Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 84, Part 83: Trouble
In the control room of the underground warehouse, Su Ge watched the printer running on the monitor screen.

These four old machines were outdated, but in his eyes they were still very advanced. They were equipped with thirty-two different reactors, and given enough raw materials, they could make almost anything you wanted.

A batch of anti-immune drugs was freshly produced, automatically packaged, and then carried away from the window by a drone on the delivery platform.

"The income is quite substantial; the net profit for three days is over seven thousand."

The waitress then projected a sales list onto the screen. It showed the black market sales of various anti-immune drugs over several days, as well as the raw materials used in their production.

"Much more than I expected."

Su Ge glanced at the waitress; her original personality had been erased, and the one now using this body was Shen Ke.

“The medicine is in short supply lately,” she replied. “We’re in a business with no initial investment; the previous owner here left behind some raw materials. Once those materials run out, the profits will shrink significantly. The hardest part of smuggling is getting the raw materials.”

"Let's get the money first."

Suger leaned back in his chair, the cushioned backrest making him feel a little more at ease. A week had passed, and no one had noticed the printing shop, but with this kind of business, being discovered was only a matter of time. He planned to use up the raw materials remaining in the warehouse, get some money, and then decide whether to continue operating this underground printing shop.

"The rise in drug prices is, in a way, thanks to you," she said. "Some people don't want the Lugu Group to enter Yingchuan City, so your 'partner' is going to be under a lot of pressure."

“I didn’t expect this,” Soger said. “I’m just an imposter.”

“Yingchuan’s underground market is an ecosystem, a closed ecosystem.” She glanced at Su Ge. “Any alien species will disrupt its fragile ecological balance.”

“It will be over soon.” Su Ge covered his lower abdomen with his interlaced fingers, the light from the ceiling making him squint. “Once I see the Supreme Being and find Jiang Ning, this… this mission should be over.”

She remained noncommittal, and after a few seconds said, "Are you sure you don't plan to report this to the security bureau? If something unexpected happens, you might have to face the entire Spiritual Society alone."

Suger shook his head.

“Okay,” she said. “You decide for yourself.”

Soger didn't speak. He turned his head, his gaze locking onto a drone on the cargo platform. The drone had a matte black surface, and its propellers were now retracted, making it resemble a mouse. Its stealth capabilities were sufficient for aerial surveillance in low-security areas. However, in high-security areas, such a drone would be shot down within five seconds of entering urban airspace.

If he had had a drone capable of operating freely in a high-security zone that night while tracking Jiang Ning, he wouldn't have needed to personally track the hovercar. The drone's global view would have allowed him to spot Jiang Ning earlier. However, such drones cost at least 100,000 yuan each just for printing data, and they are practically unavailable.

Now, the only machines he can command are the twelve old ones in the printing plant. The logs show that they have worked diligently for eight years, undergone several repairs, but are still fully functional, which is a good testament to the foresight of their former military owner.

Socrates sat up and left the control room. Seven standby drones lit up with blue lights, flew out of the window, and hovered around the underground warehouse. They connected to the viewpoint, and seven images were projected onto the viewpoint's display screen, providing a complete view, but Socrates couldn't focus on all the information on the screen.

He hesitated for a moment, then recalled all the drones and established a connection with them using his abilities. Instantly, the multi-angle views of the seven drones unfolded in his mind, as if he were seeing them with his own eyes. The feeling made him dizzy and nauseous. He lit a dopamine suppressant, and the sedative effect took hold. He still felt dizzy and nauseous, but his thoughts seemed to detach from his body, no longer affected by his physical state. He tried to maintain this state, controlling the seven drones to fly out of the underground warehouse. A flood of visual information poured into his mind. He saw the reflections in the ventilation ducts, the flickering of the lights, and the indicator lights of the emergency exits in the dim distance…

Half a minute later, the inhibitor burned out, he disconnected from the connection, and leaned against the windowsill, gagging repeatedly.

A subtle sense of joy welled up inside him as he discovered that his abilities had improved significantly.

His levitation was getting worse, but as the condition progressed, he was also becoming more and more able to adapt to his abilities. It's hard to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

"You're not planning to control your condition anymore," Shen Ke said from behind him.

