CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 256: THE TRUE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM

After lending his car to his cousin’s husband, who was responsible for driving, and some relatives going to the county for resource exchange, Chen Xin returned to the shelter to find his second uncle, intending to see what could be done with the materials exchanged yesterday.

The cable needed for circuit modification wasn’t exchanged at the town yesterday, but he did manage to get car batteries for the power upgrade. With these, Chen Xin can first create an Isotope Thermoelectric Battery to assemble a power supply battery group for the shelter.

The second uncle, knowing Chen Xin’s agenda for the day, brought him to the warehouse. After taking out the materials exchanged yesterday, he asked Chen Xin, "Axin, is there anything you need help with today? Should I call two people to give you a hand?"

Upon hearing the second uncle’s words, Chen Xin shook his head: "Unless they study nuclear physics, they won’t be of much help, and there isn’t much physical work today. Just help me move things, that’ll do."

Seeing Chen Xin’s response, the second uncle did not insist. However, after helping Chen Xin deliver two car batteries and some materials to his room, the second uncle still called his nephew to assist Chen Xin.

Seeing the nephew whom the second uncle called, who ought to be addressed as a cousin, looking eager, Chen Xin shook his head, understanding the second uncle’s intention.

"Cousin, you help move the things inside first; I have something to discuss with Uncle," Chen Xin instructed his cousin nearby before pulling his second uncle aside to ask, "Uncle, is there something you want to say to me?"

"It’s nothing..." The second uncle understood that Chen Xin had seen through his intention, but failing to save face, he still wanted to downplay the situation with laughter.

However, Chen Xin shook his head and said to his uncle, "The people who came to me last night, and those who went to find my parents... Uncle, you should know what they want to do, right? Some things, even if I have to do them, I’ll definitely find trustworthy relatives, definitely not those unrelated by eight poles."

Uncertain of the second uncle’s intentions, Chen Xin didn’t directly expose the aim of those relatives. Still, he brought some matters to light, believing his uncle could understand his meaning.

Sure enough, the second uncle nodded to Chen Xin, smiling, "Rest assured, the people I recommend to you are definitely trustworthy relatives who won’t cause you trouble."

Of course, Chen Xin had enough trust in his uncle, but he wasn’t sure about the so-called trustworthy relatives he mentioned.

However, he also didn’t want to directly refute his uncle’s face, so Chen Xin thought for a moment and said, "The people you recommend are definitely trustworthy, but I still need to test them where it matters. Whether a person is trustworthy, ability is one thing, but character is more important."

"Well said, you test them as you see fit. If there are any problems, come to me, and I’ll resolve them." His uncle reassured Chen Xin by patting his chest.

"Having your assurance, uncle, I’m relieved. When there are suitable candidates, you can let them come to find me." Chen Xin was satisfied with this outcome, exchanged a few more words with his uncle, then returned to his room.

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Upgrading ordinary car batteries to Isotope Thermoelectric Batteries is something that’s not worth describing for Chen Xin anymore.

But for those who have never seen it, it’s still something beyond a normal person’s understanding.

After experiencing the incident where those researchers in the three towns recorded his upgrade process, Chen Xin pondered what this process was about, but what he could liken it to were only those indescribable horrors in the Cthulhu mythos.

Because what was seen and recorded has already surpassed ordinary understanding, it’s incomprehensible and undecipherable, and even if observed and heard, what is obtained is merely meaningless or already distorted information.

But for those with enough accumulated knowledge or a keen interest in exploring, they can instead extract fragments of the original information from this meaningless and distorted data, comprehending bits and pieces.

Even compared to the true information originally contained, these pieces are like a drop in the ocean, but it’s within the range a normal person can analyze and comprehend, even if these fragments might drive one insane.

Perhaps this is why those who pursue and explore the indescribable beings in the Cthulhu mythos went insane; they weren’t lunatics, they merely absorbed too much knowledge beyond normal comprehension.

Of course, the system Chen Xin holds might only share the same level of information as those indescribable beings, not that the system itself is an indescribable entity, nor that the system possesses such distorting and corrosive powers.

