Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 85, Section 84: Helper
Yang Guan pushed open the door to the Security Bureau's conference room, where dark holographic screens floated between the black walls.

Five investigators were attending a meeting while sitting in magnetic levitation chairs. He turned left and sat down next to Bai Miao. This was the specific area for projecting information beams. A one-meter-diameter ring lit up under the chair, and the gray holographic screens immediately came into color and sound.

Those were crime scene footage from various angles, mostly from city surveillance cameras and drones. In the streets and alleys, in black bars, and in capsule apartments, addicts of all kinds enjoyed digital drugs. They trembled, shook, and were in a daze. Some of them collapsed after the drugs took effect and showed no signs of life.

Suddenly, he was transported into fragmented memories. In one moment, he experienced a transaction in a parking lot; the next, he abruptly witnessed a robbery. Finally, he sat on a red and blue checkered sofa, inserting a disposable chip for digital drugs. A strange feeling washed over him; he felt himself suffocating, his heart about to stop beating. It all happened so naturally that he didn't even realize something was wrong. But then, the feeling vanished, and he awoke as if from a dream, only then feeling a chill of fear.

“This is a victim’s pre-death record,” Bai Miao said, looking at the projection in front of Yang Guan. “This person’s brain was damaged and he lost a lot of his memories, but the cause of his death is quite clear.”

“Ordinary criminals couldn’t produce this kind of stuff…” Yang Guan muttered.

In the conference room, the five investigators' prosthetic eyes flickered with light and shadow. In just two minutes, they all reviewed hundreds of related case records. Immediately afterwards, the leader of the Extraordinary Situations Team Three appeared in the holographic projection well in the center of the room, her pure white prosthetic body reflecting the images on multiple screens around her.

“Everyone has seen the information.” She glanced at everyone. “Now, a new type of drug has appeared in Yingchuan City. We obtained a sample through an informant. The prototype of this digital drug is a digital weapon from the last century. This weapon causes the target’s death by inputting malicious neural data into the target’s brain.”

"The insidious nature of this weapon lies in the fact that it was not designed to incapacitate the enemy, but to kill the target's biological body directly through the brain-computer interface. It is a weapon born for killing. In the era when it was developed, brain-computer interfaces were not yet widespread, and it was only used against cyborg units equipped with brain-computer interfaces, so its harmfulness was not particularly taken seriously. But now, everyone has a brain-computer interface, which means that everyone has become its target."

“Currently, it only circulates on the black market,” Bai Miao said. “The addicts who buy it are mostly unregistered individuals. They don’t have the right to enter the Spirit Realm. Only these guys are enthusiastic about this kind of low-level entertainment.”

The team leader shook his head; clearly, Bai Miao hadn't touched on the crux of the problem. Yang Guan examined the case file of a drug addict who had died beside the steps of a bar. The guy was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with a plaid shirt over it, and his jeans were soaking in sewage. If it weren't for the flies buzzing around him, it would be almost impossible to tell whether he was a real person or an abandoned robot.

"The modus operandi was very familiar."

After a while, one of the investigators said.

The team leader looked at the investigator and nodded.

Immediately afterwards, the investigators received a file. Yang Guan saw the file number: 4100033458. This was the prisoner's number from the Security Bureau. The first two digits were the administrative district code of Yingchuan City, the third and fourth digits were the prison number, the fifth and sixth digits "03" were a code representing a digital life, and "3458" was the prisoner's inmate number. This was the file of some kind of demon or monster, and he saw the name in the file—Fan Wujiu.

"This guy was originally a drug manufacturer who found data destroyed after the war on the dark web. He manufactured digital drugs and initially operated in southern North America, Southeast Asia, and Western Europe. Six years ago, he came to Yingchuan to illegally upload consciousness. His consciousness was deeply corrupted and he has transformed into the most vicious demon. When the security bureau arrested him last August, at least a thousand people had already died because of the digital drugs he manufactured."

The team leader paused for a moment, then said decisively, "He escaped during the last prison break, and now, new types of drugs have appeared in Yingchuan. According to Li Lou's analysis, these new drugs have a 32.68% correlation with Fan Wujiu. This is enough to warrant an investigation..."

Some clues were transmitted to the investigators' brains. Yang Guan saw information on several offline drug dealers, and was then assigned the task of investigating them. He looked at his team leader, "If the new drug really was produced by that guy, at least the Feather Robe Envoys will have to be deployed to have any chance of catching him."

“If the correlation can be increased to 40%, the Feathered Envoy will participate.” The team leader glanced at Yang Guan. “Our task is only preliminary investigation. Once we obtain any clues that prove these new drugs are related to 3458, the case will be fully upgraded.” He looked at the other four investigators. “Do you all understand?”

"clear."

The investigators confirmed the mission and got up to leave.

Yang Guan returned to his office and scheduled the tasks he had just received for three days later. There were many backlogged cases recently, and this digital drug case was just one of them. It was very likely that, like the vast majority of cases, it would remain unresolved.

At that moment, a call request appeared in the lower right corner of his prosthetic eye. It was a call from Suger. After answering, a half-length portrait of Suger appeared before his eyes. He instinctively asked, "Any new developments regarding the Spiritual Society?"

"No, it isn't." "Then what is it?"

“I heard something else from the drug dealers,” Su Ge said. “A new drug has appeared on the black market in Yingchuan, and I heard that this new drug is quite unusual.”

Yang Guan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Did you hear about it, or do you have any specific clues?"

“I’ve only heard about it so far,” Soger said tentatively, “but I can help gather information.”

“This isn’t your task.” Yang Guan shook his head, leaned back in his chair, and took a drag of his cigarette. “Just don’t touch digital drugs.” He glanced at Su Ge’s forehead. “You don’t need to worry about getting addicted. You don’t have a brain, so you can’t use this stuff.” He paused for a moment, as if he had thought of something. “Of course, if you find out that the Spiritual Society is related to this, don’t alert them. Contact me immediately.”

“Okay.” Su Ge nodded.

……

Communication hang up.

In the suite at the Yunbo Hotel, Su Ge sat in front of the off screen and lit an inhibitor.

"He refused to disclose any information."

“You’re just an informant,” Shen Ke said. “If he leaks the progress of the investigation to you, it’s his incompetence.”

"The security agency may have already noticed those new drugs."

“When you find one cockroach, your kitchen is already full of cockroaches,” Shen Ke shrugged. “Don’t underestimate the intelligence capabilities of the Security Bureau.”

Suger frowned, rubbing his throbbing temples. He bore some responsibility for the guy getting away with it. At the same time, he worried that the security bureau might use this as a lead to uncover the truth behind the prison break.

“You can actually ignore this.” Shen Ke sat down at the other end of the sofa. “The backup database won’t be synchronized with the original database in real time. In other words, even if that guy gets caught, he won’t know you.”

Suger shook his head. "Even if I don't look for him, he will look for me. If he is already an independent life, then what he most wants to kill is not those drug addicts, but the predecessor who may still be alive."

“That’s not wrong.” Shen Ke turned to look at him. “So what do you plan to do?”

Su Ge pondered for a moment, "The Security Bureau is unreliable, I need to find another helper."

"helper?"

“For a backup, his greatest enemy is another version of himself.” Soger flicked away the ash from his cigarette. “That’s the helper I’m looking for.”

(End of this chapter)