Chapter 219 Collaborators in the Normal World (5,500 words...a little short of that)
"Has the strengthening been completed?"
The moment Xiao Xiao returned to consciousness, he took a deep breath and looked down instinctively.
The heart in the box is gone, but my chest is intact and my skin is still very fair...
Of course this is not the point.
As Xiao Xiao took a deep breath, he could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest. It was powerful and warm. He seemed to be in better spirits. He felt an unusual power. He didn't know how to describe this in preparation. It feels like the core of some complex machine has been replaced. The appearance looks exactly the same, but it has a different level.
only……
...How is this strengthening accomplished?
Xiao Xiao thought about it carefully, but he only felt a little confused.
He clearly remembered the process of strengthening other elements before, including the purchase of some special elements. Only this time, he seemed to have fallen into a trance, and his consciousness jumped instantly. When he returned, the strengthening had been completed.
But he knew nothing about the completion process.
"never mind……"
Xiao Xiao thought to himself: "It's impossible to tear open my chest and stuff it directly in."
According to my own understanding, some of the bloody things on the alien level are actually not the case at all from a realistic perspective. For example, Ling Ping's red eyes were transplanted from others. But in reality, this is just His spirit was constructed into the appearance of someone else's mental circuit, and the effect was applied to his own eyes, so it looked like.
But those eyes were essentially still his eyes.
It can be understood as seeing a person's eyes that are extremely sharp and majestic.
So through study and training, I learned this kind of look.
Although I don’t know exactly what happened to my unquenchable heart, I guess it is similar to the transplant of my eyes.
I slowly passed this section in my mind, but a question suddenly occurred to me:
"Why were my clothes torn?"
"..."
Deep in his perception, he vaguely felt that he was in a trance, as if a shadow appeared around him, but because the memory was too vague to form a whole, he tried several times, but he could only give up and slowly tied it on. Your own buttons.
"Have you finished strengthening?"
At this time, Lin Bo also walked over with a nervous look on his face and looked at Xiao Xiao intently: "How is the strengthening?"
"Are there any new abilities created?"
"..."
"ability?"
Xiao Xiao frowned slightly, felt it for a moment, but felt a little confused. He raised his head and looked at Lin Bo: "Shouldn't I ask you this?"
"Keeping my heart out will allow me to enter the fourth stage of strengthening, that's what you said."
"..."
"How would I know? I'm not in the fourth stage."
Lin Bo said in surprise: "The heart without extinguishing is the fourth stage of the research of the Insight. It was calculated by our mentor. I only know the answer and don't know what it looks like. On the contrary, I was thinking about it."
I want to find out about the specific changes brought about by strengthening it, and use it as my data... Our instructor should like this specific data very much."
"You didn't even know there would be any changes, so you recommended it to me?"
Xiao Xiao vaguely felt that something was wrong.
After completing the third stage of strengthening, I originally thought that the strengthening was almost over. After all, there were a large number of lord-level experts who would not force themselves to enter the fourth stage of strengthening. Anyway, the accumulated points could be used to purchase some powerful items.
Weapons can be used to train manpower for oneself, or to "pollute" more powerful people among the indigenous people, allowing oneself to gain deeper control over the city.
Only a small number of people will choose "the fourth element".
I wanted to choose the fourth element because I wanted to understand what happened before.
But because he knew nothing about how to enter the fourth stage, he followed Yang Jia's suggestion and asked Lin Bo. After getting Lin Bo's answer, he had no doubts at all. He even felt as if he had found a treasure and was excited.
Killed all the way to Night City.
But now I suddenly realized that Lin Bo didn't seem to be that familiar with this thing.
Did he just know?
...Is this kid using himself as a guinea pig?
"Don't worry, I can feel the changes, but I still need to try..."
Thinking vaguely, he felt a little irritable and waved his hand: "I'll let you know when I research and understand..."
