Chapter 11 The Truth of Death

Chapter 11 The Truth of Death

Sure enough, it has arrived. Artificial intelligence—once technology develops to a certain level, it's only natural that human society would see the emergence of AI.

In this world where even mechanical beings possess self-awareness, the era of artificial intelligence is fully underway, and Prometheus’s functions are more akin to big data analysis.

If all the data from a person’s birth to death were controlled, algorithms could even predict their future trajectory.

When artificial intelligence reaches its pinnacle, every human being is merely a string of code in "its" database.

From the hodgepodge of novels Zhu Ning had read, artificial intelligence always seemed to be the ultimate villain. Right now, she couldn't determine Prometheus's stance—perhaps it was chaotic neutral?

What was the reason "it" chose her? Was it related to the original owner's death?

Zhu Ning asked, “Can I refuse?”

She had already earned enough money; with this amount, she could live comfortably without having to deal with pollutants. She could sense that there was much more going on here—maneuvering between artificial intelligence and various departments of the Cleaning Center.

It might even be connected to the original owner's death. Knowing it was a trap, jumping into it didn’t seem rational.

Fang Ying was taken aback, clearly not expecting Zhu Ning to ask such a question. She quickly regained her smile, “You can, but you’ll need to go through a confidentiality procedure then.”

Fang Ying added, “But I suggest you stay. With your current savings, you can only afford one dose of gene serum, which won’t last through a full treatment.”

For Zhu Ning, this was the best job she could get—high pay and something she adapted to well. There was no reason to refuse.

“We won’t force you,” Fang Ying said finally, “We look forward to your good news.”

...

Zhu Ning changed back into her regular clothes and left the Cleaning Center as the sun set. Information ads popped up along the road, promoting a company called Genesis Tech that offered uploading consciousness to the cloud—a heaven in dreams during the apocalypse.

The ads were annoying, even tracking and floating around. Ordinary people didn’t even have the privilege to ignore the advertisements of the tycoons.

Outside, the incinerator was still burning. Waste from all 260 regions of the Federation was sent to Zone 103, with garbage trucks coming and going nonstop.

The incinerator was shaped like a massive mechanical being, towering over a hundred stories high, giving an awe-inspiring feeling when viewed from below.

It was said that this was originally a defensive robot used during wartime, repurposed for waste disposal after retirement. The incinerator burned day and night, like a beacon in the darkness, illuminating a hundred miles around.

Zhu Ning watched for a while, admitting it was quite beautiful.

She realized with absolute clarity that she had entered another world—a wasteland of high-tech and pollutants. On one hand, technology advanced rapidly, yet in the corners, it was so impoverished and chaotic.

One part orderly, one part chaotic and disorganized, and beyond the walls lay a chaotic world Zhu Ning had never seen.

Zhu Ning transferred her rent to Aunt Wei and paid various bills. Afterward, her balance stood at 671,200 new coins.

After completing these tasks, she did not head home but instead went to another place—the abandoned garbage room.

This was the first place Zhu Ning saw upon waking up, fifteen kilometers from her home. By the time she arrived, it was already dark inside, with little light.

A musty smell greeted her as she entered. Zhu Ning hadn’t brought a flashlight, but she remembered the employee bracelet Fang Ying gave her. Sure enough, it could provide light.

A warm yellow light illuminated the area, adjustable between near and far beams.

Zhu Ning scanned the room, which was filled with piles of scrap metal. In the corner, dozens of discarded mechanical beings lay scattered. In her world, steel was recyclable and wouldn’t be left to rot here; even selling scrap could fetch a decent sum.

But the garbage room was nearly overflowing with scrap metal.

Recalling the iron fragment in her abdomen—irregular, roughly palm-sized, with jagged edges—she realized her killer had used whatever was available nearby to end her life. The cause of death was easy to deduce, but what about the motive?

The original owner was a nineteen-year-old ordinary person, a fifth-class citizen with no resources or wealth. There was nothing worth coveting except perhaps her mental value.

