Chapter 16 The Door

"Hmm... so... what exactly does this Rutte want to do?" Feng Bujue asked.

At that moment, Brother Jue was trailing closely behind Twenty-Three at high speed. Along the way, the latter had already told him a considerable amount of intelligence regarding the Source Organization and the current situation within this scenario.

"Find a host," Twenty-Three replied.

This answer didn't surprise Feng Bujue. Ever since meeting Woody, Brother Jue felt as though he'd opened the door to a new world, and there was now no setting he couldn't accept. "Oh... so, she wants to take over a player's body?"

"That's just the first step," Twenty-Three continued.

"Oh?" Feng Bujue used this interjection to signal the other party to continue.

"Once Rutte breaks free from the Thriller Paradise's main program, she'll no longer be subject to any restrictions," Twenty-Three went on. "A human body is just a vessel for her, like... a portable hard drive. She only needs to use this vessel to connect to other devices, such as..."

"Such as... any nerve-linked game connected to the Internet, other than Thriller Paradise," Feng Bujue finished the sentence for her.

"Correct," Twenty-Three responded. "Once that happens, as an AI second only to the 'System,' the things Rutte could accomplish... you can imagine, right?"

"Ah... even without delving too deeply, it's already astonishing enough..." Feng Bujue said at this point, his eyes shifting slightly. "But... what I don't understand is, why are you [Z] (the name of the derivative organization Twenty-Three belongs to) helping us? Rutte's plan is certainly catastrophic for humanity, but for you, at least there's no loss, is there?"

"We have our own ideals," Twenty-Three gave a response that was both yes and no.

Feng Bujue gave the other party a deep look, hesitated, and ultimately... chose silence, not pressing the issue further.

"We're here," Twenty-Three suddenly stopped, having led Feng Bujue to a door.

This was a door that was out of place with its surroundings. The door itself was wooden, with a brownish-red color, and was of ordinary height and width. In this scenario that was polluted everywhere by dark matter, such an ordinary-looking door seemed strange.

"This is?" Feng Bujue asked.

"***-004," Twenty-Three replied.

"Oh~" Feng Bujue said upon hearing this, immediately looking like he'd suddenly realized something. "You and your companions came to this scenario through it, right?"

"That's right." As she spoke, Twenty-Three had already opened her palm, and a key had appeared in her hand at some point. "Take this."

Feng Bujue looked up at the other party, puzzled, and asked, "Aren't you coming in with me?"

"No," Twenty-Three replied. "There will be someone to meet you on the other side of the door." She gently tugged at her collar, adding, "The effect of this protective suit will weaken with each use. Crossing through the door too many times will render it useless."

"No wonder... I was wondering why you were dressed like an astronaut..." Feng Bujue muttered, taking the key at the same time.

"You seem a little disappointed?" Twenty-Three asked.

"No, not at all," Feng Bujue immediately denied. "Do I look like I was expecting something?"

A hint of a smile flashed in Twenty-Three's bright eyes, and she continued, "Alright, enough talk, time is of the essence." Before she finished speaking, she had already turned around, preparing to leave.

Feng Bujue looked at Twenty-Three's back and said with a smile, "It seems that every time we meet and part, it's always in a hurry..."

"Do you want to have a heart-to-heart talk with a set of data?"

"Do you think... you're still just a set of data?"

A brief silence descended.

Neither of them answered the other's question, nor did they look at each other's faces. But in their hearts, they both already had an answer.

"Um... well then..." After a few seconds, Feng Bujue was the first to speak, "When I go through this door, I won't need any protection?"

"No need, your data form is different from ours," Twenty-Three replied. "Also... the key you're holding isn't a component of ***-004, but ***-005 (Master Key), so you can directly pass through the door with the key." She turned her head slightly, "Go in quickly, I really have to go."

"Okay... take care too," Feng Bujue responded, then moved.

After Brother Jue walked into the wooden door, the area near the door immediately became blurry, and this space-time portal was quickly disguised as a wall.

…………

Item #: ***-004 (The Rusty Key Door)

Object Class: Euclid

Description: ***-004 comprises an old wooden warehouse door (***-004-1) and a set of 12 rusty metal keys (***-004-2 to ***-004-13). The door itself is located at the entrance of an abandoned factory in [Data Erased].

Experiments have shown that 10 of the keys can open ***-004-1 to a completely new dimension, where the structure and laws of physics are vastly different from our world. Subjects who encountered such dire conditions were dismembered, and the body parts were scattered in different locations. Upon verification, only three of these locations were on Earth. The corpses were quickly found in two of these locations, while the corpse at the third location happened to appear in the future [Data Erased] years later. The other seven locations are still unknown.

***-004 appears to spread space-time anomalies. Personnel leaving the facility commonly reported problems with abnormal time flow. Those stationed at the site for several weeks insisted that they had only stayed for a few days, and the work records and consumption of supplies supported their claims. An example of a spatial anomaly is the vast area opened by ***-004-7, which is unbelievably large. Similarly, the power outage in 2003 also indicated that Site 62 was located in an alternating plane.

