The night before the promotion

Chapter 48: The Dreamland is Vague and Endless
The elevator reached the top floor of the Skyline Building, deep in the golden dreamland, the end point of tonight's carnival.

In the intervals between the fierce battles, Zhou Si had imagined what the top of the golden dreamland would look like. A palace far more luxurious than the ninety-sixth floor? Some kind of futuristic minimalism, or rough pipes and huge equipment groups full of punk feeling?

Fantasy is useless, seeing is believing.

As the elevator door slowly opened, Li Weiyun nervously raised his electromagnetic rifle to deal with any possible emergencies.

Li Weiyun thought that the 97th floor must be heavily guarded to allow the tiger to make its final dying struggle, but in fact, it was empty, with nothing there, and it was terrifyingly quiet.

Zhou Si staggered out. With the injection of the medicine and rest, he regained some mobility. He felt no different from before. The only difference was that one of his legs was not very obedient.

Zhou Si didn’t think much about his physical disability, as he was already a crippled body anyway.

"It's so beautiful..."

Zhou Si stopped where he was, admiring the place like a tourist.

The ninety-seventh floor was much more beautiful than Zhou Si’s fantasies. The first thing that caught his eye was a huge glass dome. It was like a pyramid structure, with tough metal structures supporting each other, like a huge spider web, extending upward layer by layer until it disappeared into the golden sky.

Directly below the dome is a high platform also supported by a metal structure. Numerous large-scale holographic projection devices are set up here. Like dream machines, they weave golden illusions and completely cover the top of the skyline building.

The illusory golden clouds penetrated the glass curtain, and under the layers of refraction and reflection of the glass, the brilliant light filled the entire dome.

When this dreamlike scene fell to the ground, the mirror-like marble reflected it clearly. The golden color above and below intertwined and blended with the entire ninety-seven floors, as if it was the intersection of dreams and reality.

At this moment, there seemed to be no up-and-down relationship in the dimension of space, which reminded Zhou Si of the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, whose other well-known name is the Sky Realm.

Li Weiyun was also shocked by this magnificent scene. He could no longer see the boundaries of the glass curtain, as if the entire ninety-seventh floor was built on the vast cloud top.

"Doctor Zhou, you really kept me waiting for a long time."

An annoying sound came from the rolling clouds. Zhou Si looked forward vigilantly. The figure of the mountain lion slowly walked to the edge of the platform and appeared in front of Zhou Si.

Li Weiyun immediately raised his electromagnetic rifle and shouted, "Tiger, give up resistance!"

"It's useless, Captain Li," Zhou Si shook his head and pressed the barrel of his gun, "It was just an avatar, an incomparably perfect avatar that deceived all of us."

Li Weiyun hesitated for a moment, and then he saw the hideous wound on the tiger's abdomen. The protruding silicone and dried blood coagulated together, revealing the mottled metal structure inside.

No wonder the Supervisory Bureau could not find out the identity of the tiger before. All along, this tiger living deep in the golden dreamland has been just an empty shell.

"I have bad news for you, Doctor Zhou," Shanjun pointed to the source of the fog behind him, "You are too late. It's all over."

Zhou Si was not angered by his words, "So? Becoming an upgraded consciousness is exactly what Pei Dong wants."

"Besides, I'm not here to save her," Zhou Si's anger flared up again, "I'm here for revenge."

"How cold-blooded! Even if she becomes an ascended consciousness, you still don't care about her at all?"

Shan Jun asked with interest, "Oh? Does that mean that, in your opinion, the upgraded consciousness is no longer considered human?"

"Whether from a legal or ethical perspective, I don't think that kind of thing can be called a human being."

For the first time, Zhou Si expressed his stance on the Ascended Consciousness. "If you ask me, it's a monster. It's extremely terrifying, and it's enough to subvert human society."

Shanjun was speechless for a moment. After a while, he said slowly, "I thought an ascender like you would be crazy enough to seek immortality?"

Zhou Si staggered forward a few steps and said loudly, "Shan Jun, if you really understood what it means to become an immortal, you wouldn't have any expectations for that kind of thing."

"That's true."

Shan Jun turned his head and glanced into the depths of the golden sky. "Actually, I have the same idea as you, Doctor Zhou. I don't like this kind of thing either."

"Although this technology can turn us into digital life and make us immortal, I think that when humans lose their bodies, the desires that drive us will also disappear without a trace."

"If becoming an immortal means cutting off all desires, that would actually be pretty boring."

Surprisingly, Shanjun actually speculated on the possibilities after the upgrade from his own perspective.

Zhou Si hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Since you don't believe in the so-called immortality, then you..."

"Then why do I have to do all this?" Shan Jun complained with a smile, "It's simple, to make money. After all, being a killer is my job."

Zhou Si noticed the clues in the tiger's words. Some people in the paradise are really pursuing immortality, while some, like the tiger, are just using immortality as a business.

