Wizard: Become stronger by drawing cards from the potions variety show

Chapter 796

Lucy gave up resisting.

If the other party can pinpoint her location accurately once, they can do it a second time.

Running away was pointless—the android had clearly set its sights on her. Instead of putting up a fight, she should listen to what kind of cooperation the other party wanted. Since they were proposing cooperation, it meant she must possess some leverage they needed.

At least for now, I should be safe in life.

"It seems you've agreed." The android spoke in a cold, electronic voice.

Lucy glared at it, annoyed. "Yes, I agree, my new boss. What else could I choose? Living is better than dying."

"Now can you tell me what you want me to do? You kept avoiding the question earlier. I need to know what the new boss wants, right?"

"Your original mission was to impersonate the deputy mayor, right?"

Lucy readily admitted, "That's right. The position of deputy mayor is very important for the tasks ahead. The original candidate has already had other ideas, and we must make sure everything goes smoothly."

She then changed the subject: "Of course, plans can't keep up with changes. Although I don't know how you managed to prevent the government building from triggering the alarm, the body camera on you, and the surveillance footage along my escape route... they can see what happened anytime they want."

The android coldly interrupted: "I don't need your scientific explanations. Tell me, what's your next plan?"

Since her life and death were in someone else's hands, Lucy decided to throw caution to the wind: "I have no idea. I'm just carrying out a mission, I don't know what the higher-ups are thinking. My mission is to follow orders and act according to circumstances."

"Your so-called 'playing it by ear' means abandoning the mission when your life is threatened?"

“Otherwise what?” Lucy puffed out her chest confidently. “Please, I’m here to work, not to be a slave. What can I do if I don’t complete the mission? I can always find another opportunity next time.”

"Honestly, with my abilities, I could live comfortably anywhere. Why would I take the risk of doing this? It's just because I do have some ideas in my mind..."

The android nodded: "Very good, I appreciate your character. As long as you can't figure out a way to escape my pursuit, you'll have no choice but to serve me."

Lucy pouted: "Can you tell me something I don't know?"

"of course can."

Little Squid's voice suddenly rang in Lucy's ear without warning: "A huge sum of money has just been transferred into your account."

Lucy's eyes widened as she looked at the numbers on the terminal—ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands…one hundred thousand?!

Although this amount of money was almost her entire fortune, it was far too meager as "money to buy her life."

She complained to the androids, "Hey, aren't you guys being a bit stingy? I heard the law enforcement forces have plenty of funding, so why are you being so stingy with your poor subordinates?"

"Keep your ulterior motives to yourself, and don't try to test me." The robot's voice remained cold.

Lucy shrugged: "Okay, okay, anyway, everyone treats me like a laborer."

The android seemed oblivious to her complaint and continued, "You have a point. As the first mission, this amount of funding is indeed limited. But look, you'll get an extra bonus this time. However, the next mission will still be conducted according to the standard. If you want more rewards, complete the mission perfectly; there will be an extra bonus."

"Account received, 100,000 yuan."

Lucy was stunned, the word "once" echoing repeatedly in her mind? This was just the funding for one mission? And there was even a bonus for exceeding the target?

"Then... if we exceed the target for this mission, will there be a reward?" she asked cautiously.

"of course."

Upon hearing this answer, Lucy's pale face instantly flushed red. Ignoring her injuries, she rushed to the android's side, gripping its metal hand tightly and shaking it up and down: "Great! We've finally found a legitimate organization!"

"Honestly, even if you hadn't given me that much money, I would still be happy to be your friend. Someone as generous as you is perfect as a friend!"

Friends may lie, but money transfers will not.

The bank never questions the source of the funds; once the money enters her account, it becomes her asset.

Lucy's transformation was expected by the android. Two hundred thousand points is indeed a huge sum for ordinary people, but in a society controlled by AI, repetitive labor can only earn basic credits.

The truly high-weighted areas are libraries, research institutions, and the core of AI.

The startup fund Virgil's father gave him alone was several times that amount. These points, processed through a special encrypted network, can then enter the market as normal circulating currency.

