Bustling World

Chapter 160: Farewell

The combined fighting power of over four thousand people was incomparable and the speed in which they advanced was much faster than three years ago.

The time in the main control centre was the same as that of the examination centre.

At 4:15 in the morning, in just ten minutes, the core protective shield was breached and the main control centre began to sustain substantial damage.

But this was just the beginning.

Before they could have the chance to celebrate, they heard the usual system’s voice sound under the curtain of the night.

【Main control centre detects danger. Attach and defence protocol has been activated. 1,500 firing points started.】

In an instant, fire and dust engulfed almost everything.

The group of more than four thousand people were stunned.

Before this, they had no knowledge of the system’s attack ability. When it came to the system’s fearful features, they would always think of the exams and the punishments. This was their first time encountering something like this.

Fortunately, You Huo and Qin Jiu have experience.

With tacit understanding, they had divided the work without even needing to stop and communicate.

Qin Jiu led a large force to encircle the building. They accurately made their way to the blind spots and began to attack the main control centre from these tricky angles.

You Huo led 922 and a small team of invigilators into the building.

As Gao Qi blasted the control centre, he shouted over the sound of artillery fire: “Isn’t this too overwhelming?! 001——”

“Speak.” Qin Jiu’s voice came from ahead. He threw away a scraped cannon and set up a new one on his shoulder.

Gao Qi’s shouted until his face was red, “Shouldn’t we blow up some of those firing points first?!”

“It’s not time.”

“When will it be time? When we’re all dead?!”

Qin Jiu laughed.

As Gao Qi madly blasted the target, he shouted to Zhao Jiatong behind him, “Fuck! This madman is even laughing!”

Zhao Jiatong couldn’t help but remind him, “This should be something he and A decided together?”

Gao Qi this time had no intention to protect his friend. He howled, “Two crazy bastards!”

As he cursed them out, his actions were still extremely cooperative. Afterall, Qin Jiu and You Huo had been here before. He believed that these two won’t fail here in this place another time.

At 4:32, the damage to the main control centre exceeded 20%. The attack and defence protocol were upgraded to level 2 and the firing points were increased to 3000.

Gao Qi was about to go crazy.

At 4:55, the degree of damage had exceeded 40%. The attack and defence protocols had upgraded to level 3 and the firing points were increased to 4500.

Everyone outside the building were about to go crazy.

The blind spots were getting fewer and fewer. If this continued, they wouldn’t even have a chance to counterattack. What was even more frightening was that they were about to run low on weapons and ammunition.

At this moment, Qin Jiu made everyone cease fire.

“001——-” Gao Qi again started to shout. He was very anxious this time.

Without waiting for him to ask him why, Qin Jiu pointed above his head.

Qin Jiu squinted his eyes and managed to see through the fire and smoke with some difficulty. In that direction was a role of firing points that were attacking them nonstop.

The moment he looked over; he saw that the row of firing points suddenly changed direction.

Gao Qi was about to subconsciously dodge and avoid it but he managed to stop in time. He noticed that the direction those firing points were pointing at was a little strange…….

After a moment of surprise, he suddenly understood.

At this moment, he finally understood why Qin Jiu hadn’t let the firing points be destroyed and he finally understood why You Huo took 922 and the others into the building.

It was because that team of people who had entered could forcibly change the target of the firing points and let the system attack itself.

The next moment, 30% of the firing points were successfully modified. With the firepower altered, the remaining 70% were successfully destroyed.

In an instant, explosions filled the air. The people outside the building had already found shelter under Qin Jiu’s instructions.

Gao Qi squeezed over to Qin Jiu inside the bunker. He patted him on the shoulder and said with a thumbs up, “Only you two can think of something like this. Amazing.”

“Couldn’t help it. No other option since we don’t have enough weapons.” Qin Jiu said.

All the weapons in rest stop number two was originally enough for them to last until the end but this time the system was smarter and it had placed the main control centre inside an examination centre, forcing them to use up some of their weapons and ammunition.

With this, the remaining amount could only last them until 60%.

The system had calculated this in advance, so it wasn’t worried.

What it didn’t expect was that even if the weapons weren’t enough, this group of people still proceeded to enter without any hesitation.

Because once they’ve gone down that road, there was no turning back.

At 5:11, the damage to the main control centre had reached 60%. The attack and defence protocols had upgraded to level 4 and the firing points were increased to 6000.

This was a deadly level, equivalent to a destructor patrolling around. It could easily make anyone present disappear in an instant.

