Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 103 102: Giving

When Su Ge woke up in Lu Yingting's apartment, he had already lost a day. This was another side effect of the new drug; once he started taking it, he had difficulty remembering what happened during its effects. Yesterday's treatment, including his conversation with Shen Ke outside the clinic, felt like a dream, leaving only vague and ambiguous impressions.

He rubbed his eyes, sat up, and saw Shen Ke sitting on the narrow windowsill.

"Get up quickly." She looked outside, the diffused blue light from the holographic projection shining on her face. "The Deer Valley Group is doing charity on the street."

Suger was stunned for a moment, and it took him a few seconds to fully wake up from the lingering dream.

"They've started distributing the drug publicly?"

“No.” She shook her head. “They’re brainwashing the water ghosts.”

Su Ge frowned, thinking that the Deer Valley Group was doing some kind of publicity campaign. But Shen Ke added, "Don't misunderstand, they're not doing any kind of indoctrination. Brainwashing is exactly what it sounds like; they're cleaning the brains of these 'water ghosts' for free."

These words conjured up images in Sog's mind—rows of water ghosts sitting on the damp, bluish road, their pale yellow skulls pried open to reveal their red and white brains. Several large machines, resembling some kind of sprinkler, waved their nozzles, washing away the grime between their brain sulci in turn.

He certainly knew that cleaning a brain-computer interface wouldn't be such an absurd sight.

“You’d better go and see for yourself,” she added.

Suger grabbed the scope and left.

After seven stops on the monorail, he got off at Yangsheng Street. He walked out of the station and descended in the sightseeing elevator. Through the glass, he saw what appeared to be aurora borealis between the skyscrapers, with huge holograms flashing through the gaps between the buildings. This spectacle reminded him of the grand Nuo ritual he had once witnessed.

The elevator doors rose, and he walked onto the stands by the street. The streets of Yingchuan City have a huge difference in elevation, and he saw that the streets, alleys, and the intersecting ring roads in the air were all crowded with people.

In mid-air, a colossal golden humanoid figure floated by, seated cross-legged. Nine iridescent spheres revolved around it, resembling celestial bodies, and it was the sun at the center. Everyone looked up, their eyes unfocused. An eerie silence enveloped everything. Sog heard the interplay of hot and cold air currents between the buildings, and the crackling of electricity emanating from the aging light fixtures on the concrete facades.

He thought he was still dreaming, but soon he noticed a notification popping up in the corner of his vision to receive audio. Immediately afterward, solemn music and chanting surged up.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

“The people who come here either have a lot of substandard implants or frequently go deep into the dark web to collect data, which will pollute their nerves, so their brains are all a little bit problematic.” She gestured with her chin toward the holographic projection in mid-air. “The Deer Valley Group is giving them brainwashing, for free. They just need to open up brainwashing access to their area, and they can give you a brainwashing session on the spot.”

Suger immediately understood the significance of the ceremony.

"Is this a large-scale disinfection operation?"

“You could understand it that way,” she said, “but pollution isn’t a virus.”

"What's the difference?"

"If dealing with a virus only requires a few antibiotics, then clearing the contamination would require at least one hemodialysis session to have any effect," she explained. "Of course, the effect would be very limited."

"Does this count as a purification ritual?" he asked again.

“Barely.” She paused. “Compared to a complete purification ritual, the difference is probably like hemodialysis versus cellular surgery. But even that, brainwashing so many people would require hundreds of millions in computing power.” She clicked her tongue. “A huge investment.”

Socrates remained silent, merely observing the almsgiving taking place before him. It was nothing more than a holographic projection, all of it a mythologized technology, but whatever it was, once this ritual appeared before the people, all dissenting voices were destined to vanish.

He watched for a while, then walked towards the elevator behind him. If he had agreed to the executive's request, he might have cooperated with the publicity campaign, but he refused; everything was no longer his concern. He hadn't eaten for over ten hours. The city map in his mind showed him a fast food restaurant on the ninth floor, with a holographic sign in yellow and red lettering, a blend of Chinese and Western styles, resembling the tenement buildings popular in Southeast Asia in the 1990s.

