The night before the promotion

Chapter 110 Confusion
Dong Yuan left the shielded room and dialed a higher-level phone call. Since the attack on the Stone Fort, the approval process required to apply for the supreme authority of the high-wall system has become more complicated.

Faced with Zhou Si's request, ordinary people may be powerless, but as the director of the Anyan City Supervisory Bureau, Dong Yuan has a certain say in higher-level organizations because of his special identity and the important responsibilities he plays in the subsequent control of Shenwei Technology.

Zhou Si naturally knew this. In the entire Anyan City, the only person who could support his actions was Dong Yuan.

During the waiting period, Zhou Si continued to give instructions.

"I have a feeling that this time we will be able to catch the Immortal completely, and then what will follow will be a decisive battle between us and the Immortal."

Zhou Si controlled his facial expression and explained in a very calm tone, "With the energy possessed by the immortal, his resistance and struggle will definitely be more intense than we expected."

"I think there is a high probability that the action against the Immortal may evolve into a local war."

Li Weiyu was about to retort to Zhou Si's alarmist remarks when he suddenly remembered the previous attack on the stone fort and the parade.

Even a high wall that people think is indestructible will be found to have loopholes by the immortals and be struck hard, causing turmoil that affects the entire world.

Then when it comes to the immortal's own life and death, how could the energy he releases be low?
Think about the way the immortal killed Ji Siling. He was able to make Madam Cui, who was so powerful in Yinxiang, die in such a ridiculous way. He was like a god in the underworld, controlling everything with his gestures.

“I hope the Inspectorate will be prepared on this point.”

Zhou Si thought about the worst possible scenario, "Maybe by then, we will need to mobilize the army."

Li Weiyun exclaimed, "A local war?"

Ruan Linrui did not participate in the conversation, she just looked at Zhou Si with worried eyes.

She knew very well that no matter how perfect Zhou Si's actions were, there was still a possibility of him being exposed in front of the mysterious immortal.

Once Zhou Si's plan is exposed and the immortal tries to fight to the death, then Zhou Si's real body in the Shenwei Building will undoubtedly be the most vulnerable existence.

Ruan Linrui was thinking that she should not leave Nianyan City after the operation as Zhou Si said, but should return to Shenwei Building with her own authority. She might have a chance to steal Zhou Si's real body.

With such a large container, its accessories, and complex extracorporeal life-support equipment, it would be impossible for Ruan Linrui to transfer Zhou Si's body safely without alerting anyone.

"damn it!"

Ruan Linrui suddenly started cursing under her breath.

Zhou Si looked at her doubtfully, but Ruan Linrui looked away, her expression full of fatigue, as if she had just gone through a fierce psychological struggle and had briefly escaped from another round of painful torture.

She walked aside, sat down on a chair, and waited quietly for time to pass.

A few minutes later, Dong Yuan returned to the shielding room.

"They agree to your plan. Your consciousness will pass the review of the high wall system, and the restrictions imposed by the high wall on you will be temporarily lifted."

Dong Yuan clapped his hands, and several technicians walked in quickly, pushing a heavy cart. Behind them was an incarnation body that was being transported in.

Looking at the steel body that was similar in size to an adult, Zhou Si remembered the model of this avatar's body, which was exactly the scout avatar that Song Qiliang had used before.

In the following period of time, this scout incarnation will become Zhou Si's temporary body for him to continue his actions.

"In order to avoid any possible leaks, this scout avatar has been disconnected from many networking programs and is in an absolutely closed state. You can use it without worry."

Dong Yuan paused and said uncertainly, "Even if there is information leaked, it will take some time for the immortal to search for it."

“Yes, we are racing against time.”

Zhou Si nodded. A countdown appeared in his field of vision, which was completely invisible to Dong Yuan, Li Weiyu, Ruan Linrui and others.

Only Zhou Si could see a small countdown program engraved into his visual system.

After converting the hours to days, the countdown ends in seven days.

9 month 10 day.

