Chapter 50: Unsealing – Section 5

The thick darkness was like his mother’s gentle womb. His black hair felt so comfortable. He had no idea how much time had passed. Ever since he regained consciousness, he had been in such an environment. In this profound darkness, everything from the past seemed so distant—as if tens of thousands of years had gone by, so much so that even his memories had blurred. He couldn’t remember how he got here or what place this was. Yet that didn’t stop him from enjoying this gentle darkness. Day after day, he spent his time in his beautiful dreams. Unaware of it, countless years passed. Until one day, a sudden, needle-like sharp pain struck him…

With a groan, Black Hair finally opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a ceiling with a cold metallic texture. Before he could react, memories from the past surged in like a tide, filling every corner of his mind. The resulting pressure made even his resilient nerves emit a low groan, and his muscles twisted instantly.

What followed was the recollection of everything that had happened. Once the intense pain subsided, Black Hair knew everything about the past. Facing that cold ceiling, he suddenly opened his mouth.
“Light!”

With a flash, the entire ceiling became as bright as a burning sun, illuminating everything around him in sharp detail. At the same time, it caused pain in Black Hair’s eyes, which had just awakened from darkness. Yet he didn’t close them; instead, he narrowed them slightly. Using the strong light, he carefully examined the room.

It was then he realized this was a completely enclosed space. Everything around was empty—every direction led to a cold wall. He himself was the only thing in the room: a cold iron bed made of some unknown metal. Countless tubes stretched down from above, directly connected to his body, pinning him like a hedgehog. Yet he felt no pain.

Black Hair dared not move those tubes. After experiencing those memories, he somehow understood this place suddenly. He knew those tubes were the only link between him and this room, and also the key to his survival. Without them, his broken body would likely have turned to mud long ago.

The injuries from that battle were enough to kill any human hundreds of times over. At the thought of this, Black Hair was suddenly shocked. The terrifying red figure flashed through his mind. If his memory wasn’t deceiving him, hadn’t he already been defeated? His mech had been split in two by that guy’s punch. The cells of his mech had rebelled, consuming the cockpit. His last memory was of those hungry cells devouring his right leg—terrifying, acidic-like gel that instantly devoured his leg, leaving not even a bone behind. Startled, Black Hair immediately looked at his right leg, only to find it still intact, showing no signs of damage at all. When he tried moving it slightly, it swung as he had imagined. Intact? What was going on? Could everything that had happened be just a dream? His journey, Death Star, Blood Wolves, the Killing Emperor, and even that terrifying red mech—were they all fictional? That mech was called Ya Zi, right? “It’s not called Ya Zi. And it’s not what you call a mech.” Just as Black Hair was lost in his thoughts, a rigid voice suddenly came from the room. What? Black Hair was instantly shocked and looked around again, but saw no one. The room was still the same, completely empty. Yet as he scanned the surroundings, the rigid voice, as if knowing everything, spoke again. “You don’t need to look. There’s no one here.” “No one? Then who are you?” Frowning, Black Hair habitually grew cold and asked abruptly. “I’m not human. In your terms, I’m something called a computer. But I’m more advanced than them—I have self-awareness. Right now, as the manager of this base, you’re inside my ‘stomach’.” “Your stomach?” Hearing this description, Black Hair was shocked. He remembered Planet Mason—that giant planetary lifeform—wasn’t it also a strange form of life? “More or less. You can think of it that way,” the rigid voice said suddenly. “You…” Black Hair frowned sharply. “Can you read my thoughts?” “I thought you’d already figured it out.” Hearing Black Hair’s slightly angry voice, the computer claiming to be the manager remained calm. “But I need to remind you—I’m not reading your thoughts. You brought them to me yourself. To save you, I had to connect you to the base. So everything about you now isn’t a secret to me.”

“It’s not a secret…” Hearing this, Hei Fa froze, his expression instantly turning icy. The entire room seemed to descend into darkness. A violent killing intent swept through every corner like a raging storm. But this time, it had no effect as before. Despite the boiling rage, it had no impact on the computer that claimed to be the manager—it couldn’t even sense it. The computer continued speaking as usual. “Yes, it’s not a secret. That’s also why I’ve kept you alive until now, Hei Fa… No, rather, Li Yang.” “Whoa.” At the moment the manager uttered that name, Hei Fa convulsed and could no longer move at all. Memories from the past flashed through his mind like a movie. He became as motionless as a wooden statue. “Li Yang… That name… It seems no one has used it in ages… Hehe, I’ve even forgotten it.” “That’s normal. It would be wrong if you remembered it all the time. As part of Huaguo’s covert plan, you’ve perfectly fulfilled every requirement placed on you up to now.” “You even know that? Did you extract it from my memories too?” By this point, Hei Fa realized he truly couldn’t resist the other party. So his expression suddenly relaxed, and he even showed a faint smile. He lay lazily on the iron bed, relaxing all his muscles. “But knowing it doesn’t help. That’s all in the past. It has nothing to do with this place anymore. Even if you extract all my memories, you won’t gain anything from them.” His lazy voice carried a sense of contempt for his enemy. Though Hei Fa seemed to have given up resisting, for some reason, he appeared even more aggressive and imposing than before. Yet the manager took this attitude for granted. “Indeed. You’re right. In this universe, extracting these memories is useless. Huaguo also lost World War IV, and the entire country was reduced to ruins.” “Exactly! It’s all in ruins now. And you still…” His voice suddenly stopped. As if struck in the vital spot, Hei Fa jumped up from the bed, ignoring the tubes still stuck in his body. Under the bright lights, his expression was monstrous! “What did you say? What World War IV? Ruins???” “World War IV,” the manager’s flat voice echoed in the room, devoid of any emotion.

“It was a war to seize control of space. There was no initiator nor a winner in this war. All Earthly nations were drawn into it. As a major power at the time, the Huaguo nation was no exception. It’s a pity, though. Despite having the best soldiers in the world at that time, it still lost. Continuous bombardment by 7,600 mothership-class warships destroyed everything in Huaguo within fifteen normal days.”

“When did this happen? How come I don’t know?! And if they had the best soldiers, how could Huaguo possibly lose?! That’s impossible, absolutely impossible!! What about our best mechs? The technology we’ve worked hard to acquire for our country? Our soldiers? Where are they? With those, how could Huaguo lose?” His voice grew louder and louder, as the black-haired man suddenly coughed violently, spewing blood.

“I have no need to lie to you. Moreover, lying to you brings no benefit. And if you keep getting so agitated, I can’t guarantee your life support will continue.” The administrator’s voice remained merciless, without the slightest hint of empathy.

“Leave me alone! Tell me the answer!!” The black-haired man roared, interrupting the administrator.

Yet, the administrator seemed unbothered by his rude behavior. After a pause, he spoke again.

“The answer is simple. Because Huaguo had nothing at that time. All those things you mentioned never existed in that war.”

“How is that possible!?” Hearing the administrator’s cold and heartless words, the black-haired man was stunned.

“Nothing is impossible,” the administrator replied coldly. “Perhaps you’re right. Huaguo did have the most loyal soldiers, as well as those of you who were secretly acquiring technology from other countries. There were also hundreds of millions of unyielding people. But…”

“It also had the most shameless bureaucrats. Unfortunately, during that war, those bureaucrats held significant power in the country. All the technology, along with those of you spies, and even the military’s deployment plans, were handed over to them. When the enemy invaded, Huaguo’s army received orders not to resist.”

“Not… resist…” Hearing this familiar term, the black-haired man’s mouth fell open in shock…