The night before the promotion

Chapter 56 Prologue Collateral

The first rays of dawn swept away the hazy sea fog over the Gulf of Mexico, and the sky was gradually dyed with a gentle blue, like the most delicate brushstrokes from nature, lightly sketched on the vast canvas, interweaving the sea and the sky into a tranquil picture.

Until the sun slowly rises, generously sprinkling its magnificent golden color onto the sea, turning it into a flowing sea of ​​gold.

“I never get tired of watching it.”

Huo Daochuan sighed. Through the high-resolution camera of the incarnation body, the scenes and colors he saw were far more vivid and detailed than what the human eye could observe.

Immediately afterwards, Huo Daochuan switched the visual mode and started infrared scanning. Suddenly, the temperature difference on the sea surface became clearly visible, forming a unique thermal map.

The deep black of the cold water is like an endless abyss, swallowing up all the warmth around it, while the bright white of the warm water is like a blazing flame, jumping and spreading on the sea surface.

The traces of the seagulls were captured by infrared cameras. The heat fluctuations from the flapping of their wings when they flew were like weak signals, flashing sparks of life in the cold picture.

The blowing of the sea breeze is also reflected in the infrared images. The temperature fluctuations it brings make the sea surface present a dynamic texture, as if an invisible giant hand is gently caressing the sea surface, leaving behind a series of ever-changing traces.

It's a pity that Huo Daochuan's incarnation body does not have a more realistic tactile and taste system. Therefore, he cannot feel the sea breeze blowing across his body or smell the air with a hint of salt.

"Huo Daochuan, what are you daydreaming about again?"

Suddenly, a voice rang directly from Huo Daochuan's mind. It was another incarnation, communicating with him directly through the channel. In this noisy offshore operation platform, using a loudspeaker to communicate is undoubtedly an inefficient and primitive method.

"Nothing, just looking at the scenery."

Huo Daochuan switched back to his normal visual system, and the colorful world appeared before his eyes again. "No. 63, you should really try to observe the world with infrared vision. It's really interesting."

"I have learned about this on purpose. The visible spectrum that humans can observe is actually very narrow. It is hard to imagine what the world would look like if a person could see all the light..."

The sound of footsteps came from not far away. With each sound, the ground shook and the accumulated dust danced.

In the rising yellow sand, a tall and strange figure gradually appeared in Huo Daochuan's vision.

"See all the lights? Even if you can see all the lights, I guess your brain can't process the excessive information, just like the dementia."

A woman's voice sounded in the channel. Her voice was a little distorted, with some noise and pauses. It was the real-time translation system of the incarnation body taking effect.

"I don't have any idea about these natural landscapes. I just want to work quickly and make more money," the complaining voice kept chattering. "Damn it, I have a headache every day when I wake up. Am I really going to get Lishi disease as the rumors say?"

"do not know."

Huo Daochuan shook his head habitually. His mechanical head covered with cameras slowly turned, and the friction between metal and metal made a harsh sound.

Even though he had been controlling this avatar body for a year, Huo Daochuan still couldn't help but bring some of his human physical habits onto this mechanized body.

Huo Daochuan continued, "Lishi disease? Does this disease really exist? Is it just some kind of rumor?"

Number 63 was silent for a while. After the translation system, Huo Daochuan's voice was also full of distortion and noise in Number 63's ears.

No, it could be worse.

The body of Huo Daochuan's incarnation is about one person tall and cylindrical in shape. It is covered with sophisticated mechanical arms to facilitate various complex underwater tasks.

The body of No. 63's incarnation is different from Huo Daochuan's exquisite and complex one. She is an infrastructure incarnation three or four meters tall. Her mechanical body, painted with yellow paint, is full of huge transmission devices and hydraulic pipes. It rumbles when it runs. After years of wind and rain at sea, it is rusty, just like Hercules in "Transformers".

