Eternal Night

Chapter 511 Experiments and Sudden Ideas

Wu Pifu rushed into the cabin and saw three small animals huddled together, while the poor branches of the golden tree waved wildly. As Wu Pifu rushed in, the three small animals all cried out and squeezed onto him, and the branches of the golden tree immediately turned towards Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu glanced into the cabin and mentally counted the ninety-odd people present. The number matched the one he remembered, but he knew things couldn't possibly be that simple.

The three small animals cried out, and Beelzebub said urgently, "Just now, right before our eyes, at least thirty or so androids sank into darkness. No, it might not have been darkness, but something that could devour even light and cognition. So, in our perception, that place was darkness. In short, those thirty or so androids disappeared, and we can no longer recall their existence. If we hadn't reminded each other, we might have even forgotten the number thirty or so..."

Wu Pifu nodded slightly, this was the same as what he had vaguely seen in the outside world before.

That is, the individual sinks into despair and eventually disappears completely. In the process, the lost person will take on various forms and identities, and eventually leave behind some strange, illogical, and bizarre words that do not conform to their identity.

After Wu Pifu sat down, he told Beelzebub what he had found out. In particular, when he mentioned those bizarre words that had no meaning, the three little animals began to tremble again.

The content itself is not terrifying, but the unknown, especially the bizarre unknown, is incredibly frightening and is the greatest source of fear for life.

"...I want to try to rescue the lost androids."

After Wu Pifu finished speaking, he said to the three little animals, "Obviously, the Lost Pollution is a danger that I will inevitably face in the future. Moreover, to explore the Lost Civilization and hunt down the Lost Roots, I will need to deal with the Lost Pollution. While human civilization is still at 1.0% of the real world civilization, the Lost Pollution will cause me the least harm. I want to test myself by facing the Lost Pollution directly."

Both Chirp and Daphne chirped twice, both expressing concern. After a moment of thought, Beelzebub said, "It's possible. This kind of attempt shouldn't be too dangerous for you right now, but you must be careful. If you find it's beyond redemption, you absolutely cannot go any further. The Lost Contamination won't infect us now, but if we actively go deep into the source of the contamination, that's a different story. I'm afraid you won't be able to face the Lost Contamination directly right now. That's something only an Ascended Being or the Root can do!"

Wu Pifu nodded in agreement, then closed his eyes and sat silently, waiting for any unusual phenomena to appear so he could act immediately.

But for some reason, when Wu Pifu sat cross-legged, there were no more so-called loss phenomena in the entire cabin. This might be because Wu Pifu was a native individual of Gaia's real world, or because his identity was special and his real level was greater. In any case, when he was there, all the androids were turned off and lay down, and there was no more loss.

Time passed slowly. The three little animals were initially tense, but around two o'clock in the morning, they couldn't stay awake any longer and fell into a deep sleep. Even the branches of the World Tree slowly drooped. Only Wu Pifu remained focused, fully utilizing all its senses. It could immediately erupt at the slightest disturbance.

Time ticked by, but Wu Pifu's willpower remained unwavering. Finally, he snapped his eyes open, his body jolted slightly, and the three small animals were thrown back. Then, he charged forward and landed beside an android who was falling. Wu Pifu grabbed the android without hesitation, and in the next instant, he too was pulled down.

From the sidelines, he and the android seemed to be sinking into the darkness, but in Wu Pifu's perception, it was not like that at all. He could not describe his current state in human language. It was a loss that was more thorough than disappearance or annihilation, and its essence was that it was completely breaking away from the world that could be truly sensed.

The android he was holding was a vehicle maintenance android, who was rather taciturn in the resistance. He had no interaction with this android. As they fell together, the android's appearance kept changing, sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes old, sometimes young. At the same time, a large number of "sounds" were emitted. After a while, Wu Pifu realized that these were not sounds, but some kind of information perception.

"The Human Council has established a special force specifically for special operations against unique individuals within the machine lifeforms..."

"I don't know when humanity will be able to return to Earth. If they don't come back, then is our fight really still meaningful?"

"...I heard that a terrible plague has appeared in Asia, something like white salt..."

"...Elisa! My Elisa, where are you..."

"...No, no, absolutely not, I..."

……

Is this what they call breaking the fourth wall?

"Making fun of yourself!"

"Crowdfunding to write a book!"

……

"Really XXXXX..."

“XXXXXOOOOOO”.

……

In Wu Pifu's perception, the android became increasingly illusory and unreal. Simultaneously, the information it emitted shifted from an android's perspective to a human's. Then, as its illusory nature deepened, the content of the emitted information became bizarre and strange, neither purely android's nor purely human's perspective, until finally, the information became unrecognizable, completely transforming into something incomprehensible and indescribable. Just then, Wu Pifu's grip loosened, and the person he was holding suddenly vanished, its existence sinking into an unknown dimension. Wu Pifu was thrown out, and only then did he regain his senses to find himself lying on the cabin floor. There was nothing in front of him, and he could no longer remember any information about the android—whether it was male or female, old or young—he remembered nothing at all.

