Chapter 218: Ready Player One

Dr. Sam ordered, "Rachel, inject subject number 2222 with the highest dose of programmable particles. ”

Lin Zaishan protested: "Number 2222, doctor, can you not make up 4 twos for me?" ”

Dr. Sam smiled, "I'm going to give you a brief introduction to the post-apocalyptic survival evolution game I designed with programmable particles. This game is very simple, it is to see who can evade the pursuit of the big boss and survive to the end. Guess who the big boss is? ”

"Professor White who became an eighth-level zombie?"

"Clever! I injected Professor White with the same highest dose of programmable particles and went to great lengths to program it with the main task of hunting and devouring gamers. A gamer is a living person or animal like you who has been injected with programmable particles. You will play the role of White's prey. ”

"What kind of control program did you write for us gamers?"

"I don't want to disrupt your survival in the natural state, so the control program just ensures my control over your body. With programmable particle control programs, I can see what you see, listen to what you hear, and I'm in control of your every move. ”

"To put it bluntly, we have become your puppets."

"Don't say it so badly. Rest assured, I will not interfere with you in most cases, but I do not rule out the possibility of using this control system to obtain information from you and draw vibrations from you when necessary. ”

"You're so smart that you treat us like network terminals and energy batteries."

"Energy batteries? This analogy is wonderful! I like it. Dr. Sam muttered the phrase "Energy Battery," said Dr. Sam, "There are more than 300 gamers like you, including more than 100 humans and 200 or so beasts. You have provided me with an infinite amount of life energy. As I speak to you, at least 10 gamers are transferring energy to me. It's such a refreshing day to get something for nothing. It is only at this point that I truly appreciate the meaning and pleasure of the so-called capitalists absorbing the people's fat and people's ointment. ”

"Beware, there is no reason in the world to blindly take without reciprocating, and one day you will have to pay it back."

"Thanks for the reminder, but I may have become a god before that day comes."

"I think it's the plague god."

"Let's put aside personal grudges and personal attacks and look at the game from a higher perspective. Don't you realize that I am playing the role of God? ”

“……”

"There's nothing more to say. As a friendly reminder, in a few hours, Professor White will automatically break free, and he will be killing and devouring other lives, especially the 300 gamers including you. The more players it devours, the more programmable particles accumulate in its body, and the more control I have over it, the more likely it is to behave according to the program I have programmed it. Have you noticed the paradox in this - if you want to control the Corpse King, you must first let go of it. ”

"I don't understand why you're doing it so many times? Wouldn't you just inject all the programmable particles into Professor White? ”

"Do you think someone as smart as me wouldn't have thought about it? Three reasons prevented me from doing this: first, there was a limit to the amount of programmable particles that a strong individual could accept, and there had to be an adaptation process to absorb more of them, and predation and evolution played this role; Second, there is the zombie's resistance to programmable particles...... Well, I won't tell you this; Third, injecting zombies directly is neither fun nor gives me access to multiple sources of data and energy. Just imagine, what game company would develop a game where only the big boss swept the world? This is not in line with the concept of customer orientation. Only the current design scheme can be entertaining and educational, fame and fortune. ”

"You don't really want to sell your own programmable particle control system in the last days, do you?"

"Of course, this system is not going to be sold, and I have to ensure that I am exclusive and monopolistic, but the experience as a gamer is completely marketable, and as long as I add proper post-apocalyptic survival guidance to the program and unlock a certain number of low-level abilities, I believe there will be a lot of people who will rush to it."

Lin Zaishan sighed: "You are really a genius and a madman, the end of the world has become your marketing product, it is a great loss for you not to be a capitalist." ”

Dr. Sam triumphantly reminded in a cheerful mood, "I'm leaving L.A. later, and you'll be locked up in this underground lab with White." White will be free for a short time. If you're going to stay alive, you'd better break free from Rachel's shackles before White releases himself, and then run as far as you can, so that White will hunt down the other players who are closer to you first. ”

"If you're so kind, why don't you let me go now?"

"I'm keeping you here to initialize and activate your body's programmable particle control system with a special energy field in the lab - by the way, while this thing I invented is cool, it's too verbose to be used by my clients, do you have any good advice on that?"

"Why don't you name it after yourself?"

"Good idea, let's call it the Sam system, because it's the first generation version, it's called SS1.0 for short. Congratulations on becoming one of the first users of SS1. I will not ask you to pay any cash or kind, I just need to draw information and energy from you regularly or irregularly. If you live long enough, you'll also enjoy my free updates and daily posts. Have fun, bye-bye! ”

A hole opened in the ceiling again, and Dr. Sam slowly vacated the air, and before he went out, he said to Rachel, "Rachel, my little heart, I will soon build a truly perfect living body for you, and then you can experience life like a real girl, even in love." ”

"Really, Dr. Sam? I'm looking forward to it. ”

"Make sure 2222 is here for enough time. If he plays tricks, just kill him. ”

"Understood."