But Zhu Ning wasn’t sure if her high mental value was due to the original owner, herself, or the system.

Someone might have cleaned the scene, as there were no bloodstains or signs of the weapon.

Upon waking, based on fragmented memories, she had found an automated vending machine a kilometer away and bought a strong healing agent.

Her memory was hazy; she had too many things to process—accepting her transmigration, facing imminent death, and dealing with the system. Many details were lost.

Sitting in the spot where she had “died,” Zhu Ning tried to recall what happened that day. She looked up, noticing a hole in the dilapidated roof of the garbage room.

That day, she lay here under acid rain, looking up at the sky.

The original owner lay among the discarded metal, bleeding to death, staring at the yellow sky.

Zhu Ning sat for a while, gaining nothing. She felt silly, knowing it wasn’t like Sherlock Holmes’ memory palace where she could retrieve any memory.

Just as she was about to stand up, she froze. A few drops of blood were visible in the corner. From her seated position, she could see low enough.

Between the scrap metal and the wall, there seemed to be a line of crooked writing. Zhu Ning remained seated, remembering the original owner’s dying perspective.

She lowered herself carefully, moving aside a piece of scrap metal. On the weathered wall corner, a sentence was etched.

“The... end is coming,” Zhu Ning whispered, “you and I are... ants?”

The end is coming, you and I are ants. Zhu Ning’s mind buzzed.

“The end is coming, hahaha—”

“The end is coming.”

“You’re just like me.”

“You, you will become like me... like me... like me...”

These were the words the fishman said to her before dying. The fishman was barely alive and insisted on crawling towards Zhu Ning, uttering a few incomprehensible phrases.

At the time, Zhu Ning thought it might be a form of mental contamination. Now, she realized she had been naive. What the fishman said could be more elegantly phrased as: "The end is nigh, and we are but ants."

It was understandable for a contaminated being like the fishman to say such things, but why was this present at the place where the original host died? What was the real cause of her death?

Was she chosen because she was defective, with no social connections, merely discarded in the 103 District Cleaning Center?

If not for Zhu Ning's transmigration, the original host's death would have gone unnoticed. Even if discovered, she would have been thrown into the incinerator, without even a mention in the day's news.

Her death would have been very "clean."

Zhu Ning's first reaction was to open her employee bracelet; she needed to access the internal network of the Cleaning Center.

Fang Ying had mentioned that her video was uploaded to the internal network. If the fishman said something so bizarre to her, there should be discussions on the forum. She stayed on the login page, needing an official employee ID.

Now, Zhu Ning knew she had to join the 103 District Cleaning Center. Her survival principle had always been: if you can't beat them, join them.

Without hesitation, she chose a job position and filled out the basic employment information.

Login successful.

The employee bracelet automatically played a mechanical voice: "Congratulations on your employment."

There were some additional trivial procedures for her to complete. Zhu Ning skimmed through them quickly, clicking through each one before entering the public forum of the Cleaning Center.

The pinned post read: "Shocking! A probationary new employee has a mental value of 1200! We have an S-class national treasure!"

Zhu Ning: "…"

The next post: "Learning Materials for Internal Circulation: The Entire Process of Purifying the Last Bus in the D-Class Contamination Zone"

Zhu Ning clicked to watch the video. It was a compilation of her and Li Nianchuan's helmet views, fast-forwarding to the part where she fought the fishman on the tracks.

Her helmet was cracked, the camera distorted, and static sounds were picked up. Then, Zhu Ning kicked the fishman onto the tracks, where it was crushed.

"They think I'm… overly sensitive, unable to endure hardship."

"Am I overly sensitive?"

The next scene should have shown Zhu Ning holding a fire axe, standing on the platform, with the fishman crawling towards her, about to utter the end-of-the-world phrase.

But it ended there. The next moment showed the train arriving, followed by the fishman turning into a pile of flesh. The fishman died, releasing contamination spores.

