Forbidden Nightmare

Chapter 131 Mechanical Ascension
Hearing the words "I am not a human!", Romeo, who was controlled by the Great Contract, froze and stopped attacking unconsciously.

Its mechanical eyes kept flashing red, like a broken light bulb, and its hands were clearly trying to continue punching, but it was forcing itself to pull back, causing its arms and body to tremble.

It's as if there are two souls inside it fighting for control of the body.

When reflected on the giant puppet, the struggle and trembling are even more obvious.

"The highest order is to kill all humans..."

The giant puppet's mouth kept opening and closing, speaking in a mechanical voice that was completely different from Romeo's:

"The current target is a species of the genus Homo in the family Hominidae of the order Primates in terms of body structure, language logic, and ideology. It belongs to Homo sapiens, that is, humans, and is within the scope of elimination!"

“Execute the removal immediately…” Before he could finish his words, the giant puppet trembled, and Romeo’s anxious and angry voice rang out, “Damn it, what else can you be if not a human? I’m not a fool. The Great Contract exists in my subconscious mind, and you can’t fool it!”

"Get out of here! I can't control myself anymore..."

Romeo is different from other puppets. It is transformed from humans and has its own independent soul and a strong sense of self.

For ordinary puppets, the Great Contract is the underlying logic of action and the only command that cannot be resisted. Even if they have developed basic self-awareness, they can only act according to instructions under the suppression of the Great Contract.

For Romeo, the King of Puppetry, the Great Contract is like a golden hoop on the monkey's head, limiting what it can and cannot do. Once the Great Contract is violated, the Great Contract will forcibly control it.

Although it has an extremely strong sense of self-awareness and can produce some insignificant struggles and resistance under the control of the Big Contract, it is ultimately unable to escape the control of the Big Contract and can only act according to orders.

After a brief struggle, the giant puppet's mechanical eyes glowed cold red again.

When Pinocchio saw that emotionless look, he immediately realized that Romeo's consciousness had been completely suppressed, and now the Puppet King was just a cold killing machine.

"Boss, leave now!"

"Its orders were to kill humans. I'm a puppet, so don't worry about me. Go!"

The anxious shouts of the puppet boy echoed, and Li Nanke said to the giant puppet's raised metal fist:
"I'm really not human."

As he spoke, he triggered the animal qualities in his spiritual world, the zero-order qualities that took the form of diamond-shaped scales.

The illusory scales hidden under the skin condensed into entities, and hard scales emerged from the skin one after another, covering the entire body.

In an instant, Li Nanke turned from a normal human being into a monster covered with scales, just like the "high-level sea dweller" at the beginning.

This is the ultimate ability of "Sea Scale" when it is upgraded to the maximum level. It materializes the illusory scales, greatly improving the protective ability of the epidermis and turning it into a monster-like existence.

Pinocchio's anxious shouts were suddenly interrupted, as if someone had suddenly grabbed his throat.

He stared at Li Nanke blankly, his face full of disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.

The giant puppet just raised its iron fist and was about to kill the short human in front of it, but suddenly it froze in place.

"The current target is suspected to be an unknown species, not human, and is not within the scope of elimination..."

The giant puppet put down its iron fist, and Romeo in the cockpit's eyes flashed red. He recovered from his cold and dull state to become agile, and immediately took back control of his body.

The order from the Great Contract is to kill all humans. As long as Li Nanke can prove that he is not a human and demonstrates a non-human biological structure, he can be excluded from the scope of annihilation.

The orders of the Great Contract are harsh and rigid. If you are asked to kill humans, you must kill humans. If you violate the order, forced manipulation will be triggered.

But when the target is suddenly no longer human, the forced control will terminate, just like the 'if' in program logic. When the prerequisite is not met, the subsequent execution code will not take effect.

Romeo, who regained control of his body, had the same expression as Pinocchio, looking at the monster in front of him in disbelief.

The monster that Li Nanke transformed into was unheard of. It was definitely not a human being, nor did it belong to any known creature. Such a creature simply did not exist in this world.

The scales all over its body were similar to fish scales, but thicker and tougher than fish scales, as if it came from some indescribable ancient monster in the deep sea.

Romeo couldn't help but blurt out:
"What the hell are you?!"

