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墨書 Inktalez
Hiding in the city's sewers and abandoned subway lines, I had lost track of how many days had passed. Every time I closed my eyes, I was haunted by the image of that janitor's corpse transforming into specks of light and surging into my body. The feeling of being forcibly invaded and polluted by foreign memories and emotions gnawed at me like a parasite, tormenting me day and night. Who am I? Zhou Mo? Or perhaps a monster that continuously devours the memories and obsessions of others?
Li Cheng… After that chaotic incident, he had not contacted me again. Perhaps he was frightened by the "inhuman" aura I exuded at that time. Or maybe he was quietly digesting everything he had witnessed in some unknown corner, planning his next move.
I dared not use the ability of the Soul Rebirth Book lightly anymore. Each time I "exorcised," or rather, each time I "absorbed," deepened my doubts and fears about my own existence. But… I had to know the truth. For Zhou Yu, for those innocent victims treated as experiments by Soul Crossing, and for… myself.
Among the fragmented memories of that janitor's corpse, besides the horrifying records of "selection" and lists of innocents, there was also a recurring encrypted file path that he had hidden with all his willpower. That file seemed to contain critical data on a core experiment of Soul Crossing—a mad project about "quantifying obsession," "artificial book masters," and even… "memory constructs." The codename for that project was glaringly—Ouroboros!
This word shattered all my hopes and made me acutely aware of the harsh reality. Am I… a product of this project? I must find that file!
Relying on the vague clues from the janitor's memories and the increasingly uncontrollable perception of specific energy fluctuations within me related to Ouroboros, I gradually approached the location hiding this deadly secret. It was an abandoned mental illness research center deep beneath the Central Hospital of Xincheng City.
The strong smell of disinfectant was pungent even through the thick alloy door. My stomach churned again as cold flashes filled with numbers and symbols surged uncontrollably into my mind. "Sample No. XJ-007, memory module loading…" "Error 404: Core personality conflict…" I shook my head, forcing myself to stay calm.
This place felt more dangerous than any before, yet… more familiar. It was as if I had been here countless times before. Or rather, a part of me had been "born" here.
The Soul Rebirth Book in my backpack throbbed wildly; this time it wasn't the previous coldness or heat but a kind of… near-wailing fear and an irresistible pull. It was guiding me toward a truth destined to destroy me.
I pushed open the heavy, rust-covered alloy door. Inside was not the laboratory I had imagined but a vast, empty circular hall that resembled a solemn church. In the center stood an altar-like structure made up of countless crystals shimmering with eerie blue light. Above the altar floated a… humanoid corpse.
Its body was almost entirely composed of pure energy, radiating an overwhelming sense of obsession that suffocated me. On its face was an expression of serene martyrdom mixed with sorrow. Was he… the defector researcher from Soul Crossing?
The moment I stepped into the hall, the energy zombie suddenly opened its eyes wide!
They were eyes that burned with pure, untainted hatred and… despair!
“Intruder…” a cold, emotionless voice echoed directly in my mind, yet resonated clearly throughout the entire hall, “Or… should I refer to you as… my ‘kind’?”
My heart tightened!
“Who are you?!”
“I am the first ‘failure’ of the Ouroboros project.” The energy zombie's voice carried a hint of self-mockery and endless sorrow. “A… pitiful soul who tried to reveal the truth to the world, only to be ruthlessly erased by ‘Him.’”
Him… again with “Him”!
“He seeks to transform human consciousness into pure data, creating a so-called ‘digital immortality’—a false paradise!” The energy zombie's voice suddenly turned sharp and filled with resentment. “And we, these ‘samples,’ are merely stepping stones for him to realize this mad plan!”
“He alters our memories, strips away our emotions, turning us into soulless ‘vessels of obsession’! That self-proclaimed ‘Him,’ in reality, is the first generation of ledger keepers who has gone astray—the ‘Old Ledger Keeper.’ He even… attempted to read the core code of the last page of the Resurrection Ledger, aiming to completely control the powers of all ledger keepers and turn us into pawns of his Ouroboros plan!”
The core code of the last page of the Resurrection Ledger?!
