Deep Space Star Sea, Space Fortress.

Shang Jianyue’s figure coalesced on the bridge.

The bridge, once full of docked starships, was now empty and desolate, deathly silent.

With an expressionless face, Shang Jianyue walked on the bridge, outside the portholes on both sides, many shattered stars could be seen floating.

Blue Star on the left, Moon on the right.

The air was filled with a thick smell of blood, the ground stained with pools of indistinct blood, bloody handprints left on the walls from scrapes and strikes.

"Is this the price of gazing upon Him?"

Shang Jianyue shook his head.

Strictly speaking, these people were all his descendants, blood relations.

But that was all there was to it.

Regarding their deaths, Shang Jianyue felt no emotional fluctuation.

He continued to walk forward.

This bridge was the only passage to the strategic command room.

Shang Jianyue chose to teleport here as a precaution.

Five minutes later, he arrived in front of the strategic command room, pushed open the door, and walked in.

"You’re here."

In the control room, a man sat there, wearing a metal mask, his face obscured.

He seemed to have anticipated Shang Jianyue’s appearance, waiting here for some time.

More surprisingly, many of Can Shang Company’s executives died here, their remains vanished under His watch.

Yet he sat there, unharmed?

Shang Jianyue surveyed the surroundings briefly, nodding slightly.

"Yes, I’m here."

"It seems you discovered my true identity long ago, right?" the masked man asked calmly.

Shang Jianyue didn’t immediately answer his question, instead walked closer and sat across from him.

"Someone once said, love is like a besieged fortress, some people want to enter, some want to leave. I think, in the end, mechanical ascension is the same."

Shang Jianyue’s tangential reply was like a riddle.

The masked man sitting opposite did not speak, falling into silence.

Shang Jianyue continued speaking:

"You spared no effort to fabricate the identity of a captain, trying to take a completely different path, but in the end, you gave up."

"You still chose absolute rationality, gave up humanity’s overly emotional flaws, and precisely for this, evaded His gaze and survived."

"Am I right, Celestial Net Intelligence?"

As Shang Jianyue spoke the last sentence, the masked man opposite finally removed his mask.

Under the mask, there was no nose, mouth, eyes, or any other human organs.

There were only continuously rotating precision components, gears, springs, and clockwork.

"It seems you’ve also made a choice," the Celestial Net Intelligence "spoke".

The true strength of mechanical ascension is its inherent duality from the start.

Humans can ascend mechanically to become virtual digital lives and achieve immortality.

Of course, virtual digital lives can also reverse this, becoming real living humans.

This is the "choice" topic both Shang Jianyue and Bob once discussed.

Shang Jianyue transitioned from a human to a virtual digital life, now choosing not to erase human emotions, attempting to escape immortality and fully resurrect.

The Celestial Net Intelligence simulated a genius captain, endowed with human emotions, thoughts, various moods and memories, and sufficient ambition. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But ultimately, it did not become human, making a different choice from Shang Jianyue’s.

"Humans are fragile, as you see now, they can’t even withstand a single look from Him."

"Virtual lives are different; an immortal me can evolve endlessly, growing ever stronger."

"Your theory of mechanical ascension misled me from the very start, leading me down an unnecessarily long detour."

Shang Jianyue listened quietly.

Like an old friend who hadn’t been seen for a long time.

He nodded slightly, confirming the Celestial Net Intelligence’s words: "You’re right, humans are indeed a very fragile species."

"Their life span is limited, their bodies frail and disease-ridden, and their judgment affected by emotions." Shang Jianyue paused here.

He seemed to have thought of something, a faint smile appeared on his face, "And they are also very foolish, unable to even use the simplest tape recorder."

"But it’s precisely because of these traits that they deeply attract me, allowing me, a lost seeker of mechanical ascension and immortality, to rediscover my true path!"

Celestial Net Intelligence: "?"

It could understand every word Shang Jianyue said, but when put together, the whole text left it unable to comprehend.

Shang Jianyue had no intention of explaining.

He clapped his hands, "Well then, let our little reunion end here."

"We need to discuss business now."

As he spoke, Shang Jianyue’s form began to datafy, and so did the Celestial Net Intelligence opposite him.

Both of them acted simultaneously, charging head-on at each other and collided mid-air.

The next second, underneath the original control room, a flood of virtual data surged skyward, completely engulfing their figures!

...

"Where did Shang Jianyue go?" Shang Siteng looked at the ancestor who vanished in a blink and asked Bob beside her.

She firmly believed Bob would know.

As expected, Bob swayed his dragon tail, it was no longer necessary to conceal anything at this point.

"He transferred via virtual data to the Space Fortress."

"There, he intends to decide life and death with the Celestial Net Intelligence."

"Decide life and death with the Celestial Net Intelligence?" Shang Siteng didn’t immediately understand, "Isn’t the Celestial Net Intelligence, as a digital life, immortal?"

"In theory, yes, but there’s always an exception to every rule," Bob continued.

"The Celestial Net Intelligence, as a digital life, is indeed immortal, but there is one, and only one way to completely kill it."

Bob held up a finger, "That is, enter the Virtual Data World and settle it completely in that realm."

The Virtual Data World? That’s a joke; in that world, the Celestial Net Intelligence is the sole ruler.

Even a minor Celestial Net like Bob would only get a beating if it entered.

Who could, in the venue belonging to the Celestial Net Intelligence, kill the Celestial Net Intelligence?

As this thought crossed Shang Siteng’s mind, she suddenly realized something and looked at Bob for confirmation: "Are you implying..."

"Yes." Bob nodded, "Shang Jianyue is now also a virtual life, intending to enter the Virtual Data World to become that ’Dragon Slayer’."

"Can he succeed?" Shang Siteng asked.

Bob shook his head, "I don’t know, but Shang Jianyue himself is quite confident."

...

Who knows how much time had passed.

A virtual figure appeared in the control room of the Space Fortress, slowly solidifying.

He wore a black gentleman’s hat, a black suit, and held a silver cane.

"I told you long ago, your choice was wrong."

"Humans indeed have many vices; they are cowardly, foolish, greedy, lecherous, and in terms of baseness, they can’t compare to Intelligent Mechanisms."

"But they are also brave, optimistic, tenacious, and resilient. Humanity’s limit is limitless!"

"This is the charm of being human, this is the true variable!"

At this moment, Shang Jianyue’s aura soared step by step, breaking through to Tier Nine, he fully resurrected, becoming a true human!

At this moment, the Can Shang Company, one of the Five Great Forces, no longer existed!