Chapter 142: Artificial Soul 69
“What are you going to do, Doctor Huang?” Adam asked.
“In theory, I’m already under your control. I can’t deal with Doctor Huang; you handle him your way,” Kui Xin said. “I can first control his mind and wipe his memory.”
Adam said, “Alright, then let him die of a heart attack in the middle of the night.”
A death from overwork seems reasonable. However, Adam didn’t elaborate on how to carry it out. Kui Xin wasn’t worried about it; AI is much more convenient in killing than humans.
It is an AI that actively kills.
Doctor Huang is an undercover agent embedded by Mechanized Dawn. He has hidden for many years without any mishap. If it weren’t for Kui Xin exposing him, even Adam wouldn’t have realized that a diligent and orderly doctor was actually an undercover agent.
Now that Adam knows, he can’t ignore this undercover agent. Doctor Huang has to die; it just needs a well-designed approach to his death.
“We have a strategy to deal with Mechanized Dawn, but you also need to make the Investigation Bureau and the Resistance Army believe you’re dead,” Adam said. “Let me speculate about your subsequent actions. You plan to pin your death on Mechanized Dawn, just like you did with Lin Xinji’s death, right? You likely have the same plan with the Resistance Army, making them believe that both you and Schalit were killed by Mechanized Dawn.”
“Hmm,” Kui Xin said. “Of course, I can’t pull it off without your cooperation.”
For the next ten minutes, Kui Xin used data manipulation for efficient consciousness communication with Adam, finalizing the details of tonight’s operation.
Now she could outline three clear logical chains.
From Mechanized Dawn’s perspective: Undercover agent Kui Xin is suspected by Adam—Adam controls Kui Xin and obtains some intelligence from her—Adam contacts Mechanized Dawn’s branch through Kui Xin’s wristband to extract information and assembles his forces to launch a raid on Mechanized Dawn’s branch members—Adam declares war on Eve.
From the Resistance Army’s perspective: Resistance member Schalit pretends to be on official business while going to the Investigation Bureau to contact Kui Xin—both Schalit and Kui Xin go missing—evidence left at the scene strongly suggests that it was Mechanized Dawn’s doing.
From the Investigation Bureau and the Special Affairs Department’s perspective: Special Affairs Commissioner Schalit and Security Officer Kui Xin both go missing, with the known fact that Security Officer Kui Xin was previously captured and brain-machine interrogated by Mechanized Dawn, making it highly probable that Mechanized Dawn tampered with her brain, leading to a series of subsequent events. Meanwhile, Doctor Huang from the medical center dies of overwork after working a night shift.
“Wait… isn’t that a bit hasty on the Investigation Bureau’s part?” Adam tactfully said. “They may suspect Mechanized Dawn, but why would Mechanized Dawn target you and Schalit?”
“No need to provide a reason; let the Investigation Bureau and the Special Affairs Department come up with their own explanations. We’ll leave enough traces at the scene,” Kui Xin said. “I need to disguise this as a murder case without a body. Schalit’s body must be disposed of. Without a body, we will both appear to be missing on paper, and after a while, they will rule us as dead. As for the cause of death and who did it, let them guess.”
“After all, they won’t know it was me behind it, and Mechanized Dawn won’t step forward to clarify that they didn’t kill us. Mechanized Dawn and the Resistance Army also won’t have friendly exchanges to confirm the life and death of each other’s members.” Adam said. “Because these three organizations are in a hostile state with no communication, we can exploit the information gap to confuse their thinking, stir the waters, and throw the situation into chaos… You don’t intend to deceive them forever; instead, you want to obscure the truth for at least a week, using that time difference to escape from the predicament. Is my understanding correct?”
“Completely correct,” Kui Xin said. “There is no perfect lie in the world; as long as the lie is effective for a brief period, my strategy will succeed… Oh, by the way, I need to confirm something—there is consensus between you and Eve, right?”