Huo Daochuan didn't quite understand the model of the avatar's body, but with just a cursory glance, he could tell that the infrastructure avatar controlled by No. 63 was already an antique. As for the control experience, let alone comfort, it was simply torture.

No. 63 often complained that a joint was malfunctioning or that an optical sensor in some part was damaged, but more often, she cursed this infrastructure incarnation as being like an iron coffin and that she could not feel anything.

Yes, if the incarnation body cannot bring any perception to consciousness, then it is indeed no different from a dark cage that imprisons consciousness.

"Do you think it's a rumor?"

Number 63 broke the silence, and a somewhat sad laugh came from the channel, "Huo Daochuan, the place where you live must be very safe, right?"

"Didn't I tell you before?" Huo Daochuan said, "I live in Nianyan City, the same city where Shenwei Technology rose to prominence."

"so good."

Number 63 sighed quietly, "The city I live in is not that good. There, order is a luxury that only a few people can enjoy, while the majority of people live in chaos for a long time."

"In order to make a living, people around me either join gangs or become incarnation laborers like me," she stretched out a mechanical arm and knocked on the rust on the shell, "or even this lowest level of incarnation laborers."

"It is said that if you control the avatar's body for a long time, you will develop a sense of alienation. I have seen several people go crazy because of this." She paused, "Of course, it is not ruled out that they were completely driven crazy by this terrible reality."

Huo Daochuan noticed No. 63's disappointment and said with concern, "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Number 63 said viciously, "The ones who should apologize are those damned people in power."

Huo Daochuan moved his body and stood under the huge shadow of No. 63.

Since Huo Daochuan joined Zhijiang Human Resources a year ago, his consciousness has been uploaded to the Gulf of Mexico, more than 10,000 kilometers away from the city of Anyan, to participate in the infrastructure work of this large offshore platform.

Huo Daochuan didn't know what they were going to build, nor did he care. Huo Daochuan worked the night shift, and whenever the city of Anyan fell into darkness, his consciousness would wake up in the sunny Gulf of Mexico.

This was a very novel experience. Huo Daochuan was confused about time for a while because of it. However, he had no personal life outside of work. The materialistic life of Anyan City had locked him in the room. Therefore, whether the time was confused or not did not affect Huo Daochuan's life.

It was also during this year's work that Huo Daochuan met No. 63. The two often worked together, digging at the seabed while chatting on the channel.

Huo Daochuan often talked to No. 63 about himself and things around him. His name and past experiences were also revealed as stories in their chats.

But No. 63 is different. She seldom talks about herself and rarely mentions things around her. It's as if she is deliberately hiding herself. Even though the two of them are very familiar with each other, Huo Daochuan still doesn't know No. 63's name, while No. 63 knows everything about Huo Daochuan.

Huo Daochuan once wondered if he had talked too much.

No. 63 intentionally concealed everything about herself, but Huo Daochuan still vaguely constructed No. 63's image, experience, and the environment in which she grew up from the fragments of her casual chat.

Huo Daochuan guessed that No. 63 should live in South America, but he had no idea which country she lived in. She was also a mixed-race, which could be guessed from the chaotic family history she had mentioned.

Number Sixty-Three was born in a poor family. He has many brothers, sisters and relatives, but these people cannot bring much help to Number Sixty-Three's life.

Just as she said, some brothers joined gangs and were shot to death on the streets. Some sisters became incarnate laborers like her, and then suffered from schizophrenia, turned into lunatics, rushed to the streets to attack passers-by, and then were shot to death.

She had thought that the coming of the incarnation would bring better security to the country, but the result was no different from before. In the past, the police and gangs had gunfights in the streets, but now it was the incarnations of both sides opening fire.

Number 63 once commented, "See, the many forks in life are just illusions. Everyone ends up similarly."

Huo Daochuan had never seen what No. 63 looked like, but he thought that there might be a hint of gloom and sadness in her eyes, just like the deep dark blue water under the golden sea.

In such a chaotic social context, No. 63 can be regarded as a good child. She did not get involved in those chaotic things, but found such a job as an incarnated laborer.

