Chapter 80: Artificial Soul 07
August 9.
After completing his morning workout, Kui Xin went to buy groceries as usual. Upon entering the market, he could still see traces of the recent fire; the charred remains of some shops had begun to be repaired.
However, the noodle shop still looked wrecked. Nearby residents, aware that the fire had caused fatalities, had spontaneously placed several bouquets of fresh flowers in front of the burnt establishment. Kui Xin noticed a new transfer notice posted outside the noodle shop, which included a contact number.
The owner of the shop next door was an old acquaintance of the noodle shop’s owner. When Kui Xin inquired about the situation, he said, “That family is left with just one girl now. Her aunt and uncle came by yesterday evening to discuss transferring the shop. They plan to sell it and take her to the provincial capital for treatment. The girl has been in the ICU for several days, racking up tens of thousands in medical bills. Her relatives are quite worried.”
“Has she already gone to the provincial capital?” Kui Xin asked. “Is the contact on the notice her aunt’s?”
The owner replied, “When I spoke to them yesterday, they said they were leaving today. They’ve arranged a vehicle to transfer her; her condition can’t afford any delay. I believe the contact number is her uncle’s.”
Thanking the owner, Kui Xin noted down the contact number from the transfer notice before heading home.
Peaceful days always seem short-lived; time passes swiftly.
Kui Xin sat at Su Rong’s house, watching her work on her math exercises.
Last week, Kui Xin had taken a day off for work on Friday due to being busy with a mission, and on August 2, Su Rong had interrupted her classes due to being absent-minded after returning from the Second World. As a result, she had missed two classes, which Kui Xin made up for over the weekend. Su Rong, though she very much disliked math, was doing her best to study diligently.
As she was working on her math exercises, sweat poured down Su Rong’s forehead, and beads of sweat formed on the tip of her nose. After fifty minutes, she finished all the questions she could solve but sat in her chair, fidgeting anxiously, her face flushed red.
“If you can’t solve it, then just leave it blank,” Kui Xin said helplessly.
Su Rong put down her pen in despair, “Help! Others take 120 minutes to finish, but I’m done in fifty minutes…”
She could only answer a few questions quickly, but she had no assurance about her accuracy with those.
Kui Xin looked down to grade her work and, after a while, said, “Not bad; you got forty points this time… Last time, you only got twenty-five; this is progress.”
“But I feel that this forty also has a lucky element. The questions just happened to be ones I could answer. I think my real level is twenty-five points; it can’t be more!” Su Rong lamented further.
“I’m not belittling you. My plan is to get you to score about seventy-five in math on the college entrance examination,” Kui Xin said. “You are starting from zero, so don’t expect more. Your scores in Chinese and English are quite good, and the other subjects are decent too. If you do well, you could score around four hundred ninety, enough for an undergrad program. With a bit more effort, you might even get into a better undergraduate institution.”
Su Rong covered her face and said, “I… I got it. At least getting into an undergrad is enough; I’m content. It’s better than going to an art school.”
Today’s lesson ran over time; after going through Su Rong’s wrong answers, it was already past five.
At dinner time, Su Rong ordered a bunch of takeout. Kui Xin didn’t stop her nor did she have any plans to show off her cooking skills.
She knew well enough about her own culinary skills.
School was too busy; Kui Xin had no time to ponder cooking. The food she made was barely edible, not anything to rave about. Anyway, as long as the meals were nutritionally balanced, taste was not within her consideration.
If Kui Xin were to cook, Su Rong would definitely find it hard to enjoy.
That night, it was the first time Kui Xin shared a bed with someone else.
Su Rong brought an extra blanket for her, cheerfully saying, “Having you here, Sister Xin Xin, gives me so much security! I’m glad to have someone with me; otherwise, I’d have to stay at my aunt’s.”
Su Rong was the kind of girl spoiled by her family, never having faced any real setbacks, freely able to act spoiled in front of close people and growing up under her parents’ protection.
Kui Xin, on the other hand, had feared solitude and darkness as a child. But her father was busy seeking pleasures, and her mother treated her like a hot potato, never willing to spend time with her.
“I have earplugs and a sleep mask. Do you want to use them?” Su Rong asked. “What if I snore while I sleep? Though I usually don’t.”
“No, I’m not used to wearing them,” Kui Xin replied.
“Then let’s go to sleep; it’s past ten,” Su Rong said, covering herself with the blanket. “Early to bed, early to rise; we should get up early to study tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Kui Xin replied.
Worried about insomnia, Su Rong took some sleep aids before bed and quickly fell asleep.
Minutes later, Kui Xin, half awake, heard Su Rong grinding her teeth and talking in her sleep.
“Stupid agent… I’m not going to accompany you to drink, go away! I’ll punch you in the face!” She kicked off the blanket angrily, huffed a couple of times, and then rolled over and fell back asleep.
…
“…Lady Fortune… Lady Fortune?”
Suddenly, Kui Xin heard someone calling her.
She opened her eyes and, in a daze, saw a white object waving in front of her.
Instinctively, Kui Xin swung her fist and hit the white object, only to hear a loud, anguished cry.
“Why did you hit me again?!” Silverface shouted, covering his nose. “You almost broke my nose!”
“Silverface?” Kui Xin blinked, climbing out of bed.
The familiar bedroom, the familiar furniture.
She had returned to the Second World, back to Hei Hai City.
Kui Xin glanced at her wristband; it was now 07:15, and it turned out to be morning. She had completed a time-space shift in her sleep, without waking in between, as her self in the Second World was also in a sleep state, with both bodies overlapping in status.