However, this is something Chen Xin himself dares not confirm, for the concept of information state is vague, and the system’s inherent capabilities in disguise and confusion also, in a certain sense, is a kind of distortion and erosion. Compared to indescribable horrors that distort and twist only the external form of material, this ability to warp and alter the internal concept and essence of a substance is much more terrifying.

The so-called vagueness of concept requires some imagination, maybe even a creative leap, to understand.

To illustrate, suppose the world we reside in now is a virtual network world, where everything is composed of data and information, and each thing has its attributes. Then, the system’s information state vagueness is akin to directly modifying an item’s data from the background, altering its attributes, and making everyone who sees it not find any strangeness in the change of data and attributes.

This is extremely terrifying and horrifying; to put it simply, it’s like a hacker who can arbitrarily alter world data, where the entire real world, in the system’s eyes, is merely a virtual game where data can be freely modified.

It’s just that now this hacker’s capabilities are being restricted and constrained. The permissions Chen Xin holds control the hacker’s powers, while survival points are the resources or energy required to use this capability.

And various constraints on Chen Xin’s usage of the system’s function are just some trivial rules to prevent Chen Xin from breaking the game.

No wonder this system’s initial description claimed it to be an entertainment system. For the high civilization that could create it, a material world, planet, or civilization on the verge of destruction might indeed just be a game.

Ultimately, to make such a capability an entertainment project for this higher civilization, to rewind destroyed worlds, planets, and civilizations, may be as simple as reloading a save file, akin to a game’s load state.

As for why this system appeared before him, and whether there is some conspiracy behind it, Chen Xin couldn’t care less, for pondering on it holds no meaning.

After all, does a high civilization capable of producing such a level of technology need any conspiracies to invade a world like Earth?

Directly modifying a "datum" of a robotic vacuum, transforming a household cleaning robot into Emperor Titan, Rampaging First Unit, Getter Emperor, Demon God Z...conquering Earth is merely a matter of altering a couple more data sets.

No one truly believes that the higher civilization responsible for this system needs to expend survival points to "upgrade" something, right?

Even if they needed Chen Xin to accomplish something, can Chen Xin ensure his memory hasn’t been tampered with? Altering memory isn’t a difficult task; in a way, even humanity on Earth can achieve it.

So thinking about whether there’s any conspiracy behind it is merely creating trouble and worry for oneself, because even if there were conspiracies, it wouldn’t be something a regular person like Chen Xin could change or prevent.

Instead of creating problems for himself, it’s better to utilize the system’s functions well, to improve life for himself and his family, allowing them to live better in this post-apocalyptic world.

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In the town hospital, Zeng Liu finished her day’s work, greeted the colleague taking over her shift, completed the handover, and then left the pharmacy, heading towards the dormitory.

After being sent to this small town by Chen Xin, and having a pharmacist’s practicing qualification, Zeng Liu was naturally assigned to work in the pharmacy.

Though other medical departments needed staff more urgently, pharmacists with professional qualifications were hard to find in the town. With the town’s population now soaring—even when a whole village migrated over, bringing staff including a town clinic—the pharmacy still couldn’t keep up with demand due to a shortage of pharmacists.

Zeng Liu’s timely arrival allowed the pharmacy to evolve from two shifts to three shifts, reducing each pharmacist’s work time from 12 hours to a normal 8-hour shift.

The town hospital was also a complete shelter, with the dormitory naturally within the shelter’s scope. However, as Zeng Liu returned to the dormitory area, she found Old Tang and Sister Ning standing at her room door waiting for her.

"Zeng Liu, can we have a chat?" Sister Ning asked her purpose to Zeng Liu after greeting her when she saw her return.

"Of course, what do you want to talk about, Sister Ning?" Zeng Liu looked at Sister Ning and Old Tang, cheerfully inviting them into her room: "Come in, the dormitory assigned to pharmacists. My roommate just swapped shifts with me, so I’m the only one here now."

Once she brought Sister Ning and Old Tang into her room and poured them both a glass of water, Zeng Liu sat down, eager to know why they sought her out.

"Zeng Liu, do you still keep in touch with Mr. Chen Xin who brought us here?" Sister Ning asked about her and Old Tang’s purpose for visiting Zeng Liu.

"Mr. Chen Xin? Do you need to find him?" Zeng Liu looked at Sister Ning, not understanding.