Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  The Veda looked silently at her for a short while before he slowly spoke. "Regarding the answer to your question, there are two key factors."

  'Yeah!' Lin Sanjiu was so worked up, she nearly made a sound. He was obviously going to give a lengthy explanation. The longer the Veda's answer, the greater the probability of the highest god and her grand prize finding her. While the Veda talked, she knew she had to take the opportunity to think of a way to convey her current position to the two people...

  "To some extent, we are similar to human beings. This isn't too out of the ordinary, as we actually share quite a few similarities with other lifeforms. As with humans and other intelligent lifeforms, for us, the unknown can be differentiated into two categories. They are 'known unknowns' and 'unknown unknowns'.

  "I don't understand," Lin Sanjiu quickly interjected.

  "For example, what is involved in this mission to get rid of the five of you and how much time I will need to complete the mission is a 'known unknown'. In other words, I know what I do not know. Humans usually live with the illusion that they can make some partial forecast about the future, and invent all sorts of formulas and data aggregation tools; for example, your Gaussian bell curve. Humans create all sorts of flawed statistical models and forecasting methodologies. Worst of all, humans don't have enough computational power. Therefore, among the billions or more variables that exist, humans can't correctly identify which are the ones that would impact the future. Humans also can't calculate them. This is why humans developed chaos theory and are fascinated by the butterfly effect.

  "Furthermore, even though the Veda have 'known unknowns', they are simple problems we can solve. If we wish, we can use an inconceivable level of computational power to calculate the precise relationship between the trajectory of a billiard ball on a table and the rotation of a particular planet in space." The Veda seemed to have intentionally simplified his explanation to a level that Lin Sanjiu could comprehend. "To give you a simple answer, let me put it this way: I did not activate this computational power so I didn't expect that this sudden mission would make me work overtime."

  'He has already said this much, but why isn't the highest god and my grand prize here yet?'

  "In that case, the unknown unknowns are…" Lin Sanjiu forced herself to ask another question, hoping to buy more time.

  "Simple. That means I don't know what I don't know," the Veda answered immediately. "So I can't give you an example."

  "T-that's it?"

  "Yes. I believe I have answered your questions," the Veda stated quietly. "There is one thing I want to say. I know that you have been trying to buy time all this while."

  Lin Sanjiu froze.

  "If you are waiting for your two companions, I have to burst your bubble. They are not going to look for you…"

  "That's impossible!"

  "Don't be too impatient, listen to what I have to say. They're not going to look for you because they've already found a Lin Sanjiu. They are probably trying to find a way out of the cord right now."

  Chapter 700 - Oh My, It’s The 700th Chapter! The Veda Will Be So Frightened!

  It never occurred in any of Lin Sanjiu's dreams that by the time her life came to an end—not perished, but ended—what accompanied her by her side would be the Veda's annoyingly calm voice.

  "Your new companion has shown a high degree of similarity to our data analysis and code writing ability. Also, we found that one of them carries the characteristic that we specifically created for our subjects."

  Lin Sanjiu could not hear what the Veda was saying. Her arms and legs were beginning to turn into smoke as they lost their forms and weight, and fluttered like silk in the wind before dissipating into the air. The entire process did not cause her any pain. When she lowered her head to see only her trunk hovering in the air with her four limbs nowhere to be seen, she felt like she was stuck in a nightmare that she would never wake up from.

  'No, that isn't possible. Since I can realize this "Puppeteer" is actually a Veda, then the grand prize should be able to distinguish that the other Lin Sanjiu isn't the real deal as well. He's so smart, I'm sure he could…'

  "I wouldn't be so optimistic if I were you. All the data flow inside this cord is under my surveillance, so it's very unlikely they will realize anything. Ever since you set foot into this cord, every action and every movement of yours has been instantaneously recorded and compiled. The reaction the other 'Lin Sanjiu' would make is deduced based on this real-time data. I can assure you that even if you personally appear in front of both of them, they wouldn't be able to differentiate which one of you is the real Lin Sanjiu."

