounced on him, crushed his skull, and trapped him inside just like I did to the previous Veda."
The two were silent for a long time. Both of them wanted to say something to refute her deduction, but there were too many flaws that they had no idea where to begin.
After a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu then asked hesitantly, "In other words… That's a Veda in the barrier?"
"Exactly."
"How can you be so sure that the Veda will stay behind to save him?"
The question slightly dazed Soulsqn. She looked at Lin Sanjiu nonplussed, only regaining her focus after a couple of blinks. "Why not? It spent so much time and effort in creating this guy, there is no way it would let you two destroy its creation before this fellow fulfills his role. I would've stayed if I were the Veda!"
Lin Sanjiu couldn't bear listening to Soulsqn anymore. The utter confidence she displayed through her sequential way of thinking was like a fishbone caught in her throat. Her brows were locked in a deep frown, and just as she was preparing to bombard Soulsqn with all the doubts she had in her mind, Puppeteer stole the thunder and shot a question to Soulsqn first, "Then can you explain to me why I see flickering numbers when I look at his face?"
Dumbfounded, only then did Lin Sanjiu see the light of why Puppeteer was so insistent that she open her eyes and look closely at her grand prize. 'No wonder he kept saying I'm blind!'
"About that… Erm… It is because I have enacted a reality on you, Lord Puppeteer," faltered Soulsqn, "… Did you not realize it?"
Puppeteer had indeed lowered his guard against this flesh worm ever since their temporary alliance. Half of his fact wretched in anger, but it was swift. He pressed down the fury that swelled in his heart as he asked, "Why did you do that?"
"How are we going to draw that Veda out if you two killed this guy in an instant?"
Wide-eyed and tongue-tied, both of them stood speechless. There was a moment of silence until an unfamiliar voice rang out in the hall, snapping the two out of their daze, "So… What are you guys going to do with me?"
The voice sounded raspy as if the person was trying very hard to speak through a broken voice cord. Lin Sanjiu traced the voice and looked disbelievingly at the deformed head.
Soulsqn had gone into his body through the mouth. Hence, there was only a huge hole dripping with blood on his face. The voice had come out of the hole.
"You, you are a Veda?" Lin Sanjiu asked doubtfully.
"Didn't that strange creature over there tell you already? Yes, I'm a Veda." The voice paused momentarily before continuing. "My name is Svenbin Caliseidra. You can call me Sven. We met once, in the Pocket Dimension at Salvation of God."
"You are the younger brother!" Lin Sanjiu yelled out in surprise. "How did you get in here—"
Sven paid her no mind. He sighed, "As a Veda, I don't believe in fate. But aside from bad luck, there's no way I could explain why I would fall into your hands."
"What do you mean?"
"The speculation of that strange creature," Sven said calmly, "everything it says about me is wrong except for the first sentence."
"From a wrong argument, she could reach a correct conclusion and even make the right decision. Do you understand how unlikely that is?"
"For… for example?"
"For instance, it speculated that this young man was coded in here, so the Veda who created him must be around. Indeed, this young man is a result of code writing, but neither was he created here, nor am I his creator. I just returned from the Salvation of God and happened to be in here—" The more the Veda talked, the more confused he began to feel. Sven wondered, "What are the chances of that creature getting a correct answer with such a poor, unclear deduction? Aside from sheer dumb luck, I don't think there are any better explanations."
"Bullshit!" Soulsqn bolted up. "I got the correct answer, so that means I'm right!"
Even Sven was too lazy to reply to Soulsqn.
After a short while, the Veda continued in a rough-edged whisper, "That creature also said that since I created this young man, I'd stay behind to save him."
"What's wrong with that?!" Soulsqn shouted furiously.
"Has it never crossed your mind that, since I created him once, I can also create him another ten times? What's the big deal in letting him die? All I would need to do is go back and create him again. Maybe the only thing I lost is my time."
This time, that remark finally settled the girl with double ponytails hash.
"However, as the strange creature said, I have to stay behind to protect him from getting killed by you. This is because I'm not the one who wrote his code." Sven sounded a little perplexed. He asked Lin Sanjiu and Puppeteer, "Could this really be a coincidence?"
"Why must you protect him?" The one who asked this question was Puppeteer, who did not care about the wellbeing of others.
"It's a long story," Sven replied calmly. "When I met this young man in the Salvation of God, I got an odd vibe from him. He seemed like a person who was coded by us Veda. I kept following him until he escaped from me. It took me a long time to finally locate him again and bring him back to our territory so that I could study him more. Never did I expect that I would bump into you and hear that you wanted to kill him the moment I reached here. I had no idea my people were hunting you since I had been staying in Salvation of God for a long time. Hence, to prevent him from getting killed, I went into a vessel and planned to negotiate with you. Then... I suppose you already know the rest of the story, don't you? It is really such a miracle that this creature has scored yet another lucky hit agai
n."
