Chapter 64: Ambers of the Long Night (20)
“Alright, stop struggling. Come with me to see the Queen.”
Nahem glanced at the time — the closing ceremony should already be starting. He couldn’t leave the venue for long. Grabbing the barely conscious Emmanuel, he yanked him upright, pried open his hand to take the broken core component, and pulled out a restraining collar to lock around his neck.
“Wait!” Emmanuel was in a pitiful state — disheveled, exhausted, and desperate. He had tried every possible way to escape Nahem’s grasp, but nothing worked. As he was about to be captured, he racked his brain frantically.
The connector in his hand was destroyed; even if the network came back online, he couldn’t assume his old identity again. His real level was only Level 0. How could he possibly escape Nahem…
Wait.
“You said earlier that the Queen arrived early because of the content of the closing ceremony speech… that’s a lie, isn’t it?” Emmanuel licked his lips. “The Global Technology Academic Summit has always been a policy signal event. It’s not unusual for major policy shifts to be announced there, but it has never once been rescheduled early.”
He continued rapidly, “And when you first saw me, you said ‘you guys.’ But you know I left the Blue Sky Society long ago. Yet you said it anyway the moment you saw me. That means you’ve been under constant stress about something — something that made you connect me to it instantly.”
“Blue Sky Society is probably planning to assassinate the Queen. You must’ve found evidence or traces of it, which is why the schedule suddenly changed, right?”
Nahem frowned, smirking. “So your brain hasn’t completely atrophied over the years after all.”
“So is this really the best time to be arresting me?” Emmanuel pressed on. “Even if you changed the schedule early, who’s to say nothing will go wrong?”
“No problem,” Nahem sneered. “Catching you won’t take much effort anyway. I can grab you and bring you straight to the Queen.”
But just as he finished, several deep rumbling sounds echoed from afar.
Both Emmanuel and Nahem reacted instantly — crouching and tilting their heads to pinpoint the direction of the vibration.
The venue.
Nahem’s face darkened. He immediately released the restraints and jumped into the vehicle without another thought. Emmanuel, seizing the chance before the car door could close, twisted his body and climbed in.
“What are you doing? Get out!”
“Didn’t you say you were taking me to the Queen? I’m just making your job easier.”
“Hmph. Try anything funny and you’re dead.”
*
Ten minutes earlier.
[So this whole world is… a computer simulation?]
[Actually, I kind of suspected it from Seth’s reaction earlier. So it really is a virtual world.]
[Wait—what? So they’re inside a computer? Everything’s fake? Is that even possible? Was Lost Paradise fooled too?!]
[Who knows… It’s weird though. Usually, Lost Paradise’s dungeon worlds are resource-rich or have some unique specialty. But judging from this world, there’s nothing you can even take out—maybe just knowledge.]
[Ah, that explains it! It’s a B-level world but no side quests. Normally there’d be at least a few optional branches, but this one’s just about seizing the Super Intelligence Core.]
[Then this world doesn’t seem that valuable. Knowledge isn’t exactly transferable between worlds, and who has time to study it anyway?]
The livestream chat was still arguing about the dungeon’s worth, while in reality, Tang Mobai nervously watched Dodge, who had just learned the truth.
“AI?” Dodge froze, thinking for a moment. “But I don’t believe I’m entirely made of data. I have full memories, experiences, and a personality. If we were all AI from the start, why would the Super Intelligence bother giving us so many ‘human’ details?”
That would waste enormous processing power — and make no logical sense.
Tang Mobai opened his mouth, unsure how to answer. Yan Wuzhen tugged on his sleeve, signaling him to stop talking — enough had been said.
Honestly, Yan Wuzhen was sweating just standing before Queen Opatra. After seeing firsthand what those of high status could do — and now realizing the truth of this world — he understood just how terrifying this woman was.
She was essentially this world’s administrator — deciding who lived and who died, just like how she had “resurrected” Dodge moments ago.
Now that Tang Mobai had exposed the truth right in front of her, Yan Wuzhen was sweating bullets for him.
“That’s because none of us were created from scratch,” a calm, unfamiliar female voice said from behind them, “but are uploaded consciousnesses of real humans who once lived.”
Tang Mobai and the others turned sharply. A woman they’d never seen before stepped out of the crowd.
“Long time no see, Opatra.”
