Free Web NovelChapter 605: Chapter 222: What is a True Mechanical God?
At the edge of the entrance within the zoo, the clockwork blue-eyed rabbit began to circle around Wu Jiu and Bai Wu.
Bai Wu could feel that if he were to leave right now...
Countless crazed monsters in the surrounding grass would probably chase after him.
And the rabbit had already made one round around them...
Wu Jiu and Bai Wu were clueless.
He glanced at the page:
[Bai Wu saw an interesting and cute rabbit, it went round and round...]
Two rounds.
Three rounds.
The rabbit stopped.
Following the rules of strange tales, Bai Wu believed they were safe now, although he had no idea what would happen after four rounds.
But just as he took a step forward... the clockwork moved again, and the rabbit, hopping along, began the fourth round.
At this time, the rabbit’s blue eyes turned red.
Bai Wu immediately retreated.
One must not recklessly confront the rules. In a game, people can break the rules, but timing is essential. If one can use the rules to easily avoid danger, then it’s best to exploit them.
So, at the moment the rabbit began the fourth round, Bai Wu whispered softly:
"Retreat!"
Both Wu Jiu and Bai Wu reacted quickly, and although Wu Jiu didn’t know the strange tale rules, he instinctively blocked in front of Bai Wu as they both adeptly avoided the danger.
They had retreated more than ten meters away.
Bang... clank...
It was as if the spring had been jammed by a gear, leading to a series of problems, inevitably causing the rabbit to burst apart.
However, the destruction of the rabbit didn’t cause any disaster.
It was as if a gun had jammed.
It was very quiet, so quiet that Bai Wu even had an illusion...
Could it be that the zoo’s rules were written incorrectly?
The rabbit that had turned four rounds did indeed have a problem, but it caused no harm whatsoever.
"Seems we overreacted a bit?" Wu Jiu said.
"Seems so."
Two of the strongest beings in the human world were spooked by a metal rabbit and had retreated more than ten meters, which was somewhat embarrassing.
Bai Wu felt slightly awkward.
"Our goal is to find the dog covered in gun barrels." He decided to say something to ease the awkwardness.
"Are you sure that’s still called a dog?" Wu Jiu found Bai Wu’s way of thinking to be quite strange.
"Of course, even if a person becomes an Evil Fallen, as long as the soul still leans towards humanity, that person is still human. There’s a similarity between the guardians of this world and the real world..."
Bai Wu thought that Jing’s resemblance couldn’t be any more obvious—still waiting for its master.
After all, Jing had waited for seven hundred years, quite a match for Hachiko.
To find Jing, they had to circumvent various strange tales within the zoo.
Such as the toilet python, or the electronic creatures that could invade people’s phones...
This was what Bai Wu thought as he and Wu Jiu prepared to delve deeper into the zoo.
By resolving one more strange tale, they might gain additional leverage against the will of the Well World.
However, they hadn’t walked far when they suddenly felt a faint paralysis...
This sensation was peculiar, like tiny currents of electricity passing through the body, leaving a person between a state of pain and itchiness.
The next second...
Unusual lights flickered in the eyes of Wu Jiu, who was blind, and Bai Wu experienced the same.
Normally serious, the two slowly became somewhat stupefied.
They remained in their striding posture, frozen.
Meanwhile, in the forest around them, a bunch of mechanical creatures began to approach, and what seemed to be an ecological lawn gave way to numerous wires wrapped in strange metals...
If Bai Wu were still lucid at this moment, he would recognize that these were the data communication cables used by the Mechanical Race in Mechanical City, also known colloquially as ’comm cables.’
A peculiar type of data link cable.
Humans naturally can’t exchange information with machines, but somehow...under the moonlight, Wu Jiu and Bai Wu’s pupils reflected a sheen that wasn’t typical of human eyes—
A metallic luster.
The high walls of the zoo were inscribed with numerous zoo tales.
