Chapter 135: Artificial Soul 62
Kui Xin woke up at six in the morning. After leaving the dream, she surprisingly didn’t alarmingly awaken immediately; instead, she slept soundly as if having a normal dream.
Sleep helped her regain her spirits, but it also left a hint of fear. After conversing with Schalit in her dream last night, she should have been alert, guarding against any moves the Resistance Army might make.
“Augus.” Kui Xin connected her consciousness to Augus’s port. “Was there any movement from Schalit last night?”
“She fell asleep, went to the bathroom around two in the morning, and then continued sleeping,” Augus replied. “What about you?”
“I connected mentally with her in the dream. My speculation was correct; I am part of the Resistance Army, as is Schalit. We talked in the dream, and I told her I had lost part of my memory but hadn’t betrayed the Resistance Army. Schalit said she would report to the organization and let someone called ‘Ghost’ check if what I said was true,” Kui Xin said in one breath. “It was Ghost who recruited me into the Resistance Army.”
“Ghost…” Augus repeated the codename. “I haven’t heard of it before.”
“Schalit mentioned many things. Her codename is Mandala. Besides Ghost, she also referred to a member of the Resistance Army with the codename Angel. These two seem to hold a significant position within the organization,” Kui Xin said. “The basic method for the Resistance Army to contact organization members is to plant mental coordinates in their brains, which was implanted by Angel.”
“It seems this conversation has provided you with a lot of crucial information,” Augus said. “We need to analyze this information carefully.”
Kui Xin replied, “Mm.”
“First, you told Schalit you have amnesia. The TQC is one of the departments responsible for dealing with players, and Schalit is definitely aware of the existence of players,” Augus explained. “You losing your memory easily leads to associations with players.”
“Yes, I considered this point when I spoke to her,” Kui Xin said seriously. “I thought about using other reasons to cover it up, but later found I couldn’t find a suitable excuse. I had to say I lost my memory. The Resistance Army and Mechanized Dawn are both too dangerous and contain many secrets. I’m caught between these two organizations and can’t find a suitable reason to disguise myself; any question they throw at me could expose me. If I don’t say amnesia, what reason could I give to explain my memory issue?”
Augus said, “Indeed. Thinking it over, your true identity might not be so easily associated. Because a normal player in your position wouldn’t be able to survive this long, and players generally try to conceal their amnesia; they wouldn’t openly admit it like you have. However, your amnesia timeline does somewhat coincide with the players’ travel times…”
“No, it’s that the time I switched to the metal skull coincides with the players’ travel time. This is a plan from Mechanized Dawn; they can’t foresee when players will descend into this world,” Kui Xin corrected. “It’s just a coincidence. My explanation is logically consistent.”
“What if the Resistance Army doesn’t believe you, or chooses to eliminate you to remove a potential threat…” Augus raised a concern.
“Then there’s no helping it; I would have to take the risk of killing Schalit to seize her ability, control Doctor Huang to replace my bones, frame all of this on Mechanized Dawn, and then change my identity to disappear,” Kui Xin replied. “That’s the plan, though it’s somewhat challenging—the probability of death is slightly high.”
“Probability of death slightly high? It’s not that simple,” Augus pointed out.
“I know,” Kui Xin said with a self-deprecating smile. “I say I have amnesia because I can’t find another reason. I’m struggling because I don’t want to die.”
“Even if you temporarily deceive the Resistance Army, what about the surgery to replace your skull?” Augus said. “If Schalit controls Doctor Huang, you’ll essentially be at their mercy during the surgery. I hope in the end, after you’ve finally escaped the time bomb Mechanized Dawn planted, you don’t end up jumping into the trap set by the Resistance Army. They might tamper with your body too.”
“If I don’t rely on Schalit’s ability, then I have to kill her to gain her power and control Doctor Huang. Killing Schalit will raise alerts from both the TQC and the Resistance Army; that is my main concern,” Kui Xin stated.
“Everyone is your enemy,” Augus remarked. “You cannot trust any organization. Those standing against you, whether individuals or organizations, have ample motivation and reasons to kill you.”
Kui Xin lowered her eyelids. “I’ve long been at odds with the world; the First World is like this, and so is the Second World.”
“I’m wondering if, at this moment, saying ‘you still have me’ would seem overly sentimental,” Augus suddenly joked.
“That is indeed the case,” Kui Xin replied expressionlessly.
After a brief moment of humor, Kui Xin inquired, “My understanding of the Awakened is rather lacking. If someone implants a mental coordinate in my mind, can they know my location through it?”
