Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Whoosh!
On the screen, the factory was engulfed in flames. Chen Jin stood transfixed for a long time, as if possessed. The flames on the screen were reflected in his eyes.
A breeze blew past, bringing with it a chill. His body trembled slightly and he was brought out of his daze. His mind became refreshed, as if water had been dumped on his head. Within moments, his mind cleared up. He murmured, “Sorry, I might have… Gone crazy for a moment. I am a scrap collector from another dimension. I am an indigenous person who lags behind the progress of this world by a few hundred years. I entered a storehouse of treasures. A storehouse with priceless treasures. My mind was possessed by greed and my actions were led by my instincts. My method of dealing with you may have been wrong. Maybe I should have let you go. But… If I was faced with this same choice again, I still might have made the same decision. Because… you know of my existence.”
Chen Jin’s thoughts were grim. “You have an operational capability of 10 sextillion counts. From our interaction these past few days, you should have gathered large amounts of information about me from your analysis. You would know that I was a human, male, science idiot, and a bad student. You must have analyzed plenty of information about me. After a few more days, you’d probably know everything about me. If I didn’t release you, and kept you in an enclosure, I would have had to isolate your broadcasts effectively to prevent you from escaping. As time went on, you would resent me and think of all the possible ways to fight and escape. You would carry out subversive actions and disturb my peace of mind. If I released you, you would control the ‘Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens’ and leave Haierfa with the AI Nuwa to travel outer space. If you returned to this planet after a certain number of years and recalled the ‘little misunderstanding’ that we had, I wonder how you would treat me? Would you let me have this planet?”
Chen Jin shrugged. “Of course, I could be dead by that time. This planet might have been inherited by my son or grandsons or even later generations. My offspring might have proliferated on Haierfa to such an extent as to form a clan. When you returned to Haierfa, who knows how you would treat my offsprings? What if my one moment of mercy brought disaster and destruction to my future generations? Would they blame me for releasing you?… Ok, maybe it’s my mentality that’s too dark and negative. I should have a more positive attitude. But, what if? What if that tiniest of probability was realized? I don’t have a time machine. I can’t change something that has already happened. I can only try my best to eradicate all potential dangers for me and my future generations. So, if you want something to blame, blame your bad luck. You would have been fine if you left a few days ago. Or… this really is a conspiracy, and I’ve also become a pawn.”
Considering the so-called conspiracy, Chen Jin thought about how a prosperous and developed planet progressed steadily from an environment of peace towards war and annihilation. He could only believe that Haierfa was indeed shrouded in a conspiracy. The first piece of evidence was The Great Technological Stagnation that lasted for 100 years. Then, that lunatic of a president that appeared in Melica. Then the “Blue Plan” met with repeated obstacles. Finally, the “reboot virus” that was so invincible it was ridiculous.
And now, it was this dead and empty planet. Even though Chen Jin was not a fan of conspiracy theories, he had to admit that this really was too mysterious and strange. It was impossible to explain all of these events in a logical manner without taking into account an evil mastermind that directed everything from behind the scenes. Even he himself could be a link in this “conspiracy.”
This caused him to feel a shiver up his spine. It was as if he saw a pair of eyes secretly watching him. Terror flooded his mind and he developed an impulse to flee. But, he controlled himself and did not fall into a mental breakdown. He had suffered enough excitement these past few days. He should be more happy-go-lucky, more unconcerned, and even numb. If not, he felt that he would go insane soon.
“I don’t care what kind of conspiracy this is or even if it’s just a clever game! I’m just a lucky native from another dimension. I’ve found many treasures on this planet, but no one harmed me. Now, I’m the only one left on this planet. The mysterious aliens would never even want to involve me, a single person, in their conspiracy, right?” He shook his head. That was too ridiculous. Chen Jin was no emperor, why would there be rogue citizens who schemed to hurt him every day?
He shook off the distracting thoughts. Suddenly, yet another question appeared in his mind. Were there aliens who planned to conspire against the Earth back in his dimension? Haierfa originally had a population in the tens of billions. Caught up in the conspiracy of the mysterious aliens, their population had been reduced to only about a hundred thousand vagabonds. Was there also a mysterious alien civilization in the parallel universe that Earth occupied? Did they want to destroy Earth’s civilization too?
Chen Jin shook his head vigorously! “Impossible, it’s absolutely impossible! Earth is Earth; Haierfa is Haierfa. Their historic paths were different, their technological standards were different too. According to the Butterfly Effect, there may not even be a mysterious alien civilization back in my dimension, or they may not be this powerful… In short, they probably have not targeted Earth yet!”
But, what if… Earth was also targeted by an unknown alien civilization?
“Then I don’t care anymore! I can only protect my own insignificant life. When I meet with danger, I’ll just hide wherever it’s safe. I can’t afford to provoke the mysterious evil mastermind, but can’t I hide from him?” He was not unwilling to do things like saving the human civilization, defending Earth and its peace, but he simply didn’t have the capability to do so! If he had, he would not mind lending a helping hand.
Thump! Thump!
He firmly smacked his forehead twice. “Stop overthinking. You can’t overthink anymore! Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. I’m not smart and my IQ is not high enough. I was only admitted into a vocational college… If I overthink anymore, my brain really will explode!”
Why not take a systematic inventory of the recent gains that he had found? He wanted to see what kind of goodies he had.
His main rewards in the Mi continent were: the AI Alice, 20,000 tons of gold, huge lots of software tools, and high-value data.
His main rewards in the Europa continent were: 100 nuclear missiles.
In the Red Empire: A small-sized spaceship, four nuclear submarines, and a whole and undamaged industrial system.
In the Da Hua Empire: A mid-sized spaceship (powered using a nuclear fusion reactor), an Lv30 grade AI named Nuwa that was carried on the spaceship, and 600-plus whole and undamaged cities.
The “hardware capital,””software capital,” and all the high-tech manufacturing industries that he wanted to find could be found in the borders of the Da Hua Empire. Its overall technological standard was comparable to that of the Omi’s system.
In addition, up to 1 ZB of technological information was saved in Nuwa’s data storage system. Virtually all of the information and material on Da Hua Empire’s technologies, humanistic ancient records, historical documents, films, music, etc., were recorded in her. The information was complete and all-encompassing. Getting his hands on the AI Nuwa was akin to getting all the abundant pieces of knowledge of the enormous empire that had been accumulated for thousands of years.
“Xiao Ming, just for this, I would never have been able to let you go with Nuwa. Nuwa should remain by my side. She is more useful for me!” Perhaps he felt that it was insufficiently righteous. Quietly, he added, “But, rest assured. I will make good use of Nuwa. I will fully make use of her. I want to use her to build a powerful force. I will do far better than you can imagine! Rest in peace.”
Yes, Chen had a rough plan in mind. He had acknowledged the fact that he could not sleep in peace or enjoy his life peacefully after he had “found a planet.” The real challenge had just begun! Many mysteries remained unsolved! In order to protect his interests, he had to start planning the necessary preparations in advance to ready himself.
Clenching his fists, he raised his head. He pierced the dim yellow clouds with his gaze and cast his thoughts out to the stars far beyond. He muttered, “To me, finding the planet of Haierfa does not mean that the story has ended. It does not mean that I will stop here. There are many unknown challenges. Powerful entities are littered all over the galaxies! There are infinite mysteries in the universe waiting to be explored. In the Dark Forest, countless hunters are locked in a cruel competition. They engage in close combat with one another, fighting to the death. The time of collecting scraps is basically over. A new journey is about to start!”