Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

By the time Chen Chen returned to the battlefield, all the survivors had been cleaned up and even the corpses with gunshot wounds were piled into a tall heap, which was drenched with gasoline, then burned.

Not only that, but also the onlookers who were involved had their memories wiped, forgetting everything they saw. This was replaced by a new memory of the angel statues slaughtering the army.

“Sir G.o.dfather, I've already dealt with everything here and I haven't found any omissions.”

At this moment, Little X's voice suddenly came from the headset. Although Chen Chen had transformed, his headset was still worn over his ears.

“Good. I've also gotten back my things.”

Chen Chen nodded and threw a blue, glowing medicine bottle and a USB flash drive to a Black Knight beside him. At the same time, he looked at the sky and suddenly said:

“Time's up.”

Following his words, Chen Chen's body seemed to be deflating and white mist began to pour out. Then the white mist became more dense, even covering Chen Chen's huge body.

In the next second, Chen Chen's body shrank rapidly like a deflating ball and the exoskeleton of his entire body directly turned into powder, emitting an unpleasant smell of rot…

When the white mist dissipated again, Chen Chen had regained his previous size. On the surface of his body, there was still a layer of monster skin that was gradually dissolving.

“Sizzle…”

Chen Chen came out of the decaying sh.e.l.l, naked, and he staggered on his feet. Two black knights immediately supported him.

It was only then that they could see that Chen Chen's body had changed from a muscular body to a skinny frame, just like a severely malnourished refugee who had not eaten for a few years.

Moreover, not only had his body become emaciated, but all the hair on his body had disappeared.

He was like an insect that transformed into a coc.o.o.n and turned into a b.u.t.terfly. At this time, Chen Chen was covered in new skin from top to bottom. This skin was smooth and delicate, as fragile as a baby's.

However, no outsider would have seen all of this. The Black Knights that had been prepared immediately put on a warm duvet over Chen Chen and then several of them carried Chen Chen into a black car and quickly drove away…

When the car left, the rest of the Black Knights also re-a.s.sumed their invisible form, and turned and left the battlefield.

An hour later, Chen Chen returned to the Spire Experimental Base thousands of miles away via the Gantz sphere.

Chen Chen, upon his return to the base, immediately received top-level medical services. Glucose and nutrients were channeled into Chen Chen's body as if they were free. What Chen Chen had to do was to restore his body. Unlike ordinary people, with Chen Chen's physique and the medical methods of the Spire Laboratory, it did not take long for Chen Chen to return to his peak state.

One day later, Chen Chen woke up hazily in the hospital bed.

He stretched lazily, looked around, and saw that he was now in an intensive care unit. The room was filled with dazzling metal walls. At the same time, there were several bunches of flowers set out before the bed, giving off a hint of fragrance.

The light was not turned on. Still, it was very warm and bright because a shaft of sunlight was s.h.i.+ning in from the window. Chen Chen looked toward the source of light and gazed out of the window, and he could even see that outside, there was a huge park with hills and streams. Dozens of visitors walked slowly by, laughing among themselves.

If he kept quiet, Chen Chen could even hear the laughter from the group of visitors and the chirping of birds outside the window.

Seeing this scene, Chen Chen was not surprised because he knew that all this was not real. The so-called scenery outside the window was a kind of 3D holographic image, and the warm suns.h.i.+ne was nothing more than LED light that simulated the real sun.

This kind of light was invented by a genius scientist who was discovered by the Eco Science City. A long time ago, humans had discovered that the natural light they perceived was the diffusion of the interaction between sunlight and other various particles in the air such as nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.

Thus, this genius scientist used an LED floodlight to simulate the sun and at the same time, replaced the atmosphere with a layer of nano-material, reconstructing the Earth's atmosphere over a distance of more than 10 kilometers to obtain a sunlight experience that was close to reality.

At this time, in the scene outside the window, an additional optical system was added to enhance one's depth perception. When someone stared at the LED light outside the window, no matter from what angle, they would see the sun hanging high in the sky. It could be pa.s.sed off as the real thing.

Within ten seconds of Chen Chen's awakening, Little X came in through the door in a white dress. She swaggered to Chen Chen's bed. “Sir G.o.dfather, you're awake. Do you need breakfast?”

