Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 459: Chapter 76: The Complicated Case of the Hei Wu Patient

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"They are just like us, perhaps in their eyes, we who live in High Tower seem rather pitiable."

Bai Xiaoyu recalled the people she had encountered while working with Yan Zizai, like how an old lady could be extremely saddened by the loss of a Mechanical Tribe Cat.

There were also couples who suspected infidelity and hired Yan Zizai and Bai Xiaoyu to investigate, or who simply employed them as nannies.

All kinds of requests indicated that the Mechanical Race, though mechanical in nature, was indeed alive. Bai Wu had once answered this question at Baichuan Middle School.

Yan Zizai didn’t think much about it, simply assuming Bai Xiaoyu was kind-hearted, and that the Mechanical Race lived in a chaotic environment, which made him worry for them.

...

...

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

As the highest-grade hotel in the East City District, it had few guests most of the time.

Those who came were usually there to talk business.

For example, Eye of Colossus, Righteous Thunder, Mog, and Krol, the four weapons industry giants, were discussing the details of an upcoming auction.

Everyone hoped to make the other companies give up before the auction if possible.

Of course, that was impossible. The leaders of the companies were not present; it was only the higher-ups who discussed and conveyed messages.

Without the presence of the Dual Killing Supreme, the Eye of Colossus was at a disadvantage today. Not long ago, the Dual Killing Supreme had suddenly disappeared, unreachable by any means.

"In the end, I advise you to give up any cunning thoughts, Arcas. Cooperation benefits both sides, there’s no need to dwell on past conflicts. Your Mechanical Race, don’t you all pursue maximization of benefits? You wouldn’t want to miss out on collaboration and end up infected with the Lau virus, would you?"

Jing Wu’s attitude seemed friendly, but in reality, it was quite disdainful.

The Mechanical Race appeared to be a perfect race, capable of surviving outside the towers, with their own power structure, and, under Zero’s arrangement, each generation grew stronger, posing a terrifying threat to the indigenous creatures with their powerful arsenal.

But all of that... could not withstand the devastation of the Lau virus.

As long as the virus remained unsolvable, all of Zero’s careful schemes meant nothing.

Though Arcas was a part of Zero, he was not privy to Zero’s complete thoughts.

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

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

The infected, currently smiling and cheerful, would soon be overwhelmed by rage and submerged in the pitch-black depths below.

Meanwhile, Bai Wu in the Inner World, having traversed car by car, arrived at the train conductor’s position.

What could have been a show of force to the other three companies fizzled into nothing.

Their arguments were in full swing, with no one willing to give ground to the other.

But today they were not the main characters, compared to the two people upstairs, the four weapons companies seemed insignificant.

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

They were the main characters today.

Jing Wu, Arcas.

Jing Wu looked at the incarnation of Zero before him and said,

"When I came last time, I was unprepared and had an unsatisfactory experience, which resulted in me being turned away, but this time is different. I am fully prepared, and what about you? Arcas, or should I say, Zero, you seem to have grown quite weak due to the Lau virus."

Arcas said:

"Really? If you’re so certain that my strength isn’t what it used to be, why not put it to the test?"

Jing Wu smiled.

"I don’t have absolute confidence in determining whether you’re bluffing, but there’s no need for us to come to blows."

"Core City keeps on growing more massive, and those unmanageable emotions will consume more and more of your computing power and energy."

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

Arcas remained calm, despite the truth in every word Jing Wu spoke, but he knew he couldn’t panic at this moment.

He was eager to defeat Jing Wu, yet he didn’t have the power to do so.

Without resolving the Lau virus, this man shrouded in a black robe was not someone he could contend with.

"The tide of rage is coming, and there are 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. How many of the Mechanical Tribe do you plan to deal with this time with the Lau virus? The process of dealing with the Mechanical Tribe should be your weakest moment, Arcas—"

"Recognize the situation, you only defeated me because I wasn’t able to bring out my full strength last time. Work with me, Arcas. Zero has the same potential as us, but will Mechanical City remain forever peaceful? Even if I don’t come after you, sooner or later, someone else will."