Just like many classic pyramid schemes, some people believed in the false illusion wholeheartedly, while some made profits from it. The composition of the paradise was far more complicated and mysterious than Zhou Si had imagined.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense, Dr. Zhou." Shanjun changed his tone and swung his hands vigorously to both sides. Two folded sharp blades popped out from his arms and stuck close to his fists, like a pair of swords embedded in flesh and blood.

He stood tall and challenged, "Want to come?"

When Song Qiliang controlled the Iron Soldier incarnation to break into the 96th floor, the outcome of tonight was absolutely determined. Even if there were hundreds of times more servants, for the armed incarnation, it was just a matter of pulling the trigger a few more times.

Shan Jun lost, and the golden dreamland he had been running for a long time fell into a sea of ​​fire. At the same time, he also won, as Shan Jun had collected enough data from Pei Dong's upgrade test.

Zhou Si could have completely rejected the mountain king's invitation to fight, and waited for the Iron Soldier incarnation to completely clear up the golden dreamland. The mountain king could also have severed the connection with the incarnation and woke up from some unknown secret place.

Both of them had a way to retreat, but neither of them was willing to look back, as if they had some kind of tacit understanding that they had a grudge to settle tonight.

Li Weiyun glanced at Zhou Si worriedly. He wanted to persuade him with something, but when he noticed that Zhou Si's eyes were filled with cold murderous intent and suppressed anger, he chose to remain silent.

The electromagnetic rifle was adjusted to lethal mode. Li Weiyun silently aimed at the tiger but did not pull the trigger.

"so good."

Shan Jun got the answer, and Zhou Si held his breath, endured the pain, and staggered forward.

The distance between the two people was getting closer and closer, and golden clouds were rolling between them.

It was depressing and solemn, just like the scene in a western movie when cowboys were dueling. Zhou Si raised his head, and the golden sky turned into the scorching sun at noon.

Suddenly, a black spot appeared in the scorching sun, and the dazzling light made Zhou Si squint his eyes.

He heard the hum of a sword in the wind, like the miserable cry of some animal before its death.

The sound of swords suddenly rang out!
The tiger fell heavily, and the crossed swords smashed the marble floor into pieces.

Amidst the flying debris, Zhou Si stared at the tiger. It was unclear whether it was an illusion or his electronic eyeballs were just like that. A dangerous red light appeared in the tiger's eyes, like red-hot iron.

Zhou Si stopped his retreat and unsheathed his narrow blade. In the warm golden light, the cold light of the metal seemed particularly abrupt.

The narrow blade collided with the crossed swords, and the eardrum-numbing metallic sound continued. The blades and edges crossed and confronted each other, sparks and dazzling white light appeared.

The tiger's movements were very agile, and each collision of the two swords with the narrow blade was extremely light, like a dragonfly touching the water, and leaving as soon as it touched.

He was well aware of the terrifying power of the narrow blade and did not give Zhou Si any chance to tear the two swords apart. The injury on his thigh made Zhou Si's mobility almost zero. He could only stand there stupidly and fight back passively.

But Zhou Si did not fall into a disadvantage because of this. On the contrary, his slashing seemed extremely easy, like an airtight fortress, blocking all attacks and launching certain counterattacks at the moment of blocking.

This is a technique called strike-and-return, which involves using one's own sword to strike away the opponent's sword and then immediately counterattacking. This technique requires the swordsman to quickly switch swordsmanship while defending, achieving both offense and defense.

Zhou Si has not received any systematic swordsmanship training. These skills are acquired through self-practice during the past three years through intensive and friendly communication with patients.

"What a nice sword!"

The tiger was once again shaken away by the narrow blade and took a look at the two swords. Even though he had tried his best to avoid a long confrontation, the edges of the two swords became bumpy and cruelly jagged after many collisions.

Zhou Si did not respond. Instead, he stroked the sharp blade in admiration and wiped off the iron residue on it.

The large-scale holographic projection equipment group operated according to the established program, weaving a false illusion. A huge holographic projection rose between the two people. It was a beautiful woman's face.

Zhou Si and the mountain king stopped their attacks at the same time. The giant woman rose from the ground and pierced through the sky. She lowered her head and looked at Zhou Si with pity.

"Golden Dreamland, customize your beautiful dream."

The familiar slogan rose from the woman's hand, and the bold font seemed to remind everyone that this was ultimately a dream, not reality.

"Doctor Zhou, you must be hallucinating," Shan Jun asked curiously, "What does all this look like to you?"

Once upon a time, Zhou Si also asked Luo Yong the same question.

Zhou Si looked at the woman's face, which began to distort slightly, first turning into Ruan Linrui's face, and then turning into the beautiful face of Pei Dong in the past.

Finally, the skin melted like wax, removing the disguise and revealing Pei Dong's sickly, deathly face. Along with his huge body, it also collapsed inch by inch and turned into the skeleton of a giant.

Zhou Si's expression was exceptionally calm, solemn yet full of pity, like a guest at a funeral, silently watching the soil cover the coffin.

Nothing is left.

(End of this chapter)