At the time, Bai Wu only skimmed through them quickly. Although he remembered them all, he inevitably underestimated some things due to a lack of understanding. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
For example, the sixteenth tale from the zoo—
An armored rhinoceros that loves to charge at tourists just like a war vehicle, please do not wear red clothes into the zoo. Additionally, if they charge at you, you can promptly contact Baichuan City Funeral Home (but if you can withstand the damage of an anti-tank rocket, you might also consider contacting a hospital.)
This looked extremely dangerous, at least an armored rhinoceros that could fire anti-tank rockets seemed much more dangerous than the previous tales.
But underneath the tales, there would be a letter C.
Bai Wu noticed this at the time and guessed it might represent the level of danger.
But he also noticed that the rabbit that ran around the tourists four times was marked S.
Could it be that a rabbit was more dangerous than a rhinoceros?
He didn’t completely rule out the possibility, especially when he saw the blue-eyed rabbit circle three times and begin its fourth, with its eyes turning red. Bai Wu took precautions...
But he still underestimated the rabbit.
This rabbit that appeared to be stuttering was actually one of the most dangerous sources of infection in the entire zoo.
Neither Bai Wu nor Wu Jiu could have imagined, at the entrance of this zoo, which was supposed to be a Beginner’s Village, such an endearing little creature could compare to the likes of Jing, who they imagined as the Great Demon King of the animal zoo.
Two of the mightiest from the human world...were taken down by a rabbit.
At this moment, Bai Wu and Wu Jiu were facing a crisis, a massive crisis triggered by a dancing rabbit.
This ordinary zoo was actually the ultimate trump card of Baichuan City.
...
...
Inner World.
The broom in the hands of the café waiter suddenly vanished.
It turned into a string of binary codes.
Many buildings in the Inner World began to flicker bizarrely at this moment.
The transformation from biological to mechanical was nearly impossible.
But in a twisted world, anything could become possible.
Seven hundred years ago, there was a human boy who turned into a mechanical being and later became known as the Mechanical Emperor.
This kind of thing actually never ceased.
It’s just that people tended to lean towards becoming biochemical monsters driven by emotions.
Rather than purely mechanical life forms.
Looking at his familiar Inner World, Bai Wu saw the originally beautiful town surround by long strings of 0s and 1s, the scene continuously becoming blank.
He suddenly realized...
He had been tricked.
"Damn, the zoo tales rules actually hinted that humans entering the zoo might transform into mechanical beings..."
As the surroundings kept changing, Bai Wu also felt his memory gradually disintegrating bit by bit.
At that moment, he understood that the rabbit... was capable of emitting some kind of "radiation."
This radiation was imperceptible, but he should have followed the zoo rules that mentioned to "leave at the speed of light."
"Did I really let my guard down this time?"
He expected the enemy to self-destruct, and Bai Wu was sure he and the captain could withstand it or react in the instant of the explosion.
But they never expected that the rabbit, which seemed to be stuck, was actually a sort of infection source.
The surrounding buildings, even the people in the town, were continuously breaking down into pure binary numbers, yet Bai Wu was utterly powerless to stop it.
He looked around in a daze, hardly believing that he and the captain had just
entered the zoo and were both taken out by a rabbit?
But strangely, Bai Wu should have been panicking, yet he couldn’t. Deep down he had a feeling—
He still had an ace up his sleeve.
"If this world is gone... If the Inner World is destroyed, then I’m as good as dead, right?"
Bai Wu shouted into the void.
The ceiling of the café had turned into binary code, with Bai Yuan sitting inside, still wearing an enchanting smile.
"Indeed, I can’t save you, oh. I and your mother can help you resist spiritual invasion, and when your will collapses, we can modify your parameters in the Inner World."
"But I can’t resist mechanization, it’s not something spiritual power can deal with, it’s a disease, an infection that’s corrupting you."
"You’ll become the second Zero, or maybe you should be called One?"
Bai Yuan joked, and Bai Wu knew it was just a joke.
He suddenly realized he hadn’t seen Bai Yuan for a while.
He went to the seat across from Bai Yuan, and right now the entire Inner World seemed to be collapsing.