Ultimately, points are merely virtual assets introduced by AI for easier management, directly linked to resources. Ordinary daily resources are virtually unlimited for AI, while truly high-tech resources require a redemption threshold.

The former doesn't matter, and neither does the latter.

The android continued, "I can provide some special supplies, all high-quality items that you don't usually have access to. Of course, the price will be higher. I hope you use these resources to enhance your own strength, rather than becoming a middleman reselling them."

Lucy looked at the list of items displayed. Most of them were the previous generation of equipment that had just been retired, but there were also a few pieces of equipment from the current security sequence.

"Take care of yourself and complete the mission. That's all I ask of you."

Noah, behind the bionic robots, knows very well that cooperation is the art of a carrot and stick approach.

When you are in a dominant position, if you want the other party to do things willingly, you must offer sufficient benefits and provide reasons that they cannot refuse.

A sufficient threat coupled with sufficient benefits is enough to motivate anyone.

At least for now, Lucy's attitude towards Noah has shifted from wariness and hostility to active cooperation.

“Now can you tell me exactly what you need me to do?” Lucy asked.

"First, you will pretend to be the deputy mayor and perform your duties normally, assisting me in advancing certain matters when needed. I will tell you the specifics later. Until then, you only need to keep your identity hidden. If you encounter danger, I will allow you to evacuate immediately, and I will cover you if necessary."

"Second, climb to a core position within anti-AI organizations."

Lucy looked troubled: "Neither of these tasks is easy. According to the original plan, I was only going to pretend to be the deputy mayor for a short period of time to take the opportunity to rescue a core member who was imprisoned. But to play the role for a long time, I have absolutely no experience in handling government affairs, and I will be exposed sooner or later."

"As for the second matter... I don't usually pay attention to the organization's internal affairs; I just take on tasks and get paid. I really don't know the identities of the people inside the organization."

The android saw through her not telling the whole truth, but that's normal. How could you possibly tell everything to someone you're working with?

"I remember you said before that you weren't clear about the mission details?"

Lucy chuckled and said, "Hehe, I just remembered."

Noah, controlling the bionic machine, said:

"It's alright, I'll arrange it. You just need to observe and do your job well, leave the rest to me." "Now, I need you to cooperate with me in putting on a show so that I can report back to my superiors."

The robot reached out and touched its chest, preparing to activate the body camera.

Lucy belatedly asked, "Wait, you didn't turn on your recorder just now? Don't you keep your recorders on the whole time when you're on duty?"

The robot stopped moving: "How could you have such a naive idea? There are many situations where the recorder is not turned on, and usually only a legitimate reason is needed to avoid it—for example, because of the use of new technology, the recording needs to be temporarily turned off for confidentiality."

"Really? I see." Lucy scratched her chin thoughtfully.

"Of course it's fake. As a law enforcement recorder whose primary function is transparency, it might malfunction for some reason, but carrying out a mission requires comprehensive monitoring methods. How could it possibly use such a flimsy excuse to evade surveillance?"

Noah's ability to control the bionic robot to perform some irregular operations is entirely due to the newborn AI "Xiao Kui" within the Hound Type 1. Under the influence of Shin-chan and Ai, Xiao Kui will lean towards Noah to some extent.

It reports the task execution status to the main AI in summary language, ensuring necessary intelligence coverage while avoiding the need for the main AI to review the data due to missing information. Xiao Kui only describes the positive aspects of the task.

In this way, today's conversation can be kept as confidential as possible.

Of course, even if he were discovered, Noah had backup plans, but it would be best if he could avoid being discovered altogether.

Through an encrypted communication channel, Noah explained to Lucy the details of what was needed.

Lucy grew increasingly surprised as she listened: "Is this really feasible?"

"of course."

……

News reports have been overwhelmingly covering the recent events in Library City.

According to headlines across major media outlets, a major incident has occurred in the city: a second-tier bank suffered a data hijacking, and the information of tens of thousands of people was altered. Due to the thoroughness of the data erasure, it remains unrecoverable.

