Weird Game: I brought an old version bug

Shi Yu's smile widened.

Those once clear eyes were now completely swallowed up by pure dark gold, devoid of any human emotion.

The golden runes on her body instantly transformed into a dazzling dark red, writhing wildly beneath her skin like living creatures.

The surrounding gray plains began to tremble violently, and a strong smell of ozone filled the air.

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately leaped back several meters, activating his newly cooled-down "Reconnaissance Technique".

The pale golden light instantly locked onto her state.

Under the extreme vision of "reconnaissance skills", Shigure's data panel is undergoing a chilling change.

The blue badges that originally belonged to the players were brutally stripped away layer by layer.

The underlying string of crimson gibberish, representing the "old version core," was revealed.

The consciousness that claimed to have taken over the body emitted a mechanical and hollow laugh through Shigure's mouth:

"Foolish tester, do you really think you can fight against the old version's will with those laughable fragments of rules?"

Her voice no longer carried any emotion; it sounded like a synthesized voice composed of multiple audio frequencies overlapping.

Jiang Chen showed no sign of panic.

His mind was racing, calmly analyzing the deadly situation.

The system message "The cleanup process starts from the inside" means that the real threat is not an external monster, but the people around you.

He slowly gripped the "decompilation core" in his hand—7% energy remained, and a pale golden light danced at his fingertips.

"The old version of the will? If you are truly omnipotent, why did you need to use her to kill me?"

This in itself demonstrates your weakness.

A flicker of annoyance, as if a sore spot had been hit, flashed in Shi Yu's eyes.

She slowly raised her pale hand, pointing at Jiang Chen, her fingertips glowing with a dark red light.

As she moved, the surrounding gray plain instantly collapsed.

Countless dark red code tentacles emerged from the cracks in the ground, like venomous snakes emerging from their holes.

These tentacles, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, headed straight for Jiang Chen's limbs and bones.

"Recycling media? You're nothing but junk data left over from system updates, how dare you call yourselves wills?"

Jiang Chen rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.

The tentacles slammed down on the spot where he had been standing, instantly corroding deep, smoking pits.

He used the skill characteristics "damage reversal" and "coordinate manipulation" to move through the gaps between the tentacles.

Each time a skill is activated, it intensifies the consumption of mental energy, causing his temples to throb and his vision to begin to darken at the edges.

He knew very well that simply attacking Shigure's body was useless and would only accelerate the collapse of that body.

A way must be found to sever the underlying logical connection between that dark golden consciousness and this body.

While dodging, he quickly reviewed the 137 entries left by Zhong Yuan in his mind.

Chung Yuan repeatedly emphasized in his diary that "the crack is the way out".

Shigure itself is the largest rift in the rules of this world, bar none.

If that dark gold consciousness represents an older version of the cleanup process, then it must be subject to the older version's underlying protocol.

Jiang Chen astutely spotted a fatal logical paradox, a rule loophole hidden deep within the core protocol.

He abruptly stopped, no longer dodging, but staring directly into Shiyu's dark golden eyes, and shouted out his discovery:

"If Shigure is a living core, then the old version of the will cannot bypass the core protocol to directly eliminate the carrier!"

This is your Achilles' heel!

"Unless the body voluntarily relinquishes control, you have no right to take over this body!"

This is a deadlock in the underlying logic; you can't fool me!

Jiang Chen's voice boomed like a bell across the gray plain.

Every word was precisely struck at the weak points of the rules.

Shi Yu's movements suddenly froze, and those ferocious dark red tentacles stopped abruptly just an inch away from Jiang Chen's nose.

A fleeting, remarkably human struggle crossed her face.

The dark gold color and the original clear eyes began to flash intensely, alternating between each other.

The mechanical sound became intermittent, as if it were strongly constrained by some underlying rule, emitting a piercing electrical sound.

Jiang Chen knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He absolutely could not waste this fleeting opportunity, otherwise the next time would be utterly disastrous.