Wu Pifu stood silently for a moment, then returned to the entrance and sat down. The three small animals immediately ran to him and turned back into pendants.

"...cannot be caught."

Wu Pifu then recounted his recent experience in detail, concluding, "The attempt to stop it failed. I discovered that the Lost Pollution is not as simple as it appears. It is not merely an attack, erosion, or existence; it is more like a dimensional shift... I can't explain it. My senses were too confused at the time, and I also heard those inexplicable sounds."

Next, Wu Pifu recounted all the voices he had heard. When he mentioned that this was what was called breaking the fourth wall and crowdfunding to write a book, Beelzebub exclaimed in surprise. Wu Pifu then asked, "Did you remember anything else?"

Beelzebub hesitated for a moment and said, "No, it was just a flash of inspiration, but I can't say for sure right now... What are your plans next?"

Wu Pifu hummed in agreement and continued looking into the cabin, saying, "I'm going to try attacking! Since I can't pull or stop it, I'll try what I do best. If the Lost phenomenon occurs again, I'll attack it with all my might when I'm pulled into that state, and then see if there are any other reactions."

This is indeed what Wu Pifu excels at, and it aligns with his consistent way of thinking.

Beelzebub didn't stop her, but silently pondered the flash of inspiration that had just appeared in her mind. Wu Pifu continued to wait silently. At this time, the three little animals dared not doze off anymore. They kept their eyes wide open and continued to watch the cabin with Wu Pifu. After more than ten minutes, when even Beelzebub was getting drowsy, Wu Pifu suddenly sprang up again, rushed to the back of the cabin, and grabbed at a sinking android with one hand.

With a single grab, Wu Pifu was once again pulled into the state of Lost Contamination. But this time, he immediately released the Fallen Android and began punching at the void. With a sudden burst of power, each punch was like a thunderclap. He didn't care whether he hit any target or not; he just kept punching the void and lost space in front of him.

As he threw his punch, all the sounds that should have been heard were drowned out by the sound of his fist. At the same time, as he attacked in the void of loss, Wu Pifu had a strange feeling of being isolated from the world. At this moment, his mind and body were free from all interference. Every punch was pure and flawless, without any distractions. He suddenly understood the meaning of this sentence... Transcendence is corruption!

What if one has already attained transcendence and is now isolated from pollution?

Wu Pifu felt as if he had been struck by something, but it was also as if it were an illusion, and he couldn't describe it.

Each punch landed on nothingness. With each punch, he could feel the emptiness receding slightly, but this emptiness was too vast. He couldn't even perceive its boundaries. Compared to that slight receding, the entire emptiness remained almost unchanged. He could only perceive it after reaching the Divine Indestructible Realm of Chinese Martial Arts.

Finally, after unleashing hundreds of attacks with near-full power, the android finally vanished in despair. Then, he returned to the cabin and threw a punch to its fullest extent, the entire cabin even swirling with the force of his punch.

Wu Pifu sat back down at the entrance. He pondered for a few seconds before saying to Beelzebub, "It had an effect, but it was very, very slight. My attack did weaken the size of the Lost Contamination, but I estimate it weakened it by less than one ten-thousandth of its total size... I couldn't destroy the Lost Contamination before it completely disappeared."

Beelzebub said, “Title! If you have any power that can weaken and attack the Lost Contamination, then I am sure that only your title can work. To be more precise, the title of Commoner! Mortal, sublimated, root, only the root can resist the Lost Contamination... Your title of Commoner carries the characteristics of the root!”

Wu Pifu nodded slightly, then added, "There's another one. In the Lost Contamination, I threw punches continuously, and with each punch, I had a feeling that... the Lost Source was isolating something. That thing seems to be in my Chinese martial arts, the Human Immortal Martial Arts, and all other extraordinary systems. I can't say for sure..."

Beelzebub didn't know what Wu Pifu was talking about either. When Wu Pifu stopped speaking and fell into deep thought, Beelzebub asked, "Did you hear those strange sounds this time?"

Wu Pifu paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, I didn't hear it this time."

After speaking, Wu Pifu intended to continue staring ahead, waiting for the next android to fall into despair, when Beelzebub suddenly spoke up: "I've had a crazy idea, I wonder if you'd be willing to give it a try?"

Wu Pifu asked doubtfully, "Tell me about it."

“…Let those voices tell us what to do next,” Beelzebub said earnestly. “And it must be you who asks them. Then, the next time you enter the Lost Contamination, listen carefully to what those voices are saying. If they do respond, then perhaps they are… Anyway, do you want to give it a try?”

Wu Pifu was somewhat puzzled, but trusting Beelzebub, he still asked, "Then what should I do?"

“It’s like a prayer, or a supplication to spirits or higher beings, asking questions with all your heart, and then it’s up to fate… Just tell me what you most want to do right now,” Beelzebub said.

Wu Pifu sat there silently pondering for a long time before asking with a serious expression, "How can I defeat this lost pollution? How can I help and save these androids?"

“Powerful beings who have spoken… if you truly exist, then tell me!”

(End of this chapter)