Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 129, Section 128: Cooperation

The neon lights blur the lines between day and night.

The woman stumbled into an alleyway on Yangsheng Street, lined with shops one after another: restaurants, physiotherapy clinics, and prosthetic rehabilitation centers. The narrow alleyway branched out like the capillaries of a city, spreading into countless dark corners. In one of these corners, she saw a small glass door. The light bulb above the door, reading "Youai Detoxification Center," was broken, leaving only the character for "detoxification" glowing yellow. She stepped through the door. Inside the reception room was a shrine to the Huaguang Emperor, the smoke from three incense sticks wafting in the pink light. The walls were covered with advertisements for physiotherapy and diagrams of vertebral lesions.

"Give me a picture of a mirage," the woman said.

"Out of stock," the man in the reception room said without looking up. His collar was adorned with a ring of gleaming electromagnetic shielding.

"Just one piece, just one piece, I really want it."

The man was the most reliable drug dealer in the area, and it was said that he had served in the army and worked as a drug mule in his youth, using his brain to transport digital drugs. The woman believed his words as just a prelude to raising the price.

“That’s all.” The drug dealer finally looked up and sized up the woman. “But I have some new stuff, which I got from Mumbai last week.”

The woman hesitated, as new drugs also meant risks and additional expenses.

"You can try it for free, thirty seconds," the drug dealer said again.

The woman's still-developing psychological defenses crumbled.

The drug dealer lifted the curtain, and the woman and he entered the cubicle behind it. Two people were already sitting on the narrow stools inside, their eyes closed, their bodies trembling slightly, having already entered a state of ecstasy. This scene almost made the woman unable to suppress her inner desire. When the drug dealer took out the chip, she practically snatched it away and plunged it into the nerve junction at the back of her neck. Her blood rushed, every nerve ending stretched to its limit, and then trembled.

The drug dealer watched the woman slowly collapse. After confirming she had lost vital signs, he pulled the chip from her neural interface; the chip still retained her warmth. This device had only recently appeared in Yingchuan; the extreme pleasure it provided came with death. It was said that the culprits who created it had been apprehended, and it was now a rare find.

He wrapped the body in a tarpaulin, packing it into a mummy. He tucked the mummy under his arm and tossed it into the back of a truck behind the house, where five similar bodies lay. He got into the driver's seat and drove out of the alley. Thirteen minutes later, the truck pulled into an inconspicuous underground parking lot on Yangsheng Street. The headlights illuminated a waiting figure in the damp, cold darkness—an android in a white trench coat, his buyer.

“Five samples.” The drug dealer got out of the car and walked towards the cargo compartment. “After this job, I’ll have to find another hideout.”

"Thank you for your hard work," the android said. "I'll give you a raise this time."

The drug dealer stopped in his tracks. "Just a price increase?"

"What do you want?" the android asked.

The drug dealer shrugged, shook his head, and opened the cargo compartment. The android lifted the fibrous cloth covering a corpse, flipped open the eyelid of a prosthetic eye, and poked at the corpse's biological tissue.

“Very fresh.” He nodded. “I’m just buying up the bodies of people who died from digital drug use, not asking you to kill for this.”

"You said the fresher the sample, the better," the drug dealer sneered. "It's all the same."

The android and the drug dealer stared at each other for a few seconds without saying anything, the android continuing to examine the other corpses. The drug dealer crossed his arms, scrutinizing him. Only after the android finished examining the last corpse did the drug dealer ask, "What are you studying with these samples?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask." The android frowned.

“I know what you’re researching,” the drug dealer chuckled.

His answer was a gun barrel pointed at his forehead.

The drug dealer narrowed his eyes as he looked at the android's finger on the trigger.

"Lu Shang, an expert in bioinformatics, the lethal mechanism of this digital drug has intrigued you."

Two kilometers away, the building of Lugu Biopharmaceutical Company.

The medical manager, who was sitting in the chair, suddenly stood up. Through the image projected by his prosthetic eye, it seemed as if the gangster was standing right in front of him.

He severed contact with the android, opened the door to survey the corridor, and then scanned the area outside the window. Only after doing this did he return to his desk and take a deep breath.

In the underground parking lot, the android's dull eyes lit up again.

“The waters of Yingchuan run deep,” the drug dealer whispered in the android’s ear. “Business here isn’t as easy as you think.” “What do you want?” the android asked, lowering its gun.

"What can you offer?" the drug dealer asked unhurriedly, knowing he had the other party cornered.

"The highest price I can offer you..."

"No, no, no, I don't want the highest price." The drug dealer shook his index finger. "I just want fairness, a fair deal."

“I’ll pay, you give me the goods,” the android said. “That’s fair.”

“No,” the drug dealer shook his head. “Fairness means that if I take the risk, you also have to take the risk.”

"I need your channels. All you need is some extra stock from the company. I don't have high requirements; defective or scrap products are fine. Don't rush to refuse; of course we'll pay you. Private research is very expensive, and you lack computing power."

He deliberately used "we" to indicate that he represented a gang.

The android didn't answer, and the drug dealer waited silently. Inside the pharmaceutical company building, the medical manager looked surprised. Through the android's prosthetic eye, he saw a corpse sit up in the darkness.

"I can give you time..."

After a few seconds of silence, the drug dealer spoke again, but his words came to an abrupt halt.

At the parking lot entrance, Su Ge looked at the scene in his field of vision. Chiba Ryoko's slender hand cut into the drug dealer's carotid artery. A flash of purple light from the tip of her hand disappeared in an instant, and the drug dealer collapsed.

Where there are people, there are loopholes, and Shen Ke's words echoed in his ears again.

He initially thought Shen Ke was setting a trap for the medical manager, but when the ghost brought the news, he discovered that the other party was already involved in the trap.

He used Vision to call the medical manager.

The call connected, and in the office, the medical manager had regained his composure.

"Manager Lu."

"Su Xing?"

“The matter is resolved,” Soger said. “There’s still a little loose end left, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of it for you.”

"He has someone backing him."

"There are already many rumors about the Lugu Group, so it wouldn't be surprising if there were more."

"I don't understand, why would you help me?"

“I’ve been watching this drug dealer for a long time.” Suger took out his work ID and flashed it in front of the screen. “It was just a coincidence that I ran into you.”

"You are an undercover agent for the National Security Agency."

"Being undercover is just a job; my other job is being the spokesperson for the Lugu Group."

"You won't expose me?"

“There’s no need for that,” Soger said. “But I still suggest you be careful. This was a coincidence, and I can’t be so lucky as to be able to help you every time.”

“This is the first and last time.” The medical manager took a deep breath. “I will stop the research.”

“I think your research has great potential,” Soger smiled. “You just need a reliable partner.”

(End of this chapter)