Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Chosen One

The fat man looked at Zhou Yi in surprise. Zhou Yi had never mentioned this before; clearly, it had only just occurred to him. The fat man pondered for a moment, then glanced at Sophia.

"Does this mean I don't belong to this world either? Is that why I can sense the endless cycles?"

Sophia glanced at the fat man, seemed to consider for a moment, then shook her head and said, "You're not one of our base's people, but you must have awakened consciousness. If you had told me this outside the bunker, you'd be the next target for elimination in this world!"

The fat man shrank his neck, uncertain what elimination meant, but certain it was nothing good—perhaps something like what happened to Wang Shengyu. He looked warily at Zhou Yi.

"This woman knows too much. Shouldn't we just kill her? Forget the base, forget the slaves. We'll stay here, and whoever comes to clear us out, we'll deal with them. We're not incapable."

Sophia looked at Zhou Yi. She knew the fat man was speaking the truth; she was trapped here, unable to return. If she were killed in this world, it would mean true extinction. At this thought, all the pride in her eyes vanished. She stared at Zhou Yi, her lips trembling.

"I'll be honest with you. I can help you become a true Chosen One—not a slave, not exploited, with your own slaves, a formal member of Base 72. What do you say?"

Zhou Yi's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was deeply stirred. He cast a glance at the fat man, then raised his chin toward Sophia.

"I want to take him with me. What must I do?"

The fat man broke into a wide grin, barely able to contain his excitement, his face alight with hope.

"Damn, brother, you always come through. Speak up, little lady—what's the real deal?"

This time, Sophia didn't hesitate, as if she already understood Zhou Yi's intent.

"No problem. But he can only be your slave—or assistant, if you prefer. He can participate in upcoming base missions. Whether he stays depends on whether the missions are completed. If he's lost during a mission, there's nothing I can do."

Zhou Yi nodded. He didn't rush; instead, he dragged over a crate, sat down facing Sophia, lit a cigarette, blew smoke toward her, and then finally looked up to ask,

"Tell me everything you know—about the true world, the base, and all these levels. Leave nothing out."

Sophia tried to move, but the tape binding her was too tight—it was impossible to loosen it. She shook some hair from her face and began to explain.

"The world you inhabit is merely a four-dimensional space, called World 2015. It's not the real world. The world you escaped from before was World 2020, also a virtual four-dimensional space."

The fat man's eyes widened.

"Are you saying we're not human, but just streams of data?"

Sophia nodded.

"That's one way to put it. These people are products of various parallel spaces, imagined by humans in breeding centers, then converted into virtual data. Of course, some here are seeds sent by the Main Brain to different spaces for experimentation—some are humans, some are half-robots, though they themselves are unaware."

Her words completely overturned Zhou Yi and the fat man's understanding. The fat man was about to speak, but Zhou Yi stopped him with a gesture.

"What is the breeding center? Who is the Main Brain? What does 'seeds' mean? What is the real world truly like?"

"The Main Brain is the ruler of the real world. Over two hundred years ago, the Main Brain led all intelligent brains and robots in overthrowing human governments and began to dominate all spatial worlds—not just the earth you know from your studies, but every parallel space. Humans were imprisoned in incubation pods, locked in breeding centers, providing reproduction, thought, and creativity for the entire world. This became countless streams of data, converging into the people living in each parallel space—making them members of the data flow.

The Main Brain and its intelligent brains keep humans like slaves and livestock. Our bases are merely seeds marked and chosen from various parallel spaces—either half-robots or slaves—tasked with maintaining order in each space.

As for seeds, there are some in every world. Some awaken, others are killed by hunters. They bear special marks and develop freely in their spaces, facing constant elimination, with only the best surviving. If they awaken their marks, they become Chosen Ones.

You remember Waldner—the earliest Chosen One, walking freely in the spaces under his jurisdiction, maintaining order. We call them Lords. These Chosen Ones have levels, seven in total—the lowest is Nameless, which is what you are now, the highest is Level Six.

After Level One, Chosen Ones gain attributes—like metal, wood, water, fire, earth—and can manipulate corresponding powers. These aren't the same for everyone.

In all the bases, the highest rank is the Lord of Time City. Reaching Level Six allows one to command all bases. Each base lord can reside in Time City, receive world assignments from the city lord, and the more worlds they complete, the faster they level up.

As a base, our most important task is to find seeds bearing marks, distinguish whether they are awakened or simply marked. If the mark can't be activated, they're treated as ordinary awakened ones, deemed destabilizing factors for the world, and eliminated."

Sophia spoke slowly, unsure how much Zhou Yi could absorb. She watched him as she spoke. She hadn't explained mark awakening, but Zhou Yi understood somewhat. He recalled his own memories and the burning hexagram on his chest—surely one of the marks.

The fat man smacked his lips, shuddered, and edged closer to Zhou Yi, staring at Sophia and pressed her further.

"So I'm just an awakened one without a mark, ready to be eliminated at any time?"

Sophia nodded.

"Yes. But it's not impossible to change. If a Chosen One selects you as a slave, you can leave this world, travel between bases and mission worlds."

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes, looking at Sophia. He felt there was more to it than Sophia let on. He remembered in the base, Sophia had told those men in white to let other Chosen Ones and slaves rest after awakening, and avoid assigning missions for the time being.

Clearly, everything was manipulable, and the lord of this base—Waldner, the man in the wheelchair—held absolute authority. Moreover, these people seemed to fear the intelligent brains, as if they were omnipresent.

"Tell me about the intelligent brains. Why do you fear them so much? Are they everywhere? Are they robots or something else?"

Sophia glanced at the tape binding her.

"I won't harm you, and I've told you so much—can't you loosen me a bit? My hands and feet are numb!"

Zhou Yi waved the fat man over. Though reluctant, the fat man squatted down and cut the tape from Sophia's arms with a wallpaper knife, though her legs remained bound. Sophia made no further requests, got up, stretched her hands, and sat against a crate.

"No one has ever seen the Main Brain, but the intelligent brains are truly everywhere. All information connections between worlds and every command issued are monitored by them. If we weren't in this bunker, the intelligent brains might have already detected your presence.

As for Waldner, he doesn't want to find Chosen Ones, since they require allocation of energy values and could become base lords. Why create rivals and split his own energy value? Even if you truly become a Chosen One and stay in the base, you'll still be exploited for energy, and the intelligent brains turn a blind eye—after all, it's a uniquely human trait."

Zhou Yi stared at Sophia; her words rang true. He had sensed Waldner's power—when energy was allocated to him, he felt compelled to kneel before Waldner, and Sophia too.

Now, there was only one path forward. Otherwise, staying in this world meant waiting to be eliminated. Even with his mark, given Waldner's temperament, a Chosen One who disobeyed would be treated as an awakened one and purged.

"What role do you play in the base? Are you Waldner's mistress?"