  'Oh yeah, I almost forgot that these b*stards can read people's minds!'

  "It isn't the same as the so-called mind-reading. As I said, all of the flow of data is under my surveillance. You can assume that the transmission of signals between the neurons in your brain has exposed your thoughts. I think in this way, you'll understand the entire picture better." The Veda was indeed a kind of species that loved to explain things. It looked at Lin Sanjiu serenely before moving on to another topic. "How the subjective consciousness is generated in the brain's neural network system seems to be a problem that has been bothering you humans for a long time as well."

  The Veda sounded like a bee that kept buzzing in her ears. It did not mean anything to Lin Sanjiu and was truly annoying. She raised her head, refusing to look at her body that was turning into smoke. Furthermore, she had no idea why, but even her vision was starting to get blurry.

  "As for the man who didn't have a code writing ability and that Soul, they have already become a part of the database." The Veda had been rambling about the mind and consciousness and so on so much that Lin Sanjiu could not comprehend. Her mind was slipping away as a dark fog clouded her eyes, but this sentence forced her back to reality. It felt like a freezing water droplet that trickled down her collar bone.

  Just when she thought that her opponent would continue to say something, it suddenly stopped.

  "Ah, it's done," the Veda said softly after a momentary pause, causing Lin Sanjiu's heart to give a small start. "There are only two left now."

  'What's been done?'

  Just as a shade of doubt emerged in Lin Sanjiu's heart, she saw something that she would never forget for the rest of her life. As if it were made of melted snow and ice, "Puppeteer's" humanoid appearance began to dissolve and reveal whatever was inside. The true form of the Veda was not of a humanoid or the shape of any kind of creature. If not for the highest god's "lens", she would not be able to see it. Nevertheless, even if she could see it with the help of the "lens", she still failed to comprehend its nature.

  'What in the world is that?'

  It was a wonder that such a life form really existed.

  'It… it looks just like…'

  Lin Sanjiu searched through her brain for any terms that she could use to describe the Veda, yet she could not find any. Its appearance did not have any physical attribution but looked more like an abstract concept that was directly sent into your brain. If Lin Sanjiu had to give it a description, it would be a large, open pool of some sort.

  "Pull yourself together!" Mrs. Manas shouted. "Huh? Why are you still here? Why am I still here?"

  'Huh?'

  Lin Sanjiu snapped back to reality and hastily lowered her head to look at her own body. To her surprise, her arms and legs had stopped turning into smoke. Right now, she was shrouded in a huge plume of smoke as though she was riding on a cloud. To her utmost relief, her consciousness remained intact and she still had her body.

  According to the Veda, she should have already become a set of data to be stored in the database.

  She then peeled her eyes away and looked ahead to see the huge pool slowly turning its body. She had not thought that she would be so eager to hear it say something, but the Veda just kept quiet. It seemed that it could not see her now.

  Inside the large data pool—Lin Sanjiu had no better description other than givi
ng it an ambiguous term—there was a feature that she found she could describe using the human language: a CD. Countless sets of CDs floated about inside the Veda, emanating a soft golden radiance.

  Lin Sanjiu floated slack-jawed in the air. Her mind was blank.

  Compared to being a set of information, it was more frightening to become a set of information with self-consciousness.

  'Do I have to stay like this, being tortured for the rest of my life?'

  "Hey, wake up!" A very familiar sound slid into her mind. She thought it was Mrs. Manas who was talking, but she soon realized the voice was sharp and effeminate, unlike Mrs. Manas's usual soothing one. "The Veda is gone. Why are you still zoning out there like a stupid fool?"

  "S—Soulsqn?" Lin Sanjiu was baffled. She thought she was having an illusion because when she glanced around, all she could see was the dingy alley. "Is that you? Where are you now?"

  "Duh, of course it's me," the flesh worm replied matter-of-factly. "Here, look over here. Oh, silly me, I've forgotten that you can't see right now. Wait over there. We are coming."

