Chapter 57.2 – Tongwan Hospital (11)
◎ The Disappearing AI ◎
“Finally caught you. Last time you slipped away pretty fast,” Sai Ang laughed sinisterly. “Your level 2 crystal, give it to me!”
Sai Ang was inherently greedy and had long set his eyes on the green crystal in Song Ke’s hands. Unexpectedly, the day after the Mirror Lake competition ended, Song Ke left Ferrara and completely disappeared. He searched for a long time but couldn’t find her.
Now that he finally got into the same group, he naturally wanted to seize this opportunity and snatch the crystal.
If Song Ke was sensible, she should have obediently handed it over. If she dared to resist, he would kill her immediately.
Crazy!
Song Ke cursed in her heart, always acting like he’s someone’s superior. I’ll show you who’s the boss.
She turned around and advised Xu Xing, “Xiao Xing, keep killing the zombies.”
Then she fearlessly went up to confront him.
The short knife sliced across Sai Ang’s chest, causing sparks to fly. Sai Ang’s mechanical body seemed to be made of some unknown material; it didn’t cut through even after a strike. Song Ke frowned slightly, pushed forward another half meter, narrowing the distance between her and Sai Ang, preparing to strike again.
Sai Ang took a half step back, his mechanical chest rapidly reassembled, and suddenly activated automatically, revealing a small hole. The dark gun barrel aimed at Song Ke, and countless superpowered shotgun pellets shot out!
Sneaky. He deliberately exposed a vulnerability to bait Song Ke into attacking!
“Hahaha! Naive! I will kill you and then take the crystal. Wouldn’t that be even more enjoyable—”
Before Sai Ang’s laughter could end, Song Ke clashed her twin blades, merging them into a spiritual weapon umbrella. In a critical moment, she quickly opened the umbrella, and all the shotgun pellets hit the blue umbrella surface, being completely absorbed.
Then she leaped into the air. In Sai Ang’s astonished eyes, her emei thorn rotated and stabbed fiercely into his skull!
After piercing through the skull, Song Ke didn’t stop. She picked out the two tubes connected at the back of his brain, cutting them one by one.
Sai Ang’s head was mostly mechanical. It rolled down to the ground, smoking, and was severely damaged. The mechanical skull was probably scrapped. It was unknown if he could salvage his life.
“Ohhhh!!” Ah K exclaimed, “Contestant Song Ke single-handedly killed Contestant Sai Ang!”
“She soloed a B-level awakener!!”
…
Outside the central square, Zhuang Qingyan watched the screen, observing the slender and seemingly frail yet explosively powerful figure. His lips slightly curved.
“Doctor Fang, you should consider yourself lucky for making the right decision.”
Fang Zhixu soberly watched Song Ke’s entire match. He slowly raised his eyelids and, after a moment of silence, spoke hoarsely, “I admit she’s strong, but so what? The opponent is just a B-level awakener.”
Zhuang Qingyan shook his head, his voice carrying deeper implications. “You’re wrong. She is far stronger than you imagine.
“And the ‘luck’ I mentioned is not about Song Ke’s strength.”
“Oh, then what is it?” Fang Zhixu retorted coldly.
Zhuang Qingyan sighed vaguely, “She is not only powerful but also compassionate.”
Fang Zhixu looked at the screen where Song Ke’s face was full of disdain, kicking Sai Ang’s head away, then turning back to the battlefield and rapidly harvesting the zombie heads, as if chopping vegetables and cutting fruits.
Fang Zhixu shrugged his head slightly inside his cotton coat, not commenting on Zhuang Qingyan’s assessment of her being ‘compassionate.’
Zhuang Qingyan smiled and didn’t say more.
He turned his gaze to Group F, where Wu Xianghai was.
Zhuang Qingyan watched the actions of the people in the footage, his brows furrowing more and more.
Wu Xianghai changed his attacking technique again, this time using an ability similar to devouring. A black hole appeared in his chest corresponding to the same position on the zombie, creating a rather disgusting sight. The clearing speed was not fast, clearly lagging behind the leading teams. Wu Xianghai’s own face was grim, and it was unclear whether it was because of the peculiar ability or the lagging progress.
Zhuang Qingyan silently observed for a while and softly exclaimed, “Ah.”
“So that’s how it is…”
Originally, it wasn’t his own ability, so naturally, he couldn’t use it well.
Regarding the types of abilities, Qinglan Institute had conducted numerous experiments. The final data showed that the awakening of abilities was not entirely random. Some individuals were born with a predisposition to malevolence, a base nature, accustomed to stealing and robbing. Consequently, their awakened abilities were akin to rats in the sewer, dirty and dark.
…
Ten minutes before the countdown ended, Song Ke had already defeated enough zombies to advance early. She and Xu Xing walked out of the competition area and looked up at the suspended display screen in the sky. There were still three groups of matches yet to conclude, but the participants she knew had mostly secured their advancement.