The father and son were enjoying the apocalypse in the coffee shop, witnessing the world crumbling in an instant.
Seeing Bai Wu’s calm expression, Bai Yuan waved his hand:
"Alright, I lied to you, you do have a backup plan."
"What is it?"
"Certainly not me or your mother, we can’t do anything about this infection, it’s the Well World’s Will’s trump card."
"What do you mean?"
Bai Wu furrowed his brows.
Bai Yuan explained:
"Think carefully, where did you go wrong?"
It was like going back to that small town, when Bai Wu posed a question, Bai Yuan would not answer directly but would guide Bai Wu to the correct answer.
Ever since he broke with Bai Yuan, Bai Wu hardly ever did this anymore. Later encounters with Bai Yuan were basically straightforward Q&A.
But this time, Bai Wu pondered for a moment.
"It’s misleading me... Or maybe the zoo is the biggest trap?"
"Keep talking," Bai Yuan shifted to a more elegant and comfortable position.
Bai Wu squinted his eyes, recalling:
"From the beginning when I met Hong Yin, to arranging me and Yan Jiu to be together... and then later when I convinced Dandelion, everything in this world seems to indicate that people from both worlds have similarities."
"The records on that yellowed page didn’t seem to deny it either..."
"Perhaps the two worlds do have similarities, so I convinced myself that Jing, within the zoo, would be the easiest to persuade because it’s an animal... As a dog, it might be purer than humans, hence Jing would be the easiest Guardian to gain approval from."
"This also led to me not feeling much of a sense of danger after entering the zoo."
"But I should have felt endangered. Jing has changed, the pets in this city would attack humans en masse, the humans in this city could even be contaminated into mechanical life, turned into pets..."
"All these things show that Jing is no longer the Jing I knew."
At this point, Bai Yuan nodded, applauding:
"Maintain such thinking in the future, because there are people behind and in front of you who want to protect you, and whom you want to protect."
Bai Yuan’s words made Bai Wu feel strange; this wasn’t very like Bai Yuan.
"Jing is different from the other Guardians. It has transformed from a mechanical life in the real world into pure machinery. Dandelion, your dear sister, and your expressionless wife, they are all humans, still alive, with their own wills. Do you understand what I mean?"
Bai Yuan looked directly at Bai Wu, who suddenly realized: frёeωebɳovel.com
"Jing has lost its own will... It’s different from mechanical life like Zero, having become pure machinery... For Jing, are there only commands and code?"
Bai Yuan nodded:
"Correct answer. Will can destroy will, but it can’t kill you or your capable captain. Especially your captain, whose will is too strong; maybe the World Will can destroy your will, but it can’t destroy his."
"And if he can recover, he can inspire you as well."
"So, the Well World’s Will separated you, but that was just a feint. You’re both too powerful, you can sense his presence, finding him wouldn’t be difficult."
"Therefore, the Well World’s Will has prepared its true trump card."
Bai Wu fully understood at this point:
"Turn us into machines... directly erase our will?"
"Yes, Evil Fallen Transformation, or say, within the twisted mutation, there’s indeed mechanization. Unfortunately, you’re undergoing this change. Once you become like Jing, pure mechanical life, you and your captain will be no more than walking corpses."
"It can’t kill you in this world, but it can change the form of your existence and thereby further... control you."
Bai Wu gave a wry smile:
"So you’re saying, I’m doomed to fail?"
"Of course—not."
Bai Yuan snapped his fingers, and in that instant, Bai Wu’s mind suddenly filled with many memories...
All of these memories were related to one person.
Zero.
A flood of memories caused Bai Wu to feel a stabbing pain in his head.
As Bai Wu clutched his head, enduring the pain, Bai Yuan slowly said:
"Back in Mechanical City, you and your little robot once conducted a dangerous experiment—Inner World fusion."
"I must say, Zero is half-mechanical, half-biological, and I was responsible for the fusion. If it were a pure mechanical life, I wouldn’t have been able to merge a person with a mechanical Inner World, because for a machine, there is only a hard drive, no brain."
"Afterward, to keep your secrets hidden, I repaired everything."
