Chapter 108: Artificial Soul 35
“Tsk, forget it.” Thorn Rose pouted, “All for work.”
“Thank you for understanding.” Kui Xin nodded calmly.
After a while, Kui Xin’s pork cutlet rice was served. She mechanically chewed and swallowed, overwhelmed by too many thoughts, to the point where she didn’t even taste the meal.
Silverface cautiously glanced at Kui Xin, then looked again.
“Is the pork cutlet good?” he asked.
“Good,” Kui Xin replied.
“I can’t tell from your expression that it’s good.” Silverface mumbled, “You eat like this every time, not enjoying the food at all.”
Red said slowly, “Stop nagging in Lady Fortune’s ear, Silverface. She’s already annoyed.”
“Huh? Oh.” Silverface said, “What’s bothering her?”
“Everyone at this table has worries, except you.” Red’s beef noodles were also served. He slurped a noodle and satisfyingly placed his hands beside the bowl to warm them, “Sure enough, when you catch a cold, you need some warm soup. That liquid nitrogen bomb nearly got me.”
The bartender glanced at him, “I really want to see what that thing looks like.”
“It’s better not to see it; if you have bad luck, you could lose your life. Lady Fortune was carried into the base.” Thorn Rose shrugged.
Thorn Rose ordered curry rice, while the bartender was eating a hamburger and fries. Although this base’s cafeteria was relatively small, it offered various foods.
“What’s there to worry about?” Silverface’s plate was empty; he had already finished his meal. A robot came over to clear his plate and added a plate of fried fish fillet. He forked the fish fillet and mumbled, “Just go along with the arrangements; the leader has everything planned out. After the base relocation, it’s safe, and we’ve caught the people we should catch. What else is there to worry about?”
Thorn Rose rolled her eyes, “Hei Hai City is my hometown, and now we have to follow the organization to a faraway place and establish ourselves in a new location. Every city has its own survival rules; it’s not just a matter of relocating.”
“What we should be worried about isn’t just this.” The bartender picked up a fry and dipped it in ketchup, “There are two people missing from this table. Though their presence was usually quite minimal, it feels a bit strange that they’ve suddenly disappeared.”
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy; they all clearly understood what the absence of those two represented.
“I hope the leader can explain a bit about the whole situation to us. Why did those two betray us? Which faction are they working for?” the bartender said, “The transport team I was in charge of was also attacked. Luckily, Thorn Rose is strong; otherwise, I would’ve been done for.”
“You wouldn’t have been done for; teams are arranged deliberately, pairing someone not good at combat with someone skilled in it to ensure balanced fighting capability.” Red said, “Only Black Obsidian and Ambereye were assigned to separate teams, with extraneous combat personnel following them…”
Silverface said blankly, “I don’t quite understand their actions…”
“We don’t understand either.” Red shrugged.
Red and their crew’s lack of understanding wasn’t the same as Silverface’s.
They didn’t understand the reason behind Ambereye Black Obsidian’s betrayal, while Silverface couldn’t grasp the concept of “betrayal” itself, as they were designed to carry out commands. Ambereye Black Obsidian’s desertion had a significant impact on Silverface.
He couldn’t genuinely understand this matter and momentarily forgot to eat the crispy, tender, and delicious fried fish fillet.
“What do you think, Lady Fortune?” Red asked Kui Xin.
Kui Xin replied, “No opinion, let’s maintain the status quo. I can’t follow the organization’s relocation; it’s not easy to handle things at the Investigation Bureau, so for now, I can only comply with the organization’s arrangements.”
“The organization seems to need to expedite the establishment of a new branch in Hei Hai City. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get support, and if something big happens, you won’t be able to contact anyone,” Red said, “Have you seen the boss?”
“I just left the treatment room; I didn’t get to see him.” Kui Xin said, “I will go see him shortly.”
“There have been many recent issues. Once things calm down, the boss will likely arrange the next steps for work.” Red stroked his chin, “Sigh, just thinking about it makes me want to sigh.”
Having finished her pork cutlet rice, Kui Xin wiped her mouth, stood up, and said, “I’m leaving; you take your time eating.”
Without looking back, she left the cafeteria.
Thorn Rose watched Kui Xin’s back and said, “The pressure she’s under is much greater than ours.”
“Who says it isn’t?” the bartender said.
Red commented, “It’s just one of those things.”
“Will we still be able to team up with her in the future?” Silverface asked, “I don’t want to change bosses, especially not to one like you…”
“Hey, saying that makes me sad.” Red patted Silverface’s shoulder, “Just follow the organization’s arrangements; aren’t you the best at following orders?”
Silverface’s face fell, his white hair limp and dejected.
…
“Xiao Xin, you’ve worked hard on this mission. Are you okay?” Kui Haidong said with concern.
