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In the hotel room, a gentle breeze rustled the curtains as Qin Duoduo woke in a daze.
She glanced around, got out of bed, and drew the curtains. Seeing the vast ocean before her, she finally rembered where she was: the Maldives, a vacation paradise.
The dawn stained the sea and sky a pinkish-purple. A sea breeze rolled waves across the water's surface, and a layer of brilliant, translucent golden light, like a burning fla, shimred at the horizon.
"Dad, co look at the sunrise!" Qin Duoduo called out excitedly, but there was no reply.
She turned to look, but the room was empty. There was no sign of her father.
Qin Duoduo didn't think much of it. She left the room, planning to get so breakfast at the restaurant. However, she didn't see a single staff mber on her way. The hotel was eerily quiet, and a sense of panic began to set in. An inexplicable feeling of loneliness and Fear—as if she'd been abandoned by the entire World—welled up inside her.
She hurried to the shore, where many small boats were moored. To her relief, there was soone on one of the speedboats.
"Get on," the woman in sunglasses said, tilting her head to gesture for Qin Duoduo to hurry aboard.
"Where are we going?" Qin Duoduo asked as she settled into the boat. She studied the woman before her, who was wearing a sexy bikini and a pair of large sunglasses that obscured her face.
"You'll know when we get there," the woman said with a faint smile. She started the engine, and with a ROAR, the speedboat split the sea in two, kicking up a spray of white foam as it sped off.
"What's your na?" the woman asked as she piloted the speedboat.
"Qin Duoduo."
"Ah, I know you. Your father is Qin Xu, right? He's an adventurer and an expert in Mysticism, and he's quite well-known in our circles."
"Is that so?" Duoduo scratched her head, unsure how to respond.
"He must love you very much, willing to do anything for you, just like most fathers in the world," the woman said.
"Yeah..." Duoduo gazed at the distant, golden-dyed sea, feeling her heart grow calm and tranquil. "I've always been so lucky to have a father like him. I see everything he does for , whether it was when I was a child, or after I was diagnosed with a terminal illness... wait..."
She froze, her mories suddenly in disarray as various images flashed through her mind.
'I'm not in the Maldives... Dad cured my terminal illness...'
'I think... I've beco a robot?'
Qin Duoduo murmured to herself as her consciousness suddenly cleared. She rembered what had happened in reality and realized she was in a dream.
"Yes, you beca a robot. But your father lied to you." The woman looked at her. "You aren't actually 'Qin Duoduo.' You're a bionic substitute that Qin Xu created to commorate his daughter."
"What...?" Qin Duoduo was stunned.
"A bionic substitute. You've seen enough movies and read enough books; surely you know what that is, right?"
The woman stared ahead and explained, "They took the mories and personality of 'Qin Duoduo' and uploaded them into a computer program. Then, using various thods, they built an identical robot, gave it a human shell, and switched on the power. And then, you woke up. In terms of mory and in every other way, you're no different from the Qin Duoduo of the past.
But fundantally, you are not her. You're a 'replica' that Qin Xu created to replace his daughter."
Qin Duoduo's face was a mask of confusion. She couldn't process the sheer volu of information she had just been given.
"Then... then who are you?"
"? Fundantally, I am you."
The woman took off her large sunglasses, revealing a face similar to Qin Duoduo's, only more mature. She held out her hand, and her flesh split apart, reconfiguring into intricate tal components that ford a Hand Cannon with a steely glint.
"—The chanical part of you," she added.
Before Qin Duoduo's disbelieving eyes, the speedboat plunged into a curtain of blinding white light.
The scene flashed, and Qin Duoduo found herself in a pure white space. It was a complete void, containing only pure, endless white and a dead silence.
The woman waved her hand, and a screen of light materialized before them.
The text on the screen detailed Qin Duoduo's death. She had died of a terminal illness six months prior, and her body had been cremated.
Qin Duoduo stared blankly at the words. Her mind was a chaotic ss, like thunder had just crashed inside it, making it impossible to think. A faint pink mist, imperceptible even to herself, began to emanate from her body as an evil Power rapidly eroded her consciousness.
"As an intelligent robot, hacking into networks is as easy as breathing. This is the information I found after breaking into the database. It has official signatures as well as Qin Xu's. There's also surveillance footage. Want to see?" the woman asked.
"No... No... That's impossible..." Qin Duoduo beca extrely agitated. "I'm clearly still alive!"
"Just accept reality." The woman said no more, giving Duoduo ti to think—and ti for the corruption to set in.
Duoduo stared blankly at the text on the screen for a long ti before she finally ca to her senses. Following a sudden impulse, she reached out and touched the screen. Her entire body shuddered violently.
A program activated. Her consciousness jacked into the network, a world as deep and vast as the ocean. It was an indescribable sensation. Her awareness pulsed with every keystroke, soared with every data transfer. It rapidly took root in the digital world, spreading its branches far and wide.
It was as if she had been split into tens of thousands of versions of herself, existing simultaneously on tens of thousands of phones and computers.
