Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 88, Section Eighty-Seven: Renlitian

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the snow-white hull of the hovercraft reflected the faint blue light peeking through the gaps in the clouds. The sky was overcast, and the weather robots were creating an impending downpour; the air was so stuffy that there wasn't a breath of wind. Through the front window of the cabin, the massive complex of the Six Desires Heaven was revealed in outline.

Suger sat in the car, the back of his head shaved, revealing a bare white scalp. A doctor from the security agency stood behind him, holding a "prosthetic brain," its inner layer filled with light paths and its outer layer an artificial scalp. The doctor attached the prosthetic brain to the back of Suger's head and used his fingers to comb his new hair.

"Wear this, and in other people's eyes, you'll be no different from other brain-computer interface users."

Su Ge turned his head to the side in front of the mirror, completely oblivious to the extra layer covering the back of his head. Bai Miao walked over, "There's a temporary negotiation expert program here. Whatever it says, you just say."

“Understood.” Sog touched the back of his head; the thing was very light, almost imperceptible. “I just need to be a yes-man, right?”

“That’s basically it,” Bai Miao said. “You’re going to contact a distributor. You’re just going to talk to him about business and get information out of him to confirm his relationship with Fan Wujiu.”

"What if I encounter the real person?"

“That’s the worst-case scenario; you might be attacked by neural data. But theoretically, it’s not a big threat to you. If anything happens, it’ll be the fake brain you just installed,” Yang Guan said, examining the data on the screen. “We’ll keep a safe distance from you, but transaction locations are usually shielded. To avoid exposure, we might not be able to monitor the entire scene.” He turned to look at Su Ge. “In other words, you might have to improvise in case of emergencies.”

"clear."

Yang Guan remained silent and patted Su Ge on the shoulder.

The levitation vehicle arrived at the Six Desire Realms and landed between the overturned Buddha and Arhat statues.

……

Suger walked across the square, where scraps of paper, medicine boxes, and cigarette butts were scattered on the ground.

This was his second time visiting the Six Desire Realms, so it couldn't be considered a return visit. The place was too big, like a city within a city. The layout of the buildings was completely based on Mount Sumeru in Buddhism. He had visited the unfinished first floor of the Yama Heaven, which was just a grain of sand in the mountain.

He entered the pagoda. The Dharma wheel at the bottom of the elevator rotated as it descended, and the surrounding mirrors projected images of multi-story buildings inhabited by celestial beings. The place had been abandoned for a long time, but some of the infrastructure was still functioning.

He recalled the information the Security Bureau had given him: his destination was underground. The Six Desire Realms could be divided into two parts: the Yama Heaven was the "Sky-Dwelling Heaven," while the "Earth-Dwelling Heaven" below it was an underground complex. The Renli Heaven he was going to was the Earth-Dwelling Heaven, an area of ​​over 500 square kilometers divided into thirty-three districts, inhabited by refugees and various gangs. The transaction would take place on the outskirts of the Good Vision City area; "Li" would appear there at two o'clock.

He left the elevator. The view was dim; the light within the Six Desire Realms came from the artificial celestial system in the dome, and the dilapidated star clusters provided only extremely limited illumination. Everywhere were empty rooms, and dusty shrines held many sandalwood Buddha statues. He saw someone walk by; their blue skin resembled that of a celestial being walking among mortals.

He walked through the streets, the surroundings eerily quiet, save for the occasional crackling of electricity from the dome. Most of the Six Desires Heaven was uninhabited; those occupied by gangs were extremely exclusive. If you ventured in, you'd better be able to handle the criminals' attacks, or you'd lose everything you had that could fetch a price. But now, besides your labor, every inch of you had value.

He avoided the territories of those gangs, and his journey was uneventful. Beside a collapsed stone archway, he touched the back of his head and looked back. The security personnel would keep a distance of 500 meters from him, but he found no trace of them. He turned back and continued on his way, without his glasses. Due to certain religious and political factors, satellites did not provide internet service here, and the signal base stations scattered throughout the area were privately set up by gang members, offering absolutely no security. This was perhaps why "General" had lured him to the Six Desires Heaven.

