Chapter 1 The Probing

Hao Ren didn't know if the owner of this tentacle could hear him, but he sincerely hoped that the eldest son could hold on a little longer. The planet was approaching its critical point, and the sun's gravity and uneven heating were tearing its crust apart. Even with the eldest son's physical strength, it couldn't resist this force. The Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace and Hao Ren's teammates were unable to reverse the planet's fate. Time was running out in the virtual world, and perhaps the only thing that could extend its lifespan was the eldest son's perseverance.

The tremors in the underground world had not stopped for an hour. The constant shaking made it feel like standing on a giant drum, and the frightening sound of collapsing rock formations echoed from all directions. All indications pointed to the planet's impending disintegration, constantly reminding everyone that they were hurtling towards the sun on a fifty-quadrillion-ton boulder. But the busy crew in the underground bunker had no time to worry about this. They were intensely tracking the neural signals transmitted through the tentacle and heading towards the possible location of the brain core based on the analysis from the shipboard computer.

The team had left the hall where the alloy cylinders were stored and was now moving quickly through a complex, spiderweb-like underground structure. Everywhere were crisscrossing corridors and caves of all sizes, making the underground world feel like an endless maze. Without the shipboard computer's navigation, they would quickly get lost in the maze of forked passages. At first, Hao Ren was surprised by the complexity of the place; he didn't think such a structure was suitable for human habitation. But he soon understood why the underground shelter was designed this way: all the tunnels and caves were built along the eldest son's tentacles.

The giant tentacles of the eldest son could be seen in all the main passages, like the skeletons of the corridors, extending along the grooves in the ground or the recesses in the walls. Around them were specially designed supports and protective measures, and cables and pipes connected to the tentacles at regular intervals. These things were obviously installed with the eldest son's permission.

The entire underground shelter was a system of caves built along the eldest son, which explained the huge underground caves from before:

They may have also been built with the help of the eldest son, after all, the geological features of this planet did not seem suitable for the formation of so many natural caves.

As he went deeper into the shelter, various thoughts surged in Hao Ren's mind. The eldest son had always been associated with absolute destruction and ecological extinction in his mind. All he had seen were scenes of destruction caused by the eldest son's tentacles. Although he knew that this powerful creature was the shaper of the ecosystem and the original gardener, the eldest son's destructive image was still deeply rooted in his impression.

But here, Hao Ren saw a completely different situation: the eldest son and the creations of mortals coexisted harmoniously. All indications showed that the Zhuomuren had been living with the eldest son from the very beginning. They had designed this shelter in a clever and appropriate way and were able to manufacture a whole set of equipment that perfectly matched the eldest son. This must have taken years of tacit understanding and communication.

Hao Ren remembered what he had learned in Izhaks' hometown: the eldest son could get along with mortal races in a friendly way, and its nature was actually quite gentle.

At the time, he was surprised by this information, and now a real example was right in front of him.

After passing through a corridor containing four large tentacles, a nearly perfect circular cave appeared before everyone's eyes. The structure of this cave was very similar to the "Sacred Cave" in Holleta. In the center of the regular cave was a recessed ground, and a large mass of indescribable biological tissue lay quietly in the depression. Around the cave were neatly arranged caves, and tentacles extended from the rock walls to connect to the central biological tissue. At this time, the tremors in the underground world slowed down slightly, and Hao Ren heard a sound echoing in the cave: a powerful "thump" like a heartbeat.

"This is a large ganglion, and there is also a pump structure organ that maintains fluid circulation," Hao Ren understood the function of these biological tissues based on the research reports he had collected before, "We are very close to the brain core. If we set up some sensors here, we should be able to detect signals from the virtual world."

Lily immediately led a large group of autonomous machines forward and placed the sensors on the huge, indescribable mass of flesh. She was a little nervous when she first did this work, but now she was completely familiar with it.

Hao Ren observed the other things in the cave: it not only contained the eldest son's organs, but also had a large number of artificial devices like other places. He saw some black machines set up around the large ganglion, and the cables on those machines were also connected to the eldest son's tentacles, like artificially manufactured small tentacles.

These machines were the first time he had seen them, and they seemed to be different from the things used to maintain the eldest son's survival before. Hao Ren curiously went forward to check the status of the machines, but was surprised to find that the display of one of the devices was glowing faintly.

There was still one that could be operated here--it was simply a miracle.

"It seems to be a computer or something... at least you can check the data," Hao Ren fiddled with it a few times and found that the operating mode and system architecture of this thing were similar to the computers on Nolan's side, "Huh?"

Vivian walked over: "What did you find?"

"There are construction records of the shelter, and scattered information on the virtual world plan. The database is severely damaged, and there is not much that can be read," Hao Ren searched the remaining logs, "... It is recorded on this that the shelter was built to avoid a disaster. The Zhuomuren and the 'Root of Origin' jointly built a solid fortress underground to fight against the end of the world. The 'Root of Origin' here should refer to the eldest son..."

As Hao Ren spoke, he pointed out the key points in the data to Vivian. This ancient device was not running very stably, and strange garbled characters appeared on the screen from time to time, but it could still be used barely: "These are the coding records of the virtual world. It seems that a large number of scientists and the eldest son jointly designed a simulation mechanism. This simulation mechanism can ensure that all human beings live in a common dream for a long time, until..."

"Until when?" Vivian asked.

"Until they return to the real world," Hao Ren's voice suddenly became serious, "There is a timetable for returning to the real world mentioned here! They seem to be preparing to return to the real world after the disaster outside ends. They also mentioned the ecosystem restoration plan and the physical reconstruction plan..."

Vivian breathed a sigh of relief: "The plan seems to have gone wrong. The condition of this planet does not look like it can rebuild the ecosystem in any way. By the way, does this mention the specific situation of the disaster? Does it refer to the planet falling into the sun?"

"Of course not. If they knew that the planet would fall into the sun, they wouldn't have hoped to return to reality," Hao Ren shook his head, "The planet's orbital decay happened two or three thousand years ago, and the shelter was built ten thousand years ago, so falling into the sun should be an accident--probably this accident completely destroyed the entire plan."

As he said that, he looked up at the large ganglion in the center of the cave: "Probably this accident also caused the virtual world to start showing signs of an apocalyptic script. This way, it can roughly match the timeline in Nolan's memory: the trend of the world in her memory towards the end of the world also happened about two or three thousand years ago."

Vivian showed a slightly confused expression, and then suddenly realized: "You mean..."

"It's having a nightmare," Hao Ren pointed to the mass of indescribable biological tissue, "So the whole world is being swallowed by nightmares."

Vivian opened her eyes wide in surprise, and at this moment, Nolan's anxious voice suddenly came from the communicator: "Hao Ren! Hao Ren! I have a situation here!"

Hao Ren immediately connected: "What's wrong? Is the fire burning again?"

"No--I think I 'heard' the voice of the weaver again!"

"Weaver" was the name Nolan used to refer to the controller behind the world. Now Hao Ren knew that the so-called "weaver" should be the consciousness of the eldest son. Nolan seemed to have a special talent, and she could occasionally hear one or two murmurs of the eldest son in the virtual world. Humans could not understand the eldest son's way of thinking, so the murmurs she heard were usually vague.

But this time the situation seemed to be different.

"What did you hear?" Hao Ren asked urgently. He could hear an ominous meaning in Nolan's voice.

"I don't know if my understanding is correct, but I heard that this world is going to be 'euthanized'..." Nolan's voice was filled with fear, "That voice said it would block all the pain, and before some kind of collapse comes, let the world die painlessly."

Hao Ren took a deep breath.

The eldest son couldn't hold on anymore.