After Transmigrating into the Cyber Game, I Defeated the Boss and Successfully Rose to the Top Chapter 131: Artificial Souls - Part 58

The subsequent interrogation proceeded much like the previous one, with both Kui Xin and Wei Zhi successfully passing the brain-machine mory extraction.

When she erged from the brain machine, the pain in her head intensified significantly.

Was it just an illusion? Lately, she has experienced headaches far too easily. After undergoing the Death Cycle, her ntal state had deteriorated considerably. Even walking normally felt disorienting, as if top-heavy, and entering the brain machine exacerbated the discomfort in her head.

Kui Xin exited the inspection building, ordered takeout along the way, and headed straight back to the employee residence.

Feeling bored, she waited for her delivery. Once it arrived, she quickly finished eating and promptly fell asleep. This deep slumber lasted until nightfall, causing her to perfectly miss ssages from Red and Silver Mask.

Red: “The location of the branch has been confird. If you have ti, co by to familiarize yourself.”

Kui Xin pondered briefly before replying, “Another day, perhaps.”

Red responded swiftly: “You haven’t replied to my ssages all day. Is sothing wrong? Did your interrogation go smoothly?”

“Smoothly. I entered the brain-machine interface, feeling quite drained,” Kui Xin succinctly explained.

Red: “Understood; make sure to rest well. When you have ti, just let know. Oh right, I almost forgot to ntion that there’s a new mber with the codena Nightingale, sohow connected to Night Cicada. They possess a B-level spatial vortex ability.”

“Got it,” Kui Xin replied.

There were also ssages from Silver Mask on her bracelet.

Silver Mask: “I’m back in Black Sea City with Bartender and Red! The branch’s location is confird—it’s within a casino at the edge of the city center! We’ll be partners in the sa city again.”

This ssage was sent early, prior to Red’s.

Following that, Silver Mask fully displayed his talkative nature, updating Kui Xin every ten to fifteen minutes about what he was doing. He truly had a lot to say, and it seed genuinely out of boredom; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent so many ssages.

“The casino owner’s bodyguard was so weak; his bones broke with just a couple of hits.”

“The casino owner himself wasn’t tough either, collapsing to the ground with one punch.”

“The beds in the casino rooms are incredibly soft—I have my own room now! Of course, the houses in the Port Bay District are lovely too! But I prefer softer beds. However, I can’t sleep on them, or else I might fall too deeply asleep and lose vigilance.”

“When are you coming back? It’s been ages since we last saw each other.”

“Red ntioned that you would undergo interrogation. Did it go smoothly? Should be over by now, right?”

There were nurous ssages like this, causing Kui Xin to recall her first encounter with Silver Mask. Back then, he had hidden himself in the darkness of the room, wearing a silver mask, speaking sparingly yet exuding an imposing presence. She assud he was a cool, icy, and ruthless assassin. Well, Silver Mask is indeed a ruthless assassin, but Kui Xin never expected him to be an unthinking dimwit.

“Silver Mask.” Just as Kui Xin sent these two words, Silver Mask instantly replied.

“Wow! You finally responded!”

“Do you talk this much even when working under soone else?” Kui Xin asked.

Silver Mask: “Ah, no, not really? When I was with Red before, he complained about talking too much and wouldn’t let send him ssages… If you find annoying, then I won’t ssage anymore.”

Kui Xin pondered for a mont before replying, “I don’t find you too talkative.”

Silver Mask was touched. “You’re truly amazing!”

“However, receiving ssages from you so frequently gives the mistaken impression that I’m your mother or sister. I am neither your mother nor your sister; there’s no need for you to report every single thing to ,” Kui Xin said.

“Then you still think I’m overly talkative!” Silver Mask responded.

After a long pause, Silver Mask suddenly asked, “Why does sending you ssages make you my mother or sister?”

Kui Xin’s fingers hesitated montarily on the keyboard.

She realized that Silver Mask was an android skilled at following orders but not contemplation. He had no family, seemingly lacking the concept of familial affection altogether. In so ways, he was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper. However, Amber and Obsidian, the twin siblings, were different—they possessed free will and even defied the chanical Dawn.

A subtle thought erged in Kui Xin’s mind—by planting the seed of freedom within Silver Mask, would he also defy the chanical Dawn?

Reflecting deeply, she replied, “In human society, it is common for young children to develop strong dependencies on their families. This manifests specifically through a desire to share everything, constantly wanting to be close to them, and showing concern. Your behavior aligns with the characteristics of human children, but I am not your family.”

Silver Mask seed not to comprehend Kui Xin’s words and said, “I don’t understand.”

“If you don’t understand, go look it up on the internet yourself,” Kui Xin replied, unwilling to explain further.

Silver Mask obediently responded, “Oh.”

And indeed, he proceeded to search for information.

After a mont, as if rembering sothing, Silver Mask asked again, “You haven’t ntioned when you’ll co to the branch office yet.”

“I’m busy these next few days,” Kui Xin answered, then put down her bracelet.

She lay back on the bed, the room enveloped in silence, with only the sound of her own breathing audible.

Kui Xin had entered a brief period of respite. Having passed the interrogation, she now had so direction regarding the replacent of her tal skull, but it was undoubtedly impossible to complete in just a couple of days. The newly erged Annie Salitt posed another complication; Kui Xin couldn’t grasp her stance or intentions.

Would abruptly appear before Annie made Annie raised her suspicions and vigilance? Kui Xin had already exhausted one instance of the Death Cycle and could no longer afford any more setbacks.

Recalling the concept of the Death Cycle, Kui Xin couldn’t help but ponder deeply.

The shortened duration of each Death Cycle iteration might be related to world traversal.

