On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

Is that really the case?

I should have realized this back in the Tang Dynasty. Only those with "supernatural abilities" could possess such a powerful ability to recreate past memories and transform them into consciousness.

Seeing that Liao Ji remained silent, Ling became a little nervous. She clenched her little fists and asked anxiously, "Big brother, you can't go back on your word! Because Ling's wish is very important, extremely important, especially important! It's something Ling wants to fulfill no matter what!"

Liao Ji squatted down, stroked the little girl's head, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, didn't your pink-haired sister tell you? I'm the best brother to children. Tell me, what is Ling's wish?"

Seeing that Liao Ji had finally paid attention to her again, the girl breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she showed a very sad expression, lowered her head, and whispered to Liao Ji:

"Big brother, Ling, Ling did something very wrong to Mom, and Ling regrets it very much."

"But now Ling can't apologize to her mother in person, so Ling hopes that her older brother can help Ling take care of her mother!"

"Ling hopes her mother can be happy. Big brother, can you promise Ling that?"

“Ling begged her older brother very, very, very earnestly.”

The little girl clung to Liao Ji's clothes, as if she wouldn't let go until Liao Ji agreed. Although she was young, her eyes were full of perseverance, because, as she said, this was the most important thing to her.

"Okay, I promise you."

"Your brother will definitely take good care of Mom."

"Really? Thank you, big brother! The pink-haired big sister really didn't lie to me, so I'm relieved!" Ling said excitedly and happily!

As the little girl spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. Those glistening tears seemed to reflect her longing for her mother, for the housekeeping robot that always stayed by her side, playing the role of her "mother," during the lonely nights after her mother's death; for the potato soup the maid made for her mother; for her mother, who was her only source of emotional support at that time.

Liao Ji didn't say much, but simply pulled the sobbing little girl into his arms.

"Big brother, the pink-haired sister said that our world is... is free of evil. Everyone is living happily ever after. Is that true?"

"it is true."

"That's wonderful! Ling is so happy. It's so good! Ling wants to live in this era too. Ling wants to be happy with her parents too. It's so good, so very good."

"But it's okay. Even though Ling can't do it, as long as Mom can... Mom can, that's enough. Thank you, big brother, thank you for telling me all this."

"Ling can't cry anymore, Ling has to be strong. Big brother helped Ling, but Ling hasn't helped big brother yet. This is my promise to the pink-haired sister, and Ling has to keep it!" Ling said firmly.

The girl wiped away her tears with her chubby little hands and bravely left Liao Ji's embrace. After that, Ling didn't need Liao Ji to do anything. After opening her arms, the "patch" capsule that Lena had given him once again appeared in Liao Ji's backpack.

"Well then, goodbye, big brother."

"Give my regards to my mother."

After Ling waved to Liao Ji, the little girl's phantom quickly dissipated, turning into a rain of light. These raindrops landed on the capsule in Liao Ji's hand, and the capsule began to change rapidly, revealing its true form.

It was a dark green seed with immense vitality.

In Liao Ji's view, the tools he used to describe the items had changed from the original "patch" to...

Seed of the World Tree

When Liao Ji was at Kyle Technology, he asked the scholar from the Demon City, Einstein, about knowledge of elves. Professor Einstein mentioned the World Tree.

The World Tree is said to have the magical ability to connect souls to elves. Legend has it that each leaf of the World Tree is the soul of an elf, and its branches and veins are sacred soul links.

And here

The World Tree Seed is no longer meant to connect to souls, but rather to the countless servants within the Consciousness Cube.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Supplementary Reading: 1. The Origin of the World Tree Seed (Volume 2, Chapter 71)

2. Professor Einstein's Explanation (Volume III, Chapter 50)

Chapter 275 Wake Up, Zero

The dark green seed floating in Liao Ji's palm began to take root and sprout rapidly after absorbing Ling's consciousness rain.

In the real world, there can only ever be one World Tree. But in the consciousness world of the servants, when Liao Ji half-squatted down and buried the seed in the area where Ling had just disappeared, within a few breaths, a seedling emitting a faint light sprouted from the soil.

Ling's consciousness was the initial sprout, and then, from within the Consciousness Cube, the consciousnesses of countless other servants, as if attracted by this seedling, began to swarm toward Liao Ji's location.

For the servants, consciousness is essentially a series of data. Liao Ji watched as this electronic data was being absorbed by the emerald green seedling in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a sense of incongruity. After all, plants and technology are two completely incompatible things.

However, the changes that followed in the World Tree sapling overturned Liao Ji's imagination. After continuously absorbing and gathering the consciousness data of the machine servants, the sapling not only grew wildly, but its appearance also underwent a dramatic transformation.

The most significant change is that elements representing the "plant" attribute have begun to be diluted or eliminated.

