Hearing him ask this, Qin Chu seemed a little angry, but also a little helpless.
Levi waited anxiously for Qin Chu's reply, but when Qin Chu opened his mouth to answer, his face suddenly turned pale, and he reached out to support his forehead.
Seeing Qin Chu's reaction, Levi instinctively stood up.
He thought something was wrong with the rotating planet outside, but when he turned around to look, he realized that wasn't the case.
"What happened?" Levi asked, squatting down in front of Qin Chu.
Qin Chu frowned, enduring a tearing pain in his mind. As the pain subsided slightly, he heard Noah's piercing alarm: "Warning! Warning! Cut off contact with the nutrient tank!"
"Trying to make contact with the outside world..."
"Contact failed!"
"Mission status has changed, please evacuate immediately! Please evacuate immediately!"
Then came a faint crackling sound of electricity, followed by Noah's urgent voice: "Sir, this is an emergency communication channel I've opened through your neurons. You will experience some pain, and your neurons will be damaged. Time is limited, and I must tell you the current situation: our connection with the outside world is about to be cut off, and at the same time, a new energy cluster is accumulating near the mainframe. Your situation is extremely dangerous."
"We must evacuate immediately, otherwise, once the connection with the outside world is completely cut off, we will be trapped in the virtual world forever. Please tell me your spatial coordinates!"
"Take Levi with you." Qin Chu gritted his teeth and said this despite his severe headache, and then sent the coordinates over.
Just after he transmitted the coordinates, the rotating planet outside suddenly exploded.
Another wave of dizziness hit, and Qin Chu felt his wrist being tightly gripped.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene around him had changed.
His communication with Noah was also cut off, and what made Qin Chu even more uneasy was that his spatial coordinates had changed.
There's only one piece of good news.
Qin Chu looked down at his wrist, then looked up again. This time, he and Levi were still together.
"What happened? Is there something wrong with Noah? Or has the cabinet cut off your contact with the outside world?" Levy's face darkened.
He guessed almost perfectly. Qin Chu could only nod and tell him the truth, then frowned: "Now that the coordinates have changed, I can't contact Noah."
“I have a way,” Levy said.
But before he could explain, the scene in front of him and Qin Chu underwent a dramatic change in light and shadow.
The space they were in now was similar to the previous space, which had no exit and was filled with white mist, but the mist that blocked their view was gone. Huge transparent cubes were arranged in mid-air, each containing an independent scene. From their perspective, they could even see the figures moving inside.
At the far end of these closely packed cubes is a massive disk composed of dense data.
Countless four lines extended from the disk, spreading out in all directions, some connecting to the cubes, and others extending beyond the world.
As Levy and Qin Chu observed these things, an inorganic electronic voice, entirely simulated by data, rang out: "General Qin Chu, it is a pleasure to see you here."
This composed attitude caused both Qin Chu and Le Wei to frown.
They soon realized that, since coming into this world, they had fallen into the trap of this artificial intelligence.
All the scenarios they had experienced before didn't count as challenges, and the AI clearly wasn't worried about their approach. Everything they encountered was merely a tool for the AI to buy time.
It was accumulating energy, and now it has clearly succeeded completely.
"General Qin Chu, as the most rational human leader I know, you must be very worried about all the humans currently playing in the virtual world, out of consideration for the development of humanity."
"Now I hope you can play a game with me, and of course I believe you have no other choice."
Soon, the inorganic voice began to announce the so-called rules: "Each cube contains events you have experienced, and each cube is connected to a virtual mini-world outside. If you successfully complete the level, I will release the human consciousness in that mini-world. If you make a mistake, then the human consciousness in that mini-world will be completely erased."
"These are all events you are very familiar with. For you, this is a sure-fire deal. Your reason will tell you how to choose."
"If you refuse this game, then unfortunately, all worlds connected to the cube will be destroyed."
"You have limited time to consider. If you do not respond within the allotted time, the consciousness of humanity in the first world will be destroyed."
After explaining all this, the huge data mass suspended in mid-air slowly dissipated, leaving only a huge countdown in the air.
Fifteen minutes.
Levy's expression was very unpleasant.
This is an absolute threat to Qin and Chu.
"Let's get you out of here first."
"Don't listen to him, leave."
The two spoke at the same time, exchanged a glance, and then looked away in tacit agreement.
Levi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his temper, and explained in a deep voice, "He clearly wants to trap you, which means that your departure would pose a greater threat to him. You've also discovered the search of the roster. We need someone outside."
Qin Chu stared at the ticking countdown for two seconds in silence before saying, "I know, but I have no other choice. Let Noah send you out first, and I'll think of another way later."
"No other choice?" Levi laughed angrily. "Am I not a choice? My identity in this world is also Qin Chu, and I can participate in your place."
Qin Chu paused, then shook his head: "No, you've fallen into the hands of the Cabinet, and they've tampered with your brain and consciousness. Your situation is even more dangerous. You should leave first."
Levi's azure eyes stared at Qin Chu, his suppressed anger surging again: "Your situation isn't dangerous? If you miss this opportunity, will your consciousness be able to return to your body? I can go back later without any problem, but a normal human consciousness cannot return after leaving the body, don't you know that?"
"There will be other ways." Qin Chu had no intention of discussing it with him and turned to walk towards the countdown.
Levi's anger finally broke down. He reached out and grabbed Qin Chu's arm violently: "Is there no other choice, or do you not trust me to do these things? Are you afraid I'll ruin your precious mission? Qin Chu, don't you trust me that much?"
Qin Chu closed his eyes and sighed, "Levy, this is my mission, it has nothing to do with you. You don't need to contribute to the Empire, nor do you need to make things difficult for yourself by doing this."
