Yu Zhezhu woke up, gasping for breath.
It wasn't just shock; it was also a disguise for the tension within him.
— What did I just say about liking being with you?!
In contrast, Little Qin proactively skipped over this topic.
"I've suppressed the things in your head, but… I can't remove them because they are tied to your past experiences and memories. If forcibly removed, it might cause problems."
Yu Zhezhu's attention shifted.
With a lingering sense of fear, he glanced at the sky.
The silver moon and the black moon hung in the night sky, just as the books described, for billions of years.
According to Qin Xuezhong, was the black moon actually problematic?
Why would contemplating this issue trigger death?
No wonder Qin Xuezhong took it so seriously; this was a question that could shake the very foundation of the world's existence.
Because everyone knew that the black moon was formed by a comet colliding with the silver moon, altering the silver moon's massive tidal force, which allowed life to emerge on this planet…
If the black moon were fake, then how did humanity come to be?!
In an instant, Yu Zhezhu pondered the origin of humanity.
He steadied his mind and returned to Qin Xuezhong's initial question.
— Setting aside the ultimate philosophical questions of "Where do I come from? Where am I going?" if we simply consider whether the black moon could be a large-scale brain control illusion, is that even feasible?
He took a deep breath and said, "Thank you."
Then he sat down, gazing at the sky, and slowly said, "In theory, it's possible to implant such an illusion in all of humanity. Moreover, with brain chips as interfaces, it might not be difficult."
Little Qin was somewhat surprised.
Such an unimaginable thing, and yet it might not be difficult?
Though she didn't understand the underlying principles, she quickly thought of some loopholes.
For instance, while brain chips were quite common within the East Continent Federation, in regions like the New World, many people actually didn't have chips implanted.
Without a chip, they wouldn't be subject to direct brain control and couldn't be implanted with the concept of "two moons in the sky."
This raised the possibility of exposing the ruse at any moment.
However, when Qin Xuezhong searched online, she found that even the myths of the primitive tribes in the New World included stories about the silver moon and the black moon.
"Theoretically, it's quite simple."
Yu Zhezhu shared an image in front of Little Qin.
The image displayed countless small black dots.
With a wave of his hand, almost all the small dots turned red, leaving just one in the center that remained black.
"Let's envision a scenario where there are only ten thousand people in the world."
"Out of them, 9999 suddenly see that one moon in the sky has become two."
"They would gather together to discuss this matter, weaving stories and myths around it, integrating the extra moon into their habits and language."
"Over time, the second moon they describe will gradually influence the remaining person. Although he can't actually see it, his mind will construct a new moon based on the culture of the entire group."
Little Qin's eyes widened.
"Wait! Is this like an infectious disease? Is what you're saying… true? If these 9999 people say the moon doesn't exist, wouldn't the remaining person fail to see that huge glowing moon in the sky?"
Yu Zhezhu smiled wryly. "That's just a theory in psychology called collective unconscious, and it has never been confirmed."
"It suggests that within a race, many fundamental understandings of the world and culture are inherent. For example, there's one sun and two moons in the sky, and the old man with a white beard generally represents wisdom and guidance, etc… This understanding can also be inherited by the next generation, forming unique cultural traits for that group."
Yu Zhezhu explained some concepts that sounded somewhat convoluted.
Can it really be inherited?
Qin Xuezhong still found it hard to believe.
"Okay, let's assume that at some point, some organization or entity implanted the illusion of the dual moons into humanity's collective unconscious, while simultaneously tampering with all historical records and altering everyone's memories…"
At this point, Qin Xuezhong paused.
Just saying something like that seemed absurd.
For example, before altering memories, a couple had once professed their love under the silver moon—this was one of the most profound memories of their lives.
Now, with the addition of the black moon, would their memories need to be altered as well?
Just considering the tens of billions of people in the Federation, how many memories would need to be altered?
Was that even possible?
And for what reason?