Liao Ji noticed that the color of the sapling's branches and trunk had changed from the traditional brownish-brown of trees to a silvery-gray with a metallic sheen. Correspondingly, the rough, wrinkled bark that should have been there was now smooth and rounded, without a single wrinkle.

Meanwhile, the once lush and verdant branches and leaves have now turned a deep sea blue.

The leaf's epidermis peels away, becoming transparent, and the leaf tissue inside also becomes ethereal, without substance. Finally, the intricate veins inside, the leaf's "blood vessels," seem to transform into circuits, with blue light constantly flowing through them.

When Liao Ji came to his senses again, the slender, green sapling had transformed into a towering, silver-blue-gray tree that he had to look up at, standing within the consciousness cube of the servants.

A world tree that looks like a cyberpunk version of itself.

Smooth metal branches, illusory leaves of consciousness—when Liao Ji looked at this mechanical world tree, the consciousness and memories of the many machine servants that carried it seemed to emerge before him.

The Servant originated from Zero's self-replication and, from its very inception, has been solely dedicated to finding the Ash Emperor.

Liao Ji saw it: for countless days and nights over five hundred years, they had dutifully hidden the consciousness AI within the machinery sold by the Mechanical Alliance, silently observing and searching.

In the video, many students of "Ancient Studies" from Magic City University are diligently studying the history of the "Great Emperor." Liao Ji seems to see Professor Einstein speaking eloquently on the podium when he was young.

The scene depicts a tribe guarding the frontier of the Dragon Kingdom, inheriting the Great Emperor's will and continuing to fight against the Turbid Swamp, a remnant of the ancient alliance from five hundred years ago.

The scene depicts scavengers in the Holy Kingdom attempting to find the legendary tomb of the Great Emperor, from which countless tomb raiders try to unearth his relics every year.

In addition to the scenes of these mortals searching for the Emperor, there are even scenes from "them".

As a priestess in the Holy Kingdom, Sthiuthia's prayers in the public eye brought faith and blessings to people. She was a symbol of all that was good for people. Her gentle face always radiated a kind smile. Countless people who were lost and had dull eyes were inspired and encouraged by the nun. They seemed to be filled with energy and regained hope for life, and began to live actively and diligently.

But turning back, after stepping down from the radiant missionary platform, all that remained was the lonely, desolate, and heartbreaking silhouette of the little nun herself. It was Sthiuthia alone in bed at night, tossing and turning, secretly sobbing, scratching the walls with her fingernails, one sleepless night after another.

As the empress of a nation, Jiu You rarely glanced at her ministers in the Dragon Palace, listlessly resting her chin on her hand. However, when she returned to her solitary palace, a wooden sword was always placed by her bedside. Under the bright moonlight, she would constantly wield the sword in the courtyard, as if reliving her past training. Only then would a multitude of emotions emerge in the empress's cold dragon eyes as she continued to swing the sword with a fervent devotion, as if she had returned to her former life as a gladiator.

Unfortunately, upon exiting the realm of imagination at the end, she saw that the person who had practiced swordsmanship with her and taught her was no longer there, only empty air. The Dragon Girl lowered her sword, her eyes filled with indescribable sorrow. Just as she would keep this old wooden sword that was unbecoming of an empress, perhaps for Jiu You, if she could choose, being a slave gladiator by that person's side would be far better than being an empress without that person.

Finally, there was a pink boudoir, exquisitely decorated, like a princess's castle. However, the walls of this castle were covered with wallpaper of a gray-robed man. Not only that, but even the bedding, pillows, and blankets on the bed were all printed with different styles and designs, including realistic, cartoon, headshot, and full-body gray-robed man stickers.

On the large bed, a pink-haired succubus wearing a nightgown was dangling her feet, clad in Emperor brand socks, as she scribbled and drew something.

While the pink-haired succubus in the shot took a sip from the water glass next to her with a cartoon logo of a gray-robed man, Liao Jicai noticed that it seemed to be a diary? Or a business plan?

The diary's opening title vaguely hinted at the words "The Succubus's Great Victory."

Then, as if sensing the servant's spying, the succubus waved her hand in annoyance, and the video ended abruptly. Liao Ji was a little disappointed that he didn't get to see what was written in Lena's diary.

All of the above are clues related to the "Emperor" found by the servants. They saw them, silently recorded them, collected them and analyzed them. Unfortunately, each one was useless information and they could not find the real Emperor.

But they never gave up, continuing day and night without rest until they succeeded.

Liao Ji suddenly felt that perhaps the servants who had been "looking at himself" for the past five hundred years were the people in the world who understood the Emperor of Ashes better than he himself.