In Zhou Si's view, this day was the day of the decisive battle, but he did not tell anyone about this. This was a conspiracy theory carefully hidden by Zhou Si, a possibility that made him shudder, and an obsession that made Zhou Si pursue it desperately.

"Then... the second question, Doctor Zhou, where do you want to start?" Dong Yuan asked, "You don't have much free time, you have to make good use of every minute and every second."

"I've said before, I've got a clue," Zhou Si explained after a moment's hesitation, "but I'm not sure where this clue will lead me. Maybe it's just a fantasy."

Zhou Si encouraged himself, "But we can't give up this trip just because we might get nothing, right?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Si couldn't help but think of Chen Wen Ge again.

It has to be said that the existence of this person whom Zhou Si called teacher did have a significant impact on Zhou Si's life. This influence was not in the field of scientific research or in his future career, but it shaped Zhou Si's cognitive concepts as a human being.

Zhou Si was once troubled by severe anxiety and was worried about something that had not yet happened.

At that time, Chen Wen Ge had advised him not to give up taking action just because he was afraid of failure.

Instead of being anxious and worried, it is better to do the current things well. As for the not-too-distant future, let it exist in that not-too-distant future.

The technicians finished the final adjustments. They looked at Zhou Si inquiringly, and Zhou Si slowly half-knelt down, exposing the back of his neck completely.

"Next, we will use the authority of the high wall system to disable your security mechanism, extract your thought storage core, and place it into the scout incarnation."

Ruan Linrui picked up the removal tools. She was Zhou Si's chief surgeon, and the subsequent replacement work would be completed by her.

"Ah."

Zhou Si responded calmly.

Ruan Linrui pressed the back of Zhou Si's neck for a few seconds, and a permission pop-up window popped up in Zhou Si's field of vision. After going through the tedious authentication and permission, a thin crack appeared on the back of his neck, and then the crack quickly expanded. Like an exploding armor, Zhou Si's entire back of the head was completely turned up, completely exposing the complex structure inside.

Ruan Linrui said, "Zhou Si, I'm going to extract your thought storage core."

"Ah."

“Generally speaking, the moment your mind storage core separates from your avatar’s body, your consciousness will be banished back into your body and you will wake up.

But your situation is special, the life support system keeps your consciousness dormant to prevent you from waking up in the container with horror, so... so I'm not sure what will happen to you afterwards."

Ruan Linrui murmured, "Perhaps your consciousness will be affected to a certain extent, or perhaps you have simply lost your sense of the outside world, such as falling into a turbid darkness..."

"There is also a possibility that I will experience what is known as 'death'."

Zhou Si's tone was relaxed, and it was unclear whether he was really that relaxed or if he was just pretending.

"It's okay. I often discuss death with Chen Wen Ge."

Zhou Si spoke aimlessly, "Chen Wen Ge said that he was very afraid of death and felt sad about the return of things to nothingness." "But just like when I was in the hospital, spying on the pain of others, Chen Wen Ge felt that his own death seemed to be nothing when he thought about the great ancestors in history who would also die."

Zhou Si comforted him, "Besides, I'm not really dead."

Ruan Linrui's mood did not ease much because of Zhou Si's optimistic answer. She stared at the precious thought storage core wrapped under layers of mechanical mechanisms.

"What would it feel like to die?" she asked, in a mysterious voice.

"It's just like falling asleep," Zhou Si replied, "but you don't dream."

"Is that so?"

Ruan Linrui nodded gently.

……

Zhou Si didn't know what happened next. If he had to give an appropriate description of his experience, it would probably be that at a certain moment that Zhou Si didn't even notice, his consciousness fell into darkness...

It should be dark...

No, that description is not accurate enough.

The truly correct way to describe it is that Zhou Si was still discussing with Ruan Linrui about what the so-called death was in the previous second, but in the next second, he was standing aside, and in front of Zhou Si, half-knelt another Zhou Si... the mechanized Zhou Si.

It remained in a half-kneeling posture, with the back of its head completely open. Looking inside, the thought storage core inside had long disappeared, leaving it empty, as if its soul had been taken away.

