131. A mechanic who cannot practice medicine is not a competent hacker.

"Emotions?!" Chen Entropy narrowed his eyes, skeptical.

"Can emotions actually serve as a power source for machinery? Are you sure you haven't wandered into some hot-blooded mecha anime where shouting is all it takes to boost the power of a laser cannon?"

"I can distinguish between anime and reality, though this is the first time I've ever encountered a machine driven purely by emotions." Black Calice also displayed an expression of intrigue, the corners of her mouth curling upward slightly. "Chen, you really do hide quite a few secrets, don't you?"

Chen Entropy looked down at his own chest, curiosity piqued. "If the energy source of this mechanical core is emotion, is it absorbing my emotions, or the emotions of everyone around me?"

"It isn't absorbing anyone's emotions," Black Calice replied decisively. "Quite the opposite. It stores a massive amount of emotion as fuel, and it leaks that stored emotion out in the form of 'radiation'."

"Uh..." Chen Entropy scratched his head in confusion, his brain whirring at high speed.

*The collapse core is driven by emotions... but where do these emotions come from? And when was the core installed?*

A barrage of questions flooded his mind, leaving him lost in thought.

"Most importantly, it isn't storing ordinary emotions." Black Calice swiped her fingers across several documents. "According to my analysis, the emotional energy driving this device is malice."

Hearing this, Chen Entropy recalled something and muttered, "Malice—as in hatred and loathing for something?"

"Exactly. For some reason, the device inside you has cracked, and the energy is constantly leaking out. So, I took the liberty of performing a deeper analysis on the nature of this energy."

Black Calice flicked her fingers, projecting a complex data table that left even Chen Entropy looking bewildered.

"The malice carried within this mechanical device is not ordinary. It is the indiscriminate, world-destroying malice that only arises from the depths of total, hopeless despair."

"The magnitude of this malice is beyond anything I could have anticipated. Rather than saying this device is driven by malice, it would be more accurate to say that the purpose of this device is to contain it."

"You probably don't understand the data I've compiled, so you have no concept of just how 'massive' this is. To put it intuitively: if you were to attach the malice from this device to a normal human, they would try to bite their mother to death the moment they were born. Once they learned to control their limbs, they would attempt to destroy everything within their line of sight."

"If that person lived to reach high school, their school would likely fall victim to a horrific massacre. If they were to somehow make it to adulthood, they would almost certainly become a serial killer, eventually finding a way to transport a nuclear bomb into the city center to take everyone down with them."

After hearing Black Calice’s assessment, Chen Entropy was stunned. "Is the thing inside me really that dangerous?"

"Exactly. I have no reason to lie to you. Even I was nearly affected by these emotions while performing the analysis." Black Calice frowned. "So, who on earth installed such a dangerous thing in you? Or did you install it yourself?"

"I can't answer that question for the time being. I can only say that those who know, know." Chen Entropy crossed his arms, intentionally playing the riddle-master to mask the fact that he had no idea what was going on.

Black Calice couldn't be bothered to engage with that. She continued her analysis: "Ever since this device was implanted, you've started experiencing groundless feelings of hatred. Now that the device is damaged and the energy is leaking, you have even less control over your emotions."

Hearing this, Chen Entropy looked down at his chest again, lost in thought. He still remembered the overflowing, inexplicable hatred he felt when he saw his sister this morning—he had nearly been unable to stop himself from killing Nayuta. Later, while walking down the street, he had felt a strange murderous intent toward passersby, and only managed to maintain his composure thanks to tranquilizers.

He knew for a fact that these were not his own emotions. Even in his most hysterical moments, he had only ever thought of taking revenge on the Xu Group, not venting his anger on female characters or innocent strangers.

"While I am curious about who built this thing and how they implanted it, that can wait. It doesn't matter, because you’re not far from death as it is." Black Calice’s fingers darted across the documents. "So, aside from the delusion of seeing ghosts, you must also be suffering from mania, right?"

"Indeed, now that you mention it, that’s true." Chen Entropy nodded. "Do you have a way to treat it?"

"The energy composed of hateful emotions is leaking from that device and gradually influencing your psyche. Your own sanity was already quite fragile to begin with. In less than half a month, you'll turn into a bloodthirsty maniac who lives only to destroy." Black Calice whistled, unfazed, and patted her chest. "But of course, I have a way to fix it! After all, a mechanic who can't act as a psychiatrist isn't a qualified hacker. Curing your brain is well within my capabilities."

"Turning into a bloodthirsty maniac? The way you put it, it sounds almost cool," Chen Entropy laughed.

"But a maniac doesn't fit my aesthetic; that kind of criminal method is too low-class. If you really want to be a serial killer, don't you dare tell anyone we worked together." Black Calice grumbled, opening a new document. "So, to fix your current situation, we need to take two steps..."

"First, I need to find a way to seal or clear away that memory from yesterday that triggered your fear, allowing you to regain your sanity."

"Second, I will attempt to repair the device in your heart to stop it from releasing energy... Honestly, I’d prefer to just cut it out, but it has already fused with your heart. If I cut it out, I’d have to replace your heart with a mechanical one."

Black Calice stared at Chen Entropy with intense, burning eyes, seemingly waiting for his consent.

"Say, aren't you being a bit too serious today? This doesn't seem like you," Chen Entropy suddenly frowned, saying it as if it were a major issue.

Usually, if Chen Entropy found himself in such a predicament, Black Calice would have spent half an hour laughing her head off over the phone before demanding an exorbitant fee to help him find a solution with less than a fifty-percent success rate. But today, Black Calice was being uncharacteristically proactive, appearing even more anxious to solve these problems than he was.

"Are you doubting me?" Faced with Chen Entropy’s distrust, Black Calice showed a rare expression of displeasure. "In your mind, am I the type of person who kicks someone when they're down?"

"Aren't you?" Chen Entropy shrugged. The only reason he hadn't been backstabbed by Black Calice yet was that he had never let himself fall into a hole.

"But this time is different." Black Calice ignored his assessment and kept scrolling through the files. "If this were a typical accident, I’d be one hundred percent sure I could handle it. But this time, I’m not even fifty percent sure. This supernatural incident is beyond my control. If I keep investigating deeper, even I can't predict the consequences."

"And it's not just the mysterious events you're investigating; you have a ticking time bomb buried in your own body. If we say each of these threats is worth 100 points, their combination adds up to no less than 300."

"In a situation this dangerous, if I continued to act with a playful, teasing attitude, you would truly die... and you would die quite miserably."

"You don't want me to die?" Chen Entropy smiled.

"It doesn't matter to me if you die, but I won't allow you to die in such an unoriginal way." Watching Chen Entropy’s pale smile, Black Calice couldn't help but brush his cheek, her yellow pupils gleaming with a fiery light. "Since we started working together, my life has been much more interesting than before. So, I can't let you disappear from my side just like that, understand?"

"Uh..." Chen Entropy grabbed Black Calice’s wrist, asking curiously, "Does this count as a confession?"

"Leave that question for your virgin brain to ponder slowly." Black Calice pulled her hand away and steered the conversation back. "So, are you going to accept my treatment or not?"

"I'll leave the collapse core part to you. But don't cut it out; just repair it," Chen Entropy said, dropping the flirtatious tone for a serious one. "As for the aftereffects of the abyss, let me handle that myself. I don't want anyone messing with my memories."

"Fine, let's do that then." Black Calice sensed his wariness and didn't force the issue. She instructed, "Go lie down on the surgical table in the second room, and get some good sleep."