Night Journey

Chapter 37 Bruce

The motorcycle sped across the wilderness, leaving a long trail of thick smoke behind it.

After a long drive, Cillian finally found a sheltered building ruin before nightfall.

As usual, Ciri skillfully built a campfire, poured in his soul essence, and sat quietly by the firelight, waiting for night to fall.

The big white dog sat opposite Cillian, its face full of seriousness and earnestness.

"First of all, I can be sure that I am a human being."

The big white dog analyzed meticulously.

"I have basic moral values ​​and cognition, a highly developed mind, and at the same time, the image I identify with strongly points to the existence of humanity."

Cillian chewed on the hard jerky and nodded silently.

"But strangely, I can't remember who I am. My memory begins this morning, when I crawled out of the sand and met you."

The big white dog tilted its head, and it was hard to imagine that its face could so vividly express a look of confusion.

"Regarding what you said about those strange occurrences last night, I have no recollection of them either, but considering all the clues, it should be related to my arrival... I came to the real world from the spirit world."

Cillian listened quietly. After finishing the jerky, he took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat.

Most people would be terrified to discover strange creatures arriving in the real world from the spirit world, but Cillian was rather unfazed.

Theoretically speaking, Cillian also came from the spirit world, but he was placed in a mysterious iron coffin, which was later opened by Nun.

"Then you said I have scars from brain surgery?"

Cillian glanced at the big white dog's bald head and finally spoke.

“That’s right. It looks like someone opened up your entire skull, and judging from the way the wound is healing, the surgery was only a few days ago.”

Seeing the big white dog deep in thought, Cillian asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

This time, the big white dog remained silent for nearly ten minutes before slowly raising its head and staring at Cillian.

"I think I know what's going on."

"continue."

The big white dog took a deep breath and speculated.

“I was originally a human, but for some terrible reason, my brain was removed and transplanted into the body of this big white dog.”

Following the big white dog's speculation, Cillian said, "But a dog's brain capacity is clearly insufficient to hold the entire human brain."

"So, the people who performed the surgery on me also removed a portion of my brain tissue to better facilitate the transplant. Because of the removal of part of my brain tissue, I lost my memories of the past."

After explaining all this, the big white dog let out a series of curses.

"Damn it! Who did this?! This is so humiliating!!"

After venting his emotions, the big white dog seemed much more relaxed. He moved closer to Cillian, started chewing on the jerky, and let out a satisfied hum.

"You're quite optimistic."

Seeing the big white dog happily munching on jerky, Cillian sighed, "Anyone else would probably go crazy if they encountered something like this, right?"

"Going crazy? How could that be?"

The big white dog discussed it seriously.

“A person is the sum of their past experiences and social relationships, but right now, all of that is a blank for me. You could say that I am now a brand new life.”

"All I have to do now is figure out how to survive and, in the time to come, figure out my past little by little."

The big white dog countered, "What do you think?"

Cillian moved to the side, putting some distance between himself and the big white dog.

"I just think you're a huge problem."

Who knows who the big white dog was in the past, or why he was treated this way, but it is foreseeable that these are things that Cillian cannot handle at the moment.

"Haha, I think so too."

The big white dog chuckled a few times and then lay slumped on the ground.

The optimism it had just displayed was merely a facade. After all, it identified itself as human, and being trapped in an animal's body made every minute and every second a form of silent torture.

Cillian asked curiously, "How do you, a dog, use source energy?"

"Oh, about that? I was surprised too."

The big white dog became interested and began to speak eloquently, “To embark on the path of extraordinary destiny, we need to awaken from the dream of the soul and maintain a strong sense of self within the Sea of ​​Origin, so that the soul can separate from the ocean.”

"So the question is, where exactly does the so-called soul reside within our bodies?"

Cillian said thoughtfully, "The brain."

"That's right, the brain!"

The big white dog said excitedly, "The essence of the soul may be our strong self-awareness, and self-awareness is the key to driving source energy."

"Therefore, even if your brain is transplanted into an animal's body, you can still use the source energy."

Cillian then asked, "Do you know what rank you are?"

The big white dog shook its head. "I don't know. Maybe it's because part of my brain tissue was removed. My use of source energy is more of a vague and instinctive process."

Cillian hinted at it, "But from these alone, we can infer a lot, can't we?"

"Um……"

The big white dog stood up and paced around the campfire.

"I can extract metal from the environment, I am extremely familiar with mechanical structures, and I can even make certain modifications... Clearly, I am destined to be a mechanical skeleton, a spirit craftsman from the Institute of Ten Thousand Machines."

