Chapter 245: Chapter 243: Reboot
Reboot?
Mo Ling finally understood, though it was of no use.
A Fishman next to the clearing manipulated some parts to touch the armor a few times. After several flashes of runic light, the armor fell silent again.
The endlessly echoing voice also slowly faded away.
Then, the dimmed armor began to glow once more as the runic engravings on its body lit up one after another.
Soon, the armor resumed operation. After a pulse of light from its body, a smooth and clear Fishman voice emanated from it.
"What happened to me?"
It was the voice of the Researcher from just a moment ago, but now it was coming from within the empty suit of armor.
Before anyone could answer, the voice continued, speaking to itself in a knowing tone. "I see. You rebooted me, didn’t you? I’ve seen the logs."
"Yes. Why did you crash just now?" the other Fishmen asked urgently.
The armor pondered for a moment, pointed to a large tree nearby, and explained, "Just now, my soul had achieved eternal life. But after I returned to the armor, that eternal life vanished. Because my state changed, the system couldn’t process the phenomenon."
"A sudden state change?"
"Yes. My method of reacquiring a body was deemed to have been done without paying any price, so the eternal life was revoked."
The Researcher’s incredibly certain voice came from the empty armor.
Mo Ling observed the armor, a general understanding of the Fishmen’s technology already forming in his mind.
’They can even exist without a physical body.’
In the recent test, the Researcher had used the same method as the Chali Race before him. However, when his soul was supposed to leave his body, he’d used a loophole.
He didn’t let his soul return to the heavens and the earth. Instead, he used some method to enter the armor, treating it as a new body in an attempt to escape the price of losing his original one.
But achieving eternal life wasn’t so simple that one could escape its price.
Losing a body for a moment only bought a moment of eternal life.
Still, Mo Ling was amazed. The Fishmen didn’t seem to need physical bodies at all; those mechanical parts could serve as their bodies instead.
’I’ve underestimated their level of technology a bit.’
After the armor finished communicating with the other Fishmen, it prepared to start a new experiment.
But just then, Jeff stopped him. "During the time you achieved eternal life, did you feel the Racial Lock on you break?"
Hearing Jeff’s question, the armor once again sank into thought.
Then, it shook its head helplessly. "I’m sorry, General. The time was too short. I couldn’t feel anything."
"Then continue. Record everything this time."
"Understood."
At Jeff’s command, the armor and the surrounding Fishmen began the experiment again with great efficiency.
Having the experience from the first time, their speed increased significantly.
"I’ll slow down my return this time. Make sure you record it."
After the armor said this, it quickly transformed into a large tree, repeating the steps from before.
The parts circling in the sky descended, re-forming into a brand-new suit of armor.
Next came the same procedure as before.
Return, reboot...
"How is it?" the surrounding Fishmen urgently asked the armor.
The armor trembled slightly, as if it was having trouble adjusting.
"So... free..."
Free?
The companions beside him exchanged glances. "What do you mean, ’free’?"
He thought for a moment and said, "I feel like the barrier between me and the world completely vanished. It was like I became a stream flowing into the ocean, but I wasn’t bound by the ocean. I could go wherever I wanted, completely at ease."
What the armor was describing was actually the "carefree wandering" that the Chali Race had understood.
Could it be that by imitating the Chali Race’s method of eternal life, they would also have the same experience as the Chali Race?
"What about the Racial Lock? Since you’re so free, did you feel the lock disappear?" a companion pressed, following up on his words.
Hearing this question, the armor fell silent for a long time, seemingly deep in thought, trying to recall its recent feelings.
Not only that, but he also touched the face of the armor with his hand, causing dazzling spots of light to pulse and flash.
The armor seemed to see something and suddenly froze.
"Look at this!"
A video file was transmitted to the Fishman collective’s channel.
The video was strange. It didn’t look like a real recording, but rather some kind of exquisitely crafted composite video.
If it weren’t for the bizarre, physics-defying phenomena, it would have been truly difficult to tell if the video was real or fake.
...
It showed a young Fishman sitting under the evening sun, his back to the screen.
The waves lapped gently against the beach, wetting the little Fishman’s ankles.
A light sea breeze blew past, caressing the hem of the little Fishman’s clothes.
These scenes were warm and normal, but the sky was a chaotic dance of gods and demons.
A Giant Dragon Fortress made of parts was furiously ramming a sky-high immortal tree, sending huge splinters of wood flying.
The splinters fell from the sky like meteors, crashing into the sea and kicking up violent waves.
In the sky, a giant, circling eel zipped back and forth through the sunset. The color of the sun grew harsher, and it began to rise from the west, retracing its path as the sky slowly brightened.
Despite this apocalyptic scene, the little Fishman seemed to see none of it, continuing to fiddle with the toy in his hands.
Even as the world turned upside down, the little Fishman’s playtime was undisturbed.
When the sun’s position changed, the little Fishman moved the toy in his hands to keep it in the sunlight.
At that moment, the appearance of the toy was revealed on screen.
It was a piece of paper.
A perfectly ordinary piece of paper.
But the little Fishman looked at this paper with stars in his eyes, as if he were seeing something incredibly novel.
The little Fishman picked up the paper and began to fold it in half, flip it over, then unfold it...
Then, following the creases, he began folding it into equal sections, pinching the corners, tucking the flaps, and adjusting the curves...
He would stop to think from time to time, but the movements of his hands grew faster and faster, until they were just a blur.
Finally, the little Fishman stopped.
He raised his hand, lining up the origami in his grasp with the Giant Dragon Fortress in the sky.
"WOO~ WOO~ WOO~"
The little Fishman happily imitated the sound of the dragon, twisting the Dragon Origami in his hand to match the movements of its counterpart.
He moved the origami dragon’s claws, and the dragon in the sky also swiped with its claws, gouging a deep scar into the immortal tree.
He swung the origami’s body, and the giant dragon mirrored him with a sweep of its tail, instantly snapping the immortal tree before it...
Watching the content on the screen, the surrounding Fishmen were all dumbfounded.
"During my moment of eternal life, I think I saw this, but it was a little different..." the armor explained, staring blankly at the screen.
A companion beside him suddenly turned to look, asking in disbelief, "The Dragon Origami, did you learn it?"
"I did." The armor lifted its hand, and with immense familiarity, it made a few folding motions in the air.
After just a few motions, his hand froze.
"I know how?"
"I know how..."
"I know how!"
