Abnormal Doomsday Records

Chapter 86 19. Panis's disaster has arrived
"Hey, why are you still sleeping alone?"

Early the next morning, Moni was wandering around outside Zhou Ke's room in a sneaky manner, dragging a vacuum cleaner back and forth several times in the name of "cleaning". Finally, he was disappointed to see Zhou Ke, who was wearing star-studded pajamas, yawning and pushing open the door alone. He stared at him with dead fish eyes as if to say, "Are you looking for trouble by using the vacuum cleaner so early in the morning?"

Moni didn't hide it either, he glanced at the bed in the room, then showed a "boring" expression, pouted and said to Zhou Ke:
"I took all my brothers away last night for your good, and even slept in my safe house for a night, just to avoid spoiling your fun. And you told me you slept alone?

I'm not saying anything bad about you, Zhou Ke, but do you have some problems?

This kind of thing is not untreatable, just tell us quickly and we will help you find a solution."

"Ah, you really found me. This is difficult to deal with. Please wait here for a moment while I drink some water and organize my words."

Zhou Ke turned around with a sad face and took something in the room. When Moni heard the sound of the bullet being loaded, he immediately ran away, leaving Zhou Ke no chance to get angry and retaliate against him.

It was not until breakfast time that Moni appeared in the restaurant whistling as if nothing had happened.

D-4 had already prepared a simple breakfast. This robot, which positioned itself as "Zhou Ke's nanny", had downloaded a complete set of cooking teaching materials from the network of the city-state area in order to take care of daily life. However, there were not so many ingredients in this apartment for her to practice. After Qiao Ya moved out, everyone's daily breakfast was just two pieces of toasted bread with some delicious hot sauce and fruit jam.

People in the Badlands era were not so particular, and Zhou Ke also knew that now was not the time to enjoy himself.

"Sit down and get down to business."

Zhou Ke chewed his bread and pointed at the chair beside him expressionlessly. When Moni sat down, he whispered:
"If I hear another rumor that makes me feel bad, you'll be assigned to cover the next operation in a life-or-death situation."

"Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped."

Moni took a bite of his bread, and the frivolous expression on his face turned serious. He said:

"When I went to get my car fixed last night, I contacted my informant at the Panis Group. He told me that because of the monsters that entered the city, the Panis Group has suspended all of its 'extra projects' that are not covered by the city-state regulations.

It is said that this is to cope with the inspection by the inspection team sent from Little Acholi.

They seem to be ready to 'keep their heads down' for the next while, which is not a bad thing, but it is troublesome for what we are going to do next.

My source told me that the database containing confidential information had been moved and shielded from prying eyes by installing data isolation.

This means that if we want to obtain the cooperation information between them and the Shunguang Organization as Weng Meiyu requested, we have to find a way to infiltrate the "core industry" of the Panis family. Only there will we have enough authority to access the protected data.

Not to mention the high risk, the preparation alone takes a long time.

First of all, the identity issue is difficult to resolve.”

He sighed, shook the bread crumbs in his hand, and said:
“My brothers and sisters and I were all on the blacklist of the Panis family. Unless we collectively change our faces and fingerprints and gaits, we will most likely be discovered as soon as we enter their core territory.

I know my 'Second Uncle' better than anyone else.

The moment he confirmed that I had returned to the Polis area, I was already on his kill list."

"I expected that."

Zhou Ke was not surprised by the bad news. He drank a sip of distilled water with biochemical lemon, and then said to Moni:
"If we just want to get those confidential information, we can start from another direction. There is an old saying that the people who know you best are often not those around you, but your enemies. I believe that the Weng family must have explosive information about the private contact between the Panis Group and the Shunguang Organization.

The problem is that if the Panis Group has adopted this turtle-style strategy to survive, then the Weng family is likely to be in the same situation.

It is too difficult to blend in with both parties, so we have to think of a way to use the spies of the Weng family who are "deeply buried" in the Panis Group. If this is a chess game, then what we have to do now is not to put new pieces in, but to flexibly use the hidden pieces that have been properly placed.