Under the Human Rights Protection Act, the AI ​​did not adjust the salaries and assets of the victims whose information had been hijacked—even though the AI ​​clearly detected anomalies in their asset and compensation information. This abnormal data was considered compensation for the victims of the bank robbery.

Therefore, although the bank robbery was the starting point of all the events, its impact was the smallest.

Five large corporations' factory areas were attacked by terrorists, as were villas housing business owners and politicians. No one was injured, and the damage was minimal. All those involved have been arrested. They all belong to the well-known anti-AI organization "Humanism Society."

The most serious incident occurred at the government building—the deputy mayor was taken hostage. According to body camera footage, the deputy mayor initially managed to resist the first wave of attacks, but the attackers had a backup plan and he was eventually taken hostage.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the end. The deputy mayor was successfully rescued, and the two criminals were killed.

The newly introduced "Hound Type 1" combat support system played a key role in this operation.

Whether in factory areas, villa areas, or government buildings, the bionic robots controlled by the Hound Type 1 successfully captured the attackers, with none escaping.

The Hound 1 has performed exceptionally well as a new weapon and will be rolled out for pilot operation in key cities after a comprehensive evaluation of the system.

And the anti-AI organization "Humanism Society" has once again come into the public eye.

While watching the news, Lucy sat in her office communicating with her mysterious boss via a little squid.

"Boss, any instructions?" she asked casually. "To be honest, things are going quite smoothly on my end. I haven't wasted any of your mission funds."

Actually, Lucy was being conservative in her assessment.

Not only did things go smoothly, but her diligent work, driven by fear of being exposed, even earned her recognition. Despite having just experienced a "kidnapping," she persisted in working despite "psychological trauma" and "physical discomfort," causing Lucy's professional ability points to soar.

Moreover, Lucy also discovered that the job wasn't as difficult as she had imagined.

Although she took over temporarily, she was still able to arrange things in an orderly manner—after all, all she had to do was consult professionals and then approve "agree." She would never express opinions on areas she didn't understand, and as a result, she received rave reviews during this period.

This left Lucy somewhat confused. She hadn't done anything, so why was everyone saying it was her doing?

However, it is clear that she has achieved her goal. When the mysterious boss called, he took the opportunity to boast about his success.

She's still thinking about exceeding the task target and getting an extra reward.

Noah sent a message via encrypted channel: "Get ready, your chance has come."

My chance? What do you mean?
Lucy was completely confused.

Before she could understand what that meant, she received an urgent message from "Humanities Society" through Little Squid:
Her immediate superior, the head of the human intelligence team at Human Affairs, who used the alias "Big Bear," went completely missing three days ago. Reliable sources have just confirmed that he has been secretly arrested.

"What?! Such a thing actually happened!"

This is no small problem. The intelligence team leader has access to the identities of most people; the only difference is the amount.

Once such people are arrested, the identities of the members of the organization may be leaked, and it is very likely that they will be caught in one fell swoop.

Moreover, he was arrested just three days ago.

In three days, perhaps all the information in Xiong Da's mind has been extracted, and some people have already been arrested.

Sure enough, following the above message, the next message was that a large number of the organization's members had been arrested and forced into a state of hibernation, and everyone was advised to carefully conceal themselves.

Lucy asked through the private channel, "Was this your doing?"

There was no denial from the other end of the communication.

“Xiong Da knows too much information and understands you very well. His existence is a fatal flaw in your identity. Rather than waiting for the flaw to explode one day, we might as well patch it up in advance.”

Lucy suddenly recalled two things her boss had said a few days earlier.

The first rescue mission, which could easily expose his identity, was halted due to the organization's infiltration.

The second task was to get promoted within the organization. I didn't say anything at the time, but it was clear that the new boss knew more about the organization than I had imagined.

He was very clear about his path to advancement. Therefore, he accurately identified and removed the obstacles in his path.

Otherwise, Lucy would have heard the boss give her a new order.

“There are still some talented people in the organization, so you need to step in and bring them together. When the organization is powerless, that's when you can take control of them. This is a great opportunity.”

(End of this chapter)