“These are unusual circumstances lately.” Su Ge said, catching his breath, as he took out a tissue to wipe his mouth. “I need to make some preparations.”

“But today is also a special day,” she said. “You forgot, you have an appointment with Ruan Qiuheng today.”

Suger was taken aback.

"I didn't forget."

He crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

……

2 p.m.

Suger sat in the white chair, the electrodes pressed against his scalp trying their best to capture the neural activity in his brain.

Outside the scanning room, Ruan Qiuheng examined the holographic image of the brain in front of him.

Twenty minutes later, Su Ge walked out of the scanning room, and Ruan Qiuheng said coldly, "If you don't take my words seriously, there's no need for you to come here again."

“I will try to persuade him,” Chiba Ryoko said. “Isn’t there any other way to stop the condition from getting worse?” “I’m just a doctor. Doctors treat people’s illnesses. If you want to stop someone from committing suicide, you might as well go find the police and firefighters.” Ruan Qiuheng looked at Su Ge with dissatisfaction. “If he continues to receive external neural data, it’s no different from suicide.”

"I'll pay attention."

Ruan Qiuheng's attitude was very impolite, and Su Ge couldn't refute it. Fortunately, Ruan Qiuheng didn't continue to be aggressive; he simply messaged his apprentice to get him the medication for this session. He sat on the sofa and waited for six minutes before the young intern walked into the examination room with the inhibitor.

"Why did it take so long?" Ruan Qiuheng questioned.

"Someone has died outside." The intern placed the medicine in front of Suger and gave him an apologetic look.

"What happened?" Ruan Qiuheng asked.

"Digital drug-related deaths," the intern sighed. "This is the thirteenth."

"What new types of drugs have been introduced to the market?" Ruan Qiuheng asked casually.

“It seems so,” the intern said. “They said there’s a new product that lets people experience real death.”

His words reminded Su Ge of the first time he went to the Huawai Bar with Shen Ke, he had heard of such a thing. He picked up the inhibitor and stuffed it into his pocket, when he heard Chiba Ryoko beside him say, "This kind of stuff has always been available."

The intern looked at Ryoko Chiba and shook her head.

"This batch of goods is different."

"What's so special?"

"It really can be deadly."

"The more this is the case, the more people flock to it."

Chiba Ryoko's tone was somewhat mocking. Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she raised an eyebrow.

"Take me to see that guy."

"Who?" the intern asked.

“That dead man,” Chiba Ryoko said.

The intern looked at Ruan Qiuheng for instructions. Ruan Qiuheng was a little puzzled by Chiba Ryoko's sudden whim, but she didn't care. She just nodded and continued with her own work.

"This way." The intern gestured for the two to follow.

Suger left the consultation room. At the back door of the underground clinic, a modified human lay on the ground, his skin covered in psoriasis scales, his face bluish-purple, and his lips tightly pressed together. His prosthetic eye was still open, still trying to make out his surroundings, but he was already dead.

Chiba Ryoko dismissed the intern, knelt down, and inserted a connector that popped out from her fingertip into the nerve receptacle behind the deceased's ear. A moment later, she withdrew her finger and calmly got up and left.

Suger noticed her unusual reaction but didn't ask further. The two left the clinic, and only after they exited the underpass did he ask, "What happened?"

“The kind of drugs he uses are very special.” She walked to the vending machine, stopped, and looked back at the underpass.

“We don’t deal drugs.” Socrates thought she was pointing out a business opportunity.

“I know.” Chiba Ryoko gave a cold laugh, “What I mean is, that drug dealer is special.”

Suger paused for a moment.

"An acquaintance of yours?"

“No.” Ryoko Chiba shook her head. “But you must have seen it before.”

She turned to look at Suger, "The one who makes that kind of drug isn't human, it's a demon. I've heard about its methods, and I was even its cellmate."

"Fellow inmate?"

Ryoko Chiba's tone made Suger feel uneasy.

"Do you remember?" she said meaningfully. "It was originally arrested by the Yingchuan Security Bureau, but recently, someone staged a prison break—it escaped. However, even if it left the Security Bureau, it should still be locked up in that magical artifact by you. But now, drugs made by it have appeared on the market. You should know very well what this means, right? Now, your trouble has begun."

(End of this chapter)