“Bring it on.”

Chen Chen replied. After the mutation from the G-virus injection, his stomach was already unbearably hungry.

Little X immediately obeyed. Then, she jumped up and sat down on the chair next to Chen Chen's bed with her legs dangling and gently swaying. “Sir G.o.dfather, there has been news from Northern America that all angel statues have been contained. The situation you were worried about will not happen anymore.”

“I hope so.”

Chen Chen shrugged indifferently. “I'm just afraid that it will leak out again in the future and cause an irreversible human crisis.”

“By the way, Keith's dead body has been transported back.”

Little X said again, “Moreover, his body has been dissected, but nothing has been found.”

“That's to be expected. I just had a hunch. If there were any abnormality, it means there was a problem.”

Chen Chen waved his hand.

“Right…”

Little X said dubiously, “A guy who couldn't be killed by four Black Knights even after being hunted for a day, yet he died so easily in the end. It does feel rather incongruous.”

Chen Chen showed a thoughtful look when he heard these words, and then said, “If my guess is correct, it's because his 'mission' had been completed…”

“Mission?”

Little X blinked with some confusion. “You mean his mission to deliver AD-001?”

“Yes.”

Chen Chen explained patiently to the increasingly anthropomorphic Little X, “You should know that there's often such a rule in movies, that once someone becomes the protagonist of the story, they will never die before the story ends.

“Everything about the protagonist represents the development of the story. Losing the protagonist means that the story cannot go on. Until the end of the movie, when the protagonist loses the value of advancing the story, then they may die…”

Just when Chen Chen was talking about this, the door of the intensive care unit was opened again. A Black Knight pushed a dining cart in and parked it next to Chen Chen's bed.

Chen Chen did not hesitate. He first picked up the bucket of milk and drank it in big gulps. After the bucket of milk was emptied, he grabbed the barbecued meat and various high-calorie foods in the dining cart and swallowed them.

While eating, Chen Chen continued to speak, “Remember, in the movie Deadly Crisis: A Shocking Scheme, the movie ends just as the protagonist hands the drug to the other party. This also means that the protagonist isn't needed to further advance the story, so the protagonist's plot armor begins to disappear. Since the movie doesn't say whether the protagonist is dead or alive at the end, then there's a possibility of him being killed.”

Hearing Chen Chen's explanation, Little X was a little stunned by the realization. “So that's it…”

Then, she saw Chen Chen was still frowning, so she asked again, “Then Sir G.o.dfather, why are you still frowning?”

“Because I'm thinking.”

Chen Chen swallowed a piece of b.u.t.ter and then pointed to his head. “I'm thinking about how the USB flash drive interferes with reality and causes the situation in the movie to reoccur in reality. This principle is very important and it may even involve a branch of science that's more terrifying than memes. No, it may have gone beyond the scientific system and now concerns the field of philosophy…

“Have you determined that the USB flash drive interfered with reality and caused the plot in the movie to happen, rather than the USB flash drive foreseeing the future and then influencing us to make the movie?”

Little X was a little puzzled about Chen Chen's affirmation.

“Of course!”

Chen Chen replied without hesitation, “X, you know that we've obtained AD-001 and we've also unlocked the manufacturing process of the drug and can produce this drug at any time. When Osmond's drug hits the market, we can even sue them for stealing our technology. So, why should I pay so much attention to the drug produced by Osmond?”

“Because AD-001 isn't important. What's important is to understand the rules of the USB drive.”

Little X replied.

“Correct.”

Chen Chen affirmed. “The reason I want to kill Keith isn't to vent my anger nor is it because I'm afraid that he'll become a dragon-slaying hero… Well, the second thing is a little true, but the most important thing is because I need to test whether I can kill him.

“According to the story of the movie I shot before, when Keith has already delivered the drug to Parker, the film ends. If even after that, I still cannot kill Keith due to various coincidences, then it means one thing — Keith isn't only the protagonist of the movie, he may also represent a more terrifying ident.i.ty.

