Chapter 207: Dark Boundless Realm 62
Today is August 28, the fifth day of this week, and in two days it will be the Day of Return.
There are so many things to do that it’s overwhelming, and Kui Xin has to mentally list a plan.
The Mechanized Dawn issue is temporarily resolved, but Eve’s side has suffered heavy losses. The external combat members are not as crucial as the core members with extraordinary abilities. However, training that many people still consumes a significant amount of funds and time. Last night, they at least lost dozens of personnel, not to mention that Kui Xin had taken out two Awakened and a Mechanized Person in quick succession. Silverface’s fate is uncertain, and he is unlikely to pose a threat to her in the future.
If Eve wants to deal with Kui Xin again, she will have to deploy weapons of mass destruction or send out S-Rank Awakened. If she uses weapons of mass destruction, Kui Xin can evade direct confrontation by using the Spatial Vortex. As for the S-Rank Awakened… Eve has been focused on developing technology and has many Awakened in her organization, but as for S-Rank or near S-Rank, Kui Xin knows of only one—Night Cicada.
It is Eve who has forced Kui Xin to grow, pushing her into a desperate situation where she has to rise against her. Kui Xin’s achievements today are at least fifty percent thanks to Eve.
Thinking it over, if Kui Xin hadn’t faced a dire situation upon her arrival, she probably wouldn’t have had the resolve to strike back. She might have just survived like other players.
The environment has shaped who she is today.
The remaining trouble is the Resistance Army. Amber and Ghost are probably still in White Whale City, and Kui Xin needs to find a way to locate them. She needs intelligence on the Resistance Army from them; Ghost may be difficult to track down, but Amber might be easier…
Another problem is the Popov Clan and the Investigation Bureau along with the Special Affairs Department siding with them. With Augus acting as a whistleblower, this problem doesn’t need urgent resolution for now.
Lastly, there is the interview for the Shadowless Organization and recruitment of members.
Thinking of this, Kui Xin checks the dark web backend and finds dozens of interview emails piled up. As she checks, two or three more emails come in.
Last night’s blackout in White Whale City gave the Shadowless Organization quite a bit of publicity.
No one knows what happened last night; half of White Whale City was paralyzed for thirty minutes.
Federal buildings within the range of the electromagnetic storm experienced a collective blackout, city traffic was brought to a standstill, and the mainframe computers in skyscrapers all crashed. This sudden power outage led to delayed data backups and interrupted data reception, resulting in the loss of some important data. Many major technology companies, arms companies, and service companies have headquarters or branches in the Poleward District, and the city’s sudden paralysis caused them immeasurable losses.
The blackout caused a chain reaction; the Federation could not inform the public that the power outage was due to the Investigation Bureau’s electromagnetic interference device going haywire. They suppressed the truth and publicly claimed it was an explosion at the power energy plant.
The uninformed public believed them, and this morning, stocks of several already-listed energy companies in White Whale City plummeted, becoming victims of the Federation’s attempt to maintain its credibility.
Soon, another news report emerged, with economists estimating that last night’s blackout caused direct losses of billions in White Whale City, with hidden losses even harder to calculate…
Only half an hour passed, yet the aftereffects of that brief moment were so significant.
In the eyes of various sectors in society, the Shadowless Organization has subtly emerged as a mysterious entity on par with the Mechanized Dawn.
The Mechanized Dawn assassinated the Deputy Head of the Investigation Bureau in Black Sea City and kidnapped S-Rank Awakened Wang Feichi. The Shadowless Organization kidnapped a young master of the wealthy clan, demanding an exorbitant ransom of ten billion, and orchestrated a major blackout across half the city, dancing right on the bottom line of the federal government, slapping the higher-ups in the face.
When Kui Xin finished reading the news report, her expression was peculiar.
Who would have thought that the Shadowless Organization, named alongside the Mechanized Dawn, has only three living members left, with the fourth being a dedicated AI working for the Investigation Bureau?
It’s time to recruit more living members into the organization; Kui Xin needs to organize a second round of interviews.
She reviews the profiles of members from the first round of interviews, she has made decisions about who will enter the organization, and now it’s just a matter of seeing how many people can be filtered in the second round.
She scheduled the second round of interviews for tomorrow morning and has contacted everyone to inform them to be prepared.
From this morning to tomorrow morning, Kui Xin also has plans for her free time; she needs to customize a mechanical arm and visit the Poleward District.
Having obtained Reset and the Spatial Vortex, Kui Xin is now preliminarily qualified to confront the Mechanized Dawn, as long as she doesn’t encounter enemies that are too outrageous.
Eve was caught off guard last night when she and Augus took action against her; she probably hasn’t fully reacted yet. This is the perfect opportunity for Kui Xin to sneak into the internal division of the Mechanized Dawn to see the situation.
If only she could possess others like Ghost, obtaining intelligence would be much easier.
But before Kui Xin could reach the Mechanized Dawn division for reconnaissance, having just finished customizing her mechanical arm at the underground black market, an unexpected visitor approached her.
“Big sister.” A little boy who looked to be under ten suddenly came to her side as she was buying food by the roadside. “Big sister, I’m hungry. Can you give me some food?”
Kui Xin glanced down at him, feeling somewhat strange. Her outfit was indeed not very friendly or approachable; she was dressed entirely in black, hiding her face, with various weapons hanging from her waist. Though this is the typical attire of someone living in the Midnight District, ordinary civilians would keep their distance upon seeing someone like her, let alone approach her for food.
After confirming the little boy had no weapons and no malicious intent in his eyes, she casually bought him a sandwich and a bottle of mineral water.
The boy accepted the sandwich but didn’t eat it; instead, he looked up at her and said, “Thank you. Sorry for lying, I’m not actually here to beg.”
