Chapter 137: Artificial Soul 64
Kui Xin lay face down on the grass.
“Is she dead?” Schalit, now fully armed and dressed in a different outfit, looked unrecognizable as a TQC officer.
“Her heart was hit, she should be dead,” Ghost replied.
Even though he said that, he raised his gun and fired the remaining bullets from the magazine, adding several more holes to Kui Xin’s body. One shot hit her head with a sharp clang, a trickle of blood flowing down.
There was no response; she was indeed dead.
“She has a metal skull and regenerative flesh; it’s quite a useful ability,” Schalit remarked. “I’ve seen her file; her extraordinary ability level is too low to heal her heart.”
Ghost said, “Alright, we should leave.”
“The body…” Schalit began.
“Take it; once we return, we can dissect and activate the brain. We might discover something,” Ghost instructed, “The pickup team will arrive soon.”
He glanced around; the greenery by the river provided cover, the area was empty, and there were few people around. The brief battle and the use of a shielding device to cut off monitoring had drawn no one’s attention.
Schalit whispered, “I can’t understand how she managed to survive until now. If you hadn’t discovered her identity, she probably could have continued to disguise herself. I’ve seen her answers; her knowledge of the Second World doesn’t seem like that of a player… Is someone in the Investigation Bureau helping her hide?”
“Very likely…” Ghost replied, “The problem is, who is that person? And following this logic, someone must be assisting her with Mechanized Dawn. Who has helped her cover up her past time and again? Eve is not to be underestimated.”
Ghost stepped closer to Kui Xin, nudging her body gently with his foot to flip her over.
Just then, Kui Xin, lying on the ground, suddenly opened her blood-stained eyes.
She raised her hand and gripped Ghost’s ankle!
Startled, Ghost kicked Kui Xin away and quickly retreated two steps. Looking down, he noticed a bloody handprint on his ankle and a silver bracelet caught around it.
Three bullets had struck Kui Xin in a triangular formation, aimed at completely shattering her heart. This injury would instantly kill an ordinary person. Kui Xin’s regenerative flesh could not restore her heart but allowed her to linger a little longer.
If a bionic heart had been quickly connected to her circulatory system at that moment, she could have survived, but she only had enemies around.
Kui Xin, barely clinging to life, collapsed weakly on the lawn, emitting a low laugh. Due to excessive blood loss and severe injuries, her laughter sounded faint yet filled with madness and hysteria.
That was the silver bracelet of Mechanized Dawn; it had a function that, when the power button was pressed for three seconds, would turn it into a bomb.
Schalit was also stunned by this sudden turn of events; she never expected that Kui Xin, shot three times, was still alive. She hastily drew her gun, aiming at Kui Xin.
“Beep—” The bracelet clipped to her ankle emitted a sound, and a small red dot lit up on the side.
Ghost’s eyelids twitched as he reached to pull off the bracelet, but it was too late.
The moment he reached, the bracelet exploded with a thunderous boom!
“You killed Wei Zhi.”
“You deprived Wei Zhi of her extraordinary abilities.”
“[Spatial Constriction·B Class]: You can temporarily solidify space…”
Kui Xin didn’t finish reading the game’s skill description. Fortunately, the power of the explosion was limited and did not affect Schalit.
Schalit pulled the trigger; amid the piercing gunshot, Kui Xin’s vision descended into darkness.
…
Again, the suffocating darkness.
No light, no direction, unable to distinguish up from down.
Where was she? In her mother’s womb? In the river of the dead floating with corpses? Or… in a void dream?
Those shadows appeared again, drawing near to Kui Xin, but it seemed there was something misty wrapping around the shadows. Kui Xin, dazed, couldn’t see their true forms.
Suddenly, one of the shadows slowly raised its “hand,” seemingly wanting to touch Kui Xin’s brow.
Just then, Kui Xin’s consciousness plummeted sharply, and she awakened.
“Kui Xin!” It was Augus’s voice. “Kui Xin! Are you alright? Answer me, Kui Xin?”
Kui Xin’s body twitched, reflexively jumping up from the ground, her pale face alarming.
From getting up too quickly, a strong dizziness hit her, and she blacked out, collapsing to her knees. Her head throbbed painfully, as if someone had split it in two with an axe.
She clutched her head, unable to straighten up.
“I’m fine…” After a long time, Kui Xin managed to say.
She strained to open her eyes, fumbling to pull out her communicator to check the time.
The time was August 17, 00:06.
The first day back in the Second World.
“What happened? You almost fainted for six minutes,” Augus said. “I’ve called for medical services; they will arrive in about ten minutes. When the doctor gets here, just say you’re not feeling well and called for medical assistance.”
Kui Xin slumped on the ground, her vision darkening as she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
“…The second batch of beta testing has started,” Kui Xin numbly began, following the protocol. “The quota is one hundred thousand; they should have already descended upon this world.”