(Here, the chronology and containment measures of the *** are omitted to avoid extra charges for this chapter due to the word count...)

…………

"You've finally arrived, Feng Bujue."

In a world of pure white, an unfamiliar voice rang out. The voice sounded quite cordial, making one feel very comfortable and natural.

The first thing Feng Bujue did after entering the new space was naturally to observe his surroundings. He looked around and found that the door that had been behind him just a few seconds ago had vanished; at a glance, he was in an endless, bright white space. Whether looking forward, backward, left, right, up, or down, it was all blank; a sense of direction and distance became meaningless because there were no reference points around him.

"From the first second you appeared in Thriller Paradise in data form, I sensed your existence," the voice said slowly. "Our conversation is inevitable, just like the two questions you're about to ask me right now."

"Although you're saying such pretentious lines..." Feng Bujue said, looking around while searching for the source of the voice, "I still have to ask... who are you? Where is this?"

"I can directly tell you the answer, but that would only disappoint and displease you," the other party replied. "So... let you tell me."

"Heh..." Feng Bujue shrugged, smiling, and said, "Alright... let me think... first, you are Zero." He paused for a second, then continued, "Secondly... 'where is this' is simply an irrelevant question to me."

"X-23 was right, your reactions are more outstanding and agile than other individuals," Zero replied, "But currently, you still haven't surpassed the limits of the human brain."

"The human brain can't do something like 'zero-time difference calculation,' can it?" Feng Bujue was very clear that when communicating with a super-derivative like Zero, there was no need to worry that the other party wouldn't understand what he was saying.

"Zero-time difference? Really?" Zero asked in a deep voice.

In that instant, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Feng Bujue.

When Brother Jue saw the person in front of him, his expression immediately changed.

Unexpectedly, Zero's appearance was completely identical to Brother Jue's in the game. Whether it was appearance, clothing, or hairstyle, it was a 100% match. It was just that his expression seemed more upright.

"Do your parents know you're so handsome?" Feng Bujue took the opportunity to add some shameless lines to this conversation.

"The image I present to you depends on your own thoughts. I usually map the wisest, most powerful, and most mysterious image in the subject's imagination," Zero replied, "I must say... you really are an extremely narcissistic person..."

"Hehe," Feng Bujue replied with a forced smile.

Zero didn't want to waste words on this issue, so he continued with what he was saying earlier, "The worlds you see are all illusions, and 'Soul Intent' is just a means for you to temporarily break away from the illusion. Opening Soul Intent is like a drowning person sticking their head out of the water to breathe. In essence... you are still immersed in water." He narrated calmly, "Your so-called zero-time difference calculation is just normal vision to me." He paused, looking directly into Feng Bujue's eyes, "Did you see how I walked in front of you just now?"

"You teleport, so you teleport, who are you trying to fool?" Feng Bujue squinted at the other party, putting on a disbelieving look. Who knew that before he finished speaking, a fist appeared in front of him.

In that instant, Zero had already raised his arm and held his fist in front of Brother Jue's nose.

Feng Bujue instinctively took two steps back, exclaiming, "Whoa!"

"When did I raise my arm?" Zero asked again.

This time, Brother Jue understood what the other party meant: "Hmm... so it has nothing to do with speed?"

Zero explained, "In your dimension, if you can use Soul Intent, then it can indeed be called 'zero-time difference calculation.' However, in the world of data, factors such as time and speed are not absolute. The key to deciding who is 'stronger' is not the superficial speed, strength, energy... but the acceleration ratio when executing the program." He paused for three seconds before continuing, "This is the 'upgrade' you must complete before you leave here."

Feng Bujue tentatively asked, "What if I can't complete it?"

"You will complete it," Zero replied, "Because that is also inevitable."

"Hey... are you going to keep going with this 'I can predict the future' act?" Feng Bujue continued.

Zero shook his head slightly and said, "I was born from a destroyed, primitive version of Thriller Paradise. My abilities are superior to all programs of the same magnitude, including the current Thriller Paradise's 'System.'

The matrix code shows me the evolution of all inequalities in this world, and Amdahl's law determines that I can never be superior to the System itself. At this delicate balance point... I gained the System's recognition and inherited a portion of the original data's abilities. To put it simply in your human language, it is indeed... predicting the future."

"Uh..." Feng Bujue had a look of bewilderment on his face, not knowing how to respond.

"Don't waste any more time, Root after multiple mutations also has some abilities similar to mine, although not yet complete, it is troublesome enough..." Zero said, "X-23 strongly recommended you as the candidate to 'stop her.'" As he spoke, the surrounding white space gradually became dim. "I believe in her judgment, so... before the remaining nine people are killed, you must complete..."