Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 124 Part 123: Transformation

"The way you came in was quite unique."

As the man sized up Suger, he twirled the prayer wheel ornament on the table with his fingers. This action made Suger uneasy, because the man's handling of the engraved scriptures with his fingertips didn't seem like a habitual play; rather, it was like a gambler caressing a mahjong tile—an exploration of the unknown.

A sense of crisis rose in Suger's heart, and he stopped approaching the man, standing by the partition wall.

"You came here to buy a meditation method, um, the esoteric 'Thirty-Two Contemplations.' But I don't think you need it," the man continued. "Why don't you tell me your real purpose?"

Shen Ke's plan was to first establish a preliminary relationship of trust with this high-ranking smuggler through a transaction, and then seize the opportunity to find out the whereabouts of the consciousness synchronization device. But the man's behavior disrupted this plan. Su Ge pondered for a moment and said, "I'm preparing for the ascension ceremony, and I'm still missing a few things."

The man nodded, signaling Suger to continue. Suger glanced around at the surroundings. "I heard you have a micron-level consciousness synchronization device here."

“I see.” The man nodded. “I see. But I’d like to know if you’re here to see it, or to see its buyer.”

“If you don’t have any extra stock, then I’ll find that buyer,” Suger said.

"Who has this kind of stuff in stock? If you want to find that buyer, you should first tell me your background. Who are you?"

“I’m a buyer,” Suger said.

The man smiled and shook his head. "You see, buyers always keep their true identities a secret. If I can't find out where you came from, how can I help you find another buyer?"

"So you were able to find him, and he's a long-time customer of yours?"

You haven't answered my question yet.

“I’m not here to cause trouble,” Suger said.

"I hope so." The man nodded. "If he doesn't want to answer, then let's change the question. What do you want with him?"

He put down the prayer wheel and smiled slightly at Suger.

"Or rather, what do you want from me?"

Suger took half a step back.

"Be careful." Shen Ke's voice rang in Su Ge's mind, "He's not..."

What is he not?
Suger had no time to think; he tried to hack into the other party's control of the situation, but he lost consciousness a moment before the thought even crossed his mind.

……

chaos.

He didn't know how much time had passed, because his sense of time had been swallowed up by chaos. Sounds gradually arose from the chaos: flowing water, countless bubbles bursting. For a moment, he felt alternating hot and cold temperatures, then the temperature became comfortable again, imperceptible.

He was immersed in thick oil and blood plasma, and from nothingness reached out a pair of prosthetic hands, warm and white, like a piece of Ding ware porcelain, with undulating arabesque patterns embossed on the glaze. These hands seemed familiar, but where had he seen them before? He couldn't remember.

Someone was speaking, every word clear, but he ignored it. His brain couldn't yet process the meaning of language. The voice kept repeating, and at some point, he finally understood.

“He’s not that seller,” Shen Ke’s voice said.

"Who is he?" Socrates responded blankly.

"He might be the person you're looking for. You're a bit unlucky."

"What's wrong with me?"

"He is now out of danger."

A blinding white light cleaved through the chaos. Suger squinted, but someone pried open his eyelids, and tears welled up in his eyes. When he could see clearly what was above him, he realized the piercing light came from a shadowless lamp hanging overhead. Something patted his face, ivory white—it was his prosthetic hand, cool and soft, very comfortable. He wanted this moment to last a little longer, so he remained in a semi-conscious state. But his eyelids were pried open even wider, and the dry, stinging pain made him blink. This blink was like flipping a switch; he was fully awake.

He saw himself lying in a cramped operating room, surrounded by medical equipment. His doctor was a woman, the owner of the prosthetic hands. Her face, beneath her long black hair, was very pale and luminous, yet almost bloodless. Her pupils, beneath her long, thin eyelashes, were bluish-gray; she had sclera visible above the iris, and her lower eyelids were lined with dark blue eyeliner. Suger had never seen this face before, but he had seen her at the Spiritual Society party.

She had a thumb-sized tattoo below her neck, a black cup with a sacred flame inside, the flame pattern emitting a faint yellow-green glow. He remembered it was the effect of transplanted firefly bioluminescent cells. A word leaped from his memory: Li, her name.

He recognized her, but he didn't know if she recognized him. Just as he hesitated, the female doctor said, "What a coincidence, it's you again."

Why am I here?

"I just performed surgery on you."

"I mean……"

Su Ge fell silent, beginning to sort through the jumbled information in his mind. He remembered that just a moment ago he was at the Baoning Building, meeting with that high-ranking smuggler, but then an accident happened, and he seemed to have lost consciousness. Right, Shen Ke said that the man wasn't the seller he was supposed to meet.

"What's wrong with me?" he continued to ask.

“When you were brought here, your symptoms of anesthetic poisoning were already very severe, and you also had complications such as hormonal imbalance and fever…” she asked, “How are you feeling now?”

"Not bad." Su Ge clenched his fist. He had thought he would feel weak and powerless, but he found that he was in good physical condition.

"I gave you two kidneys, and it seems you two are getting along quite well so far."

She opened her palm, and a holographic image appeared on the smooth, glazed surface—a reconstituted kidney, resembling a bunch of grapes, each one distinct and plump, almost overflowing. The text beside the image identified it as the new artificial kidney from the Deep Sea series, the "Whale Abyss III," produced by Necton Biotech.

Suger ripped open his shirt, revealing a barely visible pink scar on his lower back. He glanced again at the holographic image Li was displaying, and a psychological itch rose from beneath his skin. He resisted the urge to scratch, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

“Don’t worry, its only side effect is that you need to eat more salt,” Li said, handing Su Ge a glass of salt water. “Your original two kidneys can’t metabolize the toxins accumulated in your body, so this is the best treatment option.”

“You said I was just poisoned by anesthesia.” Su Ge took the water and tasted it. Only then did he realize how thirsty he was, so he drank it all in one gulp.

"Yes, and the dosage is small, only enough to knock an ordinary person unconscious. But you're not an ordinary person; your body is too primitive, so the dosage exceeds your tolerance. To put it another way, your adversary probably thought he was aiming a tranquilizer gun at an elephant, but the bullet hit a monkey instead."

Suger opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. The pink scar on his abdomen gave him a sense of unreality. He simply closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, two artificial kidneys had been inserted into his body. He also felt a void in his heart; the body he had brought from two centuries ago was suddenly no longer the original one.

(End of this chapter)