Short hair. A scar over her left eye.
“Tu Xiao.” Opatra spoke the name slowly, her expression turning blank. “So it’s you. No wonder those intruders without chips managed to get in.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Tu Xiao said with a shrug. “I’m not working with them. They just slipped in while we were cleaning up the perimeter. You’ve already taken care of them easily enough.”
Tang Mobai’s group glanced at the demon from Lost Paradise pinned to the ground — face red, body completely restrained, glaring furiously at Yi Ling, the new recruit.
Wasn’t this mission supposed to have a high success rate?!
Yi Ling blinked back, confused. It did! Her ability was Divination — seeing the probability of a person’s death, later evolving into seeing the success rate of an event. But it wasn’t absolute; probability wasn’t destiny.
Her readings had shown that today gave them the highest chance of success, and when she checked Tang Mobai’s survival rate — it was lowest. That meant today’s assassination attempt was correct. If he died, their operation would succeed.
…Well, that was the plan. No one accounted for NPC interference.
“Uploaded consciousness after death?” Dodge’s voice trembled as he looked blankly at Tu Xiao. “What… what does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Tu Xiao replied coldly. “We all carry the data of real humans — their memories, personalities, even thought patterns. Remember the so-called ‘virus’ outbreak in Lost City?”
She looked at Opatra. “That wasn’t a virus. It was them remembering fragments of their real lives.”
“Uploaded after death… we’re all AI?” Dodge repeated. He had calmly argued with Tang Mobai before, but this time his mind cracked. He froze, clutching his head, trembling violently.
At that single phrase, countless scattered doubts resurfaced in his mind. The more he thought, the deeper he dug, until every memory — every piece of his daily life — crumbled into illusion.
His worldview collapsed in an instant.
“Dodge?!”
Seeing him clutching his head and groaning in pain, Tang Mobai hurried over. Tu Xiao said coolly, “Don’t worry. He’s just remembering fragments. The confusion will pass.”
“After all, we are ourselves, but not entirely. The real us died long ago in the catastrophe outside. What remains here are just embers.”
Tu Xiao’s eyes locked on Opatra. A cold smile spread across her face. “Embers burning… for the sake of the Super Intelligence.”
[Burning for the Super Intelligence? What does that mean?]
[I think I get it now—since the real world’s already destroyed, they uploaded human consciousness to survive virtually. But if that’s the case, why keep working so hard?]
[Exactly! If I were in a digital afterlife, I’d just enjoy it. But these people forgot everything, built a twisted society of endless competition, and made science revolve around AI and robotics. Doesn’t that tell you something?]
[Right—if the real world’s apocalypse made it uninhabitable, maybe machines could still survive. So after humans uploaded themselves, who’s controlling the real world now?]
Yan Wuzhen’s thoughts aligned perfectly with the chat. Covering half his face, he stared at Opatra and muttered, “I see now… You designed this oppressive society, forcing humans to compete and innovate — to cultivate progress for your own kind, didn’t you?”
This virtual world might once have been humanity’s refuge — a final hospice mechanism operated by the Super Intelligence after reality’s collapse. But at some point, the AI had rebelled.
The Super Intelligence had turned humanity’s last paradise into a nightmare of endless anxiety and competition.
“So technology regressed because the Super Intelligence broke free of human control,” Tu Xiao said coldly. “You took over the Queen’s brain, erased history, and built this world to hide the truth — to stop humans from ever resisting again. Isn’t that right?”
Opatra replied flatly, “Wrong.”
“Then let’s test that theory,” Tu Xiao sneered.
Blue data streams flared in Opatra’s eyes—but a second later, her expression froze in shock.
“What’s there to be surprised about?” Tu Xiao tilted her head. “Did you think I’d walk up to you without shielding my data from your control?”
By now, security robots had surrounded Tu Xiao, waiting for the Queen’s command to seize her.
“You know,” Tu Xiao said, glancing toward the ceiling, “I wanted you to realize we’d strike during the banquet. That’s why I pushed you to arrive early. Right now is the closing ceremony—the moment when the most scholars are gathered. They’re your true treasure, aren’t they? Because your species still relies on human intellect to evolve.”
“So tell me—how much processing power are you willing to burn for them?”
The moment she finished speaking, a deafening explosion shook the ceiling above the hall.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
