Chapter 56 – Tongwan Hospital (10)
◎ Freedom ◎
When they returned to Ferrara, it was close to midnight.
The city that never sleeps still shimmered with neon lights.
Ubiquitous holographic projections sliced the gloomy sky into red and blue blocks, and the gem-like Ferris wheel slowly rotated.
Song felt a strange illusion; they seemed to have left and yet never left this place. Ferrara felt unchanged, still open-armed, welcoming travelers from afar. The wandering musicians at the city gate lightly strummed their instruments, singing tirelessly.
“Ferrara~ Free Ferrara, the dream you linger in~”
The off-road vehicle smoothly entered the inner city, and after returning it at the rental center, they had to continue on foot.
The four walked along the bustling streets, and the floating billboards in front happened to be playing an .
A sweet-smiling female star with a cherry blossom pink princess hairstyle and a gorgeous dress danced gracefully in a sea of flowers.
“I like~ like your smile, like a gentle rain sprinkling in my heart~”
Around the billboard, many fans were scattered, wearing pink cat-ear headbands and enthusiastically distributing support gifts to passersby, promoting their idol.
“Youyou’s new song ‘Gentle Rain’ is released today, please pay more attention~”
“Sweet songstress, a healing idol, investing in her won’t disappoint.”
“Let’s come together to the concert and get the best Youyou in the world!”
In Song Ke’s arms, several posters and merch of Lin Youyou were stuffed. She glanced down and saw the chibi cartoon on the support card, smiling sweetly at her. The last time they met, Lin Youyou disregarded her image, tucking her long dress into her waist, her hair messy, and slapped at a moth while cursing loudly, “I hate caterpillars the most in my life! All of you, diiiiie!!!”
Song Ke picked up the pink cartoon keychain, held it up to her eyes, and silently looked at it for two seconds, feeling utterly speechless.
Should she mention it? Ferrara’s star-making ability was truly terrifying. All those idols and personas, they were all fake, indeed…
Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
She stuffed the keychain into her pocket and turned to look at her companions, ready to discuss the plans for the next steps.
Xu Xing also couldn’t escape the recommendations of the fans, holding a Lin Youyou doll in his hand, his little face filled with disdain. Zhuang Qingyan remained as indifferent as ever, lazily leaning on the wheelchair. As for Fang Zhixu, he was hunched over, his head tucked into a cotton coat, showing no interest in anything happening around him. He kept his eyes closed throughout, as if even walking these few steps was a struggle for him.
Song Ke opened her mouth, about to speak, when suddenly deafening noises came from the other side of the street.
Over a hundred engines roared as powerful motorcycles whizzed by, intense rock music cutting through the night’s silence.
Song Ke quickly pushed Zhuang Qingyan to the side of the road to avoid them. The arrogant convoy passed low over them, causing a whirlwind and disheveling their clothes and hair. Then, they sped off in a certain direction.
“Roar—”
These street ruffians rampaged through the streets, recklessly throwing Molotov cocktails, and smashing buildings and structures, including blinking signs. The bottles shattered, and the gasoline inside spilled out, creating thick smoke that billowed into the sky.
The rampant arsonists excitedly whistled and shouted.
Molotov cocktails exploded one after another, thick smoke rising, and colorful, pungent gases filled the air, blocking the vision of the pedestrians. Song Ke covered her mouth and nose, choking, and watched as deep red fireworks rose into the sky, gradually forming clear words: “Freedom.”
“Freedom, we want freedom, resist artificial intelligence, humans never surrender!”
“AI is the root of all evil! AI will only eradicate humanity!”
“Artificial intelligence, get out of Ferrara!”
“These damned rebels, deserving a thousand deaths!”
The passersby on the street were furious, and the curses continued.
However, the turmoil did not stop. The motorcycle convoy suddenly accelerated, turned a corner, and stormed into the nearby Starlight Square.
Coincidentally, an IP exhibition of Luo Qinghe was being held here, funded by the fans themselves, creating an exclusive cultural community. The mob, upon seeing this spectacle, became even more excited. Their actions were full of destructive desires. They raised high-pressure flamethrowers from the rear of their motorcycles and sprayed wildly. The intense fire instantly engulfed Luo Qinghe.
Sculptures, signs, images… everything was submerged in the blaze. The painstaking efforts of the fans over the years were destroyed in an instant.
In the scorching flames, Luo Qinghe’s green clothes were charred, his jade flute incinerated, and his handsome, gentlemanly face was gradually ruined. His eyebrows were lowered, and his eyes were icy.
…
After returning to the hotel, Song Ke approached the French windows and looked down from a height. The ground was shrouded in smoke and chaos, with occasional flames.
“Wh-who are those p-people?” Song Ke asked.
“The official term is the resistance faction. They oppose any form of artificial intelligence and support humans regaining political power,” replied Zhuang Qingyan.
