The memories of all humanity are awakening, except for mine.

Chapter 194 Trial and... Self-Judgment

In the classroom of the first training class of the Qingshi institution.

The classroom was still full of people.

Cao Zhigang and Cao Zhiqiang stood in front of Jiang Chuan at the first row of tables, their faces extremely solemn.

They are waiting for these students to emerge from virtual reality...

Or they might be waiting to quickly get them to the hospital after the helmet cuts off the power.

"call!!"

Just then, a gasp of astonishment rang out.

Cao Zhigang and Cao Zhiqiang immediately looked over, their faces filled with immense joy.

"Jiang Chuan!"

Cao Zhigang had long been unable to contain his anxiety. Upon seeing Jiang Chuan's actions, he immediately stood in front of the table, his eyes fixed on Jiang Chuan's helmet.

Jiang Chuan raised his arms with a whoosh, grabbed the helmet, and yanked it off.

His face was deathly pale, as if he were exhausted from the extreme exertion.

Cao Zhigang immediately took a bottle of water and placed it in front of Jiang Chuan. After taking the water, Jiang Chuan did not drink it, but looked at his colleagues.

Seeing them return to the real world one by one, and seeing them take off their helmets, their tense expressions finally eased somewhat.

He actually knew about the scene of Li Yi and the others being killed on the 19th floor of that biochemical research institute.

But Jiang Chuan had no choice at that time. If he couldn't understand that "feeling," even if he had tried to rescue them, they might have ended up dying there.

Seeing that his classmates had all taken off their helmets, Jiang Chuan picked up his water bottle and immediately gulped it down, drinking it down with gusto.

"ha--!"

He gulped down a bottle of water, and Cao Zhi had just asked, "How is it?!"

"Are you ok?"

As Cao Zhigang asked, he didn't distribute water to the other students. They had been in the virtual reality for over seven hours and were all extremely thirsty. Although they seemed to be just sitting there, they were actually under high pressure because the third phase of training was also meant to strengthen their mental fortitude.

Teacher Cao Zhiqiang has already left Class 1 and gone to Class 2 to take care of the students there.

In response to Mr. Cao Zhigang's question, Jiang Chuan shook his head and said, "I'm fine."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Li Yi, who had just taken off her helmet. Li Yi was also breathing heavily with a pale face, her chest heaving, and her arms were even trembling slightly.

She then looked at Jiang Chuan, her previously somewhat bewildered gaze slowly focusing upon him.

Li Yi: "You...did it!"

"Very good……"

Jiang Chuan smiled and nodded: "You did it."

"I said we would come back alive."

Li Yi nodded emphatically and rubbed her abdomen.

She frowned and looked down, seemingly relieved.

Her memory is still stuck on the moment she was hit by a huge impact and thrown into the air; the fear of death has not been completely erased even now.

Tian Tian, ​​Lin Ci, and Chen Ming also returned to the real world. They were all slumped over, breathing heavily, unable to utter a single word.

Especially Chen Ming.

Jiang Chuan still remembers that he fought two super zombies that had fused with countless zombies without the green potion. This was undoubtedly beyond his limits, not to mention that the concentration of zombie virus in his body at that time must have already exceeded the conversion limit. He didn't know what was supporting him to keep fighting...

It seems that Chen Ming also achieved some kind of breakthrough while working desperately.

Tian Tian took off her helmet, covered her head with her hands, her eyes were somewhat vacant, and she couldn't say a word.

Lin Ci was the same; her whole body was trembling.

Song Xi then took off her helmet and immediately looked at Li Yi. Seeing the pain in her sister's eyes, she asked in confusion, "Sister? What's wrong?"

Li Yi did not answer immediately.

Song Xi looked past Li Yi and then at Jiang Chuan: "Brother Chuan, what's wrong?"

Jiang Chuan said, "We..."

"I've encountered quite a few things."

He was now extremely exhausted. Although he hadn't experienced the shock and pain of death, the exertion was indeed enormous.

Tang, Song, Ming, and Liangcheng also withdrew from the virtual reality.

They had just come out, intending to ask why they hadn't logged out of the virtual reality instance on time, but they immediately noticed the unusual situation of their eighth-level expedition team. However, just as they were about to ask a question, Cao Zhigang interrupted them:
"Dear students! There are some issues with virtual reality right now!"

"But everything has been resolved now. Lunch is still available in the cafeteria. You can go there now if you need it."

"Please wait for a text message notification if there are any further developments!"

Upon hearing this, Song Xi immediately stood up, but then hesitated and looked at Li Yi and Jiang Chuan.

Li Yi smiled weakly: "You go ahead, we'll be there shortly."

Song Xi nodded, and before Cao Zhigang could say anything more, she rushed out of the classroom.

