Artifact Report

Chapter 413 Explanation and Application of Mai Minghe's TedTalk and Nest Network Information Technology

In the pitch-black night of endless rumbling rain, at the point where two beams of flashlight converged, stood the most disgusting-looking stage conductor in the world.

It is quite proud of itself.

Just now, Mai Minghe saw through the real trap in an instant, but he still talked on and on for two minutes, explaining everything in great detail, not wanting to leave anything out.

"...They say villains die from talking too much, but I'm not afraid! Because I'm not a villain. Oh, and I won't die. But I laid out such a brilliant trap, with foreshadowing and meticulous planning, that I'd be truly frustrated if I didn't explain the whole story in detail..."

The resident closed one of his temples. The other eyes, however, remained gazing affectionately at Mercury and the River Maiming—there were certainly enough eyes to go around.

Then, it raised an index finger and tapped its temple/eyelid.

...It seems to be implying that it is very intelligent.

Its skull should be covered with eyeballs, so is there any room for its brain? Mai Minghe actually started to think about this technical question.

"The most crucial thing is that when Mercury turns on her flashlight to look for AP, I have to try my best to act nonchalant and not secretly laugh. I also have to be careful not to walk into her flashlight beam, otherwise I'll be exposed immediately... Do you realize the irony? Her understanding of the residents actually led to her failure!"

What's truly terrifying is that this resident's lengthy speech actually had an audience—an audience that cheered and applauded it.

"This guy's looks are nothing special, but his methods are pretty good!"

A line of twisted, swirling, ink-spot-like nest-like characters surfaced from the depths of Mai Minghe's mind; somehow, she understood it.

"Wait a minute, so you can watch live streams on the Nest Network too?"

Deep within Mai Minghe's mind, countless layers of laughter, a jumble of truth and falsehood, echoed.

Are you newborn?

"Yeah, the last time I watched the live stream it was a human. What's it doing now? Why is it live streaming? Is it trying to sell products or teach makeup? What part of the nest are we seeing now?"

What's going on? What is live streaming?
It's as if there are countless residents connected to her brain, and whatever Maming River sees, they see too—wait, is this what "connecting the nest network" means?

"What you see is not the nest."

The residents standing on the street in front of him seemed to be able to see the words that rose from the depths of Mak Ming Ho's mind. It was as if a stage conductor, finally reaching the climax, suddenly raised his hands to the sky.

"This is the human world! This is Blackmore City!"

Suddenly, the nest text exploded in the depths of Mai Minghe's mind.

How is that possible? Oh no, how can residents enter the human world? You're not one of those lucky ones with a passage.
But something I've been finding really strange is that the buildings, trash cans, shops, and trees next to me are all completely still.

So how did you enter the human world? Is this old lady really in the human world? What happened?
"Please be patient, everyone, and listen to me," the resident in front of him said smugly. "Now it's my turn to talk. Please call me Ted."

...Quite strangely, Mai Minghe suddenly sensed a consciousness drifting towards him like mercury.

Resident Ted seemed to have hit a nerve, making Mercury feel helpless, annoyed, and amused at the same time—she felt the same way as Mak Ming-ho earlier: sometimes she simply couldn't get angry at the residents, she was just powerless.

Could the ability to sense mercury be because they've also "connected"?

She tried calling out "Mercury" twice in her mind, but there was no response.

Meanwhile, resident Ted had already begun to talk incessantly—clearly, it enjoyed this state where it knew things that others didn't, and only it could impart knowledge and answer questions.

"Tonight, a major change has occurred in the world. This change has just happened, and it was because I am sharp-eyed and well-informed that I was able to react immediately and become one of the first residents to enter the world."

"You're probably curious about what happened, aren't you? Well, let me tell you, the nest has been connected to the human world."

If you go to the following addresses...

"...You will find that there seem to be huge black holes cracked open at these locations of the lair. Don't worry, that's not the Abyss Belt...The Abyss Belt has been squeezed into the human world. It poses no threat to the human world now."

"Therefore, the darkness you see is the night of humanity!"

What? That's impossible! Who did that?
Wait, could it be that the host's plan really succeeded?

"The host's plan?"
Mai Minghe's heart tightened suddenly as she remembered the radio host who had saved her from the taxi driver. Was this him?
He said something back then that I didn't think much of at the time, but later it kept surfacing in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt...

He said, "The game of hive domination is to hives what a hurricane is to Florida—an irresistible natural disaster."

He said, "I'd probably call myself a post-disaster reconstruction advocate."

