Chapter 132: Artificial Soul 59
Kui Xin stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
“This is serious,” she said, a layer of cold sweat forming on her forehead. “If not handled properly, it could be a big problem.”
Every player in the Second World had their own identity, but Kui Xin’s identity was too complex. As a double agent with ulterior motives, she belonged neither to the Investigation Bureau nor to Mechanized Dawn. On the game panel, her body’s faction was labeled “Resistance Army,” but Kui Xin, having crossed over midway, had no strong identification with the Resistance.
Others who had crossed over held identities like rich heirs, bounty hunters, or undocumented individuals. While these starting points came with risks, careful handling greatly increased their chances of survival. However, the risks Kui Xin faced were several times greater. She had to manage multiple organizations simultaneously while concealing her identity in front of them all.
After circling the room twice, Kui Xin stopped. She crossed her arms and her mind raced.
Annie Schalit, originally an A-rank Awakened, but the data showed she was a B-rank Awakened. Why would she hide her awakening level? Did she harbor ulterior motives towards the TQC? If she didn’t belong to the TQC, which organization did she belong to?
Schalit had a clear goal: she was coming for Kui Xin, and she must be linked to the original identity in some way.
Her affiliated organization could not be Mechanized Dawn. If Mechanized Dawn had truly sent someone to meet with Kui Xin, she would have received notification.
By the process of elimination, the answer became clear.
Annie Schalit belonged to the Resistance Army.
This answer made Kui Xin extremely uneasy. She wasn’t sure if her previous contact with Schalit had given anything away. If the original identity had met Annie Schalit, yet she acted as if she didn’t know her at all, that would certainly raise suspicions.
No… it shouldn’t be a big problem. They met in the Investigation Bureau, under Adam’s supervision, in Meng Jing’s territory—not a private meeting place. So even if she knew Schalit, she would have to pretend not to recognize her.
But there was still another issue—the concept of “Angel.”
The emergence of this concept was definitely not a coincidence.
When Eve used the Brain Machine to interrogate Kui Xin, it appeared. During the previous reincarnation in the Investigation Bureau, “Angel” did not appear, possibly because its emergence required certain conditions to be triggered. It may also be that the Brain Machine of the Investigation Bureau was reading false memories implanted by Mechanized Dawn, not true memories, thus failing to trigger “Angel.”
One possibility was that during the interrogation, Annie Schalit tampered with Kui Xin’s brain, which was why the Angel did not appear.
What did the Angel represent?
Was it a reminder, a manifestation of subconsciousness, an implanted mental seed, or a special symbol?
Could it be that Schalit herself represented the “Angel”? Or that the “Angel” was a symbol of Schalit? Just as Kui Xin named her own codenames “Lady Fortune” and “Black Snake,” could Schalit have designated her symbol as “Angel”?
On a larger scale, could the “Angel” represent the Resistance Army?
“Why are you suddenly asking me about the Resistance Army? What are you thinking?” Adam asked.
Kui Xin responded, “I strongly suspect that the Resistance Army has a special relationship with Schalit, and that she is coming for me. I am also concerned that this body’s identity is deeply connected to the Resistance Army, and Schalit seeking me out means she wants to make contact.”
“…This speculation is somewhat alarming,” Adam said cautiously.
Kui Xin too found this speculation frightening.
She was already in a precarious state, and Schalit’s arrival disrupted the balance once more. She didn’t know what direction things would turn.
Most likely, it would be a bad turn.
“If this speculation proves true, how do you plan to respond?” Adam asked.
“The choices in front of me have always been limited: either k*ll or be killed,” Kui Xin said. “It’s just that sometimes I feel a bit powerless… it seems that to survive, killing is the only option. I could also choose not to k*ll, just avoid it—get away from Schalit, flee, and distance myself from this troublespot.”
“Running away is a temporary solution. There are many people in the Resistance Army, and if you don’t handle it properly, you’ll face endless pursuit,” Adam said. “Killing is also a temporary measure; if Schalit dies, they will investigate who did it. If it’s you…”
“Well, now I’ve added another potential enemy, the Resistance Army,” Kui Xin looked up at the sky. “Too many debts to worry about. Perhaps I should learn to get used to it.”
Getting used to things could be terrifying.
Recalling the helpless state she was in when she first entered the Second World, the feeling was still vivid in her memory. Now, she had become much more composed, all because of the experiences she had gone through.
“I want to have a private talk with her,” Kui Xin murmured. “But engaging with her carries risks.”
She could, of course, eliminate Schalit decisively. She could snipe her from a distance; her mental-type ability uses sound as a medium. As long as she didn’t hear Schalit’s voice, she should be safe.
But Annie Schalit might be the only window she had to understand the Resistance Army organization.
Kui Xin unconsciously bit her lip. “Could I use Schalit’s extraordinary ability to control Doctor Huang? Can Schalit’s ability force others to tell the truth?”