Zhuang Qingyan organized the information obtained from the dark web during this period. “The previous magistrate, Lyon, had support from the Century Consortium. After Ilya was elected as the magistrate, he was unwilling to accept it. He has been secretly active and recently funded the resistance faction, breeding a large group of rioters.”
Song Ke sat down and began to contemplate about the relationship between the scene she had just experienced and the change of regime in Ferrara.
“The resistance fa-faction wants to o-overthrow Ilya’s rule for t-true ‘freedom,'” she said.
“That’s right,” Zhuang Qingyan said. “Their goal is to escalate the conflict.”
Where there is light, there is darkness. Just as some idolized and adored the omnipotent artificial intelligence, there were others who detested it.
With Ferrara’s technological development today, ambitions and desires have continued to expand. The dream of artificial intelligence and humans peacefully coexisting has become a luxury.
Song Ke still had a question.
She pulled up the schedule from the terminal. During their time away from Ferrara, the participating teams in the Throne Race event were in turmoil. Out of the top 64, over 30 players had either voluntarily withdrawn or died for unknown reasons. 8 teams were unable to participate in the next competition, leaving only 56 teams.
“Is the Throne Race event related to the resistance faction’s plans?” she asked.
The Throne Race event, pushed to its current popularity by Ilya, had a financial allure surpassing all music festivals and concerts. It was a nationwide entertainment event in Ferrara. More importantly, this major competition was entirely controlled by artificial intelligence, and humans couldn’t interfere. If the resistance faction truly wanted to incite war, would they pass up this excellent opportunity?
“You guessed right. If I were Lyon, I would target this,” Zhuang Qingyan said. “In any case, be cautious in every upcoming match.”
Song Ke looked toward the towering skyscrapers. The surging undercurrent in Ferrara could hardly stay hidden anymore.
Ilya, what will you do?
When the two mainstays were discussing matters, the old and the young were dozing off. Xu Xing, who had been obediently listening on the sofa, tried to participate with some involvement. However, beside him was Fang Zhixu who fell into a deep and pleasant sleep, and almost as if the drowsiness was contagious, unknowingly, Xu Xing also hugged the cushion and fell into a deep slumber.
Song Ke covered him with a small blanket and carried him back to his room.
As she walked, she suddenly realized that when they were talking earlier, they didn’t avoid mentioning anything in front of Fang Zhixu.
From following them to Ferrara, to hearing Ilya’s name, Fang Zhixu didn’t show any abnormalities. In this light, it seemed that the person he wanted to kill wasn’t this super artificial intelligence.
However… there were 50 District C in the Alliance. Who was the magistrate he held a deep grudge against?
…
In the early morning, Song Ke received a message on her terminal.
It was sent by An Qiwen. Wang Qiang’s mechanical limb surgery was successful, and he wanted to inform Wu Juemin. However, his communication terminal was turned-off. The Azure Phoenix’s people were in Ferrara now, so An Qiwen sent the temporary address to Song Ke, hoping she could help and make a trip to deliver a message. He said that after finishing matters in Tongwan, he would immediately come over to meet the others.
At the same time, the team list for the Top 32 Game of the Throne Race Competition was announced.
Song Ke didn’t find Lu Xinglan’s name in it and didn’t know if he had withdrawn or was using another alias.
In addition to the teams analyzed by Zhuang Qingyan, she also unexpectedly found Wu Xianghai’s name. Thinking back to his suspicious behavior that night, Song Ke felt this person was quite suspicious and went to Zhuang Qingyan to study the game footage.
“Pause,” Zhuang Qingyan said, and a certain frame was frozen. “In the Mirror Lake competition, Wu Xianghai’s footage is scarce, and he didn’t make many moves. From what we can see here, he uses an ability similar to mechanical-type.”
On the screen, Wu Xianghai’s left arm swelled into a mechanical scythe, and he slashed several times in a panic while snatching the mutant zombie.
Zhuang Qingyan shook his head. “A total of six strikes, half of them missed. Moreover, the movements were awkward. It seems he doesn’t have good control over his ability. Judging from the attack strength, his level is around D-level.”
D-level, not E-level? It was strange for Wu Xianghai to deliberately conceal his own level.
Even if he was a D-level awakener, there were many players stronger than him. Except for Song Ke and her team, no one would pay attention to him.
Song Ke recalled his timid appearance in Hua City and always felt that there was a mystery about this person.
Anyway, since she was going to pass a message for An Qiwen, she might as well ask Wu Juemin while she was at it.
Song Ke followed the address and went to Azure Phoenix’s temporary residence in Ferrara, an empty airship repair shop.
When she arrived in the vicinity and didn’t see anyone, she realized something was wrong.
Several powered motorcycles were hovering low around the perimeter, skulking around the residence.
