Chapter 56 – Tongwan Hospital (10)
◎ Freedom ◎
When they returned to Ferrara, it was close to midnight.
The city that never sleeps still shimred 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 seed to have left and yet never left this place. Ferrara felt unchanged, still open-ard, welcoming travelers from afar. The wandering musicians at the city gate lightly strumd their instrunts, 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 co together to the concert and get the best Youyou in the world!”
In Song Ke’s arms, several posters and rch of Lin Youyou were stuffed. She glanced down and saw the chibi cartoon on the support card, smiling sweetly at her. The last ti they t, Lin Youyou disregarded her image, tucking her long dress into her waist, her hair ssy, 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 ntion 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 recomndations 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 ca 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 stord 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, beca even more excited. Their actions were full of destructive desires. They raised high-pressure flathrowers from the rear of their motorcycles and sprayed wildly. The intense fire instantly engulfed Luo Qinghe.
Sculptures, signs, images… everything was subrged in the blaze. The painstaking efforts of the fans over the years were destroyed in an instant.
In the scorching flas, Luo Qinghe’s green clothes were charred, his jade flute incinerated, and his handso, 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 flas.
“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 regi 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 so idolized and adored the omnipotent artificial intelligence, there were others who detested it.
With Ferrara’s technological developnt today, ambitions and desires have continued to expand. The dream of artificial intelligence and humans peacefully coexisting has beco a luxury.
Song Ke still had a question.
She pulled up the schedule from the terminal. During their ti 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 entertainnt 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 so involvent. 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 ntioning anything in front of Fang Zhixu.
From following them to Ferrara, to hearing Ilya’s na, Fang Zhixu didn’t show any abnormalities. In this light, it seed 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 ssage on her terminal.
It was sent by An Qiwen. Wang Qiang’s chanical 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 ssage. He said that after finishing matters in Tongwan, he would imdiately co over to et the others.
At the sa ti, the team list for the Top 32 Ga of the Throne Race Competition was announced.
Song Ke didn’t find Lu Xinglan’s na 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 na. Thinking back to his suspicious behavior that night, Song Ke felt this person was quite suspicious and went to Zhuang Qingyan to study the ga footage.
“Pause,” Zhuang Qingyan said, and a certain fra 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 chanical-type.”
On the screen, Wu Xianghai’s left arm swelled into a chanical scythe, and he slashed several tis in a panic while snatching the mutant zombie.
Zhuang Qingyan shook his head. “A total of six strikes, half of them missed. Moreover, the movents 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 ssage 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 sothing was wrong.
Several powered motorcycles were hovering low around the periter, skulking around the residence.
Song Ke furrowed her brows. Before she could take action, a stern figure appeared behind the group. Wu Juemin’s movents were so fast that they were almost imperceptible. With a few “bang bang,” the mbers 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 mbers 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 mbers who had co 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 ca out from her hiding spot and honestly explained that An Qiwen had sent her to deliver a ssage.
Wu Juemin frowned, “Why didn’t he contact
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 ti, 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.
“Co 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 mbers, 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 soone? 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 comnted coldly.
As the captain of the Azure Phoenix squad, Wu Juemin had a strong sense of duty and confidentiality. Although his deanor was cold, it couldn’t be denied that he was an excellent soldier filled with a sense of responsibility. An Qiwen would sotis 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 involvent.”
Song Ke also felt a headache. From the information provided by Zhuang Qingyan, their mission seed impossible to complete. She couldn’t just go up to Wu Juemin and argue, ‘Hey, stop looking, that Xie Zhu died a long ti 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 deanor. “Wu Xianghai was an E-level awakener evacuated from District D161. I’ve examined his credentials; it’s impossible for
to have misrembered,” 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 so useful information and was ready to leave.
As she started to move, she suddenly saw sothing familiar.
In Maeda Jiu’s uniform pocket, a pink keychain peeked out.
Song Ke touched her own coat. She seed to have a similar one.
That’s not, that’s not… Lin Youyou’s rchandise, right?!
Almost forgot, this Maeda Jiu was a loyal fanboy of Lin Youyou!
Tis have changed, and now Lin Youyou was her coolie, tightly controlled by her. In a way, doesn’t that an 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 lody of the new song she heard last night was quite catchy, but the lyrics were hard to rember. Song Ke imrsed 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.”
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