Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 874 If I take a bite, you’ll explode, right?
Xia Xiu looked at the Gaizhibao store in front of him. The glass door shone with an oily sheen, and the exterior wall was a cheap blue and white neon frame splicing structure. There was a huge advertisement spray-painted with bubble plastic at the door.

【French fries feast·buy one get one free! 】

[Hot dog meal comes with a free 'Child of the Garden' doll! ]

His eyes curiously lingered on the introduction of the 'Son of the Courtyard Doll' for a while, and then he pushed the door and walked into the fast food restaurant.

"jingle."

The small psychic bell on the door chimed.

Xia Xiu stepped into the door.

For a moment, he seemed to have traveled into another silent yet noisy world - the sound insulation here was very good.

The overall structure of the store is no different from that of a standard fast food restaurant in Terra:

There are uniform and standardized dining tables, red and yellow plastic chairs, and glass walls projecting brand advertising clips.

There was an automatic ordering machine in the corner, and a female robot voice repeated over and over again:

[Try our double psychic crispy hot dog, 20% crispiness rate improvement experience——]

In the middle is the self-service food collection area. The waiters have mask-like smiles, with standardized head tilt angles and "friendly smile angles."

Xia Xiu could tell at a glance that these guys were not human.

Inferior Bionic Man...

He glanced at the female waiters in front of him who were walking around and stopping to serve. These bionic people were just garbage compared to the [Cornflowers] of Berlin Thirteen.

It is of such a manufacturing level that anyone with a discerning eye can tell it is not made by a human being, and it is highly likely that no advanced personality coding code has been written into it.

He looked around and the customers in front of him caught his attention.

The customers, or at least those they were called "customers," were eating in silence.

Five cyborgs sat side by side in a corner by the wall, chewing hot dogs and synthetic chicken sticks in their hands with dull eyes.

Each of their bodies has been modified to varying degrees.

Some people's necks and spines were completely replaced with exposed bone-like wiring tubes, like a signal antenna inserted into the bone marrow; some people's right half of the face was covered with a transparent alloy layer, and the mechanical tongue muscles of the throat that were chewing could be seen under the cheek;

Another one simply replaced his left arm with a multi-jointed robotic arm with a psychic conductor at the end, and was twisting a burger and stuffing it into his mouth.

Their mouths were moving, but their eyes were blank, even trembling slightly.

——Machines are thinking, flesh and blood are watching.

But what Xia Xiu really paid attention to was not the appearance visible to the naked eye.

The [Broken Spark] in his body sensed the torn nerve signal.

——Cyberpsychosis.

He silently marked the diagnosis in his mind.

The so-called cyberpsychosis is not a simple "body failure" or "cyborg overload".

It is the spiritual price that humans pay as they frantically replace their bodies - piece by piece, strand by strand of flesh and blood - with metal and chips.

Mental disorder and mechanical coldness blend like a cancer in them.

This is not a disease, but a process of gradually abandoning the definition of "human".

Xia Xiu stood still and looked at their condition.

Their eyes were unfocused.

Some were staring towards the upper left corner, some were looking at their fingers, and some had twitching corners of their mouths, as if they were trying to hold back something.

They didn't speak, they just chewed, as if even swallowing had become a mechanical operation.

The mouth was moving, the eyes were swiveling, and the neural network seemed to be connected to thousands of channels and simultaneously broadcasting from unknown servers.

Information is overflowing and the structure is unbalanced.

This is cyberpsychosis.

People are no longer people.

It's just the machine port that hosts the interference.

Suddenly, one of them slammed the table.

"boom!"

The sound was sudden, like the moment when a nerve broke.

He lowered his head, as if lightning struck through his brain circuits - but it only lasted for two short seconds.

The next moment, the man mechanically resumed chewing and continued to push the hot dog into his mouth bite by bite, his movements even smoother than before.

It's like nothing happened.

Like that one, it wasn't a crash, but an internal formatting that occurred at a certain time.

Logically, people with cyberpsychopathy should not have any appetite, but the lunatics in front of him were eating hot dogs like crazy, with oil dripping from their mouths.

Some of them kept murmuring:

“I…I got my PhD there.

I was a sales officer and now I am also the deputy executive officer.

The great Martin Guy said I had a gift for good food.

If I eat one hundred more, I can become a regular employee!!!"

Martin Guy...

Xia Xiu silently recited the name of the founder of [Building a Fort] in his heart.

