Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 130, Section 129: Downstream

Si Sheng reached his hand through the window, and protein dye left a purple pattern on the skin of his wrist.

The medication rose from under the table by the window. He stuffed the opioid analgesics, viral immunosuppressants, and antibiotics into his pocket and left the dispensing station.

Long lines formed outside the pharmacy, while white security drones patrolled overhead. He walked through Shewei Street, where the crowds at the dental clinics and bars had returned to their former bustling state.

He heard that a batch of new drugs had recently entered the market, with quality comparable to the genuine products. People speculated about who had obtained this shipment, and some even inquired with the most well-connected smugglers, who all vehemently denied it. But those familiar with the black market knew that this shipment was clearly the work of an outsider—a bold, reckless, and mysterious figure crossing the river.

Misa entered through a small door at the end of Sanyuan Alley on Shewei Street. Behind the counter, the clerk wore a Japanese-style serpentine mask with his eyes closed, indicating that he wouldn't pry into his customers' privacy. Misa glanced at the drug recycling price list on the wall, took out the medicine he had just received, and placed it on the counter. At that moment, two people walked in from outside.

"Your name is Sisheng?" one of them asked.

Si Sheng was taken aback for a moment, then realized that the two people had already blocked his way on either side. He turned around, leaning against the counter, and asked warily, "Who are you?"

"Someone looking for you."

"Who?"

No one answered Sisheng's question. Sisheng looked towards the exit, where two other people were waiting. This actually relieved him. He did have two prosthetic bodies that were worth a fair price, but they weren't worth the trouble of others making such a big fuss to snatch them.

The underground plaza of the Zhiyuan Building.

Si Sheng entered the Rebirth Bar, where guards stood every few steps down the corridor. He entered the third room on the left; the front hall was a small tea room, and behind a partition wall in the inner room, someone was saying, "These medicines should be diluted before being sold; it's such a waste to sell them like this."

Si Sheng went into the inner room and found that the person speaking was an albino patient, the white ghost he had seen before.

There were also several dentists and bartenders in the room, all smugglers, standing around a card table covered in blue velvet, all facing the left side of the table. The man surrounded by them had his hands clasped on the edge of the table, listening quietly to the smugglers' opinions. Yi Sheng recognized him as "Mr. Su."

Su Ge nodded to Si Sheng, gesturing for him to sit down, then glanced at Bai Gui without responding to him, and instead said to the others, "What do you think?"

After a while, the bartender to the left of the white ghost said, "Making less money isn't a problem; the important thing is that everyone can use good medicine. But the trouble is..."

"You said."

“Selling this kind of drug makes it easy for the authorities to target us.”

Sisheng, observing this scene, realized that this Mr. Su was the one who had brought the new drugs. He watched as simulated sunlight streamed through the window, casting shadows and shimmering dust motes, making Mr. Su's face appear both bright and shadowy, utterly mysterious. What he couldn't see was a shadow sitting on the windowsill, lazily watching the smugglers in the room.

“The logic of marginalized societies is the complete opposite of that of mainstream societies. High-quality goods are incompatible with the underground market; substandard goods are the true hard currency.” Shen Ke looked at Su Ge. “Even if you disagree, these smugglers will still dilute the drugs privately and sell them at a higher price.”

"Should I agree?" Socrates asked himself.

"Just give them a look and let them figure it out themselves," Shen Ke said. "Don't readily accept opinions, and don't easily establish rules, especially rules that are easily broken."

Suger looked at the bartender, his gaze slowly sweeping over the other people in the room.

The bartender began to regret his overstepping of boundaries and looked to the white ghost for help.

White Ghost hesitated for a moment, about to continue with his prepared remarks, when Su Ge finally spoke up: "Selling medicine is just a pittance."

Do you have any other goods?

"Bio-modified raw materials, as well as some large medical devices."

The smugglers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Bai Gui's eyelids twitched violently, but he immediately calmed down, though his breathing became heavy and his face flushed.

"I might need to scrape together enough money to buy the goods."

Opportunity waits for no one.

Su Ge stood up, and everyone watched him leave. He walked over to Si Sheng, then stopped. "How many jobs do you hold now?"

Four portions.

Would you be willing to help me?

What do you want me to do?

"Help me sell the medicine, but you have to make sure it ends up in the hands of those who really need it."

"You've given me a difficult problem."

“At least the people here won’t make things difficult for you.” Su Ge smiled, patted Si Sheng on the shoulder, and glanced at the smugglers at the table.

He walked out of the room and left the Rebirth Bar. His custom-made car was parked on the second floor of the Zhiyuan Building.

"You've got everything sorted out, from upstream to downstream." Shen Ke's figure floated from behind Su Ge to the front. "Now you're a seasoned smuggler."

“Cooperating with these people is just a facade,” Suger said. “The real key is your accomplices.”

“It’s a front for the Security Bureau,” Shen Ke said. “You’ve gone to great lengths to maintain this informant identity. In fact, this identity has brought you more trouble than convenience.” She rested her chin on her hand and looked Su Ge up and down. “All you need is the sense of security that this identity gives you.”

“Don’t define me.” Su Ge pierced through her illusory image. “How’s Lu Shang doing?”

"He asked for 4.68 million for a fully functional 'defective' machine."

Suger rubbed his temples and took a deep breath.

"Someone looking for you."

Shen Ke suddenly said.

Su Ge frowned, turned around, and the elevator doors slowly opened, and a man stepped out.

The man was thin, wearing a blue striped shirt and silver-rimmed glasses. He had just been in the card room of the Rebirth Bar; he was one of White Ghost's men, a dentist who smuggled prosthetic bodies.

"We meet again, Mr. Su." The dentist walked over.

“We just saw each other a few minutes ago, but you’re making it sound like we’ve been apart for ages.”

Su Ge smiled slightly. In the card room, he had felt a fleeting sense of familiarity with this person, but he was certain he didn't recognize him. This wasn't contradictory; it only meant he had seen this person before, only now with a different face.

“We did have opportunities to collaborate before, but it just dragged on until now. I used to work for Qian Yun.” The dentist raised his wrist, projecting a dark-skinned face into the air. Su Ge recognized the face; he'd seen it at the Viper Bar—it was one of Qian Yun's dentists.

"So?" Soger narrowed his eyes. "What do you want from me?"

"It might be a little offensive, but I've actually been observing you for a while, Mr. Su," the dentist said.

"You want more medication allowance?"

"Yingchuan doesn't need the Lugu Group. No matter what kind of group it is, it won't bring real change, only chaos. The underworld has its order, even if it's not so moral, it's still better than pure chaos. I think we have the same goal."

“I don’t even know what my own goals are,” Soger sneered, turning to leave. “I have no interest in participating in your revenge.”

"It's not revenge."

The dentist sighed, and Suger had already gotten into the car.

"The White Ghost can't take over the business you want to do, but I can."

(End of this chapter)