"You cured the little robot’s Lau virus, and he helped you block Jing Wu, but in fact... I did some other things as well."
"While observing Zero’s Inner World and past memories, I discovered that Zero had almost become a pure mechanical entity, with the mechanical parts trying to take over his biological side."
"But this process was easily dissolved by Zero, ha, that kid is truly something, a real genius."
Listening to Bai Yuan praising Zero, Bai Wu felt odd, but he also realized something...
Could it be that Zero has a way to resist mechanical contamination?
"So within that segment of his memory, there’s a method to counteract mechanical contamination?"
Bai Yuan laughed:
"Yes, that segment of memory is actually useless to you, but I’m someone who likes to have a backup plan. Who knows, one day you might need it?"
"Mechanical contamination is about transforming humans into data-based machines, and human thoughts will be converted into various coding instructions. These instructions can be dissolved in the same way.
"Zero can do this. It’s just like the essence of antivirus software is also a virus. When Zero discovered that this virus of mechanical contamination was attempting to further corrode him, he created another virus, completely eradicating this possibility."
"That’s why he could tell you—I am essentially a life form, I can decide when to be mad and when to be rational. He truly is a genius, the emperor among machines."
"I retained that segment of coding, which belonged to the memory of mechanical life... Originally, being human, you shouldn’t have been able to control and make use of this memory, but now you... have been contaminated."
"It’s not a big problem. The Guardian’s recognition will surely enable you to turn back into a human. The premise is that you can retain your own will."
Having said so much, Bai Yuan felt a bit thirsty. Bai Wu organized his thoughts and understood.
He had indeed walked a fine line with death.
"Becoming a mechanical body isn’t scary, because everything can be reversed."
"But if I become a mechanical body, I will lose my will and be arbitrarily controlled by the Well World Will, which is truly terrifying."
"And that segment of Zero’s code... will activate when I become a mechanical body, allowing me to resist this contamination, becoming a half-mechanical, half-life state."
"So now, although I am contaminated, I am still a living being, not pure machinery..."
The buildings around the small town were slowly recovering, albeit coated with a layer of mechanization.
The café’s waiter has also become a mechanical lifeform, starting to ask if I wanted a refill.
Machines do not have an Inner World because they lack spiritual power—they lack a soul.
But now, Bai Wu had entered a peculiar state.
After ordering a cup of coffee, Bai Yuan leisurely said:
"It’s not just that. If it was only about resisting contamination, I wouldn’t praise him so highly. What Zero is capable of is far from being that simple."
"He may have fallen behind you and Little Dwarf in combat ability, but in the field of mechanics, he is an absolute god."
Receiving such a compliment from Bai Yuan made Bai Wu feel a bit sour.
"Is it necessary... to praise him so much?"
"Of course, you’re not simple either," Bai Yuan rarely gave a complimentary word to Bai Wu.
Bai Wu said:
"What other effects are there?"
"Right now, the mechanical beings from the zoo are desperately trying to establish an informational connection and exchange with you. The Well World Will intends to deal with you and your captain in one go."
"But as I said, the antidote to the virus is another virus. Zero’s coding is a more domineering thing... as they try to invade you, this coding will also invade them."
Bai Yuan looked into the distance:
"If I’m not mistaken, after you wake up, the zoo... will be a completely different scene."
...
...
Inside Baichuan City Zoo, more and more mechanical beings—rhinoceroses, lions, pythons, monkeys, deer, rabbits—all gathered around Bai Wu.
Their original instructions were to continuously infuse data to accelerate the contamination of Bai Wu and Wu Jiu.
To turn them into thoughtless machines in a short time, just like all the animals in the zoo.
But suddenly... a deer that shouldn’t blink, blinked.
A mechanical python that shouldn’t move, suddenly wanted to shake its tail.
The alloy-covered monkey touched its belly... as if feeling a non-mechanical sentiment called "hunger" emerging.
This terrifying zoo had long since lost the spirit of its animals, but now... the traits that belong to life, long lost, were slowly awakening.
