Heroes' Prison

Chapter 1842 - 1760: You See What You Believe

"No! We grew up together, how could she possibly be fake?" Huang Yi quickly shook his head.

Mr. Huang Sha smiled and said, "You will never be able to tell whether she is real or fake. In a situation where the real world is a virtual world, every person in the real world could be fake."

"Then I can go out and ask her."

"The ’virtual players’ we created have passed the most stringent Turing tests and think exactly like real people. When you ask her if she’s real or fake, she will give you a gentle smile, hold you in her warm embrace, and softly say: ’Silly, of course, I’m real!’"

Huang Yi tightly pursed his lips and thought for a while, then said, "If we have to make such assumptions, then there is one most extreme case—everyone in the world is fake, including you, and only I am real. Perhaps the human world is already a wasteland and humanity extinct. In a broken laboratory, I am the last ’brain in a vat,’ and the program is still running, constantly inputting a pre-set life script for me, so I live in a false world, believing the human world still exists."

"This is indeed a possibility." Mr. Huang Sha nodded ambiguously, "That’s why I need you and Sharp Sword to make judgments, to see what you choose to believe, and then make corresponding arrangements based on your choices."

Just then, the float suddenly moved slightly, creating ripples on the lake surface.

Mr. Huang Sha immediately lifted the fishing rod!

"Splash~" A Little Fish suddenly broke the water, caught in the air, struggling and swinging its tail, with water droplets sparkling in the sunlight like tiny pearls.

"What a pity, the little minnow!" Mr. Huang Sha shook his head with a smile, put away the fishing rod, removed the little minnow from the hook, and casually tossed it in front of a black cat behind him.

The black cat, initially lying on the ground asleep, immediately opened its eyes upon hearing the sound.

When it saw the lively little minnow on the ground, it excitedly stood up, caught the fish with its mouth, and ran to a corner, happily enjoying it, as its teeth bit into the fish meat with a crisp "squeak."

Mr. Huang Sha picked up a worm from the bait box, gently threaded it onto the hook, then cast the fishing rod back out, the bait sinking to the bottom of the lake along with his hope.

"God of Slaughter, did you see that door?" At this moment, Mr. Huang Sha pointed to the wall across the lake, where there was a closed door, "Do you believe it? Behind that door is the real world. When you open that door and walk out of this garden, you’ll find a bustling road outside, with endless traffic and pedestrians rushing along the sidewalks. The real world you know is within reach; you can immediately buy a plane ticket, fly to the city where Qin Shiyu is, take a taxi to her house, ring the doorbell, and she will happily open the door, tightly embrace you, bursting into tears of joy... From now on, you can live the life of your dreams with her, wonderful as if you were dreaming."

Huang Yi looked up toward where the door was tightly closed, concealing the world beyond, ignorant of the scene behind the door.

Huang Yi took a deep breath, gazing at the door in the distance, and said, "What you’re implying with your words today is for me to distinguish what is real and what is illusion. You say the world could be an illusion, people could be illusions, and even my life could be an illusion. Perhaps shortly after I was born, I was locked in Cold Storage, and the life I have lived since was designed in a virtual world, and Freedom Organization, World Federation, Rose Prison, Thunder God, Xiao Chunzi, Dao Feng, Heavenly Dao, and even Qin Shiyu could all be fake... If that’s the case, I’ve already made my choice."

"Oh? What choice have you made?" Mr. Huang Sha turned his head to look at Huang Yi.

Sharp Sword also held his breath, turning to look at Huang Yi, waiting for his answer.

Huang Yi gazed at the closed door across the lake, speaking softly, "I will not open that door, I will not verify what’s behind the door, because that would fall into your cycle of assumptions—how do you know the world behind the door isn’t virtual? Using your assumption to assume about this world only leads to a result based on the assumption. I choose to believe what I feel; I choose to believe in the ripples that arise in my heart every time I exchange glances with Qin Shiyu; I choose to believe in Xiao Chunzi’s tone of dependence every time she rushes into my arms; I choose to believe in every tear of sadness that falls from my eyes when I hear about the death of comrades from Freedom Organization... I believe love cannot be created by the virtual world; you can create AI, but you cannot create love, even though these two words are spelled the same, their meanings are vastly different."

After speaking, Huang Yi withdrew his gaze, no longer looking at the door.

The air was quietly still, with only the sound of the wind blowing through the lotus leaves.

Sharp Sword intensely stared at Huang Yi, a nameless emotion flickering in his eyes, before reaching out, gently patting his shoulder.

Mr. Huang Sha quietly watched the float on the lake until, a long time afterward, he nodded and said, "Very well! You’ve made your own choice, and I believe your choice is sincere, steadfast, not self-consoling. You won’t easily be swayed by others’ opinions, just like what you said—’Though condemned by thousands, I will persist!’ This character is exactly what we need. In the future, when humanity faces destruction, this character can be relied upon, trusted, and can lead us to see hope."

Huang Yi turned to look at Sharp Sword, asking, "And what is your choice?"

"Mr. Huang Sha has already given you a hint during your Third-tier Trial." Sharp Sword smiled slightly, recalling a past event.

"The Third-tier Trial..." Huang Yi murmured to himself.

Mr. Huang Sha glanced at Huang Yi and said, "During your Third-tier Trial, you made a request of me, asking me to reveal Sharp Sword’s secret in the trial. In that trial, you entered a scenario from the real world, visited an internet cafe from over a hundred years ago, and met two players playing ’Legendary’ and ’World of Warcraft.’ At that time, you thought the secret of that realm was about showing the relationship between Sharp Sword and the Underworld. Actually, the focus of that realm was in the scenario itself, serving as a reminder that the boundaries between the virtual world and the real world are blurred. Sharp Sword made his choice way before then—he believes the real world is also a virtual world."

Sharp Sword looked at Huang Yi, nodded and said, "Yes, my choice is opposite to yours. I feel the so-called real world is fake, like a dream, I believe the real human world is already a wasteland, and the era of Cold Storage hasn’t ended. I want to wake up, I want to truly wake up from Cold Storage, to see the real real world."

Huang Yi lightly patted Sharp Sword’s shoulder and said, "What you believe in is what you will see."