28: emotion

The night was deep, and the city had donned another face outlined by neon lights. Lu Jianchuan took a deep breath of the cool air, feeling his physical condition was much better than when he first woke from his coma.

Although the deep 'memory' after expending a large amount of energy remained, a full meal and rest had filled most of the emptiness. There was no longer any sluggishness or sharp pain in his movements, only a highly alert clarity that came after a fierce battle.

His goal was clear, his steps steady and swift. Under the cover of night, he moved toward the Old Port District.

His mind raced, deducing the possible escape routes of White Star. However, just as he crossed the second intersection and waited for the green light, a neglected key question pierced his thoughts like an ice pick, sudden and unexpected, causing his steps to halt abruptly, freezing him at the edge of the sidewalk.

"Wait... that's not right!"

Lu Jianchuan muttered to himself, his voice tinged with a trace of incredulous astonishment. Immediately, a mix of annoyance and absurdity surged to his face, making his complexion appear somewhat unsightly under the neon lights.

"I... I actually just ran out like that?" he suddenly realized. "At the time, I was only focused on escaping and healing, and I completely forgot to confirm the final outcome of the battle in the warehouse!"

This oversight filled him with a sense of dread. Did the Special Affairs Investigation Bureau successfully control White Star? If they had succeeded, then heading to the Old Port District now would not only be meaningless but could also lead him straight into the heavily guarded Bureau team cleaning up the scene—essentially walking into a trap! But if... if White Star escaped... The two possibilities clashed fiercely in his mind, bringing a sense of anxious indecision. He stood on the bustling street, yet felt an unprecedented isolation. His identity as a police officer was not an advantage at this moment; instead, it was a label he needed to carefully hide. Who could he turn to for help? His colleagues at the station? They would only tell him to obey orders and stop interfering.

At that moment, he instinctively reached into his pocket, his fingertips touching the cold shell of his phone. A name, or rather, a code name, surfaced in his mind—"The Forger."

He hesitated no longer. Quickly leaving the main road, he slipped into a narrow, dimly lit alley between two old buildings, cluttered with trash bins. With his back to the alley entrance, he pulled out his phone. The cold light of the screen illuminated his slightly tired but tense face. He tapped on the silent starry sky avatar and, with fingers trembling slightly from weakness and urgency, forcefully typed out the question.

Lu Jianchuan: After I left, what was the outcome at the warehouse? Was White Star controlled, or did it escape?

[Consciousness Space]

Almost the instant the message was sent, Han Chengyu simultaneously sensed the urgency.

"System! Quick! He needs to know the result! What happened to that Whale? Was it captured or did it escape?" Han Chengyu's consciousness focused intently on the outside world, as if he could feel Lu Jianchuan's unresolved anxiety.

[Command received. Accessing municipal traffic surveillance networks, civilian security Systems in the surrounding area, and interceptable public communication frequencies with highest priority... Retrieving data streams...] The System's electronic voice was unprecedentedly swift. A torrent of dark blue data flashed and converged wildly within the Consciousness Space. [Retrieval complete. Conclusion confirmed: The Special Affairs Investigation Bureau's arrest operation at the Old Port District warehouse has been confirmed as a failure. The target individual (White Star) successfully escaped by breaking through the blockade line, utilizing its strong electromagnetic interference capabilities and high physical resistance.]

"It really escaped!" Han Chengyu's heart sank. This wasn't the worst news, but it was far from good. "Can we track where it went? Is it heading toward the Quiet Sea?"

[Inversely tracking the path of the persistent wide-band electromagnetic interference signal generated during the target's escape...]

The System responded quickly. A clear electronic map of the city unfolded 'before' Han Chengyu's eyes. A trail composed of densely packed red malfunction markers, like a scorching, festering path, spread out from the Old Port District warehouse.

However, this path did not point toward the Quiet Sea in the southeast. Instead, with an unsettling straightness, it boldly thrust toward the northwest of the city—the area with the brightest lights and the densest population, the central district!

[Path analysis complete. The target's escape direction severely deviates from the presumed destination (Quiet Sea) and is penetrating deep into the city's core. The last detectable interference signal was located at the edge of the core commercial district in Linjiang District. Subsequently, the signal was lost due to environmental complexity and interference intensity exceeding the threshold. Current precise coordinates: unknown.]

"The city center?! Has it gone mad?! Instead of heading to the ocean, why is it running toward the most crowded place?" Han Chengyu exclaimed in disbelief. This completely defied White Star's biological instincts and initial demands.

[Reason cannot be precisely determined. Multiple possibilities are inferred: severe injury causing loss of direction; forced change of route due to persistent pursuit; or the presence of some unknown factor strongly attracting or driving it toward that area.] The System calmly listed the possibilities.

[It has currently evaded all surveillance networks and entered a 'blind zone.']

"Damn it! We must tell him immediately! The points 'has escaped' and 'heading toward the city center' are crucial!" Han Chengyu felt the situation escalating rapidly.

.[Message review approved. Generating highest priority reply.]

.: Confirmed. Operation failed. Target has escaped.

.: Critical intelligence: Based on analysis of its escape path, it did not head toward the Quiet Sea. Instead, abnormally, it is rushing at full speed toward the city center area. The last signal disappeared in Linjiang District. .**: Reason unknown, extremely dangerous. Its current exact location has been lost. The search must begin immediately.

Lu Jianchuan stared intently at the screen. When the words 'has escaped' came into view, his heart settled somewhat—at least the target was still out there; his efforts weren't in vain. But then, phrases like 'abnormally rushing into the city center area' and 'Linjiang District' struck his heart like a cold, heavy hammer!

