Chapter 212: Dark Boundless Realm 67
“Take off all the equipment on you and throw it away,” Kui Xin said.
Ambereye’s eyebrows twitched as he removed the gear he was carrying. Still not reassured, Kui Xin scanned him from head to toe with a scanner before saying, “Let’s go.”
“Augus, wake up the Hunter Falcon and let him leave for now,” Kui Xin connected with Augus using data manipulation.
“Okay. The Home Butler Bot has already woken him up; he is leaving the Safe House now,” Augus said.
She led Ambereye through twists and turns down the streets for quite a distance, then arrived at a concealed location and opened a spatial vortex. “Go in.”
Ambereye glanced at her and silently stepped into the vortex.
When Ambereye emerged from the vortex, he was greeted by a simple-furnished rest room, complete with a bathroom, living room, and relaxation area.
Four Leaves was curled up on the couch, sleeping soundly.
Ambereye softened his breathing and approached to closely examine Four Leaves’ face, staring for a while.
“No matter what… thank you,” Ambereye turned to Kui Xin. “Trading with you is risky, but it seems I’ve made the right bet.”
“His name is Four Leaves; he chose it himself,” Kui Xin said calmly. “Having seen him, I believe some of your doubts have been dispelled. Let’s talk about other matters next.”
“Alright.” Ambereye nodded, but there was no look of relief in his eyes. “You’ve been an undercover agent, Kui Xin…”
“Don’t call me that name, call me by my code name, Maotoufu,” Kui Xin interrupted him.
Ambereye gave her a surprised glance and complied, “Apologies for the offense, Maotoufu. You have so many code names that I didn’t know which to use.”
“Let’s not talk about it here; let’s go upstairs,” Kui Xin said.
Worried about waking Four Leaves, Ambereye gently nodded.
As they went upstairs, Kui Xin briefly explained, “Four Leaves has a very young mental age; he was grown through rapid gestation. His growth timeframe is much shorter than his physical age.”
“Standard operating procedures of Mechanized Dawn,” Ambereye lowered his gaze. “Such artificially accelerated beings typically have much shorter lifespans than ordinary people, probably only thirty to forty years.”
“Are you the same?” Kui Xin asked. “How long do you live?”
“My operational lifespan was originally assessed to be forty-five years,” Ambereye replied.
“Operational lifespan”… what a cold and heartless term.
Kui Xin and Ambereye arrived on the first floor of the Safe House, standing face to face.
“Continue,” Kui Xin said.
“Well… given your previous identity, you should understand how important intelligence is for people like us. It is key to our survival and the foundation upon which we build our action plans,” Ambereye said. “My original plan was that if we made a deal, I would stay with the Resistance Army to gather intelligence and support future operations…”
“That is a viable choice,” Kui Xin said. “But do you think you’ve gained the trust of the Resistance Army?”
Ambereye fell silent. “No.”
“Do you think the Resistance Army will trust you in the future?” Kui Xin asked.
“The possibility is small,” Ambereye replied. “Especially since Ghost knows I only joined them as a temporary measure…”
Kui Xin asked again, “If you stay in the Resistance Army, what tasks or work do you think they would assign you in the future?”
“In the beginning, I’d likely be running around with Ghost, and later, if they loosen their monitoring of me, I might be asked to brainwash some fringe members and perform mental invasions, or continue to develop connections within various social strata,” Ambereye said indifferently.
He had a clear understanding of his own capabilities and his position within the organization.
The Resistance Army was unlikely to assign him any core responsibilities, and Ghost would keep a close watch on him. Having just joined this organization, earning their trust would conservatively take several months of lurking… but Ghost wasn’t a fool; he understood how Ambereye thought.
“Your effectiveness there is too limited, and you might not acquire any crucial intelligence. While you might provide information on what connections the Resistance Army has developed, who their contacts are, and who their infiltrators in the Federation and wealthy clans are… those are just small fry,” Kui Xin said. “The real big fish, the true leaders of the Resistance Army, have never shown themselves. I’ve never seen them; Ghost may have seen them. Their information security measures are very strict, and all members of the organization are in a single line of contact.”
“I understand,” Ambereye cut to the chase. “Because being in the Resistance Army is of little use to you, you think I can provide greater help by staying with you instead.”
“Exactly,” Kui Xin said.
Having his uselessness pointed out, Ambereye didn’t feel embarrassed; it was the truth—like Mechanized Dawn, the Resistance Army valued his abilities and just wanted to use him as a tool.
He wanted freedom, but Eve would not allow it; he wanted to save Black Obsidian, but Ghost did not agree.
In contrast, although Kui Xin also valued his abilities and wanted him to work for her, at least she promised, committed, and even took some tangible actions—she saved Four Leaves, allowing him to live, proving her goodwill towards artificial beings.
After much contemplation, Ambereye said quietly, “I accept.”
“I will stay and help you… I hope you keep your promise.” He made a decisive choice, “If the Resistance Army retaliates against us, then we…”
“Then we will defeat them together,” Kui Xin said without hesitation.
Ambereye’s expression softened. “Good.”
“I noticed that you care deeply for your fellow countrymen,” Kui Xin’s gaze fell on Four Leaves. “You care about Black Obsidian and Four Leaves. What about Silverface and Reset?”
“They have been ‘tamed,'” Ambereye said. “I want them to become people like me, but it’s difficult. I once asked Ghost to spare Silverface.”
“He must have refused?”
