Star Dome Railway's live streaming room

【March 7: Shooting...】

[Himeko: The so-called experts...are just consumables. The company can have as many as it wants.]

[Xing: Maybe there were also stubborn researchers who were executed at that time...]

The screen was dark, and after a moment, Xing opened his eyes again from the doorway.

Dudley turned his gaze to Xing who was standing beside him. "Come here, Explosives Expert. It's time to show the Legion how powerful we are."

The memory recalled...the artificial intelligence started calculating again, and everything that happened just now seemed to have never happened.

[Black Swan: The memory has already happened, and later people’s thoughts cannot change the past. Press it.]

[March 7: Damn it... the more I watch, the angrier I get! ]

[Walter: This is just an experiment, to test the power of the so-called weapon. For this reason, a senior executive of the company obviously doesn't mind being buried with three civilizations.]

After the intelligent calculation was completed, Xing took a deep breath and pressed the launch button hard. The next moment, a violent sound began to be emitted from the facility, like a bomb about to explode.

But after just a few seconds, all the sounds disappeared without a trace, as if everything had turned into nothingness, with only the cold mechanical voice reporting the progress.

"The detonation command has been confirmed. The collision detonator has begun to charge... 20%... 50%... 75%... has reached the detonation critical point."

"Autopilot AI is on. Locking onto target... 30%... 70%... Completed."

"Lock AI is on. Heating up...20%....40%....80%...The chamber temperature has reached the threshold." The voice of the artificial intelligence continued to come, as if announcing an irreversible disaster.

"Imaginary collapse pulse, about to detonate. Five..."

As the weapon fired counted down, the screen began to fade to white, as if the signal was gradually being lost.

The camera follows Xing's perspective and gradually begins to move away. Only the sound of a conversation can be heard faintly: "Du, I..."

"Four"

"...Don't blame me, Cha. We are all responsible for our own choices."

The picture continues to turn gray and disengaged, perhaps Chadwick himself is trying to forget this memory.

"three"

Chadwick's voice seemed to be far away: "They will curse my name forever, they will... What price did you pay, Dudley?"

"two"

"See, Cha... that's your problem, you take your gifts and talents for granted. You have no idea there are people like me--" The noise of the voice grew louder.

"one..."

"We will not be remembered by anyone."

The world turned white, with only the blood-stained countdown

zero

The world fell silent. Chadwick's voice faded away, leaving only an empty silence.

「Imaginary collapse pulse」——detonate.

With a dripping sound, Xing lost consciousness again.

[Esther: What a tragedy... a tragedy caused by the profit-driven upper echelons.]

[Bronya: This weapon could have saved countless people. ]

When she woke up again, she found herself in a void, surrounded by only endless darkness and silence.

Xing thought to herself: What I just experienced is the first half of Chadwick's life?

But this memory doesn't end yet...see what happens to him next.

As she gradually went deeper into the memory space, Chadwick stood silently in the center of the mental maze, as if waiting for something.

Chadwick's voice broke the silence: "Ah...Xing, nice to see you again. Now...you have experienced half of my life and know my story." There was a hint of helplessness and fatigue in his tone.

Xing asked, "How many people did the imaginary pulse kill?"

However, Chadwick did not answer her question immediately. His eyes became dim and he seemed to be in deep self-blame and pain.

After a long time, Chadwick slowly spoke: "...a number I tried my best to forget. After that day, I never dared to cast even a glance at the mirror again. I was afraid of seeing a demon...a murderer who took away countless lives and homes."

Xing listened quietly, feeling the unspeakable pain in his heart. Then Chadwick continued: "That day in the control room was also the last time I saw Dudley. Maybe the reality is just as he said, chess pieces don't deserve names."

"After that, I disbanded the team and abandoned the original laboratory. I tried to take away some key information, and I didn't want them to fall into the hands of people with ulterior motives."

"I learned from others that the senior executive of the technical R&D department who ordered the use of the "imaginary collapse pulse" was specially investigated by the department and later lost contact."

"But I know the company won't give up. Our research results are too valuable... Even if they publicly issue a statement condemning it, they will never really give up the technology related to imaginary pulses."

[Xing: What a good way to kill the dog after the rabbit dies]

[Gold in the Sand: There are many people in the company, and it is not really a monolithic entity. ]

[Emerald: Everything is for the protection of the Amber King. Such a brutal act, when the internal investigation finds out about this, even the company's top executives will not be able to escape punishment.]

[Portio: Damn it, I'm not targeting you, but under this moving, exquisite, clear, vivid, and beautiful system, are you sure you are dealing with the culprit instead of the shield introduced? ]

[Sambo: The culture of taking the blame is really profound~]

"They need me—to control that knowledge, and to keep it out of the hands of other factions across the galaxy. They will pursue me to the ends of the earth."

"...So I started to flee. I didn't want to live in a shadow for the rest of my life."

"When I needed help the most, I only thought of one name. We had only met once before, but he exposed my hypocrisy and excuses."

Xing said: "Screw Gum"

Chadwick nodded slowly: "Yes. I am determined to find him. I believe he can help me fight against the company."

“This is the story of the rest of my life…”

Chadwick's figure slowly disappeared in front of Xing, leaving only a few words from his heart:

When Zandar wrote the words "Tree of Imaginary Numbers" on paper in an ancient and unfamiliar language...what did he see?

When I was a child and first encountered the theory of imaginary numbers, the image that emerged in my mind was not a towering tree; it was a dense sea of ​​trees.

Everything I have seen makes it completely impossible for me to believe that the foundation of the universe is a selfless giant tree that voluntarily dedicates itself to providing nourishment for billions of leaves.

I would rather believe that each world is a tree species that floated in the wind and fell on this land by coincidence, and then began to take root and grow on its own, and finally formed this sea of ​​trees.

The universe doesn't care about us - it just exists and watches.