"Uh-huh……"
Lin Bo was in a good mood and couldn't help but high-five: "Not only will the Dante organization be happy, but our mentor will also praise me."
His happy look made Xiao Xiao very unhappy, and he suddenly looked at Lin Bo:
"but……"
"I have just completed a report for you. If I give you this report again, wouldn't it be a loss?"
"..."
Lin Bo couldn't help but stayed for a moment and said: "Brother, I helped you get this heart."
Xiao Xiao said: "But as a reward, I have given you three thousand points and the matrix research information."
Lin Bo couldn't get around it: "But I helped you in Black Gate City..."
Xiao Xiao immediately said: "That's because you lost the bet."
Lin Bo almost went crazy: "But we are still friends after all..."
Xiao Xiao looked at him deeply and said, "If it weren't for the fact that you couldn't do anything to me, you would be a hardliner, right?"
"..."
After hearing this, Lin Bo felt weak and said sarcastically: "Then what's the point..."
"I can't return these three thousand points to you, can I?"
"..."
Seeing his unhappy look, Xiao Xiao finally felt a little happy. He sneered, shook his head and said:
"That's not necessary."
"After all, three thousand points is still too few..."
"..."
Lin Bo was a little dumbfounded when he heard this: "But that's not what you said when you gave me these three thousand points before..."
No matter what, let's go back to Black Gate City first...
While Xiao Xiao was strengthening his non-extinguishing heart, the train never stopped and was running inside a huge flesh-and-blood network, rapidly approaching Black Gate City. Xiao Xiao could feel the endless flesh-and-blood tissue outside the train window.
, and the abnormal life forms hiding in the abyss or behind layers of flesh and blood. They are not real creatures, but they really exist around them.
When I left Black Gate City, I was still in the happiest state of getting along with Black Gate City.
This time when I went back, there was a heart in my body that would offend her.
So, what will she do to herself?
Xiao Xiao couldn't find an answer to this question, but he had some vague expectations.
…
…
"Look at the time, they should be arriving soon!"
At this time, at the Black Gate City train station, they learned that Xiao Xiao was coming back. Yang Jia, Ruan Ruan, and Ling Ping with red eyes had also arrived at the station to wait. They knew that Xiao Xiao had obtained the inextinguishable element, and they also understood that he would
They will be strengthened before returning to this city, so they will come in advance to guard him. After all, they don’t know what Black Gate City will do to Xiao Xiao who has already been strengthened.
In the records of Dante's organization, there are quite a few people who braved the dissatisfaction of the city's will to strengthen the fourth element. However, these people are also divided into several situations. Some of them have the elements they need in their own city.
Among them, this kind of strengthening has the least problems, but if the fourth element is obtained from outside the city and strengthened, the consequences will be somewhat unknown.
Some cities don't care, or even show too much reaction.
There are also some cities that show a certain degree of rejection, but they can be appeased by spending points.
In some cases, the cities showed serious resistance and directly deprived them of their lord-level contracts as punishment.
The most serious thing is that he will be executed directly the moment he returns to the city.
In the last case, not many people were actually executed, most of them lost the city's shelter and began to wander.
No matter how you do it, the last result is rare.
But Yang Jia and others had to prepare in advance. Especially, in Yang Jia's view, Xiao Xiao was inherently different from others. Therefore, what would Black Gate City do if he returned with the fourth element?
It’s really hard to say what the reaction was.
"coming……"
Also after Yang Jia and others entered the train station, they were in an office on the third floor of the train station.
The shepherd, who had put on a suit and didn't even wear a mask, was sitting quietly on the sofa. Some kind of monitoring equipment beside him suddenly sounded a silent alarm, and the dazzling light attracted the attention of everyone around him.
, everyone suddenly panicked, and an assistant reminded in a low voice: "Mr. Shepherd, those madmen also came to the station, and caused the distortion of the mental force field."
"Is it dangerous to be in such a space with them?"