Before Sven could finish his explanation, Lin Sanjiu leaped up and stared at Ji Shanqing. Both of them could see the baffled expressions on each other's faces.
Was this grand prize the real grand prize?
No, no, that wasn't important anymore. The most important thing now was that the grand prize was created through code writing?
Chapter 599 - 1 + 1 Is Larger Than 2
Since the Veda knew nothing about the grand prize, then who created him? Who or what was the one pulling strings behind the Starry Carnival Amus.e.m.e.nt Park?
Now that they captured a Veda, what should they do next? What was the relationship between the Veda and the Salvation of God, and what was the truth behind this world?
For a moment, Lin Sanjiu's brain was awash with all sorts of questions. She was, first and last, a normal girl. She was not very smart, and she did not possess an intense curiosity. There was nothing she could do but accept it when the doomsday arrived. She actively carved out her own path to survive in the harsh environment brought forth by the apocalypse, just like how she learned to hold herself out in human society for the past twenty years. Although the question about the nature of the apocalyptic worlds would occasionally come into her mind, she would never waste her effort in mulling over such unrealistic matter that had nothing to do with her survival.
Until today. Now she genuinely felt the existence of an otherworldly force, locating at a higher plane unknown to man, and far beyond the reach of her sight, that controlled the fate of the world.
Suddenly, she felt some palpitations in her c.h.e.s.t. It was that kind of consternation akin to feeling gazed back at by an abyss when you stared long enough into it.
However, there's always someone who emphasizes different things in such a heavy moment.
"I don't care. I'm right!" Soulsqn remonstrated stubbornly. "This Veda is just too embarrassed to admit it! It just wants to protect its dignity!"
'What a simpleton…' Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly. After that, she shifted her gaze away from Soulsqn and looked at Puppeteer. Before she could say anything, the man clad in black leather opened his mouth first, cutting her short, "No."
"What?" Lin Sanjiu was taken aback.
"You want me to release him, don't you?" Puppeteer said without looking at her. He swaggered towards the barrier, meeting gazes with Ji Shanqing. One of them was young and had a pair of bright eyes while the other was gloomy and shrouded himself in a cloak of indifference. At a glance, it was as if two Puppeteers were standing in front of her—one was his past while another was the present.
Puppeteer frowned slightly as he looked at the grand prize's delicate face. There was a hint of disgust and homicidal intent on his face that not even he realized was there. "The Veda say such things, and you plan to believe it. Don't you think you are a bit hasty? "
When Ji Shanqing heard what Puppeteer said, he let out a sigh as he lowered his face.
His long hair slipped down and covered half of his face under its shadow. Puppeteer squinted his eyes, measuring the grand prize with avid eyes as a strange sense of familiarity stirred in his heart. Lin Sanjiu's c.h.e.s.t seized. Just when she was about to say something to sidetrack him from his thoughts, he suddenly said, "Hmm, why do I have the feeling that I have seen him somewhere before?"
Lin Sanjiu's heart did a little leap as she inwardly screamed, 'Damn it!'
Puppeteer had been transferred away the moment he stepped into the mirror house, so he did not encounter the grand prize. However, Lin Sanjiu did not know if all the grand prizes in the other worlds had the same appearance. What if all of them looked the same? Then it was only a matter of time before Puppeteer realized his real identity.
Perhaps Puppeteer had a lousy memory, or he was suffering from face blindness. He could not identify the grand prize in the end. He straightened his body, his brows still furrowed deeply above his nose on his forehead. Lin Sanjiu quickly walked forward a few steps, saying, "It's okay if you don't want to release him now, but what should we do with this Veda?"
The question caught the attention of the group in the hall.
Even Sven, whose throat was destroyed, began to speak. "I hope you all won't make any hasty movement. Think thoroughly before making any decisions."
At this, Puppeteer sneered, "What if we don't?"
"Then nothing would happen. I'm not threatening you." The air about Sven was different from when he was in the pocket dimension. He had cast away all human emotions since he did not have to pretend to be a human anymore. "As a Veda, I'm immortal."
All of them were stunned. They exchanged looks with each other.
The Veda was a form of life they had never seen before and had zero knowledge about. They did not even have a body. Hence, no matter how eager they were to get their revenge, they did not know where to start when facing a lifeform such as this.
"Nothing will last forever."
