Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 137 Lucky Bartholomew (Seventh Update)
As the off-road vehicle drove back to the abandoned town outpost, it attracted the attention of many people.

Mann, Dorio, Pila, Qiwei, Sasha, and even Glenn, the prosthetic doctor who had been lingering at the base with opportunistic intentions, all curiously gathered around. Everyone wanted to see what secret was hidden in the refrigerator that Chen Yu valued so much and that David had spent days digging through the garbage dump.

Chen Yu's massive and imposing figure quickly appeared at the workshop entrance. The scarlet optical lens swept across the refrigerator in the back of the off-road vehicle and flickered slightly.

"Move in," he commanded succinctly.

Mann and Falco stepped forward and together unloaded the refrigerator from the car, carefully carrying it into a more spacious area inside the workshop.

Others followed suit, surrounding the refrigerator and Chen Yu in the middle, the atmosphere filled with anticipation and curiosity.

Glenn squeezed to the front, his eyes fixed on the refrigerator, as if it held the secret to his meteoric rise to success.

David stood nervously at the front, waiting for Chen Yu's inspection.

Chen Yu didn't check the refrigerator immediately, but looked at David first, and a synthesized voice sounded smoothly: "Describe the search process."

David took a deep breath and tried to give a clear account of how he found the integrated logistics company through clues in the documents, how he asked Lucy to hack in and obtain information, how he found the garbage truck driver, and how he finally located and dug out the refrigerator from the garbage mountain.

Chen Yu listened quietly, and finally nodded slightly: "You made use of existing resources and information networks, and did not act blindly. Although the efficiency was low, the strategy was correct. As your first independent mission, it's acceptable."

It wasn't exactly a warm compliment, but David still felt relieved; at least the task was complete.

Then, Chen Yu's attention returned to the refrigerator.

Several nimble mechanical tentacles emerged from under his sleeves and began a comprehensive external scan of the refrigerator.

The several servo skulls beside him also emitted beams of various colors at the refrigerator, carefully inspecting every corner of the refrigerator, especially the door seams and locks.

"The structure is intact, and the seal has not been seriously damaged." Chen Yu muttered to himself as he scanned, as if recording data.

Once the scan is complete, the mechanical tentacles retract.

All eyes were fixed on the refrigerator door, and everyone held their breath.

Chen Yu extended his right hand, which was covered in dark red armor, and grasped the handle of the refrigerator door.

The cold metal seemed like a toy in his hands.

Without the slightest hesitation, he casually pulled, and with a creaking sound that was somewhat stiff due to years of disrepair, the refrigerator door opened.

A cold, strange smell, mixed with some indescribable odor, like preservatives and burnt electronic components, wafted from inside the refrigerator.

The refrigerator was not filled with mysterious items or valuable equipment as people might imagine.

On the contrary, the inside felt very empty.

The only object was a curled-up human-shaped body that had long since lost all signs of life.

He was a young-looking man with messy black hair and skin that had turned an unnatural grayish-white due to long-term low-temperature preservation.

He was wearing an old-fashioned but rather unusual black jumpsuit with some long-broken cables and connectors attached to it.

His body posture appeared somewhat distorted, as if he had experienced immense pain or struggle in the final moments of his life.

What is most striking are his hands, with slender fingers, held in a stiff posture similar to operating a virtual keyboard.

“Uh… a corpse?” Pila exclaimed first, her tone filled with disappointment. “What the hell? All that effort for something like this? Dozens or even hundreds of people die in Night City every day. Hackers dying in refrigerators are rare, but they’re not exactly uncommon, are they?”

Rebecca frowned as well: "Yeah, I thought it was some kind of treasure. Boss, does this guy owe you money or something?"

Mann and Dorio exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Dr. Glenn craned his neck, trying to examine the corpse from a medical perspective, muttering, "Cryogenic preservation... Judging from the stiffness of the muscles and the color of the skin, it has been dead for at least several years... Strange, there are no obvious external injuries..." Just as everyone was discussing and feeling disappointed, Chen Yu's mechanical tentacles had already reached into the refrigerator and begun to conduct a more detailed examination of the corpse.

The tentacles scanned the prosthetic interfaces on the corpse's head, spine, and hands with precision and efficiency, as if analyzing a complex mechanical construct.

A moment later, Chen Yu withdrew his tentacles.

His crimson optical lens swept over the bewildered crowd, and the steady synthesized voice sounded again, uttering a name that resonated with everyone familiar with the legends of cyberspace: "Although he has been dead for fifty years, his body is still well preserved, not bad."

After examining the body, Chen Yu turned to the others and casually said, "This is Lucky Bartmores."

The workshop fell into a deathly silence.

“Bartmouth…” Qiwei was the first to exclaim in shock, her voice trembling noticeably through her breathing mask, “That…the hacker god who caused the ‘First Web Collapse’?”

Sasha covered her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief: "Legend has it that he... didn't he disappear after releasing that virus powerful enough to tear apart the old web? How could his body... be here?"

Lucy stood at the back of the crowd, her body trembling almost imperceptibly.

Bartmouth, a name that represents the ultimate legend and taboo for any hacker who has delved into the depths of the internet.

He personally ushered in the chaotic era of the old internet, which to some extent also spurred the later establishment of the "Black Wall".

His skill and his madness are equally awe-inspiring.

Mann's expression also turned extremely solemn: "Bartlemos... the man who supposedly almost single-handedly destroyed the entire early global network? His body... was hidden in this dilapidated refrigerator and dumped in a junkyard?"

Dr. Glenn's mouth dropped open. As a prosthetic doctor, he might not know much about the world of top hackers, but he was well aware of the significance of the name "Bartlemos".

This is not the corpse of some nameless nobody on the street; this is a living legend—or rather, a dead legend.

Although David doesn't know much about the details of hacker history, keywords like "Bartlemos" and "the first web crash" are always mentioned in Arasaka Gakuin's network history course.

He stared blankly at the seemingly ordinary corpse in the refrigerator, completely unable to reconcile it with the image depicted in textbooks as a demon of the digital age.

Is this seemingly frail man the one who once plunged the world into an electronic panic?

Chen Yu seemed somewhat satisfied with the shock effect of the name, and continued in his steady tone: "That's right, Bartmores. The pinnacle creation of the old internet era, and also one of its terminators."

His mechanical fingers tapped the refrigerator's exterior casually, producing a dull sound: "You can imagine the value of the network interfaces he used and the data fragments that may remain in his brain."

This is a sample containing the ultimate programming logic of the old internet era. Analyzing it will give me a deeper understanding of the fragile network structure of this world.

His crimson optical lens turned to David, who was still in shock: "You brought back more than just a refrigerator. You brought back fragments of an era, a legacy that could drive countless companies and powers mad. Now, do you understand the true value of your mission?"

David nodded blankly, his heart pounding in his chest.

It was only at this moment that he truly realized that the first seemingly absurd task Chen Yu had given him was actually related to such an astonishing secret.

Chen Yu said no more and manipulated the mechanical tentacles to move Bartmores' body out of the refrigerator with steady and efficient movements, placing it on a metal platform that had been prepared beforehand and was emitting a low-temperature chill.

The next step will obviously be an in-depth study and analysis of this legendary remains.

The others in the workshop were still immersed in immense shock and a variety of thoughts.

As they gazed at the small, thin corpse on the platform, they seemed to see the ghost of an era silently watching over the chaotic and dangerous cyber world he had helped create.

David's apprenticeship officially began in a way that far exceeded his expectations.

What kind of waves will Bartmos's reappearance bring to Night City, and even the whole world? No one knows.

(End of this chapter)