Chapter 372: Memory Restored

A miracle happened when all the USB drive fragments melted and pooled together...

The black mass of liquid floated into the air. The tip of the USB drive soon emerged from the mass of liquid and slowly pushed outward. Then, the mass of liquid slowly disappeared as this happened.

With everyone beholding it, the puddle of liquid had become solid and morphed into a pitch-black USB drive that was completely undamaged!

The USB drive dropped onto Chen Chen’s palm.

“Chen Chen, after I count from one to ten, you’ll walk inside and return to the night when you merged with the USB-drive...”

Amid all this, Chen Chen heard an incredibly familiar whisper in his mind. The next second, he clutched at his head with both hands and began to scream horribly!

“Ahhhh!!!”

“What’s going on!”

The branch director froze. The first thing he did after was to snatch the USB drive away from Chen Chen before shouting, “Doctor, hurry and save him, this person is extremely vital to our cause!”

A host of doctors immediately swarmed toward Chen Chen and strapped him onto the stretcher before rushing him to the emergency room.

Fortunately, the emergency room was not too far away and they arrived in a matter of minutes. After that, the doctors swiftly turned on all sorts of devices and connected electrocardiography and electroencephalography devices to Chen Chen.

“He’s starting to foam at the mouth!”

One of the nurses declared urgently.

“The EEG shows that his cerebral cortex is abnormally active!”

A doctor looked at the reading on the EEG. “His cerebral cortex and hippocampus are undergoing extremely intense chemical reactions, it’s like a prophetic storm in there!”

“Brain pressure is skyrocketing and his brain temperature has exceeded 42 degrees. The patient is in critical condition!”

The doctor who was measuring his temperature suddenly turned pale. “A large amount of cerebral hemorrhage is detected, prepare for craniotomy immediately!”

...

In this state of daze, Chen Chen seemed to feel something pouring into his mind.

Strings of memories ever since he obtained the USB drive began to stream into the depths of his mind — NZT-48, Little X, God chip, God’s Forbidden Zone, GS Combat Suit, Mankind Anti-aging Project, Eco Science City...

In a matter of minutes, an enormous amount of what seemed to be unfamiliar memories swarmed into his mind!

These memories led to changes in the physical structure of Chen Chen’s brain. Such changes should usually occur over years, but it was now unraveling in the span of just a few minutes!

After Chen Chen’s brain structure continued to shift until a certain point, Chen Chen suddenly snapped open his eyes!

At this point, one of the doctors had just prepared a tranquilizer and was about to give Chen Chen the injection. Just as the doctor turned to his patient, he immediately met Chen Chen’s eyes.

“You?”

The doctor was caught off guard by this. Before he could enact a response, he felt a terrific impact on his chest. He barely had time to whimper before he was sent flying away!

“Old Yu!”

When the other doctors turned to Chen Chen with their faces contorted in shock, they saw Chen Chen unstrapping himself from the stretcher before he levitated into the air above!

“Ah, I see how it is now.”

Chen Chen chuckled. His eyes had turned blood red. It was a symptom caused by a large number of capillary ruptures. The blood pooled around the whites of his eyes, he looked like a demon risen from the underworld.

None of this mattered. What mattered was that Chen Chen had remembered everything.

“So, this is the dream dimension of my past memory?”

Chen Chen looked below him coldly and turned into a frown while he did so. “No, this isn’t just a dream, it’s... Something that even I have trouble figuring out. At last, I know that the USB drive had never done something like this in my past recollection...”

When Chen Chen murmured to himself, the doctors evacuated the emergency room as if they had seen a ghost. They did not even bother to save the doctor sent flying away by Chen Chen. They rushed out and locked the airlock on their way out, sealing Chen Chen inside.

Chen Chen paid no mind to them and instead, raised his hand and looked at his palm.

“This must be ‘Field’, but it’s stronger than it was in reality... Just how strong is it?”

Chen Chen jerked his head to the side and looked at the wall in front of him without emotion. The next second, a terrible screech was heard as the alloy-built wall became bent inside-out!

A two-meter wide hole immediately formed on the wall in front of Chen Chen.

In just an instant, a wall that even cannons could barely shatter was effortlessly torn open by Chen Chen.

Chen Chen only nodded when he saw this. Instead of landing on the ground, he continued to float forward using Field, testing the potency of his Field as he did so.

