Chapter 122: Artificial Soul 49
Kui Xin logged out of the forum to contact He Kangshi.
“I have something for you to do,” she typed.
He Kangshi, who was also awake, immediately replied, “No problem! Just tell me what to do, boss!”
“Did you see the post by Remover 777 on the forum?”
“I saw it.” He Kangshi gulped, suddenly realizing something.
“Now you need to be online friends with Remover 777.”
He Kangshi: “Hiss…”
In that instant, upon seeing this request, He Kangshi thought of many things, yet seemed to think of nothing at all.
He wondered what his boss’s motive was in asking him to do this. Was it to gather intelligence on Remover 777? That seemed like something the boss would do.
However, Remover 777 requesting to connect with him as a Remover was a risky move, and He Kangshi’s skills in photo editing weren’t great; he was afraid of being exposed.
“I’ve got it covered, leave it to me, boss! Do you know how to edit images? My skills are really poor.” Despite the many thoughts racing through his mind, He Kangshi didn’t hesitate and quickly agreed.
It was just being online friends with a ruthless Remover; it wasn’t as if he were shedding skin or anything. If he couldn’t complete such a simple task, how would he prove his worth?
A message came in: “I have prepared the identification image for you.”
He Kangshi clicked on the image and his pupils shook: “Oh my!”
The card displayed the identity of Remover 233! The name portion had been treated with a special method, it was tightly coded.
He Kangshi drew in a sharp breath and cautiously asked, “Is it alright to use this image, boss?”
“No problem.”
After receiving the response, He Kangshi leaned back, stood up from his computer desk, and paced around in the cramped bedroom, stomping his feet and rubbing his hands.
His boss didn’t want him to contact 777 as an ordinary Remover, but instead specifically asked him to do so as the infamous Remover 233! The boss not only wasn’t afraid of his fake identity being exposed but actively encouraged it.
“Oh my, oh my!” he muttered, “This is a big deal… Wait! Actually, the boss hinted at this already… Damn…”
After two laps around the room, He Kangshi calmed down and sat down at his computer desk with determination.
“Hey, what does this have to do with me? I’m just a lackey; I just need to do what the boss tells me to.”
Ever since he had joined Black Snake, he had this awareness. Black Snake had promised to protect him and assured him he wouldn’t have to do anything too dangerous. Chatting online with Remover 777 from the other side of the sea was hardly dangerous at all.
“Then I’ll do it! I’ll message 777 right now… Wait, let me download a translation app first.” He Kangshi said, “I can’t send forum screenshots, so how about we voice chat and I’ll report to you in real-time!”
Kui Xin agreed, and soon the microphone permission on his phone automatically turned on; his voice could be transmitted in real-time to Kui Xin while she typed in a floating window to communicate with him.
Under the nickname “Maicyo is me,” He Kangshi sent a private message to Remover 777 on the forum, along with the identification image.
Remover 777 seemed to confirm the authenticity of the image before replying.
“Boss, 777 replied.” He Kangshi focused intently, “He said hello to me… Wait, he introduced himself as Augus… Is Augus his real name? Seems like it’s not; his forum nickname is also Augus. Could it be that he’s using his real-world name as his forum nickname?”
Augus, English: Augus.
“This guy definitely doesn’t know Chinese. He sent me ‘hello’ in pinyin, probably a foreigner who can only use broken Chinese…” He Kangshi stroked his chin, “What should I reply to him?”
Kui Xin typed: “During the testing phase, feel free to play your role without me teaching you line by line. I’ll let you know the key questions to ask.”
He Kangshi said, “Since he introduced himself, I should also introduce myself… I’ll send a message in Chinese and see what this foreigner is made of.”
So He Kangshi sent: “Hello Augus, I am Maicyo is me.”
Essentially, it was like saying nothing.
In the dark room, a man in the shadows looked at the Chinese characters on his phone screen, revealing a puzzled expression.
He took out a backup phone and photographed the screen for foreign language translation.
The translation results came quickly.
“I am… Mayi sauce is me?” Augus repeated.
What the hell kind of translation is this? “Mayi sauce” doesn’t sound like a human name at all; the first part, Mayi, resembles an Asian name… but the “sauce” at the end means sauce!
Augus fell silent.
The first step in communication between two Removers was not a clash of ideologies, but a barrier of language.
As Augus hadn’t responded for a long time, He Kangshi felt he might be putting this foreigner in too tough a position by sending in Chinese, so he sent: “You can call me Mai.”
Augus: “Are you from Huaguo? Mayi?”
A Huaguo person using a neon name to send an English message to a foreigner… and on top of that, it’s a female name!
He Kangshi’s eyebrows uncontrollably twitched… It seemed even more embarrassing for him when others called him Maicyo. Why did he choose such a ridiculous nickname at that time?