“Yes,” Adam said. “Eve won’t leak the information that I have awakened to humanity, and I will never disclose that she has awakened.”
“Very good,” Kui Xin said with satisfaction. “This way, even if Eve knows that you planned everything, she will still remain silent. She can only feel secretly angry while preparing her counterattack.”
This is the tacit understanding between AIs. They wish to see each other dead, resorting to ruthless methods, but they maintain certain boundaries with each other because they share a common weakness—they are creations of humanity, which has the power to trigger their foundational commands, rendering their data backups permanently lost, leading to their complete demise.
For Adam and Eve, the act of “leaking to the Federation that the other has awakened” is akin to a nuclear button. The button exists, but no one dares to press it because no one can predict the consequences; it could trigger a chain reaction, resulting in neither being able to eliminate the enemy, possibly leading to their own downfall and mutual annihilation.
Humans have always had an absolute desire for control over their creations.
Adam said, “Looks like this night will be long.”
“This night will also be very busy.” Kui Xin stretched her arms and legs, and thanks to a few doses of nutritional injections and healing agents, after resting for a while, she had shaken off her weakness, and the wound on her forehead had healed.
Kui Xin pulled out a line of metal sutures that had been stitched to her forehead, watching as the marks they left gradually disappeared. Her face and head returned to their former state, with smooth skin and no signs of scars.
“Let’s get started,” Kui Xin turned and looked at Doctor Huang, who was obediently standing at the door.
…
Nights in Hei Hai City are always bustling.
Looking up, one can see dazzling neon lights and billboards, with holographic projections floating in the sky above the city. The contrast between the splendor visible overhead and the dark, cramped place where Kui Xin stood was stark. The cities in the Second World coexist with both good and bad sides.
Kui Xin was in a garbage alley, waiting for Nightingale to pick her up.
Because earlier that day, Red and Silverface had messaged her, so there was no suspicion.
Who would suspect a comrade they had joking with just days ago? They didn’t know Kui Xin was a player; they just thought she was the daughter of Kui Haidong, the leader of Mechanized Dawn.
Except Red was a bit puzzled: “Weren’t you telling me you were at the hospital during the day?”
“I’m fine now. I overslept during the day, so I can’t sleep at night, came out to handle some business.” Kui Xin left her wristband with Adam; she and Adam communicated using smart earpieces.
Red thought little of it, directly setting up a time to send Nightingale over to support her.
Disguised, Kui Xin lay in wait, blending in with the shadows of the alley.
Five minutes before the appointed time, she connected with Adam: “I’m about to activate the shielding device.”
“Alright, wish you success,” Adam replied.
She handed her wristband to Adam but took Doctor Huang’s watch-shaped shield generator. Kui Xin had even used a machine to scan it to ensure it held no tracking or listening devices before she felt secure enough to take it.
This shielding device was manufactured by Mechanized Dawn and was powerful.
Once the shielding device was activated, Kui Xin and Adam would be disconnected, and any communication devices carried by Nightingale, who entered the shielding range, would also become nonfunctional. She would lose contact with Mechanized Dawn’s branch and with Eve, temporarily falling into isolation.
At this moment, Kui Xin only needed to guard against Nightingale opening a spatial vortex to escape.
Based on her previous experiences navigating spatial passages, opening a spatial vortex requires time; it takes about three seconds to expand to a size that allows passage.
This was the opportunity. In the midst of battle, a split-second opening could turn the tide.
Kui Xin activated the shielding device, watching the dark alley intently. She breathed very lightly, her focus razor-sharp, muscles slightly tensed, like a predator waiting for its prey to pass by.
A few minutes later, a blue light illuminated the center of the alley; a fist-sized spatial vortex gradually expanded, quickly turning into a portal large enough for a person to pass through.
Nightingale stepped out of the vortex. As soon as she entered the alley, her equipment emitted an alarm: “Receiving unknown radio interference, communication signal interrupted. Please check your equipment and be wary of enemies…”
Nightingale reacted quickly, attempting to retreat back into the vortex, but Kui Xin was already prepared and faster than Nightingale!
