Chapter 799: Shadows of the Past
by xennovel“What exactly is the Genesis Hard Drive?”
“What do you mean by rebooting the world?”
“What in the world did you just see?”
At the Old Research Institute Site, even though Lu Xin had already found the Mental Core and developed an impressive resilience to emotional shocks, the terrifying sight they’d just witnessed left him momentarily unbalanced.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wang and Dr. Zhang were even more baffled.
Both of them, kept in the dark from all sides, felt as if they were trapped in a gigantic net, boiling with anger and ready to strike.
“So… you all knew about this all along?”
In the midst of chaos, Lu Xin suddenly caught sight of a crucial detail and quickly looked toward Doctor An.
A simmering anger welled within him, his gaze hardening.
“We know that a former Researcher had a most terrifying plan.”
Doctor An closed her eyes momentarily before reopening them and meeting Lu Xin’s gaze calmly. In a low voice she continued, “It was precisely that plan which triggered the Red Moon Incident. We even learned that they possessed a weapon called the Genesis Hard Drive—a device of immense technological power, or you might say, the world’s greatest source of pollution…”
“But their plan has been halted.”
“We can’t determine the exact reason, but one thing’s for sure—it’s connected to you.”
“We also gathered through certain channels that this Old Research Institute Site harbors some key pieces of information, though they remain indecipherable.”
“Perhaps only you can unlock their meaning…”
“…”
“A certain channel?”
Lu Xin frowned slightly, irritated as he turned his gaze toward her.
The black particles in his eyes trembled, and as his gaze swept over Doctor An, her eyes suddenly began to bleed.
“It—it was that guy who jumped from the high-rise…”
Doctor An swiftly clutched her eyes. Despite her steely nerves, she couldn’t help but emit a soft groan before restraining it. In an urgent tone, she added, “Before dying, he left not only three prophecies but also a secret letter. In that letter, he mentioned that if we refuse to be pawns of fate, then when the conditions are right, we must find Experiment Subject Nine and bring him over…”
“That genius Researcher?”
For a moment, Lu Xin felt an even greater headache. He hadn’t expected this to involve such an individual.
Why would he leave behind such a letter?
And how could someone long dead have contemplated these matters so far in advance?
Besides, there were many more doubts festering in his mind.
“We didn’t tell you because you must arrive here with the utmost calm and normality. Any preemptive information that stirs up thoughts in you might disturb your mental state and prevent you from successfully receiving the message.”
“You saw for yourself—you can only passively absorb his message…”
Before Lu Xin could reply, Doctor An hurriedly added, “Besides, wasn’t this all agreed upon by your family?”
“Don’t tell me you came to this godforsaken place just for those two hundred million!”
“We invited you as a consultant. You didn’t even ask a single question—didn’t you already have an idea in your mind?”
“…”
“This…”
Lu Xin was momentarily dumbfounded.
Receiving this message from the past, he could clearly feel that he was merely a passive vessel.
And the bit about it being a family decision… Could it be that Mom had given them a nod of approval after all?
After all, back then Mom had boldly demanded Father’s authority, brimming with unyielding confidence…
Sigh…
He found himself at a loss for words.
Invited as a consultant, he hadn’t been suspicious at all.
After all, he had already received his college diploma…
His mind was in disarray, his emotions swinging wildly. He wanted to vent but soon realized he lacked a solid footing.
Gritting his teeth, he declared sharply, “The interpretation of this information will require extra compensation.”
Doctor An, on the verge of losing it, snapped, “Fine—how about another hundred million?”
“Huh?”
Lu Xin fell into a deep silence, his gaze steady as he replied, “Let’s set that aside for now.”
“Are you feeling alright?”
“…”
“I’m fine. Peering too deeply into your mind can have severe consequences…”
Lu Xin’s sudden change in attitude perplexed Doctor An, who paused briefly before answering.
Then, taking a deep breath, she reluctantly withdrew her hand and asked with a probing look, “What exactly did you see?”
“I tried desperately to read it, but I couldn’t see everything clearly…”
“Is all that he left for you merely the actions of a bygone Researcher?”
“…”
“If it were just a few old memories, would it really have caused such a huge uproar?”
Lu Xin shook his head slightly and murmured, “I feel that among this information, there’s something truly important.”