The chewing and breathing sounds of those cyborgs, as well as the low-frequency muttering caused by their mental disorders, were like neural echoes floating out from the cracks in the ground. Xia Xiu just listened and then walked away silently.

His steps were steady and silent, his black boots stepping across the greasy floor of the fast food restaurant as he walked towards the hot dog vending machine that was located in the corner against the wall.

It stood there alone.

Like some forgotten idol, or like a self-disguised pulpit.

Its surface is covered with garish posters, with bright colors and funny fonts forming a glaring visual noise:
"Psychic heating! Bionic taste buds special!"

"Activate your dormant appetite for faith!"

“Join GaiZhiBao and become a brand ambassador!”

These slogans overlap and overlap to form a morbid and cheerful visual order, like graffiti gospels on the walls of a church.

However, the overall shape of the vending machine is somewhat different from traditional vending equipment.

It uses an old-fashioned cast iron cabinet, which seems to be from the design style of the old era:

The body of the machine is covered with a worn and mottled metal paint, and the edges have been bumped many times, exposing the irregular inner alloy frame. The food outlet is in the shape of a subtle prayer gesture, like a pair of half-closed palms, with food sliding out from the "fingers".

The coin slot is an old circular groove, which is not a standard credit coin interface, but a groove made to imitate the human alveolar structure.

——It was as if instead of inserting money, some symbolic “tooth” was being embedded into the ritual.

There were seven buttons on the front control panel, each with a blurry, greasy word printed on it:

【Greaze (made of lid).】

Below is the coin slot, and above it is a line of text.

【Please invest $2.50~$2.75——】

Xia Xiu stood in front of the hot dog machine and observed quietly for five seconds.

Then he slowly stretched out his fingers, which were clean, slender, and with distinct joints.

He flicked his knuckles.

"Snapped."

A polished coin flew out from the palm of his hand and accurately fell into the strange coin slot that looked like a tooth socket.

The moment he inserted the coin, he felt a subtle biting sensation.

It's not like a machine accepts currency.

More like some invisible entity chewed it.

【Ding--】

【Payment successful. 】

【Please choose your covered hot dog——】

The seven buttons lit up at the same time, flashing chaotic but extremely tempting colors——

It’s not red, nor is it green, but rather the “activating color” that’s commonly seen in commercials and that can trigger dopamine circuits.

"Interesting." Xia Xiu's mouth showed a hint of interest.

No hesitation.

He selected the rightmost button.

The moment his finger pressed down, the spiritual energy in his body surged like the surface of water, and Eden's algorithm firewall rose automatically in an instant.

The next second—

The machine starts working.

It's not the sound of a motor.

Rather, it is a biological rhythm similar to the beating of the heart, the movement of the intestines, and the ventilation of the lungs.

The hot dog machine is breathing.

Xia Xiu's golden pupils shrank slightly. He could feel that the core structure of this machine was no longer running on mechanical parts.

But something more complex - "simulated organ structure".

——It was as if the entire vending machine was a disguised shell of some living consumer god.

【Ding. 】The food outlet is opened.

A hot dog was slowly spit out, with a light red brand totem printed on the wrapping paper: a man's face with an exaggerated smile, wearing a chef's hat, with his right hand raising the thumb, and behind him was a pattern of a never-extinguished stove fire.

"You made the right choice, my friend."

"——You, are the one with the mouth!"

This sentence is not broadcast.

Instead, it is the changing text printed on the wrapping paper.

It's flowing.

Language breathes.

Xia Xiu didn't pick up the hot dog immediately.

His perception penetrated the structural boundaries of the vending machine, peeling off its operating logic bit by bit:

The outermost layer is the behavior guidance interaction system; the middle layer is the "food manufacturing module", which has standard physical processing traces.
And at the very bottom, there, is an unnamed matrix of cognitive compression.

It continuously releases low-frequency neural guidance signals, simulating the "sense of faith projection" and trying to implant an extremely specific but unspeakable corporate personality profile into the operator's brain.

A voice, looming:

"Would you like to become a part of our delicious empire?"

"Do you agree with the theoretical basis of 'the mouth is the state'?"

"Are you eager to understand the true meaning of swallowing?"

Xia Xiu stood in front of the hot dog machine, lowered his head slightly, his golden pupils as calm as still water.

He didn't speak.

But his perception had already penetrated into the hot dog.

——It is not just food.

Rather, it is a compiled rune of consciousness and a compressed carrier of elemental power.

More precisely:
The structure it carries is the element connectivity that only "crown-level units" can possess.