However, with You Huo and their forcible changes, those 6000 firing points attacked each other, resulting in 4821 of them being scrapped on the spot, unable to be used anymore.

As a result, the damages were much less than the original intentions.

Gao Qi and the others immediately became spirited. They waited for Qin Jiu’s order to pick up their weapons and start a new round of bombing.

This team of more than 3000 people were like a steam roller. The attacked the system with an unstoppable force.

At 5:20, the damage to the main control centre reached 80% with 721 firing points still remaining.

Inside the building, 922 and the others gave each other strong high fives. With their jobs finally done, they picked up their weapons and rushed straight to the door.

You Huo walked at the end. Putting on a monocular goggle, he lowered his head to tighten up his gloves.

He and Qin Jiu were familiar with this set of procedures. When the damage to the main control centre reaches 80%, the master control authority would be semi-automatic and transferred to the so-called “Team S”.

Three years ago, they failed to reach this stage.

Three years later, they had nothing to fear.

There was only 20% left. They had enough firepower and manpower, and 154 and Chu Yue were also guarding outside, ready to deal with any changes.

It was just at this moment, as if a button inside him was pressed, You Huo stopped in place and looked back.

He was suddenly a little curious about this “Team S”.

With this thought, he was no longer able to take another step.

Because at this moment, three people had silently appeared beside the main control panel. They wore white coats and thin rubber gloves as they skilfully operated it.

One of them pressed a button and several white screens appeared around the main control panel. Like a circle of curtains, You Huo and those three people were trapped within.

You Huo tried to reach out and touch it. As expected, the moment he touched the ‘screen’, those gloves seemed to be damaged, like piece of it had been cut off.

This was a defensive shield.

But this wasn’t what really stopped You Huo in his steps. It was the people who had suddenly appeared, or more precisely, one of them.

It was a tall and thin woman. Her face always looked sickly pale but even so, she was still very beautiful.

Not gorgeous, but the sharp and cold type of beautiful.

She had eyes similar to You Huo’s. When looking at others, it would always carry a trace of indifference and coldness, like she would never warm up to anyone.

At this moment, she turned around. She looked at You Huo with that pair of eyes.

She assessed him, like she was actually still alive.

You Huo remained stuck in place.

The moment he met her gaze, his heart rate increased and he could feel blood surging through his body. The more it was like this, the colder his expression became.

He had never thought that there would be such a day where he would see the person that had given birth to him in a place like this.

During those eleven years they had lived together, they were no closer than strangers so after seeing each other after such a long time, what could they say to each other?

You’ve grown.

Do you still recognise me?

How have you been?

What would a normal mother and child say when they meet? You Huo was very unfamiliar with this but he felt that those probably weren’t right.

The woman standing at the main control panel turned around. Her gaze fell onto the cannon You Huo held and she finally spoke her first sentence.

She said, “Son, are you going to destroy this place?”

You Huo suddenly found the situation very ridiculous.

His blood cooled down in an instant and he was finally able to calm down.

He had thought that there would at least be an opening remark, like a greeting or something, but he then realised that this was more his mother’s style —- Logically taking in the situation and then going straight to the point without wasting too much time on needless chatter.

He looked at the other party and answered a moment later, “This place can’t be destroyed?”

“It’s not that it can’t, it’s just a pity.”

The woman’s eyes were also light brown and her voice was gentle and calm. Such a person had an innate ability to sound persuasive, as if everything she said was most rational.

“Many people have invested a lot of time and money on this system; those who are alive and those who are dead like us. It took many years altogether with countless manpower, resources and the most advanced technology used. Destroying it is such a waste.” After a pause she added, “You might think that since I exist with the help of the system, I am saying this because I am afraid of disappearing, but this is not the case. Even those outside, those who have been competing with the system would feel distressed and regretful if the system is destroyed. Do you believe this? If they can, they would prefer shutting it down rather than destroying.”

You Huo tilted his head back and said, “Whether that is true or not, you should first ask the more than 4,000 people outside if they think it is a waste. Or you can go and ask those who are still struggling to survive in exams at this very moment that question. There’s also another group of people you should ask, but they’re dead now. They had died in various exams. Why don’t you try and talk to them? Talk to them first and then come and tell me whether this place should be destroyed.”

That woman didn’t speak for a long time. She just quietly looked at You Huo. It was unknown whether it was because she had nothing to say or if it was because of something else.

After a moment, she said, “Son, you are angry.”

“Even as a child, you rarely get angry. It is rare for you to say so much.” She seemed to be reminiscing and her voice carried a trace of gentleness.