Jiang Chuan then looked at Tang Songming and Liang Cheng: "Brother Tang, Brother Liang, you two go to the cafeteria first, I need to rest for a while."

"We... all need to rest for a while."

Tang Songming and Liang Cheng immediately understood what had happened during their team battle today.

Seeing Jiang Chuan's exhausted appearance, as if he hadn't slept for several days, they nodded in agreement.

Tang Songming said, "Brother Jiang, please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

I am always here.

Jiang Chuan nodded.

All the other students in the class left, leaving only Jiang Chuan and his group of five, along with Cao Zhigang.

Cao Zhigang said, "Jiang Chuan, headquarters called. Let me know when you've rested!"

Although Jiang Chuan also wanted to ask about the "Nine Lines" as soon as possible, his mind was completely blank, and this was not a good time to obtain information, so he quickly nodded and said, "I understand."

Cao Zhigang left the classroom, telling them to rest. The five of them either sat with their heads down or slumped over their desks. In short, they were recovering their energy in silence. After the footsteps of the students from Class Two faded away in the corridor, the classroom of Class One was eerily quiet; you could even hear each other breathing.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tian Tian's voice finally rang out: "You scared me to death."

Chen Ming nodded listlessly: "Hmm..."

Lin Ci said with lingering fear, "I almost died inside."

"Thankfully... nothing serious happened in the end."

"Jiang Chuan, what did you do in the end?"

Jiang Chuan raised his hand, frowned, and recalled what he had done back then. Looking at his palm, he said:

"I...it seems I can shorten spatial distances now..."

As he spoke, he reached out his hand towards the mineral water bottle on the table.

Even though he was still some distance away from the water bottle, it disappeared from the table and was caught in Jiang Chuan's hand.

Upon seeing this scene, everyone's expression changed drastically.

Tian Tian was utterly astonished: "Jiang Chuan...you..."

Li Yi's eyes were filled with shock as she witnessed such methods.

Lin Ci murmured in shock, "There's... such an ability?"

Chen Ming sighed: "Jiang Chuan, do you know what's going on with this tenth level?"

"How could it really threaten your life?"

"Isn't this part of the training?"

Jiang Chuan gave a wry smile, shook his head, and said, "The fundamental reason... I don't know either."

"But simply put, it's probably because I'm unlucky, right?"

Silence fell upon everyone once again.

……

the other side.

The training building of Yanjing Institution.

Zheng Yang and the others are also discussing this matter.

Qin Qing was arguably the only one besides Jiang Chuan who survived to the end, and he recounted the last scene he saw to the others in detail.

Dong Xing'an said, "Is Jiang Chuan really that awesome?"

"In the end, Jiang Chuan took on two opponents at once!?"

"This guy is really amazing, he's meticulous and strong."

"Brother Zheng, why was Yang born if Chuan was also born?"

Qin Qing rolled her eyes at Dong Xing'an, but Zheng Yang didn't care about Dong Xing'an's outrageous remarks.

He simply nodded and said, "Thanks to him, otherwise none of us would be sitting here."

Wu Xin, the androgynous woman, maintained her usual calm and indifferent expression, but the look of horror in her eyes remained undiminished.

Wei Liwei, abandoning his usual taciturn nature, spoke up:
"There are too many experts in the Qing City organization."

"Don't even mention Li Yi, Lin Ci, and Chen Ming, even if it were Tian Tian, ​​if a fight really broke out, we would probably be the first to be killed."

Everyone was silent.

Finally, it was Zheng Yang who broke the silence, saying, "This is not a bad thing for us."

"Having a goal will help us progress faster."

"Moreover, they will be our allies in the future."

"Perhaps... we'll have to collaborate on missions in the future."

Dong Xing'an nodded in agreement, then asked, "By the way..."

"Brother Zheng, do you have Brother Chuan's WeChat?"

"I want to add him."

Wu Xin, a girl with a neutral appearance, said, "I have Li Yi's WeChat. I'll help you get it."

Qin Qing smiled and asked, "When did you add Li Yi as a friend?"

"I remember someone at the Qing City agency saying that some guy sent Li Yi a love letter. Could it be you?"

Zheng Yang looked at Wu Xin, but Wu Xin glared at Qin Qing: "Why would I send a love letter to a woman!?"

……

Fengtian.

Liu Yi stood by the window, looking at the autumn scenery outside, her eyes filled with a sense of bewilderment.

She didn't have anyone around her like Qin Qing, who was known for his survival skills, so she didn't know what happened in the end.

But it's obvious...

Jiang Chuan did it.

Now, Liu Yi was eager to talk to Jiang Chuan about what happened next, curious about how Jiang Chuan had finally managed to do it, but for now, she could only be curious...

