Chapter 0 Epilogue Era: The End Matrix

A gigantic underground structure, pitch black and devoid of light, an immense hive system constructed entirely of metal, hollowed out from an entire underground lava reservoir to form the matrix prototype, sufficient to accommodate billions of sleeping individuals.

In the pitch-black space, all directions were filled with dark metal constructs. They were metallic in color, rectangular overall, with conical shapes at the top and bottom. The apexes were made of crystal, from which barely visible streams of light shot out, connecting to other constructs.

These construct-boxes, numbering in the billions, were arranged in the matrix. They were neatly arranged, stretching endlessly in all directions, with no end in sight.

Upon closer inspection, the main bodies of the constructs were covered in layers of crystal lattice networks, upon which rainbow-like colors flowed in a cycle.

But now, the crystal lattice network on the surface of one construct-box no longer shifted colors, but instead displayed the most dangerous red.

Of course, it could also be interpreted as the color of strawberries.

In any case, accompanied by a sound like a can being opened, the metal box was opened.

And the awakened Eve returned to the real world.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!"

The first thing she did upon returning to reality was vomit. The reason, of course, was not disgust, but simply 'expelling LCL fluid,' a solution that could provide nutrition and allow people to breathe.

The stasis pod was filled with this fluid. If she didn't spit out the liquid, Eve wouldn't be able to breathe properly.

After a long while, the girl finally returned to normal. She took a deep breath and then looked at her hands, surprised. "What? I thought I was already dozens, maybe even hundreds of years old in the real world!"

"I didn't expect I'd still be so young!"

But…

"Where's that voice?"

Lifting her head, Eve looked around, trying to find the person who had awakened her. "Strange… who was it that woke me up just now?"

Eve's eyes were met with darkness, but because her stasis pod was open, a faint light illuminated her surroundings, allowing her to see where she was.

It was an extremely wide and cold hall, with rows of vertically placed incubation pods arranged neatly in all directions. Each incubation pod was suspended in place by anti-gravity fields, and beams of light gathered above and below them, converging vast amounts of information, leading directly to the core of the matrix.

Eve shouldn't have known these things, but similar knowledge poured out of her mind continuously. Vaguely, the girl sensed that it was the knowledge provided by the red pill she had taken earlier.

"This is… the location of the End Matrix—Hela…"

Eve frowned. Because she wasn't wearing any clothes, and her body was covered in LCL fluid, she felt cold, but the World Federation was full of gene-modders anyway, so she didn't feel particularly uncomfortable.

The girl was just pondering the information flooding her mind. "And the End Matrix—Hela is a virtual world created by the Twilight Network to integrate the mental capabilities of all humans. Named after the ancient goddess of death, it's a true electronic underworld."

"In the virtual world, hundreds of billions of Federation humans are divided into several large world servers. Some people live easy and comfortable lives, some need to struggle hard, some can enjoy the fruits of others’ labor… In general, everyone's life is the one they are most 'accustomed' to, the life that doesn't feel abnormal."

"And I, as a former rebel member, was placed, along with other rebel members after being captured, in a virtual world where we constantly resist the Twilight Network—every time we would resist and fight tirelessly, sometimes succeeding, but mostly failing."

"And the Twilight Network would absorb our experiences of success, modify its defense systems, and strengthen those weapon systems that have been proven effective based on its own successful experiences."

Thinking of this, Eve's expression immediately darkened. "Crap!"

"We're just living test subjects for the Twilight Network to experiment with various weapon systems—and highly motivated and creative ones at that! It's using our reactions in the illusion to train its troops and hone its combat experience!"

Because she had awakened, Eve had recalled all her memories in the virtual world.

In those memories, she could see that the Twilight Network's technology was increasing rapidly, becoming stronger and stronger. The opponents they had to face in the final battle had changed from combat constructs at the beginning, to giant Melody Battle Armor later, to super floating city fortresses, to Titan warships the size of satellites, and even to 'Frost Giant-class Juggernauts' that could walk on the surface of stars and absorb energy from the solar surface to form sunspots.

And later on, it became even more outrageous, with things like ‘Star Extinguisher—Jormungandr,’ ‘Black Hole Death Star—Fenrir,’ and ‘End Matrix—Hela’ becoming commonplace.