"..."
"take it easy."
The shepherd smiled when he heard this, and slowly put down the newspaper in his hand, saying: "Since those people have decided to give the leadership back to me, there are some things I can tell you. First,
In the future, instead of calling them 'crazy', you can choose the codename 'stranger'. After all, they are not crazy, they just live in a different world from us."
"In their world, we are the crazy ones."
"Second, you don't have to worry so much about being contaminated by them, because among us, only a few people will be contaminated by them. You can understand that they are not willing to contaminate us casually, and you can also understand that... they are not
You cannot use this power of pollution at will. Every time you pollute someone, they have to pay a certain price, a big price."
"so……"
He couldn't help but smile and said: "Actually, it's not necessary for those people to wrap themselves up tightly every day."
The assistant next to him was a man in a suit who had met Xiao Xiao once. Hearing this, he suddenly became a little nervous and hurriedly whispered:
"Then how can we avoid...or in other words, increase the difficulty of being contaminated?"
"..."
"Work hard, get promoted and get a raise!"
The shepherd replied with a smile: "The higher your status and power are in this city, the harder it is to be contaminated."
"The other thing is, according to my experience, the more secrets you have, the harder it is to be contaminated."
"..."
The man in the suit couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "But before, we all knew that the stronger our will, the harder it is to be contaminated..."
"Fake."
The shepherd smiled and said: "The individual's will is vulnerable in front of the mother's body."
"No matter how strong your will is, the mother body will only look at you and you will be completely defeated."
"..."
"That……"
The man in the suit's voice trembled slightly: "Can't the mother's body easily pollute our entire city?"
"No."
The shepherd firmly denied it and whispered: "The individual will is weak, but the collective will is strong. The matrix can easily pollute everyone, but it cannot pollute a city built by many people. This is what you need to understand.
key!"
"this……"
The man in the suit obviously knew this truth, but his doubts were not answered:
"How does that person protect himself?"
"..."
The shepherd frowned, patted his shoulder, emphasized his tone, and said again:
"Work hard, get promoted and get a raise!"
"..."
The man in the suit's expression was distorted when he heard this. Damn it, was he born from a capitalist family?
…
…
There are a large number of trains entering the station every day, but Yang Jia and others accurately captured the train Xiao Xiao took.
They didn't even check the train schedule, but when Xiao Xiao's train began to approach the city, they keenly felt the changes in the city. Yang Jia suddenly turned around and saw the city behind him slowly moving.
, melting, the city body that was originally displayed in front of him in the form of a station is rapidly turning into squirming flesh and blood at this moment.
The train drove into this huge mass of flesh and blood, and Yang Jia became alert.
A doorframe-shaped translucent square appeared in front of her, and she stood behind the doorframe, looking at the city coldly.
But the next moment, a soft low voice sounded: "Here we come!"
"Plop" "Plop"
When Xiao Xiao walked out of the station, he felt the heavy beating of his heart.
He even felt that his body was slightly hot, as if there was some kind of power pouring into his limbs and bones through his heart.
came back.
He also knew that returning with the fourth element might cause changes in his relationship with the city, so he made preparations in advance. However, he never expected that the moment he returned to the city, he would be so overwhelmed.
The emotions came over me.
However, it is not a negative emotion...
He only felt that the moment he walked out of the station, he felt a strong sense of familiarity.
Warm, firm and down-to-earth.
All the worries and tensions he had before disappeared at this moment. Instead, it was like a person waking up from a nightmare and returning to reality. He felt a strong sense of security. He could hear the thumping of his heart.
The beating sound is actually consistent with a certain frequency of the city. There is a vague feeling that one is becoming one with the city.
"What's this?"
Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded and stared blankly at this huge and boundless city.
Shouldn’t you feel a sense of rejection or hostility?