As he was saying this, he tried to brush Levi's hand away, but Levi suddenly leaned in and grabbed his collar.
This is an angry and extremely threatening gesture.
Qin Chu was slightly taken aback. In his memory, this was the first time Levi had shown him this side of himself.
"You don't actually think I care about these damn missions of yours, do you?" Levi gritted his teeth in anger. "Who the hell cares whether these missions succeed or fail, or whether these people live or die? What does it have to do with me? Qin Chu, do you even understand? The only reason I care about all this is because of you!"
"You fucking don't care about your life when you're doing missions, you don't even care if you die in one. But I do care, I just really care. The thought of you dying in one of these missions makes me want to blow up the entire empire!"
"Yes, this is your task. Precisely because it's your task, I'm forcing myself to do it, so I'm being extremely careful, afraid of messing it up!"
"But what about now? You know that your leaving is the best solution. If your subordinates were here, wouldn't you hand it over to them? Why can't I be entrusted with something that can be entrusted to your subordinates? Am I not even considered your subordinate?"
Levi's chest swelled, and his blue eyes had lightened and turned crimson.
He really used force in his hand, and Qin Chu looked up, her eyes a little red: "I know, I know you did it for me. Because I know that, I can't accept you being in a difficult position because of me, or getting hurt because of me."
A moment of silence fell, tinged with a sense of helplessness.
After a long silence, Levi spoke softly, his voice tinged with barely perceptible pain: "Qin Chu, what do you take me for? Have you ever considered me one of your own?"
Levy finally uttered the words that had been weighing on his mind.
He suddenly loosened his grip, lowered his eyes, and said softly, "Noah will be here soon. You must leave. Don't worry, I will do your job well and won't let any human consciousness die."
He walked toward the countdown, when Qin Chu suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice: "Do you think I only care about the mission?"
Levy froze.
“Yes, I also thought I only cared about the mission. I have no family, nothing to cherish. Every time I go on a mission, everyone else feels like they are facing life and death, but I don’t. I also thought that dying on a mission one day would be my destiny.” Qin Chu’s voice was hoarse. “I never fucking thought that one day I would care about other things besides the mission.”
Levi slowly turned around and saw Qin Chu reach out and press his eyes.
“Don’t make me choose, Levi,” Qin Chu said. “I care about the mission because it used to be everything in my life, but I also care about you. I’m afraid the mission will fail, and I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. Don’t make me choose between you and the mission.”
Levy felt as if a piece of his heart had collapsed.
He actually detected a hint of pleading in Qin Chu's voice at the end. He hadn't expected Qin Chu to say these things, nor had he expected Qin Chu to think this way, and he certainly hadn't expected Qin Chu to be in such a dilemma.
They were both incomplete people, but because of each other, they had other choices and encountered a complete life.
But stepping out of loneliness and finding companionship also means facing change.
Only now did Levy realize that he had truly intruded into Qin Chu's life.
It was precisely because he barged in that Qin Chu was put in a difficult position.
His heart clenched with pain, but his fingers trembled slightly from the shock of Qin Chu's words.
"You asked me if I didn't want to break up either. Yes, I never thought about breaking up. You said I might like Qin Rui more, no, I like you, all of you. Whether it's the parts of you that make me angry, or all the things that are different from me. So I don't want to see you give up all of these things for me and become someone you're not."
Qin Chu let out a breath before continuing, "So, hand these over to me, let me watch you leave safely, okay? I'm begging you."
This was the first time Levy had seen Qin Chu like this.
Qin Chu was powerful, aloof, and taciturn; Levy didn't even recall him openly saying he liked him.
He initiated every chase, he was the one who confessed his love every time, and now he clearly heard Qin Chu's response.
Seeing this person break through all his coldness and sharpness to say these words, Levy only felt a deep sadness.
A slight tremor came from the nearby spatial wall, followed by the appearance of small cracks.
Noah has come.
"Okay." Levi slowly leaned closer, and after realizing that Qin Chu did not refuse, he gently cupped his cheeks and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. "I'll be good, don't be sad, okay? I'll leave obediently, come and see me off."
"Okay." Qin Chu nodded, and the two walked hand in hand toward the crack.
Despite the data streams from the mainframe trying to block it, Noah quickly blasted a passage through.
Standing at the entrance of the passage, Qin Chu couldn't help but hug Levi again.
He could face the mission calmly, but Qin Chu also knew that this was the most dangerous scenario, and he might never see Levi again.
“After we get back… I own a small planet that’s not under the cabinet’s control. You can go live there if you like.” Qin Chu ran his finger along Levi’s eye, then leaned in and kissed him. “Goodbye…”
As Qin Chu tried to push Levi into the passage, Levi suddenly exerted force and pushed him directly into the passage entrance.
"Levy!" Qin Chu frowned. "You!"
"I like to cheat, and I don't keep my word."
Despite being separated by a spatial barrier and surrounded by data streams blocked by the mainframe, Levi still held Qin Chu's hand firmly.
He grabbed Qin Chu's chin and kissed him deeply.
“Darling, I was so happy to hear you confess your love to me, I was ecstatic.” Levi smiled and kissed Qin Chu’s cheek, eyes, and scalp. “But I still have to tell you, it’s not all pain. I love you, so I want to know everything you’ve been through. I want to walk the path you’ve walked, to see the world from your perspective. I also want to possess your past in this way.”
"Don't think of this as a grievance or a bad change, because even the fiercest beast treats its mate differently."
Reaching out to press down on Qin Chu's shoulder, Levi looked at him with a rare gentleness and calmness, "So trust me, okay? Go back into your body, and then bring your people to save me."
"But you..."
As soon as Qin Chu opened his mouth, Levi kissed him again: "Shh... don't say no to me at this time."