The voice shattered the silence between them like the sound of a stream crashing onto a stone, prompting the two humans and flesh worm to turn their heads around. They saw Ji Shanqing, standing in the barrier, say with a calm tone, "You are no exception. The thing you said about your species being immortal is nothing but a bluff. Since you are in our hands now, I'm certain we will eventually find a way to destroy you."
After that, Ji Shanqing looked at Lin Sanjiu, offering her a comforting smile. "Sis, don't worry. I already know how to prove that I'm the real Graham."
The stone in Lin Sanjiu's heart finally dropped. She returned her grand prize a smile.
Sven was silent for a few seconds before he began speaking again. "You don't understand. Even if you found a way to wipe me out of existence, that's fine too. All of my information and data constitution are stored in a place you guys cannot reach. My brethren just need to write the code by referring to my information, and then I will be reborn again."
However smart Ji Shanqing was, he could not tell the truth if it was something beyond his knowledge. As he was thinking over how he should reply, Lin Sanjiu chimed in and said, "The 'out of reach' place you are talking about is the Data Stream Library, right?"
The grand prize instantly raised his head.
"Yes. I can see that you have already been there." This time, Sven remained silent for a long while before moving on. "No wonder my brethren is going after you. In the past, everything that entered the Data Stream Library would only come out as Veda."
"The things that I know amount to more than that. I know that you Veda store all information in a glowing white thread known as the cord," Lin Sanjiu said, an edge of derision in her voice. "Let's say I managed to delete your data that is stored in the cord, what would happen then?"
"Although I do not know how you managed to escape from my brethren, if I were you, I would cherish this opportunity and escape from here as soon as possible," Sven said. His tone had become slightly grim, which was undetectable if they did not give their whole attention in listening. "Putting everything aside, my brethren would know the moment you stepped into the Data Stream Library. So please enlighten me on how you are going to delete our information?"
"You're wrong." Lin Sanjiu had activated her [Consciousness Mimicry] when Ji Shanqing was talking to Sven. Her mind was as clear as crystal. Although Ji Shanqing was a better candidate for representing the group, he never went to the Data Stream Library, so he could not perform very well in the negotiation.
"We managed to escape before your brethren could analyze our information… Do you know why? It is because we have an ability that allows us to transform into a replica of our target. So long as we imitate your species' appearance, we can return to the Data Stream Library without any problems."
"That is absurd," Sven scoffed. A splash of blood and meat pulp spurted out of the hole in his neck. "Our data constitution and characterization is unique to every individual Veda. We wouldn't even need to analyze before knowing which one is the imposter."
"Which part of my explanation gives you the wrong ince
ption that we will generate a new appearance? Do you think we are capable of creating a new lifeform while not even you Veda are able to do it? How funny, of course, we can't! All we have to do is enact a layer of illusion over our body and make you Veda think that we're one of you. I can show you if you don't believe me."
Then Lin Sanjiu turned around to see that both Puppeteer and Soulsqn were sitting on the floor, watching the verbal exchange between Lin Sanjiu and Sven, as they knew they couldn't be of any help. Caught in between tears and laughter, Lin Sanjiu threw a significant look at Soulsqn.
The young girl with double ponytails looked blankly at her. Her skin slowly slid down her face.
Lin Sanjiu gestured with her lips as she glanced at Sven.
Blinking her eyes, Soulsqn followed suit and stared at Sven.
Just when the words almost escaped Lin Sanjiu's lips, Puppeteer finally saw the light of what she wanted Soulsqn to do. He dragged Soulsqn to his side and murmured something into her ear. Then Soulsqn's eyes lit up. Her eyeballs rolled around in their sockets. In the next second, Sven suddenly yelled, "You're here! Wait, wait a second… No, this is not my brethren. This is… an illusion…"
Turning over to face Sven, Lin Sanjiu was aware that all of them looked like Veda in his eyes. She gave a little chortle as she said, "Do you believe us now?"
"Let me guess. You Veda do not have much storage in yourself; hence, you store all the information you collected in the cord, correct?" Lin Sanjiu suddenly could not stop the thought that popped into her mind.
"Why are you so sure about this?" Soulsqn asked.
"Simple. If a Veda could store information in their own body, why does it still need to go through so much trouble to bring my friend back here? Why doesn't it just collect the information while they are in the Salvation of God? Then it would not have to protect my friend from getting killed by us, and it would not end up in our hands." Lin Sanjiu smiled. "Once I destroy that cord, not only will I wipe out your entire species, all the knowledge you Veda are so proud of, all the information you have collected so far, your technology and your ability to write code, all of that will be gone. So do you still want us to return to the Data Stream Library?"