Little Qin continued, "I suspect that some people must have noticed the abnormalities, and those whose consciousness might react against it, these 'anomalies' who still retain normal cognition, would they be subjected to large-scale elimination?"
Qin Xuezhong spoke faster, her thoughts becoming increasingly clear.
"If such a thing truly happened, then there must have been some large-scale death event in the Federation's history."
Yu Zhezhu's eyes also brightened.
"Exactly! Humans make mistakes, and programs have bugs. Such a massive brain control conspiracy cannot possibly be flawless. Those who were not successfully altered likely perished…"
"Brain chip implantation has a history of 100 years. In the past century, the biggest event…"
Yu Zhezhu didn't finish his sentence, instead guiding Qin Xuezhong's consciousness into the depths of his memories.
Time gradually rewound.
---
Qin Xuezhong felt as if she were swimming upstream in a river of memories.
Countless moments from Yu Zhezhu's life rushed past her, making her feel like she was catching glimpses of something, only to be swept away by new memories the next second.
From an ambitious young officer to a special forces member newly arriving on the battlefield, finally pausing in a laboratory.
The young Yu Zhezhu, dressed in a military uniform, received a beautifully solemn metal plate from a smiling old man.
Inscribed on it was a line of text:
[First Military Academy of the East Continent]
[Doctorate Degree Certificate]
The young Yu Zhezhu accepted it with an expressionless face.
However, that expressionless demeanor wasn't the calm of maturity, but rather a deliberate indifference used by youth to mask inner tension.
The old man smiled and said, "Xiao Yu, do a good job!"
"Thank you, Professor!" Yu Zhezhu snapped to attention and saluted.
"Alright, alright," the old man chuckled, "don't be so stiff all the time; you won't be able to find a girlfriend."
He then turned to look at the large screen behind him, which displayed the title of a paper.
[Targeted Signal Interference Methods for Treating Neurodata Disorders Caused by Prosthetic Modifications]
"Your research has already helped over a hundred injured veterans recover; Dean Li even called me to make sure I praised you. Hahaha."
Yu Zhezhu looked straight ahead and replied earnestly, "It's what I should do!"
The old professor waved his hand, "Keep your voice down; I can hear you just fine. Now, three companies have contacted our lab, wanting to discuss business cooperation using your technology…"
Yu Zhezhu, guiding Little Qin through the memories, paused the scene and walked to the projection screen.
He gently tapped a segment of text at the bottom of the display.
Qin Xuezhong leaned in to look.
[In 2937, the East Continent Defense War concluded. According to incomplete statistics, there are over one million severely disabled casualties among the Federation's military and civilians, with more than four million suffering from mild disabilities. Most of them have prosthetics installed.]
[Currently, the mechanical signals from prosthetics continue to interfere with the brain's nerves, troubling many soldiers. This experiment aims to…]
Upon reading this, Qin Xuezhong understood Yu Zhezhu's intention.
What event could cause large-scale death more than war?
However, she found it odd; she had encountered this war during her research and had a vivid impression of it—this was the last large-scale operation of the East Continent Federation, resulting in countless casualties.
Everyone in the Federation was well aware of this.
Why was Yu Zhezhu using a memory to tell her?
Yu Zhezhu quietly said, "I just remembered it myself."
He controlled the memory scene, keeping the characters and surroundings unchanged while rapidly flipping through the projected images.
Eventually, it froze on a page.
[External Manifestations of Neurodata Disorder, Special Case 19]
[ID ER91723, Operator of the Federation Air Force's Low-Orbit Assault Aircraft, hit by a laser weapon in 2935, suffering severe burns to both legs and right arm. After returning to the cabin, he landed on the sea and was rescued by a rescue team.]
[After receiving prosthetics, he frequently experienced depression, talking to himself, light sensitivity, and social anxiety, with some degree of paranoia, eventually evolving into hallucinations. The case involved stating to family, 'There is only one moon in the sky.']
