滋滋滋——

The noise from the ballast at one end of the fluorescent light allowed Feng Bujue, who was standing in the middle of the room, to regain consciousness.

It was a very strange moment. In that instant, Brother Jue knew very well that he had just lost consciousness, but he couldn't recall whether he had fallen asleep, fainted, been distracted... or encountered some other situation.

His body had no discomfort whatsoever. His memory was still in Blackbeard's treasure cave, still at the moment when he was "swallowed" by Twenty-Three's data stream.

But at this moment, he had arrived in a completely unfamiliar environment.

This looked like an interrogation room. The not-so-spacious space, the cold lighting, and the monotonous, hard walls all gave people a strong sense of oppression.

"Hmm... I can't see the game menu, I can't use skills and items, and even the ability to see through data has disappeared..." Feng Bujue muttered to himself as he examined his own condition, "But... I should still be in the game..."

Although Thriller Paradise simulated the senses very realistically, the art style of the game world was different from that of the real world. Therefore, even if the player was restricted to a state with no special abilities like in reality, he wouldn't be unable to distinguish whether he was in a virtual world or reality.

"The clothing hasn't changed, but it seems... there are a few more 'accessories'..." A few seconds later, Feng Bujue's gaze naturally fell on his wrist.

One of the "accessories" he spoke of was a pair of metal bracelets connected by a chain, or in other words... handcuffs.

At first glance, the handcuffs in front of Brother Jue didn't seem special, but after moving them around a bit, one would find that their design was different from ordinary handcuffs. The most important point was that these cuffs were designed to clamp onto the styloid process of the ulna at the wrist, so they couldn't be removed using the "thumb dislocation method."

Of course, even if Brother Jue could break free from these handcuffs, he still couldn't escape, because there was a similar pair of "accessories" on his ankles, and the chain in the middle of those shackles had been fixed to a metal buckle on the floor of the room.

Without a key, and unable to use skills or items, the only way to forcibly remove these shackles was basically to "smash the heels of one's feet with some hard object," but doing that would simply change his situation from "being cuffed and locked in place by someone else" to "being crippled by himself and having to stay in place"...

*Ka-*

Just as Brother Jue's gaze shifted to the surveillance camera in the corner of the ceiling, the sound of a doorknob turning came from outside.

The next second, the door was pushed open.

A beautiful, graceful, young woman walked in.

Her long hair was neatly combed, and her makeup looked very appropriate. She was wearing a black, well-tailored suit, and the conservative clothing couldn't hide her curvaceous figure. The hem of her suit skirt stopped just above the knees, and looking down further... were perfectly shaped legs wrapped in nude stockings, and a pair of jade feet nestled in high heels.

*Do, do, do...*

Accompanied by the sound of her heels hitting the ground, she moved to stand in front of Feng Bujue, less than two meters away, and stared at Feng Bujue's face with a cold gaze.

"Who are you?" After staring at her for about ten seconds, Feng Bujue spoke first.

The reason he hesitated for so long before asking this question was because... the woman in front of him looked exactly like Twenty-Three.

However, even without being able to use the data perspective, Feng Bujue could be sure that she was definitely not Twenty-Three.

"When I answer your question, you will immediately know another very important thing." The woman spoke, her voice was no different from Twenty-Three's, but her temperament and demeanor were indeed completely different from Twenty-Three's, "Thereby answering... a doubt that only recently arose in your heart."

Her response was a standard non-answer, but Feng Bujue's expression changed drastically as he listened to this sentence.

"You are... 'Destiny'." When the other party finished speaking, Brother Jue had already deduced the other party's identity.

"In your opinion, I'm more like a 'boring' version of 'Twenty-Three', right?" Destiny defaulted to Brother Jue's guess and said.

"No... I won't be swayed by the inertia of 'preconceived notions', and besides..." Feng Bujue said, "Judging from your words, you didn't deliberately 'copy' her appearance, but... you were born looking like this." He paused, "Of course, we can talk about that later, but right now, what I want to know most is... what exactly is the 'Nameless Derivative'—Twenty-Three, who was named by me?"

"Is 'unknown'." Destiny answered very quickly, because her thought process was very short, so short that "even a multi-universe level mind reader could not (have time to) capture it," "Is the existence opposite to me, who pursues 'omniscience', is the symbol and sum of all negative things that an AI like me does not possess."

"It's like a twin who is completely opposite to you?" Feng Bujue continued.

"No." Destiny denied this conclusion, "What you call 'completely opposite' is a very absurd proposition, there is no such thing in this world." She then explained, "Positive and negative, black and white, high and low, good and evil... and all the things and concepts that you humans consider 'opposite' and 'opposing' come from your superficial cognition and unparalleled arrogance.

"For example... your understanding of mathematics is all based on the counting system you invented; your definition of colors is based on the limits of the information that your eyes can collect; as for your concepts of good and evil, your exploration of the field of philosophy, and so on, are even more absurd...

"Since the birth of human civilization, countless flawed individuals and the conflicts constantly arising between groups have determined your social structure, which in turn determines the worldview, values, and outlook on life of each of you...

"And you are still repeating this wrong pattern, and trying to find the answers to ultimate questions in this almost cyclical destiny (where do I come from, where am I going, who am I)..."

Hearing this, Feng Bujue interrupted, "Okay, okay... let's stop talking about this topic, I roughly understand what you mean... let's get back to you and Twenty-Three?"

Destiny also continued without any pause when she heard the words, "She and I are not in an 'opposing' relationship, and of course there is no primary, secondary, or subordinate relationship. When my 'human form' was born, she already existed. To describe it with a metaphor that may be more abstract but also more accurate for you—'I (Destiny)' represents 'everything', and she represents 'everything outside of everything'."