“Zhou Yu… she did it to stop him…”
“Yes.” There was a trace of admiration in the energy zombie's voice. “That girl… she is braver and more awake than we so-called ‘forerunners.’ In her own way, she left a… seed within your Resurrection Ledger that could overturn everything.”
A seed?
“But ‘Him’ has a plan far grander than you can imagine, one that is… closer to success.” The energy zombie's voice grew weak again. “I am about to dissipate… My final obsession is to pass on this… this core secret of the Ouroboros project… even if it means… causing your complete collapse…”
As he finished speaking, his body erupted with blinding light!
A torrent of memories more powerful and dangerous than any before surged through me like a devastating tsunami, instantly engulfing me!
This time, it was no longer fragments of memories from a specific deceased person!
Instead, it was complete and clear segments filled with contradictions and distortions—memories from the first-person perspective of the Ouroboros construct!
I saw myself in a cold, vast laboratory undergoing various cruel experiments.
Injected with unknown substances, connected to instruments sparking with electricity, my brain forcibly flooded with massive amounts of information that didn’t belong to me and… false memories.
I “saw” my younger self alongside young Zhou Yu, both trapped in that laboratory!
We were like two little white mice caged together, our eyes filled with fear and confusion!
“Sample number XJ-007, sample number XY-003, beginning memory synchronization test…” A cold, emotionless voice echoed in the laboratory.
XY-003… is that Little Rain’s code?!
Then I saw Zhou Yu's face just before her death—filled with despair and urgency!
She grasped my hand, incoherently warning me: “Brother… Ouroboros… core code… he wants… he wants to use you… to format… everything…”
Her voice was drowned out by a piercing alarm.
Next, I saw that mysterious little girl!
She stood amidst a chaotic storm of numbers and symbols in a memory whirlwind, looking at me with sorrowful eyes as if she wanted to say something. But her image was quickly torn apart by more violent fragments of memory!
“Sample number XJ-007, beginning final memory implantation…”
“Ouroboros project… entering final stage…”
The cold and authoritative voice of the Old Ledger Keeper thundered in my mind like lightning!
No!
This isn’t real!
All of this… all of it is a lie!
It’s been constructed!
Was my so-called past of “losing my parents at an early age and relying on my sister” all just a fabrication?!
Who am I?!
And who is Zhou Yu?!
Are we… were we just a part of this damned "Ouroboros" plan from the very beginning?!
The immense guilt, self-loathing, and complete denial of my own existence are tearing my soul apart!
If… if Zhou Yu's death was because of me… because of my existence as a "sample"…
Then what face do I have left to live on?!
"Ahhhhh—!"
I clutched my head and let out a desperate scream, feeling my mind crumbling inch by inch, completely submerged by memories that were real, false, belonging to "me" and not belonging to "me"!
I… I am the true "original sin"!
Just as my sanity was on the brink of total collapse, about to be swallowed by endless darkness—
"Bang!"
A loud crash!
The alloy door of the circular hall was blasted open by a tremendous force from outside!
Amidst the blinding flashlight beams and swirling smoke, a familiar figure rushed in with several armed police officers!
It was Li Cheng!
He held a document in his hand, looking at me with a complex expression filled with shock, doubt, and a hint of… resolute determination to act!
"Zhou Mo!" he shouted, his voice distorted by astonishment. "According to the encrypted communications we just intercepted from 'Soul Crossing,' and… this emergency plan regarding the 'final phase of the Ouroboros project'… you… you are the core sample! You are directly linked to the unresolved 'mass memory anomaly incident in Xinshen City' from over a decade ago!"
Before he could finish his words—
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Several swift black figures dropped down from the shadows of the ceiling like phantoms!
They wore combat suits that were more advanced than those of ordinary 'Soul Crossing' members, their faces concealed behind masks resembling malevolent spirits!
The leader among them was exceptionally tall, wielding an oddly shaped energy blade that glowed with a dark red light. His gaze was as cold as ancient ice, locking onto me with deadly intent!
"Ouroboros sample," he said in a flat, emotionless tone that seemed to come from the depths of hell. His voice bore a resemblance to that of the old ledger keeper in the memories conveyed to me by the energy corpse earlier. "Recovery order has been initiated."
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