Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 37: Visit
The moment Suger connected to the Void Realm Mandala, it felt as if he had entered another world.

He saw a mandala in the boundless void, with four concentric circles formed by yellow, blue, red, and cyan lines on its exterior.

A raging fire burns between the red and blue lines.

He had seen a similar scene at the Temple of the Vidyadhara, but at that time he thought it was just a visual boundary. Now, connected to the Mandala of the Void Realm, the information of this artifact was also transmitted into his mind. He immediately understood that the four boundary lines represented the four great barriers of earth, water, fire, and wind, which were the firewalls of the Mandala of the Void Realm.

The raging fire between the fire and wind barriers is called the "Fire and Wind Hell," which is the lowest barrier of this magical artifact.

His consciousness passed through the fiery and windy hells and entered the mandala of the void realm. Outside the central mandala were four square palaces, with pigs, horses, lions, and white elephants pulling chariots outside the palaces.

Within the square hall, clusters of projections floated, and when Su Ge focused his consciousness on them, their forms shifted between celestial demons and Buddhas at any moment.

He continued deeper into the mandala and discovered even more such empty spaces.

The four square halls and one mandala divide the central palace of the mandala into five levels. There are also five different types of empty spaces, totaling fifty empty spaces. The images of fifty demons and the projections of the five Buddhas change within them.

The information about the artifact made Suge understand that this was a vacancy that could accommodate a position, corresponding to five levels of numerical life.

If a digital life form is trapped in a Void Mandala, the mandala, palace, and barrier there will prevent it from escaping.

This is a magical artifact for capturing positions.

Looking at the empty seats, a thought suddenly popped into Suger's head—what if his consciousness was also captured?

He severed the connection, and his consciousness left the inner space of the Void Realm Mandala.

The clock had ticked to 2 a.m. The window was closed, the package was still on the table, and he sat cross-legged against the wall by the head of the bed, looking down at the transparent thin sheet in his palm. It was only the size of a strip of chewing gum, but inside was a virtual space, which also contained a system that could store and control the space.

According to the Gu Diao's perception, his palm was empty, or rather, the Gu Diao regarded this thing as part of his body.

This thing's technology completely surpasses that of the Gu Diao. It is a magical artifact used by the gods of this era, something that Su Ge should not normally have access to. However, the black cat casually handed it over to Su Ge, as if it were a bonus before the deal was finalized.

His disguise allowed him access to platforms he wouldn't normally have been able to access, but it also brought him greater risks and pressure.

If he doesn't cooperate with Black Cat and gives up the opportunity at hand, he won't offend the Security Bureau. At the same time, it also means that the Security Bureau will soon learn the truth about the gray-haired man's death from Shen Ke. He will be highly likely to be suspected of being Yama Luoja, and his secrets will be thoroughly investigated.

If he were to cooperate with Black Cat, he would be taking two risks: first, Black Cat might not be trustworthy; second, he would be facing Li Lou, the digital life form of the Security Bureau. In mythology, Li Lou could see the smallest detail from a hundred paces away, and Yang Guan also said that He was skilled in analysis and prediction. Su Ge had absolutely no confidence that he could commit a crime under Li Lou's nose and escape unscathed.

But between waiting to die and taking a risk, he could only choose the latter. If he failed, he planned to claim that he had been manipulated by demons and monsters.

What if it succeeds?
That means that Shen Ke escaped from Li Lou's beak, only to fall into Xiong Bo's mouth again.

Suger recalled the scene of the consciousness anchor and felt somewhat unsettled. Shen Ke approached him with ulterior motives, but that might not necessarily be malicious. In any case, the two deals she facilitated helped him further adapt to this era.

He had previously exploited her trust to help the security bureau arrest her, and now he was going to use the same trick again, sending her into the mouth of the Demon-Eating God. From a purely personal safety perspective, this was a good thing for Suger, since the black cat had already mistaken him for a digital life form and didn't care whether he was a god or a demon.

He tucked the Void Realm Mandala into his pocket and looked out the window. Her fate seemed sealed, and he had no other choice.

……

On July 16th, the sky was cloudless, and the dim city was brighter than usual.

Suger left the vacuum orbit and raised his hand to shield his squinting eyes.

The offering of food is being carried out in mid-air.

There are only three days left until the quarterly Great Purification Ritual, when not only will evil spirits be purified, but new gods will also be born from the redundant data separated from the old gods' purification ritual.

This day is a festival of the death of evil and the birth of gods. At this time, a group of fetuses in the nursing home will leave the artificial womb and be born on the same day as the new gods, becoming their future believers.

At this moment, the white-robed Guanyin in mid-air stood on the lotus platform, sprinkling sweet dew with a willow branch. Each drop of sweet dew contained specially prepared data, making those who received the dew feel enlightened.

Besides the Bodhisattva who sprinkles nectar, there are other deities. One of the goddesses takes out various delicacies from her mouth, nose, and buttocks and bestows them upon believers. She was once the Great Princess of Shintoism and is now one of the Bodhisattva's incarnations.

Suger raised his hand as if to block out the noise that clashed with his own, or perhaps to block out his own unease.

He stepped into the security bureau's elevator, shutting out the outside world. Through the elevator doors, he surveyed the bustling streets, filled with men, women, and children, but not a single family.

The social unit of "family" has disappeared in this era. Artificial womb technology and public care centers have taken on the responsibility of raising offspring for society. The family has no reason to exist, and naturally there are no more clans. Concepts such as "inheritance" have been forgotten along with it. The gap between the rich and the poor has been narrowed, and people have a more equitable starting point.

Half a month ago, Su Ge had wondered if he still had any relatives in this era. Now he found that although concepts such as "family," "love," and "loyalty" still exist, they no longer exist in reality. They can only be glimpsed in the works of art of this era.

After ascending to the 21st floor, the elevator doors opened. Su Ge felt a little uneasy as he went through security, but no one noticed the Void Realm Mandala until he entered the Security Bureau.

He had made an appointment for the visit in advance, and after his citizenship was verified, the receptionist's holographic image guided him through the corridors.

The prison that holds digital lives has no iron bars, only iron-nickel alloy plates that cover the entire wall with a thickness of nearly three centimeters.

Upon arriving at the prison, Su Ge walked to the room next to Shen Ke's cell, which served as both a visitation and interrogation space, where Shen Ke's activities were projected onto a screen.

Suger glanced at the time; there were still nineteen minutes left before Black Cat's agreed-upon time to infiltrate the Security Bureau.

It's past midnight. I'll update again during the day on the 17th. Sorry to keep you all waiting.

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(End of this chapter)