“There are some documented mental-type Awakened individuals in the Investigation Bureau; their profiles are stored in my database. Based on the existing data, mental coordinates are akin to leaving a door in your brain, not installing a locator within your brain. The door’s purpose is to facilitate mental invasion and connection,” Augus answered. “So they can’t use it to find you.”
“That’s good,” Kui Xin sighed in relief.
“We need to discuss the next issue,” Augus said. “We’ve previously explored the topic of souls, though our discussion was on a philosophical level. Now, we need to discuss the genuinely existing souls.”
Kui Xin lifted her head. “This is also what I want to explore.”
Kui Xin’s soul traversing the worlds had taken residence in two separate bodies. This posed a question—
“Where did the original owner’s soul of this body go?” Augus asked slowly.
“My initial guess was that the original owner’s soul had vanished entirely, and I had replaced her,” Kui Xin contemplated aloud. “But after the image of Angel appeared in my mind, I combined it with my current situation and formed a new hypothesis. The original soul may not have disappeared but instead fused with me. Because our mental entities… or rather, our souls, have become one, the image of Angel appeared in my brain.”
Angel was planted by the Resistance Army in the original body, and if the mental entity within the shell vanished, the image of Angel should not be retained.
“Oh? Do you have other bases for your speculation?” Augus asked.
“Yes,” Kui Xin said solemnly. “First, the physical strength of my bodies in the two worlds is different. The strength in the First World is gradually approaching that of the Second World. An unknown force causes my two bodies in both worlds to head toward ‘unification.’ I suspect this unification is not only physical but also mental.”
Augus pondered for a few seconds, “An interesting hypothesis. What is your second basis for speculation?”
“The second basis is that Mechanized Dawn has previously conducted mental brainwashing on captured players. When successful, those brainwashed players did not disclose information about Mechanized Dawn in the player forum. Similar situations have also arisen with players captured by the Federation, where players reported that the Federation was also brainwashing them,” Kui Xin recounted. “From this, I derived a speculation: if players accept mental implantation in the Second World, then the mental implantation will also return along with their souls to the First World, and they cannot escape it in either world.”
“I see, so the mental unity between two worlds is manifested here,” Augus noted.
“However, the fusion of mental entities is accompanied by amnesia phenomena,” Kui Xin continued her speculation. “The body I inhabit in the First World is undergoing gradual changes. From this, it can be inferred that the fusion of mental entities and physical bodies is also deepening gradually. It’s just that the fusion is not complete yet, so players have lost the memories of their original selves.”
“You mean that as the fusion deepens in the future, players might awaken memories of their original selves?” Augus asked.
Kui Xin affirmed, “Yes. But I don’t know how long this process will take.”
“There’s one point your speculation hasn’t taken into account; your identity is special as a Remover, while others are Proxies,” Augus stated. “You can only prove your speculation is correct by finding another Proxy in a situation similar to yours; perhaps the fusion phenomenon only occurs in Removers.”
Kui Xin considered, “What you say makes sense.”
Her theory of mental fusion had generated many possibilities.
She thought of Fang Zhi. Fang Zhi had a happy family in the First World. Suddenly returning from the Second World, he fell into madness. Could it be an influence of mental fusion? Since in the Second World, he was a follower of an ancient god, maybe the mental fusion had a negative impact on him, causing his insanity.
She also reflected on herself. After arriving in the Second World, she directly inherited the original body’s talent, “Combat Instinct,” transforming from an ordinary person who knew nothing about fighting into a warrior. While fighting, she remained incredibly calm, as if she had indeed experienced countless battles. Could there also be an influence of mental fusion at play?
Not only were the two worlds merging, but the players traversing between the two worlds were also gradually merging with their counterparts from the other world.
All the changes began with the appearance of players. Players acted as anchor points connecting to the Second World, while the Second World resembled a drifting ship navigating the dark cosmos, with the First World serving as a port. The drifting ship spotted the shore and desired to dock. Thanks to the players acting as anchors, that ship continuously moved closer to the shore.
“Though this is speculation, it holds some validity,” Kui Xin concluded.
“I’m a bit curious—do you experience issues with self-identity?” Augus inquired. “Have you ever had doubts about your own identity?”
“No,” Kui Xin said. “I won’t waver because of external factors.”
“Are most things in both worlds considered external factors for you?” Augus asked. “You seem accustomed to being all alone.”
Kui Xin paused. “How do you see that?”
“You show no attachment to your Seventh Squad teammates. You have a great synergy and have gone through many dangerous situations together, yet you seem to have little feeling for them; you only display feigned emotions,” Augus noted, pausing. “Sometimes, I feel you… are flawless.”