“Players?” Augus paused. “Let’s put that aside for now; you need to tell me what happened to you and why you fainted?”
“I was too exhausted.” Kui Xin rehashed her old excuse. “I haven’t rested in a long time, and my mental state is poor; my head hurts…”
After sitting for a minute, the pain in her head did not subside. A wave of nausea suddenly rose from her stomach, and she leaned against the wall, heading to the bathroom where she lifted the toilet lid and began to vomit profusely.
“Kui Xin, this isn’t just exhaustion,” Augus said. “You need to be treated.”
Rinsing her mouth out, Kui Xin emerged from the bathroom and sat on the ground, covering her face. “Alright… actually, I’ve been through some very bad things.”
“Was it in the First World?” Augus asked.
“It was just a while ago,” Kui Xin replied.
Augus said, “Is it something I can’t help you with?”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to help,” Kui Xin murmured.
“Then it seems this is indeed a very serious problem,” Augus remarked. “Do you have a solution or plan?”
“I have a little bit,” Kui Xin said.
“Can it be implemented?” Augus asked.
“It’s difficult to implement,” Kui Xin replied. “What do you think of me, Augus?”
“You are excellent, decisive, efficient, and calm in the face of circumstances,” Augus answered. “Why do you suddenly ask me this? You’ve asked me this question before.”
“I was thinking, the original me didn’t seem to be this way; I changed myself,” Kui Xin said.
Augus pondered, “That’s a good thing. As an ordinary person, you can be mediocre, hesitant, procrastinating, and can also lose your composure, screaming when in danger. But as a player, an undercover agent constantly in danger, those traits will help you survive.”
After a while, the door to Kui Xin’s apartment was pushed open.
The nurse from the Investigation Bureau Medical Center arrived. Kui Xin intended to walk over, but they adamantly refused her, forcing her onto a stretcher.
One nurse roughly checked Kui Xin’s body with a device and said, “You have a fever? Your temperature is above normal. How do you feel?”
“Dizzy…” Kui Xin closed her eyes.
“It’ll be fine soon; we’ll take you for IV fluids,” the nurse wiped the cold sweat from Kui Xin’s forehead.
As Kui Xin lay on the stretcher, her consciousness was clear, but she had no strength to speak.
She called up the game interface and noticed her basic attributes had changed.
The extraordinary abilities section that had once listed all of Kui Xin’s extraordinary abilities was now altered; during her last reincarnation, Kui Xin had killed Wei Zhi, possessed by Ghost, using the bracelet of Mechanized Dawn. However, the game system only reminded her that she had killed Wei Zhi, with no indication that she had killed Ghost; she had only deprived Wei Zhi of her ability “Spatial Constriction,” with no mention of Ghost’s.
When she opened the attribute panel, “Spatial Constriction” displayed as gray.
“[Spatial Constriction·B Class (Invalid)]: You can temporarily solidify space, constraining objects within a 10-meter range.”
The extraordinary ability she had acquired was rendered ineffective due to time regression.
This was expected, as the game system could not leave such a blatant bug for players. The Remover’s ability was already unconventional; combined with time regression, Kui Xin seemed to have an invincible template.
Yet the reality was she was walking on a tightrope, with hell on all sides—left, right, forward, backward.
During her first death and reincarnation on the Kraken, Kui Xin woke up filled with rage. After an accidental death while claiming a skull, she experienced a searing desire for revenge. This time, however, her inner self was filled with icy emotions.
In the previous two instances, she had been a volcano on the brink of eruption; this time, she had transformed into a dormant volcano. The magma flowed beneath the surface, hidden deeper, more restrained. The bloody lessons lay before her, drawing her into a state both cold and hot.
Dr. Huang was on night duty at the medical center. He came to examine Kui Xin, prescribing her medication. “Youngster, you need to take care of your body.”
“I value my body, but it’s others who harm it,” Kui Xin opened her eyes to look at Dr. Huang’s tired face. “If it were you, you wouldn’t want to be like this either, would you, Dr. Huang?”
Dr. Huang was taken aback. “That’s true… It’s not easy for anyone.”
After saying this, Kui Xin turned her head, closed her eyes, and gradually fell asleep.
Dr. Huang glanced at Kui Xin and turned to leave.
Early the next morning, Kui Xin was awakened by a noisy commotion.
“…Her mental state is poor; she cannot access the brain machine,” Dr. Huang said. “If she gets stimulated and develops aftereffects, it could lead to permanent disability, or worse, brain death.”
Wei Zhi added, “I disagree with letting Kui Xin access the brain machine. You can interrogate me; she needs a few days to rest. She has awakened her extraordinary abilities and has huge potential. I will not allow you to ruin her.”
Kui Xin heard Schalit’s voice.
“Well, this complicates things,” she said. “I need to consult with my superiors.”