This means that it is using a certain "consumption behavior" as a medium to link to an unknown being with an "essential force field".

Someone who is "not yet fully godlike".

The owner of a certain "brand personality".

Xia Xiu lowered his eyes and stared at the hot dog.

There was still a hint of steam coming out of its surface, the temperature was constant, and the smell was just right to whet the appetite.

Xia Xiu glanced at that sentence and raised his eyelids slightly.

Then he chuckled.

"If I had a bite--"

He lifted the hot dog with the grace of a ceremonial sword.

"Isn't your hot dog machine going to explode?"

He smiled and brought the hot dog to his lips.

His smile was unobtrusive, and even contained a hint of genuine curiosity.

——Because he really wanted to know.

What kind of lunatic would dare to use "crown-level" links to promote fried chicken and hot dogs?

Then he bit down.

The sound of the hot dog breaking is like the ringing of a ritual bell.

【“——Click.”】

At that moment, the entire space suddenly solidified.

His senses were pulled, and the gravity of the world seemed to tilt.

It’s not a taste shock—

Rather, it is a dimensionality reduction invasion of structural cognition.

His neural network instantly captures dozens of overlapping layers of cognitive formats:
The outline of a classroom-like space emerges in my mind.
Numerous seats, with a glowing electronic blackboard in the front row

A virtual face with a bright smile is overlooking from above, and the lines at the corners of the mouth are like the brand logo engraved
Course labels slide in multiple languages:

Oral Philosophy - Lecture 1

The strategic role of chewing behavior in the reconstruction of group ideology

《Introduction to Greaze Brand: Welcome to Become a Member of the Taste Buds!》

And a series of system syllables sounded, like a welcome ceremony:

【Welcome, unknown individual】

[Authentication failed]

[Perception of authority overstepping. Please wait, we will prepare a special version of the demonstration classroom for you]

Xia Xiu closed his eyes and said softly:

"--Finally revealed himself."

Spirituality floats slowly within the body.

Eden's authority automatically switched to [Deep Cognitive Rejection State], and he was as steady as a rock in his consciousness.

A bite of hot dog in exchange for an admission ticket to a festival of cognition.

As the saying goes, it is easy to invite gods but difficult to send them away.

If he goes in, he won't come out easily.

*******
After taking a bite of the hot dog, Xia Xiu felt his consciousness falling.

The coordinates of light and sound disappeared.

When Xia Xiu opened his eyes again, he was standing in a space whose structure could almost be described as "absurdly standardized."

This is a brand awareness classroom.

The seats are stepped and in a unified red and yellow color scheme.

The air was filled with the mixed aroma of hot dogs, milkshakes, and fried chicken, but there was not a trace of actual meat.

The "sky" above is a corporate logo made up of light curtains:

A man's smiling face with his right thumb raised high and a burning fire behind him.

The only light in the entire classroom came from the light cast by that smiling face.

Xia Xiu glanced around.

Sitting on the seats are all "human silhouettes".

They moved in unison, their eyes were empty, and their faces were uniformly painted into the shape of "Martin Guy" -

They don't think, they just chew.

They are not students, but audience models constructed by brands.

On the podium, a man in a fancy suit and a chef's hat was standing there, with a smile on his face as perfect as an advertising poster.

"welcome--!"

“Welcome our new friends to the first lesson of this great course!”

He clapped and opened his arms.

"My name is Martin Gazette, Chief Oral Awareness Officer at Gazette."

"You can call me... 'brand ambassador'."

Xia Xiu didn't move.

He just stood in the middle of the classroom, silent, looking at the other person.

"Your mouth has already bitten the truth."

"Now, please open your heart and use your immature brain to understand the philosophy of the taste bud kingdom!"

As Martin's voice fell, the electronic blackboard behind him suddenly lit up:

Lesson 1: The significance of swallowing behavior in reorganizing consciousness

The contents of the lecture notes were flashing across the blackboard like crazy:

“Chewing is a culture!”

“You are the brands you eat!”

“Taste is a higher level entrance to faith than thinking!”

"The mouth is the country, the swallow is the loyalty!"

Xia Xiu finally moved.

He slowly raised his head with a sneer on his lips.

"When you make these rubbish ads, who at least listens to a whole lesson?"

"I mean, without being affected by your element?"

The smile on the brand ambassador's face suddenly froze, and he looked at the figure in front of him with a look of astonishment.

"You are……"

(End of this chapter)