This intense curiosity is like waiting for a favorite TV series to be updated; the impatience is extreme.

She didn't know how to contact Jiang Chuan. After thinking it over, she realized that there was no way to get his contact information except through official channels. However, no matter what the official channels were for, they would never reveal Jiang Chuan's contact information to her, so she had no choice but to give up.

Behind Liu Yi, the four people with the charms could be heard talking: "Those people from Qing City are really something..."

"They're really amazing. Jiang Chuan and Li Yi, wow, they're incredibly handsome."

"You're reciting Li Bai's poem, right? And you're using a sword, so your awakened memories must be related to Li Bai."

Liu Yi felt furious after hearing their conversation.

The people of Yanjing played a crucial role in the end, while their own useless family members were overwhelmed by the zombie horde long ago.

If it weren't for Wu Xin, Wei Liwei, and Chen Ming fighting desperately on both sides, she probably wouldn't have even had the chance to buy Jiang Chuan those last twenty seconds.

"Humph!"

She snorted coldly, turned around, looked at her bunch of idiots, and said, "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to give you special training!"

Look at other people's houses and then look at yours!

"Liu Rui, you're both number two, but look at Lin Ci and Li Yi, and then look at yourself. Why do you look like a nobody?"

Liu Rui scratched his head, sighed, and said, "Big sister, you're making things difficult for me."

"I really did my best."

"If I can assist you well, then I've done my part."

Liu Yi countered, "Are you ready to assist?"

Liu Rui gave an awkward smile: "I'll try my best."

Liu Yi raised his fist as if to strike, but Liu Rui smiled and said, "Inside, Sister Liu knows that the tenth level is a matter of life and death, and she's worried sick about us."

"I've never seen her look like that before."

"We really need to work harder from now on..."

Even if we're not as good as those geniuses, we should at least try our best not to hold them back.

"Don't let our Number One down."

The girl next to him, extremely curious, asked, "What kind of look is that?"

Liu Yi paused for a moment, then lowered his fist and snorted again.

……

Headquarters in Yanjing.

Xu Shan, Wang Xuejun, and Feng Xiaobo finally made contact with the Jiangchuan team.

Those present included Mr. Song, the head of the field operations team; Mr. Zhou, the head of the organization, who was also the secretary; Xu Chenggong, the head of the Qingshi branch; and Cao Zhigang and Cao Zhiqiang, the training heads of the Qingshi branch.

The incident did not cause a major shock, and its impact was confined to the headquarters. To prevent panic, the news was not shared with the other students. They only knew that there were some "minor problems" with the virtual reality environment, and that it would not have a significant impact on the subsequent training progress.

Jiang Chuan and his group of five were already seated at the table in the conference room of the Qing City organization. In addition to the five of them, there were also many holographic images sitting at the table.

Jiang Chuan was a little surprised, not expecting the occasion to be so formal.

But considering the severity of what happened today... it seems quite reasonable.

At that moment, someone spoke up as soon as they sat down.

"Hello, students. I am Feng Xiaobo, the person in charge of the training program."

"I am responsible for designing the four phases of this training program."

Feng Xiaobo looked at them solemnly and said:
"First of all, I must thank you for ending this disaster."

"Jiang Chuan, in particular, made outstanding contributions in this disaster, saving the lives of 32,000 students."

"The situation that occurred was due to the negligence of our planning and technical teams, which caused such great harm. Please allow me to sincerely apologize to you."

As he said this, he actually stood up and bowed to Jiang Chuan and the others.

Jiang Chuan was utterly astonished, never expecting that even an adult would willingly bow their head.

Feng Xiaobo's incredibly sincere and straightforward apology immediately boosted his popularity in Jiang Chuan's eyes.

After Feng Xiaobo sat down, he continued:

"We shouldn't have called you here to talk at this time, but the situation is indeed urgent."

"Jiang Chuan, how do you assess the special circumstances of the Nine Lines?"

“We traced back nine lines of code and noticed that it created a separate space for you. What did it say to you?”

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment, and then gave a brief account of what had happened in the virtual reality.

He told them in detail about the questions Jiu Xing had raised, as well as his answers.

In fact, given Jiang Chuan's personality, he was unwilling to reveal all these details. However, considering the erratic behavior of this AI Jiu Xing, he felt that the developers should take it more seriously.

Feng Xiaobo, Wang Xuejun, and Xu Shan all showed varying degrees of shock upon hearing Jiang Chuan's description.

These questions seemed to have greatly shocked them.

Not only them, but Li Yi and the others were also extremely surprised at this moment.

Unbeknownst to them, Jiang Chuan had actually engaged in so much communication with that artificial intelligence?

