Chapter 224 - 222: I Think, Therefore I Am

Chapter 224: Chapter 222: I Think, Therefore I Am

On the living room sofa.

Watching the oblivious young man beside her, a faint smile graced the corners of Liu Qingmeng’s lips.

’I have to make a clean break from my original self here.’

’How could that old woman who’s lived for over a hundred years possibly be the same person as me, a vibrant, beautiful, and adorable young girl?’

’If my persona really overlaps with that old woman’s, I’ll be completely doomed.’

’After all, with the status of a ’senior,’ how am I supposed to start a beautiful, youthful love story?’

’Given Fang Can’s current moral standards, he’s still resistant to older women. If I don’t get rid of this ’senior’ label, any Favorability I gain will just turn into Respect Value.’

’As for that disciple of mine?’

Ha! A dead man walking, that’s all he is. The Victim can only take a seat at the table of the scorned.

Savoring the subtle thrill of stealing him away, Liu Qingmeng casually moved to wrap her arm around him, but a barrier like an AT field stopped her.

’This kid is manifesting his Heart Image even while watching a movie with me?’

In disbelief, Liu Qingmeng turned her head to look, only to discover that Fang Can was wearing ornate and sinister virtual black rings on each of his hands and feet.

’What are these? Some kind of kinky bedroom toy? He’s even wearing them on his feet?’

As Liu Qingmeng pondered, she noticed that minuscule characters on the black rings were constantly shifting, as if manifesting the very laws of reality.

Noticing the girl’s gaze, Fang Can gently lifted his arm to show her.

"This is my First Turn inheritance. It’s still active right now, so I can’t touch anyone for a while."

...

Late at night, the underground base was still brightly lit, with shadowless lamps illuminating the steel corridors until they gleamed.

At this moment, the Gimmick King’s form shifted, turning him into a tall, sturdy man with a square jaw.

Through this transformation, he had borrowed the power of the State Level esper, the King of Willpower, granting him abilities such as consciousness manipulation, mind overwriting, and psychic assaults.

Before him, Xiang Yinchen’s head had been removed from the Blood Crystal. His body had been restored by absorbing blood essence, and he was now suspended in mid-air by a Reverse Magnetic Field, completely unconscious.

"Sir, to avoid damaging the test subject, I suggest we proceed with the experiment step-by-step, gradually increasing the difficulty."

A researcher at his side suggested in a low voice, holding a small booklet, his eyes filled with fervor.

Well aware that he was no research genius, the Gimmick King nodded in agreement. "What’s the first step?"

"According to Lord Fang Can, the consciousness of these Heaven-Ascending Road Martial Artists affects their physical state. That being the case, it would be best to start by slightly altering his consciousness."

The researcher continued, "I must trouble you, Sir, to use your power to place a mental imprint in the subject’s mind, one that convinces him he has a black, rice-grain-sized birthmark between his eyebrows."

The Gimmick King nodded lightly. His Mental Power erupted from his body and seized control of Xiang Yinchen’s consciousness, planting a seed in the man’s memories.

The mind of a Heaven-Ascending Road Martial Artist was immensely vast and resilient. Even for the Gimmick King, currently a State Level Spiritual System esper, it was a difficult task.

This wasn’t a simple deletion.

It was about implanting an entirely new concept into centuries of vast memories.

Making a Second Turn Martial Artist truly believe he had a birthmark between his eyebrows was like scribbling on a flawless oil painting, increasing the difficulty severalfold.

After more than ten minutes of deep, delicate manipulation, the researcher’s eyes shot wide open.

Because as the mental will was altered, a faint, rice-grain-sized spot indeed appeared between Xiang Yinchen’s eyebrows.

As time passed and the belief deepened, the spot on Xiang Yinchen’s brow began to darken, transitioning toward the imagined image.

’It actually worked.’ The on-site researchers’ eyes widened in shock. ’This is a perfect demonstration of "I think, therefore I am."’

Some of the researchers present were subconsciously reminded of a fabricated urban legend from before the Great Cataclysm.

The legend told of a condemned prisoner who was tied firmly to a bed. An experimenter blindfolded him, made a light cut on each of his limbs, and then turned on a faucet to let water drip from above.

To make it realistic, the water dripped quickly at first, then gradually slowed. The prisoner mistook the sound for his own blood dripping, and the experiment was set up so he could clearly hear the "echoes" of his life "draining away."

In reality, the experimenter was just letting water drip into a bucket. Before long, the prisoner died. The truth was, his wounds had clotted long ago and were nowhere near fatal.

Although that story was a widely circulated urban legend, the scene before them was like a real-life version of it.

Watching the results of the experiment, the surrounding researchers began to take detailed notes.

When the Gimmick King finished his work, he looked at Xiang Yinchen, on whose forehead an imprint had truly appeared, and a flash of excitement crossed his eyes.

"What’s the next step?" the Gimmick King asked hurriedly.

Seeing the initial results, he was eager to continue the research.

"Um, well, to be safe, with such a precious test subject, we should observe him for a month to see if there are any subsequent effects from the birthmark," the researcher said softly.

"Ha! What’s so precious about him? Once we get to the Otherworld, we can get as many of these as we want. Speed up the experiment," the Gimmick King said impatiently.

Since the chief had demanded it, the researcher had no choice but to say helplessly:

"Then please, Sir, use your Divine Power again to completely change the subject’s memory of his own face and see what happens."

"Change his memory of his own appearance, right?" The Gimmick King nodded without hesitation and resumed his psychic assault.

Two hours later, seeing Xiang Yinchen’s face change so completely it was like he’d had a head transplant, everyone grew excited.

"What’s next?"

The Gimmick King pressed eagerly, "Can we try deleting his memory and implanting a new personality now?"

"I... I suppose so," the researcher hesitated, but the Gimmick King had already begun deleting vast swathes of Xiang Yinchen’s memory.

Compared to implantation, deletion was infinitely simpler.

In just a few minutes, he used his immense Mental Power to wipe Xiang Yinchen’s consciousness completely blank.

"Why hasn’t anything changed...?" the Gimmick King frowned, looking at the unmoving, floating body before him.

"Sir, our research indicates that the bodies of these Martial Artists are like memory metal. If no new memories are added, their flesh and blood will remain stable in its original form."

The researcher added from the side, "If you try implanting new memories, Sir, it should have an effect."

"Whose should I implant?" The Gimmick King looked at the body before him and frowned subconsciously. After all, there were far too many options.