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墨書 Inktalez
The specially designed handgun, glowing with a dangerous blue light, was coldly aimed at me by Li Cheng.
From the shock and fear etched on his face, I could clearly see the monstrous form I had taken on—blue data streams spreading beneath my skin, the metallic skeletal structure that had mutated on my arm, and the incoherent roar mixed with electrical static that escaped my lips.
"Error... Error... Core directive conflict... Eliminate... Eliminate threat..."
These cold, emotionless words spilled uncontrollably from my throat, carrying an unsettling meaning.
No! This isn't me!
I desperately tried to regain control of my body, to tell Li Cheng that I wasn't a monster. But the fragments of "inhuman" memories flooding my mind, those cold program directives, gripped my will like countless invisible hands.
I saw Li Cheng's index finger slowly tightening on the trigger.
Was he going to… kill me?
Just at that critical moment—
"Boom—!"
A deafening sound erupted from the entrance of the Hive, causing the entire underground facility to shake violently! The metal plates above groaned under the strain, dust cascading down.
Li Cheng's movements halted abruptly, a look of uncertainty crossing his face.
"What’s happening?!"
Immediately after, a piercing alarm and the panicked shouts of Soul Crossing personnel echoed from all directions!
"Intrusion! Unknown personnel have breached!"
"They've broken through the outer defenses!"
"Requesting backup! Requesting backup!"
Li Cheng's expression shifted to one of complex emotions; he glanced at me and then towards the trembling entrance, his eyes filled with struggle and… a hint of unnoticeable determination.
"Zhou Mo!" he suddenly shouted, "If… if you still have a shred of Zhou Mo's consciousness left, find a way to survive! Figure out what the Ouroboros really is! And… about my partner's death!"
He swiftly holstered his gun and pulled out a small device resembling an EMP bomb from his waist, not sparing me a glance as he turned and dashed towards the chaos!
"Li Cheng!" I instinctively called out.
He didn't look back, leaving only a resolute silhouette behind.
Was he helping me? Or… trying to use me as bait?
I didn’t have time to ponder further because an even more terrifying force, one that seemed poised to consume my entire consciousness, surged from behind that massive circular alloy door!
The core memory database… it seemed to be destabilizing due to the external attack!
No! I couldn't let those memory fragments swallow me again!
I had to get out of here!
As I staggered, trying to escape, a surge of energy emanated from the "Soul Rebirth Book" in my backpack, a heat so intense it felt like it would melt me away!
Its cover was no longer the cold leather texture I had known; it had transformed into something resembling a glowing hot iron! The text and symbols on it began to twist and contort wildly, ultimately converging into a line of blood-red, shocking letters:
"Warning: 'Ouroboros' Protocol Error!"
"Warning: Sample is about to collapse!"
"Warning: Core directive conflict! Purge mode... activated!"
Purge mode?!
An unprecedented, bone-chilling despair engulfed me in an instant! The old book master... he... he wants to purge me?! Because I have "lost control"? Because I accessed core memories I shouldn't have? Or was it all part of a program he set from the very beginning?
My so-called "search for truth," my so-called "resistance," were they merely a futile struggle of an error code about to be deleted, flailing helplessly before the system crashed?
My free will... my emotions... my memories... were they all just illusions?!
"Ahhhhh—!"
I let out a scream more piercing than any before, filled with despair and unwillingness! Inside me, the chaotic "inhuman" energy that surged from accessing the core memory database clashed violently with the searing energy radiating from the "Soul Rebirth Book"!
I felt like my body was a powder keg ready to explode! Beneath my skin, those eerie blue data streams and circuit patterns became clearer and more grotesque!
I could even feel my bones and organs undergoing some terrifying, inhuman transformation!
I began to... lose control of my body! My limbs twitched uncontrollably, and incoherent sounds mixed with data codes and beast-like roars escaped my mouth!
What terrified me more was that I started hearing some... deep, hoarse whispers that seemed to come from the depths of hell, issuing "commands"!
"...Obey..."
"...Purge anomalies..."