She said she would work hard, save enough money, escape from this damn place, and leave everything in the past behind.

Huo Daochuan admired her very much. Living in an orderly country, no matter how much he fantasized, he could not truly understand No. 63's situation and experience. She was very strong, much stronger than himself.

A sigh sounded from the channel, and even the roar of the machinery under No. 63 became a little weaker.

"Come to think of it, I saw a neighbor of mine die of the Ignorance Disease a while ago. It was said that he used an illegal incarnation, without the protection of a high wall or a large system. After long-term use, his consciousness was torn apart by the flood of information on the Internet."

She added, "This ending is actually quite good. He became a vegetable, a zombie, instead of going out on the streets and killing people indiscriminately like those crazy people. That's how my mother lost a finger."

Huo Daochuan didn't know what to say. He had never seen those "suspected" sick people in Anyan City. Even if there were, they were most likely detained by the security incarnations while committing the crimes.

“I sometimes hallucinate.”

No. 63 turned her head... She should have turned her head, because Huo Daochuan saw several cameras sticking out from that tall body, pointing towards him.

The camera mirror was gray, so No. 63's field of vision was also gray, and the golden sunlight could not penetrate it.

"I went to the doctor and got some medicine, but the doctor didn't know what to prescribe for me. Just like you said, it's more like an urban legend than a disease," she smiled self-deprecatingly, "Even if the medicine is prescribed, it's not covered by medical insurance."

"What are you doing?"

No. 63 moved the camera and noticed that Huo Daochuan stretched out his robotic arm and buckled it on her metal shell.

"I'm helping you remove rust and clean barnacles," Huo Daochuan continued, "Actually, I want to say something to comfort you, but I feel that no matter how caring the words are, they will be pale to you. It's better to do something for you."

The robotic arm nimbly picked off all the barnacles, leaving circular corrosion marks on the shell.

Number 63 was amused by Huo Daochuan. She said, "You are so stupid. I am not here."

Huo Daochuan was stunned for a moment, then realized, "Oh... you're not here."

"Yeah, we're not here."

The two incarnations, one big and one small, looked into the distance at the sea. They were not here. What was here was just an empty shell.

"Although I always complain about life, in fact, life is getting better little by little," No. 524 suddenly said, "I heard that you are promoting the Draft?"

Huo Daochuan knew nothing about this matter that was happening so close to him. "What is that? I don't really care about current affairs."

"I also heard from others that it is about recognizing the existence of the disease of consciousness separation, protecting the rights of patients with the disease, and re-examining the incarnation body. Once the draft is passed, other countries should follow suit."

No. 63 looked back at the vast offshore operating platform. Countless infrastructure incarnations similar to her were working day and night, forcibly filling up an artificial continent in the sea. The foundations of the metal and concrete structures went straight into the seabed, like a miracle.

"Oh, by the way, Huo Daochuan."

No. 63 lowered a huge mechanical arm. Huo Daochuan looked up and saw that the sky was getting dark.

She controlled it very precisely. The robotic arm stopped above Huo Daochuan's head and rubbed it up and down twice, as if stroking Huo Daochuan's head, scratching his metal plate.

"Although you are not here, thank you anyway."

Huo Daochuan did not respond. He took a deep breath. The cooling system was running efficiently. The fan accelerated and expelled heat from the body.

"Number sixty-three, I want to see you."

"Ok?"

No. 63 was stunned by Huo Daochuan's words. His tall body turned around, raising another cloud of dust.

"what are you saying?"

"I said, I want to see you, the real you, not this big lump of iron."

It felt good to say it, and the subsequent words were no longer stressful. He continued, "We've known each other for such a long time, but I still don't know your name, what you look like... We don't even have a way to contact each other."

Number 63 looked at himself in confusion.

In fact, Huo Daochuan didn't know the expression, eyes, and psychological activities of No. 63. After all, they were not here. There were just two pieces of iron blocks looking at each other. The only thing they could read was each other's words and tone.