“Yes.” Ambereye replied. “I anticipated he would reject it when I made the request, but I had to bring it up. Through repeated requests and probing, I learned their bottom line and thoughts; they don’t want to offer me anything.”
“Have you asked Ghost to spare Reset?” Kui Xin inquired.
“I haven’t. Ghost asked me to help him infiltrate Mechanized Dawn to find a body, and I helped him,” Ambereye self-deprecatingly said. “I knew his standards for selecting a body were simply based on strength… I guessed correctly, but I still helped him.”
“Oh? Do you blame yourself for Reset’s death?” Kui Xin raised an eyebrow, contemplating, “I killed Reset. Even if Ghost hadn’t possessed him, I would still have killed him. I won’t allow anything that threatens me to exist.”
“I know, which is why I made my choice. From the moment they were sent to kill you, the outcome was predetermined: either you die, or they die. You fight for survival while they are tools following orders. In this regard, I can’t blame you.” Ambereye looked directly into Kui Xin’s eyes. “I couldn’t save Reset, nor could I save Silverface, so I chose to stand by and watch. I know Ghost might possess Reset, but I couldn’t change his mind, so I didn’t intervene. For matters beyond my control, I’ll always choose to stand by.”
“You’re willing to go all out to sacrifice yourself for Black Obsidian,” Kui Xin said. “Coming to see Four Leaves poses great risk for you, yet you came.”
“People have different levels of closeness. As a human, how could you not understand this? Family is different from others; Black Obsidian is not the same as Silverface and Reset for me,” Ambereye said. “Silverface and Reset are already mired in problems. No matter how hard I try, I cannot pull them out, while Four Leaves is different… Four Leaves has already left the mire. He will be my companion alongside Black Obsidian; Silverface and Reset are not.”
“That’s wonderful. I always thought artificial beings were simplistically naive,” Kui Xin said. “Due to a lack of experience, they seem overly immature in certain ways. You are a complex and thoughtful artificial being, breaking my stereotype.”
Ambereye was a bit selfless, yet a bit selfish. He was neither purely one nor the other; rather, he was more human-like, complicated and conflicted.
Kui Xin changed the subject: “Do you remember how the angel planted the mental coordinates in you?”
“I just slept and had a dream… When I woke up, the mental coordinates were already in my mind,” Ambereye pressed his lips together.
Kui Xin pondered, “Could the angel be an S Rank Awakened?”
“Should be,” Ambereye said. “Ghost is, so it stands to reason he isn’t not.”
“Is there any difference between your ability and Ghost’s?”
“My level is too low, generally only capable of controlling ordinary people and small animals. I can still barely control Awakening individuals of lower level than mine. If I possess an Awakened’s mind, I can’t use their abilities, but Ghost can; his abilities feel like they forcibly occupy a shell,” Ambereye said. “Ghost can’t possess non-human species and can’t control multiple individuals at once, but I can.”
Kui Xin said, “Sounds like if your abilities were upgraded to S Rank, it wouldn’t be worse than Ghost’s.”
“That would be very difficult,” Ambereye replied.
“Does Ghost have any weaknesses?”
“The weakness is when he possesses someone else’s body and that body is destroyed, he will forcibly return to his original self,” Ambereye answered. “Don’t ask me where his original body is; I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me.”
“I guessed you wouldn’t know,” Kui Xin said slowly. “You mentioned that Abrak Popov of the Popov Clan is one of the contacts for the Resistance Army… Have you met him?”
“Are you planning to take action against him?” Ambereye asked calmly.
“Yes, you’ll take me to find him,” Kui Xin said.
Ambereye readily agreed, “Sure.”
He suddenly recalled something. “Was the young master of the Popov Clan, Dmitri, really kidnapped by you guys?”
“No, he died long ago, and his body has been completely devoured by the fish and shrimp in the sea,” Kui Xin said.
Ambereye’s expression revealed that he expected this. “I knew it… The Popov Clan held a press conference repeatedly demanding negotiations with The Shadowless, yet The Shadowless ignored them; something must have gone wrong. You couldn’t hand over a living person, so you could only ignore it.”
“I was busy dealing with Mechanized Dawn and left them hanging for several days. They must have realized that their young master was in serious trouble,” Kui Xin smiled. “With one young master gone, they’ll just create another.”
Ambereye was stunned. “Abrak Popov…”
“Kidnap him. He is both a member of the Popov Clan and part of the Resistance Army—a two-pronged approach,” Kui Xin said. “I hadn’t planned to do this initially because I couldn’t ensure the success rate, but with you here, the success rate can be improved.”
That one hundred billion, Kui Xin was determined to obtain. The Shadowless Organization truly lacked money, equipment, and manpower!
“That’s a good idea,” Augus confirmed Kui Xin’s plan. “The Special Affairs Department has sent word; their people will arrive in White Whale City tomorrow. They are coming at the request of the Popov Clan to deal with The Shadowless. Last night’s electromagnetic storm incident expedited their arrival in White Whale City. Kidnapping members of the wealthy clan might be able to use them as hostages and make the Special Affairs Department think twice.”
“When do we act?” Ambereye immediately adjusted his mindset.
As a warrior trained by Mechanized Dawn, Ambereye had strong abilities and rich combat experience; his role would be much greater than He Kangshi and Su Rong’s.
“Tonight,” Kui Xin glanced at her watch. “Today is a continuous operation day; not a moment can be wasted.”
