Chapter Oh My, It’s The 700th Chapter! The Veda Will Be So Frightened!
It never occurred in any of Lin Sanjiu's dreams that by the time her life came to an end—not perished, but ended—what accompanied her by her side would be the Veda's annoyingly calm voice.
"Your new companion has shown a high degree of similarity to our data analysis and code writing ability. Also, we found that one of them carries the characteristic that we specifically created for our subjects."
Lin Sanjiu could not hear what the Veda was saying. Her arms and legs were beginning to turn into smoke as they lost their forms and weight, and fluttered like silk in the wind before dissipating into the air. The entire process did not cause her any pain. When she lowered her head to see only her trunk hovering in the air with her four limbs nowhere to be seen, she felt like she was stuck in a nightmare that she would never wake up from.
'No, that isn't possible. Since I can realize this "Puppeteer" is actually a Veda, then the grand prize should be able to distinguish that the other Lin Sanjiu isn't the real deal as well. He's so smart, I'm sure he could…'
"I wouldn't be so optimistic if I were you. All the data flow inside this cord is under my surveillance, so it's very unlikely they will realize anything. Ever since you set foot into this cord, every action and every movement of yours has been instantaneously recorded and compiled. The reaction the other 'Lin Sanjiu' would make is deduced based on this real-time data. I can assure you that even if you personally appear in front of both of them, they wouldn't be able to differentiate which one of you is the real Lin Sanjiu."
'Oh yeah, I almost forgot that these b*stards can read people's minds!'
"It isn't the same as the so-called mind-reading. As I said, all of the flow of data is under my surveillance. You can assume that the transmission of signals between the neurons in your brain has exposed your thoughts. I think in this way, you'll understand the entire picture better." The Veda was indeed a kind of species that loved to explain things. It looked at Lin Sanjiu serenely before moving on to another topic. "How the subjective consciousness is generated in the brain's neural network system seems to be a problem that has been bothering you humans for a long time as well."
The Veda sounded like a bee that kept buzzing in her ears. It did not mean anything to Lin Sanjiu and was truly annoying. She raised her head, refusing to look at her body that was turning into smoke. Furthermore, she had no idea why, but even her vision was starting to get blurry.
"As for the man who didn't have a code writing ability and that Soul, they have already become a part of the database." The Veda had been rambling about the mind and consciousness and so on so much that Lin Sanjiu could not comprehend. Her mind was slipping away as a dark fog clouded her eyes, but this sentence forced her back to reality. It felt like a freezing water droplet that trickled down her collar bone.
Just when she thought that her opponent would continue to say something, it suddenly stopped.
"Ah, it's done," the Veda said softly after a momentary pause, causing Lin Sanjiu's heart to give a small start. "There are only two left now."
'What's been done?'
Just as a shade of doubt emerged in Lin Sanjiu's heart, she saw something that she would never forget for the rest of her life. As if it were made of melted snow and ice, "Puppeteer's" humanoid appearance began to dissolve and reveal whatever was inside. The true form of the Veda was not of a humanoid or the shape of any kind of creature. If not for the highest god's "lens", she would not be able to see it. Nevertheless, even if she could see it with the help of the "lens", she still failed to comprehend its nature.
'What in the world is that?'
It was a wonder that such a life form really existed.
'It… it looks just like…'
Lin Sanjiu searched through her brain for any terms that she could use to describe the Veda, yet she could not find any. Its appearance did not have any physical attribution but looked more like an abstract concept that was directly sent into your brain. If Lin Sanjiu had to give it a description, it would be a large, open pool of some sort.
"Pull yourself together!" Mrs. Manas shouted. "Huh? Why are you still here? Why am I still here?"
'Huh?'
Lin Sanjiu snapped back to reality and hastily lowered her head to look at her own body. To her surprise, her arms and legs had stopped turning into smoke. Right now, she was shrouded in a huge plume of smoke as though she was riding on a cloud. To her utmost relief, her consciousness remained intact and she still had her body.
According to the Veda, she should have already become a set of data to be stored in the database.
She then peeled her eyes away and looked ahead to see the huge pool slowly turning its body. She had not thought that she would be so eager to hear it say something, but the Veda just kept quiet. It seemed that it could not see her now.
Inside the large data pool—Lin Sanjiu had no better description other than giving it an ambiguous term—there was a feature that she found she could describe using the human language: a CD. Countless sets of CDs floated about inside the Veda, emanating a soft golden radiance.
It occurred to her that the Veda could not see her anymore. She watched in bewilderment as the soft golden hue suddenly disintegrated into strands of light that were barely noticeable by the human eye. The strands of light then diffused into her surroundings, tainting the sky, the wall, the ground, and the house with its mellow golden glow before completely vanishing into the air.
Lin Sanjiu floated slack-jawed in the air. Her mind was blank.
Compared to being a set of information, it was more frightening to become a set of information with self-consciousness.
'Do I have to stay like this, being tortured for the rest of my life?'
