Love, death, and false man

Chapter 1.1. The Lord of Souls
The icy sea, more desolate than the night itself, rippled with waves. Rusty deep-sea fishing vessels rocked and swayed, while the high-lumen fluorescent lights that attracted squid cast an exotic, eerie green hue over the entire vessel, reflecting off the menacing, pale faces of the fish.

Fang Yan's neck was tightly gripped by a crew member with a contorted face, and a sharp squid-killing knife was pressed against his eye.

"Anyway, it's just the rest of my life. Rather than suffering on this hellish cruise ship, I might as well die sooner."

"..."

Fang Yan was almost suffocating and unable to speak. Every pore on his body was tense to the point of resistance, but the bone-chilling cold, like ants gnawing at his face, still swept across his face.

……

9/11—17:30
Fang Yan, who was lying on his desk, woke up from a nightmare, covering his left cheek with a horrifying scar that ran from the corner of his mouth to behind his ear. The phantom pain came back to him, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

ring……

So school's already over?
Given that the student suicide rate in Binhai City has exceeded a certain threshold in recent years, evening self-study sessions have been nominally canceled and replaced with voluntary participation.

Security bars have been installed on the windows inside the classrooms and outside the corridors, raising concerns about the potential theft of semiconductors from the multimedia classroom.

Looking out through the fence, the evening glow had arrived, and the setting sun lay silent in the congealed blood-red, everything in sight was scarlet.

Fang Yan took out the flip phone he had gotten from his grandfather from the drawer and checked the text messages.

His parents have been staying abroad for a long time and have not returned home for ten years. His only immediate family member is his maternal grandfather.

Thankfully, I didn't receive any threatening text messages today.

Since finishing his summer job and being implicated in a murder, Fang Yan has been receiving threatening text messages from virtual numbers, most of which contain ambiguous content.

This made Fang Yan begin to suspect that he had developed some mental problems due to psychological stress.

The threatening text messages mentioned a thought trajectory monitoring device and the reconstruction of the hippocampus personality matrix using neural impulses and infrasound. The secret of the Soul-Sucker was revealed, and a gravitational wave virus infiltrated electronic communication devices, releasing interference frequencies into the human brain.

Everything sounded utterly absurd. Fang Yan turned to the all-powerful internet for help and discovered that the content matched the delusions of schizophrenia.

A large number of people on the internet have described similar experiences, which are referred to as mind control entanglement, where transmitters erase short-term memories and implant false memories.

Now, under intense pressure from the police, Fang Yan is already constantly distracted, even waking up at the sound of police sirens. Receiving these text messages daily only adds to his extreme mental strain.

Binhai No. 6 Middle School is a key provincial high school. Fang Yan is not stupid; he still managed to extract useful information from the chaotic text messages.

The meaning of "Soul-Draining Lord" is unclear. It refers to a certain organization or life form that is transcendent and can extract energy from the human soul.

Spacetime is irreversible, but the course of the universe can be altered by interfering with all past historical events through gravitational waves.

The Lord of Souls compiled a computer program virus using gravitational waves, hijacked a networked communication device on Earth in the current time and space, and then controlled all satellites and ground base stations, using so-called pulse sound waves to modify the neural electrical signals in the human brain and tamper with memories.

The people whose memories were first altered became the henchmen of the Soul-Draining Lord, or the mind control organization. The mind control organization systematically and disciplinedly controlled the minds of all humanity and helped the Soul-Draining Lord extract energy from human souls.

Fang Yan was relieved that the days of receiving threatening text messages were finally over. Sometimes he would receive dozens of such text messages a day, which made him extremely anxious and on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Just as he was thinking that.

The virtual number sends messages again, and each time the number is random, making it impossible to trace the source.

[The third unit will strengthen offline observation, using directional cognitive impairment to distract the target and lower their guard. If the target shows signs of resistance, directional beta wave irradiation will be used on their residence.]

"Fuck your mother... I'll fuck your mother."

Fang Yan closed his flip phone, stood up, and looked around in a panic. There were only groups of students walking out of the classroom. It was dinner time at the school cafeteria, and if they went late, they would have to wait in a long line.

What's wrong with me?
During summer vacation, Fang Yan was thinking of getting a summer job to buy a touchscreen phone, because he couldn't keep using the old-fashioned flip phone that his grandfather had discarded. Luckily, his uncle had connections to go deep-sea fishing, and what happened during that time was a complicated story.

The incident occurred in the Pacific Ocean, and the outside world is currently unaware of it. The fishing boat is out of contact, and neither Fang Yan nor his uncle possessed seaman's certificates, making them illegally employed, as were everyone on board. Fang Yan could be said to have fled back to China, smuggling himself back on another vessel. However, strictly speaking, based on documentation, Fang Yan did not leave the country, which explains the lack of news coverage.

The only person they could rely on in this matter, their youngest uncle, had disappeared without a trace.

No, upon closer reflection, this seems unreal, like a dream. Although those memories are clear, vivid, and clear, how can I be sure they aren't implanted false memories?
Fang Yan touched the wound on his face. The incident during the summer vacation was indeed true, but... what if the wound was not caused during the fight, but was a memory that was artificially created and altered?
He was panting heavily; he knew he couldn't go on like this, or he'd be driven crazy.