She laughed.

Even though it was a little distorted and harsh, and full of electrical noise, Huo Daochuan could be sure that she was laughing happily this time.

"No way, Huo Daochuan, are you in love with me?"

Whenever No. 63 spoke, blood would always come out. A crane arm dropped down, hooked Huo Daochuan's body, and lifted him up, weighing several tons, so that he was level with the camera located high up.

"Any questions?"

Huo Daochuan did not deny that he did fall in love with No. 63.

When Huo Daochuan was still a student, his parents had already passed away. In addition, due to his personality, Huo Daochuan became more and more withdrawn and not good at making friends in the days that followed.

Huo Daochuan doesn't have many friends in real life, and he never takes the initiative to talk to anyone. He is a complete marginal person.

No. 63 is Huo Daochuan's only stable communication partner and the only window emitting light in the dark cage, even though Huo Daochuan knows nothing about her.

"Haha!" Number 63 laughed non-stop. "That's a big problem. You have no idea who I am or what I look like. Are you in love with me just like that?"

She moved the crane arm and shook Huo Daochuan, "Not to mention, my avatar body is still like this, are you serious?"

"Do you think I'm kidding?"

Huo Daochuan's attitude became serious, as if he was proposing marriage. "No, it's because I'm so serious that I seem sincere, isn't it?"

"I know nothing about you, but I'm hopelessly obsessed with you."

Number 63 was silent for a moment, and then burst into even louder laughter.

"What are you laughing at!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just can't help it! I have a very low sense of laughter."

The crane arm swayed even more violently, causing Huo Daochuan to feel dizzy.

The security guard's voice interrupted the conversation between the two, "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Sorry, sorry!"

No. 63 quickly put Huo Daochuan down, and after the security officer left the channel, she spoke to Huo Daochuan again.

"You're sorry too," she said, trying to suppress her smile, "I just couldn't help myself."

"With the blue sky and the green sea, it's ridiculous that you are expressing your love to me, a person who is dozens of tons and as heavy as Hercules, in such a beautiful scene."

The impulsive emotions dissipated, and Huo Daochuan felt so ashamed that he began to be thankful for his incarnation body that made it impossible for him to make any facial expressions.

Number sixty-three left the channel.

Number sixty-three returned to the channel.

Huo Daochuan thought that No. 63 must have been laughing wildly during the time he was away. "Ah... Huo Daochuan, why do you think so? Is it just because I have been with you long enough?" No. 63's voice became gentler, and even the noise could not cover it up.

"Isn't that enough?" Huo Daochuan explored his heart, "I am very happy with you, even if you are a huge incarnation of infrastructure."

"Every time I wake up from reality after get off work, I feel very lonely, but when it's time to go to work, I feel very happy. I think this may be love."

Number 63 took the rare step of asking Huo Daochuan about himself, "So, what are you like in real life?"

Huo Daochuan said without hesitation, "A standard incarnation laborer."

"During the day I will catch up on my sleep at home, and play games when I wake up. I don't have many friends, and few people are willing to be friends with a marginal person like me. After all, this is the city of Anyan, an extremely busy city, like an efficient machine, where everyone has their own position and things to do.

I am a redundant gear, so I can only gather dust in the corner... Actually, I feel pretty good about it. I can't blend into the city atmosphere, and I don't want to blend in. Instead of watching people walking around like ants, I would rather stay here with you. "

Number 63 soothed, "Perhaps you see me as an outlet for your loneliness and emotions."

"But you do occupy a very large part in my life."

Huo Daochuan mustered up the courage to ask, "Can you give me an answer?"

"What would you do if it was a rejection?"

“I’ll probably be sad for a while, maybe negative for a few days, but I’ll still show up because this is my job,” he thought for a moment, then added, “but this should bother you.”

"That's nothing. I've faced much worse things than this."

Number 63 quipped, "Have you ever woken up and found that there was a gang fight downstairs from your house, and they fought from day to night?"