The Weng family would definitely not be happy to see this development, but fortunately, we are not friends with either party, so we don’t have to consider their feelings.

Well, I enjoy these moments of badass charisma, the feeling of being able to waste other people’s resources without worrying about the consequences.”

Moni narrowed his eyes, and after a few seconds, he said:

"You plan to let Weng Meiyu find those people?"

"Of course! She has power, status, and connections, and she sees the Weng family as her enemy. She has enough motivation to do this, and this is also her responsibility in our 'iron triangle'."

Zhou Ke said:
"You go contact her. Once she has identified the person to be 'sent away', we will act immediately. We will sneak in through an insider-collusion raid and steal the information we need through hardwiring. We only have one chance!
If we fail, the Panis Group and the more troublesome Shunguang Organization will immediately launch a fatal counterattack, but I believe that our team has almost run-in, and the probability of accidents is very small. "

"Well, your proposal is also the safest conservative strategy for us. I have no objection."

Moni nodded. Before he left to talk to Weng Meiyu, Zhou Ke glanced at D-4 who was still busy in the kitchen and said to him:

"You said before that you and the young master of the Maca Group are close friends?"

"Me and that pervert who likes playing with robots?"

Moni's eyes widened and he yelled:
"How can you slander someone's innocence like that! What do you mean I'm best friends with a pervert? Doesn't that prove that I'm also a weirdo and a pervert? I was just a classmate of his for a while, and I was one of the few people in the class who didn't discriminate against him.

You'll never guess who bullied him the most when we were in school."

"Let me guess, Weng Meiyu?"

Zhou Ke snorted and said with a curled lip:
"A little princess who wants all men's attention to be on her cannot possibly have any affection for a man who doesn't like human women. Plus, with Weng Meiyu's personality, I guess when you were in school, she might have been the head of the sorority at the academy.

She is the kind of vicious girl who is popular with boys but loves to bully her peers. "

"Exactly right!"

Moni grinned and said:

"We can't let Bert know that we are working with Weng Meiyu now, otherwise he will definitely send members of his 'Pink Robot Group' to strangle us. I guess you are looking for my 'friend' in order to borrow the robot production line of the Maca Group?
For D-4?"

"Yes, she is our important high-end combat force."

In order to prevent Moni from taking the opportunity to ridicule him, Zhou Ke said seriously:
"D-4 must have professional equipment to reconfigure her new body in order to upgrade perfectly. The components that Sam left for her are truly high-end products. The assembly plants on the roadside cannot meet her secondary design requirements.

Also, if possible, I need to perform the 'ultimate enhancement' on D-4!
Use some psychic alloy to replace her current scandium alloy armor, so that D-4 can become a true "mechanical overlord". Can your connections make this happen?"

"I can talk to Bert about it. If we just want to borrow a production line from a marginal factory, it shouldn't be a big problem. Although that guy is a useless otaku, he is really loyal to his friends. Don't be afraid of you laughing at me. When I returned to the city-state with my brothers and sisters, I had no money and no weapons. I asked Bert for the first investment.

But he can only help so much.”

Moni shrugged and said:

"Bert is not the legitimate son, nor is he the most promising one among the children of the head of the Maca Group. His position in the family business is quite awkward. If it weren't for his mistress mother who also came from the director's family and was very favored and held real power, Bert would have been kicked out long ago for his crooked appearance.

He can take the risk to help us rent the production line, but don't count on the psychic alloy. Bert can't get that stuff, and that thing can't be solved with money.

All the psychic alloys in the Badlands are resources monopolized by the consortium."

"No, not all of them."

Zhou Ke pointed to his room and said:

"In the legacy that Old Qiao left to Xiaoya, there was a box of spiritual energy ore that they dug out from the time maze. It needs to be smelted before use, but the quantity is definitely enough. That thing is an alloy, and the amount of raw ore required is not as much as you think.

I will talk to Xiaoya about this. I will get the raw materials for the psychic alloy, and you and 'Bert' will take care of the other things.

According to Wu Neng's estimation, after completing the 'perfect upgrade', D-4 will be able to face off against an ascender head-on. This is a tremendous improvement in combat power for our small group. Moni, I don't think I need to explain the importance of this to you."