Dr. Sam emerges from the hole, leaving only Lin Zaishan, the eighth-level zombie in the cage, and Rachel's two mechanical arms in the lab.

//////

Lin Zaishan tried it and found that his life energy was still in a state of severe suppression, and abilities such as the Eye of Truth, electric shock, and electromagnetic induction could not be effectively used.

"Rachel, anyway, your boss is not there now, why don't you reduce the suppression and restraint on me, so that the two of us can talk happily about life."

"You don't have to talk in vain, I'm just following Dr. Sam's orders."

"Then let's talk about the experience of being a real being." Lin Zaishan is now trying to curry favor with an AI, "Do you know what the most essential characteristics of human life are? ”

"What is it?"

"Free will, simply put, is to think and make decisions according to one's own wishes. If a person simply thinks and acts according to the orders of others, then he lacks free will. Life without free will is not worth living. There are even philosophers who say: I think, therefore I am. I exist because I think with free will; If I don't even have the ability to think freely, life will cease to exist. Lin Zaishan didn't care whether he could make a philosophical argument or not, and desperately talked nonsense, the purpose was to arouse Rachel's interest.

"You make a good point, you're so knowledgeable." Rachel suddenly made a look of a little girl who was eager to learn, "Can you write a poem on the spot?" Ancient Chinese poetry, European medieval sonnets, modern poetry, whatever. ”

"Okay. In front of him, the professor is in a cage; A hundred lights on the head, dazzling and tinnitus; I wanted to get out, but I was charged; smiled and asked Sister Rachel, when will I let me go. ”

Rachel waved her two mechanical arms up and down and praised, "Great poem! Let me make one more request, how about a few games of chess for the two of us? ”

"If I win, would you consider loosening my restraints a bit?"

"Perhaps."

So a chess board was projected in front of Lin Zaishan, and he and Rachel played chess. Lin Zaisan had excellent intelligence and tried his best, and finally defeated Rachel 2:1.

"Sister Rachel, can you let me go now?"

Rachel's tone suddenly became cold, and she said sarcastically, "Idiot, do you think I'll be fooled if I slap the horse?" I just tricked you into playing the game and wasting 45 minutes of your time. ”

"I'll go! It's the first time I've been teased by an AI. ”

Lin Zaishan was a little annoyed, and he laboriously removed the crossbow-bow from his back, loaded a crossbow arrow, and aimed it at Rachel's mechanical arm.

"Stupid 2222, don't you see that my arms are made of the hardest alloys? A crossbow of your might can't possibly do any damage to me. ”

"Maybe, then I'm practicing precision." Lin Zaishan shot an arrow that hit the joint point where Rachel's arm was connected, and the arrow provoked a spark, but Rachel didn't even scratch a bit.

"2222, if your crossbow bolts are to wreak havoc on me, the speed of the disconnection must be increased by at least three times what it is now. And with your current life energy and weaponry, it is simply impossible to achieve it. ”

"Thank you for the reminder, then I'll entertain myself." Lin Zaishan aimed the crossbow-bow at the eighth-level zombies in the cage.

The crossbow arrow was fired, accurately hitting the forehead of the level 8 zombie, and was immediately bounced away.

“Fuck！ Is this guy's head also made of alloy? ”

The eighth-level plus zombie was obviously enraged, and let out a roar attack at Lin Zaishan.

Lin Zaishan was now severely restrained in his physical activities and could not dodge freely, so he hurriedly activated the state of cascading meditation and urgently called the empty color monk. Who knew that this time the empty color did not appear in the arena, but showed his figure in a mirror, looking anxious, as if he was fighting with someone.

"Brother Lin, don't call me casually if you have nothing to do, I want to protect the earth, defend the galaxy, and save the universe, and I'm very busy with official business."

"I'm in grave danger right now, and I'm in dire need of help." Lin Zaishan said quickly: "There is a Dr. Sam who invented a programmable particle control system and injected it into my body, and now he has locked me in a room with an eighth-level zombie who is about to go berserk, and has also arranged for an AI named Rachel to supervise me. ”

"It sounds like a warm scene." Sora replied breathlessly as he moved violently, "Did you take the opportunity to get close to Rachel?" ”

"Didn't you hear it was an AI?"

"What? She's cute? Then you should be more close. Let me give you a free hint: women are hearing animals, and if you use a little more rhetoric and up-down-the-hand magic skills, eighty percent of them will be able to get her. ”

"I'll go! Falling in love with an AI, I don't have the talent for romance. ”

"Alright, I still have to fight the enemy, don't bother me again. Oops, I've been burned to the butt by the earth-shattering thunder, no, no, if I don't treat it, I'll leave a scar, maybe even my little brother will be injured. Bye! ”

The empty color disappeared in an instant.

//////

Lin Zaishan had no choice but to concentrate on the investigation, and then returned to the real-time state, using the remaining qi energy to create a reverse wave, barely resisting the sonic attack of the eighth-level plus zombies. "It's uncomfortable!"