"Hey, wake up!" A very familiar sound slid into her mind. She thought it was Mrs. Manas who was talking, but she soon realized the voice was sharp and effeminate, unlike Mrs. Manas's usual soothing one. "The Veda is gone. Why are you still zoning out there like a stupid fool?"
"S—Soulsqn?" Lin Sanjiu was baffled. She thought she was having an illusion because when she glanced around, all she could see was the dingy alley. "Is that you? Where are you now?"
"Duh, of course it's me," the flesh worm replied matter-of-factly. "Here, look over here. Oh, silly me, I've forgotten that you can't see right now. Wait over there. We are coming."
Soulsqn's reply pushed Lin Sanjiu further into confusion.
'Hold on a sec. We?' Lin Sanjiu asked inwardly.
On the other side of the alley, the swarm of Arabians in different clothing began to scatter. They all went back to continue their own duties except for two figures clad in robes. They walked against the flow of the crowd and came straight for her.
"Oh my." From underneath the robe of the shorter figure, a slippery crimson red form revealed itself. Soulsqn then spoke in her usual sharp voice. "Do you know that you look like a ghost now?"
Staring fixedly at the flesh worm, Lin Sanjiu could not believe what she was looking at. Like a deer caught in the headlights, she jerked her head to the right and vaguely saw two sunken cheeks underneath the shadow of the robe. The glitter that ringed his eyes glimmered, but Lin Sanjiu did not know what color it was now.
"Did—didn't you guys—?" Lin Sanjiu was so overwhelmed by a paroxysm of excitement and shock that her words slurred. Her tongue was tied and it took her several minutes to finished her sentence, "How…W-what is happening? Why did the Veda just leave like that?"
"That's a long story." Soulsqn put her robe down, bringing her not-so-pleasant-to-the-eye face into the light. She stretched a few tendrils to Puppeteer and said, "It's all thanks to Lord Puppeteer."
"What does that mean?"
Lin Sanjiu could not help but glance at Puppeteer. The Veda did not get their hands on Soulsqn, so she was very certain that this flesh worm was the real one. Furthermore, judging from the situation just now, there was no need for the Veda to trick her anymore. If they continued to devour her, right now, she would be a set of data inside of this database. Hence, the Puppeteer and Soulsqn who stood before her eyes must be real.
"You have been analyzed, so now the Veda already knows how to dispel my ability, don't they?" Even after going through so many things together, the Queen of the Souls still seemed to hold a grudge against Lin Sanjiu for leaking the method to neutralize her ability to the Veda. "When we were sucked into this cord, Lord Puppeteer instantly summoned me to his side."
"Then?" Lin Sanjiu asked, her face full of questions.
This time, the one who responded to her was a cold voice. "You are a classical example of a good-for-nothing aiming to just get by." Puppeteer stuck out his bloodless hand and lifted the hood that covered his face. With a frown, he sneered. "Didn't you make out any countermeasures when you were in the Olympics? I really wonder how you managed to survive for such a long time with that little pea brain of yours."
It seemed like the sarcasm level of the real deal was leagues ahead of the "Puppeteer" created by the Veda.
"When we were in the cord, I turned 90% of her body into a Puppet. Then, she activated her ability and created a reality that contained a "Soulsqn"," Puppeteer continued to say in a mocking voice. "At that time, I bet you were still being thrown here and there in the cord."
"The 'Soulsqn' inside my reality soon met its demise," the flesh worm chimed in. "Hence, to the Veda, I'm the first amongst the group to be turned into a set of data."
In other words, when the Veda thought they had only three opponents left, they did not realize that, in reality, they still had to deal with three people and one worm. This was because they had not analyzed Soulsqn yet, so they were clueless to the fact that the one they got rid of was merely another reality created by the real Soulsqn.
Lin Sanjiu began to understand the situation. "In this way, the Veda thought you were dead, so they naturally wouldn't think of using my data to neutralize your ability."
"Yes, exactly," Soulsqn replied triumphantly. "So, after that, I immediately created another reality to make the Veda think that they had successfully turned Lord Puppeteer into a set of data as well. Then, your condition was more complicated since you were caught by the Veda."
Lin Sanjiu lowered her head to look at her body that was shrouded in smoke.
"Since the melting process had already begun, there was no use in me creating another version of you using my reality," Soulsqn continued. "Hence, I created another reality for the Veda. In its eyes, the melting process was twice as fast as the original melting process. Thus, the Veda thought you have already melted so it stopped the melting process and went away."
'So, that's the full story…'
"But how am I going to look for the grand prize? My arms and my legs are gone…" Lin Sanjiu sighed. Then, she suddenly gave a start as she remembered something. She looked at Puppeteer and said vigilantly, "The grand prize and the highest god are our only trump cards if we want to vanquish the Veda. Don't tell me that you guys aren't planning to look for them."
Puppeteer gave a cold laugh. The glitter around his eyes turned deep blue. He lowered his head and nodded his chin at Soulsqn. The flesh worm leaped up and pulled a rope out of nowhere. She then straightened her body and tied the rope around Lin Sanjiu's choker. "Alright, let's go and save those two brats!"