"The environment I grew up in was so bad that I don't even consider emotional problems as troubles."

Huo Daochuan was speechless for a moment. If there was a screen that could display expressions, he would definitely look ridiculous.

After a while, he asked again, "Does this count as a broken heart?"

"Well," No. 63 added, "To be precise, it was an online romance and a broken heart. The difference between the two is actually quite big."

"Can you tell me why?" Huo Daochuan asked persistently, "Is it the twelve-hour time difference? Or is it the distance of tens of thousands of kilometers? It doesn't matter. I will come to find you and meet you in reality."

"No, it has nothing to do with that. You're a very cute guy and I like you a lot, but I'm sorry, not yet."

Number 63 moved his body to the side, picked up the goods with the crane arm, and started working.

"why?"

Huo Daochuan looked at her reluctantly. On the mottled metal shell, the words "No. 63" were painted. "I shared everything I have with you, but I don't even know your name."

A long sigh came from the channel, "Because we are not from the same world at all, Huo Daochuan."

Number 63 wonderfully describes the tragedy, "Logically, we will never meet in this life, just like the corals under the Gulf of Mexico will never meet the wild mushrooms in Yunnan."

She said viciously, "It was this damn job that brought you and me together by chance. We ignored the differences in time, distance, and language, talked and joked as if we were face to face, and pointed at each other's weirdly shaped avatars."

No. 63 turned the camera and looked at the end of the sea. Due to the limitations of her avatar body, she could not see the beautiful scenery that Huo Daochuan saw from afar.

"For me, this job is torture, pain, and the only way to make a living, but for you, it is a hotbed of love," No. 63 questioned, "I have to work hard every day to make a living, and sometimes I have to worry about my own safety. What is your biggest worry?"

Huo Daochuan didn't know what to say.

Yes, what are my troubles? Is it the loneliness caused by lack of social interaction, or the emptiness caused by excessive secretion of hormones and male hormones?

In comparison, my troubles seemed like whining, even ridiculous, in the eyes of No. 63.

Just as she said, they are people from two different worlds, or even two different species. How can the wild fungi grown in Yunnan understand the coral reefs under the Gulf of Mexico that are facing mechanical reclamation of the riverbed?

There was silence between the two for a long time. The sun rose slowly in height, and the bright light left a dazzling glare in the visual system.

"I'm sorry, Huo Daochuan," No. 63 said sadly, "I shouldn't have vented my emotions on you. I just... I'm just under a lot of pressure."

The rumbling sound inside the infrastructure body was not small, like the slowing heartbeat of No. 63.

"I'm not saying I don't like you or reject you, I just can't make any decision."

After hesitating for a long time, No. 63 confessed, "I am a person without freedom."

Huo Daochuan was a little confused by her, "No... freedom?"

"There is no freedom. It's strange, isn't it? Is there still slavery in the world in 2042?" No. said self-deprecatingly, "In fact, slavery has not disappeared. It just changes its name and continues to exist in our world... at least in my city."

"My family is complicated. I need to take care of my sick parents and little sister. I need money urgently, a large amount of money."

Number 63's voice was intermittent, not because there was a problem with the communication, but because every time she mentioned these sad things, she needed some time to prepare herself mentally.

"So I applied for a loan from the company, using myself as collateral."

Huo Daochuan was stunned. He suspected that there was a problem with the communication, or that the translation system had misinterpreted her meaning.

"Collateral? What are you talking about?"

Huo Daochuan's ignorant look made No. 63 feel even more miserable and envious. She explained, "It means literally that when you don't have enough credit for a loan, you can mortgage yourself."

"They randomly throw your consciousness into an incarnation, and you work for them as an incarnation laborer to earn money. Only when you repay the loan can you redeem your body from them."

No. 63 tried hard to keep her heart indifferent, and only when she told these things from the perspective of an observer would she not feel such intense sadness.