To draw an analogy, imagine a goldfish that originally could swim vast distances, but it gets scooped into a closed fish tank. Consequently, it can only circle within the tank’s confines. Even though the goldfish has the capability to travel far, it cannot overco the barrier imposed by the tank’s glass walls.

The Second World is like a fish tank, and so is the First World. Kui Xin is akin to that confined goldfish—not that she inherently has limited mobility, but rather that the boundaries of the fish tank restrict her; if she tries to swim far, she inevitably hits the walls.

This situation mirrors the Death Cycle. As ti flows backward, Kui Xin should return to one week prior in either the First or Second World. However, due to the barrier between worlds, before reaching the end of the temporal line, she encounters the glass wall and is forced to halt prematurely.

“What should I do now?” Kui Xin murmured to herself. “What’s Shalit doing?”

“Annie Salitt is resting at the accommodation provided by the Investigation Departnt. Since she needs to select suitable candidates for the Special Operations Division, she’ll have a brief stay in Black Sea City. From what I gather, she intends to serve as an interviewer,” Adam replied.

“Is the brain machine still there?” Kui Xin unconsciously clenched her fingers.

“It has already been loaded onto the cargo helicopter and will be transported away,” Adam said.

Yet another change! In the previous cycle, after completing her interrogation, Annie Salitt imdiately left Black Sea City, with both brain machines also being dismantled and removed. Now, the brain machine was gone, while Annie Salitt remained behind.

“I’m closely monitoring her; she hasn’t shown any abnormalities and has not left her lodging,” Adam said. “The key issue is that we don’t know exactly what she intends to do.”

It’s the unknown that causes the most anxiety, and Shalit represented precisely that uncertainty.

“I really want to have a private conversation with her. In the Investigation Departnt, she might feel restrained because she knows our discussions could be monitored on foreign territory,” Kui Xin said. “Perhaps during our one-on-one eting, she’ll reveal more information.”

“That would be too risky, Kui Xin,” Adam replied. “You struggle against A-class mind-influencing abilities. With just a single word, she could make you climb up a tall building and jump off to your death or willingly point a gun at your own head.”

During this brief respite, Kui Xin had the opportunity to ticulously ponder various matters. The crisis aboard The Kraken had passed, but now she was facing a new crisis. She carefully reviewed everything that had occurred over the past two weeks, striving to recall every detail and racking her brain to rember each spoken word by everyone involved. She aid to search the corners of her mory for forgotten clues.

Kui Xin recalled that during the earlier operation to encircle and eliminate the S-class Black Flas, there were actually three factions involved.

One was the chanical Dawn, another was the Investigation Departnt, and the third was the “True Rebel Army.”

The existence of this “true Rebel Army” faction ca to Kui Xin’s knowledge through Night Cicada.

In that operation against the S-class Black Flas, Wang Feichi was captured, the Investigation Departnt suffered a devastating defeat, Kui Xin and Wei Zhi were taken prisoner, Kui Xin exposed her player identity under Eve’s coercion, and Amber and Obsidian went missing. However, the chanical Dawn did not provide much explanation regarding Amber and Obsidian’s betrayal; presumably, they dealt with them accordingly.

If Amber and Obsidian betrayed their side, whom did they align themselves with? The Investigation Departnt belonged to the Federal Governnt, so it was unlikely they would switch allegiance to the Federation. Thus, the remaining answer beca evident—Amber and Obsidian defected to the Rebel Army—the true Rebel Army.

The term “Rebel Army” was no stranger to Kui Xin; she was quite familiar with it.

During her first entry into the ga, she had examined her character profile settings and noticed four distinct identities prominently listed: “Core mber of the chanical Dawn Organization, Trainee Patrol Security Officer for the Investigation Departnt’s Field Operations Team Seventh Squad, Federally Wanted Criminal Level 1, Undercover Agent for the Rebel Army.”

As events unfolded, Kui Xin’s second identity changed to “Secretary of the Investigation Departnt Field Operations Group Leader,” while her other identities remained unchanged.

Upon initially entering the ga, Kui Xin analyzed her multiple roles. At that ti, lacking a full understanding of her surroundings, she believed the “Rebel Army undercover” identity ant chanical Dawn was a Rebel Army organization, and she herself was an undercover agent sent by this Rebel Army group to infiltrate the Investigation Departnt.

Now, recalling Night Cicada’s ntion of the “true Rebel Army,” she suddenly realized sothing seed amiss.

She had always thought the primary focus of these four identities lay in the first two, with the latter two serving as supplentary explanations. But what if there’s another interpretation? If these four identities were parallel rather than hierarchical, the conclusions drawn would be entirely different.

The first two identities represent her positions within two separate organizations where she works, while the third identity signifies her status within the Federation—as a wanted criminal. Each of the first three identities holds distinct significance; therefore, the fourth identity must also have its own unique aning.

A chill surged from Kui Xin’s heels straight up to her crown.

No way? It can’t be! Surely she couldn’t be this unlucky? Being an undercover agent from the start was already bad luck, but to find out it’s like a Russian nesting doll setup? Her identities were akin to layers of an onion; peel one-off, and there’s still another beneath. After uncovering one layer of her undercover status, there awaits yet another.

Cautiously, Kui Xin asked, “Do you know about the Rebel Army, Adam?”

“Yes,” Adam replied. “It’s a resistance organization aid at overthrowing the Federal Governnt’s rule and dismantling the oligarchs. Initially, they had their own political party, but twenty-five years ago, the party was deed illegal on charges of propagating subversive ideologies. The Federal Governnt officially classified the Rebel Army as a terrorist group. This organization has existed for several decades, with its mbers’ traces spanning across the globe.”