Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 291: Chapter 95: The Current Situation of the 5 Jing Family Members

"Let’s go, we’ll take him back first. This guy sometimes drags his feet, but other times he’s surprisingly efficient,"

Xie Xingzhi said after Bai Wu had unceremoniously entered a data connection state right there on the spot.

He helped Bai Wu up, as Bai Wu’s consciousness had clearly entered the Inner World by now.

No one expected that Bai Wu’s ultimate choice to crack the Lau virus would be a stay-at-home romance robot,

Bai Xiaoyu followed behind Yan Zizai. Although there weren’t many people around, knowing that this place was actually a "concentration camp" made Bai Xiaoyu feel oppressed.

Just thinking that countless people would die here due to the Lau virus infection made him sad.

Back in Train City, the trio began looking for a hotel. It didn’t take much time.

While the hotels in Train City weren’t as bustling as those in the East City District, they were cheaper. However, most of the hotel residents were gang members.

Various forces in Mechanical City were preparing for the auction.

This preparation was characterized by the upper echelons giving orders and the lower echelons working desperately.

After arranging rooms for everyone, Bai Xiaoyu and Yan Zizai started strolling through the streets. Xie Xingzhi stayed with Bai Wu, waiting for Bai Wu to achieve some results this time.

The night passed quickly.

Yan Zizai and Bai Xiaoyu looking for tasks found nothing substantial.

Mainly because Bai Xiaoyu wasn’t very interested in those violent tasks, and the rewards weren’t high enough for Yan Zizai to consider them.

Observing the Mechanical Race residents coming and going in Train City, Bai Xiaoyu spent an entire afternoon watching them, even occasionally striking up conversations.

However, it was clear that Bai Xiaoyu seemed to have asked some offensive questions, leading to the Mechanical Race cursing at him.

Then Bai Xiaoyu kept apologizing, but not long after, upon changing targets, he managed to anger another group of Mechanical Race members.

Fortunately, the residents of Train City, though quick-tempered, didn’t really dare to be violent. Although they were by no means weak.

Yan Zizai didn’t know what Bai Xiaoyu was doing. After asking, Bai Xiaoyu said,

"Sir... I hoped they were all fake, so I said a bunch of nonsensical things, just to see their reaction..."

Yan Zizai found it a bit tedious, yet somewhat amusing, figuring that Bai Xiaoyu probably asked some strange logic questions and was treated like a lunatic.

It wasn’t strange; people in Bai Wu’s previous life loved to ask artificial intelligences on smartphones, like Siri, Little Love, some weird questions.

"Why do you hope they are fake?"

"You see, many of them have strange smiles on their faces. It feels like they are the infected, yet they still have their own patterns of life."

"The Mechanical Race isn’t human, whether they count as life is also still debatable," Yan Zizai shared his genuine thoughts, trying to comfort Bai Xiaoyu.

"They are living beings," Bai Xiaoyu said sadly.

"They are like us. Perhaps in their eyes, those of us living in High Tower are the pitiable ones."

Bai Xiaoyu recalled the people he had met with Yan Zizai in these past days; an old lady was distressed at the loss of a Mechanical Tribe Cat.

There were also young couples who hired Yan Zizai and Bai Xiaoyu to investigate infidelities or even used them as babysitters.

All kinds of needs indicated that the Mechanical Race beings had life. Bai Wu had also once answered this question at Baichuan Middle School.

Without giving it much thought, Yan Zizai assumed Bai Xiaoyu was just kind-hearted. The Mechanical Race’s living environment was chaotic, and he worried for them.

...

...

Two days later, in the Inner City of Mechanical City, within the East City District, at the Half Boat Hotel.

As the most prestigious hotel in the East City District, the hotel’s guests were typically scarce most of the time.

The visitors were often there to conduct business.

For instance, Eye of Colossus, Righteous Thunder, Mog, and Krol, four major weapon tycoons, were currently discussing the matters of the upcoming auction.

Each hoped to get the other companies to back down before the auction commenced, as much as possible.

Of course, such things were impossible. The leaders of the respective companies weren’t present; only their senior staff were in discussion, later to communicate their intentions.

With the absence of the Double Kill Supreme, Eye of Colossus found itself in a passive position today. It seemed that Double Kill Supreme had vanished suddenly not long ago, unreachable by any means.

What could have been a display of deterrence to the other three companies thus came to nothing.

They argued heatedly, none willing to concede to the other.

However, today they were not the main characters; compared to the two people upstairs, the four weapon companies seemed insignificant. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

On the thirty-third floor of the Half Boat Hotel, Arcas was meeting with an outsider in the hotel.

