Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 85 Nightmare
"Fellow?"

Pipi looked incredulous. "Just someone from the same hometown?"

"It's not what you think."

Chu Ningyan remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking:
"If one day you are lying in bed like him, I will do everything I can to save you."

"Team leader..."

Pipi was somewhat moved after hearing this, but then she thought about it and realized that it seemed like Pipi was cursing herself.

Zhuang Fan, who was lying on the bed at this moment, was already facing hundreds of curses and torments.

One head, two demon generals, and three main consciousnesses are fighting against each other in his world of consciousness.

Initially, the two demon generals joined forces to deal with Zhuang Fan, but after realizing that they couldn't get rid of this tough nut no matter what they did, they simply devoured each other to strengthen themselves.

Zhuang Fan remained on the defensive throughout, lacking effective offensive tactics.

Later, he was trapped in a dark world, left to his own devices to decide the victor.

All around was nothingness, silence and light, even self-awareness was stripped away.

If he concentrates, he can still faintly hear the calls from the outside world, as if they were coming through a thick layer of ice.

Hua Sheng and his sister, and Chu Ningyan.

He could even feel a slight chill when her fingertips touched his forehead.

But nothing more.

Those sounds and sensations gradually faded into the distance, becoming increasingly blurred, until they finally disappeared completely.

Zhuang Fan fell into a deeper level of consciousness, completely isolated from the outside world.

After an unknown amount of time, he sighed softly, the sound echoing in the vast emptiness of his consciousness.

"I'm so bored. You can't keep me cooped up like this. Why don't we go outside and talk?"

In the darkness, a twisted figure slowly emerged—the demon general who ultimately triumphed.

"Human, you are strange."

"I feel so too."

“You can manipulate the mysterious fog and eliminate the decaying fog. We can certainly do that too, but it will be very difficult.”

"So you think I'm also a demon general?"

"I'm pretty sure you're not."

"Then I'm a demon's messenger?"

“Ignorant, naive, you’re just a slightly special human being, I can devour you at any time.”

"Dude, let me tell you a secret."

"."

“Your lord, Lady Tiros, is my younger sister. Her original name was Zhuang Li. I am certain of that.”

These words thoroughly enraged the demon general, causing it to become ferocious and terrifying, its body growing several times larger.

"Foolish humans, submit to me!"

Its voice was like the howling of countless vengeful spirits, plunging the surrounding space into chaos.

What are the benefits of submitting to you?

The demon general paused slightly. "I can preserve a bit of your consciousness."

"Stop messing around."

Zhuang Fan said calmly, "This is my mind, my consciousness. You can't change it no matter how much you pretend."

"madness."

The demon general let out a sneer: "You think your memories, your consciousness, are real? You think you can control this place?"

"What are you talking about?"

He was mentally prepared.

No matter how fierce the demon general is, he can only create some terrifying scenes to frighten himself.

Unexpectedly, the entire dark world collapsed, and the scene before them suddenly changed.

His consciousness was abruptly pulled away and then slammed back into a small body.

The classroom was eerily empty, deathly silent, with only the ticking of the second hand on the wall.

Sunlight slanted through the window, and chalk dust and old books, after being exposed to the sun, emitted a musty smell.

He looked down and saw a pair of hands that belonged to a child.

The desk was covered in rough scratches left by a compass, and the edge of the chair was digging into his knees. The texture felt incredibly real.

On the podium, the teacher's face seemed to drip with wax as he angrily questioned, his voice growing ever sharper.

"And the answer?"

“Say the answer in front of everyone!”
"Why aren't you saying anything? The whole class is watching you."

"Such a simple question, do you really need to make the whole class wait for you alone?"
"Aren't you a science genius? How come you've become mute, or deaf?"

What are you hiding from? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that everyone will find out that you actually can't do anything?
"Come on, turn around and let everyone see how guilty you look!"
"Get out here and stand there! Let everyone in the whole grade see you!"

Thus, they mocked and ridiculed, watched with disdain, isolated and scorned, and ignored with indifference.
The child's genuine fear directly affected Zhuang Fan, making him feel the same way.

His throat felt like it was sealed shut with cement; no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't utter a single syllable.

The memory shifts again, this time to the stadium.

His lungs felt like broken bellows, burning with every breath.

The red track seemed endless, the scenery around you rushed past, and the finish line was nowhere in sight.

Gray silhouettes swept past him easily to his right, and he slowed down, his legs becoming clumsy and unable to take a step.

He stumbled off the track, fell awkwardly, and the jeers around him became clear and loud.

When he got up, the scene before him changed instantly.

Under the spotlight, the fifteen-year-old stood on the iGEM competition's awards stage, receiving the gold medal trophy from the judges.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and flashes of light went off one after another.

However, the judge's face instantly turned cold. He snatched the trophy from Zhuang Fan's hand, raised it high, and slammed it heavily to the ground in front of everyone.

"Clang-!"

The trophy shattered, and the sound amplified through the microphones throughout the venue, creating a rather jarring noise.

The judges picked up his design drawings as if to announce a final verdict:
"Upon verification, Zhuang Fan's design was found to contain serious plagiarism. The judging panel has announced that his award has been revoked and his score is invalid."

The applause from the audience turned into sighs, and the teammates who had once fought side by side retreated as if avoiding a plague.

The spotlight was blindingly pale.

Behind the spotlight, it was pitch black.

Sixteen years old in the blink of an eye, at the mathematical modeling competition.

He typed rapidly on the keyboard, and the data stream and formulas on the screen ran steadily.

This is the area he is most familiar with and most confident in, a world composed of absolute rationality and order.

Suddenly, an integral symbol on the screen was twisted and elongated, swallowing the numbers next to it.

Then, more symbols came to life.

The equals sign "=" is broken into two pieces;

The summation symbol “Σ” is broken into a bunch of strokes;
The number "8" melted into two puddles of ink.

He tried to delete these "errors" with the mouse, but the cursor turned into broken gibberish and flew around randomly.

His proud world of logic crumbled instantly.

The competition was lost, and no results were achieved.

His memories continued to sink deeper, and when he opened his eyes again, he was seventeen years old.

Before me was a familiar remote control console, with a scene of a "highly realistic battlefield rescue exercise" displayed on the screen.

He put on the brain-computer interface and exoskeleton robotic arm and began operating the "wounded soldier" on the screen.

The scalpel moved under his command, precisely peeling away the necrotic tissue.

However, a tiny delay in the command, when fed back to the robotic arm, is amplified into a fatal shudder.

"laugh--"

The blade severed the carotid artery.

The heart rate curve on the monitor turned into a straight line.

In the corner of the screen, where "Exercise Ended" should have been displayed, the text had turned red:

[Target's vital signs disappeared]

That's not data, that's a living, breathing person.

"My design...killed people."

This chilling thought overwhelmed him.

(End of this chapter)