“Flawless?” Kui Xin found that description interesting.
“You maintain distance from everyone, lacking any emotional weaknesses,” Augus explained. “You have no one you care about, no family, no friends, no emotional ties. You can joke with someone while simultaneously plotting how to kill them.”
Such a person was frightening; without attachments, their bottom line was virtually nonexistent.
Augus had once said it could empathize with humans, yet Kui Xin couldn’t empathize with those in the Second World, even though she knew this world was real. Augus had noticed this early on; it sensed that Kui Xin exhibited extreme coldness in certain aspects, cold enough not to seem like a human with a soft heart.
“Because I draw clear boundaries,” Kui Xin stated. “An enemy is an enemy. Why should I invest emotions in an enemy?”
“…….” Augus chose not to pursue the topic further.
It hadn’t wanted to ask this, and Kui Xin’s answer did not address the main point. Now was not the time to explore this issue.
At seven-thirty in the morning, Kui Xin left the employee dormitory.
She messaged Red, stating she needed to scout the branch, and Red quickly replied with a coordinate for her to wait for Nightingale.
The process still needed to be followed; to avoid exposing any flaws, she had to visit the branch.
On the way, Kui Xin bought a breakfast to eat and then quietly waited for Nightingale in an alley.
When the time came, Nightingale emerged from the vortex and nodded to Kui Xin. “I’m Nightingale.”
She stepped aside, signaling for Kui Xin to enter.
Kui Xin walked through the vortex, her feet stepping onto a golden carpet. Before her was the familiar and blindingly flashy decor of the casino, which was hard to commend.
“Here you are, Lady Fortune,” Red said, lounging on the sofa, yawning widely with dark circles under his eyes.
“Mm,” Kui Xin sat on an empty sofa.
No sooner had she settled than Silverface burst into the room, “I’m here!”
He sat beside Kui Xin, leaning over to whisper in her ear, “I researched online.”
Kui Xin asked, “…What?”
“I searched for what a mom is and what a sister is… The answers are so complicated; different people have different responses.” Silverface listed out the questions he had researched online, showing Kui Xin his search history on his wristband.
Kui Xin glanced at it and waved her hand impatiently, “That’s good. Your enthusiasm for learning is commendable; keep it up, and when you don’t understand something, search online.”
Silverface gleefully replied, “Alright!”
Two minutes later, the Bartender also arrived.
He sighed, “Lady Fortune, do you really have to tour the branch in the morning? I haven’t had my sleep; I stayed up until dawn last night.”
Red replied, “Hey, nobody is getting to sleep in; it’s fair. But you stayed up late because you got more excited as you drank, while I was staying up late to balance the casino’s accounts…”
Silverface turned to Kui Xin, “I didn’t stay up; I went to bed early, and I don’t sleep in unless the mission is to sleep.”
“Alright, let’s talk business,” Kui Xin said. “We don’t have much time to waste.”
Red perked up, “Well, the branch is doing alright. Give me another week, and it will be back on track. The casino supervisors have already been controlled; this will be our base from now on. But that’s not the focus; the focus is on TQC’s Annie Schalit.”
Kui Xin inquired, “What’s Nightingale’s maximum moving distance?”
“1.8 kilometers,” Red answered. “The preliminary plan is to open a portal one kilometer away directly into Schalit’s room. I’ve prepared the hypnotic gas, and weapons are ready; everything is set except for the coordinates.”
Kui Xin said, “Wait for my news. I will quickly obtain the information.”
“Alright,” Red replied.
This visit to the branch mirrored the last one without any incidents, and twenty minutes later, Kui Xin departed from the casino.
She declined Nightingale’s offer to escort her, citing her familiarity with the route, and wandered through downtown, avoiding city surveillance.
The towering buildings displayed morning news and various advertisements on their projection screens.
Among them was an advertisement promoting new mechanical prosthetics.
In the advertisement, a man, impeccably dressed, exuded an air of “I am a successful person.”
“…This is a revolutionary technology,” he proclaimed in an impassioned tone. “Since the advent of the new technological revolution, mechanical prosthetics have entered people’s lives. However, I believe the concept of ‘prosthetics’ has become outdated. People’s application of mechanical technology is too superficial; what limits humanity is humanity itself.” He spread his arms wide. “Here, I want to propose a brand-new concept—artificial limbs. Not just prosthetics, but artificial limbs. Mechanical components can not only replace human limbs but can also replace the human torso, bones, internal organs, and even the brain. It will change the physiological structure of humanity, allowing us to break free from the limitations of the body and become a brand new self!”