  Soulsqn's reply pushed Lin Sanjiu further into confusion.

  'Hold on a sec. We?' Lin Sanjiu asked inwardly.

  On the other side of the alley, the swarm of Arabians in different clothing began to scatter. They all went back to continue their own duties except for two figures clad in robes. They walked against the flow of the crowd and came straight for her.

  "Oh my." From underneath the robe of the shorter figure, a slippery crimson red form revealed itself. Soulsqn then spoke in her usual sharp voice. "Do you know that you look like a ghost now?"

  Staring fixedly at the flesh worm, Lin Sanjiu could not believe what she was looking at. Like a deer caught in the headlights, she jerked her head to the right and vaguely saw two sunken cheeks underneath the shadow of the robe. The glitter that ringed his eyes glimmered, but Lin Sanjiu did not know what color it was now.

  "Did—didn't you guys—?" Lin Sanjiu was so overwhelmed by a paroxysm of excitement and shock that her words slurred. Her tongue was tied and it took her several minutes to finished her sentence, "How…W-what is happening? Why did the Veda just leave like that?"

  "That's a long story." Soulsqn put her robe down, bringing her not-so-pleasant-to-the-eye face into the light. She stretched a few tendrils to Puppeteer and said, "It's all thanks to Lord Puppeteer."

  "What does that mean?"

  Lin Sanjiu could not help but glance at Puppeteer. The Veda did not get their hands on Soulsqn, so she was very certain that this flesh worm was the real one. Furthermore, judging from the situation just now, there was no need for the Veda to trick her anymore. If they continued to devour her, right now, she would be a set of data inside of this database. Hence, the Puppeteer and Soulsqn who stood before her eyes must be real.

  "You have been analyzed, so now the Veda already knows how to dispel my ability, don't they?" Even after going through so many things together, the Queen of the Souls still seemed to hold a grudge against Lin Sanjiu for leaking the method to neutralize her ability to the Veda. "When we were s.u.c.k.e.d into this cord, Lord Puppeteer instantly summoned me to his side."

  "Then?" Lin Sanjiu asked, her face full of questions.

  This time, the one who responded to her was a cold voice. "You are a classical example of a good-for-nothing aiming to just get by." Puppeteer stuck out his bloodless hand and lifted the hood that covered his face. With a frown, he sneered. "Didn't you make out any countermeasures when you were in the Olympics? I really wonder how you managed to survive for such a long time with that little pea brain of yours."

  It seemed like the sarcasm level of the real deal was leagues ahead of the "Puppeteer" created by the Veda.

  "When we were in the cord, I turned 90% of her body into a Puppet. Then, she activated her ability and created a reality that contained a "Soulsqn"," Puppeteer continued to say in a mocking voice. "At that time, I bet you were still being thrown here and there in the cord."

  "The 'Soulsqn' inside my reality soon met its demise," the flesh worm chimed in. "Hence, to the Veda, I'm the first amongst the group to be turned into a set of data."

  In other words, when the Veda thought they had only three opponents left, they did not realize that, in reality, they still had to deal with three people and one worm. This was because they had not analyzed Soulsqn yet, so they were clueless to the fact that the one they got rid of was merely another reality created by the real Soulsqn.

  Lin Sanjiu began to understand the situation. "In this way, the Veda thought you were dead, so they naturally wouldn't think of using my data to neutralize your ability."

  "Yes, exactly," Soulsqn replied triumphantly. "So, after that, I immediately created another reality to make the Veda think that they had successfully turned Lord Puppeteer into a set of data as well. Then, your condition was more complicated since you were caught by the Veda."

  Lin Sanjiu lowered her head to look at her body that was shrouded in smoke.

  "Since the melting process had already begun, there was no use in me creating another version of you using my reality," Soulsqn continued. "Hence, I created another reality for the Veda. In its eyes, the melting process was twice as fast as the original melting process. Thus, the Veda thought you have already melted so it stopped the melting process and went away."