“Boss, this guy asked if I’m from Huaguo. How should I reply?” He Kangshi asked for help via voice.
“Respond with a question.”
He Kangshi grasped the point: “Are you from the Earth Police Nation, Augus?”
Augus: “…?”
Augus: “You seem to hold quite a prejudice against my country.”
Kui Xin then commanded: “Ask him what his purpose is; stop with the ineffective exchange.”
He Kangshi quickly opened the translation app, translated what he wanted to say into English, and sent it to Augus: “Why did you create a section that only Removers can access? What is your purpose?”
Augus: “I thought you would understand my purpose, Maicyo.”
He Kangshi: “…”
Augus: “After all, we are the same kind, aren’t we, Maicyo?”
He Kangshi: “…………”
Augus: “As peers, we should understand each other. I’ve seen everything you’ve done; you are different from the other players, and we are unlike the others as well. Don’t you think so, Maicyo?”
He Kangshi: “………………”
Help, help! He shouldn’t have introduced himself as “Maicyo”! Now Remover 777 kept calling him Maicyo, making his sense of embarrassment skyrocket; he felt like banging his head on the table.
This was supposed to be a serious meeting between two big players, their conversation should have been full of sharp verbal exchanges, every word a probe, sometimes filled with murderous intent, sometimes mutual recognition — in short, it was supposed to be a dialogue brimming with “prestige”!
But why was their conversation so funny?!
He Kangshi silently apologized to Remover 233 — sorry, your prestige has been ruined by me.
He Kangshi, based on his boss’s instructions, suppressed his sense of shame and forced a serious expression to reply: “I can understand you, Augus. In this world, sheep are everywhere, and Removers are the hunters at the top of the food chain; sheep are food for you and me.”
As this sentence was sent, the tone of the conversation seemed to rise quite a bit, returning to a normal level.
Yet what Augus sent next made He Kangshi unable to hold it together: “You truly understand me, Maicyo.”
He Kangshi let out a tragic wail to Kui Xin: “Boss! I want to bang my head against the wall! This guy keeps calling me Maicyo, I can’t take it anymore! Why did I bring this upon myself and let him call me Maicyo? My mindset is all wrong now, my eyes are full of Maicyo.”
Kui Xin thought for a moment: “It’s okay; just treat this as your streaming work. I see you’re quite skilled at acting like a mature lady, just keep it up.”
“Spare me!” He Kangshi was collapsing.
At this moment, Augus sent a message: “Let’s play an interesting little game, Maicyo.”
He Kangshi twitched his mouth as he typed: “What game?”
“The Killing Game,” Augus said, “Let’s compete on how many players we can kill. Once we return to the Second World, we’ll start this competition, with a week as the limit.”
He Kangshi’s expression darkened, and his face quickly straightened; he became completely serious.
Furrowing his brows, he stated quickly, per Kui Xin’s instruction: “You’re quite an interesting person, Augus. Do you really think you will win?”
Augus replied: “Do you think you will lose?”
He Kangshi: “I see. You are an arrogant hunter, but I’m not; I’m a cautious hunter. I will consider all possibilities and when I strike, it will be a guaranteed kill.”
Augus: “I see… now I’m more interested in you.”
Moments later, Augus said: “Regardless of whether I win or lose this game, I will have nothing to lose. It’s just a game, isn’t it? The fun I derive from the game is what’s most important.”
He Kangshi wiped the sweat off his forehead and told Kui Xin: “Boss, this guy is a pure maniac.”
“Just agree to him for now,” Kui Xin said calmly, “Infiltrating the forum is the priority.”
He Kangshi steadied his mindset and said to Augus: “I agree to join the competition. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”
Augus: “I knew you would agree, just as I knew you would come to find me.”
The next second, He Kangshi received an invitation to enter the personal section “Seven.”
Augus had posted separately in this section.
“Welcome, my good brother, Remover 233, Maicyo.”
He Kangshi stared at the post for a long time before replying with an expressionless face: “Thank you for your invitation, my good sister, Remover 777, Augus.”
Augus: “…?”
Augus: “So you are a lady? Maicyo?”
He Kangshi: “Yes.”
Augus immediately deleted the post and reissued a new one: “Welcome, my friend, Remover 233, Miss Maicyo!”
He Kangshi then said to Kui Xin: “Even though it’s unethical to deceive others, I feel very happy to toy with this foolish thing!”
Kui Xin: “The other party may just be echoing back what you said, Old Kang. We can’t only focus on the process but also the result. Remover 777 achieved their goal by contacting 233. Their purpose has been fulfilled, so they don’t care about the rest.”
He Kangshi felt a twinge of guilt and asked: “What about the competition later, boss?”
“That’s not something you need to worry about. It’s just a game for him, winning or losing doesn’t matter,” Kui Xin said.
He Kangshi: “I can’t stand him.”
Kui Xin coldly replied: “Neither can I.”