He ordered a bowl of noodles, along with two pieces of fat-injected pork chops cultured from stem cells, and then picked up a mouthful with his chopsticks.

Shen Ke surveyed the street outside the railing for a long while.

“Although Yingchuan City was the first religious autonomous city-state to be established, it is actually the city that is closest to reality.” Su Ge paused with his chopsticks. “I can’t tell.”

“Of course, it’s relatively speaking,” she said. “This is a country within a country, and the management is very chaotic, so all the undocumented people flock here. People nowadays live in the Spirit Realm, but it’s precisely these undocumented people who can’t connect to the Spirit Realm; they still have needs in reality. Where there’s demand, there’s a market.” She looked at Su Ge’s bowl of noodles. “Only in Yingchuan can you buy natural food without much effort.”

"Natural" is also relative.

“Without the smuggled drugs, this place would no longer be a paradise for undocumented immigrants,” she said.

This was bound to happen sooner or later.

Su Ge thought to himself that it all stemmed from a terrible idea by Yang Guan. He had impersonated an investor, successfully deceiving several drug dealers and attracting the attention of the Deer Valley Group. Predictably, this would change the fate of many. But he wasn't arrogant enough to believe his actions caused it all. He had merely facilitated it; it was bound to happen sooner or later. These things were no longer his concern; he needed to change direction and look for clues about another hibernating individual.

He finished the last bite of the fatty steak and left the fast food restaurant.

A riot broke out at the street corner.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

“There are protesters.” Shen Ke looked at Su Ge. “They’re similar to the protesters who opposed you outside the pharmaceutical factory before.”

Their protests came true.

Suger did not expect that there would still be protests.

Previously, those modifiers were only opposing a fake investor, but now the situation is different. Now everyone is on the side of the Deer Valley Group. Suger was eager to see who had the courage to stand against everyone else. But after watching for a long time, he could only see the approaching hovercars and silver guard robots.

The disturbance didn't last long, quieting down in just two minutes. At the street corner, the crowd parted, making way for the scavengers. The almsgiving was almost unaffected; the majestic holographic projections continued their planned procession, consuming massive amounts of computing power to clean the minds of those who came to pay homage.

Suger walked to the end of the corridor on the exterior wall of the building and saw the scene of the incident.

A corpse lay beneath the wall, a pulse gun in its hand, but it was shot dead before it could even make a move. The body was mangled beyond recognition, but its clothing looked vaguely familiar. Looking at the dark green leather shoes and the fine braids on its head, Suger immediately recognized the deceased—the drug dealer Suger had contacted in the country, a minor leader of the Spirit Society.

"Qian Yun?" Su Ge was stunned for a moment, watching the cleaner drag Qian Yun's body, blood flowing down the smooth exterior wall of the building.

The holographic projection on the rooftop was a bit dazzling. Su Geruo looked up and saw a giant air screen projecting a holographic poster. The man's face in the poster was obscured, and the subtitles next to it explained that his identity was the mysterious city hero who had recently helped the security bureau solve a series of major cases.

He spread his arms to reveal his perfect body, a posture that reminded Socrates of the sages in the Spiritual Society.

The logo of the Deer Valley Group floats in the background of the poster.

"When did you agree to be their spokesperson?" Shen Ke asked.

“This is not me.” Soger shook his head.

“It’s not like you, but it’s still you.” Shen Ke looked at Su Ge. “These days, changing your face and body isn’t much harder than changing your clothes. The only important thing is your identity.”

Suger withdrew his gaze and watched the cleaner leave. He took a deep breath, but his chest felt tight. He didn't understand why this guy had died here. Perhaps Qian Yun had a change of heart and chose to stand up, or perhaps it was madness born of desperation. In any case, he had lied to him.

He returned to Lu Yingting at one o'clock in the afternoon.

Suger dialed the executive officer's contact number, and the young man's figure came into view.

“You used my identity,” he said. “I want what I deserve.”

(End of this chapter)