“Right now I’m being kept in a life-support tank, surviving on cheap nutrient solution, with five hours of rest time a day to put my consciousness into hibernation.

In order to prevent my body from having problems that would affect loan collection, I was allowed to wake up from my body every half a month. They would clean the water tank, and I would have a rare twelve hours to enjoy the real world. But to say it was enjoyment was actually being locked up in a cell. ”

The calm narration voice was filled with electric sounds, and the noise gradually became sharper. Huo Daochuan heard countless sharp needles piercing his eardrums.

"The feeling of returning to the body is terrible. You first feel a severe headache and hallucinations. It may be due to excessive mental exhaustion or the so-called dissociation disease. But in this case, who cares about such things? Then there is physical pain. The whole body becomes weak, the joints become deformed, and some people will experience muscle atrophy.

Over time, many people would rather stay in their incarnations than wake up in pain in their bodies. As for the rest of the time, their consciousness is like a ball, kicked around in different incarnations to perform different tasks.

After a long pause, No. 63 said to Huo Daochuan, "Thank you, Huo Daochuan. Actually, you helped me a lot."

"how?"

Huo Daochuan answered stiffly. He was overwhelmed by this sudden news.

"Within one day, my consciousness will be put into three different incarnations to work. This is my first job of the day."

Number 63 said sincerely, "You put me in a good mood every day, allowing me to endure the long and terrible work ahead."

"So, in my current state, I can't accept love from anyone," she lamented, "I can't deceive you, nor can I give you expectations and let you fantasize in vain."

But she was still curious, "What am I to you?"

"Utopia."

Huo Daochuan said without hesitation, "A spiritual utopia.

As long as I can talk to you...even if I know you are alive somewhere in this world, I will feel a great peace."

He sighed from the bottom of his heart, "Yes, an absolute and huge sense of peace"

"It's such an honor," she called out as No. 63 walked to the other side, "Come on, it's time to work."

Huo Daochuan couldn't remember what kind of mentality he was in when he finished today's work. He picked up construction materials, went deep underwater, and carried out complicated operations.

During this time, both of them were in the channel, but no one spoke. In the suffocating silence, Huo Daochuan felt that he was about to lose himself and become a pure machine.

This is good news. Machines cannot think, and Huo Daochuan doesn’t have to think about number 63.

This continued for the next few days. The two would greet each other and then start their respective work. They would still join the channel out of habit, but no one spoke.

A month passed like this, and slowly, the two of them started communicating more frequently again, as if that conversation had never happened.

Huo Daochuan didn’t know what mood No. 63 was in, but he himself was gradually falling into the beautiful dream he had woven for himself.

Privately, Huo Daochuan saved money, piling up his savings from years of work, and watched the line of numbers continue to grow.

He began to fantasize about paying off No. 63's loan and redeeming her from the water tank, just like a child saving enough money to buy his favorite toy.

So, on the day when Huo Daochuan made up his mind.

"I'm going to tell you a good news. You may not accept it, but I still want to do this. Even if it's just for our friendship, I should do this... You are my only friend."

Huo Daochuan said to the tall incarnation of infrastructure, looking forward to No. 63's various reactions, whether it be joy, rejection, or more complicated emotions.

He waited, and then a man's voice came over the channel.

"what are you saying?"

In an instant, it seemed as if a chill spread along the circuit, freezing Huo Daochuan's thoughts.

He asked in confusion, "Ah? Are you kidding me again? Number sixty-three."

Huo Daochuan struggled internally as he looked at his mottled metal shell, on which the number sixty-three was printed and the paint job was clearly visible.

The man complained, "You are the one who is talking nonsense."

Suddenly, Huo Daochuan felt that the world had become quiet, and then the noise of electric current tore everything apart. First, a strong sense of despair captured Huo Daochuan, followed by anger rising from the darkness.

"You... no, you're not her... where did you take her!"

Huo Daochuan tried hard to remain calm, but his voice was still filled with anger.

