Chapter 515: Chapter 337: Awakening from the Dream (2)
In the control room ceiling, a giant pale crystal floats in the air, its surface texture intricately complex, as if composed of countless tiny crystals, each emitting a faint cold glow.
Su Mo gazed at the pale crystal, his eyes growing deeper.
That is where the fourth clearance item, the "Construct Infant," is located, the item is inside, and the crystal outside is its protective shell.
To make that shell disappear and close the already activated beacon, it’s necessary to destroy the black tower’s operating system.
Achieving this is not difficult in principle; you just need to use the Black Extinction Virus to paralyze the system.
The challenge is how to implant the virus into the system.
No matter how powerful the Black Extinction Virus is, it’s still just an electronic virus, lacking physical destructive power; it can only operate within an electronic system.
To implant the virus into the system, a communication interface is necessary.
The technological tree of the constructs differs greatly from humans, and the device structures are worlds apart. You can’t just plug a USB into a wired interface and succeed.
Claiming that another civilization uses USB interfaces just like humans is pure nonsense...
To bypass hardware differences and directly connect to construct devices, there is only one method.
Su Mo opened the toolbox he carried and took out a small black box.
This is a communication interface connection device developed in the Future, similar in effect to the Iron Blood Alliance’s "Electronic Hacker" that Su Mo used on TL730.
It will search for every available remote communication interface nearby, then Qi Ling will use hacking techniques to break and decode it, completing the connection, allowing the Black Extinction Virus to be implanted.
The original plot developed this way, so there should be no problem.
Su Mo opened the communicator and said, "Qi Ling, Future, I see the control room now, preparing to enter."
Saying this, his voice lowered, and his tone took on a ghostly quality, "So far, everything remains under our control."
"But once I step through that door, the situation is beyond my prediction."
"It would be best if everything goes smoothly. However, if—just if—I lose contact with you... do not hesitate, immediately initiate the emergency plan we discussed earlier, make sure to find a way to wake me up."
With that, Su Mo strode toward the control room.
The atmosphere grew heavy in that moment, even the heartbeat was distinctly audible.
From the other end of the communicator, reports from Future and Qi Ling kept coming:
"All vital sign signals are normal, without fluctuations."
"Various data returned by the detectors are normal, no anomalies."
"The communication capture device can receive some weak signals, but the strength is insufficient, unable to establish a stable connection, you need to get closer."
"Yes, you’re headed in the right direction, the signal is getting stronger."
"Keep going, the connection is becoming more stable."
"Don’t stop, continue forward."
Just as Su Mo approached the large mechanical control platform that resembled a pagoda, without warning, a mutation occurred.
The pale crystal floating atop the control room suddenly began spinning at high speed, exploding with a peculiar light.
The light was extremely odd, though it was bright enough to be blinding white, it wasn’t dazzling at all. Instantly, it filled the entire control room and continued spreading outward, enveloping the steps, covering corridors, even surging out of the black tower until the entire underground space was submerged.
On the other end of the communicator, Future’s urgent voice cried, "Boss, your vital signs have suddenly shown severe fluctuations! Tell me, what happened? Boss! Can you hear me? Respond!"
Su Mo’s pupils filled with that peculiar incandescent light, contracting to pin-prick size, standing stiffly, unresponsive to Future’s calls.
Finally, as if his spine was removed, Su Mo collapsed to his knees, head tilting back, consumed by the light.
...
...
...
"Beep... beep..." A cold sound echoed around.
Consciousness was hazy and blurred, gradually surfacing...
*Su Mo* jolted awake, eyes opening in a daze.
His blurred vision gradually focused; he saw a pale ceiling above, dim yellow light casting eerie shadows on the walls, the air filled with a faintly pungent disinfectant smell that inexplicably oppressed him.
Where... is this...
Su Mo breathed rapidly, his chest heaving, instinctively trying to rise, only to find immense resistance from his limbs, rendering him unable to move.
With great effort, he lowered his head to see his body, discovering he was dressed in an ugly striped outfit, wrists and ankles bound, the whole of him strapped to the bed.
As he sat there confused, a woman in a nurse’s uniform glanced over, ran to the door, and shouted, "Dr. Chen, the patient’s family, he’s awake."
A middle-aged male doctor with gold-frame glasses entered, leaned over Su Mo, and asked gently, "Xiaosu, how does this medication compare to before? Any more comfortable?"
Su Mo looked at him blankly: "Medication... what medication..."
The doctor showed a troubled expression, but it did not last long. He reassured, "No problem, maybe this medicine isn’t quite suitable for you. We can try another."
Just then, with hurried footsteps, a middle-aged couple rushed into the ward, leaving Su Mo stunned upon seeing them.
"Dad... Mom..."
Su Mo’s mother Li Huishu approached him, gently touching his cheek with a trembling voice, trying to stay calm: "Son, it’s okay, if the medicine doesn’t work, we’ll keep trying."
"Dr. Chen said, with today’s advanced medical technology, intermittent mental disorders aren’t incurable, you’ll be fine."
"Intermittent... mental disorder?" Su Mo muttered the words, staring dazedly around.
The door was closed, the curtain over the window to the corridor was drawn but not tightly, allowing glimpses of nurses and patients in hospital clothes moving about.
A patient noticing the slightly ajar curtains pressed his face against the glass, watching Su Mo with a grin that revealed yellowed teeth, drool seeping from his mouth until a nurse led him away.
Su Mo was utterly bewildered.
This is... a mental institution?
Why am I here...
What happened before?
His mind was blank, unable to recall anything...
While struggling to regain his memories, Su Mo suddenly felt a searing pain in his head, his body tensed, flailing against the restraints, the bed rattling.
"Dr. Chen, what’s happening to my child?!"
"It’s alright, alright, typical side effects. Xiaosu, take deep breaths, don’t panic, deep breaths."
Voices became indistinct, the mind in chaos.
Amid the turmoil of memories, a few images surfaced in consciousness.
A deep pit reaching bedrock.
The mysterious, bizarre construct buildings.
And that pale crystal.
Su Mo’s eyes snapped open, exclaiming: "Right! Illusions! This is an illusion!"
"The black tower control room triggered a defense system, projecting a mind-affecting abnormal wave signal, something the protagonist in the game "Dawn" also encountered..."
"But the original protagonist’s hallucinations were just flashbacks, remaining largely conscious... but for me, it’s such a real all-encompassing illusion..."
"Damn, just like when the different gene splicing happened, it’s because of the innate physical difference between me as a Transmigrator and the original protagonist..."
Li Huishu, hearing Su Mo’s self-talk, panic flooded her eyes, slapping her thighs as tears burst forth, "It’s been so long, why is it still like at the start?!
"Always talking about dawn, protagonists, transmigrations... Son, please, let’s not talk about this anymore, okay?"
Father Su Xun held Li Huishu in his arms, his eyes reddened, choking as he spoke to Su Mo: "Son, I know, the disease doesn’t conform to your will... but you must resist it from the heart. You can’t be continually influenced by unreal things."
"You are a patient; those are all your hallucinations!"