Kui Xin sensed something was off and coldly looked down at him. “Who are you?”
“Ghost?” she tilted her head.
“No, I’m Amber,” he said, using the little boy’s body to communicate. “I’ve been looking for you all night, and I finally found you.”
Kui Xin quietly activated Reset, but the little boy showed no reaction and continued to look at her with clear eyes, waiting for her to speak.
It seemed Reset was ineffective against an already active mental ability; Amber’s control over the boy’s mind remained intact, and his original body was not nearby… Kui Xin confirmed this troublesome fact.
“You’re using the boy’s body and pretending to beg to test me,” Kui Xin assessed. “So, what do you want? Surely you’re not here to seek death.”
Amber sighed in relief. “Great, I was a bit worried you might treat me excessively harshly. Sorry, I just wanted to confirm some things. You bought food for the child, and when you found out I possessed him, you didn’t harm him. You’re not completely heartless, right?”
“I’m not cruel enough to kill a little child at random, and besides, killing this unfortunate boy you’re possessing wouldn’t cause you any substantial harm,” Kui Xin said coldly.
She already determined that Amber was not nearby; killing was pointless, and it was better to clarify what he wanted.
“Once I release my mental control, this little boy won’t remember anything, and he will be safe,” Amber said. “For now, this is the only way I can meet you. If my original body appeared in front of you, the first thing you would likely do is kill me.”
Kui Xin scoffed, “You really know my style.”
Amber continued as if he didn’t hear her sarcasm, “I watched the battle between you and the Mechanized Dawn last night. I saw you lose an arm, and I knew there were only so many ways to replace a prosthetic in the Midnight District. I knew you would definitely seek to replace your limb, so I controlled many birds as spies to find your whereabouts, and I finally found you. Ghost is no longer in White Whale City, I don’t have his surveillance anymore, and I now have some freedom, so I came to find you.”
“Ghost possessed Reset?” Kui Xin suddenly asked.
Amber, caught off guard, paused for a moment.
“Just as I suspected, that must be Ghost,” Kui Xin pressed, confirming her previous guess.
“Now tell me, what do you want?” she asked calmly. “I don’t want to play guessing games or drag this out; you’d better get to the point, as I have no time to waste.”
Amber is not a hesitant person. After a brief thought, he went straight to the point: “The Black Obsidian and I have joined the Resistance Army, but it’s merely a temporary measure. We have no other organization to turn to, no one else can promise us help in gaining freedom; we can only choose the Resistance Army.”
He continued, “Black Obsidian is imprisoned by the Mechanized Dawn; he is not dead. I asked the Resistance Army to rescue him, but they didn’t give me a clear answer; they don’t want to save him. I want to ask you for help, to rescue my brother. I can pay a reward and tell you what you wish to know.”
“You want me to help you? Don’t you know who I am? How could you choose me?” Kui Xin’s gaze narrowed.
“I know. It’s precisely because I know your identity that I know what you truly desire. I’m certain I can offer you the rewards you want,” Amber said earnestly. “Help me rescue Black Obsidian, and I will tell you where the Mechanized Dawn is holding your fellow countrymen and help your compatriots break their mental control.”
Seeing the surprise in Kui Xin’s eyes, Amber added, “The Shadowless Organization is a players’ organization. Everything you’ve done so far has been to unite your fellow countrymen, hasn’t it? I believe the rewards I offer should be what you want.”
Kui Xin indeed wanted… and it was hard to refuse.
Tang Guan is alive and imprisoned by the Mechanized Dawn, and Eve’s subordinates control many players. Kui Xin feels powerless; she can’t do things beyond her capabilities—if she lacks the power, she shouldn’t rush into the fire. However, Amber’s appearance seems to bring a turning point.
“You also need to give me intelligence about the Resistance Army and all the information you know about the Mechanized Dawn,” Kui Xin deliberately raised the stakes to test him, “otherwise, it’s off the table.”
“Sure,” Amber said without hesitation.
“…You agree so readily?” Kui Xin said warily. “Now I’m starting to have doubts.”
“I have only that one request; Black Obsidian is the most important to me. His safety outweighs everything,” Amber replied. “He is my family, my everything, and I am willing to give up all for him.”
Kui Xin slowly frowned, “You are quite strange. The Mechanized Dawn and the Resistance Army view us as outcasts; their only strategy is to eliminate us, yet you actively choose to make a deal with me.”
“They see you as outcasts because they believe you have invaded their world, encroaching on their share of the pie, disrupting the balance, and interfering with their grand plans,” Amber said coldly. “The world belongs to them; that’s why they are so angry about your existence. They view you as flies on their cake. But whether you invade this world or not has nothing to do with us, because this terrible world has never belonged to us.”
“You betrayed the Mechanized Dawn and the Resistance Army, then came to find me,” Kui Xin said. “You are quite… interesting.”
She used a neutral and meaningful term of evaluation.
“I am loyal to no one. I was born from the Mechanized Dawn, but it is not my master. I joined the Resistance Army, but they have their own selfish motives. I cannot persuade them to rescue Black Obsidian through any exchange of interests; I can’t sway them, and they may not even have the ability to help me rescue my brother,” Amber explained. “But I know I can appeal to you, and you have the capability, the smarts, and, more importantly, you are Eve’s enemy who doesn’t want to see her succeed. Last night’s battle proved your abilities; I know you can do it! If you can’t save Black Obsidian, then no one can. No one cares about the existence of a synthetic, and the value I can offer is limited; it is the only, all the value I have.”
Amber looked up, his tone disturbingly straightforward, his gaze hauntingly determined: “I lay my worth before you, hoping you will accept this deal. Please, I beg you, help me, help Black Obsidian.”