The man was confused. "What are you talking about? This is my first day on the job. Did I do anything wrong?"

His explanation dragged Huo Daochuan into a deeper abyss, and his remaining sanity collapsed. Huo Daochuan went crazy, waving his mechanical arms and hammering the infrastructure incarnation.

Huo Daochuan couldn't remember what happened afterwards. It seemed that the administrator had forcibly logged off his consciousness. Shortly after Huo Daochuan woke up from reality, the staff of Zhijiang Human Resources knocked on Huo Daochuan's door. They brought him a letter of resignation and various claims bills.

Similarly, Huo Daochuan didn't know how they left or how he dealt with it. He lay in bed for a day and a night, and his collapsed beliefs finally healed a little.

He tried to contact the project department and find No. 63 among the incarnated laborers. The other party was very friendly and asked Huo Daochuan the name of No. 63, but Huo Daochuan could not say anything.

"Alas, it's useless to just mention number 63. Number 63 is not a name, and this infrastructure incarnation is controlled by countless consciousnesses every day. I'm not from Stone Castle, so I can't directly access this kind of private information through the high wall system.

You asked me which human resources company the other party belongs to? I already said that there is no name, so I can’t do anything about it.”

After using translation software and a long meaningless conversation, Huo Daochuan hung up the phone in despair.

Huo Daochuan didn't think that No. 63 had taken a leave of absence. How could a mortgaged property have a holiday? Besides, in the year they had known each other, No. 63 had never been absent from work. It was Huo Daochuan who was absent for a few days, which made her very anxious.

Now that she thought about it, she must have been worried that her only friend in this hell would also disappear.

So, No. 63 paid off her debt? No, she should have shared this happy event with me, so could it be that...

Huo Daochuan didn't dare to think further. He tried to deceive himself. No. 63 was mortgaged to other companies. She said that many companies would treat them as goods and trade them back and forth.

Countless thoughts bit and cursed each other, they turned into an inseparable ball of wool, and then were burned by the fire. In the ashes, everything returned to silence.

So Huo Daochuan waited.

Huo Daochuan turned up the volume of his cell phone's notification tone. He comforted himself that No. 63 must be trying to live in a certain incarnation. She couldn't add his contact information before because she was not free, but as long as she was free, she would definitely come to find him...

Yes, she must be alive, she must be alive.

……

Late at night, a loud ringing sound woke Huo Daochuan up. He sat up and answered the phone.

Huo Daochuan said nothing, waiting for the other party to speak. The strange silence lasted for a long time until a neutral voice sounded, making it difficult to tell whether it was a man or a woman.

The other party said, "Mr. Huo, I have made some progress on the matter you asked me to investigate."

This sentence sobered Huo Daochuan up a lot. He went to the refrigerator, opened a can of beer with one hand, and drank it in big gulps, so that the iced alcohol could awaken his dull nerves faster.

"Be more specific, what did you find out?"

Huo Daochuan came to the window and looked towards the end of the street. The Skyline Building was standing there, but unlike usual, the Skyline Building that usually created a golden sky was dark, and it was pitch black and nothing could be seen clearly.

"We followed the clues you provided and found the manpower company involved in the Gulf of Mexico project. Unfortunately, it was probably a shell company to facilitate the provision of illegal avatar labor."

Huo Daochuan clenched his phone and cursed, "You called me just to let me know that you didn't find anything?"

"How could that be? Even if it's a shell company, there will definitely be some clues left. Our people are doing their best to track it down. The phone call tonight is just to inform you of the progress of the investigation."

The alcohol soothed Huo Daochuan's nerves a lot. He felt the cool night breeze, squinted his eyes, and his thoughts seemed to be in reality, but also seemed to be delayed in dreams.

Huo Daochuan nodded and replied, "Very good, don't let me down, Madam Cui."

"Of course, Mr. Huo, the cooperation after that..."

Huo Daochuan interrupted Madam Cui and spoke clearly.

"I will introduce you to the Immortal."

(End of this chapter)