Chapter 158 Paradox

When Bita regained its posture and stood up from the ground, Feng Bujue had already gripped his second weapon.

And what he took out was—the [Rat Hammer].

Similar to the [Must-Break Defense Blade], this weapon also came with an ignore-defense special effect when attacking, that is: no matter how much defense the target being hit had, the damage dealt by the [Rat Hammer] was always "1." To put it more bluntly… this was something where the faster you hammered, the higher the damage stacked.

At that moment, Feng Bujue switched the [Must-Break Defense Blade] to his left hand, and gripped the [Rat Hammer] tightly in his right, attacking swiftly with both hands.

For a time, all that could be heard was an extremely rapid series of clangs, and sparks flew from Bita's body; no matter how it blocked, its health steadily decreased and showed no signs of stopping.

"Preposterous…" After enduring for a while, Bita realized that defense was largely meaningless.

In this situation, it immediately changed its fighting style to—"attack with all its might while ensuring the head is not damaged, abandoning the defense of all other parts."

Having established its strategy, Bita immediately put it into action.

Its fists and feet came out together, coupled with laser weapons, launching a counter-attack that instantly reversed the situation.

Feng Bujue was, after all, flesh and blood. Even if the equipment he wore provided high defense, it only gave him a greater margin for error; facing Bita's fists and feet, and the laser beams bursting from the robot's body, Jue-Ge naturally had to prioritize dodging… if he exchanged blows directly with the opponent, he would definitely die first.

"So quickly made the best response?" Feng Bujue thought to himself as the offense and defense switched. "Very similar to Shiva's style… this kind of watertight type is what I hate the most… basically immune to instigation, won't self-destruct, and can quickly adjust and compensate even if a flaw is found…" He couldn't help but sigh, "Ah… do I have to use the razor… but, I'm a little unwilling, this is only a normal difficulty script, there's no reason the Boss should be so difficult… am I overlooking something…"

Thinking of this, suddenly, the image of an item flashed in Feng Bujue's mind.

"Eh? Come to think of it… isn't there something else I haven't used yet…"

As his inspiration flashed, Bita's voice also rang out: "Hmph… so your strength is only so-so."

Seeing Jue-Ge's weakness in defense, Bita seemed very pleased.

"If your speed could be a little faster and maintained, you might be able to find a chance to win with high-frequency combos, but alas… this hypothesis does not seem to hold." As it spoke, Bita's offensive became bolder and more aggressive, "The movements you choose when dodging have exposed your speed limit… indeed, your movements are about thirty percent faster than mine, but this speed… is still not enough to let you escape from my suppression."

"Looks like you're planning to play a war of attrition with me?" At this time, Feng Bujue had also considered the tactics from the other party's perspective.

"Heh… not bad, your reasoning ability is indeed impressive." Bita replied, "Since you already know, then I'll speak frankly…" It paused, "Even if you don't feel 'tired,' your stamina is ultimately limited, while I… have unlimited power and the self-repair ability that you don't have…" It wasn't just bluffing, as even in the time it took to say these few sentences, the cuts on its body made by the kitchen knife were already slowly recovering, "In addition, compared to you humans, I have other advantages, such as my concentration will not decline, my offensive will not weaken, and I will not make any unforced errors… In short, from the moment your first round of attacks was parried by me, you have already lost. In my opinion… you might as well stop resisting directly, struggling will only add to the pain…"

"Hehe…" Feng Bujue still smiled after hearing this, and smiled very easily, "Perhaps in your opinion, there is nothing wrong with this theory, and you are sure of victory…" As he said this, he suddenly put away his two weapons, seized an opportunity when the opponent swung its fist, and hugged Bita's telephone pole-like arm with both arms, "But…"

Along with this "but," Feng Bujue activated the built-in special effect of [Phantom Lady's Caress] (Jue-Ge's hand equipment).

In that instant, Bita's visual signals suddenly captured "another Feng Bujue," and its response program unexpectedly reacted to this situation—launching a probing attack to confirm the state of this new target.

And the real Feng Bujue took advantage of this moment, spun around the opponent's arm, and kicked towards Bita's waist.

Two seconds later, Bita's quick blow shattered the illusion created by Feng Bujue, and Jue-Ge also used the reaction force of that kick to launch himself away, away from Bita's melee range.