Li Nanke couldn't help but complain in his heart, of course I am a human being, what else can I be?
But he couldn't say this out loud, lest Romeo be possessed by the Great Contract again.

Romeo certainly didn't recognize the 'High-level Sea-Born' from another forbidden dream.

The ultimate ability of Sea Scale has good defensive capabilities, but Li Nanke rarely uses this ability and has been subconsciously ignoring it because using it will turn himself into a monster.

In the forbidden dream, he was disguised as someone from the other side. If he hadn't repeatedly mentioned that he was 'not human' to strengthen the other party's impression and deliberately wake up the other party to see through the disguise, even if he became a 'high-level sea dweller', the other party would most likely not be able to find out the abnormality.

But Li Nanke was very resistant to this inhuman change. He almost lost himself in his animal nature. If he continued to use his inhuman traits and deepened the idea that he was a monster, he might really become a monster.

Facing the question from the Puppet King, Li Nanke's eyes were deep and trance-like, as if he was recalling the distant past:

"Do you know 'Star'?"

"Xingchen? You mean the ancient god?"

Romeo had heard about the beliefs of Moonlight Town when he was a human, but he didn't know much about the stars themselves.

Li Nanke took out a notebook and threw it at the feet of the giant puppet.

When the cockpit opened, it was seen that Romeo's chest wound had almost healed.

Having recovered its combat power, it was not afraid of Li Nanke's cheating. It jumped out of the cockpit and picked up the notebook to check.

"This is Geppetto's handwriting..."

The Puppet King flipped through the notes and looked through them carefully. He was shocked: "So the so-called stars actually come from outer space. Could it be that... you are also a strange life form from outer space?"

The monster that Li Nanke transformed into did not belong to this world at all. Romeo could not think of any reasonable explanation other than "aliens".

Especially under the premise that alien life has already arrived in this world.

Strictly speaking, Li Nanke did not lie. To the people in this world, he is an alien.

"That's right." Li Nanke nodded. "I came here to eliminate Simon, but as the leader of the Alchemist Group, Simon is very powerful, so I need your help."

"Similarly, you can't kill Geppetto alone. Our cooperation is the best option for a win-win situation."

Romeo looked at the notebook, then looked at him, his eyes clearly saying, "We are all alien life, why are the stars so powerful, but you are so weak?"

Seeing that Li Nanke really wanted to work together and had no intention of cheating, it untied Pinocchio and put the puppet boy down.

"Simon and Geppetto were both on the Alchemy Island. Because of their different philosophies, they had a big argument."

"Simon is the leader of the alchemists, but Geppetto is not bad either. He is the most outstanding alchemist. Simon is afraid of Geppetto's talent, but he also wants to use Geppetto for his own benefit. "So, Simon built an independent laboratory in the northernmost part of the island to imprison Geppetto, so that he can continue to do experiments and help Simon study some profound secrets."

"And Simon himself is at the Alchemist's headquarters, the Primordial Monastery."

As he spoke, Romeo led the two of them to the empty courtyard behind the exhibition hall.

I saw countless blue lines and symbols carved on the ground, forming a huge alchemical circle.

There are also dozens of sparkling self-element crystals inlaid around the alchemy array.

"Originally, there were two teleportation arrays between Krat City and Alchemy Island. One was in the high tower of the Alchemy Workshop in this city, and the other was in the City Hall."

"After Simon placed Geppetto under house arrest, I received Geppetto's order and immediately had the puppets destroy the alchemy workshop tower, killing many humans and alchemists, and setting off a puppet riot that destroyed the entire Kratt City."

"And I also occupied the city hall and took control of the only remaining alchemy teleportation array."

"What's strange is that Simon must have known that it was Gippetto who did it, but he didn't execute Gippetto, and Gippetto didn't let me lead the puppet army to the Alchemy Island to rescue him."

"I know that these two people must have their own plans. I once asked Gipetto, but he was always wary of me and did not tell me his plans."

"In his eyes, all I have to do is be an obedient dog."

The Puppet King said this with a blank expression on his face, but his eyes revealed a strong hatred.

Li Nanke couldn't help but frown as he listened.

Judging from the content of the hidden nodes, Simon's goal is Pinocchio's power heart. It seems that he wants to use this heart as a medium to complete the evolution into a higher life form and thus gain immortality.