“This ident.i.ty is difficult to explain, so let's call it the 'Dimension's Child' for the time being…

“According to the rules of fantasy, the Dimension's Child represents the will of the world and is loved and favored by heaven and Earth. In that case, he can't be killed by any method.

“Whereas according to the scientific view, the Dimension's Child represents the laws of the world. For example, the founding fathers of those unifying dynasties in ancient times. After the great chaos of the world, there must be someone who can calm the troubled times and stabilize the world. This was the law of human society in the Central Plains at that time. Even if the first person fails, there'll be a second and a third, and there'll eventually be one person who succeeds…

“When this person is completely successful, just take a look at his life achievements and you'll see that it's as if the G.o.ds are gaming the system for his sake. He can't be killed no matter what danger he encounters and he'll finally succeed in his great cause.”

Having said this, Chen Chen swallowed the last bite of the food, with a look of rejoicing. “It's just that at the beginning I wasn't sure whether Keith was such a 'Dimension's Child' or not. It was not until I killed him, that I determined that he… Was not! Because how could the Dimension's Child be killed by me so easily?

“Since Keith wasn't the Dimension's Child, it naturally rules out the speculation of 'the USB drive foreseeing reality and then influencing us to make the movie'. Then there's only one conclusion — Keith's existence and even everything that happened these days, was the result of the USB drive interfering directly with reality.”

“So, that's it…”

Hearing Chen Chen's explanation, Little X's eyes lit up and she finally understood. “In other words, the USB drive is likely to have the power to control cause and effect?”

“That's right.”

Chen Chen nodded. “In fact, before experiencing this incident, I still had some doubts about whether cause and effect existed. After all, I thought that a person only becomes the Dimension's Child after having achieved something, not the other way around. But now, I'm certain that cause and effect are likely to exist…”

Speaking of this, Chen Chen's eyes glowered with antic.i.p.ation. “It can be said that this is a new ability of the USB flash drive that we've discovered after memetics, which is different from conventional science and mysterious memes. Rather, it's a more obscure, abstract force, and for the time being, we can define it as… The law of causality!”

Hearing Chen Chen's summary, Little X immediately clapped her hands, revealing a sudden burst of joy. “If you say that, then the USB flash drive's specific manifestation of causality should be this — once the USB flash drive's owner takes the initiative to film a movie, it'll cause the story of the filmed movie to appear in reality, right?”

“There's another prerequisite, that is, the filmed movie can be recognized by the USB flash drive.”

Chen Chen added. “And it doesn't necessarily occur in reality. Didn't you notice that Chronicle 2 didn't occur in reality? So, when you write the screenplay, it's best to be as close to the real world as possible…”

“If a movie made by the USB drive holder becomes reality, then as long as we shoot a movie in which Blacklight Biotechnology unifies the world, doesn't it mean that we're destined to rule the world?”

Little X asked again.

“We can try, but I don't hope for much.”

Chen Chen shook his head and smiled bitterly. “You didn't realize that we filmed more than just Deadly Crisis: A Shocking Scheme. Later, we also filmed science fiction films such as Cancer Man and Immortal. But none of them succeeded. Why is that?

“Combined with everything that has happened in reality today, it's very possible that Deadly Crisis: A Shocking Scheme can be recognized by the USB flash drive because of the final open ending. Openness implies infinite possibilities and infinite possibilities represent infinite parallel universes. As for the extremely realistic Cancer Man and Immortal, they were discarded because the ending was too fixed.”

“Then, what's the use of this rule?”

Hearing Chen Chen's theory, Little X was dumbfounded.

“We can shoot movies to supplement a technology we urgently need, but it's best not to have any major plot conflicts.”

Chen Chen resolutely said, “This is the experience I've learned from this incident. You should notice that to conform to the reoccurrence of the plot in the movie, there were first the angel statues and then the Northern American army. I almost died thanks to all this. All of this was not shown in the movie… This is the 'backlash' of the U disk.”

“In other words, this method of filming movies isn't only a shortcut but also a double-edged sword. If we use it well, things can progress smoothly, but if it's not used well, human civilization may perish because of it…

“After all, the information that can be presented in a movie is limited. It's impossible to show everything and the parts that aren't presented could mean life or death or even more infinite possibilities…”