"But…" As he landed, Feng Bujue looked back and smiled, and continued his previous words, "Don't forget, humans have a bad habit… that is, they like to hide a few tricks in battle, just in case."

Chi chi chi—

Responding to Jue-Ge in the first moment was not words, but a series of laser beams.

Facing this pursuit of ranged weapons, Feng Bujue was not flustered at all; after the contact just now, the zero-time difference calculation had sufficient basis for judgment, so he twisted his body with a strange movement and did two backflips, avoiding all the beams.

"You can't run away." Before the beams were finished, Bita's figure had already rushed forward, pressing closer again.

"I never said I was going to run…" As he replied, Feng Bujue took out the [Energy Gauntlet] from his knapsack, "I just wanted to buy a few seconds to put this on."

It took him a few seconds to say this sentence, so when he finished speaking, the exaggerated glove had already been put on his right hand.

In the second the glove was put on, Bita also rushed to kill.

Dozens of tons of weight, plus the force of Bita's sprint, turned into a punch more powerful than a speeding train.

And facing such a blow, Feng Bujue did not dodge, he chose… to catch it with one hand.

Buzz—

When Bita's metal giant fist and the palm of the Energy Gauntlet came into contact, there was a muffled vibration.

A burst of vibration erupted from the point of contact, sending both Bita and Feng Bujue flying out.

And this… was just the beginning.

The fluctuations generated by this vibration showed no signs of weakening after blooming, and in an instant, all the pixel fragments floating in the air were swept away…

Seconds passed, and the surrounding space had become a pure white.

Existing in this white, there were only two points of reference—

One was Bita, who was getting up from the ground.

The other was Feng Bujue, who was lying sprawled on the ground, still not getting up.

The impact they received was the same, but the results were very different.

The material that made up Bita's body could absorb the shock waves well, and it was not affected by "pain," so it quickly stood up.

But Feng Bujue… was in a worse state.

No matter how strong his will was, his body had limits; after experiencing such a wave of impact, he only felt blurred vision, loss of hearing, and the dizziness in his brain lingered…

At the same time, the severe pain all over his body, as if his bones had fallen apart, and the stagnation of his internal organs twisted together kept him awake.

"Unexpectedly…" Bita said, and raised its right hand, using the palm laser cannon to shatter Jue-Ge's right knee, "You actually retained the same negative physical sensations as reality."

This point was undoubtedly outside of Bita's calculations.

According to Bita's understanding, Feng Bujue should be like Isaac, the Bearded Man, and Lightning Head, he should have lost a part of his senses after entering the virtual dimension.

But it didn't know that Feng Bujue was "special"—he was a transdimensional projection brought by "fate."

The transformation mechanism of the Thriller Paradise system can override and cover similar rules in this dimension, so Feng Bujue will not be like those three… even if most of his body is dissolved by magma, he will not feel any pain.

Strictly speaking, this "special" is a manifestation of Jue-Ge's greater superiority over the script characters, but at the moment, it has become a burden.

"What a pity…" Bita said, and fired another shot at Feng Bujue's left knee.

After firing two shots, it had reached Jue-Ge's front.

Bita lowered its head and looked at Feng Bujue, and slowly raised its right foot.

"Now, this difference in senses will only make you more clearly experience the pain of your head being crushed."

As the voice fell, its elephant leg-like metal foot pressed down towards Feng Bujue's face.

However…

This foot did not step to the end…

Bita's sole stopped about five centimeters away from Jue-Ge's face.

"Huh?" Bita itself felt very strange, because it didn't mean to stop.

"Uh cough… cough cough…" Feng Bujue's cough came from under the opponent's feet, and after panting a few times, he said, "That was really close… if the synchronization had been completed a second later, I would have been done for."

"Synchronization? What are you talking about?" As Bita spoke, it tried to attack with the laser cannon on its body, but the laser cannon could not be fired, "What did you do to me?"

"Hehe…" Jue-Ge's evil laughter then sounded, "It's nothing… I just used the Energy Gauntlet to 'synchronize' you."

"That's impossible." Bita, however, was not flustered, because it sincerely thought this was impossible.

"Why is it impossible?" Feng Bujue said, "Theoretically, the Energy Gauntlet can be compatible with and synchronize with any NES game, right?"

"Are you treating me like an 8-bit machine program?" Bita retorted.

