Chapter 25 Chapter 25 (1/2)
Ouroboros
Chapter 25
Half an hour later.
There was a total of 176 control panels.
It was exactly the same as the Golden Crow No.1 base.
Ji Yushi frowned. This was much more difficult than he thought.
Every two control panel corresponded to two energy transmitters. They continuously transmitted energy from both ends of PU-31, providing an energy source while at the same time preventing it from being sucked away by the crevice in the universe.
If too many energy transmitters were turned off at the same time at a certain place, PU-31 would then lose its balance and the world and everything would be overturned. Disasters like landslides and tsunamis would be trivial events in comparison to what would happen as a result.
And so, according to the coordinates of PU-31 on the real-time holographic projection, whether it was Golden Crow No.1 or Golden Crow No.2, Ji Yushi must turn off the panels in an accurate sequence to ensure that the balance is maintained.
He knew that after the mission was completed, PU-31 would no longer exist.
Therefore, before the task is completed, they must have someone stay behind to perform the final operation and also plan a route out to allow others to return to their initial starting point while avoiding all the ‘black walls’ so that they can enter their capsules to return to their own time.
Ji Yushi already knew why their future selves continued to choose to extend this point where Teams A and B coexisted.
It wasn’t just because they had more people and was the most promising in finding a breakthough point, it was also because the birth of the parallel timeline ensured that there would be people who can stay behind to complete the final operation whilst also ensuring that all the team members could return.
Choosing them must’ve been the conclusion their future selves reached after going through countless cycles.
Now then, there was a problem—-
The ‘me’ on the two parallel timelines are both the true ‘me’ and both are the ‘main body’, so who should stay behind to complete the task?
The control panel was just a few steps away. The battle was fierce.
The teammates fought a bloody battle. No one considered the option of retreating.
Team A and Team B.
They were fighting side by side.
“Bang!”
Ji Yushi raised his purple right arm and killed a zombie. Under his dark eyelashes, his emotions were unclear, “Have you discussed this issue?”
The other Ji Yushi said, “No.”
Ji Yushi was not surprised.
Because he himself also never thought of making his teammates make the choice.
For one to compete against themselves, it was too cruel.
“There are two possible outcomes.” He asked, “Aren’t you afraid of getting it wrong?”
“I am.” The other Ji Yushi said calmly, “And you?”
“Boom——-”
A loud explosion interrupted their conversation.
Song Qinglan’s last energy cannon exploded, the shockwave sending everyone to the ground.
The giant spiders body flew across the room, bursting open when it hit one of the ventilation pipes. Amidst the earth-shattering noise, the mutated species hiding in the pipe that had fallen to the ground finally revealed itself.
A mass of flesh consisting of a mixture of an unknown number of species and covered in mucous squirmed across the ground. Countless ‘tongue’-like tentacles searched around the ground like it was very much afraid of coming into contact with light.
The mass of flesh was very sticky and had no ability to walk independently so it could only hide in the pipes and slide around.
As it squirmed around, human limbs and faces appeared on its back. It was as if they were all alive and each still had their own movements —- It had absorbed the people in the base that had not yet mutated and merged with them into one body.
Li Chun saw this scene and, combining it with the thought of the residual mucous on his body, he started vomiting on the spot.
Although the other Li Chun was unaware of what happened, when he saw himself reacting like this, he naturally guessed a few things and similarly knelt onto the ground and started to vomit.
Everyone: “…….”
At the same time, they shot at the mass of flesh. It didn’t take long for it to turn into mincemeat.
Two or three severely wounded giant spiders descended from the sky. They dragged the pile of mincemeat away from the gunfire and ran.
The rest of the zombies weren’t much of a threat. Everyone was panting with exhaustion and would shoot at them from time to time to prevent them from approaching. They no longer wanted to move.
“Advisor Ji.” Two Song Qinglan’s stepped into the control room, “How are the calculations?”
They spoke in no particular order, but they were surprisingly in sync.
