Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 450 The Extinction of Consciousness
Judging from the sheriff's terrified expression, Sun Hang in his eyes probably had an extremely terrifying appearance—which made Sun Hang extremely curious... what exactly did he become after devouring the Taotie clone?
But the memory fragments ended there. Sun Hang didn't know what happened after he fell into a coma, or how he later became a "normal human."

Sun Hang remembers clearly that the bullet that hit him was fired from the sidearm of a security officer named "Wang Yu," and that all six security officers in that patrol team, including "Wang Yu," died in the attack.

Death has no evidence.

"Could I have killed them?" Sun Hang thought to himself. "But I should have been unconscious after being shot... I only woke up after the doctors removed the bullet from my head..."

"wrong."

"Speaking of which, where did the reinforcements find me? It seems there's no clear record of that in the files... If it wasn't in this location, then it means someone or something moved my body... or perhaps, I wasn't actually 'unconscious' at that time."

Sun Hang planned to have the mainframe check the mission records of the reinforcement troops at that time—this super biological computer located deep in the Origin Palace has the authority to access all data of the Xia State Federation. If it can't find it here, then it certainly can't find it anywhere else.

Sun Hang pulled his consciousness away from the prophecy, only to find that Pei Zongjun's holographic projection had disappeared. The numerous red indicator lights on the electronic devices integrated with the wall were flashing, and a piercing alarm was constantly echoing in the room.

Sun Hang quickly looked at the main brain body immersed in the giant glass tank. He saw that the brain tissue cells were frantically going through a process of apoptosis-regeneration-apoptosis again. Sun Hang could clearly feel that the brain in the tank seemed to have become a huge black hole, continuously devouring the life force he had poured in.

"Damn it, don't die!" Sun Hang panicked and immediately increased the speed at which he infused his life force.

With the infusion of vital energy, the regeneration rate of brain tissue cells gradually exceeded the rate of apoptosis... This fierce tug-of-war lasted for nearly half an hour before the mysterious force that caused brain tissue cells to undergo apoptosis on their own disappeared, and the red indicator lights on the equipment that represented "malfunction" turned back to green, representing "normal".

The alarm stopped, and the only sound in the large room was the flow of liquid inside the tubes that supplied nutrients to the main brain.

"Hey, is it still alive?" Sun Hang withdrew his hand from the glass tank and asked the brain inside.

Several beams of eerie blue laser light suddenly descended from the ceiling, enveloping Sun Hang. These laser beams swept over Sun Hang from head to toe, as if recording his various physical data.

The same robot came over again, this time with a sharp needle in its hand. The robot stood in front of Sun Hang, and a gentle female voice, completely undetectable by electronic synthesis, came from the loudspeaker: "Please relax your body as much as possible. I need to collect a small blood sample."

"A blood sample? Does the Tian Shu Tower need my blood sample?" Sun Hang muttered. As a monster hunter, blood draws were practically a weekly occurrence at the Tianfu City Monster Research Institute. To monitor the physical condition and infection progress of each infected person, every infected person, even if they weren't a monster hunter, had to undergo a comprehensive physical examination regularly.

Blood tests, such a basic examination procedure, are familiar to every infected person.

Despite his complaints, Sun Hang didn't react negatively. Instead, he obediently stretched out his arm and placed it on the handrail made up of two mechanical arms.

"The mastermind? Old Man Pei? What are they planning to do with this blood draw? I just had a full check-up two days ago, and the blood test report is on the computer at the Tianfu City Mystery Research Institute—oh wait, they must have sent you a copy of the data too… Why do they need to draw blood now?"

The robot inserted a needle into Sun Hang's elbow and drew several tens of milliliters of blood at once. Then, it inserted the metal tube containing the blood directly into a slot on the base of the glass tank.

This groove seems to have been specially prepared for this metal tube, and the two fit together perfectly.

"What the hell is going on..."

“Biological individual information has been recorded… Consciousness subject code name: Sun Hang.” A voice devoid of any emotion rang out in the room, “Supreme privileges have been unlocked for you. You have now become the second-generation controller of the ‘Main Brain’.”

"Supreme authority? Second-generation control?" Sun Hang was stunned. "What do you mean? Where's Pei Zongjun? Pei Zongjun, are you planning to dump this mess on me? Where are you? Stop hiding and come out and talk!"

"The consciousness of Pei Zongjun, the first-generation controller of the 'Main Brain,' has been completely extinguished. According to his final instructions, you have been chosen as the new generation controller of the 'Main Brain,'" the emotionless voice continued.

"Huh? Dead?" Sun Hang opened his mouth in disbelief. "Old Man Pei, how could you just die like that?"

Had Sun Hang known that reading that memory would cause Pei Zongjun to lose consciousness, he certainly wouldn't have made such a hasty decision.

He originally thought that as long as enough life force was injected, the main brain could be saved... This statement was not wrong, but what was saved was the main brain, not Pei Zongjun, who used the main brain as a carrier of residual consciousness.

"Does this mean the mainframe has been formatted?" Sun Hang asked.

"No, the mainframe's data is perfectly preserved," the mainframe replied. "All existing tasks are proceeding smoothly, and the malfunction that just occurred did not have a serious impact on the mainframe."

"Why did Pei Zongjun's consciousness disappear?"

"The first controller achieved complete control of the main brain by 'implanting' his own brain into the main brain itself, but his brain tissue was not completely integrated with the main brain. You can think of it as storing his consciousness in an external hard drive... and in the recent incident, this external hard drive was the first to be damaged."