Zhu Ning watched it again, confirming that the end-of-the-world segment was missing.

As the person involved, if she didn't trust her memory, she might have thought it was her imagination.

Was it edited? Who did it? Prometheus? Was it helping her? But why?

" Ding—"

A sound rang in Zhu Ning's mind.

"Congratulations on triggering the side quest: Find the truth behind your death. This is a long-term quest that can be pursued concurrently with other side quests. Completion rewards are generous, failure results in a life value reset. Current progress: 5%. Keep up the good work."

Zhu Ning: "…"

She shouldn't have come to the garbage room!

This system, giving no hints about the rewards, why does failure result in a life value reset?

Wait, Zhu Ning realized the logic of this system aligned with reality. Her "death" might be related to why Prometheus chose her.

If someone wanted to kill her, and she not only survived but also joined the Cleaning Center, she would likely face another attempt on her life.

So, Zhu Ning must find the truth before that happens, or else she'd be killed again, which would indeed be a life value reset.

To gather clues, she needed to enter the Cleaning Center and become a formal employee. Only then could she interact with Prometheus and the next contaminant.

Well, great, she could happily go back to sweeping garbage.

Zhu Ning thought for a moment, taking photos of the wall corner from various angles, ensuring she didn't miss any details, then used a metal sheet to scrape off the message.

While she was "destroying evidence," she suddenly heard a faint noise outside.

Creak—

"Who's there?" Zhu Ning's first reaction was to grab an iron rod. Could it be someone coming to silence her?

A robot slowly emerged from the door. It was round and only half a person tall, startled by Zhu Ning, raising its mechanical arms.

Zhu Ning: "…"

This robot didn't seem advanced, similar to the navigation robots from her era. Zhu Ning put down the iron rod and asked, "Fifth-class citizen?"

The robot nodded.

Indeed, the 103 District was filthy and chaotic; this looked like a defective model. Zhu Ning said, "Me too."

It had no vocal function, and its screen displayed two characters: "La Bao."

Was this its name?

Zhu Ning shamelessly replied, "I'm Ning Bao."

La Bao's screen turned into a smile. It seemed designed for service and appeared quite happy. Zhu Ning suddenly thought of a question and asked, "Do you collect garbage around here?"

Named La Bao, it was probably developed as a garbage collection robot but might have flaws, leading to its disposal here.

Lobao nodded.

Zhu Ning asked, "Have you seen anyone suspicious?"

Lobao: "You."

"..." Zhu Ning: "Anyone besides me?"

Lobao: "No."

Makes sense; if the murderer came to kill, they would definitely avoid people.

Zhu Ning asked, "Are there any surveillance cameras nearby?"

Lobao: "No."

Right, what a pointless question. This place is full of abandoned garbage rooms; there wouldn't be such things installed here. Zhu Ning didn't find any useful clues and felt a bit disappointed.

Lobao noticed that Zhu Ning wasn't too happy and typed on the light screen: "But the machines do."

"Hmm?" Zhu Ning's interest was piqued.

Lobao slowly typed on the light screen: "The robot cameras are always on by default."

Cameras are a standard feature in robots; they serve as their "eyes." Even if the machine is scrapped, many robots' camera functions still work.

So with all this garbage piled up here, some cameras might still be operational. The murderer might know a lot about killing but not much about robots; otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen the garbage room.

In other words, if any of the scrapped robots' cameras are still working, they might have recorded the entire process of the original owner's death?

Zhu Ning's eyes lit up, and she asked, "Can you help me find it?"

Lobao: "No, too many."

With all this garbage piled up, it would take at least two months to sift through and find cameras that still work, extract the data, and analyze it for useful information.

Zhu Ning: "..."

"Lobao," Zhu Ning squatted opposite Lobao, holding an iron rod, looking at it eye-to-eye with a smile, "want to make a deal?"

Lobao: "?"