“You came into my room first,” Kui Xin said. “Fight or flight response.”
After experiencing death on the Kraken, she had woken up in the morning; coincidentally, that morning, Silverface had knocked on her door to wake her up, which had led to her reflexively punching him, causing blood to spill from his nose… It was surprising to see history repeat itself today.
“I knocked on your door, but you didn’t answer, so I came in,” Silverface said, grabbing a tissue to wipe his nose. “I wanted to inform you that your alarm has gone off twice already. If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late.”
“Got it, you can go out; I need to change,” Kui Xin said, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Although many unknown changes had occurred in the First World during her seven days there, overall it had been peaceful. Kui Xin had not experienced any combat, and both her body and mind felt relaxed. As she woke, she felt every muscle had been stretched, and her mental state was unprecedentedly good.
After getting dressed and washing up, Kui Xin grabbed a bag of bread and a bottle of milk from the refrigerator, slipped on her shoes, and left to catch the early electric tram.
Before she left, she instructed Silverface, “It’s time to mop the floor; remember to clean the kitchen well. Also, don’t leave any of your genetic information behind in the house.”
“Okay…” Silverface replied unwillingly. “I’ve been picking up and destroying every hair I lose.”
The weather today wasn’t great; Hei Hai City was shrouded in a gray fog.
Sitting on the hover tram, Kui Xin looked toward the city center but couldn’t see the distant skyscrapers.
Checking her communicator, she discovered that Augus had sent a notification at six in the morning: “Today’s weather: heavy fog, moderate pollution, low visibility. Security officers, remember to wear masks when heading out.”
Kui Xin: Ah, I forgot my mask.
Most people on the tram weren’t wearing masks either; it seemed they had grown accustomed to such foggy weather.
When Kui Xin got off, she could distinctly smell something different in the air—an odor of industrial compounds.
The First World also experienced such pollution sometimes, but Kui Xin adapted reasonably well.
She arrived at the Inspection Bureau’s first-floor lobby glass doors, which opened automatically.
“Good morning, Security Officer Kui Xin. Welcome back; hope you have a wonderful day,” Augus’s voice greeted her in real-time.
“Morning, Augus,” Kui Xin replied casually.
Lan Lan happened to be waiting for the elevator on the first floor. When he saw Kui Xin, he said, “Good morning; don’t you usually get here earlier?”
“Slept in—totally normal,” Kui Xin replied while they waited for the elevator together.
Inside the elevator, Augus sent her the day’s work schedule.
The morning and afternoon assignments were no different from usual, but an additional line had been added at the end: “Investigation Bureau Monthly Summary Meeting, 18:30 to 19:30.”
“Monthly summary meeting?” Kui Xin echoed.
“Yeah, it’s usually for employee recognition and work reflection. If someone dies during a mission, we hold a moment of silence for them,” Lan Lan frowned. “The atmosphere in the Investigation Bureau has been strange lately.”
“The port explosion incident has caused too much of a stir. After such a long search, nothing conclusive has emerged. The pressure on the leaders must be immense; I wonder if the headquarters will hold anyone accountable?” Kui Xin said curiously.
Ding! Their floor arrived.
The two stepped out of the elevator side by side.
Lan Lan lowered his voice and said, “That’s for sure. Some leaders might even be demoted or face other penalties—that’s a major oversight. But I feel like the odd atmosphere in the department isn’t just related to the port explosion incident; there’s undoubtedly something big we don’t know about happening.”
Seventh Squad had not boarded the ship, oblivious to the Kraken’s insider details.
The sinking of the Kraken had been suppressed. Days had passed without any notification, announcement, or speeches from leaders; not even a small meeting had been held. This matter was being tightly covered up.
This distorted society harbors many dark and unfair issues; those in power trample people’s lives, treating them as pawns to be manipulated—this is a consensus among everyone.
Even if such darkness is acknowledged, and the unfairness has long been condoned, those in power still find ways to cover up their sordid deeds.
Ugliness exposed to the light is unsightly, and disgraceful matters should naturally be buried deep in the ground. Facing rotting circumstances, the best solution is to turn a blind eye.
From this point of view, the Second World truly is rotten to the core—poisoned to the bone, irredeemable.
“Who will preside over the monthly meeting?” Kui Xin asked.
“The deputy minister,” Lan Lan replied. “Unless he is on a business trip, then it will be him. But he’s been very busy lately; it might be the minister instead.”
Fortunately, Lin Xinji is on a trip.
Kui Xin hoped he would continue to be on a business trip and never come back.
In the office, Shu Xueyao and Liu Kangyun had also arrived. They greeted each other and sat behind their respective desks to start working.
As Kui Xin turned on her office system, she saw that Augus had sent a message.
“Have you thought about it, Kui Xin?”
It surprised her that he chose this moment to message her.
She raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
She was in the office, surrounded by teammates, and could easily reveal his words to Shu Xueyao and others.
He knew the risks yet still sent a message… Was this a test? They hadn’t built enough trust for that yet.
Kui Xin quickly scanned her teammates with the corner of her eye.
After pondering for a moment, she replied, “I’ve made my decision. We can cooperate.”
“You seem to have more to say,” Augus responded. “Isn’t there supposed to be a ‘but’ at the end of your statement?”
“But I need you to help me with something,” Kui Xin said. “You can’t just ask me to do things; our relationship should be mutually beneficial and cooperative.”
Augus answered without any pause, “Of course, everything is negotiable. You can put forth your conditions, and similarly, I will also present my terms to you.”