As for why there is no Forest Alliance, it is because in the Elf Kingdom, they are the complete opposite of the Mechanical Alliance. Born from nature, they never use any electrical equipment, which is why the servants have no data.

The servants are like Zero's eyes. Zero's creation of the "Four Great Calamities Kings" Zero Dream, turning "them" into villains, may be more or less influenced by their negative emotions after losing the Emperor in reality.

And so the servants embarked on an endless battle, fighting as conscious beings against the monsters in the turbid old world created by Zero's negative emotions within the dream.

The World Tree within the Consciousness Cube has completed the integration of all the servants. The entire towering tree is now a vast network of servants. Apart from Zero, only the World Tree can integrate the consciousness of so many servants.

Ling had finally handed over the authority over the World Tree to him, in other words, she was now the sole administrator of the Machine Servant Network.

call

Liao Ji let out a long breath. After being cleansed by the machine servant's consciousness, he now understood that saying a little bit: what may seem like a small action to you can change the life of another person or a group of people.

For him, it was just the end of a game, the end of an entertainment session, and the abandonment of a story.

But for the people in that game world, it was a decade, a century, or even a millennium of waiting and watching.

Fortunately, when faced with the final option in the game, I didn't close the interface because I was bored or annoyed, leaving this world forever in some corner folder on my computer. Instead, I pressed the "New Game Plus" button.

He was indeed an "irresponsible" Ashbringer, but fortunately, he is now a "returning" commander.

Time to end.

As Liao Ji thought, the blue light world tree in front of him trembled, as if a wind was blowing, and the leaves of the servant consciousness made a "rustling" sound, as if responding to Liao Ji.

Finally, the light of the World Tree expanded infinitely, enveloping Liao Ji. The next moment, Liao Ji returned to the Zero Dream.

Unlike before, after absorbing the Consciousness Cube and gaining the highest authority over the Servant Network, Zero Dream is now like having a god's-eye view for Liao Ji.

This feeling was like being in a game, where the vision of all friendly units was suddenly illuminated. Liao Jineng could clearly perceive the location and dynamics of the thousands of machine servants distributed within the Zero Dream.

The killer and 86 were initially worried about Liao Ji. Seeing that Liao Ji hadn't been awakened from the consciousness cube for so long, they thought something had happened. After all, being a network administrator like this wasn't something anyone could do; it required immense mental strength.

Fortunately, from the moment Liao Ji took over the World Tree, Killer and 86, as members of the Servant, were also leaves on the World Tree and connected with Liao Ji. They breathed a sigh of relief and were happy, because at this moment, Liao Ji was not only nominally, but also the true commander.

They originally wanted to assist Liao Ji with how to operate the system, but for Liao Ji, this was something he could do with his eyes closed, if not effortlessly.

Just like how he controlled friendly forces in "The Fall," Liao Ji, who was once capable of handling even the most obscure tasks, now found it incredibly easy to manage the mechs, which numbered only a little over 10,000 and were confined to a single map.

On the large map, after selecting all the servants in Zero Dream, Liao Ji sent a thought, and the Consciousness Cube began to spin rapidly, turning into a teleportation point like a crystal.

Immediately afterwards, below Liao Ji, on the vast wilderness in the dream, beams of light began to flash around the Consciousness Cube.

Emerging from these beams of light were the machine servants summoned by Liao Ji, who had previously been scattered throughout the Zero Dream, and were teleported here using the Consciousness Cube.

In a short time, the wilderness was filled with a vast army of mech servants, tens of thousands of them assembled and gathered in front of Liao Ji.

If we compare Zero Dream to a game, then according to the normal walkthrough, I should have to go through the "Witch War Zone" and the "Fairy War Zone" again before I can reach the base, which is the "final level".

However, now that Liao Ji has the Consciousness Cube and his servants, he is essentially a cheat code with internal access, so he no longer needs to go through all that trouble. Liao Ji decided to use the simplest method.

All of this was done to wake Zero up. The best way to wake someone from a dream is to give her a good, hard blow.

Liao Ji is preparing to "pierce" Zero's illusion.

As for how to do it, as the name suggests, it is to pierce.

By utilizing the tens of thousands of mech servants to form a mech servant array, the power of the mechanical species is manifested in this: the power of individuals can be layered and stacked to achieve a qualitative change.

The fifty-person squad that controlled the first unit was able to unleash the "Holy Scripture" skill, which could harm the "Witch".

If Liao Ji can't manage a hundred or a thousand men, then ten thousand men should be enough to activate the "True Scripture" skill that Zero once possessed. Liao Ji was prepared to use this "True Scripture" bombardment, which gathered the power of ten thousand machine servants, to pierce through the entire old world of Zero's Illusionary Dream in one shot!

In this way, the dream is shattered, and the dreamer will naturally wake up.