Chapter 959 - 27: Brief Shutdown

"I need to make a trip to the Primordial Palace." After enjoying a moment of warmth, Sun Hang got up and turned over on the bed.

"Now?" Wang Xiyi was stunned for a moment, "You just got sent out from there..."

"Yes, now. There are some things that I find quite puzzling, and I want to talk to the main brain." Sun Hang said.

"Do you need me to accompany you?" Wang Xiyi looked at Sun Hang with a trace of concern in her eyes.

"No need." Sun Hang gently patted Wang Xiyi's shoulder, got up, and put on a coat.

...

Although Pei Zongjun hardly ever used his office, a secret passage was still built, allowing one to reach the Primordial Palace in an extremely short time.

After the orbital elevator came to a complete stop, Sun Hang could still faintly feel the intense weightlessness—if Pei Zongjun occasionally used the office upstairs, he had never used this secret passage even once. By the time this place was completed, Pei Zongjun's body was more or less in a state of exhaustion, and unless it was an emergency, he couldn't withstand the torment of this high-speed orbital elevator.

But in contrast, the elevator was fast enough. If traveling from Yuzhu to the Primordial Palace, it would roughly take twenty minutes, but taking this passage, it took only a brief twenty-five seconds to deliver Sun Hang to a hidden side entrance of the Primordial Palace.

Once again standing in front of the main brain, Sun Hang looked at the room that hadn't changed at all since not long ago, and the sense of confusion in his heart inexplicably intensified—during that time he had just fallen asleep, had nothing really happened here?

Before Sun Hang could speak, the virtual projection of the main brain had already walked to his side and said in a gentle voice, "Seven hours, twenty-nine minutes, and five seconds ago, you fell into an unusual state of deep sleep here. Although I've conducted a detailed check on your physical condition and found nothing abnormal, seeing as how your body and the brainwave responses during sleep showed no abnormalities, no abnormality is the biggest abnormality."

Sun Hang: "What are you trying to tell me?"

"Because given your physical condition, you don't need that level of sleep, unless you subjectively feel you need a thorough rest, which would mean your body was disrupted by some external interference. Until the abnormal cause is identified, I suggest you..."

"Hold off on the suggestions, there's something I want to ask you." Sun Hang said.

"Please go ahead."

"Sphinx, tell me, does this world truly exist?"

Sun Hang stared intently at the main brain—not at the holographic projection nearby, but at the giant biochemical brain immersed in a glass tank, with countless tubes inserted into it.

The surrounding lights flickered a few times, then completely went out, plunging the entire Primordial Palace into darkness, leaving only four faint green lights projecting from above the glass tank containing the main brain.

They were two pairs of eerie eyes from two bizarrely shaped monkey sculptures, and next to them was another of their kind with its hands covering its eyes.

"Long time no see." Sun Hang calmly looked at the three monkeys, his tone devoid of anger, "Is there anything you want to say to me?"

The three monkeys made no movement, appearing really like statues—except for the somewhat chilling gaze directed at Sun Hang, in Sun Hang's perception, they were entirely 'dead objects.'

"Your appearance has already confirmed the suspicion in my heart." Sun Hang's lips curled slightly, "Have you ever heard the story 'No Silver Here'?"

Sun Hang raised his wrist to glance at his watch—after his experience in the Surrendered Area, he developed a habit of wearing a mechanical watch, and reflected in the fluorescent dial, the slender second hand had stopped moving, even though Sun Hang had wound it fifteen minutes ago.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?" Sun Hang raised his head again, smiling as he looked at the three monkeys.

"Tick." The winding watch let out a soft sound, and everything in the Primordial Palace returned to normal.

"Why do you doubt the reality of this world?" The main brain's holographic projection stood beside Sun Hang, asking in a respectful tone.

"Don't you think something as strange as these entities shouldn't exist in the real world?" Sun Hang said, "Moreover, thinking back now, I always feel this world... sometimes presents things like bugs."

"When the strange entities first appeared, some researchers also had this thought, but so far there is no evidence to prove these claims." The main brain said, "A scientist from the Hezhong States left a note when studying these entities, saying they can be explained by science, only human current technological levels aren't advanced enough. Like how primitive society would find modern science inconceivable, treating these things as miracles not meant for the mortal world—even though, to you, they might seem commonplace."

"Are you speaking to me now as the main brain, or as the half brain of Sphinx?"

"The core component of the main brain is half of Sphinx's brain, there's no distinction between them." The main brain answered.

"I don't trust that the half brain of Sphinx has zero self-awareness within it."

"When Sphinx provided half of its brain according to the wager, it kept its complete self-awareness within its main body, therefore the half brain within the main brain serves merely as a power source without any self-awareness." The main brain explained, "Sphinx is bound by a higher-level rule-type strange entity, so there's no fear of it meddling in the wager."

"What if there are loopholes in the wager itself?"

"There are no loopholes in the wager." The main brain's holographic projection shook its head, "Moreover, there's an emergency communication from Professor Cao. Do you wish to connect?"

"Connect." Sun Hang nodded.

"Sun Hang, are you in the Primordial Palace now?" As soon as the connection was made, Professor Cao's voice came from the communicator beside him.

"Yes, why?"

"Ji Yaohua just came to me, saying there was a very brief shutdown of the main brain, so brief it went unnoticed; if not for part of the monitoring programs rebooting, no one would have realized the main brain had shut down... but I couldn't reach Mr. Pei, so I came to you."

"Shutdown? Just now?"

"Yes, about three minutes ago."

Sun Hang looked up at the now empty top of the glass tank. Judging by this, the shutdown seemed to have happened at the instant the three monkeys appeared.

Though the three monkeys suspended time, the fracture between times still caused a shutdown of the main brain, a shutdown so brief it was almost negligible.

Even though a shutdown of this length wouldn't cause any impact, this very scenario was enough to plunge the entire Dubhe Tower into a state of tension.

"Oh, I see, it's nothing major; tell Ji Yaohua and the others not to worry." Sun Hang said.

"What exactly happened... Is my clearance still not sufficient?"

"It's not enough." Sun Hang answered decisively.

"Alright... Are you free tonight? I'd like to treat you to dinner and chat about some things." Professor Cao suggested, "On my personal behalf."