Chapter 599: 1 + 1 Is Larger Than 2

Since the Veda knew nothing about the grand prize, then who created him? Who or what was the one pulling strings behind the Starry Carnival Amus.e.m.e.nt Park?

Now that they captured a Veda, what should they do next? What was the relations.h.i.+p between the Veda and the Salvation of G.o.d, and what was the truth behind this world?

For a moment, Lin Sanjiu"s brain was awash with all sorts of questions. She was, first and last, a normal girl. She was not very smart, and she did not possess an intense curiosity. There was nothing she could do but accept it when the doomsday arrived. She actively carved out her own path to survive in the harsh environment brought forth by the apocalypse, just like how she learned to hold herself out in human society for the past twenty years. Although the question about the nature of the apocalyptic worlds would occasionally come into her mind, she would never waste her effort in mulling over such unrealistic matter that had nothing to do with her survival.

Until today. Now she genuinely felt the existence of an otherworldly force, locating at a higher plane unknown to man, and far beyond the reach of her sight, that controlled the fate of the world. 

Suddenly, she felt some palpitations in her chest. It was that kind of consternation akin to feeling gazed back at by an abyss when you stared long enough into it.

However, there"s always someone who emphasizes different things in such a heavy moment.

"I don"t care. I"m right!" Soulsqn remonstrated stubbornly. "This Veda is just too embarra.s.sed to admit it! It just wants to protect its dignity!"

"What a simpleton…" Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly. After that, she s.h.i.+fted her gaze away from Soulsqn and looked at Puppeteer. Before she could say anything, the man clad in black leather opened his mouth first, cutting her short, "No."

"What?" Lin Sanjiu was taken aback.

"You want me to release him, don"t you?" Puppeteer said without looking at her. He swaggered towards the barrier, meeting gazes with Ji Shanqing. One of them was young and had a pair of bright eyes while the other was gloomy and shrouded himself in a cloak of indifference. At a glance, it was as if two Puppeteers were standing in front of her—one was his past while another was the present.

Puppeteer frowned slightly as he looked at the grand prize"s delicate face. There was a hint of disgust and homicidal intent on his face that not even he realized was there. "The Veda say such things, and you plan to believe it. Don"t you think you are a bit hasty? "

When Ji Shanqing heard what Puppeteer said, he let out a sigh as he lowered his face.

His long hair slipped down and covered half of his face under its shadow. Puppeteer squinted his eyes, measuring the grand prize with avid eyes as a strange sense of familiarity stirred in his heart. Lin Sanjiu"s chest seized. Just when she was about to say something to sidetrack him from his thoughts, he suddenly said, "Hmm, why do I have the feeling that I have seen him somewhere before?"

Lin Sanjiu"s heart did a little leap as she inwardly screamed, "d.a.m.n it!"

Puppeteer had been transferred away the moment he stepped into the mirror house, so he did not encounter the grand prize. However, Lin Sanjiu did not know if all the grand prizes in the other worlds had the same appearance. What if all of them looked the same? Then it was only a matter of time before Puppeteer realized his real ident.i.ty.

Perhaps Puppeteer had a lousy memory, or he was suffering from face blindness. He could not identify the grand prize in the end. He straightened his body, his brows still furrowed deeply above his nose on his forehead. Lin Sanjiu quickly walked forward a few steps, saying, "It"s okay if you don"t want to release him now, but what should we do with this Veda?"

The question caught the attention of the group in the hall.

Even Sven, whose throat was destroyed, began to speak. "I hope you all won"t make any hasty movement. Think thoroughly before making any decisions." 

At this, Puppeteer sneered, "What if we don"t?"

"Then nothing would happen. I"m not threatening you." The air about Sven was different from when he was in the pocket dimension. He had cast away all human emotions since he did not have to pretend to be a human anymore. "As a Veda, I"m immortal."

All of them were stunned. They exchanged looks with each other.

The Veda was a form of life they had never seen before and had zero knowledge about. They did not even have a body. Hence, no matter how eager they were to get their revenge, they did not know where to start when facing a lifeform such as this.

"Nothing will last forever." 

The voice shattered the silence between them like the sound of a stream cras.h.i.+ng onto a stone, prompting the two humans and flesh worm to turn their heads around. They saw Ji Shanqing, standing in the barrier, say with a calm tone, "You are no exception. The thing you said about your species being immortal is nothing but a bluff. Since you are in our hands now, I"m certain we will eventually find a way to destroy you."

After that, Ji Shanqing looked at Lin Sanjiu, offering her a comforting smile. "Sis, don"t worry. I already know how to prove that I"m the real Graham."

The stone in Lin Sanjiu"s heart finally dropped. She returned her grand prize a smile.

Sven was silent for a few seconds before he began speaking again. "You don"t understand. Even if you found a way to wipe me out of existence, that"s fine too. All of my information and data const.i.tution are stored in a place you guys cannot reach. My brethren just need to write the code by referring to my information, and then I will be reborn again."