The final boss in the girl's memory was the ‘Fate Ordainer—Norn,’ forged by the Twilight Network. It was a planetary system-class Melody Juggernaut with a super-giant aether phase engine at its core. It could distort space-time with its own mass alone, and the Hounds of Tindalos were merely self-defense sub-bodies that it drove.

Plucking the strings of the universe, taking multiple timelines and possibilities as part of the notes, the sound played by the super-giant Juggernaut was the ‘Great Dao Sound’ that could control everything in the universe!

Eve's memory contained no memory of ever defeating this guy.

The situation now could no longer be described as worse… Rather, even if she was awakened, could she really win?!

"This isn't an enemy that can be dealt with through effort!"

For a moment, although Eve wasn't completely hopeless, she couldn't help but complain, "I don't even have any clothes, and now you're telling me the enemy is a super-giant Juggernaut larger than a star—isn't this start-up difficulty stacked too high?!"

[Don't worry]

But, clearly.

Eve didn't really need to rely on her own strength to fight against such a dark and desperate future—otherwise, what were Zhuzhou and miracles for?

They weren't Elias, and it was hard for them to lose their jobs.

So, Eve, whose mind was almost blank, heard that voice again: [Although the enemy is strong, it's not impossible to contend with them]

[But we need to wait for the opportunity]

"Eh!"

Hearing this voice, Eve was immediately bewildered and looked around to find the source of the voice.

But in the end, she realized that the voice wasn't a real sound wave, but a soul-sound that directly poured into her heart and soul!

"Excuse me, who are you? Thank you very much for waking me up, but I'm still completely confused and don't know how to fight the Twilight Network."

As she said this, Eve's expression softened—no matter how strong the enemy was, having a guide was better than nothing. At least, according to what the other party had said earlier, he definitely knew more information than she did!

And the gentle yet majestic male voice chuckled and said: [As for me… you can call me Ming Zhengde]

[Of course, you can also call me Zhuzhou]

[I am an alien heroic spirit summoned by you with your blood and will before the final battle.]

Eve vaguely recalled many illusory scenes from previous reincarnations, when the human rebels fought against the Twilight Network when it wasn't so strong—they did fail at that time, but they also launched a heroic spirit summoning ritual at the end.

At that time, no one knew if it had succeeded, but now it seemed that it probably had.

But Eve was still a little puzzled: "Then why… are you helping us?"

"As you can see, we have already failed and have nothing to pay you."

[The reason?]

The male voice, who called himself Ming Zhengde, thought for a moment. He smiled and said: [If it were Su Zhou… he would probably say something like ‘I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me would not live in darkness’]

[As long as you want to resist, he will definitely help you resist]

[My thoughts are actually the same as his, but other than that, if I had to say it more specifically, it might just be because it's my area of expertise and I'm itching to get involved]

Area of expertise?

Eve didn't understand the meaning of these words, and Ming Zhengde, who had long been accustomed to professionally fighting all kinds of gods and demons, didn't explain it here, but said directly: [Unlike other alien heroic spirits, the main body of my shell is the central hub of a great formation in my world and cannot be summoned here. What has come to this world now is just a pure divine soul]

[But it's not a big deal. On the contrary, if I weren't in a divine soul state, I wouldn't be able to figure out the specific situation of the Twilight Network]

Unlike the sleeping Eve, Ming Zhengde had been observing the entire Song Universe ever since he was summoned.

Just as he said, the gods of this world were very similar to the many gods and demons of the Perfect World—although the sources were different, the gods of the Song Universe were a bit more evil, but in terms of the result, the two were really not much different.

As soon as he saw this situation, without Su Zhou having to say anything more, Ming Zhengde made up his mind to help the mortals of this universe break free from the shackles of the gods and obtain the right to pursue perfection and a better life on their own.