For the nest, this "disaster" means being "dominated".

So, following his logic, "reconstruction" should mean "restoring to a state of non-domination"—but how is that possible?
How can one restore a state of non-rule after being ruled? In the human world, one could say that one is rebelling or usurping the throne, killing the ruler, and naturally there will be no more rule—but the rules set by the nest become "truths," which cannot be avoided in this way.

In Lan Jiesen's notes, Anlu also said, "I can use the nest however I want."

Faced with such absolute dominance, how should radio hosts "rebuild" after the disaster?
After much thought, isn't the only thing we can do when the "disaster" has just occurred but before a final ruler has emerged?

But what he's trying to do is bring the nest into the human world? Why?
He didn't seem like a resident obsessed with killing humans; he was clearly very rational...

While Mak Ming River was filled with doubt and wild thoughts, resident Ted's mouth never stopped.

"...What you are seeing through these two humans is the human world. You can think of them as a browser interface, a window, or a camera."

A wave of amazement and admiration arose from the depths of his mind, mixed with doubt and questioning—the number of residents gathering in the depths of Mai Minghe's mind was growing.

Mercury's mind probably imagined the same magnificent scene.

“Then let us see something else, to prove that this is indeed a human world, and not that you’re playing a trick on us,” one resident said. “What’s the point of letting them stare at your old face all the time?”

Resident Ted laughed.

“I knew it. There must be some of you underachievers with a narrow vision and limited perspective who don’t quite believe me yet.”

A torrent of self-criticism and self-praise surged from the depths of my mind.

“No problem, I’ll let you see the human world through these two humans, and I can even explain it to you.”

No matter how you look at it, they can't move.
Hey, old lady, turn your neck.

"I still want to move," Mai Minghe thought to himself.

If she could move, she would turn off her phone flashlight immediately; but how could resident Ted allow her to move without turning off the flashlight?
"Now I will install application programming interfaces, or APIs, into their consciousness."

Resident Ted was saying something that Mai Minghe couldn't understand: "With the API, her consciousness becomes an application software system. You can interact with her consciousness system—to put it bluntly, you can command commands, and after I give permission, she can act according to the commands."

...If there were anything in the world that would make Mak Ming Ho even angrier and more resistant, she simply couldn't think of.

Her body actually had to obey the commands of some residents?
Her consciousness—her consciousness system—has become an "interface" for receiving commands from residents? Is that what you mean?

The countless residents deep within their minds were overjoyed.

Great, can you shoot yourself?

No, that request definitely won't be allowed now.
Mercury, her body stiff, walked step by step into Mai Minghe's field of vision. The request she received seemed to be to touch the trash can by the roadside.

"Huh? You've already made a request. The API has been open for a while. Why isn't anyone saying anything here, old lady?" Resident Ted put his hands on his hips, waited a few seconds, and said, "Just make your request. What's there to be shy about?"

“…Turn your head,” one resident said.

You little lapdog grandma pancake, the head that's going to turn is your head too, turn your head, turn your head, turn and turn until it falls down.
Mai Minghe was suddenly taken aback.

Who was the person who just spoke?

“Oh, okay, you want to turn around?” Resident Ted received the request and waved his hand generously. “No problem, turn around!”

He can move now—but Mak Ming-ho's neck is like a Lego brick, only able to turn one section at a time.

As she turned her head, she immediately saw the driver with a cloud of black mist above his head.

Wow, what is this?

Isn't this the Black Abyss Belt? This place truly is the human world; it has really been squeezed into the human world.
Under one new request after another, Mai Minghe walked awkwardly and stiffly to the driver's side, carefully examined his head, and even slowly put his hand into the black fog.

The inhabitants of the mind were completely engrossed in revelry.

Someone, hurry and look! Can you see her hand reaching in? If you do, it means the connection is really established!
Then we can enter the human world, enter the human world, enter the human world!
People shouldn't live in this world. We need people, we need people, we need people! We need to dismantle people, peel them apart, remove the dross, and refine them down to just a tiny bit of filth. Oh, the power is incredible! My legs are weak! I hate it!
That host really did a great job! How did he manage that?!

We can't kill them all, my dear compatriots. Leave some seeds so that there will be more residents.

Go forth, my fellow countrymen!

Resident Ted said with deep emotion: "Go to those huge, broken black holes, stand in front of the darkness, listen to the sound of the world's torrential rain, smell the stench of the human soul, and come in like me!"

(End of this chapter)