Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 745 - 114: The Path to Godhood

Zhuang Xiao felt that the success of Simulation 53 and the continuation of the sanctuary were merely due to their luck.

Because Observer 009, who should have handled the aftermath, was shattered to pieces on the starship, this directly led to the survival of those who escaped into the sanctuary after they destroyed the city. Members of the Committee were very aware of their situation; they could only hide underground like rats before Simulation 53 concluded.

This was their true identity.

Rebuilding the surface would inevitably attract "their" attention, potentially bringing a new observer.

Judging from 009's number, there were many more like it.

Zhuang Xiao witnessed the entire process of the observer's shattering and downfall, the energy it gathered was terrifying, almost equivalent to a True God's energy.

Yet, they still didn't know the specifics of Experiment 53; they could only speculate from the research and investigations so far that the Committee changed "Arrive at the Empire" to "Explore the existence within the black hole."

A series of truths led to more mysteries.

Zhuang Xiao felt she was still stuck in a quagmire. What she witnessed in the "Dream Experiment" was just a breath of relief, much like she still didn't understand why the existence in the black hole later became Ethan.

With concerted persuasion, Chen Qi temporarily calmed down.

The method of persuasion was that when Chen Qi focused all his attention on Zhuang Xiao, Song Xian quietly circled behind him and delivered a heavy slam to his back. His gun flew to Zhuang Xiao's feet, after which they used restraint tools found in the biological laboratory to secure him next to a bench.

The biological laboratory was filled with such tools, once used against disobedient children.

Chen Qi's eyes were hollow; he heard the conversation between Merlin and Zhuang Xiao, but he refused to acknowledge the "Puppet Theory." It sounded absurd; he was overwhelmed every day with life and work, hoping to fulfill his father's dying wish for humanity to return to the surface one day.

And now, this madwoman broke into the laboratory, telling him that it was all false and meaningless.

They had no soul; this was why they couldn't embark on the path.

The Old Gods had no interest in these soulless beings and naturally wouldn't listen to their prayers.

You're the one brainwashed by the "dream," unable to distinguish between dream and reality, you lunatic!

Chen Qi wanted to yell at Zhuang Xiao, but clearly, Merlin and the others didn't care about his opinion. This group of lunatics concocted a story that only they believed in and then launched a self-righteous "revolution," like that man who was executed once did.

No one would acknowledge the truth fabricated by these three lunatics; they couldn't convince anyone in the sanctuary.

"This is my perspective."

Before speaking, Merlin glanced at the dazed Chen Qi, clearly indicated that Chen Zhaoming had revealed many secrets to Chen Qi before his death, leading to Chen Qi's almost blind confidence in Lindong. Despite the signs indicating that Lindong no longer cared about the sanctuary's survival and had broken free from the Committee's control, Chen Qi, as the project leader, chose to ignore all this like an ostrich.

Now Merlin understood.

Because that's how the "program" was written.

Before the Committee changed its approach, Chen Qi, selected as a "first-class citizen," would resolutely carry out the plan.

"Chen Zhaoming's experiment succeeded; Lindong fused with the divine factor, granting her a soul as they anticipated."

That was the consensus reached by the three of them, but in Merlin's view, the events after the successful experiment mattered more.

Because it concerned them.

Chosen by the Committee as a "pioneer team" to attempt implanting an idea in Ethan's mind in the "otherworld," everything they did was based on Lindong's successful fusion with the divine factor. Merlin also realized that the cryo-chamber and the "Dream Experiment" injectables were not of extraterrestrial technology; after the surface's destruction, those light clusters from the heavens ceased all technological aid.

Both came from Lindong; they were changes brought about by fusing with the divine factor.

"The Committee is convinced there's some connection between the divine factor and Ethan, believing this connection will help those who come later traverse the dark region, a judgment proven correct."

Indeed, Lindong successfully crossed the black hole, reaching the star system where the Empire was located.

"But on the other hand, they underestimated the influence of pheromones."

Merlin still tried to explain the connection between Lindong and Ethan scientifically, seeing it as key to them later becoming lovers. Biologically speaking, the moment Chen Zhaoming's "god-creation plan" succeeded, Lindong was no longer human; she not only gained a complete soul but also became a kindred with Ethan.

"From the results, Ethan's attraction to her is much stronger."