To verify whether the implanted false memories are real, we need to determine whether the world we are in is real or a virtual environment shaped by radio wave radiation that modifies the signals received by brain neurons.

The only method Fang Yan could think of at the moment was to start judging from the details. He was not a remarkable person. If he was really being targeted by a mind control organization, they would not have gone to great lengths to create an extremely realistic environment. There must be some shortcomings in the details.

Let's start by verifying this from the carvings on the desk.

As a key provincial high school, Binhai No. 6 Middle School does not have the concept of "deskmates"; all desks and chairs are individual combat desks and chairs supported by aluminum legs.

Pushing down the textbooks piled up like a high wall, Fang Yan began to examine the engravings on the desktop as if possessed. They were all symbols left by the previous host of this set of individual combat desks and chairs.

Among these depictions are abstract spiral lines with unclear meaning, malicious curses and insults directed at someone, fantasies about someone, and excerpts of movie lines. If it were a virtual environment, these details would not be well polished. Based on the initial judgment, it should be real now. The result made Fang Yan very satisfied, and a relieved and cheerful smile gradually appeared on his face.

He then began to examine the deepest vertical corner of the desk drawer, a dark spot that no one usually paid attention to, and found what appeared to be words written by someone as a prank.

You can't escape; we will always be watching you.

The eyes marked with pen doodles were clearly just silly, bored comments left by the previous students in this classroom.

Fang Yan felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat even seeped through his undershirt and shirt, soaking his school uniform.

He was found to be deathly pale.

"Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital? I'll ask for leave for you."

Weng Qing had been observing Fang Yan for some time. They had only recently been divided into classes in the second year of high school, and she wasn't very familiar with the boy sitting next to her by the window.

Her class is an advanced class, and they will finish all the high school courses this year. After that, they will only have time for intensive practice.

Since he was assigned to the same class as me, theoretically his grades should be pretty good.

It's been over a week since school started, and he's been extremely mentally unstable. He hasn't been paying attention in class or taking notes. Weng Qing thinks he looks a bit scary, especially the centipede-like scar that hangs from the corner of his mouth all the way to behind his ear, so she hasn't dared to talk to him.

But today was different. This guy suddenly acted very strangely, his complexion and various expressions made him look like he was about to have a stroke. It was just out of basic humanitarian concern.

Fang Yan glanced at Weng Qing from the side.

"I don't need to ask for leave."

Fang Yan answered in this way.

His maternal grandfather spends his days either watching war dramas or scrolling through short video apps. When he's not home, he frequents nightclubs and ignores everything at school. His parents are abroad, so no one can control him. He is one of the few students in Class 2 of the second year of high school who doesn't attend evening self-study sessions.

Fang Yan attended evening self-study sessions every day this week and didn't go home until very late. He spent most of his time at school, mainly for the sake of secrecy, because he was afraid the police would find his home.

When Weng Qing first struck up a conversation with the classmate sitting next to her, his reply was somewhat cold and arrogant, leaving her feeling a bit disheartened. Text message notifications kept popping up, and Fang Yan had to put his phone on silent. It was another barrage of strange, quirky text messages.

"What's your name?"

Fang Yan wanted to see if the woman was real or fake, or a member of a mind control organization. She didn't seem like a criminal gang, probably mainly because the school uniform of No. 6 Middle School was too ridiculous, even though he wore it himself.

The school uniform of Binhai No. 6 Middle School is the most common sportswear, with blue and white as the main colors.

Those controlled by the Lord of Souls may exhibit characteristics of a false person.

“Weng Qing”.

She felt extremely uncomfortable under Fang Yan's gaze. His sweeping look was unsettling, even more so than the stares of middle-aged men she sometimes encountered on the street. Subconsciously, she crossed her arms in a defensive gesture.

"There aren't many people with this surname. The details are good. You're probably not a fake."

However, Fang Yan did not rule out the possibility that she was being mind-controlled. It was possible that she had just not been activated by the Soul-Sucking Lord yet. If the contents of the text message were all true, then the mind-control organization could activate anyone to kill her through satellites and ground base stations.

Damn...

How could something so outrageous happen? Who is behind this barrage of text messages? If I find out, I'll cut their head off.

Calm down, don't let your female classmate misunderstand you as some kind of strange person.

"Oh, I've been under a lot of academic pressure lately, don't worry about it."

Fang Yan pretended to be stupid, left those words, and then left the classroom with his schoolbag on his back, leaving Weng Qing bewildered in the cold wind blowing in through the iron-barred window.

He himself knew that things couldn't continue like this.

Should I turn myself in? But that would implicate my uncle. Looking back at the sentencing for similar cases, like Lu Rongyu 2682, I know I'd be doomed.

After leaving school, Fang Yan bought a serving of takoyaki and a four-yuan serving of crispy potato, which he used for dinner.

Anyway, let's go to an internet cafe first.