Spirit Craftsmen are a collective term for those whose mechanical destiny is extraordinary. The ultimate goal of the mechanical destiny is to become one of the Three Sages, the Iron Father, who rebuilt industry and city-states.

“However, I don’t know which Foundry I come from,” the big white dog muttered to himself. “Then I’ve ended up in this situation because I made a mistake within the Foundry and was used as a test subject for some technology.”

“At the same time, your rank won’t be too high,” Cillian added. “You should be like me, just a low-ranking superhuman.” “Pretty much. If I were a high-ranking superhuman, it would be a waste to use my head for transplant experiments,” the big white dog nodded. “Usually, the heads of high-ranking superhumans are used as wet parts and put into mobile fortresses.”

Cillian doubted he had heard correctly.

"It's very interesting. I can't recall a single memory of my past, but I can connect past knowledge through conversation..."

The big white dog got stuck in a rut, unable to find a solution, so it started throwing a tantrum on the ground.

Cillian silently picked up his notebook and began to record the unusual events of the previous night, as well as the strange big white dog.

He first described the appearance of the big white dog on paper, and then tried to reconstruct the specific information about the big white dog when it was human through various clues.

"A spirit craftsman, not a high-ranking one, but with an optimistic personality..."

A vague image became clearer in Cillian's notes, but when Cillian tried to refine the image further, he encountered a difficulty.

"Hey, Big White, stop rolling around."

"Dabai?"

The big white dog turned its head and glanced at Cillian. "Are you calling me? It sounds like you're calling a dog."

"Aren't you just a dog now?"

"I am a human being! A human being!"

The big white dog immediately bit at Cillian's thigh, but Cillian kicked it back with precise footwork.

"Sorry, sorry, please don't get agitated."

While expressing his apology, Cillian wrote in his notebook, "I have a strong sense of self-respect."

"Then, I won't call you 'big'..."

Just as Cillian was about to say "Big White," the big white dog bared its teeth at him, so Cillian had to swallow his words.

"Then, how should I address you?"

“I can’t remember,” the big white dog said dejectedly. “I don’t have a name.”

Do you need me to give you a name?

The big white dog bared its teeth again, "I swear, if you call me Big White, I will definitely bite you."

"How could that be? Let me think..."

As he thought this, Cillian silently gripped the scabbard, confident that if the big white dog dared to pounce, he could definitely knock it down with a single blow.

After a moment's thought, Cillian named the big white dog.

"How about I call you Bruce?"

The big white dog thought for a moment and said, "It's so-so, but it works."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bruce."

Cillian reached out and shook Bruce's paw. "You can call me Cillian."

“Well then, Bruce, I have a new question for you.”

After a moment's thought, Cillian asked, "What is your self-identified gender?"

Bruce immediately declared, "Of course it's a man!"

"I think so too."

The more Cillian talked to Bruce, the more familiar he felt with him. Bruce's optimistic and unpredictable style reminded Cillian of his brother, Tim.

The familiar yet unfamiliar feeling left Cillian slightly melancholy.

Bruce didn't notice Cillian's change in expression. It chased its own tail in circles, excitedly saying...

"Fortunately, this body is also male... Wait a minute!"

Bruce's voice stopped abruptly. He stared at his lower body, and his body began to tremble.

Ciri followed its gaze, and in an instant, his previous sadness vanished. In fact, Ciri had to work hard to control himself so that he wouldn't burst out laughing.

"That... is normal."

Suppressing a laugh, Cillian reassured them, "After all, they're lab dogs, so neutering is definitely standard procedure."

Bruce glanced at his empty lower body, howled, and lunged at Cirion.

Then it was pulled back by a scabbard.

Bruce fell to the ground, letting out a long, mournful cry.

Seeing this, Cillian's stiff lips curled into a smile, a smile he hadn't shown in a long time.

This absurd experience somewhat lessened Ciri's sorrow, shifting his attention from the recurring tragedy to the first friend he made after leaving White Cliff Town.

Even though it's a dog.

As dawn broke, Cillian mounted his motorcycle and continued his journey into the wilderness, but this time, he was accompanied by a large white dog wearing goggles and with a cloth wrapped around its head.

Bruce shouted against the wind, "Where are you headed?"

Have you heard of "Hel, the City of Convergence"?

"No, is that city-state large?"

Cillian responded loudly, "I don't know, but there should be people from the Court of Ten Thousand Officials; perhaps you can find clues about your past there."

"And what about you, Cillian? What are you doing there?"

"I?"

Cillian looked at the endless wilderness ahead and replied.

"Seeking revenge."

(End of this chapter)