"Their attitude towards you won’t be as kind as mine, as I, after all, am fond of talent."

Arcas said:

"Work with you, and what’s the benefit? How will this cooperation manifest?"

"The benefit is, I can use props to help your avatar deal with the trouble caused by the Lau virus, but I can’t cure it completely. To completely cure it, we’ll have to talk about what you need to do after the cooperation."

"What needs to be done?"

"I don’t like to talk about family affairs, but I have five siblings, and our stances vary."

Arcas became somewhat interested.

Jing Wu looked at Arcas and said:

"Let’s go, let’s take him back first. This guy sometimes drags his feet, and at other times, he’s surprisingly efficient."

Xie Xingzhi said after watching Bai Wu enter a state of data connection right on the spot disregarding everything else.

He assisted Bai Wu up, whose consciousness had evidently entered the Inner World.

No one anticipated that Bai Wu’s final choice for cracking the Lau virus would be a homebody little love robot,

Following Yan Zizai, Bai Xiaoyu felt oppressed even though there weren’t many people here, but knowing that this place was actually a "concentration camp," she felt suffocated.

The thought of countless people dying here from the Lau virus infection made her sad.

Back in Train City, the three of them started looking for a hotel. This task did not take much time.

Although the hotels in Train City were not as bustling as those in East City District, they were cheaper, although most of the guests were gang members.

The multiple forces of Mechanical City were preparing for the auction.

This preparation was manifest in the upper echelons talking, and the lower echelons working hard.

After arranging rooms for everyone, Bai Xiaoyu and Yan Zizai began to wander the streets. Xie Xingzhi stayed with Bai Wu, waiting for him to produce some results this time.

The night passed quickly.

Yan Zizai and Bai Xiaoyu, who were looking for tasks, didn’t manage to find anything.

Mainly because Bai Xiaoyu wasn’t very interested in those violent tasks, and the compensation wasn’t high, so Yan Zizai just pretended not to see them.

Watching the mechanical race residents coming and going in Train City, Bai Xiaoyu spent an entire afternoon observing them, even occasionally striking up conversations.

However, it was quite clear that Bai Xiaoyu seemed to have asked some displeasing questions, causing the mechanical race to curse at her.

Then, Bai Xiaoyu kept apologizing to them, but soon after switching targets, she continued to annoy other mechanical race members.

Fortunately, these residents of Train City, although quick-tempered, actually didn’t dare to take action. Though they were far from weak.

Yan Zizai had no idea what Bai Xiaoyu was doing. After inquiring, Bai Xiaoyu said,

"My lord... I hoped they were all fake, so I spouted a bunch of nonsensical things to see their reactions..."

Yan Zizai felt it was a bit boring, yet amusing, figuring that Bai Xiaoyu probably asked some strange logical questions and was treated like a madman.

It wasn’t unusual, for in Bai Wu’s past life, many people liked to ask peculiar questions of phone AIs, like Siri or Xiao Ai.

"Why do you hope they are fake?"

"You see, among them, many carry strange smiles. I always feel like they are the infected, yet they still maintain their own patterns of life."

"The mechanical race is not human, and whether they count as life forms is also debatable," Yan Zizai said, stating his true thoughts but also to comfort Bai Xiaoyu.

"They are life forms," Bai Xiaoyu said, sounding quite dejected.

"This involves some historical truths. The tragedy that happened to Zero is also related to these truths, but these matters, I can only tell you later. What I can tell you now is that I need help."

"My brothers, one controls the entrance to the Well, another oversees a farm that specializes in creating monsters, and another has gone mad and imprisoned himself in an unknown place."

"What we need to do is to destroy High Tower and find a seal at its top. However, we only wish to do this ourselves and don’t want others to interfere."

"But my powers are quite weak. The mad brother is not to be feared, but the other two brothers are troublesome and not someone I can handle. Although we have not found the location of High Tower, if we do, I’m not confident I can deal with them."

Jing Wu furrowed his brow and corrected himself:

"To be precise, I don’t stand any chance of defeating them. I once sought out that madman, as his power surpasses each of ours, but unfortunately, my sister is also looking for him, and even those who peek into cause and effect can’t find him, I don’t think I can find him either."