Zhou Si was stunned for a moment, and it took him a full minute to realize that Ruan Linrui had completed the replacement work and his thought storage core had been loaded into the scout incarnation.

However, Zhou Si had no idea what had happened during this period of time. It was like two different movies that someone had roughly cut together without any transition or scene change, jumping abruptly from one story to another.

Zhou Si simply moved his body. Although the scout avatar could be considered an armed avatar, it was obviously much inferior to Zhou Si in terms of control...

Wait a minute, worse than Zhou Si?

Zhou Si looked at the half-kneeling body of the incarnation and realized with horror that he did not have a clear word to describe this body, but instinctively called it "Zhou Si".

Zhou Si, soaked in the container with a broken body, half-kneeling with a soulless Zhou Si, hiding in the scout incarnation ready to act...

A strange feeling of detachment and confusion spread in Zhou Si's heart. This bizarre sense of identification not only occurred in his heart, but also existed in his words.

"Control yourself, Zhou Si."

Zhou Si reminded himself that confusion of identity was indeed a problem, but now was not the time to think about it.

I need to put this issue aside for the time being and deal with the next thing first.

But Zhou Si understood.

The issue of identity confusion is like a bomb hidden deep in one's heart. Its fuse has already been lit, but no one knows when it will burn out.

Zhou Si is still racing against time, against the immortal, and against himself.

Dong Yuan asked, "Do you need the Supervision Bureau to assist you in your next move?"

"No need for that," Zhou Si shook his head. "The more people know about it, the easier it will be to attract the attention of the Immortal."

After saying that, he looked at Li Weiyun and asked, "But I need a car to take me quickly."

"Okay," Li Weiyun immediately turned and left, "I'll wait for you in the parking lot."

Zhou Si came to the half-kneeling "Zhou Si", examined him for a moment with a complicated expression, then looked at Dong Yuan again.

"Director Dong, you can ensure everyone's safety, right?"

"I can guarantee that."

Dong Yuan understood what Zhou Si meant. "Enough people have died because of this case."

"That's good."

After Zhou Si finished speaking, he turned around and left, while Ruan Linrui looked at Zhou Si in great confusion.

Ever since Zhou Si was trapped in the container, Ruan Linrui has been thinking about something, something meaningless, but something that keeps lingering in her mind.

Perhaps the series of events had brought her too much of a shock, and a strong sense of nothingness completely captured her.

Ruan Linrui didn't want to say it, but she knew in her heart that she still had feelings for Zhou Si. But should this feeling be placed on Zhou Si's remaining body, or on the body of the incarnation controlled by Zhou Si?

People's love, longing, emotions, and all the emotional aspects require not an abstract, invisible and intangible concept, but a real and concrete carrier.

So where should Ruan Linrui place her feelings for Zhou Si? Or, like the so-called Platonic love, should she place them in Zhou Si's spirit, the consciousness that shuttles between many bodies?

This contradictory and strange feeling made Ruan Linrui at a loss. She tried to find an answer, but no one responded.

Before Zhou Si was about to leave the shielding room, she couldn't help but ask loudly.

"Zhou Si, what do you think is the end of everything?"

Ruan Linrui didn't know what she was asking, but as if instinctively, she asked a mysterious question.

"maze."

Zhou Si replied without turning his head.

"A huge maze that can swallow everyone."

Zhou Si disappeared in the corridor, but his voice still echoed in Ruan Linrui's ears, and his body was still half-kneeling in front of her.

"I can't get out, and neither can you. No one can get out. No matter how hard we try, even if we spend our entire lives, we are just wandering around in this huge maze."

Ruan Linrui remained silent, took deep breaths repeatedly, and slowly covered her face with her hands.

Sadness inexplicably overflowed from the bottom of her heart, and what made Ruan Linrui even more sad was that she didn't even know why she was sad.

Zhou Si strode forward firmly, discarding all distracting thoughts in his mind. He spread out his palm, where there was an electronic nameplate.

This is the relic that Ji Siling left for him.

(End of this chapter)