Eternal Night

Chapter 498 Shadow of Evil Spirits
After speaking with the mechanical life form that claimed to be human, Wu Pifu did not linger or return. Instead, he searched for the location of the resistance camp given by A1 and the others, albeit at a slightly slower pace.

“Beelzebub, do you think what he said is true?” Wu Pifu asked.

Beelzebub lay on Wu Pifu's waist, thinking as he said, "It's still hard to say, because we don't have enough valid information and evidence, but at least we have another direction to investigate... In addition to the moon, we actually have another direction to investigate."

“…A place of pure innocence? Is that right?” Wu Pifu said.

Beelzebub said, “Yes, there are two key areas. The first is the moon, the headquarters of the androids and the location of the human council. If the androids really existed in the first place, they were probably there. The other is the Pure Land. Both of these places are where we can glimpse the truth of this world. If we want to find traces of the real civilization, these two places are the most likely to provide clues or lead us directly to it.”

Wu Pifu nodded, looking at the secluded village that had appeared ahead. He stepped through the air and landed in the center of the village.

The entire village was silent, devoid of human voices or figures. Buildings had collapsed, and signs of battle were everywhere. Even the central network node was destroyed. However, there were no android corpses or remains of metallic lifeforms to be seen. Apart from the signs of battle, both sides had mysteriously disappeared.

Wu Pifu stood there, gazing at his surroundings for a long time. His martial arts intuition was stimulated to the extreme, and some kind of inexplicable feeling seemed to appear. Although he couldn't see any actual objects, he seemed to see a large number of figures in his field of vision. He couldn't see their faces, only their shadows. They were firing their weapons incessantly, trying to break out of the camp...

Wu Pifu slowly followed these figures as they walked around the camp, occasionally crouching down to feel for holes in the ground or lifting up a collapsed building to find weapons buried underneath.

During this process, Wu Pifu only perceived the black shadow representing the androids, while the other side was nothingness, without any figures, just as if the androids were fighting against thin air. Moreover, judging from the size of the targets its weapons were firing at, they were not the monstrous bodies of mechanical lifeforms, but rather some kind of life form of similar size to them...

Wu Pifu walked around the entire camp. In his perception, the androids fighting the unknown target could not leave the camp at all. They were rushing towards the camp exit, but when they reached the camp exit, they would circle back and return to the camp. In several areas on the edge of the camp, Wu Pifu also found sudden stops and footsteps that circled around.

Next, Wu Pifu told Beelzebub what he had sensed and investigated. After pondering for a moment, Beelzebub said, "And the ending? What happened to the remains of the androids you saw after they fell?"

Wu Pifu shook his head and said, "I don't know either, because after they fell, their corpses and remains disappeared in an instant, and then I could no longer sense any trace of their existence. I don't know if I can only sense the figures that are moving and fighting, or..."

"Did something devour them in an instant?"

Beelzebub murmured, “There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that they are affected by some kind of electronic program. Although they look like humans, in essence, they are still artificial humans, like robots. All their thoughts and behaviors are based on electronic programs that simulate humans. If there is a signal that can directly affect their electronic programs, then their strange behavior can be explained, such as attacking empty places while feeling as if they are being attacked. All of this is an illusion sent by electronic signals.”

"But... the disappearance of the body remains cannot be explained."

Beelzebub paused for a moment and said, "The first possible mastermind is the unified information processing center of the androids. That thing doesn't want you to contact them, nor does it want you to go to the moon. And this thing may be the biggest mastermind in this world."

"Then there's the second possibility... an evil spirit!"

“Evil spirit?” Wu Pifu repeated the word.

Beelzebub affirmed, “Yes, evil spirits… Didn’t that mechanical life form that claimed to be human mention it before? The result of the White Salt Plague was that the physical body turned into a pillar of salt, and the soul was manifested. As time went on, the soul would be corrupted by the surrounding free information, thus turning into monsters, evil spirits, curses, grudges, and so on. Even in a pure and flawless place, the soul separated from the physical body would be corrupted very slowly. Only a very few souls were spared, while most souls turned into this kind of thing. Even aliens were wiped out because they opened a pure and flawless place.”

Wu Pifu asked in confusion, "But didn't that mechanical life form say that evil spirits and monsters have long since disappeared in the river of time? More than five thousand years have passed, and these things have all vanished."

