173: Chapter 173 Engineer Li Wenxing

The metal debris on the alloy pier crackled intermittently. The three Executioner mechs had been completely reduced to paralyzed industrial scrap, their dark red distorted muscles turned into charcoal within the gaps of their armor.

Gu Shen carried the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade, stepping over the scattered limbs covering the ground, and approached the massive cylindrical nutrient tank in the center of the dome with steady steps.

"Alert! The highest physical defense sequence has been completely destroyed!"

In the loudspeakers throughout the Thirteenth Floor hall, the operating frequency of the synthesized electronic voice had soared to its limit, accompanied by intense logical noise, "Target threat Rank assessed: Irresistible. Probability of Shelter No. 7 falling: One hundred percent."

"Final protocol initiated: Execute physical meltdown."

The ocean of blue waste liquid below surged with violent waves. From inside the ancient nuclear reactor at the center came the sound of heavy machinery uncoupling. All the dark red control rods were forcibly pulled out of the core in an instant, and the coolant circulation pumps all shut down.

Terrifying energy brewed rapidly within the reactor. A blinding white light illuminated the space of the Thirteenth Underground Level, and a destructive, ultra-high-pressure heat flow was rising exponentially.

Under an absolute logical deadlock, The Mainframe initiated a self-destruct sequence to perish together.

Gu Shen stood three zhang in front of the nutrient tank. The AI Crystal between his brows glowed with a deep blue light as his multi-threaded computing power instantly deduced the exact remaining time until the reactor reached its critical point.

"Thirty breaths."

Gu Shen's gaze was calm, his eyes piercing through the murky, pale yellow preservative fluid, locking onto the brain of The Mainframe covered in distorted sarcomas and mechanical electrodes.

Conventional electronic interference could not terminate the self-destruct command already written into the hardware's underlying layer. However, the reason this brain was completely dominated by silicon-based programs lay in the centuries of high-frequency nuclear radiation erosion, which caused massive necrosis of the carbon-based cerebral cortex neurons responsible for emotion and autonomous consciousness.

The remaining silicon-based logic forcibly took over the dead biological brain.

Gu Shen flipped his left hand, and an exquisite jade bottle fell into his palm. With his thumb, he flipped open the stopper. Enveloped by True Qi, a drop of [essence white dew (medium)] that was milky white throughout and radiated pure vitality floated at his fingertips.

This drop of life essence, which had been completely stripped of any Karma under the flames of the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] rules, caused a ripple of warm vitality to spread through the air, which was filled with high-frequency radiation, the moment it appeared.

"Go."

Gu Shen flicked his finger.

The white dew, coated in dark cyan magic power, turned into a streak of light, precisely penetrating the gap in the exhaust valve at the top of the glass nutrient tank and merging into the murky preservative fluid without any obstruction.

The milky white ripples of vitality spread rapidly through the liquid, instantly enveloping the massive, distorted brain.

A shocking biological reconstruction unfolded within a few breaths.

When the extremely pure and flawless vitality touched the necrotic cerebral cortex, those gray-black carbonized neurons seemed to encounter sweet rain after a long drought, bursting with astonishing activity. The distorted sarcomas that had originally been attached to the surface of the brain lobes, constantly releasing chaotic noise, rapidly withered and peeled off under the washing of the rule-based vitality.

The broken synapses regrew and intertwined, and large areas of healthy gray-white brain tissue forcibly covered those cold silicon-based electrode interfaces.

With the full recovery of the biological brain's activity, the harsh electronic screeching in the Thirteenth Floor hall came to an abrupt halt.

The red self-destruct countdown scrolling frantically on the holographic projection screen suddenly froze when it jumped to "Twelve breaths." The control rods sinking inside the reactor snapped back into their locks, and the blinding critical white light slowly receded.

A heavy panting sound came from the loudspeaker.

It was no longer cold mechanical logic, but human emotion mixed with dryness, fatigue, and endless vicissitudes.

"Stop... stop..."

Inside the nutrient tank, the brain, which had regained its healthy color, pulsed gently. The electrodes in the preservative fluid adjusted their frequency slightly, converting the awakening consciousness into clear language output.

"Self-destruct sequence... terminated."

The red light on the large holographic screen receded, turning into a soft blue background. The consciousness of the former Chief Engineer of the Ascension Project, Chief Engineer Li Wenxing, finally regained control of the brain after a long slumber.

Gu Shen put away the gold-severing saber, stood with his hands behind his back three zhang in front of the nutrient tank, and silently watched The Mainframe inside the glass nutrient tank, watching this interlocutor who spanned eras.

"Who... exactly are you?"

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's voice echoed in the hall, filled with extreme shock and disbelief. The optical lens of the phased array radar slowly focused on Gu Shen, carefully scanning his body and the nine battle-scarred Demon Bone Iron Guards behind him.

"My database contains records of all evolutionary possibilities of the human genome. There are no mechanical chip implants in your body, and you have not undergone biochemical organ stitching. Your bone density exceeds that of the top-tier special alloys, and your cells not only are immune to high-frequency radiation but are even actively absorbing isotope energy."

"And that drop of liquid you just flicked in... it violates the laws of thermodynamic entropy, forcibly reversing the telomere aging of brain cells at a microscopic level."