The Ji Yushi in black said, “I have already followed the order and closed a part of the energy transmitters at Golden Crow No.1. We just need to leave a safe return route to the starting point.”
The Ji Yushi in white looked a little paler. As the same person, he looked a lot weaker, “That’s right. I will turn off the energy transmitters in order until the very end.”
“You want to stay?” Song Qinglan on the left looked at him. The one on the right also frowned.
Two Song Qinglan’s. No one here could tell the difference.
Of course, it was the same for the others too.
The Li Chun covered with mucous and the Li Chun without mucous.
The sitting silent and small eyed Zhou Mingxuan and the standing Zhou Mingxuan.
Duan Wen who a little more blood on his face and Duan Wen with not so much blood onhis face.
Tang Qi with an arm injury and Tang Qi with a leg injury.
There was also Tang Le who was alone. As if he realised something, he stood aggrievedly between the two Tang Qi’s.
“The task is completed when the last energy transmitter is turned off. When everything is restarted, we have to safely get in the capsule and return to our own original time and space coordinate or everything would be in vain.” The Ji Yushi in the black combat uniform explained, “So someone must stay.”
The expression of the Ji Yushi in a white shirt was very calm. He seamlessly continued his other self’s words, “According to the plan, we who stay here will return to the time anchor point after being swallowed by the darkness and at that time, there will already be another ‘us’ at that anchor point, so we will become one.”
Zhou Mingxuan asked, “But the people who return to the starting point after being swallowed by the darkness will be a few hours earlier than us who hurry back to the anchor point…..”
That is correct.
The time they returned to the anchor point after total group annihilation was always at 4:41 in the morning.
It was however already four in the afternoon. The time when the group returns to the starting point and the anchored point was completely out of sync and it was even nearly twelve hours apart.
Ji Yushi wearing a white T-shirt said, “On a normal timeline, there cannot be two of the same individual and memories will be superimposed when the two become one.”
Ji Yushi in the black combat uniform continued, “That is to say, the moment the mission is completed, we may suffer a wave of memories being injected into our minds. It doesn’t matter who is the one from the ‘parallel timeline’, we will eventually become one anyway.”
Ji Yushi wearing a white T-shirt said, “So it’s the same whoever stays behind. I just believe that it would be more beneficial to have my uninjured self go back to the starting point.”
The sight of the two Ji Yushi’s fighting side by side just now was too dazzling. Right now in everyone’s eyes, they were the only focus.
Following everything they went through in this mission, everyone now believed everything Ji Yushi said.
Very quickly, Li Chun who was covered in mucous chose to stay, “Then I will stay.”
Following that was the Duan Wen who felt more tired and the Tang Qi whose leg was hurt.
There was only one Tang Le so he would need to follow the main group back, “I don’t have a second self…..So I’ll have to leave, isn’t that right?”
Tang Qi rubbed his head, “Yes.”
Finally, only Song Qinglan remained.
“I’ll stay.”
The tall man took off the red magazine that had long dimmed back down from Shen Mian and changed it to a new blue magazine.
He glanced at his other self and said, “I’m tired from all the fighting. You can do the running this time.”
The other Song Qinglan raised his eyelids, “No problem.”
After that, he looked around at the teammates who had decided to leave and said in a deep voice, “Don’t be so down, these are all choices you and your other selves have made. Isn’t it the same after you go back to the anchor point? It’s no different to saying goodbye to yourself who has not yet completely woken up.”
The inexplicably sad atmosphere faded. Everyone seemed to have become more spirited.
As the captain, Song Qinglan always had the ability to make his teammates think clearly and become more enthusiastic.
“The spacecar from Golden Crow No.1 is outside. We should return to the starting point as soon as possible.” Ji Yushi in the black combat uniform explained slowly, “We will contact you through the public channel. Please be careful, we still don’t know what other mutants may be in the base.”
“Okay.” The other Ji Yushi agreed.
Without needing to say too much, they all wanted to end this nightmare as soon as possible.
Song Qinglan gave out an order and the seven of them very quickly departed.