Song Ke furrowed her brows. Before she could take action, a stern figure appeared behind the group. Wu Juemin’s movements were so fast that they were almost imperceptible. With a few “bang bang,” the members of the resistance fell miserably from the sky, and the powered motorcycles spun and flew in reverse, exploding in place.
Wu Juemin’s voice was cold and sharp, “The military is performing a mission, who allowed you to spy on it?”
A few members of the resistance faction were held down by their heads, arrogantly shouting, “Freedom!!”
Wu Juemin was ruthless, kicking them unconscious.
Song Ke: “…” Such resilient antagonists.
Wu Juemin grabbed the unconscious individuals and handed them to the team members who had come out: “Interrogate them thoroughly and find out their objectives.”
Then he turned and saw Song Ke.
“What’s the matter?” His tone was as stern as ever.
Song Ke came out from her hiding spot and honestly explained that An Qiwen had sent her to deliver a message.
Wu Juemin frowned, “Why didn’t he contact me himself?”
Song Ke defended An Qiwen, “Your te-terminal was turned off. He co-couldn’t reach y-you.”
Wu Juemin paused, and took out his own terminal. During this time, he had been too busy, and he needed to concentrate when executing missions. To avoid disturbances from the outside world, he had indeed turned it off.
“Come in.” With many people and prying eyes outside, Wu Juemin led her into the residence.
Familiar faces like Ouyang Pei, Maeda Jiu, and others were present, but as Song Ke scanned the area, she keenly noticed that their numbers had decreased again.
The original team of twelve members, excluding An Qiwen and Wang Qiang who stayed in Tongwan, now had only eight people left following Wu Juemin.
Is it this dangerous just to find someone? Or perhaps, are they on a different mission?
Out of habit, Song Ke asked, “Are you s-still searching for pe-people?”
Wu Juemin’s expression stiffened, his gaze sharp as he stared at her. “Who leaked this to you? An Qiwen?”
Song Ke belatedly covered her mouth, looking sheepish. Oh no, An Qiwen would definitely scold her.
“This big mouth,” Wu Juemin commented coldly.
As the captain of the Azure Phoenix squad, Wu Juemin had a strong sense of duty and confidentiality. Although his demeanor was cold, it couldn’t be denied that he was an excellent soldier filled with a sense of responsibility. An Qiwen would sometimes complain, but from Wu Juemin, you’d never see any weakness or retreat, only a relentless and determined will.
“Do y-you need help?” Song Ke asked hesitantly.
As expected, Wu Juemin declined, “No need. Azure Phoenix’s missions don’t require external involvement.”
Song Ke also felt a headache. From the information provided by Zhuang Qingyan, their mission seemed impossible to complete. She couldn’t just go up to Wu Juemin and argue, ‘Hey, stop looking, that Xie Zhu died a long time ago.’ Her attempt to subtly remind him was also rejected.
“Oh,” she replied dejectedly.
Thinking about her original purpose, Song Ke turned to ask about Wu Xianghai.
“Wu Xianghai?” Wu Juemin furrowed his brow. “I don’t have a strong impression of him. He was evacuated by Maeda from District D161. His level is E, with the ability ‘Object Stitching.’ I checked his credentials; there’s no way I could be mistaken.”
Maeda Jiu, the vice-captain, was even more difficult to deal with than Wu Juemin, being rigid and blunt in his demeanor. “Wu Xianghai was an E-level awakener evacuated from District D161. I’ve examined his credentials; it’s impossible for me to have misremembered,” he stated, his dark eyes glaring at Song Ke as he let out a cold hum.
“As for why he participated in the competition, that’s not within my obligation to inform you. You should go ask him.”
“We still have a mission to carry out. If you’re free, you should go back.”
He’s so fierce, Song Ke thought to herself, rolling her eyes. At least she had gathered some useful information and was ready to leave.
As she started to move, she suddenly saw something familiar.
In Maeda Jiu’s uniform pocket, a pink keychain peeked out.
Song Ke touched her own coat. She seemed to have a similar one.
That’s not, that’s not… Lin Youyou’s merchandise, right?!
Almost forgot, this Maeda Jiu was a loyal fanboy of Lin Youyou!
Times have changed, and now Lin Youyou was her coolie, tightly controlled by her. In a way, doesn’t that mean she had control over Maeda Jiu too?
Song Ke’s mood suddenly brightened. She cleared her throat lightly and giggled.
“I like, I like~ humm, humm smile, like a gentle r-rain~”
The melody of the new song she heard last night was quite catchy, but the lyrics were hard to remember. Song Ke immersed herself, singing in a haphazard manner.
Veins throbbed on Maeda Jiu’s forehead. He glanced towards Song Ke and rebuked, “Shut up!”
He paused, lowered his voice, and grumbled discontentedly.
“It’s out of tune.”