Arcas gradually understood.

There were several other beings as powerful as Jing Wu.

Although these individuals share the same goal, they are not from the same force. They want to destroy High Tower and find a certain seal.

This seal instigates their opposition to one another.

Jing Wu’s power is the weakest. To contend with the other powers, Jing Wu must find a formidable ally.

One such ally, who appeared to have gone mad, seemed to possess strength far exceeding the others.

He couldn’t imagine, what kind of powerful being could surpass these monsters in strength?

"Unable to find the mad one, I had to settle for the next best thing; I must find another, the one who disappeared."

"I have four brothers, one went mad, another disappeared."

"It seems you’ve already found the missing one?"

"Correct," Jing Wu nodded.

"The missing brother also has his own force, but he is trapped on an aircraft. This aircraft not only possesses my brother but also the power to completely solve the Lau virus—Reincarnation."

Jing Wu’s eyes shone as Arcas asked with a trembling voice:

"Reincarnation?"

"Yes, the bloated emotions converted into data formed the Lau virus that weakened Zero. These pieces of data cannot be deleted, so Zero had to reconstruct a central core to store this immense data. Such a method can indeed suppress the Lau virus temporarily, but the massive data stored in the core is ultimately a bomb and limits Zero’s computing power."

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

Arcas was well aware that the angry seasons, which initially were quite short, had become progressively longer as Core City grew larger and the data piled up. The symptoms of all RAU virus sufferers were becoming more and more distorted.

The four emotional seasons of happiness, anger, sorrow, and fear were lasting longer and longer. It was all because of those "emotions" stored in Zero that could not be deleted and were slowly spiraling out of control.

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

Reincarnation could indeed change this predicament.

Because no matter how terrifying the future, Reincarnation could ensure that Zero always remained in peak condition.

This might not have resolved the issue fundamentally, but its forcefulness was not weaker than an actual cure.

"My two subordinates can take Reincarnation. I’ve found the location of the flight, but when the time comes, the former comrades of my elder brother will also come to contend for it. I don’t want any accidents to happen, and you are the only person qualified to collaborate with me."

In the forces outside the tower, many black forces were extremely strong, but only Zero was deemed by the Well Clan as a threat equal to that of other Well Clans.

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

Arcas finally understood Jing Wu’s intention; this person was indeed not here to fight.

But intuition told Arcas that getting involved in the internal strife of the Well Clan would be a very foolish thing to do.

"What if we refuse?"

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

As for the so-called collaboration, it’s probably just acting as a pioneering scout, whether it’s exploring the location of High Tower or searching for Well Clan monsters within the flight; it’s the people of Mechanical City who will be cannon fodder.

This deal isn’t worth it.

But if this deal isn’t made, Mechanical City might be turned upside down this time.

If Zero wasn’t infected with the RAU virus, in peak condition, Jing Wu wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

But now it’s different; the Rage Tide will be when Zero is at its weakest.

Arcas said:

"I need to think about it."

"Zero knows about our conversation, so I hope you won’t waste time. You should be quite clear that the RAU virus is incurable," Jing Wu prepared to leave.

There were just over ten hours until the auction started, and once he obtained the Angel Envoy, he would attack Core City.

Arcas also knew this.

Zero’s plan was unfolding, but in this plan, there was a most crucial factor. free𝑤ebnovel.com

This factor was whether a cure for the RAU virus could be found before Jing Wu decided to take action.

"My men have already brought the tool to treat Zero; it was crafted by my subordinates who poured Black Gold Island’s resources into making it. It can bring Zero’s main body back to its state from forty years ago. And as long as we control Reincarnation, we can maintain this state forever."

Before leaving, Jing Wu said:

"Whenever you’ve thought it through, you can contact me at any time. You know how to find me. Nothing in Mechanical City can be hidden from you, and the Rage Tide will be here in just over ten hours."

Behind him followed a group of twisted products from the psychic world who were after his life.

Bai Wu knocked on the train manager’s door and said loudly:

"Open up! Zero, I know you’re in there! I’ve found a way to treat the RAU virus!"