You Huo’s lips were flattened into a straight line. He looked coldly at her, but he didn’t immediately interrupt.

“You were probably only this tall back then?” She gestured around her waist, “Very small. Sometimes, I think life is really amazing. Such a small child is actually my son. You were very quiet and didn’t like to talk. You weren’t like the other children constantly asking stupid and childish questions and you also wouldn’t be stubborn or have any intense emotions. I tried imagining what you would be like when you’re older and I felt that you probably won’t have the problems other adults would have.”

“A lot of people become trapped in all kinds of mundane pits all their lives. Forget the basics of hunger and thirst, there are also very nihilistic things like love, hate, lust…..These things have always made people become irrational and emotional. Sometimes, even their ugly sides are revealed. At that time I felt that you probably wouldn’t have those traits when you grow up.”

She looked at You Huo again and said, “You look just like how I imagined. I’m very——”

You Huo finally interrupted her, “You seem to have a misunderstanding.”

“What?” The woman was taken aback.

You Huo said coldly, “Love, hate, lust…..I have every one of those. I am very different from what you have imagined.”

The other party fell silent. Her sickly appearance made her seem like she didn’t understand. She pulled away from her memories and asked calmly, “What affected you? Did you encounter some things or meet some people over the past few years?”

You Huo didn’t speak, perhaps it was because he didn’t feel like explaining, but she could tell that she had made the right assumption.

“But…….isn’t it ridiculous? None of that is real.”

You Huo furrowed his brows, “What do you mean?”

She said, “The design principle behind this system is a world made up of magnetic fields and brain waves. Of course, your every move is connected to your brain and the nerves used are almost the same so the purpose of screening and training can be achieved. However, none of this is real. I have stayed in here for a long time. Although I am not as ubiquitous as the system, I also know a few things. Even if the system goes out of control and accidentally pull in examinees by mistake, the situation is the same. They are probably lying in a hospital bed in shock, coma or something but not actually dead.”

“Everything that you have seen, experienced, the people you know, the things you have done…….They’re nothing more than illusions created by the system in your brain. Why should you fall into the world of illusions and be angry for those illusions? Can those things be considered real?” She said, “They’re all fake.”

The space surrounded by the ‘curtain’ fell into dead silence. She looked at You Huo’s face as if trying to read his thoughts, but she unfortunately could only rely on guessing.

She said, “It’s hard to accept, isn’t it?”

You Huo shook his head, “I was just thinking that my definition of the truth may be different from yours.”

She asked, “How is it different?”

You Huo answered calmly, “I know I experienced these things. That is the truth.”

After saying this, he lowered his gaze and adjusted the trigger before calmly raising the cannon.

“I know you have passed away more than ten years ago and I knelt through your entire funeral. You are now just a residual piece saved inside the system. In this place here, you are an illusion and I am real. There is someone waiting for me outside. He is also real.”

You Huo raised his eyes. Across the cold and dull metal panel, at a distance of just a few steps which also felt like it was more than ten years, he said to the person who resembled him, “It has been too long since I was a child. I no longer remember anything I said or did on the day you passed away. I’ll just treat this meeting as an opportunity to bid you farewell.”

“You might not be interested in knowing but let me talk about it. Your brother is doing well and I am also doing well. We have a good relationship.”

Occasionally, You Huo would wonder what he would say if time turned back to more than ten years ago and he saw his mother again.

He thought he would ask her for the reason, ask her why she would do those things, why she would use his eyes and whether she felt regretful.

But when he really saw her again, he realised that he was a lot calmer than he had thought he would be and he didn’t seem to care about those things anymore.

She had given birth to him and had raised him, but she didn’t like him very much.

This truth actually wasn’t that difficult for him to accept.

“That’s it.” You Huo said.

The damage to the main control centre had reached 98%. There was only five minutes before the end.

He narrowed his eyes and pointed his cannon at the main control panel.

The next second, an explosion suddenly sounded. A series of artillery flew from somewhere behind him, hitting the panel You Huo was aiming at.

The ‘curtain’ suddenly let out some static sounds. After flashing a few times, it suddenly disappeared.

You Huo turned to look back only to see Qin Jiu removing a barrel from his shoulders. Carrying it in one hand, he slowly walked up the steps.

The woman at the main control panel subconsciously asked, “Who are you?”

Qin Jiu rested his arm on You Huo’s shoulder and said to the illusion that was about to disappear: “Sorry, I came a little earlier and heard some of your exchange. My name is Qin Jiu, I am here to find my reality.”

The moment he finished saying this, the entire main control centre began to collapse.