[It's very difficult]

But even Ming Zhengde had to give this assessment: [The End Matrix—Hela is essentially a manipulated ‘humanitarian will’]

[All the humans in your world are gathered in the matrix system, this electronic underworld… And the matrix is still constantly cloning and creating humans, placing new human individuals in matrix servers, using the souls of humans to strengthen itself, gathering many 'notes' to play its divine music]

[In this way, even if humans want to resist, they can only resist in the virtual world—the matrix doesn't mind letting you use all kinds of new weapons and fight against its new weapons, starting an arms race]

[As long as the End Matrix—Hela still exists, humans cannot be free and liberated. Their own wisdom will only make the Twilight Network stronger. Let alone fight against it]

"Then what exactly should we do?"

Hearing this, Eve looked a little worried. She was extremely intelligent and decisive, but the current situation obviously exceeded the scope of her ability to cope: "After leaving the matrix, I don't even have any clothes. How can I resist those mechanical monsters that can use magic and miracles?"

[There are two things you need to break this deadlock]

Ming Zhengde replied: [First, humans must break free from the Twilight Network. Second, there must be a means to match the Twilight Network]

[The first point is very simple. After observing for so long, I have researched the best method to deal with this 'electronic underworld']

As he said this, Eve could see a hazy shadow emerging in her hand.

It was a twisted, chaotic, and indescribable amorphous shadow. Just looking at it seemed to make people lose their minds, let alone touch it with their own hands.

But Eve didn't go crazy because of this. There was a hazy blue-purple halo around the twisted amorphous shadow, acting as a barrier to prevent contact.

"This is the thing that can solve the End Matrix?"

The girl rubbed the shadow in her hand, feeling somewhat puzzled. It felt like a stress ball. She couldn't help but feel confused, "Just this?"

It didn't seem like such a powerful thing.

[Yes]

Ming Zhengde didn't mind the girl's doubts. He smiled and said.

But as Eve listened, she gradually felt chills down her spine: [This is ‘Chaos Demon Virus—Fertility’ and its disguised shell ‘Order Reform’]

[As long as you put this virus into the matrix, the End Matrix will fall into an extreme form of self-reform, constantly optimizing its own programs. While the computing efficiency increases rapidly, it also consumes all of its algorithms, turning the entire central matrix into a runaway form of 'only optimizing for the sake of optimizing, regardless of the final result']

[At that time, the End Matrix will self-destruct, and the humans trapped by the End Matrix will be freed… and even, on the contrary, take control of this powerful creation of the Twilight Network and have the capital to form a human resistance army again!]

"Really?!"

Eve looked in shock at the shadow chaos in her hand. Beneath the blue-purple light shell was an unfathomable deep shadow… named Fertility, but the end result would create a fruit of nothingness.

This alien heroic spirit who called himself Ming Zhengde actually had such terrifying means?!

[This is just for the End Matrix]

Ming Zhengde obviously didn't think that such means were cruel. On the contrary, since he learned that the gods and demons of this world didn't care about the wishes of mortals at all, he made up his mind to completely destroy all the gods and demons of this world, no matter what the means.

Unlike the Perfect World, where only he supported the situation, now, Su Zhou was also helping them withstand the pressure of the gods. They only needed to deal with the pillars that supported the power of the gods to successfully complete the task.

[Not only that, Eve, I already know that every human in your world has extremely powerful potential]

Thinking of this, the man said calmly to Eve, who was still a little stunned and obviously a little overwhelmed by the large amount of information: [In this way, it's not difficult to give you the power to fight the Twilight Network—as long as you guide the great power of the Dao within you, each of you can be a god walking in the universe]

[Of course, this is actually impossible, because not everyone has the spirit and will to bear their own strength… but among humans, there will still be many heroes who have such a will]

[In my world, there is a cultivation method that requires gathering the will of all living beings to condense one's own ‘Chaos Demon Body.’ Each Chaos Demon has different powers, comparable to gods and immortals, and this power unexpectedly coincides with the power that humans in your world are born with!]

[During this time, I have completely modified the Chaos Demon cultivation method to conform to the rules of the Song Universe]

Ming Zhengde said this while sitting on the throne of the Perfect World. His tone was firm: [And in this world, the Chaos Demon Body may be called the 'Primordial Body']

[Ascending the Primordial Body, each Primordial Body can create an entire legion, awakening and ascending together]

[That is the power that I will bring to you, enough to fight the gods]