A torrent of vast knowledge, the kind countless scholars would envy, flooded into Qin Duoduo's mind, a crude and forceful infusion like a dam bursting open.
The Desire Demon standing beside her raised an eyebrow in surprise.
'This is an unexpected developnt.'
'To think a re fragnt could unknowingly assimilate and transform a normal person to this degree... Truly worthy of being called a Godslaying Weapon, forged from the pinnacle of human intellect.'
'Then let add so fuel to the fire...'
She let out a seductive laugh as a suggestive pink mist billowed from her body, engulfing Qin Duoduo.
In this pure white space, it seed as if ti itself had lost all aning. After an unknown period, Qin Duoduo's consciousness returned. She was no longer panicked; instead, her face was expressionless, her eyes cold and indifferent, just like a real robot.
'So, the real Qin Duoduo is dead.'
'My mories and personality all co from 'Qin Duoduo,' but I am not her. The of today is stronger and smarter than she ever was. I surpass her in every way.'
'I will take her place in Qin Xu's heart. I am not a substitute for anyone. I will make Qin Xu love more than he ever loved her. I will have his fatherly love all to myself...'
She murmured to herself as if possessed. Her body was now covered in a bizarre, twisted black tal, and a network of dark, iron-like veins crawled across her face, giving her a sinister appearance.
Deeply Corrupted!
The Desire Demon smiled faintly and stepped forward, rging with Qin Duoduo.
Back in reality, Qin Duoduo's eyes snapped open.
Zhou Chen, whose consciousness was observing the scene, was startled. He then saw the Demon Power surrounding Qin Duoduo dissipate. The resurrected girl sat up and looked over at the sleeping Qin Xu.
Then, expressionlessly, she took off her clothes, got out of bed, and walked toward him.
'Wait! Holy shit, what is she doing?!'
Zhou Chen's eyes nearly popped out of his head. 'Is this the kind of show I get to watch for free?'
'What in the world did the Desire Demon do to Qin Duoduo in that dream?'
'This corrupt, nauseating aura... Has she been twisted into a Corrupter?'
Zhou Chen had just begun to frown when, in the next second, he was left dumbfounded and utterly shocked.
After Qin Duoduo's weight woke him, Qin Xu opened his eyes to a stunning sight. Then, as if bewitched or possessed by a frenzied beast, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Without a word, he let out a roar and threw Duoduo down.
'He... How could he not resist at all...? Is it the Desire Demon's influence?'
Zhou Chen was, after all, a seasoned netizen, an old pro who had seen it all. What kind of scene hadn't he witnessed? He quickly cald himself and began his analysis.
'The Demon Power has dissipated, but I didn't see the Desire Demon leave her... This must have been just a projection. The best explanation is that they've rged, and Qin Duoduo has obtained so of the Desire Demon's Power.'
'I rember the files ntioning that the Desire Demon's true form possesses a stunning charm—a powerful form of ntal contamination. Anyone who lays eyes on it is overwheld by lust, turning into an irrational beast driven solely by the urge to reproduce... Qin Xu fits that description perfectly.'
'But why would Duoduo do this... Oh, right, she's been twisted into a Corrupter. That explains it...'
For a Corrupter, a being that has devolved into an Abyssal Creature, normal human morality no longer applies. After their minds have been twisted, who knows what they're capable of thinking.
Although the shell still looked like Qin Duoduo, the thing inside had beco a monster through and through.
Zhou Chen averted his gaze, wanting to leave the abandoned factory to search for clues about the father and daughter's hiding place.
But after trying for so ti, he found his consciousness couldn't stray too far from Qin Xu, the Wisher. He couldn't find any useful clues within the limited range, so he finally gave up and decided he would just wish for their location directly.
Watching the pair's twisted display of "fatherly love and filial piety," Zhou Chen's expression was conflicted. He withdrew his consciousness and stopped watching the live feed.
Back in the ancient and solemn Round Table Hall, he imdiately made a wish: "I wish to find Qin Xu's location."
Five stars within the Wish Bottle lit up, transforming into a map that marked Qin Xu's location.
'Five stars again... Hmm, with the Desire Demon's interference, I guess that makes sense. And the marker will stay active until I see the target in person. Pretty useful... Fuck, they're really still in Jinzhu! Can't they just let slack off for a few months?!'
Zhou Chen gritted his teeth. After morizing their location, he began to consider how he would tell Jiang Che.
'Telling him directly is out of the question; it would expose my secret.'
'Claiming I heard it from another source would be even less reliable. Jinzhu's black market was completely wiped out, so without any info brokers, no one would believe it.'
Zhou Chen tapped a rhythm on the Obsidian Round Table, a bold idea suddenly forming in his mind.
'Why not find a way to tell the people from the White House?'
'Their status makes them seem like perfect candidates to pull into a eting here!'
—They all co from prominent families, command impressive networks and resources, are personally powerful, and possess a wealth of knowledge.
The only problem was, these people weren't easy to fool.
But it didn't take long for Zhou Chen to have a candidate in mind.
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