"Then why doesn't Pei Zongjun completely merge his brain with the main brain?"

"The first controller has already prepared an answer to your question."

"Did he guess I would ask this?"

"'I wish to die as a human, not as a monster... in body or consciousness.'" the mainframe said in a voice identical to Pei Zongjun's.

"Can I assume he committed suicide?" Sun Hang took a deep breath. "He could have lived."

"The first controller left you a message when issuing the final command. Would you like to play it now?" The mainframe reverted to its emotionless electronic voice. "Play it." Sun Hang sat down directly on the ground, looking up at the enormous, bubbling brain in the vat.

"Sun Hang, by the time you hear this message, I should have already died."

I am not afraid of death, because long ago I glimpsed my own death in the prophecy of the Sphinx.

Over the years, the mainframe no longer needs me... Even without my consciousness, the mainframe can operate on its own.

My greatest purpose in being here is to act as a regulator, ensuring that the mainframe does not violate the fundamental logic I initially set for it.

I know you don't trust me, and I know you're not particularly interested in saving human civilization. When I saw those prophecies, I was incredibly conflicted... I didn't know whether I should let you retrieve the other half of the Sphinx's brain, or stop you from doing so.

Because no matter which choice I make, in your eyes, it will seem like I'm scheming against you for some purpose.

Until I glimpsed my own death in a prophecy.

I suddenly realized that I only had one way to avoid arousing your suspicion.

That is death.

I entrust everything to you, and then gladly face death, so you won't have to worry about me using the Sphinx's prophecy to scheme against you... Now you hold the highest authority over human civilization; your single thought could determine its life or death... Standing in this position, you should be able to completely trust me, right?"

"Aren't you afraid that I'll choose to give up and let human civilization be devoured by the monsters?" Sun Hang stared at the brain in the vat with a complicated expression. "After all, with my abilities, I can survive even in the occupied zone... I'm not a saint, I don't need to go to so much trouble to protect people who have nothing to do with me."

Seemingly anticipating Sun Hang's response, Pei Zongjun continued in the message: "You don't need to do anything. Just like I said before, my purpose is to act as the supervisor of the mastermind. And now, I'm simply transferring the supervisor's power to you."

The mainframe can operate completely independently. It can handle all matters in the entire Xia State Federation and provide optimal solutions for various emergencies.

You don't need to worry about ending up like me, trapped in this room with nowhere to go. All you need to do is use your privileges as a safety precaution in case anything goes wrong.

“…” Sun Hang wanted to say something, but a lot of words got stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back down.

Pei Zongjun's consciousness has already died out. The main brain that is now imitating his tone to "read his last words" is just a super artificial intelligence built up from data. It is meaningless to say those words to an artificial intelligence without emotions.

“I saw many things in the prophecy,” the mastermind continued reading. “There are many things I cannot tell you, but I trust my judgment as much as I trust you.”

"Why should you believe me? I don't even believe myself." Sun Hang looked down at his hands.

"If you want to retrieve the other half of the Sphinx's brain, then go ahead. Or if you want to devour the main brain, I won't stop you... But I implore you, before you devour the main brain, give it some time to build a virtual model that can continue to function for fifty years to replace itself."

"Why fifty years?" Sun Hang keenly caught the key words in the last words. "What will happen after fifty years? Is it a prophecy that told you this? Do you mean that if I choose to give up, human civilization can only survive for another fifty years at most?"

The mastermind did not answer Sun Hang.

Pei Zongjun is dead, both in consciousness and in body, and the results of those prophecies have vanished with his death. No one will ever be able to answer Sun Hang's questions again.

"You might laugh at me, right? I believe in prophecies so much, those prophecies from half the brain of a monster." The message wasn't finished yet. "It's ridiculous and pathetic, but my abilities are limited. I'm just an ordinary person. I can't reverse everything. I can only choose to believe in those prophecies, walking on thin ice, choosing the one with the best possible outcome among countless options."

The mainframe paused before continuing, "But you are different... In you, I see the possibility of breaking through those prophecies. You don't have to choose from these limited options; you can create a new choice, a new choice leading to the ideal ending."

"Finally, I would like to ask you, in my own name, to lead human civilization forward on my behalf... Perhaps, like Tianfu City, human civilization will one day see the sun break through the clouds."

"The message has finished playing. Would you like to play it again?" The AI ​​reverted to its emotionless voice.

"No need." Sun Hang waved his hand, then stood up. "Who are you now?"

“I am the ‘main brain,’ the core supercomputer of the Tian Shu Tower, which controls the operation of the entire Tian Shu Tower and the entire Chunming City. I am also responsible for processing the data transmitted from various city-states of the Xia State Federation.”

"Can't you do the job yourself?"

"If the work you're referring to is the tasks I undertake, the answer is yes. My error rate in processing data is only one in 2.7 billion, and I can correct errors in the shortest possible time after they are discovered," the mastermind replied.

"I guess there's nothing more for me to do here?" Sun Hang asked again.

“I cannot answer your question, but as the second controller of the mainframe, you have complete freedom of action. You can stay here or choose to leave and do what you want. In addition, if you have any needs, I will treat them as the highest priority.”

"Can you bring Old Man Pei back to life?"

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," the mainframe replied. "Pei Zongjun's consciousness has completely dissipated. Even if we use a data model to simulate it, it would just be self-deception."

(End of this chapter)