Chapter 105: Shock

"Very well, teacher, I understand," Li Daoran said sincerely. In the past, back on Water Blue Star, it would have been a privilege just to catch a glimpse of a titan like Yuan Muye, let alone receive his personal instruction. Of course, given Li Daoran's current status, it was now quite difficult for such titans to get an audience with him.

Yuan Muye, unsure how much had truly sunk in, nodded and said, "That will do for now. Is there anything else you wish to ask? If not, we should be going."

As he spoke, he cast a lingering look around the laboratory. For over a decade, he had poured his heart and soul into this institute, but he knew there was no chance of him staying.

"How far have you progressed in your experiments, and what problems have you encountered? How did you manage to virtualize consciousness?" Li Daoran asked, posing questions on behalf of David.

"I don't know," Yuan Muye replied, shaking his head.

"You don't know?" Li Daoran asked, his eyes filled with undisguised surprise and confusion.

"Yes, I don't know. To this day, I still don't know if my experiment was a success. I have never entered that space myself. These images, perhaps as I suspected, are merely icons—useless, hollow things. I don't even know if these icons represent the consciousness of those mice," Yuan Muye said, sounding dispirited. "Over a decade has passed in the blink of an eye, and yet I have nothing to show for it." He sighed.

"This..." Li Daoran was at a loss for words.

"But I have an idea. I've found some leads, a potential key to opening the door to a new world. I simply lack the energy to pursue it," Yuan Muye said suddenly.

"What is it?" Li Daoran asked.

"A mouse, or perhaps, a human," Yuan Muye said, a look of longing in his eyes. Before Li Daoran could press further, he continued, "Forget it. Let's go. It’s nothing. Perhaps it was all just a delusion, just as my initial hypothesis was flawed from the start."

Without waiting for a response, he turned away from Li Daoran, approached the computer, and with a heavy sigh, began typing rapidly. The screen went black, and then individual animal icons emerged. They began to consume one another, much like fish in a pond, until the massive screen was filled with chaos. Finally, only a single, lonely icon remained. Yuan Muye steeled himself and pressed the delete key. The last glimmer of light vanished, and Yuan Muye looked as though he had been hollowed out, his body swaying unsteadily.

Li Daoran moved to support him, but Yuan Muye raised a hand to stop him, refusing the assistance. "Did you see? Not a hint of struggle. This is not what I wanted. So, if it's gone, it's gone. Perhaps I was wrong all along."

With that, the last trace of attachment vanished from his gaze. He turned and strode toward the door. Li Daoran hurriedly donned his exoskeleton armor, caught off guard by Yuan Muye’s sudden, decisive movements.

"They must be getting anxious. Kid, you carry me—be fast. I'm old, and I can't move quickly. We don't have time to waste," Yuan Muye said after opening the door.

Li Daoran scooped him up under his arm and said, "You got it."

He took off at a sprint. Yuan Muye was jostled along the way, surprised by Li Daoran’s lack of ceremony; the young man clearly didn't care that he was an elderly man. Moving with incredible speed, Li Daoran covered the entire length of the tunnel in a few bounds—a path that had taken him and Tian Ye ten minutes to traverse earlier.

When Li Daoran set him down, Yuan Muye, still shaken, clutched his chest and said, "Are you trying to take revenge on me, kid?"

Li Daoran feigned ignorance. "What?"

"Forget it," Yuan Muye grumbled. "My old bones are about to fall apart." But he didn't stop; he quickly opened the hatch above.

Before Yuan Muye could say a word, Li Daoran grabbed him again and leaped upward. Yuan Muye wasn't worried, thinking the boy couldn't possibly maintain that speed, and that without his guidance, he would surely get lost. He didn't realize that Li Daoran didn't need directions.

David provided precise, unerring reminders at every turn, meaning they didn't have to wait for Yuan Muye’s instructions. While memory alone might not have been enough to navigate such complex routes, David was different; during the time Li Daoran had spent "attending class," the entire layout had been studied and analyzed repeatedly.

They even passed Tian Ye along the way. Without pausing, Li Daoran swept past like a gust of wind, scooping her up under his other arm.

With one person under each arm, he leaped and sprinted at breakneck speed. What should have been an hour-long journey was completed in ten minutes. When Li Daoran set them down, both looked pale. Yuan Muye fared better, with a hint of color still in his cheeks, but Tian Ye leaned against the wall, head bowed, her face ash-white as if she were on the verge of vomiting.

Yuan Muye rubbed his lower back, stretching his limbs. "Not bad. It reminds me of riding a motorcycle back in the day. Though this 'motorcycle' isn't as obedient as the old ones—you missed the turn. It should have been the other entrance."

"Oh? It’s not here?" Li Daoran asked.

"Your memory is quite good to have tracked such a complex route, but you're prone to amateur mistakes. Who told you it was here?" Yuan Muye joked, losing his previous air of a grand master and behaving like an ordinary old man.

"It's on the other side, near the living and supply quarters. They are packing things up there," Tian Ye said, finally standing up, having managed to keep from throwing up.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go," Li Daoran said, raising his hands.

"Wait." Yuan Muye and Tian Ye both stepped back, eyeing Li Daoran with sudden wariness.

"We'll walk ourselves," they said in unison.

Li Daoran lowered his arms with a look of regret. "Fine, waste time then. If we get caught, don't blame me."

"No rush, it's not far now. For now, we should think about how to escape. Any ideas?" Yuan Muye leaned against the wall, his steps still unsteady—the toll of Li Daoran’s reckless pace had not yet worn off.

"That old man was withholding information, trying to pique our interest only to cut it short. Serves him right! Hahaha," David’s triumphant laughter echoed in his mind.

It seemed that because Yuan Muye had been stingy with the truth—clinging to his secrets while pretending to teach Li Daoran, yet leaking no truly vital data—Li Daoran had decided to pay him back. David hadn't expected to obtain the most critical results immediately, but Li Daoran was petty. When Yuan Muye tried to play the hero to build a grander image of himself, Li Daoran had unceremoniously forced him to experience being a helpless pawn, grounding him firmly in the reality of their situation. Every word, every action was a game of chess, and Li Daoran seemed to be growing accustomed to this way of life.