They were the main characters of today.

Jing Wu, Arcas.

Jing Wu, looking at the avatar of Zero in front of him, said,

"Last time I was in a rush and couldn’t enjoy myself, leading to my being shown out. But this time is different; my preparation is thorough. And you? Arcas, or should I say, Zero, it seems you’ve become much weaker due to the Lao virus."

Arcas responded,

"Is that so? If you’re so sure that I’m not as strong as before, why not try me?"

Jing Wu smiled.

"I’m indeed not absolutely certain whether you’re just bluffing, but there’s no need for us to come to blows."

"Core City is getting bigger and bigger, and those untamable emotions will consume more and more of your computing power and energy."

"Compared to when I last came here, the chaos in the Inner City is almost catching up to that of the outer city."

Arcas still maintained a calm demeanor, and although every word spoken by Jing Wu was true, he knew he couldn’t panic at this time.

He very much wanted to defeat Jing Wu, yet he lacked the power to do so.

Without resolving the Lao virus, the man shrouded in the black robe would be beyond his ability to contend with.

"The Tide of Fury is coming, with only two days left. Although it’s been a long time since I’ve been here, I am very aware of every move this place makes. This time with the Lao virus, how many of the Mechanical Race do you plan to handle? The process of dealing with the Mechanical Race should be when you are the weakest, Arcas—"

"Recognize the situation. You can best me only because I couldn’t put forth my full strength last time. Work with me, Arcas. Zero has the same potential as us, but will Mechanical City forever remain at peace? Even if I were not to approach you, sooner or later others will."

"Their attitude will not be as favorable as mine; after all, I value talent."

Arcas said,

"Cooperate with you? What’s in it for me? And how would this cooperation manifest?"

"The benefit is that I can use a tool to help your main body deal with the nuisance of the Lao Virus, though I can’t cure it completely. To eradicate it completely, we’ll have to talk about what you would need to do after we cooperate."

"What would that be?"

"I don’t like to talk about family affairs, but I have five brothers and sisters, and our stances are varying."

Arcas became somewhat intrigued.

Jing Wu, looking at Arcas, said,

"This relates to some historical truths, which are also associated with the tragedy that befell Zero, but these matters, I can only tell you about later. What I can tell you now is that I need help."

"My several brothers, one controls the entrance to the Well, one oversees a farm specially designed for creating monsters, and another has gone mad, self-imprisoned in an unknown land."

"What we have to do is destroy the High Tower, and find a seal at its very top. However, we wish to accomplish this on our own, not wanting interference from others."

"But my power is relatively weak, the mad brother is not to be feared, yet the other two brothers pose a considerable problem, beyond my capability to confront. Although none of us have located the High Tower yet, once we do, I’m not confident I can handle them."

Jing Wu furrowed his brow, correcting himself:

"To be precise, I have no chance of defeating them. I once sought the mad one, because its power surpasses all of ours, but unfortunately, my sister is also searching for it, and even those who peer into cause and effect can’t find it, so I don’t think I can either."

Arcas gradually understood.

There are several super powerful beings like Jing Wu.

Although these individuals share a common goal, they are not from the same force, and they aim to destroy the High Tower, to find the seal object.

That seal object is what incites their opposition to each other.

And amongst them, Jing Wu’s power is the weakest. In order to contend with the other forces, he needs to find a strong ally.

There is a mad ally, seemingly much stronger than the others.

It was beyond comprehension to imagine a being stronger than these monsters.

"Unable to locate the mad one, I must settle for the next best, which is the missing one."

"I have four brothers, one mad, and one missing."

"It looks like you’ve already found the missing one?"

"That’s right," Jing Wu nodded.

"The missing brother, too, has his own force, but he is trapped on an aircraft. That aircraft, in addition to having my brother, also possesses the power to completely eradicate the Rau virus—Reincarnation."

Jing Wu’s eyes shone with light, and Arcas uttered tremulously:

"Reincarnation?"

"Yes, bloated emotions turned into data, creating the Rau virus that weakens Zero. These data cannot be deleted, so Zero had to rebuild its core to store this massive amount of data. It surely can suppress the Rau virus temporarily, but the vast data stored in the core is effectively a ticking time bomb. It also restricts Zero’s computing power."

Jing Wu was certain his view was correct, and indeed it was.

Arcas knew well that the Angry Four Seasons in the beginning were all very brief, but as Core City grew larger, more and more data accumulated, and the symptoms of all Rau virus sufferers grew increasingly distorted.

