The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1019: S Chip

Chapter 1019: S Chip

“You flatter me.”

Gao Yang didn’t guess it. He simply knew it.

It was something he had fallen for in the Mist World once: Yan Feng was a puppet, while his manager was the real Black Tortoise.

Gao Yang increasingly felt like the dream was a poorly crafted reincarnation story, set to rewrite everything he had experienced in the Mist World.

“The results are in, Captain.” Xiran leaned toward the holographic panel before the Green Box, adjusting his glasses in excitement.

“Based on the current data, the Green Box deduced that Yan Feng may be a state-of-the-art replicant, while Gui Zhe was the true mastermind. The administrative control over Yan Feng’s S Chip belonged to Gui Zhe.”

“No wonder it was so easy to infiltrate Yan Feng’s brain and replicate his digitized memory.” Vermilion Bird snorted. “His memory is digital to start with, no conversion needed. I was in a rush and didn’t check.”

“That’s right.” Xiran chuckled. “The moment you pulled out of Yan Feng’s brain, the breach was reported to the terminal automatically, resulting in Gui Zhe regaining consciousness early. He caught you off guard and shot you.”

“Holy, a high-grade replicant becoming a movie star and having so many fans?” Can exclaimed in shock.

Such replicants were almost identical to humans appearance-wise. They were class 1 contraband all over the world, under stringent control. It was difficult to obtain even at black markets. Only a few official R&D centers possessed a handful of prototypes.

Still, it seemed reasonable that something like that would appear in Moon City.

“What is the likelihood of Yan Feng being a high-grade replicant?” Vermilion Bird asked.

“83.53%,” said Xiran. “Among the 37 possible scenarios the Green Box posed, it’s the most likely to be true.”

“Haha!” Gray Bear came up and slapped Gao Yang on the back. “You just saved our ass, kid! After the gig’s done, Liu Li should get a bigger share!”

“Of course.”

“I, agree.”

“Doesn’t matter to me.”

“What’s coming?”

“Sunrise.”

As if summoned, a patch of red appeared in Gao Yang’s sight.

He focused on the dim sky outside Moon City. A hazy crimson emerged, nothing like the sunrise he knew.

The air pollution filled the sky in Moon City with smog day and night. Only at dawn was the visibility good enough to allow a few minutes’ view of the sun rising.

Yet the weak dawn could not fully penetrate the smog. To them, it looked like a candle wavering on a stormy night, dying out in the blink of an eye.

Then the sky brightened, but it wasn’t blue, but a dull gray.

The neon advertisements and holographic sceneries across the city shut down one after another. Like makeup being removed from a cadaver, Moon City was laid bare, all pale skin and cold pores.

Vermilion Bird tossed Gao Yang an S Chip. The coin-sized device looked like a hollowed-out drawing pin.

“S Chip,” Vermilion Bird explained. “A streamlined version. It’ll hurt a little when installed, but it doesn’t pierce into your spine or connect to your brain.”

Gao Yang inspected it, turning it over in his hands.

“Need help?” Vermilion Bird asked.

Gao Yang quietly handed the S Chip to her. She stood up and went behind him, lifting his hair.

He felt something cold against his nape, followed by a prick. The pain was manageable.

“Bleeds a little, but nothing serious.” Vermilion Bird took out a disinfecting wipe to clean the wound. “At first, getting a chip installed took great courage with a mortality rate of 4%. Now that the tech is better, an implanting surgery only takes half an hour. With anesthesia administered, the recipient will simply wake up to a changed world.”

“It’s like getting a pair of wings.” She went back to sit beside Gao Yang. “Of course, one can have their S Chip extracted, too, but almost no one does it since it comes with a great empty feeling, as if their life is no longer complete. Like a bird losing its wings.”

She took out another cigarette. “A complete lifeform feeling like their life is incomplete when something that’s never part of them in the beginning gets taken away. Isn’t that ironic?”

“What are you getting at?” Gao Yang turned to her and asked calmly.@@@@