Chapter 489

Chapter 489: Empathy

The beam of light, as if composed of a thousand lightning bolts, momentarily illuminated the night sky of Hope City.

As darkness reclaimed the sky, the three people who had narrowly escaped glanced back to see their former position scorched black by the residual force of the ship’s cannon, with several city defense cannons melted down on the spot.

However, the outer city had already been strategically abandoned, rendering these defenses largely ineffective.

The trio swiftly changed direction and made their way back to the city wall, heading towards the waters where the extraordinary beasts had been.

The sea had once again fallen silent; the swarms of extraordinary beasts, the monster gathering its strength, and the remnants of the Willow Man that had served as transport for these beasts had all vanished without a trace.

Amidst the whirlpool churned up by the fierce winds, a head-sized object was soon blown before the three.

The object was pitch black, riddled with burn holes, making it difficult to discern what it had been before melting and solidifying.

“Fond of waves, are you?”

Luke toyed with the object through the veil of wind, as if checking for any signs of life, while murmuring softly.

El glanced at the unappealing lump and then at Luke:

“Is this all that’s left?”

“Seems so.”

“Didn’t you say we were supposed to capture it alive?”

Luke scratched his head with his left hand:

“That was the idea, but we’re pressed for time and have a lot on our plate. If we can finish it quickly, let’s do it.”

El nodded, and Luke then inquired:

“Did you see this thing crawl out of the Willow Man’s head?”

“Yes, I’m certain.”

“Then we’re in deep trouble…”

Luke’s expression darkened:

“Other Fifth Level Extraordinary Beasts likely have similar things in their heads. They might not even be aware of it.

“I’ll issue a warning now; if you’re still recovering, take another moment.”

With that, Luke ascended once more, riding an invisible gust of wind towards the battlefield in the inner city.

“I’ll head back to the battlefield too.”

Seeing that the conflict here had concluded, Liu Xiaoheng, concerned for the soldiers in his sector, prepared to bid farewell to El but noticed a look of confusion on El’s face.

“What’s the matter?”

Liu Xiaoheng asked.

El gestured towards the sky:

“He can fly, so he just left. How do you plan to traverse the outer city back to the battlefield on foot? Besides, the water below is the sea; if you want to walk back, you’ll have to take a long detour.”

Liu Xiaoheng looked around and realized the truth of it; they were at the part of the outer city’s wall that jutted into the sea. Without a boat, reaching the land would require either swimming or walking along the wall to where it connected to the mainland.

“What should we do?”

The middle-aged man felt a bit anxious.

“What else can we do? Just wait for me to recover my strength for five minutes, and I’ll teleport you back. If you really want to find something to do…”

El glanced at the extraordinary beasts that had gradually closed in from both sides.

“Then I’ll leave those guys to you.”

Liu Xiaoheng didn’t respond; he simply fastened his helmet and reached for his waist.

“Buzz!”

—

Hope City, central spire, bottom floor.

“That’s my plan.”

Lin Qingliu stepped out of the elevator, and the space around him was empty, yet he seemed to be speaking to an invisible audience.

But soon a voice came through—

“Please allow me to question your plan in a personal capacity.”

“Godfather, no!”

The voice of “Infinite Scroll” echoed through the speakers spread across every corner of the spire, allowing Lin Qingliu seamless communication no matter where he moved.

As for the latter part, it came from another communicator linked to the [Skydome].

“Why?”

Lin Qingliu asked somewhat carelessly as he headed toward the energy control room.

“This is a risky operation with a possibility of failure, which we cannot afford.”

“I see.”

Lin Qingliu nodded but suddenly changed the subject:

“Do you know why the outside matters are delivered to [Skydome]?”

“Of course, it’s because I’m more advanced than my predecessor.”

The voice of [Skydome] came through the speakers.

“I doubt that.”

“Infinite Scroll” seemed to disagree with [Skydome]’s view.

“When adults speak, children should listen.”

Lin Qingliu casually retorted, then cut off [Skydome]’s voice and turned to explain to “Infinite Scroll”:

“[Skydome] was originally a data model designed to predict the survival time of Hope City.

“By converting the majority of the internal and external issues the city could face, as well as some positive developments, into weighted data, it allows for rough projections.

“However, because Ji Yongxing is quite cautious, he was very generous with the negative data and quite stingy with the positive data.

“This led to the model concluding that Hope City would not survive beyond the 70-year mark of the New Era, and Ji Yongxing admitted that his caution caused [Skydome] to lean toward conservatism once activated.

“He told me this directly, without exaggeration or other factors.

“So, I entrusted the battlefield matters to him because he is cautious enough, while I entrusted the spire completely to you because you are meticulous enough.”

“That still doesn’t explain your reckless plan.”

“I’m not done yet, ‘Infinite Scroll’.”

The last door in front of Lin Qingliu opened, revealing the energy entity, a pinnacle of Old Era human technology, still restrained by an invisible force field as it moved slowly within the confined space.

“Even with such caution, it’s hard for Hope City to survive, let alone facing a crisis like this.

“The area around Hope City is surrounded by an endless beast tide, the ‘black tide’ to the south, which I named, is also spreading outward. If I don’t take a gamble, humanity faces only death.”

As Lin Qingliu finished, “Infinite Scroll” did not reply, seemingly deep in thought with its computational power.

“‘Infinite Scroll’, do you have something you cherish?”

Lin Qingliu suddenly asked.

“Yes.”

“Where do you keep those items?”

The artificial intelligence paused before responding:

“…In the storage cabinet that has been accessed the least in the archive room.”

“All your cherished items are there?”

“Yes.”

“Exactly.”

Lin Qingliu smiled lightly and continued explaining:

“Humans tend to keep precious items together, and as artificial intelligence, you have gradually been influenced by your interactions with humans.”

“You are correct.”

“Then how different can the thinking of mycelium, which centers around the human brain and learns based on human memory, be from that of humans?”

Before “Infinite Scroll” could answer, Lin Qingliu continued:

“That extraordinary beast’s head claimed to be the ‘firstborn’ of the ‘mother’, a treasure born from the purest biomass, and ‘mother’ loves it more than any other kin.

“The firstborn is a treasure, biomass is a treasure; is the human brain matrix not a treasure?

“So, tell me, what are the odds of Clotho’s human brain matrix being located underground at the extraordinary beast’s birthplace?”