The duration of the four emotional seasons—happiness, anger, sorrow, and fear—also kept extending. All because of the "emotions" stored in Zero that couldn’t be deleted and were slowly getting out of control.

Perhaps one day, Zero would be completely destroyed by a mass of data.

Reincarnation could indeed change this predicament.

Because no matter how terrifying the future, Reincarnation would allow Zero to remain in optimal condition.

It might not solve the root cause, but its violent effectiveness is not lesser than a cure.

"My two subordinates can retrieve Reincarnation. I’ve found the location of the aircraft, but at that time, the old troops of my brother will also come to fight for it. I don’t want any accidents, and the only person qualified to cooperate with me is you."

Among the outer tower forces, many dark powers are extremely strong, but only Zero is seen by the Well Clan as a threat equivalent to other Well forces.

At least among the known forces, Zero is the strongest.

Arcas finally understood Jing Wu’s purpose, this person truly wasn’t here to fight.

But intuition told Arcas that getting involved in the internal strife of the Well forces would be a very foolish act.

"What if we refuse?"

"Zero is sick, and a patient should take medicine. I have the medicine in my hands. You just need to pay a little for it, which is fair and reasonable."

The so-called collaboration is probably just acting as pioneers who scout the way ahead, whether it’s locating the position of High Tower or searching for the Well Clan monsters in the flights. It’s always people from Mechanical City who end up as cannon fodder.

This deal isn’t worth it.

But if this deal isn’t done, Mechanical City could very well be turned upside down this time.

If Zero weren’t infected with the Lao Virus, Jing Wu wouldn’t dare act rashly in his peak condition.

But now it’s different; the Fury Tide will be when Zero is most vulnerable.

Arcas said:

"I need to think about it."

"Everything you say to me, Zero is aware of, so I hope you don’t waste time. You should be well aware that the Lao Virus is incurable," Jing Wu prepared to leave.

There were just over ten hours left before the auction began. After obtaining the Angel Envoy, he would head for the Core City.

Arcas was also aware of this.

Zero’s plan was unfolding, but within this plan, there was one crucial factor.

The factor was whether they could find the treatment for the Lao Virus before Jing Wu decided to make a move.

"My people have brought the artifact to treat Zero. It’s created by my subordinates, who exhausted the resources of Black Gold Island. It can return Zero’s original form to the state it was forty years ago. And, as long as you control Reincarnation, you can maintain this state forever."

Before leaving, Jing Wu said:

"Whenever you’ve made up your mind, you can contact me anytime. You know how to find me. You can’t hide anything in Mechanical City from me. The Fury Tide will arrive in just over ten hours."

"Lastly, let me advise you to drop any little schemes you might have, Arcas. If we join forces, it’s a win-win situation. There’s no need to dwell on past incidents. Aren’t you Mechanical Race always pursuing maximization of interests? You wouldn’t want to get infected with the Lao Virus just because you refuse to cooperate."

Jing Wu’s attitude seemed friendly, but it was actually quite condescending.

The Mechanical Race seems like a perfect species, able to survive outside the tower, possessing its own power, and getting stronger generation after generation under Zero’s arrangements, with terrifying firepower that causes horrific damage to native life forms.

But all of this... is no match for the devastation of the Lao Virus.

As long as the virus remains insolvable, all of Zero’s meticulous planning is meaningless.

Although Arcas is a part of Zero, he doesn’t know Zero’s complete thoughts.

After Jing Wu left, Arcas received a report from the security team members that they had started escorting the infected individuals to the sewers of South District.

Everything was proceeding methodically.

These infected, still smiling and laughing now, would soon be overwhelmed by the raging fury, submerged in the pitch-black underworld.

Meanwhile, in the Inner World, Bai Wu had made his way through the train compartments, arriving at the conductor’s cabin.

Behind him was a group of distorted creatures from the psychic world seeking to kill him.

Bai Wu knocked on the conductor’s cabin, shouting:

"Open the door! Zero, I know you’re in there! I have found the cure for the Lao Virus!"

The train raced through the unknown world. Just as the group of distorted creatures was about to attack Bai Wu, the driver’s door finally opened.

The silver-haired youth looked indifferently at Bai Wu and said:

"I don’t have much time left. If that woman was wrong, I will kill you."

(There will probably be just one update today. The next Chapter might be the climax of the plot. Each Chapter should still be fine, but I need to take a break tomorrow. There seems to be some problem with the recent Chapters, the data has dropped quite a bit, I need to think it over and straighten out the upcoming Chapters. In short... I’m taking a leave~)