His fingers gripping the phone tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning white from the force. A chill colder and heavier than when he faced death in the warehouse instantly crawled up his spine, spreading throughout his body.

The city center! Linjiang District! That was the commercial core, the transportation hub, the sleepless city with the densest human traffic! An out-of-control, terrifyingly powerful giant mutant breaking in there... He hardly dared to imagine what kind of Hell-like scene that would be!

All his previous hesitation, sense of absurdity, and concerns about his own condition were completely swept away at this moment by a stronger, more urgent torrent. He abruptly raised his head, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's, piercing through the dimness of the alley entrance, locking firmly onto the northwest sky—seemingly prosperous yet possibly harboring a giant beast, illuminated by countless neon lights.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket, tightened his jacket, turned without hesitation, and with firm and swift steps, merged into the flow of people and vehicles heading toward the city center.

The target had changed. The danger had escalated. He had to find it, before disaster struck!

[Consciousness Space]

Outside, Lu Jianchuan's figure was blending into the city's night, heading toward the next unknown battlefield. But within the Consciousness Space, an unusual silence had fallen.

Han Chengyu's 'gaze' withdrew from the outside world and turned to 'look' at this seemingly boundless space composed of dark blue data streams. An indescribable emptiness and self-doubt, like a silent tide, gradually overwhelmed him.

He recalled everything he had done since arriving in this world: designing the armor, watching Lu Jianchuan fight desperately, feeling helplessly anxious when he was severely injured, and ultimately only able to provide a bit of intelligence and encouragement by sending a few inconsequential messages... It seemed the System could... do all these things? Perhaps even better? Designing armor—the System had a vast database and computing power. Gathering intelligence—the System could instantly scan the entire network. Encouraging Lu Jianchuan? The System could even simulate the most precise, most emotionally stirring phrases.

Then what about me? Han Chengyu's consciousness rippled with a trace of bitterness. What is my purpose here? An observer? A dispensable... accessory?

"System," he finally couldn't help but speak, his voice carrying a confused he himself hadn't noticed.

"Sometimes I wonder, why did you choose me? These tasks—gathering intelligence, analyzing data, even designing and optimizing armor... You could clearly do them all yourself, much more efficiently than I can. Even communicating with Lu Jianchuan, you could simulate the most appropriate tone. I feel... I feel redundant. Even without me, you could probably carry out this 'sustain civilization' mission alone without much difference, right?"

He asked this question hidden deep in his heart. Yes, why would an omniscient and omnipotent System need the Soul of an ordinary office worker?

The System did not answer immediately. The dark blue data streams seemed to slow their Pentium, as if performing deeper calculations. After a moment, the calm electronic voice sounded again, but this time, it seemed to contain something different from pure logic.

[Your question aligns with logical deduction. From a pure efficiency perspective, if I independently executed the information processing and tactical suggestion parts, efficiency could indeed increase by approximately 17.3%.]

Han Chengyu's heart sank. See, even the System admitted it.

[However,] the System's voice paused slightly, [you have overlooked a crucial variable, which is also the core reason I chose to bind with you and deem you irreplaceable—Emotions.]

"Emotions?" Han Chengyu was taken aback.

[Yes, Emotions.] the System confirmed.

[This is something I cannot truly understand, simulate, or possess. I can calculate the success probabilities of ten thousand tactics, deduce the limit data of Lu Jianchuan's physical endurance, and even generate seemingly perfect encouraging phrases based on psychological models. But I cannot 'feel' his sorrow, his anger, his struggle, or the weight of that 'determination' to stand before danger even when knowing the odds are against him.]

[I cannot understand why, when the calculated success rate is below 30%, a living being still chooses to advance. I cannot understand why, upon seeing evidence of White Star's abuse, you would feel 'anger' and 'sorrow,' rather than merely recording it as 'negative stimuli leading to target evolution.' I Even more so understand the 'protective' will carried by Officer Li Ming's sacrifice, which transcended the survival instinct.]

The System's voice remained steady, but its words touched upon the fundamental differences in existence.

[I can provide the optimal solution, but I cannot understand why sometimes the 'non-optimal solution' is the only correct choice. I can construct models, but models cannot encompass the unquantifiable possibilities that life bursts forth under extreme conditions.]

[Your existence, your 'feelings,' are the only patch to make up my fatal flaw. You can 'understand' Lu Jianchuan, not merely 'analyze' him. You can 'sympathize' with White Star's plight, not merely 'record' its mutation process. This judgment and choice based on empathy are barriers my logical core can never Cross.]

[We are not redundant; we are complementary. I am the cold calculation and rules; you are the warm perception and choice. Missing either part, the mission of 'guiding civilization's survival' is destined to fail. Because civilization itself is the creation woven from rationality and sensibility.]

Han Chengyu fell silent. He had never imagined that the joys, sorrows, sympathy, and understanding he possessed as an ordinary person could play such a crucial, even irreplaceable role in such a grand mission.

He was not Redundant. He was the only one.

The sense of nothingness and self-doubt that had enveloped him began to Quietly melted at this moment, like ice and snow under sunlight.

"I understand..." His consciousness fluctuation gradually stabilized, even gaining a new strength. "It seems that being a good 'sensor' and 'final decision-maker' is my job."

[Correct.] The System's electronic voice seemed to carry an extremely subtle trace of... approval?

[Then, let us continue our work. Lu Jianchuan needs our support.]