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墨書 Inktalez
Lu Fei Fan nodded and followed the young man inside. The young man rhythmically tapped on the wall for a while, and several bricks protruded with a loud clatter. He pressed them in a specific order, and then a wall suddenly rose, revealing an entrance. The young man gestured for Lu Fei Fan to enter. To his surprise, he found that inside was an elevator!
Lu Fei Fan stepped in, and the young man closed the elevator gate, pressing the green button for descent. With a clattering sound, the elevator slowly descended into the dark corridor.
As it dropped, Lu Fei Fan caught sight of layer upon layer of basements. There were storage levels filled with mechanical parts and underground layers piled high with food and unknown boxes. If he hadn’t come here, who would have known there was an underground level hidden away?
When the elevator reached the fifth level, it jolted slightly. The young man opened the gate and let Lu Fei Fan go in first. Upon entering, Lu Fei Fan couldn’t help but be surprised by the environment before him.
It was a spacious underground level, estimated to be around four to five hundred square meters. Unlike the shabby ground floor, this level was equipped with some rather high-end instruments and devices. Unknown machines stood tall on both sides of the venue, their purpose unclear.
“Xiu Kui, help me find the number six gear and number two connector,” called out a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, busy in front of a pile of machinery without looking up.
The young man rolled his eyes and turned around to rummage through a row of cabinets behind him, quickly retrieving two tools before dashing across to the other side.
When the middle-aged man received the tools, he glanced at Lu Fei Fan before continuing his work.
“Are you here for the ‘Yu Ling’ armor?” he asked nonchalantly without raising his head.
However, he didn’t wait for an answer and noticed that Lu Fei Fan was already exploring around with gleaming eyes.
“Ah, a particle collider…”
“Tsk tsk tsk, a precision processing machine for alloy composites!”
“This is a modified grade computer! Oh my, I really want to take it home.”
Although Lu Fei Fan had never seen these things in person, he was quite interested in mechanics. He had spent some time in an arms factory before and found it relatively easy to understand mechanical concepts.
“Hey hey, who are you? Stop right there!” The middle-aged man hurriedly wheeled himself out from behind the machines.
“Don’t touch that computer! If you dare to lay a finger on it, I’ll chop off your hand!” He threw a wrench at Lu Fei Fan. Without even looking back, Lu Fei Fan effortlessly caught the flying wrench.
Then, feigning an innocent demeanor, he said, "Alright, I'll just take a look. No need to be so tense."
Zhong Nian felt a surge of irritation and glanced at the young man, questioning, "Xiu Kui, who is this fellow?"
"I don't know," the young man replied honestly, adjusting his glasses.
"Fine, you can have that armor, but you'll have to pass a test," Zhong Nian said as he pushed his wheelchair and led Lu Fei Fan toward the end of the room.
"A test?" Lu Fei Fan was taken aback and expressed his disappointment, "I didn't realize there was a test involved."
"Of course! What did you think? That there would really be a free lunch waiting for you?" Zhong Nian replied curtly as he maneuvered his wheelchair.
Lu Fei Fan held his head in his hands and sighed as he looked at Hua Ban. "I thought this whole fate thing would just involve having a meal, drinking tea, and chatting a bit."
"Hmph, nothing comes easy, young man," Zhong Nian said as he stopped the wheelchair in an area covered by a canvas. He reached out and pulled the canvas away, sending dust flying that made him cough several times.
"Hey, with my good looks, I should be fine," Lu Fei Fan said, stroking his chin and glancing at the brother beside him. However, Xiu Kui looked at him like he was an idiot before moving to the workbench. He blew off the dust and began connecting black cables to the workbench, starting up machines with Zhong Nian.
Watching them work, Lu Fei Fan pondered whether it would be wiser to make a run for it. This test looked suspiciously like an experiment involving electric shocks on lab rats—definitely not reassuring!
But now that he was here, Lu Fei Fan knew he couldn't leave empty-handed.
"Please proceed to the testing area!" Xiu Kui said expressionlessly, as if eagerly anticipating something behind those reflective lenses.
Lu Fei Fan stepped into the testing area. It was indeed a testing zone—a circular area lit from below. He stood there and looked up; it was pitch black above him, and he couldn't see anything. Yet he knew there was something up there.
Sure enough, with a sharp sound from above in the circular area, bright lights shone down on Lu Fei Fan, temporarily blinding him. Following that, a glass dome rose from the ground and enclosed him. It wasn't sealed tight; Lu Fei Fan could feel air being pumped in through connected tubes while blue liquid began to slowly rise beneath him.
He recognized this as the immersion liquid for the virtual device's cabin. Shaking his head, he realized he had no choice but to accept this test.
As the glass dome filled with transparent liquid, Lu Fei Fan was submerged and gradually slipped into a state of slumber.