"...Return to 'Ouroboros'..."
These voices were like countless cold tendrils reaching for my consciousness, attempting to drag me completely into the abyss known as "Ouroboros"!
No! I refuse! I am not a program! I am not a monster!
I am Zhou Mo! I am Zhou Mo!
Yet my resistance feels so pale and powerless in the face of that command, which seems to stem from the depths of my soul, as if it were innate.
My consciousness is being eroded bit by bit, replaced by those cold, inhuman "commands."
Just as I was about to completely lose myself—
"Brother... Brother!"
A familiar voice, tinged with tears, suddenly echoed deep within my mind!
It’s Zhou Yu!
I opened my eyes wide and saw... my sister Zhou Yu, who had appeared before me without my noticing!
Her figure was more ethereal than ever, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
Her eyes, flowing with black blood, were filled with urgency and pain as they fixed on me.
But... her gaze was no longer the hollow and dazed look from before.
Instead, it held a glimmer of clarity! A hint of... Zhou Yu's own will!
"Brother... you can't... let it control you..." Her voice was intermittent, filled with static, as if she were battling against some powerful force.
"Xiao Yu?!" I exclaimed in surprise, hardly believing my eyes.
"The Ouroboros... it's consuming you... quickly... remember who you are..." Zhou Yu's body began to tremble violently, emanating unstable black energy as if she were enduring immense pain.
On her face, the black blood of the undead began to... fade?
No, it wasn't fading! It was being covered by another stronger, purer energy of obsession!
But this covering seemed to cause her even more agony! Her body even started to show... cracks! Like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering!
"Xiao Yu! No!" I shouted in terror.
"Brother... I can’t hold on much longer..." Zhou Yu's gaze began to blur, but she still clung tightly to my arm, an exceptionally familiar warmth radiating from her fingertips.
That warmth was... the unique bond between us siblings!
"The old ledger master... he wants to fully activate the core of the Ouroboros within you... to make you a true... 'vessel'..." Zhou Yu's voice grew weaker and her body became increasingly transparent.
"He wants to strip away my obsession... to leave you completely 'blank'..."
Strip away obsession?!
I understood!
The old ledger master wanted to eliminate Zhou Yu's last "anchor" to me through some means, making me lose my identity as Zhou Mo entirely and reducing me to a mere tool controlled by the core program of the Ouroboros!
And Zhou Yu... she was using her last strength to resist this stripping away! To protect me!
"No! Xiao Yu! Don’t do this for me!" I screamed, tears uncontrollably streaming down my face.
But Zhou Yu only smiled weakly, that smile carrying a hint of stubbornness and... acceptance, just like in her living days.
"Brother... live on... find... the truth... don't... become... his... puppet..."
The light surrounding her dimmed further, and the cracks in her body widened.
"And... that book, 'The Resurrection Ledger'... the last page... it was me... I tore it out..."
"There's... something about the 'Ouroboros'... the true... secret..."
What?!
I felt as if struck by lightning!
The last page of 'The Resurrection Ledger'... was torn out by Xiaoyu?!
As I was overwhelmed with shock, an unexpected change occurred!
The two conflicting energies within me seemed to reach a certain... critical point because of Zhou Yu's words!
"Boom—!"
An indescribable, destructive energy storm erupted violently around me!
The entire core area of the "Hive" trembled violently in this energy storm!
Those cold metal walls, those instruments flickering with eerie light, were instantly torn to shreds!
And I... I felt my consciousness being thrown into the endless darkness like a kite with a broken string...
Before I completely lost consciousness, the last scene I saw was Zhou Yu's face, rendered ethereal from excessive energy depletion yet still bearing a smile of relief.
Her figure flickered amidst the raging energy, as if she were shouting something at me.
But her voice was soon drowned out by the deafening roar of the explosion... then, everything faded into darkness.
I didn't know.
All I knew was that I had lost.
Lost utterly and completely.
All my efforts, all my struggles felt like a pathetic joke.
Who am I?
Perhaps... I truly am just an error code.
A... soon-to-be completely erased error code.
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