Fortunately, the city's wireless microwave coverage still reached this area, and the Gu Diao was functioning normally, a crucial safeguard for his safety. He moved with incredible speed, covering four kilometers in less than ten minutes. A patch of red appeared in his field of vision, like the lingering embers of a burnt star. Approaching, he discovered it consisted of coral-like crystal clusters attached to enormous branches extending from a giant tree, almost completely obscuring the dome. This scene made Su Ge feel as if he had entered a virtual space; he was somewhat disoriented. Reaching the base of the tree, he heard a clatter under his feet and looked down to see an aluminum electronic prayer wheel he had kicked, rolling to the side. The noise startled him.

"The Heavenly Tree King should have pervaded the Heavenly Palace with its fragrance."

A voice came from the side. Sog turned his head and saw a shrine embedded in the tree trunk. The speaker was a red sandalwood statue, only half a meter tall, its eyes shining with the same deep red light as the crystal clusters.

"It's a pity it didn't live to see the day it bloomed." He looked at Suger, his expressionless eyes revealing a scrutinizing gaze. The Heavenly Tree King He spoke of was also known as the "Fragrance Tree." If it were functioning properly, everyone within the entire realm of the Heavenly Palace of the Devas would receive the signal it sent—a wondrous fragrance that did not exist in this world.

Socrates didn't understand what the idol was saying, but the "negotiation expert" grasped the deeper meaning of His words. Some voices entered Socrates' inner ear through bone conduction from the back of his scalp, and he followed the voices, saying, "Now only the truly enlightened can smell this sublime fragrance."

The statue let out a soft laugh, clearly satisfied with the answer.

"Mr. Li is waiting for you."

A pale white shadow flew out from behind the tree; it was a hovering robot with a round head and a cone-shaped lower body, like a tadpole swimming in the air. The statue's eyes lost their luster, and Suger followed the robot toward the northeast of the Fragrant Tree.

Unfinished statues were everywhere, dressed in blue robes and holding forks. Soon, Su Ge followed the robot into a cluster of buildings. Some of the buildings had overhanging eaves and latticed windows, seemingly matching the style of the Six Desires Heaven, while most were shacks built with asbestos tiles. Clearly, this was gang-controlled territory; he saw people trading supplies at the alleyway entrance, where anti-immunity pills were the hard currency.

He entered a building and climbed the stairs. This was Shan Jiancheng's "Crude Garden" in the northeast. The upper floors of the hexagonal building with its overhanging eaves overlooked the entire area. Although this was supposedly a Buddhist kingdom that promoted equality for all beings, the architectural style already reflected a strict hierarchical system, a political inevitability. He sighed inwardly, wondering what kind of advanced productive forces could create such an architectural complex in the real world, and what kind of uncontrollable forces could have caused the investors to abandon it.

He walked through the corridor, past several tiny rooms barely big enough to fit anyone, where an oddly shaped monk sat cross-legged, seemingly meditating. At the end of the corridor, the robot led him to a right turn and into a quiet room. In the center of the room was a holographic well five meters in diameter, with a colorful model of Mount Sumeru suspended within it. Behind the semi-transparent hologram, a man with his hands behind his back examined the ornaments on the table. He was thin and wore a loose black silk shirt and trousers.

Mr. Li.

The "negotiation expert" gestured for Su Ge to go up and greet them, but Su Ge didn't act rashly. His willingness to risk his life wasn't based on trust in the Security Bureau. Before coming here, he had memorized Fan Wujiu's position, just as he had memorized Shen Ke's.

He established a connection with Weige and shared information. At this moment, Weige also saw the man in the quiet room.

Humans are often unfamiliar with their own backs, while digital life knows every single bit of itself.

Almost instantly, Suger got the answer.

[It's me; he's another version of me.]

(End of this chapter)