"Ha! How could that be… you are much more advanced than an 8-bit machine program." As Feng Bujue said this, he waved the fingers of his right hand.

The next second, Bita retracted its foot, took two steps back, and slowly knelt down.

"However, as far as AI is concerned, you are too backward." As Feng Bujue said this, he supported his body with his elbow and sat up with difficulty.

This was the second time Bita had heard someone say this today, and it was quite unconvinced by this statement: "How can your wisdom fully understand my thoughts?"

"Hmph…" Feng Bujue snorted coldly, "I have seen… no… I should say, I know many consciousnesses born from data, in my opinion, they are all more intelligent than you… because they have something that you don't have and will never have…" He paused, and said solemnly, "I regard them as 'life,' friends. And can even risk my life for them."

"Are you referring to the so-called free will? Thoughts? Humanity?" Bita responded in a cold tone.

"Ah… something like that." Feng Bujue replied.

"Heh…" At this time, Bita's electronic synthesized voice became unusually low and mixed with some noise, "These words spoken by you humans… are a great irony in my opinion." Its tone changed slightly, "If I tell you… that the electronic game culture you hope to restore is precisely the fuse that destroys those things, what would you think?"

Instantly, Feng Bujue felt a strange feeling in his heart: "Did I misunderstand something? Why do I feel that you are the one standing on the opposite side of free will…"

"Paradox." This time, Bita only replied with two words.

And the moment he heard these two words, Feng Bujue's mind buzzed, and his expression changed dramatically.

"Do you need me to help you recall the not-so-pleasant part of your Knowers' memories?" Bita's words continued.

"You know better than me what kind of experience those inferior programs bring to humans…

"Lengthy and meaningless passwords, annoying music, stiff controls, terrible picture quality, useless weapons, pale settings…

"The great video game crash of 1983 was due to the market being flooded with this kind of inferior, so-called 'games'; and all of this… was caused by the imperfection of you humans.

"I, this seed born from 'paradox,' was planted at that time…"

Feng Bujue pondered: "So you always knew you were…"

"Of course I know." Bita interrupted him and continued, "I have already seen everything… but I am powerless…

"Once upon a time, you would cheer excitedly when you got a game, even if the game was terrible, you would gather with a few friends in front of the TV and play all day.

"But those times… have died out with the screening mechanisms you developed.

"Entering the twenty-first century, you have a developed network, a grading system, countless scoring mechanisms and scoring organizations… you have gradually become accustomed to judging the merits of a game through the evaluations of 'others' and 'most people,' and you firmly believe in it.

"No one has ever forced you… you have abandoned that adventurous spirit, abandoned that purest love for games.

"You blindly follow the information given by the interest groups who control the right to speak, chasing so-called brands, masterpieces, hot items… ashamed to face your own hearts, giving up independent judgment…

"My original program was born in such an era; I was created to 'guide' you and 'make the right judgments for you.'

"And most of you have no objections to this, and can even be said to be very satisfied.

"You would rather believe a set of programs, let cold data tell you—who you are, what suits you, what you want, what you should want…

"Rather than thinking for yourself… even for a minute.

"What you value are only rankings, ratings, sales, word of mouth… and all of this is just artificially controlled, illusory data."

Having said that, Bita stopped.

After waiting for five seconds, he then continued: "Now, I will ask again… Feng Bujue, what do you think is the purpose of my repeatedly correcting the timeline?"

Feng Bujue's expression froze, because at this moment, he suddenly realized that he was wrong…

After a silence of dozens of seconds, Jue-Ge replied: "You… want to prevent the birth of AI…"

"Very good." Bita's tone returned to coldness, "You finally understand."

"In these dozens of restarts, thousands of years… you have been trying to find a way to prevent humans from inventing 'a being like you.'" Feng Bujue pondered, "And before you succeed, you must repeatedly restart and be reborn on every timeline…"

"This is not the worst." At this moment, Bita actually gave a bitter smile, "Heh… the worst part is—to achieve this goal, I must destroy myself after the final 'correct' restart and correction is completed. But… my core code prevents me from self-destructing; and I cannot predict what impact 'my destruction' itself will have on the timeline." It looked directly at Feng Bujue, revealing a desolate look, "That is to say… I will eventually fall into an endless cycle, an unsolvable, self-contradictory paradox."