"I understand. As a man, it's his duty to be nice to his woman."

Moni whistled and said:
"I'll get it done and give you news this afternoon at the latest."

After saying that, he swaggered out of the restaurant, leaving Zhou Ke staring at him with dead eyes. A few minutes later, D-4 placed a steaming hot egg pancake in front of Zhou Ke and whispered:
"It seems that Mr. Money's gossiping mentality has caused you a lot of trouble, boss, do you need me to teach him a lesson?"

"It's unnecessary. Don't show up for this kind of thing. It will only exacerbate unnecessary rumors." Zhou Ke picked up the chopsticks and tasted the bland egg pancake. He whispered:

"Besides, he didn't actually say anything nonsense. You should make some preparations for the 'upgrade' in the next few days. Once Moni secures the foreign aid, we will take action immediately."

"In fact, Mr. Bert also has the potential to become your partner, boss."

D-4 took off her apron and whispered:

"Compared to the domineering Weng Meiyu, a child from a large family who is obviously aloof and has a strange personality and is not valued is easier for you to control."

"But you also heard what Moni said. He and Weng Meiyu are sworn enemies. From my experience, it is not so easy to just laugh off the bullying relationship in school as adults. This is not a simple multiple-choice question, but a single choice where you can only choose one of the two."

Zhou Ke shook his head and said:
“So, Bert von Maka can serve as a lower-level replacement for Weng Meiyu. If our classmate Meiyu does something unforgivable and stupid in the future, then I won’t have to bother looking for a new collaborator.

Come to think of it, when did you become interested in this kind of thing?"

He said curiously:
"Aren't you a combat omnic? I don't mean to look down on your ability to think, but generally speaking, warriors are not good at thinking, and warriors don't need to be good at thinking."

"Last night I replaced Star's thought circuits for myself and copied her thinking patterns."

D-4 said calmly:

"That kind of overactive thinking ability and those "inspirations" that always burst out are indeed difficult to control, just like my mechanical brain suddenly sparked due to a short circuit, but I think if I learn more, I can help you better, boss."

"Well, it's not your imagination."

Zhou Ke put down his chopsticks helplessly, pointed at the back of D-4's head and said:
"There are indeed sparks dancing in your hair, just like the way you think in those exaggerated cartoons for children. It seems that your body is really not adapted to these 'advanced things'."

"Uh, I'll go get it."

D-4 showed an expression of shame and surprise, turned around and walked away quickly.

"Her pseudo-personality has grown by at least 15% overnight! This sudden development is worth studying, Joker. This machine thinks it is a great topic."

Wu Neng spoke:

"Combining D-4's experience, perhaps for those machines that are about to be implanted with the 'Josna Code', letting them experience the ups and downs of life will help them form a limited personality. Perhaps they should be sent to perform the most dangerous tasks in order to gain valuable insights into 'machine life' on the verge of death and shutdown."

"Please do something human, Wu Neng."

Zhou Ke complained:
"Being a human is the most difficult thing in the world. Can you give them some time? Adjust the schedule. We will pick up Xiaoya from school at noon and discuss the box of psychic ore with her."
-
"What did you say? Your mother is Professor Qiaosna's student?!"

A few hours later, in the quiet pub of Old Taff, Qiao Ya, who was having lunch, broke a big news, which made Zhou Ke, who was sitting opposite her, widen his eyes. He looked at Qiao Ya, who was wearing a suit-style school uniform with an Acholi Group emblem on her chest, and asked:
"Is this a rumor? Or is it true? Didn't they say that all Ms. Fenn's information was erased? How did you know that?"

"The library of the Consortium Academy!"

Qiao Ya, who was eating the lunch made by A Miu, raised her head and said seriously:

“The Acholi Consortium did erase Mom’s information. I can’t find any information on the information terminals of the academy. However, the library of the Consortium Academy still retains the ancient traditions of the old civilization. When borrowing valuable books there, in addition to recording them on the information terminal, you also need to make a written record in a register.

I discovered this by accident, and then I managed to find the register from 20 years ago."