Song Ke retrieved her terminal and glanced at the message, then chuckled.
“What’s going on?” Xu Xing asked.
“Something good,” Song Ke happily shared with him.
Maeda Jiu unexpectedly came to watch the competition. Although his attitude was indifferent, he specifically sent his location to Song Ke, urging her to come as he had only half an hour before returning to his team.
Song Ke planned her next steps in her mind. First, she would meet up with Zhuang Qingyan, then call Lin Youyou, and together they would go find Maeda Jiu. She wondered what expression this old-fashioned person would have upon seeing his idol in front of them. The thought was quite exhilarating.
Song Ke held Xu Xing’s hand and eagerly headed towards the central square. Suddenly, the sky erupted in a brilliant fireworks display, which Song Ke assumed was arranged by the organizing committee. She glanced back.
Almost immediately, she realized something was wrong. After the crimson fireworks burst, a glaring word appeared.
“Freedom.”
It was the resistance faction!
But could they, relying on those motorbikes, truly impact the Throne Race Competition?
Song Ke couldn’t help but doubt.
Soon, she realized she was mistaken.
This time, the ones taking action weren’t petty street thugs. The fireworks were just a signal. The high-voltage pulses at the top of the tower suddenly surged by several million volts, “bang bang” – the high-frequency floodlights burst in succession, and the entire city’s power grid short-circuited instantly!
The Ferris wheel stopped, the neon dimmed, and the ubiquitous music fell silent.
And on the high-altitude stage, the figures of Ah K, Yulica, and Nana, projected by holograms, suddenly froze while speaking, like light screens losing signal, rapidly flickering for a few seconds, and then, they disappeared into thin air!
After losing power, all artificial intelligences disappeared!
The venue plunged into complete darkness, and the audience fell into endless confusion and chaos.
“What happened? Why is there a power outage?”
“Where’s Ah K? Where’s the screen? Why is everything gone?”
“Damn, don’t step on me, it’s too dark!”
For a while, the long-abandoned loudspeaker was “pop pop” tapped twice, and from inside came a panicked voice.
“Um… that, sorry everyone, I am a committee member in charge of cleaning… no, logistics personnel. Due to that… technical issue, the Throne Race Competition is temporarily suspended. The results of the 32 qualifiers will be announced at a later date.”
Song Ke tightened her grip on Xu Xing’s hand. “Let’s go quickly.”
…
Maeda Jiu studied the point where the competition ended and hurried to the scene. Suddenly, Ferrara experienced a power outage. He stood at the alley’s entrance, waiting for Song Ke to come.
In the quiet night, faint sounds of a heated argument came from deep within the alley.
“When I sold the spot to you, how come you assured me? Didn’t you promise guaranteed advancement? Now that I’m eliminated, I’ve lost all my money!” a man’s voice sounded angry.
The other person apologized meekly, “I’m sorry, I’ll try to figure something out, get another spot…”
“What are you thinking? You’re useless. You claim to be a C-level awakener, but I think you’re not even E-level. Truly pure trash. I must have been blind at that time…”
The first man’s voice abruptly stopped, followed by a thud as a heavy object hit the ground.
Maeda Jiu furrowed his brow and headed towards the source of the sound.
A man of medium build had his back to him, panting heavily. In the man’s hand was a sharp stone, and on the ground lay a warm corpse, its head smashed, blood flowing all over.
Hearing footsteps, the man turned around in panic, a bewildered expression on his face.
“Wu Xianghai? What are you doing here?” Maeda Jiu glanced at the corpse on the ground and raised his voice, saying, “You killed someone!”
Wu Xianghai was sobbing, his legs giving way as he knelt down. “Deputy captain, it’s not like that… Listen to my explanation, I didn’t mean to kill him.
“He forced me; I didn’t want to. I just lost control… I, I just hit him once.”
Maeda Jiu’s face turned solemn, and his words were cold and cutting. “I don’t care about your conflicts, but you’re an awakener. Even if your awakened ability isn’t offensive, you shouldn’t harm civilians. I will report tonight’s incident to the Ferrara patrol team. Explain yourself to them.”
Wu Xianghai turned pale upon hearing this. “No, Deputy Captain, please don’t tell the patrol team!”
Maeda Jiu snorted and turned away. “I should have known what kind of person you were. I shouldn’t have brought you out of District D.”
Wu Xianghai’s pleas fell silent for a moment.
Maeda Jiu was in a bad mood, and after dealing with the trouble, he just wanted to find Song Ke quickly and then return to the team.
Suddenly, his steps halted—
A cold black hole appeared in front of him; a strange ability unfamiliar to him devoured him.
Maeda Jiu was caught off guard, falling down with his eyes wide open.