Pinocchio's power heart is a combination of extraordinary metal and divine flesh and blood.

However, Simon did not directly snatch the heart of the puppet boy. Instead, he let Black Rabbit lead the boy to continuously upgrade and become stronger. He even led the two of them to the cathedral area and let Pinocchio absorb the flesh and blood of the champion Victor, making this power heart stronger and stronger.

After a series of events, Li Nanke had roughly figured out what Simon wanted to do.

Simon's original plan was to have the two of them kill the Puppet King. If this were to happen, after Romeo's death, Pinocchio's power heart would become even stronger, and he might even be able to absorb some special abilities again.

However, Li Nanke did not follow the other party's plan, and even reached a temporary offensive and defensive alliance with Romeo.

But he had no idea about Gippetto's plan.

Geppetto is like a black hand hiding behind the scenes, pushing the city of Kratt towards destruction. The two most important puppets, the King of Puppet and Pinocchio, were made by him personally.

Li Nanke frowned and thought for a long time, as if he had gradually grasped some clues.

"How do I use this teleportation array?"

Romeo threw a self-element crystal stone and pointed at the groove in the center of the teleportation array and said, "Insert it and it will work."

"But now is not the time to go to Alchemy Island. I said I want to give that big gift to Carlo."

"Carlo, come with me. I'll teach you how to control that big guy. I'll name it 'War Machine'. If you don't like it, you can change the name."

"That big thing can only be regarded as a mechanical device. It does not have a power heart. It cannot move without someone controlling it. Just like a car, it is not bound by the big contract..."

Pinocchio did not follow, but looked at Li Nanke to seek the boss's advice, which made Romeo grit his teeth.

"Romeo, aren't you afraid that after Pinocchio takes control of the 'War Machine', the two of us will turn against you?"

Romeo sneered: "If you really plan to do that, let Carlo end my life personally. I will not regret dying in Carlo's hands."

After saying that, it returned to the exhibition hall without looking back.

Li Nanke winked at Pinocchio, and the puppet boy obediently followed Romeo to learn the skills of operating an excavator.

If Pinocchio could control that giant puppet 'war machine', the power he could unleash would probably far exceed that of Li Nanke.

[Nightmare, you have completed key node three: Go to the Puppet Fair and control the alchemical teleportation array protected by the Puppet King! ]

[Node Reward: Alchemist's Cube (to be claimed)]

[Final Node: Arrive at the Alchemy Island and kill the Nameless Doll! ]

[The final node has changed! Because you have triggered the relevant hidden node, the final node has changed! ]

[Final Node: Arrive at the Alchemy Island and stop the Geppetto machine from ascending! ]

As the synchronized prompt sounded, blood-red text appeared in the field of vision.

Li Nanke's pupils shrank, and the nameless puppet... mechanically ascended...

In the previous forbidden dream, he triggered the hidden node of 'The Lady of Eternal Pain', which also changed the direction of subsequent nodes.

This time, when we went to the cathedral area, we learned the secrets about angels and gods, which caused the content of the final node to change.

"Nameless puppet?"

Li Nanke had never heard of the nameless puppet, but he had some impression of the so-called mechanical ascension.

In the general sense, mechanical ascension refers to the transfer of human consciousness to machines through technological means, thereby achieving human immortality or a state beyond human life.

This is the concept of mechanical ascension proposed in the real world, but this concept is far more difficult to achieve than imagined. As far as Li Nanke's assistant researcher authority is concerned, he only knows that machines are simply incapable of accommodating human soul consciousness.

As for whether it is possible to use some powerful forbidden object to help the machine ascend, he is not able to access and understand it at his level.

"Gipeto wants mechanical ascension... Is the mechanical ascension here the same as the concept in reality?"

If it was simply about transferring human consciousness to a mechanical puppet, then Geppetto would have already done it, and Romeo, the King of Puppetry, is the best example.

Therefore, the so-called mechanical ascension in the hidden node is probably a more difficult and more grand technical means.

Li Nanke turned his head and looked towards the corner of the courtyard.

In the corner, the female statue that was originally holding a large gear in both hands had the gear replaced by a metal block without anyone noticing.

The metal cube is equal in length, width and height, about the size of a bedside table, and is emitting a bright white light.

That's the node reward - the Alchemist's Cube.

(End of this chapter)