Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

The piercing alarm echoed wildly in the closed filing room, and the blood-red light stretched the shadows of the two people into a distorted and bizarre shape.

Jiang Chen felt as if his brain had been struck hard by a red-hot iron hammer.

The buzzing sound instantly drowned out all other sounds around me.

[Authenticity verification in progress... Verification failed]

[Elimination program... initiated]

The cold, mechanical synthesized voice exploded deep within his soul, bringing a sharp pain that seemed to tear his consciousness apart.

He knelt on one knee on the cold metal floor, clutching his head tightly with both hands, his fingernails almost digging into his scalp, cold sweat instantly soaking through his clothes on the back.

Shi Yu looked at him in horror, her hand gripping the weapon turning white from the force, but she dared not make a move.

"Jiang Chen! What's wrong?"

Shi Yu quickly stepped forward to help him, but Jiang Chen stopped her by raising his hand.

He gasped for breath, forcibly suppressing the metallic taste in his throat, and stretched out his hands with trembling hands.

The lines on my palm are clearly visible, and I can even feel the biting cold in the air at my fingertips.

If the person lying in the nutrient tank is the real Jiang Chen, then what am I now?

A piece of redundant code that has been copied?

Or is it a clone whose memories have been forcibly implanted?

This absurd dizziness made his stomach churn, and he almost vomited.

He stared intently at the "himself" inside the cabin with his eyes closed, watching the pale green bubbles slowly rise in the nutrient solution.

"Don't touch me!"

Jiang Chen suddenly let out a low shout, his eyes gradually regaining their clarity.

He forced himself to pull himself out of the vortex of identity crisis, his brain racing, trying to find a logical breakthrough in this desperate situation, even if there was only a sliver of hope.

The fact that the system determined his verification failed and initiated the erasure process itself indicates that his current state of existence is in a logical paradox.

Since the system cannot directly define his identity, it means that there is a crack in the underlying logic of the system.

"Shigure, cover me! I need ten seconds!"

Jiang Chen ripped the decompilation core from his backpack and lunged toward the dusty physical interface outside the nutrient tank.

The pale golden light spread wildly along the cables, forcibly intruding into the underlying control system of the nutrient tank.

The crimson alarm light intertwined with the pale gold data stream, casting flickering light and shadow on Jiang Chen's pale face.

His fingers moved like a blur on the virtual keyboard, rapidly peeling away the layers of encryption firewalls surrounding the system, sweat dripping from his forehead.

Meanwhile, from the darkness deep within the filing room, a chilling "click-click" sound came from.

That was the scrubbing sound of the cleaner's joints as they bent in the opposite direction, accompanied by a strong, acrid stench of burning protein, which was rapidly approaching with the cold air.

Several cleaners, composed of streams of dark red code, crawled out of the shadows. They had no facial features, their faces only showing a smooth metallic sheen.

Without hesitation, Shigure charged forward, her weapon tracing a sharp arc in the air as she precisely severed the forelimb of the foremost Cleaner.

No blood gushed from the cut, only splattered jumbled text and a pungent ozone smell that was nauseating.

The monster emitted an angry electronic hiss, and its remaining limbs lunged forward in a manner that defied the laws of physics.

Shiyu rolled on the spot, narrowly avoiding a fatal attack, and then stabbed the monster in the core node with a backhand, completely paralyzing it.

Jiang Chen had no time to pay attention to the fierce battle behind him.

His entire attention was focused on the progress bar on the screen.

[Progress of the erasure process: 10%...20%...30%...]

With each tick of the red number, his soul trembled a little more.

He glanced at the metal nameplate beneath the nutrient tank.

It is clearly engraved on it:

[Experiment Subject 073: Jiang Chen]

[Status: Hibernating]

This means that there were 072 experimental subjects before him.

The system cannot directly eliminate this "abnormal variable," so it can only initiate a cleanup process to eliminate the threat indirectly, or remove the threat by erasing the consciousness of the individual.

He must find a bargaining chip that makes the system hesitant to act.

"Shigure! Break the glass of that nutrient tank!"

Jiang Chen roared.

Shi Yu had just dealt with the second Cleaner when she heard this. She immediately turned around, gripped her weapon tightly with both hands, and poured all her strength into the blade, slamming it hard into the thick bulletproof glass of the nutrient tank.

With a loud "clang!", sparks flew everywhere.

Only a faint white mark remained on the glass surface, but the enormous recoil caused Shi Yu's tiger's mouth to crack.

"Bulletproof glass has physical immunity properties; brute force won't work!"

Jiang Chen stared intently at the screen and finally found a flaw in the jumble of characters.

"On my command, attack the third pipeline on the left side of the bottom of the hull!"

