490 The Dowry (2/2)
”Thank you.”
Although without this gift, he would still treat her well.
”You don't need to thank me. Because even if you really create the warp drive, your odds of winning only increase from 0% to 1%.” Lin Minjie scoffed.
Communication was tuned into Jiang Chen's communication channel; he didn't make Lin Lin hear his final monologue.
Jiang Chen wanted to say something. He took a deep breath to calm himself in a desperate attempt to hide the weakness in his heart.
”Why didn't you tell her?”
”In the end, I wanted to experience what it felt like to be a father.” He ended with a sentence that had more meaning than met the eye.
In that instant, Jiang Chen had the impulse to stop everything. He wasn't a coldblooded man and was never indifferent to cruelty. Since Lin Minjie already lost, he didn't need to put the final nail in the coffin. Since he was the father of Lin Lin, even just for… for Lin Lin, maybe he could let his brain survive.
Lin Minjie seemed to have read Jiang Chen's thoughts as he laughed and spoke in the communication channel: ”It doesn't feel good to live with just a brain. The only reason I could live till now was to wait for the day I could abandon this brain too. Won't you allow that day to come?”
Jiang Chen was silent.
”The places I didn't take her to - I hope you can do that for me.”
Jiang Chen nodded. ”I promise.”
Lin Minjie smiled at Jiang Chen. A sudden trace of remorse appeared in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by certainty.
Suddenly, he looked at Lin Chaoen who had been smiling the whole time.
”My son, I'll give you the last order. No, two last orders…”
Lin Chaoen nodded.
”First, turn off the life-supporting device of my brain.”
Lin Chaoen's brain was buried low.
Lin Lin raised her face covered in tears as she looked at her father. Her lips trembled and she whimpered ”no” repeatedly.
Lin Minjie looked at his daughter one last time and slowly closed his eyes.
”Second, end your life.”
”Understood, father.”
Without hesitation, Lin Chaoen walked to the side of the central computer.
”No—” Lin Lin screamed out.
The cry echoed in the empty fallout shelter. Jiang Chen tried not to look at Lin Lin.
But Jiang Chen noticed that before he pressed the button, Lin Chaoen's hand hovered over the switch for two seconds.
In the end, he still pressed it.
The bubbles in the vial gradually stopped and the green nutrient levels calmed down.
If blood and oxygen supplies are cut off, brain cells will stop functioning within 60 seconds. Within four minutes, brain cells will start to die. In 6-10 minutes, the brain will suffer irreparable damage with a large amount of brain cell death.
Watching that vial, tears rolled down on Lin Lin's mask.
Jiang Chen took a deep breath and counted in his mind.
Lin Chaoen turned around and looked thoughtfully at Jiang Chen.
”That's weird. For an instant, I had a thought to reject the order.”
Jiang Chen said quietly, ”Congratulations.”
”No, you don't have to congratulate me since I didn't receive a mission to evolve into advanced artificial intelligence.” A sudden smile appeared on Lin Chaoen's face. ”Goodbye.”