Upon seeing it clearly, his leg trembled, and without thinking, he pointed at Mu Lin beside him and betrayed him: "He forced me to do this. He told me to find a way to force you to open the protective shield, but I didn't agree. I didn't say anything!"
Mullin: "..."
Then Camin, who followed him in, said: "..."
Dud explained diligently, but Levy, carrying the sleep pod, clearly wasn't listening to him at all.
Levy frowned as he carefully placed the hull on his shoulder onto the ground. After glancing around, his gaze settled on the magnetic charger on Dodd's table.
He took the charger and placed it on the charging port of the sleep pod.
The sleep pod started with a "beep" and the green indicator light lit up, signaling normal operation.
After all that happened last night, Levy turned around and glanced at the person standing inside the room.
Completely ignoring Mullin's presence, he raised his chin at Dud and said, "You, come here."
Dud wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and walked over: "W-what happened? Where did you steal this sleep pod from?"
"He was swept away by an electric grid that was not completely shut off and remained unconscious for three days."
Dud walked slowly, so Levi reached out, grabbed Dud by the collar, and pressed him against the sleep pod. "Check his physical indicators and mental fluctuations."
"Power grid? Where is the power grid still running? You've left the Imperial Capital?"
Mulin, who was standing to the side, frowned upon hearing this.
However, Dudley was forced to lie on the sleep pod to inspect it, and Levy's gaze was also fixed on the sleep pod, so no one paid any attention to the Home Secretary.
Mullin opened his mouth, wanting to ask more questions.
Standing by the door frame, Dikamin glanced at him and said, "Although we don't have much of a relationship, and I don't like the look of you, you old man with the stern face, I still want to remind you not to talk too much in order to prevent us from all suffering because of you causing trouble."
Kamin's words were very impolite, and Mullin's face turned ugly. He glanced at Levi again, but in the end, he wisely left.
Kaming breathed a sigh of relief.
He was genuinely afraid that the red-haired old man would continue spouting nonsense.
After the young man they had just met fell into a coma, they first traveled from the garbage planet to a medical base on a nearby planet. Levi immediately grabbed an empty sleep pod, filled it with nutrient solution, and then rushed to the capital planet without stopping.
Even at the fastest speed, it would take at least a week to travel from the garbage planet to the capital planet.
However, Levy used his spaceship almost like a starship the whole way, making more than ten jumps, and finally arrived at the capital planet in three days.
The old steward who is with them now is resting on a planet along the way due to physical discomfort caused by multiple jumps.
Camin had known Levi for many years, but this was the first time he had ever seen such anxiety in Levi.
When he met Levi, Levi was already like this: capricious, with interests coming and going quickly, seemingly indifferent to everything.
He didn't seem particularly concerned about money, beauty, or even life and time.
Even when they were being chased by the National Defense Forces and everyone on the starship was terrified, this man sat leisurely in the cockpit and said, "Whose flag is this? It's ugly, change it."
Cumming once thought that even if Levy were sucked into a black hole that day, he would still casually strike a nice pose for himself.
Who would have thought that Levi would now be defeated by a mysterious man in black robes.
"It would be troublesome if the worm were actually swept away by the electric grid."
Dud put on gloves, opened the cover of the sleep pod, and looked inside at the person sleeping there. "The reason why various planets are shutting down their power grids is mainly to prevent the mainframe from controlling human consciousness. Although theoretically this kind of artificial intelligence can only infiltrate through things like sleep pods that are connected to the network, we still can't ignore it..."
Levi didn't speak, but tapped his fingers on the sleep pod again, as if urging him on.
Dud sighed, knowing he couldn't escape it.
He looked down at the person in the sleep pod, feeling a little curious about who could make Levy go to such lengths to carry a sleep pod around.
To Dud's surprise, the person in the sleep pod was just an ordinary-looking young man.
The most unusual thing about him... is that he's excessively thin and looks somewhat malnourished.
A simple physical examination didn't reveal anything. Dudley straightened up and said, "We need to connect other instruments for further assessment."
"Where to?" Without saying a word, Levy picked up the sleep pod again.
The sleep pod was eventually placed in an empty hospital room.
Dud was busy in front of the instruments, while Levy sat to the side, looking out the window, seemingly lost in thought.
After monitoring the data for a while, Duds was unsure of the relationship between the people in the sleep pod and Levy, and felt a little uncertain.
He didn't dare to ask Levi, but glanced back and saw Camin looking around boredly. He then cautiously waved to Camin.
"What's going on with this guy? Isn't he from the Imperial Capital?" Dud asked in a low voice.
Kamin was also feeling stifled and chatted with Duds for a bit: "It's that guy in the black robe from before."
"The person has been found?" Dud was somewhat surprised. He had once encountered the man in black robes telling a story to Levy at Roy Palace, and at that time he felt that there was something strange about the two of them.
