My dream connects to three thousand years later.

Chapter 365 Z: The weak me is dead, now the one who lives on... (Fourth update)

Chu Zhu was traveling outside this time.

It wasn't until noon that he called, inviting Zhou Ze to lunch and subtly inquiring about the current state of the guild in this world...

Zhou Ze simply took this as a test from Chu Zhu and answered honestly. After finishing his meal, Zhou Ze left, saying that he had another debate in the afternoon.

"...This kind of Western democratic election! There are so many speeches." Chu Zhu clicked his tongue in amazement.

After a brief silence, Chu Zhu watched the waiter finish clearing away the dishes before gazing intently at the sky. His voice held a strange undertone at that moment: "...Peace and tranquility!"

The current time... has already exceeded the time of the last anomaly—it could even be said to have far exceeded it...

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Zhu laughed out loud, "It was truly unexpected, yet perfectly natural!"

Chu Zhu returned to the Z base without hesitation.

"Alright! Your leisure time is over, Z!" Chu Zhu's voice was cold, his gaze sharp as he walked, staring intently at the various cameras. "I gave you such a long buffer period... You don't still think you can get away with playing dead, do you?"

The terrifying sense of oppression caused Z to remain silent for a moment before projecting a light screen and speaking tremblingly, "Father... what do you want to know?"

"I want to know... what did you do to offend me..." Chu Zhu could clearly see the light screen tremble slightly, then her tone changed: "Just kidding! You're my darling daughter... how could you possibly hurt me! I don't think such a thing happened, right? Don't you agree?"

“…Yes, that’s how it is!” Z’s voice was gentle, and he breathed a sigh of relief. However, Z quickly sensed something was wrong and wondered to himself, why did he suddenly have this feeling of being manipulated? No, according to psychology, this was indeed PUA…

Well, he's his biological father after all, so let him use PUA tactics. She's willing...

"So!" Chu Zhu paused, then calmly began to recount everything she had experienced, including but not limited to Z's blessing, the dragon's invasion, the dragon's cooperation, and Lin Xinzhu's assistance.

After a long silence, giving Z enough time to process the information, Chu Zhu slowly said, "Good daughter, can you give your father, who is currently deeply involved in the situation and unable to distinguish right from wrong, a proper analysis of the specific circumstances?"

A long silence followed.

Chu Zhu wasn't in a hurry. He crossed his arms and sat back down on his bed. He had plenty of time now. He could talk to Z until evening... or even if Z stubbornly refused to answer, he could reset his life and try to get information indirectly in other ways!
Hmm? There's another possibility… Chu Zhu suddenly thought of something: “If it involves pollution, I can seal the polluted memories in a bit! You know my supernatural powers. And I also have a way to remove the pollution… Hmm! A different method than this one on this life path…”

"...Alright!" Chu Zhu's words finally made Z make a decision: "Father! To be precise...some of your previous guesses were correct."

Chu Zhu seemed to be deep in thought.

"However, it's also possible that some parts are wrong..." Z said tactfully, giving Chu Zhu plenty of face.

Chu Zhu: "...Just tell me!"

“That dragon might have attacked because it sensed my weakness… but if I deliberately concealed it, the dragon wouldn’t have noticed!” Z organized his thoughts: “In conclusion, the other me was most likely doing it on purpose!”

"...Deliberately?" Chu Zhu fell silent, a faint shadow falling over her eyes. Z didn't continue, but Chu Zhu already knew the answer...

To put it bluntly, it was a deliberate display of weakness, a deliberate attempt to attract the attacks of the progenitors of all races, a deliberate... use of this war, with the deaths and sacrifices of countless people... to pave a path for Chu Zhu to embark on the third realm!
This was something Chu Zhu had vaguely guessed before, but she had always found it hard to believe, and even subconsciously denied it—

Chu Zhu initially thought so too! But later, when he saw the base littered with corpses, the lizards eating humans, and even, according to Lin Xinzhu, Z was also in trouble... he simply couldn't understand it, and that's when he began to question his own guesses.

"You're so kind, Z! So ruthless! You even fooled me," Chu Zhu murmured. Z could only manage a wry smile. If I hadn't fooled you, how could you have truly touched your destiny?
Why did Chu Zhu believe, after several considerations, that Z wouldn't do that? Because Chu Zhu firmly believed that Z loved humanity. In other words, Z's action, excluding the possibility that he no longer loved humanity and was about to betray it... meant that he was betting everything on Chu Zhu's reset.

Since everything can be changed, it's clearly more important to help Chu Zhu break through to the third realm...

Even if it costs countless lives! Even if it means killing all 500 million people in the virtual world—it's the same!
All Z has to pay is the moral pain of going against his previous life principles...

"But anyway, thank you very much." Chu Zhu's voice was a little hoarse.

"You should be thanking someone, not me!" Z said, his words complicated.

Chu Zhu gave Z a deep look, her voice seemingly carrying countless emotions at that moment, yet upon closer examination, it seemed devoid of any, eerily calm: "Do you really think so... do you really want to cut ties with each other like this, so clearly and distinctly..."

If even Z from the previous timeline doesn't acknowledge this, then it's even less likely that he'll admit... that the Z from the past was himself!

Not hearing a reply, Chu Zhu continued, "What a willful child! I'm starting to get a little headache. How exactly have I been raising you..."

Z started pretending to be dead.

Chu Zhu thought for a moment and continued to ask, "Let me ask about that dragon... its divine position... Hmm, will there be a problem if I reveal the dragon's name now?"