“I could get used to this...”

Chen Chen only landed after getting a taste of his current Field level. He looked around profoundly before muttering to himself, “A dream shouldn’t be as intricate as what’s shown here and be so realistic. I must’ve stumbled into something incredible here...”

“But what did I come here for again?”

A shadowy gloom appeared in Chen Chen’s eyes because he realized that although he regained nearly all of his memories in the dream world, the only thing he forgot was the reason he let Little X hypnotize him. Why did he do that?

“Could it be that I’m supposed to find an answer on my own? But how am I supposed to get out of here once I find it?”

Chen Chen suddenly realized this tricky question. He faintly recalled that he had let Little X hypnotize himself to enter this bizarre dream dimension, but the question was... How was he supposed to leave?

Does this mean that he had no other choice but to find that answer?

Chen Chen knitted his brows together. However, this also meant that another curious mystery was solved. “This means that Aixen is the incarnation of Little X inside this dream. That explains why nobody else could see her. It’s because she isn’t inherently a part of my dream.

“And the explanation for her appearance in my dream is that she’s the one responsible for hypnotizing me. My mind subconsciously conjured a form for her when in truth, it’s merely a projection of my mind but not her actual image.

“This also means that once I find Aixen, I should be able to discover my motive for coming here.”

These thoughts quickly flashed past Chen Chen’s mind. Meanwhile, a barrage of footsteps was quickly approaching from the end of the corridor. A troop of soldiers wearing the Mainland army uniform and carrying rifles appeared on both sides of the tunnel and surrounded Chen Chen!

This was not the time to betray them, not yet.

Chen Chen put both arms in the air when he saw this spectacle. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. Let me meet the director.”

The troops immediately opened a path in the middle and let the branch director step forward. He looked at Chen Chen with uncertainty dwelling in his eyes. “The doctors told me that you attacked them?”

“It’s a misunderstanding. When I came to, I saw that they were about to inject me so I reacted instinctively to protect myself.”

Chen Chen put on an innocent front. “Only a doctor was wounded and he’s still in the emergency room.”

The branch director hesitated briefly before giving the signal. “Chen Chen, just to be safe, forgive me for putting you through this!”

With that, the troops swarmed toward Chen Chen and handcuffed his arms behind his back. Another crew rushed into the emergency room to check on the doctor.

The doctor was in poor condition. Six of his ribs were fractured and his lungs were punctured. He was gravely injured.

After that, Chen Chen was brought into the interrogation room again.

“Looking at the footage, you sent the doctor flying away with a single glance. You also levitated in the air before punching through a five centimeters thick alloy wall, what’s the explanation for that?”

The branch director wore a heavy expression. “Is this the power of the USB drive?”

“Yes, the wielder of the USB drive possesses these powers.”

Chen Chen started to conjure a false story. “It can only do so much as far as self-protection goes. If the soldiers opened fire just now, I would’ve been long dead. I’d also like to ask, what’s the situation with the USB drive now?”

“We’ve received permission from above to redirect the power of all twenty-three power plants nearby Shangdu over here. The USB drive is charging now.”

The branch director nodded and reflected. “It’s certainly wondrous. Even after absorbing such an enormous amount of power, it still barely displayed any visible changes. Chen Chen, just how many secrets do you carry with you?”

“From the very beginning up till now, the USB drive is the only thing I’ve kept under covers.” Chen Chen shook his head at this notion.

“The USB drive broke the moment we tried to charge it and only repaired itself once you touched it, how do you explain that?”

A curious bolt appeared in the director’s eyes as he said this, “Do you understand the predicament you’re in?”

“I truly don’t have an answer for that. There’s a chance that the USB drive automatically registers an owner and you guys were only allowed to use it once I gave you guys permission.”

Chen Chen shrugged, paying no mind to the undertone of what the director told him. “As for the predicament you speak of, could it be any more threatening than the possibility of catching the Ju-on curse?”

Upon hearing this statement, the director’s eyes wavered with uncertainty.

Although he had not seen the full extent of what the USB drive was capable of, it went without saying that many people would not tolerate the fact that only Chen Chen could utilize it. Anyone in possession of such destructive powers would already cause enough uproar on its own.

Even if the Central Continent would permit Chen Chen to have it, what about the North American Continent? What about the North Sea Continent? And the Indian Continent? Even the Earth Federation would go all in to obtain it.