However smart Ji Shanqing was, he could not tell the truth if it was something beyond his knowledge. As he was thinking over how he should reply, Lin Sanjiu chimed in and said, "The "out of reach" place you are talking about is the Data Stream Library, right?"

The grand prize instantly raised his head.

"Yes. I can see that you have already been there." This time, Sven remained silent for a long while before moving on. "No wonder my brethren is going after you. In the past, everything that entered the Data Stream Library would only come out as Veda."

"The things that I know amount to more than that. I know that you Veda store all information in a glowing white thread known as the cord," Lin Sanjiu said, an edge of derision in her voice. "Let"s say I managed to delete your data that is stored in the cord, what would happen then?" 

"Although I do not know how you managed to escape from my brethren, if I were you, I would cherish this opportunity and escape from here as soon as possible," Sven said. His tone had become slightly grim, which was undetectable if they did not give their whole attention in listening. "Putting everything aside, my brethren would know the moment you stepped into the Data Stream Library. So please enlighten me on how you are going to delete our information?" 

"You"re wrong." Lin Sanjiu had activated her [Consciousness Mimicry] when Ji Shanqing was talking to Sven. Her mind was as clear as crystal. Although Ji Shanqing was a better candidate for representing the group, he never went to the Data Stream Library, so he could not perform very well in the negotiation.

Perhaps not even Ji Shanqing would expect that his sister was now negotiating with the Veda by imitating his way of thinking.

"We managed to escape before your brethren could a.n.a.lyze our information… Do you know why? It is because we have an ability that allows us to transform into a replica of our target. So long as we imitate your species" appearance, we can return to the Data Stream Library without any problems."

"That is absurd," Sven scoffed. A splash of blood and meat pulp spurted out of the hole in his neck. "Our data const.i.tution and characterization is unique to every individual Veda. We wouldn"t even need to a.n.a.lyze before knowing which one is the imposter."

"Which part of my explanation gives you the wrong inception that we will generate a new appearance? Do you think we are capable of creating a new lifeform while not even you Veda are able to do it? How funny, of course, we can"t! All we have to do is enact a layer of illusion over our body and make you Veda think that we"re one of you. I can show you if you don"t believe me."

Then Lin Sanjiu turned around to see that both Puppeteer and Soulsqn were sitting on the floor, watching the verbal exchange between Lin Sanjiu and Sven, as they knew they couldn"t be of any help. Caught in between tears and laughter, Lin Sanjiu threw a significant look at Soulsqn.

The young girl with double ponytails looked blankly at her. Her skin slowly slid down her face.

Lin Sanjiu gestured with her lips as she glanced at Sven.

Blinking her eyes, Soulsqn followed suit and stared at Sven.

Just when the words almost escaped Lin Sanjiu"s lips, Puppeteer finally saw the light of what she wanted Soulsqn to do. He dragged Soulsqn to his side and murmured something into her ear. Then Soulsqn"s eyes lit up. Her eyeb.a.l.l.s rolled around in their sockets. In the next second, Sven suddenly yelled, "You"re here! Wait, wait a second… No, this is not my brethren. This is… an illusion…"

Turning over to face Sven, Lin Sanjiu was aware that all of them looked like Veda in his eyes. She gave a little chortle as she said, "Do you believe us now?"

The Veda did not reply.

"Let me guess. You Veda do not have much storage in yourself; hence, you store all the information you collected in the cord, correct?" Lin Sanjiu suddenly could not stop the thought that popped into her mind.

"Why are you so sure about this?" Soulsqn asked.

"Simple. If a Veda could store information in their own body, why does it still need to go through so much trouble to bring my friend back here? Why doesn"t it just collect the information while they are in the Salvation of G.o.d? Then it would not have to protect my friend from getting killed by us, and it would not end up in our hands." Lin Sanjiu smiled. "Once I destroy that cord, not only will I wipe out your entire species, all the knowledge you Veda are so proud of, all the information you have collected so far, your technology and your ability to write code, all of that will be gone. So do you still want us to return to the Data Stream Library?"

After a long silence, Sven began talking again, "You can"t do it."

Then, it fell silent again. Lin Sanjiu waited patiently, as she knew there would be something more Sven wanted to say, but Puppeteer seemed to have run out of patience. He jolted up and gave a cold smile, "I can"t do it?"

A tiny object appeared on his palm. As he waved his finger, two rows of holes and a part of the wall vanished as if they had been rubbed out by an eraser, leaving nothing but blank s.p.a.ce behind.

Lin Sanjiu knew from a glance that it was the eraser tool in [PhotoshopCS].

"You can try to recreate the thing that I have erased." Puppeteer curled his lips into a sarcastic smile that didn"t reach his eyes but coated his voice. "Let"s see who is faster."

In reality, they were an open book in front of the Veda. Sven had just returned from the Salvation of G.o.d, so he was oblivious to the things that happened here. The group was now taking advantage of this fact and trying to bluff the Veda.

Everyone had played his or her part well in fooling the species, who was more sagacious and way more knowledgeable than any species around. Lin Sanjiu could not believe her ears when the Veda said, "So what do you want? I will try my best to cooperate."