Later, Levi came to him again, saying that he had lost a piece of his memory, which he guessed was related to this man in black.
"It took a lot of effort to find him, and who knew he'd be like this right after we found him. Doctor, you'd better find a way to wake him up." Camin patted Dud on the shoulder.
Dud was too embarrassed to admit that his job was in the lab and not as a clinical doctor, so he could only keep staring at the equipment with a long face.
The person was just found, and now they've become like this.
Levy didn't expect things to turn out this way.
The black-robed man who told him the story was very strange; he was elusive and unpredictable.
Levy still showed no signs of regaining his memories, but he could vaguely guess that these stories were probably related to his experiences in the virtual world.
He originally thought that the man in black robes was probably not human, but some kind of artificial intelligence.
After all, he had never seen such a cute human before.
But unexpectedly, he encountered him on a garbage planet. He wasn't wearing a black robe to conceal himself, and he looked quite ordinary, except for his pair of black eyes, which were still cold and captivating.
The man in the black robe turned out to be a human, and Levi thought he would be disappointed.
He disliked humans, yet he still found this person somewhat endearing.
When the black-robed figure peeked out from the corner, Levi even thought it wouldn't be so bad if it were human. Those data entities and the like were intangible and could slip through your fingers in the blink of an eye.
Humans still have a firmer grip.
Levy had no obsession with his lost memories.
But for some reason, he felt an urge to hold on tightly to the person telling him the story. Not only did he want to, but he was also a little afraid, afraid that if he let go, the person would disappear again.
Just what I feared most came to pass.
Levy clicked his tongue, looking up at Duds with some impatience, and asked, "How's the situation?"
Dud shuddered upon hearing this: "There's nothing seriously wrong with his body, but I'm worried that he'll be pulled into the virtual world again."
Levy frowned.
Upon hearing this, Kamin cursed, "Who would have thought that the power grid in that lousy place was still on?"
Dudley was also puzzled: "That place has never been well-managed, what are you doing there?"
Levy didn't say anything.
He initially went to the garbage planet to find Qin Chu's sleep pod, but he had no interest in this military general at all, and whether Qin Chu lived or died was none of his business.
The reason for the search was simply that the man in black wanted to see Qin Chu.
Now that this person is in trouble, he has no mood or need to see Qin Chu again.
Levy stood up and took a closer look at the instrument.
If there are no physical problems and the person shows no signs of waking up, then the most likely explanation is that the person has been pulled into the virtual world by the main computer.
The networks on all planets are now shut down, so the only place to get in is a junk planet.
“I’m going to the garbage planet again.” Levi straightened up and walked out.
Just as he was about to leave the ward, Dud, who was staring at the monitor, suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, this mental wave pattern... it looks like the person is about to wake up!"
On a garbage planet.
At the base of that tall tower, several defense soldiers were changing shifts.
They routinely checked the various settings of the sleep pod.
Someone frowned and said hesitantly, "Without a doctor, will it be alright for just the few of us to stay here? We don't know anything about these things, what if something happens to General Qin..."
The others did not answer, and their expressions were not pleasant either.
Qin Chu's sleep pod was moved from the capital planet to this godforsaken place. Everyone knew that the people above were going to abandon Qin Chu.
"The sleep pods are running out of energy..." someone else said.
Another silence fell over the area.
A moment later, a soldier of slightly higher rank from the National Defense Army walked over, frowned, and glanced at them: "What are you all doing here? Go eat."
"Captain, General Qin's sleep pod is running low on energy," someone reminded him.
The National Defense Army soldier, who was called the captain, remained silent for a moment upon hearing this.
"Although we're not from the military, General Qin has been in the outer star systems for so long, barely even going home a few times. He was called back for a mission this time, which is why he's in this state. Isn't it a bit much for the higher-ups to abandon a general like this..."
A young member of the National Defense Army took off his hat, his tone somewhat somber.
"Stop talking. The person lying in the sleep pod right now isn't General Qin Chu, who fought for the Empire, but the AI mastermind that has already betrayed us. Once it takes over General Qin's body and wakes up, the consequences will be something neither we want to see nor General Qin wants to see," the captain said sternly.
The group remained silent and did not argue further.
The person hasn't even woken up yet, and they've already been labeled as having their body taken over by a mastermind; it's really hard to believe.
As the changing of the guard ended and the soldiers were about to disperse, another person jogged in.
He stepped forward, saluted the captain, and said, "Captain, we have received orders from the Imperial Capital Star to immediately destroy Qin Chu's body and sleep pod."
-
Roy Palace.
Burke was not standing outside the gate.
He wasn't originally supposed to be a gatekeeper; he just somehow offended that scoundrel prince and was sent there to sunbathe.
Now that His Highness the Crown Prince is not here, there is certainly no need for him to stand outside like an idiot.