“There are issues—serious ones. You just haven’t seen them,” Kui Xin said, tapping her desk.
“You’ve truly worked hard; don’t worry, such dangerous times won’t happen again. The organization’s tribulations are over,” Kui Haidong said, “Just focus on carrying out your undercover mission.”
“Whether there’s danger isn’t something you can control. Staying at the Investigation Bureau involves many uncertainties,” Kui Xin said. “For instance, this time, I was captured along with Wei Zhi and Wang Feichi. Upon returning to the Investigation Bureau, I could easily attract attention from high-ranking officials; they might interrogate me about what happened during my capture. I constantly live in crisis and have little chance to breathe.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. We have a brain machine in this base that can create false memories implanted into your mind to cope with interrogations,” Kui Haidong said. “Later, you can take a short break and then receive memory implantation. The implanted memories will overwrite your original memories, and even if the Investigation Bureau uses a brain machine on you, they can only detect the memories we planted.”
“Okay, since you’ve already made arrangements…” Kui Xin said, “When will the Investigation Bureau come to rescue Wang Feichi?”
Kui Haidong replied, “By tomorrow night at the latest, or by tomorrow morning at the earliest.”
Kui Xin nodded, “Got it. Is there anything else you need to instruct me, ‘Father’? If not, I’m leaving.”
“Don’t resent your father. Actually, I…”
“Oh, then there’s nothing more. Goodbye.” Kui Xin stood up from the chair and turned to leave.
Back in the hallway, Kui Xin felt herself weighed down by an invisible burden.
Even on the Kraken, she had never felt such immense pressure.
Eve’s agreement to her proposal temporarily eased the pressure of survival, but it did not grant Kui Xin any sense of relaxation.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Eve agreed to her proposal because it was confident. It wasn’t afraid of Kui Xin leaking information to Augus or of her betraying it. Besides holding onto Kui Xin’s identity secret, there must be other reasons for its confidence.
Since Mechanized Dawn had already evacuated from Hei Hai City, they were establishing a new base elsewhere, while Kui Xin remained in Hei Hai City. Mechanized Dawn was too far-reaching to manage her situation promptly. Yet, under these circumstances, Eve still agreed to her proposal.
This was definitely off. Why did it have such confidence? Why did it think Kui Xin wouldn’t betray it? Why did it think it could deal with her if she did betray it?
As Kui Xin wandered the long hallway, it felt like she was walking through a foggy maze.
Weary, she turned into the restroom, turned on the faucet, and washed her face, recalling her experiences since entering the game.
She remembered waking up on the operating table on the first day she crossed into the Third World. The one who performed the cranioplasty on her was Huang Cunliang, the undercover agent placed in the Investigation Bureau by Mechanized Dawn, Doctor Huang.
The skull!
Kui Xin’s heart raced in an instant.
She wiped the water off her forehead. This metal skull had blocked bullets and saved her life; similarly, it could also become her death warrant.
Kui Xin’s expression darkened as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Some things were destined from the start, while others had been racing towards the worst outcome from the beginning.
Her life had already fallen into an irretrievable predicament; two major powers, Mechanized Dawn and the Investigation Bureau, were locked in conflict. Eve and Augus were at odds, and she was merely the sacrifice in this struggle, unable to gain the initiative, only passively accepting her fate.
As long as she remained working for these two powers, as long as she stayed within the spheres of Augus and Eve, as long as she lived, she could only be swept into the vortex, struggling for survival within it.
Was there a way to escape this vortex? Was there a way for her to separate from Mechanized Dawn and the Investigation Bureau?
While she was alive, escaping was impossible—what about if she were dead?
Unconsciously, Kui Xin pressed her thumb tightly, flames of inner rage flaring up.
The last time she felt this way was facing death on the Kraken; the time before that was when the Python Sphere schemed against her… Kui Xin could hardly bear it. If she were a volcano, she was already on the verge of erupting.
Simply breaking away from the two organizations wasn’t enough; she wanted to enact revenge—swift and fierce revenge!
Those under control couldn’t retaliate against their controllers, so she had to escape the vortex and become the controller.
“Mission Triggered.”
The game interface suddenly flashed.
“[Mission Description]: You find yourself in unprecedented adversity. The only way to change your circumstances is to become the master of your own life, a true master. For this purpose, you have resolved to break away from your current boss and current work unit to go solo.”
“Success in this mission will lead you to a smooth path. Failure awaits you with an endless abyss.”
“Life always requires making various choices, and some choices may bring about substantial changes.”
“[Mission Objective]: Regain freedom.”
“[Mission Progress]: 0%.”
This was the third time Kui Xin received a mission trigger alert.
She glanced at the time; it was August 15th, 21:59.
The time to return to the First World was close; tomorrow would be the return day.