Also when he was overwhelmed by the sense of familiarity and stability that he could not accept at once, Yang Jia and others nervously came forward. While observing Xiao Xiao's appearance, they turned back to look at the surging city with vigilance.
Like facing a formidable enemy.
It's rare for cities to experience such turbulent changes, which makes them a little worried.
Could it be that Black Gate City’s rejection of Xiao Xiao is the strongest?
If this is the case, we can only send Xiao Xiao out of Black Gate City and wander in the sea of mist...
But in the end, Xiao Xiao suddenly shook his head at them after a flash of strange surprise flashed across his face.
"I'm fine."
"..."
"I didn't say anything happened to you, the point is the city's reaction..."
Yang Jia interrupted him directly and nervously looked at everything in the station around him, turning into flesh and blood.
"I'm talking about the city."
Xiao Xiao also interrupted her again, put his hand on her shoulders, motioned her not to be so nervous, and whispered:
"She's welcoming me..."
"..."
Yang Jia's expression instantly became dull and she looked at Xiao Xiao in disbelief.
But Xiao Xiao just felt the emotions coming from this city, surprise, surprise, relief, sigh...
correct.
Although I didn't expect it at all, this city was indeed welcoming me.
…
…
"They are really nervous..."
At this time, in the office not far away from Xiao Xiao and the others, Shepherd looked at the surveillance camera and could clearly see that after Xiao Xiao led a few people out of the station, Yang Jia and others immediately greeted them. They seemed to
He was very nervous and immediately surrounded Xiao Xiao. He looked at the crowds of people passing by, as if they were wary of something terrible, and his worry was palpable.
But at this moment, Xiao Xiao showed an unexpected expression and took the initiative to join the crowd with a smile.
Several assistants who had just been assigned to the shepherd's hands were very surprised and asked in low voices.
"Nervousness is inevitable."
The shepherd smiled and said: "Strangers are messengers of the mother body. They are people selected and transformed by the mother body, so they will have the power of the mother body and will always live only for the mother body. But if they have power beyond the control of the mother body, what will happen if they have power beyond the control of the mother body?"
What will happen?”
"It's like an obedient person suddenly becomes disobedient."
"Then those in authority will be provoked, and those who try to resist will feel uneasy."
"..."
The man in the suit was stunned for a moment, pointed at Xiao Xiao inside the surveillance camera, and said, "Then why didn't he react like this?"
"Maybe it's because the mother's body didn't directly express its hostility towards him?"
The shepherd smiled and said: "Anyway, it can't be because his personality itself is higher than the mother's body, right?"
The expressions of the people around him were indifferent. No one thought it was a funny joke. The shepherd nodded and said no more. Instead, he placed a black envelope on the table and said to the man in the suit: "Now
, carry out your first work order after being transferred to my staff, go and give this invitation to him in person, and there is no need to hide your identity."
"I?"
The man in the suit panicked for a moment and said in disbelief: "You want me to reveal my identity and send him an invitation?"
"So what?"
The shepherd laughed: "I'm even ready to have dinner with him!"
"Why?"
The man in the suit was more surprised than when he heard that he was asked to take risks: "You have just been authorized to lead the Pioneer Project, and you want to do such a risky thing? Once you are contaminated by Tester Zero, all of our All your efforts will be in vain..."
"Tester?"
The shepherd looked at him strangely and said with a smile: "It's time for you to change your thinking."
"In the beginning, he was really just regarded as a drug tester, or in other words, just as an experimental subject and absorbed into this plan. He was still the kind of person who knew from the beginning that the success rate was extremely low and was ready to abandon it at any time. Experimental subject, but when he emerged from this experiment, showed unexpected potential, and even proved his role..."
"..."
He paused and looked at Xiao Xiao on the surveillance camera with admiration: "He is no longer an experimental subject."
"But a collaborator."
"The entire Black Forest, and even the entire world of normal people, must learn to cooperate with him, and cooperate with respect."
"And I want to be his first... friend in the normal world!"