At the same time, Doctor Cyril's voice rang out at a moderate volume, echoing a few times in the empty space.
“Look, this is the thing that created our world.”
She raised her hand, took off her glasses, and unhurriedly wiped the lenses with a clean spot on the sleeve of her lab coat.
This action made her look like an ordinary doctor who had just finished a day of clinic duty.
If not for the brain quietly floating in the nutrient solution behind her, and the two corpses lying on the operating tables beside her.
“A brain... that has long been brain-dead.”
She stepped aside, revealing the massive water tank behind her.
For some reason, she seemed in the mood to talk.
“In the last era, a researcher proposed an interesting scenario.”
She turned around and lightly tapped the glass wall behind her with her finger.
“Suppose that after technology develops to a certain point, a brain is dissected from a human body and connected to a computer via electrodes.”
“The computer feeds it various signals—the taste of food, the sensation of wind blowing on its face, the warmth of the sun...”
“It doesn't know it's just a brain. It thinks it's a person with hands and feet, living in a real world.”
“The stream of electrical signals might even make it believe it is currently learning about an interesting hypothesis called the ‘Brain in a Vat.’”
“It's an interesting philosophical speculation.”
“The interesting part about it is...”
“How can you guarantee that you yourself are not in such a predicament?”
The black liquid at Evans's feet surged slightly. He stared straight ahead, the black liquid covering more than half of his face.
Only a single eye was exposed, filled with vigilance and scrutiny, his gaze shifting back and forth between the doctor and God's Corpse on the operating table.
He felt a sense of unease in his heart, an unease that made him hesitate to make any rash moves.
As for Ren Yi, he was certainly not idling.
While the doctor was speaking, he had already quietly sent out a Seed.
Before this, he hadn't had a chance to meet the doctor face-to-face and could only follow her with his perception. Now, he naturally couldn't let this opportunity slip by.
While keeping a wary eye on God's Corpse, Evans spoke up to test her.
“Are you... discussing the operating principles of S-001 with me?”
The doctor tilted her head slightly, as if recalling something, and then smiled gently.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Evans.”
“I just wanted to share some of my interesting thoughts with you.”
“I know you should already know a few things.”
“So, in your eyes, the story should go like this.”
She spoke very slowly, as if savoring every single word that left her mouth.
“An extraordinary brain. The brain of an individual who possessed immense power.”
“While dreaming, it created a world.”
“Its final few neuronal discharges were like a seed falling into the soil, taking root and sprouting, growing into the very earth we stand upon.”
At this point, she suddenly paused.
“You must have heard a similar story, so you take all of this for granted, right?”
Having said this, she suddenly paused, tilting her head to smooth her hair.
“But what I'm thinking is...”
“Could it be that at the very, very beginning, there was only a single brain in our world?”
Her next few words sent a chill down the spines of both Evans and Ren Yi.
“It dreamed more than once.”
“In the first dream, it gained power in a fake world and cultivated to become an immortal.”
“Unfortunately, it was a nightmare, and it was briefly startled awake.”
“Then it had a second dream—the dream of this world—and even brought some remaining fragments from the previous dream here.”
At this point, she couldn't help but chuckle, as if finding it amusing.
“And that's where the interesting part lies.”
“As illusory living beings in a dream... what a pity.”
“We also have no way of guaranteeing that we ourselves are not in such a predicament.”
Evans looked at her coldly.
“It doesn't matter,” he said.
“I don't care if everything that happened in these four eras is fake, or if the previous world was fake too.”
“I know there is a real world out there, and I will go see it. That's enough.”
“Is that so? Because of this?” The doctor suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
It was a silver, mirror-smooth sphere—the Base Station.
Evans and Ren Yi, who was hiding in the shadows, froze slightly at almost the exact same moment.
“I envy you.”
Doctor Cyril said suddenly. For the first time, her voice carried a genuine emotion that did not seem feigned.
“The fragments that came from the previous dream will, after all, have a chance to belong to reality.”
“But for me, a human of this world, that possibility no longer exists.”
“You seem to know a lot of things?” Evans frowned.
“I know a lot of things.” The doctor's lenses reflected the pale overhead light, obscuring most of her expression.
“But now, chat time is over. I am not the main thing you have to face.”
She took a step back, as if withdrawing herself from the center of the stage.
“My task is complete. Please forget those mad ravings just now. As for the rest...”
She nudged her chin slightly toward the other operating table.
“...it's between you and him.”
Evans remained silent, the black liquid quietly spreading beneath his feet.
Ren Yi knew she was right. He shifted his perception away from the doctor and toward the other operating table.
A person was lying on that bed... no, it was another corpse.
The corpse was dressed in a suit, its chest completely still.
It had no head.
The severed edge of its neck was smooth and even, looking like a cross-section cut by some precise instrument.
However, from this attire alone, it was very easy to deduce his identity.
The Lord of the Sky Lake City.
His body lay there quietly, like a disassembled part waiting to be reassembled.
Then, right at that moment, God's Corpse on the other bed moved.
Its grayish-white fingers curled slightly against the cushion, like a sleeping person unconsciously flexing their joints.
Then came the wrist. The turning of the wrist carried the entire arm, propping itself against the edge of the operating table.
God's Corpse slowly sat up.
Its movements were very slow, carrying the sluggishness and stiffness of someone who had just woken up.
After sitting up, it turned its head.
Yes, God's Corpse originally had no head, but at this moment, it seemed to be complete.
The head belonging to the Lord of the Sky Lake City was now connected to the neck of God's Corpse via a silver-white, ring-like device made of metal.
The head sat perfectly straight on top of the ring-like device, the seam fitting so tightly it looked as if it had grown there naturally.
It opened its eyes.
Its grayish-white pupils slowly rolled around in their sockets, as if adapting to the light and color in its field of vision.
Then, its gaze landed on Evans at the doorway.
The corners of the head's mouth slowly curled up into a grin.
“Hello there.”
The voice came from that newly attached head, carrying a strange, muffled quality.
“My child... I have been waiting for you for a long time.”
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