Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 734: Chapter 259: Soul Recognition Technology

While Chairman Gao was meeting with representatives of Secret Electronics and Planet Energy, on the other side, a mysterious guest arrived at the headquarters of the Johnson Group.

This guest was extremely eerie; wherever he passed, he did not alarm any defensive systems.

He looked very much like a ’Ghost Rider,’ just a skeleton with flames ’swish, swish, swish’ blazing on it.

Only, his flames were more transparent, and faintly, one could see faces in them.

If there was a ’Face Detection Device,’ it would reveal that each face belonged to scientists who had disappeared in recent years.

As he passed, not only did the recognition systems fail to register him, even the staff turned a blind eye.

All the way up, he arrived at the Johnson Group headquarters, in a very ancient room filled with artifacts from the Civilization Era, sculptures, oil paintings, brush paintings, original paper novels.

At the center of the artifacts was a huge oil painting, standing in front of it was an elderly man with white hair meticulously brushed.

The content of that oil painting also portrayed this old man, whose facial features were not only unattractive, but somewhat ugly, yet exuded an indescribable aura, smiling and gazing down on the visitor.

”An uninvited guest is not a good guest.”

”Old Merkel?”

”It’s me.”

”A clone or the real you? I prefer to talk to the real one.”

Merkel did not turn, but the elderly man in the painting suddenly opened his mouth.

”Youngster, you’re still too naive. If you live to my age, you will understand, ’clone’ and ’real self’ make no difference; the true difference lies in the essence of one’s soul.”

”Right, founder of Soul Recognition Technology.”

Soul Recognition Technology, a company that has risen rapidly in the last year or two, with quite a momentum.

Furthermore, he is a member of the Skull Society!

A trace of Evil Qi flickered in ’Skull’s’ eyes, and the transparent flames on his body suddenly turned into two venomous snakes, one coiling around Merkel’s back, the other climbing the wall, covering the oil painting.

The two flames emitted not heat, but an eerie chill.

However, Merkel seemed unaffected, with an even more pronounced smile on his face.

”It seems you don’t agree with this old man’s perspective, so let me, an old man, enlighten you a bit.”

”In the Civilization Era, the average lifespan of a normal human was 80 years, for Modified Humans, 50 years.”

”In the Cyber Era, Modified Humans often live to 30~40 years, Bionic Men to 20 years, Artificial Intelligence versions last up to 5 years, which we could interpret as its lifespan being only 5 years, whereas the maximum duration for a Virtual Personality is merely a year, before it begins to wear down.”

”You see, isn’t it strange that as technology advances, human lifespan grows increasingly brief? Even more interestingly, no one seems to care about this.”

”Then tell me, why is that?” ’Skull’ asked coldly.

”To exist briefly in the vastness of time, to be but a speck in the boundless sea,” Merkel said leisurely, ”The more we gaze at the cosmic starry sky, the more we feel our smallness as an Intelligent Species, and thus become more obsessed with technological iteration, inescapably.”

”Modified Humans are instruments of war and potential victims of cyber psychosis; madmen don’t care how long they live. Bionic Men are born out of emptiness, and life for them is simply a command executed. For AI, it doesn’t even have the concept of ’life’; its constant pursuit of ’iteration’ is essentially a search for its end. As for Virtual Personalities, are they truly a form of life? Or are they merely some form of ’Neural System’ directed Modifier.”

”According to your theory, the more technology evolves, the shorter the lifespan, then what does it mean that you’ve lived for four hundred years?”

”Not so, not so. My point is, the more technology evolves, the blurrily defined ’life’ concept becomes, whereas I’ve retained a very clear definition of it.”

”As the saying goes: ’The way is wordless, force unnecessary, yet, poetic verses force dissection. Origin shape embodies truth eternal, flows with things unhindered.’

The flame in ’Skull’s’ eye sockets suddenly steadied.

The Merkel in the oil painting, as well as the one standing in front of him, both vanished.

Sitting on an old-fashioned pear wood chair in the collection room was an elderly man, cheerfully rocking in the chair, looking ten times older than the one in the painting.

He stretched out a trembling, veined hand to open a Box on the armrest, containing two types of pills, blue and white. His dim eyes seemed unable to distinguish between them as he randomly picked a blue pill and swallowed it.

”Cough, cough, want to have a try?”

After taking the pill, his gaze gradually brightened, and the light in his eyes notably resembled the blaze on ’Skull.’

’Skull’ finally dropped his arrogance, showing a hint of respect.

”We are all Explorers on the path of Soul Technology, and you have journeyed four centuries longer than I.”

”Heh, four hundred years can’t compare to your achievements in a year or two.”

”Yet I should not live as long as you.”

”A young person shouldn’t be modest.”

’Skull’ finally addressed the main issue.

”Externally, Du Gao Technology is closing in step by step, internally, the Research Association drives a tiger to swallow a wolf. If we don’t unite, there is only one conclusion.”