  'So, that's the full story…'

  "But how am I going to look for the grand prize? My arms and my legs are gone…" Lin Sanjiu sighed. Then, she suddenly gave a start as she remembered something. She looked at Puppeteer and said vigilantly, "The grand prize and the highest god are our only trump cards if we want to vanquish the Veda. Don't tell me that you guys aren't planning to look for them."

  Puppeteer gave a cold laugh. The glitter around his eyes turned deep blue. He lowered his head and nodded his chin at Soulsqn. The flesh worm leaped up and pulled a rope out of nowhere. She then straightened her body and tied the rope around Puppeteer's choker. "Alright, let's go and save those two brats!"

  Chapter 701 - One Has Fallen Into The Net

  Soulsqn's tendril deftly coiled the rope across Lin Sanjiu's choker and swiftly made a tight knot. Soulsqn's reality had sent the Veda away. Lin Sanjiu was now in a half-melted state, and she drifted midair like a cloud of smoke as Soulsqn pulled her forward.

  Looking at Soulsqn, who seemed to be having a fun time, a question floated in her mind. She asked, "Hey, Soulsqn. Am I heavy?"

  "Hmm? No, of course not," the flesh worm answered without turning her head. "Aren't we all a set of data now? We shouldn't have any weight, should we?"

  Lin Sanjiu had no idea what form of human parameters was expressed in the Data Stream Library. She surmised that she should now look like a half-zipped file that, once the compression finished, would be archived into the computer known as the Data Stream Library. This was also the reason she lost her weight, mass, and all other physical traits. However, when she told both Puppeteer and Soulsqn about her conjecture, both of them gave her a blank expression.

  "Save your breath. I've never heard of zipped file or a compressed file like that before," Puppeteer retorted, his tone inundated with mockery and impatience. "The example you gave is too primitive. I'm not an archeologist."

  Lin Sanjiu sighed dejectedly. Surprisingly, she was not too worried about her current state. After all, once they found her grand prize, she was certain he would know what to do. She then began to take in her surroundings, and a new question arose in her brain. "Where should we go to find them?"

  They were still trapped inside the labyrinth in the Arabic city. Including the houses, streets, and alleyways, the entire city layout was so confusing that there was no way of telling where to go. However, the silver lining was that Puppeteer's pace was steady and he was walking very speedily. After making several unhesitating turns, they left the alley very far behind. It seemed like he already had a plan.

  "I have no idea," the man clad in the robe answered quickly. "Just walk around and pla
y it by ear."

  If Lin Sanjiu had her arms right now, she would have rushed forward to grab him by his collar and shout into his ears.

  "You...you have no idea?" Lin Sanjiu raised her voice. "Hold up a sec! Why are we still walking then? We're probably getting further and further away from them!"

  "If that is the case, well, maybe today is not their day then."

  "How could you be like that—"

  "Then, how should I be, Miss Saint?" Puppeteer wheeled around. The circlets of glitter around his eyes turned deep blue and glimmered under his robe. "If I die here, I doubt the grand prize will come to my rescue. The reason I'm willing to walk these few steps and search for him is for the highest god. He should feel contented."

  'Because of the highest god?'

  Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth. Just as she was about to say something, Puppeteer interrupted, "You really can't think straight when it's something involving your grand prize, can you? Well, I guess I shouldn't expect much from a nincompoop who has a Messiah complex." Puppeteer paused for a second, then continued sneering. "Have you already forgotten what the Veda said just now? Both of them have already come across a Lin Sanjiu, and now the three of them are looking for a way out. It doesn't really matter to me if they come to my rescue when I'm in trouble, but don't expect me to save them. Whether they can survive or not, that's entirely based on their luck if they bump into me."

  Lin Sanjiu looked utterly stumped. She drifted midair with a stupefied look on her face as she was lost for words. Puppeteer jerked his head back and continued to travel down the city since he felt nauseated just by looking at Lin Sanjiu's face. "The grand prize has come this far by working so hard to manipulate you. If everything ends here, that would be the greatest irony I have ever seen or experienced in my entire life."