Beelzebub replied, “No, compared to material beings like androids and mechanical life forms, it is those things that are corrupted and mutated from the soul that can exist for a long time, even approaching immortality. Unless they are destroyed, they are almost impossible to disappear over time… Therefore, I believe that if the second possibility is true, then the curses of those evil spirits that destroyed the aliens did not disappear, but rather fell into a dormant state because they had no target. Only now, with the target reappearing, have they been reactivated.”

Wu Pifu was somewhat taken aback. He asked, "What target?"

“You!” Beelzebub said, “In the past five thousand years, there has only been one change in this world, and that is that the world has regained intelligent life… You must know that since the extinction of humanity, when the aliens opened the seal, there was actually no truly intelligent life in this world. Whether it was the artificial humans that imitated humans or the advanced special mechanical life forms that considered themselves humans, they were not truly intelligent life. They were merely imitating behavior through advanced artificial intelligence. And since then, in the past five thousand years, only you, a human, have appeared!”

Wu Pifu then went to several other resistance camps, and as expected, they were all attacked. The camps were damaged, and the central network node was destroyed, but no corpses or remains of either side were found. All the androids had vanished into thin air.

Next, Wu Pifu stopped searching and returned to the abandoned camp where A1 and the other androids were located as quickly as possible. After seeing that they were safe and sound, Wu Pifu breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, Wu Pifu informed A1 and the others about the surrounding situation. They all agreed that the mechanical lifeforms knew of Wu Pifu's existence and therefore began to mobilize their forces to besiege him.

Because the mechanical lifeforms feared the strength of Wu Pifu, an ordinary human, they preemptively destroyed all of Wu Pifu's channels of communication with the artificial human headquarters. This was a sign that the mechanical lifeforms were about to launch a large-scale attack. They must have already surrounded the entire area and were just waiting for the chaotic electromagnetic radiation waves to pass before launching a decisive attack on Wu Pifu.

A1 immediately said excitedly, "Sir, I beg you to leave this area immediately. With your speed, you can quickly escape the encirclement. As long as you reach the resistance camp on a more distant continent, you will definitely be able to contact headquarters. Only when you reach outer space will your safety be guaranteed!"

Apart from A1, the other members of Wakaba's unit, including the leader of this resistance army, the red-haired mature woman, made the same suggestion.

But Wu Pifu shook his head and said, "No rush. I want to ask if you know where the aliens landed when they first came to Earth?"

The numerous androids looked at each other, none of them knowing why Wu Pifu was asking this question. However, as programs built into the underlying structure to obey and serve humanity, they still spoke the information they knew without hesitation.

The aliens initially landed in an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, and the original mechanical life forms were marine-type mechanical structures that evolved over thousands of years to become what they are today.

Next, the members of the Wakaba unit used the walls and charcoal to briefly describe the locations of the continents and islands on Earth. They were currently located in the South American continent, while the island region where the aliens had landed was in the southern Pacific Ocean, not far from South America, and was in the Southern Hemisphere of Earth.

"...Easter Island?"

Wu Pifu was amazed to confirm the location where the aliens had landed on Earth. There was an island at that location. He might not be familiar with other islands, but he happened to know this one and remembered it.

It's a mysterious island covered with giant human head stone statues. Wu Pifu knows about it and remembers it because of the many games, animations, and novels created because of its mysterious characteristics. He even carefully researched the location and various aspects of this island back then.

Unexpectedly, the aliens landed on Easter Island.

After pondering for a while, Wu Pifu said, "Besides the central network node, what other ways do we have to quickly contact the android headquarters?"

The seven members of Wakaba's unit, along with several resistance androids who were listening in, all began to think seriously, but after a long time, they all started to shake their heads.

Without this chaotic electromagnetic wave, members of the Wakaba unit could contact the headquarters individually, except for the central network node, and there were many other ways to do so. However, due to this electromagnetic interference, all other means of communication are now useless except for the central network node.

"So……"

Wu Pifu looked at the map and thought for a moment before saying, "Let's not go looking for the resistance camp. Starting tomorrow, we'll advance at full speed towards the sea, and then figure out a way to get to Easter Island..."

"That place... is probably a pure and flawless place!"

(End of this chapter)