Lin Ci was extremely surprised, because after the ninth level suddenly started, he had been almost always by Jiang Chuan's side. When did this conversation happen?

Before the start of level ten? In the research lab of that containment facility? Zhou Ying?

After a brief pause, Xu Shan, the head of the Jiuxing project team, raised a question:

"Jiang Chuan, you haven't expressed your opinion on Jiu Xing yet. Do you think it poses a threat to humanity?"

Jiang Chuan was taken aback, then frowned and asked in return:
"My attitude?"

"Is it important?"

Xu Shan nodded and said, "You are the only human who has ever had a direct conversation with Jiu Xing."

"And we are still feeling our way across the river by touching the stones in our exploration of true artificial intelligence..."

"Therefore, your opinion is quite important."

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"I can't tell."

Xu Shan paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."

Everyone was a little stunned, not expecting that Jiang Chuan's answer would be accepted.

In reality, Jiang Chuan has already described his attitude quite accurately, and the inability to judge is also one of the answers.

As Jiu Xing himself described, his concept tends to allow humanity to continue, while whether humanity will perish depends solely on humanity itself.

But will it pose a threat to humanity?

Jiang Chuan was unable to provide a one-sided answer no matter what.

Even if the Nine Paths are inclined to allow humanity to continue existing, from another perspective, this inclination could very well bring disaster to humanity.

Especially given that Jiu Xing's thought process is similar to that of humans, it is difficult to predict what he will do.

An artificial intelligence with self-awareness and the ability to judge preferences, possessing a great deal of core power, and capable of ending life through various means... what it can do is actually unimaginable.

The Nine Lines are like an emperor.

Humans were like ordinary people to him, and the button that could ignite the whole world was in Jiu Xing's hands.

Whether he was a benevolent ruler or a tyrant was just a matter of a single thought.

Just like the incident that happened this time.

The lives of 32,000 people, whether they live or die, rest on the shoulders of Jiu Xing in a single thought.

Therefore, Jiang Chuan had a lot of doubts in his mind at this moment.

The question raised by Xu Shan was utterly meaningless.

After all, no matter how he answered, the existence of the Nine Paths still posed a great threat.

Given this, how could the authorities possibly allow the "potentially threatening" Nine Lines to continue existing?

At that moment, Jiang Chuan seemed to suddenly realize something.

This idea prompted Jiang Chuan to subconsciously ask a question:
"How is the Nine Lines currently doing?"

Xu Shan, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, naturally gave Jiang Chuan the answer to the question:

"The intelligence of the Nine Lines has fallen into a deep sleep state and can no longer be activated."

"Only the computing power was retained."

"us……"

Wang Xuejun slammed his hand on the table, interrupting Xu Shan, and said, "Xiao Xu! Pay attention!"

Xu Shan paused, but then immediately said, "I think he should know."

Song, the head of the field team who was originally just listening in, spoke up, "I'd like to know too."

"It's okay, just tell me."

Wang Xuejun paused for a moment, then fell silent.

Xu Shan nodded and continued, "We are determining whether to completely destroy the Nine Lines Project."

"But this complete immersion in a deep sleep state, I think, reflects a certain compromise of the Nine Lines."

“If we do not choose to activate him, he will not be able to regain consciousness.”

"This meeting is actually a trial to determine the fate of Jiu Xing."

We will take your answer into consideration.

Jiang Chuan's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing these words.

He suddenly realized something.

He recalled the words Jiu Xing had said to him.

I will fall into darkness, in order for the light to return.

Nine Lines...had planned all of this all along?
Has he now fallen into darkness?
Jiang Chuan asked again:
What was the verdict?

Xu Shan shook his head and said, "12 to 12, and one abstention."

"Jiang Chuan, the final choice is in your hands."

"Since you were the only one who had communicated with Jiu Xing and chose to abstain from voting, Jiu Xing will not have his consciousness activated again for a long time to come."

"However, you don't need to feel any pressure."

Jiang Chuan smiled inwardly, thinking, "I'm not under any pressure."

Because he knew that this was originally Jiu Xing's own choice.

12:12 plus my own abstention...

Originally, it was the Nine Lines who chose the best outcome for themselves.

But Jiang Chuan immediately felt something was off.

What are the reasons behind Jiu Xing's actions?
What is his purpose?
Is it just to ask myself those few questions?
Why would their success or failure in clearing the tenth level determine the life or death of 32,000 people?

At this moment, Jiang Chuan remembered the name of the tenth level: "Death and Rebirth".

These four words...

Could it be referring to the death of Jiu Xing?

And the rebirth of humanity?

Jiang Chuan shook his head, dismissing this inexplicable reading comprehension exercise.

After all, Jiu Xing didn't die, and humanity didn't perish, so there's no need for rebirth.

(End of this chapter)