Jiang Chen glanced at the cooldown time of "Scouting Technique," which was 96 seconds away.

With my current mental strength, forcibly activating it would only be enough to last for one scan.

But the situation was urgent, and there was no time to worry about anything else.

Jiang Chen then forcibly activated "Reconnaissance Technique," spreading out a pale golden field of vision.

The weak point, flashing red, was located amidst the intricate network of pipes.

"The system considers me an abnormal variable and I must be cleared."

However, the main body inside the nutrient tank is its core asset and cannot be lost.

"As soon as the host's vital signs decline, the system must pause the erasure process to prioritize repairing the host!"

Jiang Chen spoke at an extremely fast pace, revealing the logic behind the cracks in the rules, his voice echoing in the archives room.

"This is our only chance. Cut that pipe, quick!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Yu took a deep breath and darted out like a cheetah, avoiding the cleaners' interception.

The knife pierced precisely into that red weak point.

The high-pressure nutrient solution gushed out from the breach, drenching Shi Yu like a waterfall, and emitting a pungent chemical smell.

Inside the nutrient tank, "Jiang Chen" frowned slightly, and the vital signs monitor next to him immediately emitted a rapid beeping sound.

[Warning: Core assets damaged]

[Vital signs are declining]

[Process kill progress: 49%... Error... Encountered unknown resistance...]

The excruciating pain that seemed to tear his soul apart came to an abrupt end in Jiang Chen's mind.

It made him groan softly.

The progress bar is stuck at 49% and can't advance any further.

[System Error: Core Assets Damaged]

[Elimination process paused]

[Priority Reset]

The crimson alarm light went out instantly, and the archive room returned to its original dark blue hue.

Without the system's highest command, those dark red cleaners became like puppets with broken strings, their movements extremely sluggish, eventually turning into pools of code that seeped into the floor.

Jiang Chen leaned against the nutrient tank, completely exhausted, panting heavily. His muscles trembled slightly from the exhaustion.

He knew this was only temporary; the system would soon recalculate and fix the logical flaw, at which point they would suffer an even worse fate.

He pulled out the decompiler core and quickly browsed the data he had just downloaded.

Inside is an encrypted map marked with hidden routes leading to the "system core".

But the route ended at the very bottom of the abyss.

Jiang Chen walked to the damaged nutrient pod and looked inside at the person who looked exactly like him, with his eyes closed.

He reached out his trembling hand and gently touched the cold glass surface.

The instant your fingertips touched the glass,

A memory that didn't belong to him suddenly flashed through his mind.

It was a pure white space, with countless nutrient pods arranged in an endless matrix, and in each pod lay a "Jiang Chen".

He finally realized that he might just be backup number 073, a consumable that the system had reactivated after countless failures, and could be replaced and discarded at any time.

This realization sent a chill down his spine.

Shiyu dragged her tired body over and handed him a clean cloth.

She didn't ask those strange questions about her identity and memories, but simply gazed at him with her cool eyes and said calmly:

"No matter what number you are, you are the real you right now."

These words acted like a sturdy anchor, pulling Jiang Chen back from the abyss of self-doubt.

Looking at Shi Yu's face, which was covered in nutrient solution and blood, most of the confusion in his heart instantly dissipated.

"Thanks. No matter who I am, I won't let the system have its way."

He took a deep breath, and his eyes regained their firmness and sharpness.

Jiang Chen imported the map data into the terminal.

A virtual route, shimmering with a faint light, is projected into the air.

The route winds through numerous abandoned areas, eventually disappearing into an unknown darkness.

He looked up at the heavy iron door at the far end of the filing room, shrouded in shadow.

The nameplate on the door was corroded so badly that the words were illegible. But wisps of thick, black smoke were seeping from the cracks in the door.

The black mist was mixed with countless faint wails, which made people's scalps tingle and their minds uneasy.

Jiang Chen gripped the decompilation core in his hand and took the first step.

"Let's go see what the real trump card is in this game."

The iron gate was heavier than Jiang Chen could have imagined; he used all his strength to push it open a crack.

The corridor behind the door was completely filled with that thick, black mist.

Visibility was less than two meters, and the air was filled with a strong smell of preservatives.

With each step, the metal floor beneath your feet groaned painfully. It was as if the corridor itself was a giant stomach digesting its prey.

Shi Yu followed closely behind Jiang Chen, the pale golden light on her weapon suppressed by the black energy.

It can only illuminate an area of ​​less than half a meter around it.

Suddenly, Jiang Chen stopped abruptly, staring intently into the darkness ahead.

Deep within the swirling black mist, a gigantic human face vaguely emerged.

The face had no eyes, yet it faced them directly, and slowly parted its lips.

It revealed a dense array of sharp teeth inside.