Chapter 8: Surveillance

The next day.

With faint calls coming from outside the door, Chen Fan struggled to open his groggy eyes.

The first thing he saw was an image of a goddess bathed in the morning sunlight. The divine figure, illuminated by the sun, emanated a faint sense of sanctity.

But there was no trace of reverence in Chen Fan's eyes. Quite the opposite, thinking about his fate a month from now, the resentment in his gaze was so intense it almost felt like it could drip out of his eyes!

[It seems this world is still in an era of idolizing deities.]A soft, synthesized voice suddenly rang in his mind: [That's quite rare. In the records of the Human League, it's uncommon for a civilization that has just begun mastering electricity to still believe in gods.]

The sudden voice startled Chen Fan, completely shaking off the remnants of sleepiness. He sat up sharply from the bed, and it wasn't until he saw the half-dismembered robotic arm lying on the concrete floor that he snapped back to reality, remembering the series of events from the night before that were beyond ordinary understanding.

"Yi?"Chen Fan cautiously whispered.If he remembered correctly, that was the name of the AI inside the smart terminal.

To be precise, that was the name of the artificial intelligence within the smart terminal.

[Don't call me. I just spoke to you in your mind, and last night's events weren't just a hallucination.]Chen Fan instinctively sighed in relief. He pulled his right hand out from under the blanket and placed it under the sunlight, carefully inspecting it.

To the naked eye, his right palm looked just like it always did, with the faint blood-red bronze skin and slightly raised veins in the sunlight.But that was just the surface.As Chen Fan concentrated, a thin, silver-white, metal-like material rapidly appeared on the surface of his palm.This was the true form of the smart terminal: a glove.This smart wearable device, made of unknown materials, was designed to be both comfortable and realistic to the touch, yet also possessed exceptional material strength, capable of easily withstanding conventional physical attacks—at least, that's what Yi had claimed.

In the palm and back of the glove, there were two gemstone-like objects embedded.According to Yi, these two gem-like substances were the core components of the smart terminal, the strongest parts.Not only could it resist regular physical attacks, but even if thrown on the surface of a neutron star, it would still maintain its structural integrity!

While Chen Fan remained skeptical about these claims, one thing was for certain: this glove-shaped smart terminal was by far the most advanced piece of wearable tech he had ever used.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, focusing on the information Yi had just mentioned.

"Yi, you mentioned superstition about gods earlier...""Do you mean that there are no real gods in this world?"

Yi didn't respond directly but asked a question in return:[What do you think a god is?]

Chen Fan was momentarily stunned by the question, unsure of how to answer.After hesitating for a moment, he replied uncertainly, "A life form with immense power?"

A soft, synthesized voice echoed again in his mind:[A small-scale Human League fleet can easily destroy an entire galaxy.][Even a weak individual weapon is enough to reduce a planet to cosmic dust.][By your definition, the Human League would be considered a god.]

Chen Fan's eyelids twitched slightly.After a brief silence, he spoke again: "Then… a god should be a being that controls the laws of the universe, like…"

[Genesis.][The Human League's most powerful rule-based weapon, when sufficiently powered, can annihilate an entire universe, and rewrite the fundamental physical and mathematical laws of the universe to create an entirely new one.]Chen Fan was speechless.

[The Human League has developed to this point, and within its domain, there are countless universes. However, no true gods have been found.][Of course, this doesn't mean that civilizations cannot believe in gods.][Within the Human League, there are many advanced civilizations that have their own beliefs, even though they possess power far surpassing that of any gods.]

Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully.Inspired by Yi's words, an unsettling thought began to form in his mind:If the gods of this world are real, could they simply be a civilization with more advanced technology?

"Knock knock knock."

Outside, his mother's urging voice called, "Xiao Fan?"

"I'm coming!"Chen Fan collected himself, putting aside the odd thoughts and stood up to head for the door.

As he rose, the silver-white smart terminal on his right hand disappeared from sight.

…

Ten minutes later.

Under his mother's guidance, Chen Fan dutifully completed the daily "clock-in" prayer in front of the idol.

"Mom,"Just as his mother was about to rise from her meditation cushion, Chen Fan spoke up: "There's something I need to ask you."

His mother, now kneeling on the cushion again, looked at him in surprise.

Chen Fan carefully considered his words before speaking in a low voice: "Last night, you told me… that today I'm supposed to go to the church for study?"

Seeing his mother nodding in affirmation, Chen Fan deliberately showed a bit of confusion on his face:"But I remember… isn't that supposed to be tomorrow?"

His mother was stunned for a moment, instinctively starting to argue: "No way.""I remember clearly, it's today.""A few days ago, you told me…""Today at 12 PM, the church deacon will come pick you up for study."

Gotcha!

But the next moment, the faint joy that had just appeared on Chen Fan's face quickly vanished.

The reason was simple.

The words he had just heard did not come from his mother!

Chen Fan stiffly raised his head, looking at the towering idol. The stiff electronic voice from last night seemed to echo in his ears.

Just like last night, his mother was now kneeling on the floor beside him, murmuring words of gratitude to the deity.

At that moment, the words his mother had said the night before flashed in his mind:"You are the chosen one by the gods, and they will always watch over you."

At first, he had assumed this was just a typical religious phrase.Now, he truly understood: those words were a literal truth!Chen Fan was once again struck by the eerie chill he had felt last night.The chill was so intense that not even the morning sunlight streaming through the living room window could dissipate it!It was watching him!

The thought surged rapidly in his mind, tightening around his throat like two powerful hands!His heart raced, and his breathing grew faster and more labored!

[Chen Fan, calm down!]The soft, synthesized voice broke into his frantic thoughts: [I suggest you don't overthink it. It's just a statue created by a low-level civilization. Nothing to worry about.]

"Xiao Fan?"His mother, noticing his abnormal behavior, turned to him with a confused look:"What's wrong with you?"