In the glass cabinet shaped like a cylinder, bubbles occasionally floated up, and the immersion liquid began to change color, sometimes transparent white, sometimes blue, which left Xiu Kui and the Wheelchair Doctor astonished behind it.
After a surge of electricity, the workbench, illuminated by lights flashing at various frequencies, suddenly dimmed!
"Xiu Kui, what’s going on?" The doctor in the wheelchair appeared somewhat frustrated, as the experiment was at a critical moment.
The young man named Xiu Kui raised his hands innocently, claiming he hadn’t touched any switches. The Wheelchair Doctor maneuvered his chair to inspect the workbench, finding no signs indicating that the power had been deliberately shut off; all the circuits appeared normal.
"Doctor Tu, look!" Xiu Kui hurriedly pointed toward the top of the glass cabinet.
Still annoyed while checking the circuits, Doctor Tu suddenly looked up to see that a piece of armor connected by various wires was slowly descending from midair. Its smooth lines rippled like water over a vine-like material. On the surface of the armor, waves of energy flickered with various hues; if one looked closely, they would see astonishing energy array patterns!
"This... how could this happen..." Doctor Tu murmured to himself, utterly unable to believe what he was witnessing.
Meanwhile, Lu Fei Fan, who had fallen into a deep slumber, was unaware of what was happening outside; he found himself thrown into a dark space.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" he called out.
"You're the only one here; there’s no one else," replied a childlike voice that was indistinguishable in gender.
"This must be a virtual world," Lu Fei Fan reasoned calmly, recalling his previous encounters with heroes; perhaps this was another form of intelligent life.
"Sort of," the innocent voice took some time to respond.
"Are you intelligent?" Lu Fei Fan asked directly.
"Intelligent?" The voice fell into thought again. After a while, it said, "That’s not important."
"What is important then? You must have a name," Lu Fei Fan continued probing, trying to confirm whether this being was indeed intelligent.
"Isn't that why you came here?" it replied.
“How can I obtain it?” Lu Fei Fan asked.
“Just keep walking until you find me,” it replied.
“What if I don’t?”
“Then you’ll never go back.”
Lu Fei Fan fell silent. He didn’t doubt those words, for in the world of Intelligent, the AI could control the machines outside. Even if he tried to forcefully disconnect them, he would likely end up in a vegetative state. He certainly didn’t want to become a fool who could only lie in bed for all his needs. He had to complete this deadly test.
So, he began to walk forward. At first, his patience was intact; he walked for five hours without asking a single question. Even surrounded by endless darkness, he continued onward, knowing this was undoubtedly part of the test.
However, the unending darkness began to instill a sense of fear within him. Humans often experience claustrophobia and fear of the dark. After seven hours of walking, Lu Fei Fan stopped to rest, feeling genuinely exhausted—not just physically, but mentally as well.
“You seem tired,” the voice appeared beside him like a shadow.
“I’m not you; I’m human. Even if this isn’t the real world, I can still feel fatigue, especially in a colorless and lightless realm,” Lu Fei Fan replied.
“Everyone possesses two worlds: one is your reality, and the other is the world within your heart. This is your inner world,” the voice explained.
“You’ve magnified the dark side of my heart into an entire world; that’s my inner world,” Lu Fei Fan countered.
“People have never feared having nothing; they fear going from having everything to having nothing. Life is like that,” it said.
“Is this your philosophy?” Lu Fei Fan suddenly became curious. These words didn’t sound like something an AI would say—even one as powerful as a near-invincible hero AI wouldn’t express such philosophical thoughts.
“No, it belongs to my creator, Doctor Saladin,” it answered honestly, seemingly not wanting to hide this fact.
Lu Fei Fan sat down to rest. Chatting with it certainly lifted his spirits. Then he asked, “How much longer do I need to walk before I see what I’m looking for?”
“Walk until you can see the light,” it replied nonchalantly.
Lu Fei Fan fell silent for a moment, intending to ask if there were any other shortcuts, but he ultimately refrained. He stood up and continued walking, pausing intermittently. After walking in the darkness for another four or five moments, the absence of light began to shake his steadfast willpower.
"You are quite remarkable," the voice suddenly said.
"I am about to give up," Lu Fei Fan replied with a hint of regret.
"To gain something, you must be willing to give something in return," the voice continued. "Since you cannot persist to the end, you must offer something to obtain what you desire."
"Alright. What do you want?" Lu Fei Fan countered.
"It is not about what I want; it is about what you can give," it said, sounding intrigued and cunning, like an old fox. The conversation was not one-sided, indicating that its creator possessed a high level of intelligence and had endowed it with profound wisdom and philosophy.
Lu Fei Fan looked at his hands and then shook his head. "Here, I only have my body. I cannot give you anything else."
"Then use your body as payment. For example, how about a hand?" the other party suggested enticingly.
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