We need to check if the deep-sea fishing vessel where I worked during the summer vacation is still out of contact and if it has been found. At that time, the ship sailed to an uninhabited island in the South Pacific, not on the main shipping route, but near a small country with a very long name. We used an emergency lifeboat to go to this extremely poor country, and finally smuggled back to China with the smugglers.

The success was so smooth that even Fang Yan felt it was somewhat unbelievable; all the survivors lost contact with each other after reaching the shore.

Normally, Fang Yan would not pay any attention to such inexplicable text message pranks. This summer vacation was too terrifying, like an unreal battle royale nightmare, making him really wonder if it was a false memory.

Two unpleasant things happening at once made him anxious, and he could only continue to turn to the all-powerful internet for help.

Fang Yan met two netizens online, both from Binhai City. One seemed to be a scientist specializing in optoelectronics and communications engineering. I use the word "seemed" because he might be an amateur scientist. The other was someone he met on a forum who had similar experiences.

In fact, you can find many people with similar experiences in the forum, but most of them are genuinely schizophrenic and have paranoia.

Fang Yan believes he can still identify which people are mentally sound. It would be best to meet one of his online friends tonight, as these things cannot be discussed in person.

I need to go to the internet cafe early to arrange a meeting; I have class tomorrow.

9/11—18:29
With his school uniform in his backpack, Fang Yan used his grandfather's ID card to successfully log into a reasonably clean internet cafe. He found a corner seat, deposited only twenty yuan, and didn't even activate a membership.

Fang Yan first browsed the news and found that the missing deep-sea fishing vessel had not yet been found. However, he knew that it was very likely that the vessel was anchored near the uninhabited island that was off the main shipping route and had not anchored. He wondered if it had drifted away to other places with the ocean current. In any case, it was good that it had not been found.

I went to a forum about mind control organizations and browsed many posts, but most of them were about real mental illnesses and none of them mentioned the Soul-Sucking Master.

After logging into QQ, Fang Yan planned to meet up with one of his online friends to resolve the issue of the mind-control text message bombardment.

Unfortunately, the beautiful woman who had the same experience wasn't online, and she didn't reply to my messages. Only the scientist specializing in optoelectronics was online, and his qualifications were questionable. His profile picture was Crazy Dave from Plants vs. Zombies, and his ID was "Bikini Bottom's Number One Affectionate."

【Are you there? 】

[(Sweating Emoji) is present.]

I'd like to meet with you; some things are better discussed in person.

[So direct? Not right now. We've only known each other for less than a week. I only agreed to your application because I saw your curiosity about optoelectronic communications. There aren't many outsiders as enthusiastic as you these days. (Sighing Emoji)]

[I'd like to confirm my previous question: is it theoretically possible to achieve those so-called mind control techniques circulating online?]

[Theoretically, overcoming all the technical challenges would be possible, but don't misunderstand, interstellar migration is theoretically possible now, only limited by materials and energy. Like interstellar migration, it's just theory. If we could accurately simulate the neural electrical signals of different brain receptors and generate electronic targets to label all brain receptors of a designated target, we could detect the characteristic information emitted by the recipient without implanting chips in the brain or immersing the brain in a nutrient dish connected by tubing. This would allow us to directly manipulate the five senses, including vision and hearing, from satellites or ground base stations.]

[And what about memory? Thought reading, memory implantation.]

This touches upon the realms of philosophy and even metaphysics. In what form would a thought, once extracted, appear? A mathematical model? Audiovisual images? Pure memory? Memory alone doesn't quite qualify as thought; it's more like a living entity encapsulated in a program. Thought is a more mysterious concept, closer to the soul. I don't understand, and I can't speak carelessly. But it's possible to read someone's immediate thoughts, what they're thinking at the moment, provided the aforementioned preconditions are met.

How to read it?

[By using Doppler radar to collect the target's thought signals, we can understand how people silently recite thoughts while thinking, transforming abstract concepts into concrete language forms, making thinking more organized and clear. Therefore, there is no need to decode thought waves, consider the form of thought, or the source code of thought; simply collecting language signals from the frontal lobe responsible for Broca's area can reveal real-time thought processes.]

[You seem to have some real talent; are you a genuine scientist?]

[You little brat...you don't actually suspect I'm a pseudo-scientist, do you?]

Scientists should be highly respected and wouldn't send emojis.

[(Sweating Emoji) Are you a primary school student? Your tone really sounds like a student.]

Fang Yan thought about it for a while, and it seemed to be true. When he was thinking, he would silently recite what he was thinking. As long as the mind control organization read what he was reciting, it would know what he was thinking.

too frightening.

I infiltrated the freshman QQ group of Binhai University of Technology and, after many twists and turns, finally found this professor of optoelectronic communication, who seemed trustworthy.

After hesitating several times, Fang Yan finally sent the message. He hadn't sent it before because he was afraid of being mistaken for a lunatic by the other party, so he wanted to appear serious.

Have you ever heard of the Lord of Souls?

To Fang Yan's surprise, even with the strange questions from before, this person could respond quickly, but this time he remained silent for almost two minutes.

Fang Yan was also a little anxious. This had been going on for too long. What else had he been busy with?

Finally, the other party replied.

Where did you hear that name? You're in extreme danger; we must meet immediately.

(End of this chapter)