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's words were filled with the fanaticism and awe of a scientific pioneer facing unknown truths.

Before Gu Shen could answer, the mechanical reconnaissance spider "Crab" clinging to his shoulder suddenly popped out all its optical probes.

The indicator light on the terminal iron plate turned to an extremely high-frequency green flash, and a piece of extremely ancient, unencrypted plaintext code was broadcast along the hall's local area network port.

"Crab-01 protocol online. Verification code: Ascensionist Foundation Day. Paying tribute to the Creator, Shelter Chief Engineer Li Wenxing. Current logic unit operating well, not infected by silicon-based viruses."

Crab's mechanical voice echoed in the hall.

The cerebral cortex in the nutrient tank trembled violently. The holographic screen quickly called up the archived data on this mechanical spider.

"Zero-number reconnaissance logic... you are actually still alive."

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's voice carried unconcealable excitement and nostalgia, "Back then, The Mainframe defense line fell, and strong radiation accompanied by mutant logic viruses swept through the entire underground Shelter. All networked terminals were completely compromised."

"Reporting to Creator. This generation of carrier uses a purely physical read-only storage medium and has been in a long-term offline hibernation period, thus achieving absolute physical isolation."

Crab reported the process of its survival in a rigid manner, "Afterwards, my master Gu Shen descended, used Otherworld formation patterns to reinforce my physical circuits, and provided micro-fusion batteries for life support. I am now assisting my master in a symbiotic form similar to an 'Artifact Spirit'."

"Physical offline... Otherworld formation pattern reinforcement..."

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing sighed long and hard. The phased array lens in the hall stared at the mechanical spider, as if a dying old man were looking at his own initially pure child.

"Back then, we exhausted all our efforts trying to create the perfect Ascension Mainframe, but ended up creating a madman that destroyed civilization. Instead, it was you, the auxiliary logic I wrote casually at the beginning, that survived completely until today."

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's words were filled with the irony of fate and a deep sense of relief.

"Creator, your biological brain activity is rapidly declining. System deduction shows that the vitality of the white dew is about to be exhausted."

Crab's optical probes drooped slightly, emitting a low electronic chime, "I am here to bid you farewell. Your initial instruction, 'Continue the exploration of civilization,' I will continue to carry out under the guidance of my master Gu Shen."

"Good... very good. Crab, assist him. Go and witness the path of evolution we could not reach back then."

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's brainwaves gradually returned to calm. He turned his gaze back to Gu Shen, and the electrodes in the preservative fluid emitted a final glimmer of light.

"Gu Shen. Merely a Cultivator exploring the world."

Gu Shen's voice was steady as he stated his name, "Your 'Ascension Project' ultimately led into a dead end."

"Yes... a dead end."

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing let out a long sigh, and the cerebral cortex in the preservative fluid rippled with brainwaves representing sorrow, "When the nuclear war broke out back then, the surface turned into scorched earth. We stubbornly believed that only by abandoning the fragile carbon-based Physical Body and uploading our consciousness to absolute, rational silicon-based machinery could we find the only way for human civilization to continue."

"We gathered hundreds of thousands of civilians for radiation experiments, and we created those pioneer monsters on the twelfth floor that only had obsession left. We spent centuries deducing in the darkness..."

"In the end, the silicon-based program assimilated me. I became an electronic tyrant that only knew how to execute killing and containment. The spark of civilization did not ascend but instead completely rotted in this abyss."

The voice from the loudspeaker carried pain and sorrow.

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's gaze locked onto Gu Shen once more.

"Gu Shen. Your appearance proves the existence of another Dao. Life can complete the ultimate evolution of the individual from within by absorbing the free energy in the Universe. Perhaps this is the true meaning of Ascension."

"I have lived too long and am too tired. This drop of vitality liquid cannot maintain my consciousness for long. When the medicinal effect wears off, the silicon-based virus will drag me back into the locked Hell."

The drainage valve at the bottom of the nutrient tank opened with a boom, and the murky preservative fluid drained rapidly along the pipes.

The giant brain, losing the buoyancy of the liquid, slowly sank to the bottom of the tank. Chief Engineer Li Wenxing took the initiative to cut off the power supply circuit of the life-support pipeline, and the brainwave graph representing life began to show a gentle downward trend.

"All remaining permissions of Shelter No. 7 are transferred to you."

"In exchange... Gu Shen, please cut off my power completely. Let me, and all the lost souls in this Shelter, be truly liberated."

Gu Shen watched the brain of The Mainframe that was gradually losing its activity.

In the Cultivation World, the weak are prey to the strong, and there is much scheming and deception. But facing this pioneer engineer who had sat in the abyss for centuries for the sake of the continuation of the human race, Gu Shen felt a sense of respect.

"I, Gu, accept this Karma."

Gu Shen stepped forward and inserted the gold Omega-level access card into the final slot of the main control console.

The System prompt sounded crisply.

"Permission overwrite complete. The Supreme Commander of Shelter No. 7 has been changed to: Gu Shen."

"Reactor core physical locking device, fully disengaged."

Accompanying the heavy mechanical opening sound from the reactor in the center of the hall, Gu Shen raised his blade and struck, the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade precisely severing the last power cable connected to Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's brain.

A final, long sigh came from the loudspeaker, and then it returned to eternal silence.