“But it’s so vast—I can’t fully comprehend it right now…”
“…”
“Hmm?”
Lu Xin was merely speaking the truth, yet Doctor An suddenly snapped to attention.
“Something so immense that even you can’t grasp it?”
“…”
Her hand suddenly fell, and her bloodshot eyes stared at Lu Xin in shock.
She had already deduced much about Lu Xin’s mental power and uncovered many truths.
Now, when she compared everything, the true nature of what was happening became even clearer.
Her broader understanding of events allowed her to react even faster than Lu Xin, who was still trying to piece together the remnants of past messages.
As one mystery unraveled, another emerged, and her face gradually turned pale with fear.
“No way…”
She stared blankly at Lu Xin and whispered, “Could it be the Unique Consciousness?”
“This is bad…”
She suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, her expression turning extremely tense, “There’s a Unique Consciousness hidden within that message…”
“You must leave immediately…”
“All investigation team members, listen up: Mission objective changed—escort the Single Soldier out at all costs…”
“…”
“Unique Consciousness?”
Lu Xin, being directly involved, found himself only half understanding.
Having received far more information than Doctor An, he was slower to react.
He could only feel a momentary confusion: “Why do I need to be escorted out?”
Before he could figure it out, Doctor An cried out in a trembling voice, “Your family has doomed us all…”
“…”
“…”
“Sigh…”
At that very moment, as Doctor An uttered the words “Unique Consciousness,” a deep, sorrowful sigh echoed clearly from the underground depths of the Old Research Institute Site.
It was as if some presence left behind in the institute had successfully transmitted a message and released a long-held sigh of relief.
With that sigh, a level of mental power too subtle to notice at first started to ebb away like a receding tide—a force that had just merged Lu Xin’s present with echoes of the past.
When they were first enveloped by that mental energy, it had been indistinct, but now it was unmistakably felt.
Lu Xin felt it most acutely; even his once-familiar connection to the institute was rapidly fading.
This vast Old Research Institute Site was becoming increasingly alien.
At the same moment, the forests to the north of the Sleeping Mountains that had long been subdued by Lu Xin’s power suddenly swayed as if stirred by an unseen wind, their towering trees eerily restless.
“Eek, eek, eek…”
A piercing cry rang out as a childlike voice floated through the forest, “The Bride…”
“The Bride is mine…”
“Unique Consciousness—it’s mine too…”
“…”
“…”
“Swish…”
In a secluded valley elsewhere,
the members of the High Mountain Wanderers knelt in unison, bowing deeply before a massive Buddha statue nestled against the mountainside.
This Buddha, carved directly from the rock of the mountainside, leaned against the cliff.
Oddly, the Buddha bore no head.
Above its neck, there was emptiness, while the head lay discarded not far away.
But at that moment, the Wanderers suddenly heard unmistakable heartbeats.
They were astonished. Looking up, they realized that the heartbeat was emanating from within the headless Buddha’s chest.
A deep, resonant thud echoed like a drumbeat.
Then, the Buddha slowly began to rise, breaking away from the rock that tethered it, and stood up with measured effort.
It cradled the head lying beside it and trudged clumsily toward the direction of the Research Institute.
……
……
In another area encircled by barbed wire, a man carrying a bucket of fresh meat crouched by a pit.
He glanced toward the institute, silently tossed a cigarette butt to the ground, then hurled a red plastic bucket into the deep pit. Instantly, ravenous, crunching growls erupted from the darkness below.
Then, the man got up and strode to a master switch, forcefully pulling it down.
“Beep beep beep…”
Red alert sirens blared as a heavy noise from a pit gate slowly opened.
Something inside froze—and in the next moment, it swarmed out in a frenzy.
……
……
“Team Leader, what was that?”
On the other side of the mountainside, a member of the Circus, riding on an elephant, wobbled toward his destination.
The two-headed female singer atop the elephant sensed something amiss. Both heads turned simultaneously, showing a faint look of surprise as she whispered to the nearby Host—a clown from the Circus,
“That is the power of Ultimate Fantasy…”
The Host, or rather the Circus Team Leader, turned his head with a mocking smile.
“The Unique Consciousness has awakened.”
“The original secret is beginning to surface, and the final plan is now underway…”
Note: The term “Unique Consciousness” is intentional and not a typo.