NOVEL NEXT Chapter 301: Linglong Group
"I'll talk, I'll talk, don't kill me, I'll tell you whatever you want to know, please don't kill me."
Lin Xian's presence immediately left Tang Yun's face pale as a sheet. It seemed she only then realized her situation and hurriedly said, "It's... it's the organization called the Deep Red World that brought us here. They said... they said this place allows for integration into a type of Digital Life, and it can... can remain unaffected by the encroachment of darkness, allowing us to... safely and happily hide in the Extreme Night and wait for the end of the world to pass!"
"You?" Lin Xian focused his gaze: "Who else besides you?"
"And my husband!"
She spoke with a sudden realization, her eyes scanning the center of the hive searching everywhere, mumbling
"Husband, where's my husband..."
Tang Yun's mental state seemed extremely unstable, unable to control her emotions, frantically searching. Fortunately, her survival instincts kept her last shred of reason, allowing for partial communication dialogue.
Her long dormancy had almost deprived her limbs of coordination. She attempted to stand up but kept struggling on the ground, having largely lost her sense of direction.
From her intermittent confessions, Lin Xian learned that Tang Yun, along with her husband Wen Cheng and several other Wen Family relatives, joined this project. As senior members of the Deep Red World, they enjoyed very high treatment.
They came here to receive introductions to the Deep Red World's mycelial network and Zero Element Project, and even personally participated in experiments briefly invaded by illusion spores, experiencing the bliss and wonder of entering an illusory consciousness.
The purpose of the Zero Element Project is to temporarily integrate consciousness into the mycelial network through survival pods equipped with special bio-isolation devices, thus keeping the consciousness uplifted and happy without becoming infected by the darkness of the underground Extreme Night. The entire Zero Element Center runs unmanned to ensure absolute secrecy and safety, with isolation devices timed to block according to the active periods of the mycelial network, preventing brain overload and uncontrollable proliferation of mycelium.
But the problem is, even with just 9 hours of brain overload, it is more than ordinary people can bear. The life support system of the survival pod can't save them, and each cycle many die. This situation was anticipated by the Deep Red World, but according to those from the Descent Faction, such dying isn't actual death because the consciousness has already been uploaded. So even if the body dies, consciousness can live eternally within the mycelial network, and once the darkness passes, it can be reverse-extracted through gene cloning technology achieving 'rebirth,' even returning to youth!
Therefore, for these Deep Red members, whether it's post-disaster rebirth or eternal consciousness, it's an excellent way to escape the apocalypse, which is why most of the members lying here are over 40.
"They say the mycelium here is a particularly special form of life that is far advanced over human life. If we connect our brains to the mycelial network, we can be immune to the intrusion of darkness and evade Abnormal Body attacks. Hence, no staff are allowed here, to ensure 'cleanliness,' creating a safe environment and peaceful coexistence with the mycelial network..." Tang Yun looked at Lin Xian nervously and fearfully: "Peaceful coexistence."
"Peaceful coexistence?" Lin Xian laughed directly upon hearing the term: "Does anyone actually believe that nonsense?"
Tang Yun wrapped herself with the blanket Luo Yang had brought her earlier, sitting on the ground saying in a low voice: "They have multiple plans, saying consciousness won't be completely disconnected. The Intelligent Brain will periodically cut off the mycelial network to allow us to rest and survive. And the second plan is even if we die, our consciousness will... will enter the mycelial network and exist in an eternally happy state."
She looked at the ground with scattered pupils, seemingly with some longing, and said: "We've all tried, and in that consciousness, we can have everything we want—wealth, freedom, sex, power, taste, aroma, touch... all good sensations, everything desired is there. That happiness isn't the neural stimulus of drugs, isn't baseless fantasy, it's so real, as if that is a real world..."
"Isn't that still a fantasy?" KIKI frowned: "You're still lying there; nothing has changed."
"No!"
Upon hearing KIKI's words, Tang Yun suddenly protested loudly: "It's different; they are right, they are right. If the essence of life is consciousness, then the sensations my current body experiences here and my experiences in the mycelial network—what's the difference? There's no difference. The sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty tasted in 60, 80 years lifespan can just as well be experienced in the mycelial network. One can have all kinds of life there; if that's the case, why do we still have to be anxious under this apocalypse, fearing the arrival of the night?"
"Even if the whole world is destroyed, I would eternally live in that consciousness world, but others would truly be dead. So tell me then, who would be truly alive, who would be dead, which side is reality, which side is illusion?"
"But you know it's just a hallucination created by the brain; none of it is real!" Luo Yang couldn't help but respond upon hearing these words.