If considering the worst case, from the moment Lindong managed to leave the sanctuary and meet Ethan, everything here became meaningless to her. The meeting in the "otherworld" and the establishment of the guild were merely her charity to the past.

In hindsight, the "Goddess" never cared about them.

But that was also an inevitable result.

Each time humans attempted to control deities, the result ended in failure and destruction. Merlin thought Zhuang Xiao had a significant say in this; she once used the seal left by the "Goddess" to control Argos, using the power of the Old Gods to reshape the "canopy" as she envisioned.

However, a millennium later, when Argos broke free from the seal, it would destroy everything she cherished, and if Ethan hadn't entered the "canopy," only scorched earth would have been left for that plane.

In Merlin's view, the experiments that happened to Lindong were essentially no different from those with Argos.

The fact that she didn't directly destroy the sanctuary upon becoming a "True God" was already a display of mercy.

He and Song Xian had just found a lot of old experimental data.

Those were truly "experiments" because the researchers had no idea what changes they would bring before the operations began.

The result showed that hundreds of children died during the experiments, not lacking painful and twisted mutation processes; in order to extract enough data, researchers often allowed the mutation to continue for a long time until the subjects "naturally died."

In fact, some unexpected changes occurred on Lindong as well.

For example, her hair turned white, her pupils turned red, and she developed a tolerance to low temperatures beyond human limits. To confirm this data, they once locked Lindong in a minus 40-degree cold room for three days, but the result showed that cold seemed to have no substantial impact on her.

Lucky.

Aside from this, Merlin couldn't think of any words to describe the experiment on Lindong.

It was precisely these "superhuman" traits that drew Chen Zhaoming's attention to this special experiment subject. This was never a world with the concept of superpowers; being able to withstand minus 40-degree cold was special enough.

At this point, the three fell into a silence.

All discussions and speculations pointed to a question that could not be ignored.

Was there still value in saving such a sanctuary?

A group of soulless puppets, human materials reused in simulations, they couldn't even be called real humans.

The Old Gods had no interest in them, and all signs indicated Ethan might very well be one of them, a special entity existing in an unknown dimension.

None of the three spoke, because any rational analysis could only yield a pessimistic answer.

Ethan's willingness to cooperate with them in the "Dream Experiment" was just out of curiosity, like accidentally discovering a small animal by the roadside and whimsically wanting to see where it would go.

Perhaps its home was facing an unprecedented crisis, but this didn't mean he was willing to save its home from those ferocious beasts.

Even in their view, there was no benefit to this.

"It seems the committee's plan will fall through again."

After a long while, Merlin spoke with a tone of relief.

He just didn't know what fate the sanctuary would face after the failure of simulation number 53.

And his goal had been achieved.

He had learned everything, including how they came into being — though such truth offered no hope for the people of the sanctuary.

"It seems no matter how many times you start over, you will walk the same path."

The guards' footsteps arrived late; the long-lost seven members of the committee seemed to finally remember they had unfinished business, and this was the first time Merlin and the others had seen all of them.

Those "special citizens" who knew the truth from the start.

The one who spoke was that familiar old man, the one who hosted simulation number 53.

The old man stared at Merlin, with eyes full of compassion, "Even after being shattered and reassembled, even when the genetic sequence becomes another person, you will return to the origin... is this the function of the soul?"

Feeling Merlin's puzzled gaze, the old man continued, "Since you've made it here, I'll tell you a bit more: Lindong wasn't the only subject to survive that experiment; she was just the more perfect one. Chen Zhaoming thought these children should be placed in different environments to extract enough experimental data from their growth... but he didn't foresee the dangers of granting souls."

At this point, the old man changed his tone, "This would make them uncontrollable, one of the children placed in the civilian area 'awakened' what they called free will, doubting the sanctuary and the committee, and upon reaching adulthood, instigated a riot in the civilian area."

"This was very interesting experimental data because we found that during interactions with that child, some of the second-class citizens' programming was rewritten, deviating from the predetermined runways, and that child became a viral presence in the sanctuary, constantly infecting those around him."

Upon hearing this, a focus returned to Chen Qi's somber eyes.

He would never forget the name of the man executed on television.

In fact, he couldn't explain why he remembered the name of a thug, nor the thug's cry at death.

"Lin Jue."

The old man spoke the name of the man executed in front of all sanctuary residents, "You went a bit further than last time, but this time the outcome will not change."

"You failed once, and now, you will fail a second time."