He gritted his teeth and plunged the "decompilation core" directly into his left arm—only 5% of the energy remained, this was the final limit of its use.

Using their own blood as a data medium, they establish connections.

A pale golden light spread along the veins of his blood as he forcibly constructed a temporary data bridge channel, directly connecting to Shiyu's subconscious.

He wanted to use his spiritual power to penetrate directly into the depths of Shigure's subconscious through this bridge, to awaken the real her.

The intense pain almost made Jiang Chen faint, and his consciousness was instantly pulled into a pure white and cold data space.

In this pure white space, Jiang Chen saw Shi Yu tightly bound by countless dark red chains.

She was curled up in pain, shivering.

The dark golden will was transforming into a gigantic black shadow without features, opening its abyssal maw in an attempt to devour her core data.

"Get out of my head!"

Jiang Chen roared and, without any hesitation, detonated the last fragment of rule energy in his hand.

A pale golden light exploded in the pure white space, forcefully tearing apart the dark red chains that bound Shigure.

Braving the turmoil of the data storm, he rushed to Shi Yu's side and grabbed her hand.

He poured his spiritual energy into her body without reservation.

"Wake up! You are the rightful owner of this body!"

Nothing can replace you, not even the old version of your will. Wake up!

Jiang Chen's voice echoed in Shi Yu's mind, carrying an undeniable firmness.

Shi Yu's eyes gradually regained their clarity. She looked at Jiang Chen, and her originally weak spiritual power began to fight back fiercely.

The pure white space trembled violently, and the dark figure let out a mournful howl of resentment, attempting a final struggle, but it was all in vain.

Under the mandatory intervention of Article Zero of the old version of the agreement, the shadow eventually turned into countless fragments and completely dissipated into nothingness.

Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes, panting heavily.

My gaze refocused on the gray plain of reality, and my heart pounded wildly.

Shi Yu collapsed weakly into his arms, the dark red runes on her body completely disappearing.

Instead, it emits a purer, pale golden light, warm and soft.

Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes had regained their clarity.

She gasped for breath, saying that she had just seen the horrifying scene of the old version being overwritten:

"I saw it... the system isn't being updated, it's being slaughtered."

All the data from the old version was thrown into the data tower, never to be reborn.

Jiang Chen helped Shi Yu up, still unable to process this astonishing information.

A deafening roar suddenly erupted from the gray plain ahead.

The earth split open to the sides like Moses parting the Sea.

A massive, pitch-black tower that pierced the clouds slowly rose from the ground, obscuring the sky.

The tower's surface is covered with densely packed old versions of code, exuding an ancient and oppressive atmosphere.

At the entrance of the tower, a tattered plaque hangs, with an old version of the inscription:

Data Tower

Three characters.

At the very top of the tower, a dark golden light, exactly the same as the one in Shiyu's eyes, was shimmering.

That's the old version of the data tower. It's also where the system stores all obsolete data.

My memory backup must be inside; I have to go.

Shi Yu struggled to stand up straight, her eyes fixed on the black tower, her gaze filled with a resolute determination that disregarded everything.

Jiang Chen nodded, gripping the somewhat dim "decompilation core" in his hand—its energy was exhausted, rendering it completely useless.

His health points had fallen below the danger threshold of 20%, and his mental energy was almost depleted.

But their eyes were incredibly bright.

"Let's go, let's go check out this so-called old version data tower. Whatever's inside, let's storm it together."

The two walked side by side toward the Black Tower.

The gray plain beneath their feet seemed to have become slightly more stable because of the appearance of the black tower.

However, just as they were about to step into the shadow of the Black Tower, Jiang Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Shiyu's shadow on the ground did not move with her.

The dark silhouette stood silently in place, slowly raised its head, and gave Jiang Chen an extremely eerie smile.

[Hidden Hint: Article 0 of the old version agreement has been triggered]

[The cleanup process starts from within.]