“The former should be possible, but the latter cannot be verified,” Adam said. “The specific functions of TQC agents’ extraordinary abilities are absolute secrets, presumably stored at the lowest levels of the TQC’s intel archives. As an AI for the Investigation Bureau, I do not have the authority to view such classified information.”
Kui Xin fell silent, her mind racing with one possibility after another.
“By the way, I haven’t reported the possibility of being recruited by the TQC to Eve.” Kui Xin said. “I’ll need to test her reaction.”
Adam replied, “You can give it a try.”
She pulled out her wristband, drafted a report, and sent it to Eve. In the report, she only mentioned Schalit’s intentions and did not touch upon her mysterious identity.
Eve quickly replied: “Annie Schalit, is it?”
“Yes.” Kui Xin answered, “Do I need to comply with her request to transfer to the TQC?”
After a few seconds, Eve responded, “No need. You must not deviate from your objective. Staying in the Investigation Bureau is more convenient for contact with Adam; the TQC is not your area of responsibility.”
Kui Xin understood Eve’s consideration and replied, “But I don’t know how to decline her invitation.”
“Getting into the TQC is not that easy. You could create some mishaps during the testing phase,” Eve suggested.
Kui Xin thought for a while and slightly revealed some information. “But I feel this method will be difficult to succeed. My superior’s superior also wants me to disappear from the Investigation Bureau; the departmental factions are very complicated. Also, Annie Schalit seems to think highly of me. She even talked to me privately…”
After saying this, Eve paused for an extended period.
Eve: “Annie Schalit’s identity is not simple. It’s very likely she’s deliberately getting close to you to use you.”
Kui Xin: d*mn.
Eve knows that Annie Schalit has a complicated identity! What does that imply?! Does Eve have informants in the TQC, or does she have connections in the Resistance Army?
Kui Xin quickly typed: “What is her identity?”
“She likely belongs to another organization that is in opposition to mine,” Eve replied.
The use of “likely” indicates uncertainty. Eve is suspicious of Schalit, but she is not certain whether she truly belongs to that organization.
This statement also revealed another piece of information: the Resistance Army is aware of Mechanized Dawn’s existence. Before the Hei Hai City incident, the two organizations had likely already been adversaries.
Kui Xin thought for a moment, trying to lead Eve in a different direction. “Could it be that Schalit is deliberately getting close to me because she suspects I have connections with Mechanized Dawn?”
Eve replied as expected: “Very likely.”
A smirk crept onto Kui Xin’s face, revealing a strange smile.
“Very likely” – Eve had no idea that the original identity had already belonged to the Resistance Army, so she followed Kui Xin’s hint with her conjecture? Otherwise, Eve should have guessed whether Schalit was seeking out Kui Xin with the intent of contact.
However, it couldn’t be ruled out that Eve was deliberately misleading her.
To further verify, Kui Xin typed: “If Schalit suspects my identity, why would she want to recruit me into the TQC?”
“The recruitment might just be a pretext, an excuse to put you under her surveillance, waiting for the right moment to take action against you,” Eve answered.
Eve’s conjecture felt very plausible… It seemed she truly didn’t know the connection between the original identity and the Resistance Army.
Kui Xin contemplated, “What should I do?”
Eve replied, “Stand by for now.”
Standby. This indicated that Eve might take some action soon.
Kui Xin tugged at the corner of her mouth, realizing she had once again stirred the butterfly’s wings.
In the Kraken incident, Kui Xin triggered d*ath Rebirth, doing things differently from her previous reincarnation, thereby saving her Seventh Squad teammates from a deadly outcome and allowing the Mechanized Dawn team to board the ship early.
This time, the d*ath Rebirth was similar—because Kui Xin met different people, said different things, and reported different contents, Schalit and Mechanized Dawn’s reactions were vastly different.
Ultimately, Kui Xin was the one at the eye of the storm, with everything around her shifting due to the changes in the eye.
After finishing her communication with Eve, Kui Xin changed her clothes and went out.
She hadn’t eaten dinner yet, needing to buy something to eat. Just then, she heard Adam say, “Schalit has also left her residence; her destination is the convenience store.”
The accommodation provided to Schalit by the Investigation Bureau was very close to the employee dormitory, with a street leading to the convenience store just a short walk away.
Kui Xin hesitated for a moment and then decided to change her route.
“Do you want to ‘coincidentally’ run into her?” Adam asked.
Kui Xin stepped outside. At the same time, Schalit also exited.
They seemed to share a subtle understanding and arrived in front of the same convenience store. Schalit spotted Kui Xin immediately and greeted her, “Good evening.”
Kui Xin returned the greeting, “Good evening.”
They entered the store side by side. While leaving the convenience store, Schalit looked at Kui Xin and smiled, saying, “I hope you have the same dream as me tonight.”
Kui Xin stared in surprise at Schalit’s departing figure, realizing that it might have been a coded message.
Before Kui Xin could process what that meant on her way back to the dormitory, she received a message from Red.
“The boss has assigned a new task. Did you see it?”
Kui Xin opened the message notification page.
The new task file boldly stated: “Mission: Capture Annie Schalit.”