The branch director originally intended to secretly warn Chen Chen that if Chen Chen had trifled with the USB drive in any way, it would be wise to stop it sooner than later. Otherwise, only trouble would come his way. However, it did not seem like he was interested in heeding the warning.

“Right, Mr. Director.”

Chen Chen seemed to have suddenly recalled something and spoke suddenly, “I have a request that concerns my very livelihood, I hope you can promise me this at least.”

“Go ahead.” The director flicked an eyebrow at this request.

“I’ll need at least ten subordinates to supervise me for twenty-four hours. They aren’t allowed to leave at any time. You need to make sure that someone has their eyes on me at all times.”

Chen Chen suddenly grew serious. “This is an experiment as well, an experiment targeted on the spiritual abnormality.”

“What makes you say so?”

The branch director asked curiously.

“Because I discovered a set of conditions.”

Chen Chen suggested. “The first time I saw Kayako, there was nobody else around me. I was in the hallway of the school at the time and just as I was about to become a victim of Kayako, somebody else suddenly appeared, which caused Kayako to vanish without a trace.

“This isn’t the only instance of this. Just now when you left me by myself in the interrogation room, the same thing happened.”

Chen Chen continued explaining, “When you guys along with the psychologists in the backroom left me to inspect the USB drive, I was ambushed by Kayako again.

“What’s coincidental is that just as I was about to meet my demise, Shen Qi barged inside. Kayako immediately disappeared after that.”

Chen Chen gestured. “Therefore, I speculate that Kayako cannot have any witnesses when claiming her victims.”

“What’s the explanation for this?” the branch director questioned.

“I’m sure everyone here has heard of the concept of ‘Memes’ before.”

Chen Chen suddenly looked up and turned to the panel of mirrors by the wall as if he could stare right into the eyes of the psychologists in the backroom. “A meme is a channel of information that can be inherited and mutated, just like regular genes...

“The reason genes exist is to propagate themselves and they achieve this by inheriting or mutating themselves. This is how everything such as humans and the Earth came to be. Memes by themselves are an informative form of genes.

“When it comes to Kayako and Toshio, the traditional interpretation that we humans have developed over time is that they are ghosts, demons, and whatnot. However, in terms of Memetic, they are merely a medium for memes. They may resemble humans down to a dot but the truth is they don’t possess thoughts, emotions or memories. The only thing they have is that they abide by a specific set of rules and principles...”

As Chen Chen spoke, the husky voice of an elderly man came from the speaker in the interrogation room. The voice carried a judgmental tone. “Chen Chen, don’t presume we don’t know anything about memetic science. Yes, we understand its concept but at the end of the day, they are just a unit of information transmission. How is it supposed to impose its effect on reality? A child like you has no right to spout your nonsense here!”

“Are you sure information cannot affect reality?”

Chen Chen responded with a smile, “I understand that this is difficult to believe. But this is the truth that I’m telling you, whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

“You...”

The owner of the voice wanted to further the debate. However, another voice interrupted through the speakers. This one was one of might and a strong presence. “This is certainly an intriguing proposition. If what you say is true, that would mean that we humans have stumbled into a brand new realm of scientific discovery. But why do you suppose that the Ju-on meme can be affected by there being bystanders watching?”

“I’m sure every one of you here has watched horror films at one point or another?”

Chen Chen waited for a moment before revealing the answer. He smiled to build anticipation. “Horror movies always suggest that being alone is most likely to lead to a character’s death. This has always been how horror movies operated. When in crowded places such as busy streets, the ghosts or demons are just going to scare the characters at most, but rarely if ever bring any actual harm. It’s only when the characters arrive at a vacant place without anyone to accompany them when they are attacked. Why do you think this is the case?”

“Why don’t you tell us?”

Chen Chen’s audience started to become impatient.

Chen Chen smiled. “Memes are very likely to operate on the principle of quantum superposition. As they enact a direct effect on the living, which is killing the living, there’s a great chance that the presence of a third-party bystander isn’t allowed. Having an observer causes the wave function to collapse and interfere with the process!

“If we were to treat Ju-on as an infectious disease, that my current state could be described as the incubation period. The sign of the eventual breakout is when Kayako appears to claim my life.

“In that case, if there’s someone to supervise me around the clock, wouldn’t I forever remain in the incubation phase, never to completely trigger the breakout condition?”