CHAPTER 769: CHAPTER 341: MOCHIZUKI MASASHI

Behind him, Lu Zhao, Xie Guan, Sun Chang, and others also followed in.

"Lao Hu, weren’t you cursing all day yesterday, blaming the train group for going too fast? Why have you changed your tune now?" Lu Zhao was surprised by Hu Lushou’s swift change in attitude and couldn’t help but comment.

Hu Lushou’s old face turned pale upon hearing this, and he glared at Lu Zhao before hastily explaining: "Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I wish Captain Lin and his team would escape, so we could have a chance to be rescued too."

After speaking, he looked toward Lin Xian with a troubled expression: "Captain Lin, it’s great to see you all. If we work together, surely there’s a way for us to escape this cursed place."

Lin Xian glanced over this group, and it was clear they were in no better situation than the Joint Train, having likely lost many people. They looked disheveled, their various power armors stained with blood and grime. The Windwalker Team members they had saved in the labyrinth were now just a few scattered individuals, and the father-daughter duo was gone.

Qian Suxun turned to Lin Xian, spreading his hands: "I think I know how you got involved. It was also due to the Fish-tailed Lion Statue triggering the Star Abyss Anchor Point’s expansion tide, right?"

"Yes." Lin Xian replied.

"How long have you been in here?"

Catching Lin Xian’s implication, Qian Suxun said, "Not too long, probably about two months or so. It might differ from what you’ve calculated."

He continued, "Actually, we have a chance to escape, but it would come at a great cost."

Lin Xian frowned slightly, "Silent City?"

"Smart."

Qian Suxun said, "We don’t want to give up my main city, and there are other reasons..."

Just as he began to say this, Qian Suxun opened his mouth as if hearing a voice in his earpiece, immediately smiling wryly: "Uh, I’ll take you to see Shinji directly. He will tell you what you want to know, and besides, he’s very interested in you."

"Then Captain Lin, I’ll be waiting for your good news, we are in the same boat as brothers in adversity after all." Hu Lushou quickly added.

Lin Xian looked at him and nodded, "Don’t worry, everyone’s goal is to escape."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hu Lushou nodded vigorously.

With that, Qian Suxun led Lin Xian’s group into the elevator, descending to the lowest level. Apart from drones, there was no one else here, behind a lit corridor was a large cooling door. As they approached, the door opened automatically, revealing a large independent room like a kind of control room. The three walls were covered in holographic screens, and numerous cables gathered neatly like black serpents at the center cylindrical machine.

At this moment, a silhouette stood in front of the equipment with hands behind his back, smiling at Lin Xian and the others.

Beside him, several delicately designed female robots were carrying trays with steaming hot tea cups.

Lin Xian’s gaze was on that silhouette, and he was instantly taken aback because the person before him looked sixteen or seventeen, with a fair complexion, dressed in a deep blue robe reminiscent of a Taoist robe, with a small hair bun on his head, resembling a little Taoist boy from some tourist attraction temple before the apocalypse.

Mochizuki Masashi squinted with a friendly expression: "Oh, you must be Lin Xian, right? In my mind, your name ranks ninth in search, sorry, I’m indeed very interested in you."

"There’s an old saying, ’Though we have drifted apart to the end of the world, there’s no need to meet as strangers,’ it’s unexpected to meet under these circumstances, but it is quite coincidental. From a rigorous calculation perspective, there may be some other factors involved."

"You’re Mochizuki Masashi?" KIKI exclaimed in surprise, "Aren’t you... over fifty years old??"

Though most people had never seen this former teenage prodigy, the name Mochizuki Masashi had been prominent long before KIKI was born, making it impossible for him to be just sixteen or seventeen.

"He’s not human."

Lin Xian’s gaze focused through Mochizuki Masashi’s squinting eyes, noticing the subtly glowing nanoscopic pupils adjusting rapidly. As Mechanical Heart scanned, it became clear that Mochizuki Masashi was just like Grace, a robot.

"This is a robot?"

Everyone was shocked as Qian Deli spoke up: "It’s said Mochizuki Masashi once led the Digital Life Project, looks like you’ve uploaded your consciousness to the machine?"

"Not exactly right." Mochizuki Masashi glanced at the huge cylindrical device behind him: "Strictly speaking, this is part of my brain."

He gestured toward Grace behind Lin Xian: "But the difference between Deep Red Brain and me is, I possess a fully independent personality, she is a bit short of it. If it were Deep Red No.3’s main body, integrating a fully aware Digital Life for computation, it would reach the initial deconstruction level of human consciousness."

"OK~" Mochizuki Masashi smiled at Lin Xian: "No more chatter, please have some tea as a gesture of courtesy and goodwill, and let Xun explain the cause of the conflict first. Xun?"

Upon Mochizuki Masashi’s words, Qian Suxun looked at Lin Xian and began speaking.

"We have been monitoring the Fish-tailed Lion Statue and Red Man Gu within White City. A few hours ago, we captured your robot, so a team was dispatched for continued monitoring. After the inner tide ended just now, she appeared again, so our people took action. We mistook this robot as a target for the Deep Red World, which was a misunderstanding."