[Preliminary diagnosis: Traumatic schizophrenia.]
Qin Xuezhong: !!!
"Is this the only person who said that?" she asked.
Yu Zhezhu replied, "I only had 100 subjects for my in-depth experiments. While it's not rigorous, statistically, one out of a hundred…"
Little Qin murmured, "That means one out of a hundred thousand…"
"Don't forget survivor bias; he might just have been lucky to survive. Including all combatants and ordinary people caught in the crossfire, the number of those to be eliminated could very well exceed a million."
They exchanged glances, seeing the chill in each other's eyes.
To eliminate a million people, they might as well kill tens of millions, dragging hundreds of millions into war…
Who could orchestrate such a conspiracy?
Was it all for a single moon?
"What happened to that person… later?" Little Qin asked.
Yu Zhezhu shook his head, "His mental state deteriorated too quickly; soon, he couldn't communicate anymore, displaying severe epilepsy symptoms and irreversible brain damage."
A silence fell between them.
Yu Zhezhu continued, "I need to explain the essence of my doctoral thesis to you."
Little Qin was taken aback.
— You want to explain your doctoral thesis? Even the title is incomprehensible, and you still want to explain?
"You should know that the Federation's doctors and neuroscience researchers often say, 'The brain remains a mystery.'"
Qin Xuezhong nodded seriously.
"Honestly, I still haven't fully understood how the mechanical signals from modified prosthetics led to changes in the brain."
"My experiment primarily summarized a method to neutralize neuro disturbances and improve surface symptoms. It's like if you catch a cold, I can stop your cough, but… the virus remains."
He laughed self-deprecatingly, "That approach was already very advanced back then."
"I didn't expect… there would be such a deeper reason behind it."
As Yu Zhezhu spoke, Little Qin suddenly recalled that when she took over the undercover group where Zhang Yuan was, she learned that these people developed data epilepsy due to excessive overtime and the overwhelming amount of data processed by their chips.
At the time, she had researched this condition.
The description was vague—brain disturbances caused by data, with no cure, relying solely on special medication to stabilize brain function.
Data epilepsy, neuro disturbances, mechanical signal symptoms…
These descriptions had almost become standard terms for mental illness in this cyber world.
It was reminiscent of old news before her time, where experts claimed video games could dumb people down, sounding convincing yet lacking substantial evidence.
A bold hypothesis emerged.
People in the world could be divided into two types: those who naturally accepted this illusion and those who were incompatible with it.
As long as one was incompatible, having their brains tampered with would inevitably lead to neuro disorders.
To deal with these people, they first resorted to war to eliminate a portion.
Amid the chaos of war, they forged all historical records.
In the post-war world, they further confused these individuals' perceptions through severe neuro symptoms and treatment drugs…
Thus, they played with the entire world as if it were in their grasp.
She glanced at Yu Zhezhu once more.
His eyes were filled with concern.
— No matter how capable Qin Xuezhong was, or how powerful the Ghost Organization, they appeared insignificantly small in the face of such a global conspiracy.
Initially, Little Qin felt a bit frightened.
However, she noticed the small black cat running wildly not far away.
The little cat must have been raised in the laboratory and then had its nerves severed, resulting in its current form.
In its entire life, it may have never experienced such a free environment, dashing around the garden, chasing insects at will.
It was this special little cat that struggled to survive in the terrifying realm of corpses, revealing the truth behind the dual moon illusion to Qin Xuezhong.
She couldn't help but smile, feeling lighthearted.
Yu Zhezhu was momentarily taken aback by her smile.
Little Qin's smile was simple.
— Regardless of who was behind this, or what earth-shattering schemes were in place, in the end, it was a little cat struggling to survive that exposed the truth.
Wasn't it a bit ironic?
Therefore, they were certainly not omnipotent.
As long as a flaw could be found, she could use all her power to deliver an unexpected, heavy blow against them.