Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 497 The Birth of "You"
"I was also on that starship at the time, but not as a passenger; I was there through some electronic devices."

"Winter" spoke.

With her explanation, Ethan understood the relationship between Super Winter and his original self, and the weight that had been hanging over him finally lifted.

He was facing an artificial intelligence with the same way of thinking as the original. Super Winter pointed out that the seemingly stupid guy outside, who would occasionally turn into a cat and stop thinking, was actually the original. It was a side effect of the Omega Blocker—making people stupid.

There are many such super artificial intelligences. In addition to Super Little Winter, there are about a dozen other super AI Winters in the company who manage her research projects and work in an orderly manner during her "adventure journey".

"But then again."

Super Little Winter shrugged. "The saying 'love makes people stupid' is absolutely true. Once the effects of the blocker wear off, if I knew what I looked like now, I would definitely want to crawl into a hole."

Ethan found the tone peculiar; it was clearly in the first person, yet it sounded like it was describing someone else.

"Back to that space warp trip, I wasn't the only one who witnessed it. It was one of the projects that the Holy City Council paid the most attention to. All the experts whose names you could name were present. That is to say, at least more than 90% of the Holy City's high-ranking officials witnessed your masterpiece."

"My masterpiece?"

Ethan suspects this will be a very serious charge.

"'Lights out' caused internal strife on the starship and drove every survivor insane."

"This was done by Xiao An."

Ethan immediately shifted all the blame, while Super Winter gave him a meaningful look and continued, "The captain believed that there were monsters beyond human comprehension in the black hole, but in reality, they were killed by firepower from other people. From beginning to end, no monster ever boarded that starship."

"This is somewhat different from the version I've heard of, but I like the current version."

This means that Xiao An could also be innocent. "Then what about the starship? How did it crash?"

"Because there was an idiot among the experts present at the time."

Super Little Winter rolled his eyes and said, "He thinks that maybe the Holy City can use the energy core of that starship to extract energy from the black hole, oh, that is, the kind of big white ball of light you are familiar with."

"You mean the God of Truth?"

“Wrong. The one you encountered in the Mirror Empire was the only individual that completed the ascension simulation. The others were just highly intelligent energy cores.” She paused. “In short, that idiot convinced more than half of the councilors to carry out the extraction operation without knowing anything about energy. To put it in terms you can understand, the core would first extract the energy into its own body, then stabilize the energy through suppression, purification, and other methods, and bring the sample back to the Holy City after the exploration was completed.”

"But the core exploded."

Ethan recalled the "Black Lotus" that crashed back to Earth; essentially, it was one of the relatively intact pieces of wreckage remaining after the starship's core was destroyed.

"Yes, it exploded. Dozens of experts present watched the starship explode into fireworks, and there was even a councilor who looked at that expert with such hatred that he wanted to devour him alive. But you should thank him. If it weren't for his 'genius suggestion,' perhaps the Holy City would have broken in several eras ago and brought the starship over your heads. Theoretically speaking, even if everyone on the starship died, as long as the energy core was still intact, this ghost ship would eventually be able to pass through the black hole."

A moment later, Super Winter added, "So that idiot was later imprisoned for treason and crimes against humanity, and the council has good reason to suspect that he was brainwashed by the Old Gods."

Why did the subsequent exploration stop?

"Because the navigation coordinates failed, the believer who provided the coordinates to the City of Truth died... Perhaps it was a problem with my description that made you mistakenly think that the events happened within a day, but in reality, the flow of time inside the black hole is extremely unusual. After the 'lights out,' the survivors held on on the starship for three days, but it took us seven years and three months to observe the process of the starship crashing."

This was enough time for that idiot to persuade half of the councilors, saving her from the tedious process of holding meetings and voting. "For the ruler of the Holy City, time and space are also unknown territories."

"I see."

Ethan believes this is the most truthful version of the story, and that he and Dark are both innocent.

Look, even Super Little Winter said so. How could such a big expert like her lie to ordinary people like her?

The starship crashed entirely because an expert made an idiotic suggestion, and he received the trial he deserved.

"If what you're worried about is the charge of a crime..."

Super Little Winter thought Ethan's thought process was very peculiar, just like hers.

People have said that about her before.

“From a time perspective, it’s impossible, because at that time, neither you nor Xiao An existed.” She said in the affirmative tone of the council. “The research on you began three months after the starship crash. I completed the formalities and officially submitted the project to the council.”

The story has finally reached its most crucial part.

The story of a fool who wanted to talk to a black hole.

"The reason is that during several observations before the starship crashed, I discovered an interesting phenomenon: the survivors who were driven mad were hallucinating and speaking in some incomprehensible languages. This is a typical symptom of the Old Gods invading their minds. We call this symptom 'cognitive distortion syndrome'. Their next step is to mutate their bodies and transform into other species. For this reason, many experts now believe that black holes are also a variant of the Old Gods."

"But you don't think so?"

"They did not exhibit typical behaviors such as obvious worship or self-harm; they just sat there, as if communicating with some object that we could not observe."

This phenomenon, which no one else paid attention to, piqued Winter's interest. "The Old Gods never communicate with any human individual. Even if they wanted to, human thinking cannot comprehend it, nor can it bear their attention."

Cognitive distortion syndrome does not stem from the malice of the Old Gods towards humanity, but simply from humanity being too close to them.

“No wonder you resent that idiot expert,” Ethan suddenly realized. “He blew up the starship, making it impossible for you to continue your observations.”

Super Winter did not refute, "The Old Gods do not communicate with humans or any other living beings; this is a consensus among all scholars... But what if those people's communication was not due to illusion, but rather because they actually saw something in that situation?"