”The conclusion you speak of is joining the Research Association and developing ’Virtual Technology’ with them?” Merkel’s eyes sparkled with a curious light, ”That’s quite a good choice indeed.”

’Skull’ enunciated word by word:

”Either control, or be uncontrolled, this is the survival rule of this era and also the entry standard of the Skull Society. We can’t sit and wait for death.”

”So you mean, your ’young friends’ will come to aid you?” Merkel wondered aloud.

”With you added, we have enough potential to break the deadlock!”

”Break the game, break the game,” the divine light in Merkel’s eyes grew increasingly bright.

”Decapitation is an ancient tactic. In this era, it might still be applicable.”

”Just like you said, the more powerful a life form is, the more it blurs the line between the body and its replicas. Killing one ’Mr. G,’ given his life’s intensity, won’t allow for another Mr. G to appear. Then we can frame it on the Research Association’s internal conflict. The Du Gao Group will seek revenge, classified electronics and Planet Energy will reignite their ambitions, and our opportunity will have arrived.”

”Soul Slash, cough, cough, cough cough cough...”

The divine light in Merkel’s eyes reached its peak brightness, then dimmed in an instant as his aged body went limp and completely lost all signs of life.

’Skull’ paused, unable to determine whether the other was truly dead or pretending. Its ’Soul Recognition’ failed on a human for the first time.

Merkel’s physical body turned into white ashes, which were blown onto two pills by the cold wind.

Both the white pill and the blue pill turned into a shade of gray.

’Prove to me that you can break the limitations of soul and body!’

A note was left quietly on the pearwood bench.

’Skull’ hesitated but eventually picked up a pill and put it in his mouth.

He knew this was the opponent’s test.

...

”Wow, so many weapons, prosthetic bodies, and equipment!!”

Neither the leader of pp nor Sister Ji, including the most composed ’Zhang,’ could hide their astonished expressions.

The weapons and equipment of 30 enterprises were displayed in batches on display racks, numbering in the thousands, and the minimum was Tier 2 equipment.

For players at the current stage, Tier 2 equipment, regardless of its grade, is top-notch. If the attributes are slightly better, even better among the best!

”We really can each choose two pieces, Brother Baozi, you’re not kidding me?”

The pp leader, eyes shining like stars, looked at a headphone-shaped Network Implantation Chamber. This Implantation Chamber plus a 60% hacking speed means having it is equivalent to possessing a hacker profession for a Neural Editor.

”Haha, yes, pick whatever you like, choose freely.”

Baozi laughed ’heroically,’ yet felt his heart bleeding. If he had known the reputation rewards were so abundant, he wouldn’t have given up on the equipment’s ownership under the soft coaxing of old acquaintances.

To think, he faced closed doors the first time he went to the Research Association to pick equipment.

How did it end up like this?

While rubbing his turbulent stomach, Baozi looked around. With Sister Ji, the female driver, this time he couldn’t go back on his word, and he could only mitigate his loss.

The best way to mitigate his loss was to choose the best equipment.

As if a mysterious feeling, Baozi walked to the last weapon rack, where a purple prism attracted him, displayed on the system panel as—

Special Tier 2 Weapon - Purple Energy Mirror

Information probe?

Self-contained Instant Teleportation!?

Baozi’s eyes suddenly lit up.

...

”Chairman, I’ve completed what you instructed me to do.”

Yet another new male secretary spoke, this one no longer a pretty boy but rather a burly man, with chest hair thicker than a towel.

Gao Gong waved his hand helplessly, dismissing him.

He had already known the plan was complete when Baozi took away that ’Purple Energy Mirror.’

The Destruction Form can sense Destruction Form.

The Destruction Form can also sense those infected with the aura of destruction.

But this time, he played smart by sealing the power of the ’Purple Energy Strings’ into an Information Weapon, having Gao Yuanyuan apply an information seal on it, so as long as it wasn’t activated, no aura would be leaked.

But once activated, Gao Gong could appear immediately at the Assassination Alliance Headquarter.

He wanted to see whether that ’Destiny Weaving Machine’ was indeed a ’Destruction Form.’

”Are you planning to continue persuading the other two firms?”

On the sofa, Paradise Bird asked with crossed arms, the fiery bird on her cheek particularly striking.

Gao Gong shook his head and said:

”Skull Society’s members never compromise. That’s one of their few human qualities, and Johnson Group’s Merkel is an even craftier old fox; the closer you get to him, the more easily he can use you.”

”Tell those hackers to get ready; it’s a critical time now. Don’t mess things up. Once this task is accomplished, they can do whatever they want; no one will control them anymore!”

Paradise Bird nodded and said: ”I understand, also, this time I came to tell you, ’Avalanche’ has traced the source.”

”Oh?” Gao Gong showed a keen curiosity.

Paradise Bird organized her words for a moment, then asked rhetorically, ”Have you heard of the Punk Group?”