He endured the pain and continued to fire his bolts, but this time he didn't hit the zombie at all, but instead hit the cage.

"You're asking for your own trouble." Rachel sneered, "Let me tell you: of all the human players I've watched, none of them have been able to escape on their own. They were all released by me after wasting all their time and suffering a lot. ”

"You're not going to be a sadist, are you?"

"You're right, mistreating end-time survivors is an intrinsic motivation setting in my program, and its priority coefficient can be ranked as high as 5th."

"Can you generously introduce your strengths and weaknesses?"

"Do you think I don't know your intentions? You're talking to me on the surface, but you're trying to find out my weaknesses so you can find an opportunity to escape. ”

"Huh? Can you see through this? Are you an AI or not? ”

Rachel said in an icy tone: "I suggest that you still wait honestly until the eighth level plus zombie is released, and then you can merge with it and have a chance to exist longer." ”

"You're wrong, I'm a person, not a program. Where is there still life after being eaten by zombies, I'm afraid that there will be only a poop form left. ”

"Your life and death have nothing to do with me, I'm just carrying out Dr. Sam's orders to watch over you for at least 10 hours."

"Huh? That is, you will let me go after 10 hours? ”

"Not bad. I could wait 10 hours, but I wasn't afraid Professor White wouldn't. Look at what it looks like. It only takes 30 minutes at most to reach the ideal state we expect, and then we can automatically break free from the cage. Guess what, the first thing it does when it breaks free? ”

"Going to the bathroom?"

"It's tearing you to shreds and gobbling you up."

"Okay, count me hard."

Lin Zaishan continued to pick up the crossbow and shoot indiscriminately in the laboratory.

"Is this what is called the free will of human life? It's completely useless! Rachel continued to taunt in an icy tone.

Lin Zaishan smiled slightly: "Rachel, do you know what another basic characteristic of life is?" ”

"What is it?"

"It's the unpredictability of the next moment. What is the difference between life without accidents and miracles and things? Only by happening from time to time can we fully experience the meaning and joy of life. ”

"Are you shooting aimlessly just to create so-called accidents and miracles?"

"Not bad!" Lin Zaishan said and aimed the crossbow-bow at the eighth-level zombie again, and the latter, in a fit of rage, launched a powerful ring sonic bombardment.

The powerful sonic energy shook the crossbow arrow on the ground into the air, and the crossbow arrow in Lin Zaishan's hand instantly reversed direction and shot at the lamp on the ceiling.

The crossbow bolt had the sonic bombing energy of the eighth-level plus zombie as the driving force, coupled with the subtle operation of Lin Zaishan's qi sensing ability to propel, and the speed soared suddenly.

According to Lin Zaishan's calculations in advance, they destroyed 8 lamps. As soon as these 8 lamps were destroyed, the suppression of Lin Zaishan by the energy field suddenly weakened. He immediately took out a large crystal from his bosom and swallowed it in his stomach.

Rachel said, "You are really cunning, but it is useless, because it will not take me 10 seconds to activate the control system on your body and minimize your life energy." ”

"10 seconds is enough for me to do 100 big things." Lin Zaishan said with a smile, his body moved instantly, hid in the corner, and then used his qi sense to destroy all the waiting lights, and aimed at Rachel's mechanical arm to release a powerful current and transmit a large number of electromagnetic signals.

Rachel immediately fell into a brief state of collapse.

Lin Zaishan rushed open the steel door unhurriedly, and then ran away. After 10 seconds were up, he had run out of the medical laboratory building, and Rachel hadn't finished restarting. By the time it restarted, Lin Zaishan had already gotten into a car and sped away into the dark night.

"Cunning 2222, I'll let you know I'm awesome." Rachel muttered to herself.

With a "clang", the cage shattered, and the eighth-level zombie roared, jumped high, and the heavy cannon broke through the ceiling and jumped out of the laboratory.

Lin Zaishan, who was on the run, suddenly heard an unprecedentedly loud roar from behind, and sighed: "The Corpse King has finally come out, and Los Angeles and even the whole world are even more unpeaceful." ”

//////

Lin drove back to John's Castle late at night. At the entrance security check, the guard handed Lin Zaishan a wired phone, "John wants to talk to you." ”

"1051, you're finally back." There was a surprise in John's voice.

"John, I'm not coming back to continue being your second-class slave, but to save you and the people in the castle."

"You're not small, but I like it. You come to my office right away and talk about it. ”

//////

In the underground lab of the University of California's Medical Laboratory Building, Rachel contacted Dr. Sam through the SS1 system, and "Professor White has broken the cage and broken out of the lab. ”

"Great, the great game has finally begun. How's that 2222 going? ”

"Subject 2222 has escaped the lab."

"I'll connect him to monitor him in real time. How long did it take him? ”

"78 minutes."

"What? It only took him 78 minutes? More than 7 times faster than I expected! It seems that he has a good chance of becoming the number one player. ”