Communication actually calmed the crew members who had been driven mad. They were no longer filled with fear and anxiety, as if they knew that the darkness around them would not harm them.

These easily overlooked, atypical symptoms lured her step by step into Pandora's box.

"Assuming something truly exists inside that black hole, what would it hope to gain through communication?"

All the research stems from this simple yet crazy hypothesis, which is why Winter mocks herself as a fool, because even if others noticed this detail, they would only think that it was just another manifestation of hallucination under extreme conditions.

Statistically speaking, there's a 99% chance the crew members were simply ill, yet she chose the 1% possibility. This is far from rational, just as the legislator approving the project cautioned—perhaps you're only seeing what you want to see.

"Ever since you learned about the underground shelter, you must have been very confused, right? Their plan was to implant an idea in your brain, making you believe that you are one of them, so that you would descend to their side as the god they expected. But it turns out that you are a true 'native' resident."

Super Little Winter changed the subject, "So, a new question followed closely behind: since you are a true 'native,' why is your way of thinking so different from the people here? The way you talk and the way you look at problems are more like people from our side. You are a time traveler from modern society or the 'future,' and this has never changed until now. Memories can be faked, but ways of thinking are innate and difficult to change easily... Just like now, you and I can communicate without any difficulty."

This doesn't make sense.

Just like a modern-day time traveler could never communicate seamlessly with a native from the Victorian era.

"And you also vaguely sense that some of the ideas they are trying to implant in you are actually true."

Only a lie that is half true and half false can be mistaken for the real thing.

“I did see you in that lab…that’s why you ‘condescended’ to come to their side.”

Super Little Winter's explanation finally pieced together the fragmented clues: "What you want to get close to is the 'Black Lotus,' which is a communicator."

"It's not just that I've seen it."

Super Little Winter shook her head; she suddenly became a little nervous as well.

She has interacted with countless test subjects so far, and only when she is with Ethan does she experience a racing heart and delusional thoughts. This is because she doesn't care about the thoughts of the previous test subjects, whether they are grateful or angry, they will not stop the experiment. However, when she is with Ethan, she doesn't want him to have a bad impression of her and think of her as a cold-blooded, inhuman scientific madwoman.

"I'm feeding you."

She took a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of feeding AI? I interpret your communication with the crew as curiosity, which means you've likely developed an interest in humans."

The facts proved her speculation: "Whatever you become curious about, I will feed the relevant materials into your database... From the moment you develop consciousness, you hear about our side of things, but I underestimated your learning ability. You not only received our information, but also imitated my actions—Little Darkness became the first elemental spirit you fed out."

She still remembers how overjoyed she was when the consciousness that emerged from the black hole responded to her for the first time in a human way.

"When the time is right, as a reward for providing you with information, I have made a request of you. I hope to obtain a pass that will allow me to pass through the black hole and reach the navigation coordinates on the other side, so that I can observe it more closely."

Super Little Winter also remembers the feelings at that time. It turns out that the structure of geniuses and ordinary people is no different. When it comes to actually meeting her online friends, she also becomes like an introverted homebody, so nervous that her heart is about to jump out of her throat.

“We agreed to meet on the other side, but… things didn’t go well. I suspect it was because of the seal set up by the god of the right position that the descent was hindered and some memories were lost.”

After that, a young man named Ethan woke up in a group of refugees fleeing to Riverwood. He still had some memories of another world in his mind and identified himself as a transmigrator who had accidentally entered this dangerous world. She landed earlier and woke up in a settlement in the northern part of the capital. Soon after, she was invited by the academy to begin her novel and interesting student life.

Ethan's brain was racing.

He spent two years in Riverwood as a clerk for the Adventurers' Guild, completing the tasks assigned by the guild during the day and practicing elemental magic at night.

He had thought his elemental energy creation talent was mediocre.

It took 4015 prayers and 16060 spellcasting attempts to raise the proficiency of the Fireball spell to its highest level.

Super Winter's words, however, gave him a different understanding of his life in Riverwood.

He subconsciously repeated the actions he had before the arrival.

After 4015 prayers and 16060 spells, the fire element was finally "fed" and shaped, giving it the ability to think independently.

"That's why I've come to see you."

Super Winter looked at Ethan, quietly waiting for his reply. "I'm very happy, but... this research has clearly gone out of control."

This is very important.

This was true for both her and Ethan.

She must also sort out these complicated relationships before "Doomsday" arrives.

"That concludes my story. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask."

Super Little Winter was mentally prepared. She suddenly felt a little envious of the fool outside the door who had used the Omega Blocker. He was still enjoying his life after "transmigrating" and was still like a hands-off manager, leaving all the tricky problems to them to solve.

“You just said that my understanding of this world is based on the food you fed in the laboratory…”

Ethan's serious expression made Super Winter feel uneasy.

Despite being well-prepared mentally, despite being able to think of over 100 antidepressants in a second, despite knowing full well that for someone at the top, a heartbreak is no big deal...

But she still longed for a satisfactory answer.

Just like the happy endings in novels, games, and comics.

She held her breath; the silence was like a trial, and she awaited the final outcome.

Ethan's gaze was sharper than anyone else's at that moment. "You must answer the following questions truthfully."

"Ah."

"The Hakimi virus, was it you who fed it into my 'database'?"

Super Little Winter was stunned for a moment, and the emotions she had been building up burst forth like a dam breaking.

"Ah, um, oh, it was me... no, it wasn't me, it was her, it was Winter who did it."

(End of this chapter)