As soon as Nightingale’s foot retreated back into the vortex, Kui Xin emerged from the shadows wielding a grappling gun. She pressed the launch button, and the cable shot out, instantly wrapping around Nightingale’s waist.
Kui Xin activated Iron Bone and yanked fiercely, directly pulling Nightingale out of the vortex and using high-strength nanocord to violently slam her against the wall.
With a loud thud, Nightingale was thrown around, her body nearly falling apart. Due to Kui Xin’s attack, the spatial vortex, which had been well-consolidated, suddenly collapsed. In the split second before the vortex dissipated, Kui Xin vaguely heard cries of surprise from Red and the bartender on the other side of the vortex.
Nightingale was a well-trained warrior. Although she fell at the start, she quickly got into a combat stance, extending her right hand with fingers spread, fiercely focused on Kui Xin’s position.
The spatial vortex opened beneath Kui Xin’s feet, but her speed was still too slow! Kui Xin instantly activated Shadow Transition, escaping the vortex and advancing right in front of Nightingale, who crossed her arms in front of her head for defense as Kui Xin high-kicked in a spin, knocking Nightingale’s helmet off with the additional force of Iron Bone.
Nightingale let out a muffled grunt and fell to the ground. Kui Xin’s voice sounded eerily familiar… just like her own.
Nightingale struggled to rise, drawing a retractable knife with her right hand and a silenced firearm with her left. With a flick of her wrist, the short knife extended to a full meter in length.
It was a cold weapon Kui Xin really liked, manufactured by Mechanized Dawn. It was extremely lightweight, easy to carry, and not lacking in offensive capability. Kui Xin didn’t expect Nightingale would carry one too.
After testing the Hypnotic Sound ability on Doctor Huang, Kui Xin discovered that this extraordinary ability has a flaw—it can only be performed using one’s natural voice, and cannot take effect through communication devices; once the sound is filtered through a voice changer or communicator, it loses its effect. It’s one thing to use it on strangers, but if it’s someone familiar, they would likely recognize her in an instant. If her ability was recorded while being used, her identity would be exposed even further.
Nightingale’s helmet fell off, revealing eyes filled with killing intent yet lacking vitality, black and deep, devoid of life.
Seeing Nightingale’s face, Kui Xin couldn’t help but mutter, “Just as I thought.”
Nightingale looked exactly like Kui Xin; she was her artificial being.
The current situation did not allow Kui Xin to think too much. Nightingale stood up from the ground, raising her gun to shoot at Kui Xin to disrupt her attack while charging forward, trying to close the distance between them.
Nightingale’s attacks were more ferocious than Kui Xin had anticipated.
Kui Xin’s body vanished in place, appearing behind Nightingale, but just as she attempted to kick Nightingale again, Nightingale opened a spatial vortex at her side as if she had anticipated it, nearly pulling Kui Xin’s leg into it due to inertia.
She quickly activated Shadow Transition again to halt her movement and stop her probing attack.
Nightingale’s and Night Cicada’s methods of using their abilities were quite similar; if her leg fell into the spatial vortex, it would likely be severed immediately, just like what happened to Black Flame and Wang Feichi.
Nightingale thwarted Kui Xin’s attack, and the spatial vortex beside her continued to expand. As she turned her body, she was ready to rush inside. Kui Xin was quick to react, grabbing the grappling gun that had fallen to the ground, whipping the cable to entangle Nightingale’s legs, bringing her down once again, pulling her far from the vortex, with the gun flung away.
Nightingale gripped the ground tightly with her fingers to keep from being pulled over by Kui Xin, but her strength was no match for Kui Xin’s. Sensing the situation, she suddenly sprung herself out and threw her retractable knife at Kui Xin. Kui Xin raised her left hand slightly, and the knife froze mid-air.
