347: The seeds of order

Xia Er faced the seventeen "brain-dead" patients with perfectly intact bodily functions before him, feeling an unprecedented confusion.

These patients lay quietly on their beds, breathing steadily, heartbeats regular, as if they were merely in a deep sleep. But the flat line on the brain scanner silently declared the complete cessation of their brain activity.

Brain-dead people were, astonishingly, still perfectly alive.

The medical team tried various stimulation methods, from pain stimulation to sound stimulation, and even used strong light exposure, but these patients were like all connections to the outside world had been severed, showing no reaction whatsoever.

While waiting for the results of the patients' comprehensive biochemical index tests, Xia Er's thoughts returned to Pexito.

He suddenly remembered Pexito's unusually complex gaze when he hastily left her mental world.

Anger, worry, unease, and a strange sense of expectation.

"Could Pexito know something?" This thought flashed through Xia Er's mind. He immediately told the medical team: "Continue to monitor these patients' conditions, and notify me immediately if there are any changes."

Walking through the long corridor, Xia Er's steps quickened. The flickering frequency of the emergency lights on the walls also seemed to accelerate, as if echoing his inner unease.

Arriving at the central laboratory, Xia Er took a deep breath, connected to the telepathy device, and re-entered Pexito's mental world.

This time, what he saw was no longer the calm and beautiful world from before, but a tsunami-like surge of negative emotions visible to the naked eye.

Pain, anger, fear, despair... various negative emotions intertwined, forming a powerful mental storm.

The once calm and harmonious consciousness space was now like an ocean in a storm, with surging negative emotions transforming into visible black whirlpools, spinning wildly in the space.

In the center of the whirlpool, Pexito's small figure was curled up, her body trembling incessantly.

"Pexito, what happened?" Xia Er cautiously approached, sending a gentle inquiry with his consciousness.

Pexito looked up, her eyes filled with unprecedented pain and anger.

Her consciousness fluctuated violently, transmitting a series of fragmented images and feelings to Xia Er.

The pain of countless consciousnesses being forcibly devoured, the despair of individual wills being twisted and torn, and the terrifying sight of a vast and cold consciousness forming.

"Cold... lifeless..." Pexito's voice was tearful, yet filled with stubborn resistance, "It wants to create order, but it's an order at the cost of destroying the future..."

Xia Er struggled to understand these fragments of information: "Who is creating order? Is it the Trisolarans?"

Pexito's tone fluctuated even more violently: "It wants to devour everything, and then reshape everything according to its will. No pain, no sadness."

"But also no freedom, no hope ever again..."

"The world shouldn't be like this... It shouldn't be like this!"

As Pexito's whispers, which were both an answer and a self-questioning, continued, her emotions gradually calmed down.

Finally, they transformed into a firm resolve.

Just then, Pexito's consciousness suddenly erupted with a powerful energy. This energy passed through the telepathy device and quickly spread throughout the entire Honeycomb Experimental City.

In the medical area of the Honeycomb Experimental City, medical staff were surprised to find that the data on the monitoring equipment began to change. On the electroencephalographs of those brain-dead patients, the previously flat lines began to show subtle fluctuations.

Although still far from returning to normal, this faint sign of life uplifted everyone's spirits.

Xia Er suddenly opened his eyes in the real world, finding that the warning lights had stopped flashing, and the base's alarm system had returned to normal.

Immediately, he received news from the medical area that the electroencephalographs of those brain-dead patients had begun to show faint fluctuations.

Xia Er quickly rushed back to the medical area. On the monitoring screens before him, the previously flat brainwave lines began to show regular undulations.

Although the amplitude was still very weak, it was a clear sign of consciousness activity resuming.

The medical team busily recorded various data, finally showing a hint of relief on their faces.

"Dr. Xia, this is a medical miracle!" Dr. Irene excitedly pointed to the monitoring screen, "The brain functions of all comatose patients are gradually recovering, and that child's vital signs are much more stable."

The patients' complexions were much rosier than before, and their breathing was deeper and steadier. However, they still had not regained consciousness, as if immersed in a dream from which they could not awaken.

Over the next hour, a tense yet expectant atmosphere permeated the medical area. Medical staff took turns guarding the patients' beds, recording every subtle change.

Suddenly, the patient in bed number nine, a young armed squad leader, began to convulse violently, and the monitoring equipment emitted a piercing alarm.

"He's awake!" a nurse exclaimed.

The squad leader suddenly sat up from the bed, his eyes wide open, pupils constricted from extreme fear.

He let out an inhuman scream, flailing his hands wildly in the air, as if resisting an invisible enemy, and his heart rate curve instantly soared into the danger zone.

"Hold him down! Be careful he doesn't hurt himself!" the attending doctor shouted loudly, and three or four medical staff quickly stepped forward, but the leader erupted with astonishing strength, throwing everyone off.

"No! Don't send me back!" he cried hoarsely, tears and sweat mixing together, sliding down his pale face.

Xia Er quickly walked to the bedside and said in a calm and firm tone: "Calm down, you are safe now."

Under the patient comfort of the medical staff, the leader gradually calmed down, but the fear in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest. Xia Er asked the others to leave temporarily, leaving only the attending doctor and a psychologist.

"Now, slowly tell me what happened." Xia Er pulled up a chair and sat by the bed.

The leader took a few deep breaths and began to recount intermittently: "When that voice... that 'I am all beings' voice sounded, I felt my consciousness being forcibly pulled out of my body by an invisible giant hand, and then I was swept into a huge whirlpool."

"And then, it was like I woke up from a dream, and I saw a, um... world."

He paused, trying to calm his trembling voice, and began to describe the terrifying experience.

"At first, I had no idea what was happening."

"From my perspective, I was still performing my daily tasks. Patrolling the perimeter of the base, checking defensive fortifications, everything was the same as usual."

"I didn't notice anything unusual on the first day. I woke up promptly at six every morning and started patrolling a fixed route at seven. But on the second day, the third day... every time I patrolled, the colleagues I met on the way were the same, even the greetings were completely identical."

"Of course, this is in retrospect. At the time, I didn't notice it at all."

Xia Er frowned, recording these details, and gestured for the leader to continue.

"It wasn't until that patrol, when I passed the patch of grass on the east side of the base, that I discovered the problem." The leader's voice suddenly became agitated, "That place should have been full of clover, but what I saw was a field of four-leaf clovers! It was densely packed with four-leaf clovers!"

This discovery hit him like a heavy hammer, waking him up.

The leader began to carefully observe his surroundings, discovering more details that sent shivers down his spine.

The clouds in the sky drifted along the exact same trajectory every day, colleagues' conversations repeated in a loop, and even the cafeteria menu never rotated, remaining unchanged.

Such a thing was absolutely impossible within the company!

It was this point that made him certain that something was wrong with everything.