Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 73, Part 72: The Voyeur

For two consecutive days, Su Ge spent his time at the hotel, reviewing the information Yang Guan had left behind and gaining a general understanding of his professional identity. The Yunbo Hotel's information security reached Level 3, second only to the Security Bureau, which protected his important privacy while also subtly revealing his new identity to the outside world. Yang Guan predicted that Qian Yun would soon contact him, using gratitude as a pretext to smoothly engage with him.

But the other party didn't seem to be as blinded by greed as Yang Guan had said; apart from advertising emails, he wasn't bothered in any way.

Only that lingering sense of being watched, like chewing gum stuck to the sole of a shoe, is impossible to shake off.

On the morning of the third day, he ordered a cup of coffee on the terrace outside the hotel's glass curtain wall—real coffee brewed from East African coffee beans, with a moderate acidity and a hint of roasted nuts. These days, only two types of people still need natural food: the wealthy who crave "authenticity," and the marginalized members of society who, for various reasons, cannot fully enjoy data.

He is currently playing the former role.

He leaned back in his chair, surveying the Taoist temple high above, its lapis lazuli glazed tiles adorned with ever-changing scriptures. He feigned a relaxed and leisurely demeanor, but in reality, his focus was on the building's glass curtain wall and the gleaming silver spoon resting on a plastic pressed-flower coaster. Now, residing in this era's high-class hotel, he felt as if he had returned to the days when he first stayed at Lu Yingting, a time of constant anxiety and suspicion.

But everything was normal. The hovercars floated on the tracks, and a solitary thousand-year-old crane perched on a ventilation duct, its long gray neck glowing with green light.

"I didn't see anything." Shen Ke sat on the white railing. "Even if there was, your paranoia won't help." She glanced at the spoon. "What do you expect to see in the mirror? A stalker, wearing sunglasses, acting suspiciously?"

Her expression was indifferent with a hint of mockery. Suger was already used to her way of speaking. He muttered to himself, "I just have a... gut feeling."

He spoke with a lack of confidence. Intuition is certainly not to be ignored, but being overly concerned with it is a neurotic tendency. He couldn't help but wonder if someone was really watching him, or if his psychic abilities were driving him a little crazy.

“If you really think something’s wrong, why don’t you go to the security bureau? Now you’re doing their work,” she added.

Su Ge remained silent, the image of the general flashing through his mind. Perhaps the lurking enemy had finally appeared. He thought again of the underground printing factory; he had taken over Yue Guocheng's business, which could potentially cause trouble. He tapped his fingers on the table, his repeated deliberations making his mind heavy. In the distant, hazy clouds, he seemed to see floating lights and shadows—whether it was a hallucination from his illness or a hologram, he couldn't tell.

He slid his thumb open the medicine box and lit a dopamine inhibitor.

A feeling of floating enveloped him from all directions, as if to lift him up to the clouds, a sense of dazed peace. He breathed a sigh of relief and called for the hovercar service.

"Where to?" Shen Ke asked.

"Praying to the gods and Buddhas." Su Ge squinted, his gaze passing through the smoke he exhaled as he surveyed the Taoist temple high above.

A hovercar drove up from behind the building and parked on the terrace. He walked up the gangway into the cabin, and the city outside the window began to descend.

“This isn’t like you.” Shen Ke glanced out the window.

"Can you go in?" Su Ge followed her gaze and saw a stone lion lying in the mist in the distance.

“Every religious building in Yingchuan City is a mortal temple of a certain deity in the Spirit Realm.” She said, understanding Su Ge’s meaning. “I will just stay far away. Of course, unregistered robots cannot access the divine realm. If you want to get rid of ‘surveillance’ in this way, at least you should not be monitored by the outside world in those palaces.”

“Qingyang Palace has six skyrail entrances and four aircar entrances.” Su Ge glanced at the air projection screen inside the car. It was 7:33. “At 8:13, I will be at the northwest exit. Please call a car for me in advance, and keep it anonymous.”

Shen Ke gave a no-questions-asked gesture and disappeared. The hovercar drove into the tunnel inside the building, and the ink painting projected on the tunnel wall flew past.

Half a minute later, he entered the elevator, and the yin-yang shaped floor rotated and rose. The palaces for worshipping the gods were scattered among the high-rise buildings, imitating the layout of the thirty-three heavens in the spiritual realm.

This was his second time entering a sacred temple of this era, and this time he was without a guide. He had no deity to worship, and naturally no destination; he simply saw the virtual images of citizens moving back and forth in the palace. The celestial maidens and goddesses shimmered with the luster of mica, cold yet graceful.

Silver magnetic fluid flows between the clepsydra and the copper pot, transforming into galloping horses and swimming fish.

At 7:55, he crossed a covered bridge where murals depicted many indigo-skinned yakshas carrying Yama, the King of Hell. He suddenly remembered the name Yama, paused, and unconsciously changed direction, avoiding the Yama's palace. As he entered the northwest exit, he felt a shiver run down his spine, sensing the menacing celestial soldiers and generals glaring at him from behind.

A hovercar was parked in the pre-arranged spot, and Su Ge entered the cabin. The hovercar took off and flew out of the tunnel inside the building. After running parallel to the sky track for several hundred meters, Shen Ke leaned back in the soft leather seat and tucked her short titanium-white hair behind her ear.

“Your intuition is correct,” she said.

"Have you found someone to be watching you?" he asked quickly.

“The bad news is that he found you,” she said.

Suger was taken aback.

"The good news is, I deliberately let him find you." She smiled.

Suger frowned.

“Qingyang Palace is a black box to the outside world,” Shen Ke said. “For example, if I want to monitor you, I only know that you went in, but I don’t know when you came out or from where. So I can only pay attention to the elevators and vehicles that come in and out. If the security level of the elevators and vehicles is too high, then I will most likely lose track of them.”

"Then why..."

"This car belongs to Raleigh Company. Raleigh Company is known for its low service fees and high cost-effectiveness, but unfortunately, its information security is not satisfactory. I called this car for you and got rid of a few 'cockleburs' in advance."

At the same time, Suger received an explanatory image she transmitted: several thorny fruits grew in the bushes, and a fox walked through them, carrying the fruits away with its fur.

“He captured the surveillance data from inside the car, and he also captured my anti-tracking program,” Shen Ke explained.

"Have you found him?" Sog asked.

"Found it, what are you going to do with it?"

“I’ll fake the surveillance footage here, so he’ll think I’ve been here all along.” He ran his fingers over his holster. “Now I’m going to find him.”

(End of this chapter)