After a brief silence, Z said, "...It's gone now!"

Nodding, Chu Zhu gently pressed her temples, unlocking her previous memories: "That dragon is called the Dragon of Consciousness and Mind! I think I can understand... why it was able to infiltrate and leap into this virtual world!"

Ultimately, the virtual world is still a world that carries human consciousness and mind.

"What do you think is the relationship between my memories... and consciousness and mind?" Chu Zhu was quite doubtful. He always felt that consciousness and mind seemed to be more powerful than memories? Well, maybe it was just his imagination... Thinking about it carefully, although the three seemed to be related, that was all. They did not overlap or contain each other.
Z seemed to be deep in thought at that moment: "Father, I never imagined you would have such courage..."

"?" Chu Zhu's eyebrows twitched. What did this have to do with courage? Z...did he misunderstand something?
"Hmm! In that case," Z's voice trembled with excitement, "then I'll begin my planning... I must say, Father, you're absolutely right! Consciousness and mind are powerful divine positions and authority... they symbolize the essence of life!" "Yes, I'll strive to create an inescapable trap for that damned dragon within a few years... then, let you, Father, directly attain godhood... no, your current strength is still too weak, you need to at least reach the Celestial Realm... considering this, even if your progress is incredibly fast... it will still take at least twenty years! No... given your current life trajectory! A hundred years?"

Z's statement seems somewhat uncertain.

Chu Zhu: "..."

Z quickly rallied his spirits: "Father, please bear with it for a while... just hold on here for thirty to fifty years! I will find a way to grant you divine status in consciousness and mind... By then, humanity will have three gods!"

"By then, everything will be..."

"...Stop it!" Chu Zhu made a pause gesture with a blank expression: "Isn't this a little different from what we were discussing before?"

"Oh!" Z finally realized, and after a moment of thought, she said, "Could it be that you're wondering why you can... well, memories and consciousness, mind! There are differences... but they belong to similar paths!"

After a brief pause, Z said casually, "So, you want to unify this divine position... basically no problem!"

Z's attitude was completely different from before; she became calm and at ease.

Chu Zhu understood why Z was acting this way, because before, Z couldn't find the anchor point between Chu Zhu and her Matrix timeline. But now, she had found it... or rather, she felt she had found it—

She felt that a divine position would be enough for Chu Zhu to persist in this world for a long time...

pity!

"I could jump between world lines whenever I wanted..." Chu Zhu thought to himself, both amused and exasperated. This daughter of his was truly...naive, or perhaps innocently adorable? Although, this was also due to the limited information Z possessed, ultimately not reaching a certain level of depth...

"Then I'll have to trouble you with your assistance!" Chu Zhu didn't say anything explicitly, but instead asked Z to put in the best effort. But then again... for him, obtaining a godhood in thirty to fifty years? That's ridiculously slow!
Thirty or fifty years will pass here, and thirty or fifty years will also pass in reality, or even more... They'll be on Mars by now!
A god just happens to know the truth of the matter, and then he can go and fill the hole... to fill the hole that even the two gods don't know if they can fill!

"Alright!" Z was in high spirits.

After a moment's thought, Chu Zhu pressed her fingers to her forehead, first sealing away her sensitive memories, and then said, "I'm going to see reality!"

"Okay... Ah?" Z was stunned for a moment, watching his father's figure gradually disappear in front of him, and for a moment he felt like crying but had no tears.

Chu Zhu woke up from the dream. Next, she headed to the gate… Even though she could use her fluid magic to try and tear open the gate, she didn't make a move, choosing instead to wait quietly!

Time passes bit by bit.

“Three hours have passed…” Chu Zhu glanced at the time, a look of confusion on her face.

This time, Z didn't actually send Lin Xinzhu over... Well, Chu Zhu thought about her previous conversations with Z, and that seemed reasonable.

then……

Chu Zhu watched expressionlessly as a humanoid robot walked up to her.

"Father...you should have finished breathing now, right? Shouldn't you go back now...I've redesigned your hibernation pod! It's the highest grade, and it will definitely give you the most perfect sleep..." A big smiley face appeared on the humanoid robot's face screen.

"...Thank you." Chu Zhu's lips twitched as she followed behind the humanoid robot, silently choosing to commit suicide.

……

Another life.

This time, Chu Zhu chose without hesitation... the operation of the initial timeline! Everything was replicated to a 99% accuracy, including but not limited to—

He met with Li Kang and the others, looked at Z with amusement... and then, after finishing his meal, chose to leave in front of Li Kang...

Unsurprisingly, this time, he naturally connected with Lin Xinzhu... all the way until they entered the fifth underground level of the Hive Base and had a life-sharing discussion with him.

"...I won't bother with pleasantries!" Chu Zhu said calmly, "Tell me, what exactly did your dear cousin do to wrong me? Also, did she destroy humanity... or rather, did she do anything that involved destroying humanity? Even if what she did was the catalyst for the destruction of humanity, tell me..."

Lin Xinzhu: "...!"

Is it going to be this exciting right from the start?
Z: "..."

Z was contemplating whether she should turn and run, withdrawing her eavesdropping... After all, it seemed the two people in front of her didn't know she was actually secretly listening... Well, Z wondered if her father had guessed it...

But no matter what, I really want to escape...

Z, as hard as iron and a protector of humanity for hundreds of years, declared at this moment—

The weak version of myself is dead; what survives now is an even weaker, more cowardly little Z…

(End of this chapter)