Chapter 905: The Core of the Modification
The White Ram before me felt so unfamiliar...
He filled me with terror.
Clearly, it was his own mind that was faltering... so why was I faltering along with him?
It felt like a neatly arranged book suddenly having a few pages shuffled out of order.
Though the overall direction remained unchanged, those pages were indeed disrupted.
A bold thought suddenly surged into my mind...
What exactly am I?
Are the memories in my mind, my life... all fake?
Did the White Ram modify my life...?
When did I even come here?
When did I meet Jiang Ruoxue, Old Sun, and Gu Yu?
When did I found the "Extreme Path"?
Why did I zone out? What was I doing before I zoned out?
"Brother Ram... what did you do to me?" I asked hoarsely. "Why has my memory become like this?"
"I suggest you stop asking," said the White Ram. "Just remember that you've helped me a lot, and I won't harm you."
Yes... I believed the White Ram wouldn't harm me—if he wanted to, he wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.
But my memories were truly in disarray...
Having been by the White Ram's side for so long, this was the first time I truly wanted to retreat.
"Brother Ram..." I asked softly. "Will this pawn of yours... be abandoned?"
"No," said the White Ram. "I'll still need your strength when we liberate this place."
"And after the liberation?" I said. "After we're free, will I return to the real world with everyone else?"
The White Ram turned to look at me, paused for a long moment, and finally uttered a single word: "Yes."
How could he do this...?
He was a master of psychology—he knew that kind of answer would show me he was lying...
Why would he knowingly break the rule...?
"Brother Ram... what exactly am I in your eyes...?" I asked, trembling. "Am I a clever dog... or a useful pawn?"
"Neither. You're one of us," the White Ram replied.
I slowly lowered my head, feeling like I finally understood what Jiang Ruoxue had thought back then—the White Ram was truly too dangerous.
Even though I had always felt excitement and anticipation toward this sense of danger, this time was different...
The Brother Ram I once knew was a clever person.
The Brother Ram now was a clever monster in my eyes.
I would willingly engage with the former, but never the latter.
This kind of monster with terrifyingly high intelligence could tear me apart at any moment. I had been jumping straight into a fire pit all along.
"You don't have to trust me," said the White Ram. "But you must trust your own life. Every image you've seen is real—even if they contradict each other, they are still real."
It was hard for me to trust the White Ram.
When Jiang Ruoxue called me "wife," I could not possibly have met Gu Yu.
"Or you can leave now," said the White Ram. "For the four years you've worked for me, I'll compensate you in the form of 'Dao.' You won't come out on the losing end."
"Compensate me with 'Dao'...?"
"Exactly," said the White Ram. "I can give you three thousand 'Dao.' That's a number no normal person could earn in four years no matter what. Many organizations now use 'Dao' as currency, exchangeable for food and supplies. That's enough chips for you to live comfortably here for many years."
"But then you'd make me get off the car, right?" I countered.
"I don't want to lie to you," said the White Ram. "But yes, you would get off."
"I'm not leaving," I said. "Brother Ram, I won't get off, but we need to renegotiate our terms."
"Oh...?" The White Ram frowned at me.
I knew he was puzzled, because this was the first time since I'd known him that I had proactively proposed terms.
"So?" I asked. "Deal?"
"Go ahead and state your terms."
"I'll continue doing the tasks you've assigned me before, and I'll ensure nothing goes wrong." I took a deep breath and said, "But you must promise me three things. First, guarantee that Jiang Ruoxue and I are always safe. Second, don't modify my memories again. Third, guarantee that I will return to the real world. Fourth—once I do return to the real world, give me back all my true, real memories."
The White Ram stared at me for a long time.
I thought he would either refuse or agree, but once again, he exceeded my expectations.
He simply reached out and knocked on the table.
Knock, knock, knock.
I really could never figure out the White Ram.
"What are you doing...?" My lips trembled slightly. "At a time like this... you need to set an 'anchor point' for yourself?"
"Yes, this moment is important," said the White Ram. "If I don't remember it clearly, I might forget your demands."
"What?" I was slightly taken aback. "So... you agree?"
"I'll agree to three of them," said the White Ram. "Not the fourth. I won't let you see your true memories."
"Why...?!" I grew anxious. "Those are my memories! What right do you have to modify my memories?!"
The White Ram glanced at me meaningfully, then said, "Yan Zhichun, you think someone has modified your life. You remember poisoning your roommate's water dispenser to kill them, but with your intelligence, if you really wanted to kill a few roommates, you wouldn't have left such glaring evidence—right?"
"Though it sounds arrogant, I could indeed do it," I argued. "If I really wanted to kill someone, why would I use such a foolish method?"
"You think of yourself as smart, so you can always spot clues in your own memories," said the White Ram. "You even believe that the person who modified your memories didn't know you well enough, so they created a life full of contradictions, right?"
"Yes..." The White Ram had even guessed my thoughts. "But so what?"
"Your guess is very reasonable," said the White Ram. "You are a smart person. Everything you've mentioned is logically inconsistent—anyone could see the cracks."
"What are you trying to say...?"
"I'm trying to say..." The White Ram stared at me coldly, his voice low. "What if I didn't modify your life... but modified your intelligence instead?"
"What...?"
"What if it was me... who turned you into a smart person? What would you do then?"
The White Ram's few words drifted from his mouth, and I stood frozen as if struck by lightning.
My eyes were wide open, and my mind churned like a tsunami.
Wait...
What was he saying?
"If I agreed to the fourth condition, you wouldn't be as strong as you are now," said the White Ram, letting out a deep sigh. "That's something to consider for both your sake and mine. So I can't agree."