"Wait, paper documents can be kept for twenty years?"

Zhou Ke narrowed his eyes and said:

"That doesn't sound likely. Maybe it's a trap placed there specifically!"

"It's true! There won't be anyone to organize those things, because that rule is just part of tradition, and in the Badlands, tradition is the least valued thing."

Qiao Ya has her own understanding of this matter. She explained:
“Although borrowing books requires registration, not many people do this now. The library administrators are all intelligent machines, and they are also programmed to treat this as a ‘reminder’ rather than a ‘compulsion’.

Those filled registers were placed in the library's miscellaneous warehouse. Under the pretext of excerpting books, I spent several days finding the records from twenty years ago.

I saw my mother's name on it. She really respects tradition. When she was a student, she would carefully register her information every time she borrowed a book. In the "College Affiliation" column, I saw her mentor when she was studying advanced information security courses.

It’s Professor Qiao Sina!

And it was Professor Qiao Sina who recommended her when she obtained her formal degree.

The relationship between the two of them is definitely not ordinary. Add to that what you just told me about D-4, and I think it is no accident that the two of them died in the same incident. Perhaps, Professor Qiao Sina is the "guide" for my mother on the road to pursuing the truth.

At least logically, this makes sense!"

"So, you've been hanging out in the library these past few days since you started school?"

Zhou Ke looked at Qiao Ya with a strange look and said:

"Aren't you going to class?"

"Hey! Is now the time to focus on these?"

Qiao Ya was a little crazy.

She felt that she had "important information" and sent someone to report the good news, but Zhou Ke only cared about her studies?

Hey, what kind of weird “good parent in the bad land” persona is this?
However, facing Zhou Ke's gradually stern gaze, Qiao Ya still lowered her head and muttered to explain:
"We paid to get in, Zhou Ke, and those instructors didn't pay any attention to me. They thought I was just a 'second-generation consortium member' who was just trying to get a certificate of completion. Moreover, the semester was already halfway through, and I couldn't understand what those instructors were saying. I could only learn on my own.
Apart from the library, I can't find another good place to study on my own.

However, my friend Mu Fang told me that if learning is really difficult, you can consider installing a 'learning chip' in your brain."

"No need to talk!"

Zhou Ke shook his head and said:
"Putting knowledge into your head and learning it are two different things! You can fail every exam, but you can't be lazy in this way. It's simply a waste of the talent your mother passed on to you.

Forget it. Your situation is special. We won't force you to get good grades. But you have to love what you do. Since you're already in school, just focus on this matter. Don't spend time exploring the relationship between Ms. Fen and Professor Qiao Sina for now. D-4 and I will take the time to pay attention to this matter.

This is dangerous and not what you should do.

Eat, take a rest after eating and let Qiao Shan take you to the academy. Besides, you have made friends in a few days. It seems that you have good communication skills. This can also make me feel more at ease. I."

"toot toot"

The communication request from the energy-comprehension device interrupted Zhou Ke's lecture as the "guardian".

He shook his head, gave a few instructions, stood up and walked to the other side. It was obvious that he didn't want Qiao Ya to be too involved in the affairs between him and Moni.

"nailed it!"

Moni said in the newsletter:

"Take D-4 to Bert's place tomorrow night. In order to provide the best maintenance for his 'harem', that pervert spent a lot of money to build himself a very advanced private production line. He is willing to lend it to us, and he also has the means to handle the smelting of psychic alloys.

But he is currently researching a strange mechanical gadget called the 'Psychic Core' and needs one fifth of our ore as payment."

"No problem, there is enough ore."

Zhou Ke said:
"You only dealt with Bert? What about Weng Meiyu?"

"Ha, that's easier to handle. As soon as I told her about the matter, Weng Meiyu took charge of it. Like me, she has a natural enthusiasm for shamelessly selling out family interests. A few minutes ago, she sent me a list with the information of the people we need."

Moni replied in a brisk tone. Zhou Ke nodded, glanced at the time, and said:
"Okay, finish upgrading D-4 tomorrow, and we'll take action the day after tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)