"I admit you are very strong, but do you know why you can't find any trace of him still being alive in the Net?"
"Why?" Lucy began to talk to John Carter, evidently very keen to hear more.
"Because the Net of Kang Tao Headquarters in Shenyang operates independently. As long as you don't plug a data cable into the core server of the Headquarters, no one can infiltrate Kang Tao's Net, not even Alt."
Lucy's expression didn't change, clearly she already knew this.
"You said David is in Mikoshi, but I've entered Mikoshi countless times and never found him."
"Then it must have taken you a lot of time to enter Mikoshi after 2076."
"That's right." Lucy admitted frankly, "It took me a long time to get in."
John smiled, the initiative was now in his hands.
"In 2080, Yorinobu Arasaka decided to revive the shattered Arasaka Corporation. Although he made a drastic decision to sell off all business in North America, he still didn't have enough funds, so he chose to cooperate with us. The cooperation project is—Kang Tao Mikoshi. Your lover's digital consciousness is in the Mikoshi at Shenyang Headquarters. It's just that you were dead, so there was no point in us reviving him."
Lucy's mouth was slightly agape, a look of shock appearing on her face. If it was really as John said, then what she had been desperately searching for all these years...
John watched her expression change with satisfaction. Sure enough, besides David Martinez, no one in this world could make her frozen heart beat again.
"Is what you're saying true?" Lucy couldn't believe it.
"Of course, not only is it true, I can even revive him for you, but I have conditions."
Lucy's eyes narrowed. It had been a long time since anyone had negotiated with her, but the person in front of her had the capital to do so. After decades of lonely life, she had tried to go anywhere in the Net, including Kang Tao's independent Net. It was like a laptop that wasn't connected to the internet or powered on, indeed a place she couldn't access.
"Speak," Lucy said.
"First, you need to help me get the relic chip that Arasaka left in the Mikoshi on Parrot Island, and second, you and David will serve Kang Tao from now on."
Lucy's eyes turned blood-red, and a killing intent surged again.
"Do you think we would serve a corporation?"
(Most people deeply hate corporations because they exploit people.)
"Don't get agitated." John was no longer flustered, because he knew Lucy wouldn't kill him now. "Actually, serving a corporation, wasn't that David Martinez's dream?"
Lucy was stunned. John was telling the truth. David once said that his mother hoped he would stand at the top of a corporation. Lucy still remembered that day, when he, with his Titan cyberware installed, stood on the roof of the Arasaka building, smiling and saying: Look, Mom, I'm at the top of the corporation.
Lucy hesitated for a moment, wondering if she could trust John. She loved David too much. She had killed countless people for David, and desperately protected him when her own life hung by a thread. And David, in order for her to survive, resolutely faced an opponent he couldn't possibly defeat, leaving his life for Lucy. They were a couple who both ran towards each other, giving all their love to each other. In the past, Lucy could give up everything for David, and be against the whole world, but today...
"If I can see David again, I can obey you, but I cannot guarantee he will do the same."
Lucy agreed, perhaps for her, the meaning of existence was David.
"You made a smart decision."
Amy Anderson shook her head, watching the two people, and a happy smile appeared on her face when she saw they had reached an agreement.
"Yay, Senior Brother, wasn't I amazing!" Amy intimately leaned against John, "Hurry and praise me!"
"Amazing." John's affirmation was brief, but these two words made Amy jump with joy.
Lucy's lips also unconsciously curled into a slight smile as she watched the lively Amy. Seeing David again, for her, was too dreamlike.
"Oh, right, can you return to the real world? In the Net, it's not easy for us to cooperate."
"I can."
"That simple?" John was skeptical of Lucy's straightforward answer. After all, how could something like a digital consciousness existing in the Net gaining a physical body and returning to reality seem so simple to Lucy?
They say that a powerful opponent becomes weaker after joining the protagonist's team, but Lucy would show them what true strength was.
"I can do it now." Lucy's eyes turned blood-red, and lines of code rapidly executed in her vision. This time was different from before, because Lucy's execution power had already caused her body to turn red.
"Soulkiller, activate."
John was stunned. Soulkiller, that was a function only found in a relic chip, invented by Alt Cunningham, who destroyed Arasaka. It was a program that could kill a person's soul. The relic chip relied on this program to kill the host's soul, and then load the digital consciousness stored in the relic into the body.
John understood. Lucy must have met Alt Cunningham and learned this technology. She was going to kill the soul of someone currently deep-diving, and then return to the unfortunate person's body herself.
Oh my god, this was Lucy. Had her Cyberpunk skills reached this level? She was 21 when she died, a genius trained by Arasaka Corporation since childhood. Now, 23 years later, there was probably no one who could rival her in the field of Cyberpunk.
Before Lucy's digital consciousness disappeared, she left a message.
"One day later, I'll wait for you at the Arasaka ruins on Parrot Island."
John breathed a sigh of relief. Everything he had just experienced was too fantastical. He had actually met the legendary Lucy and even made a deal with her.
"Wow, Master forgot me!" Amy pouted with her arms crossed, a little unhappy. "She only said she'd wait for you!"
"That's right," John replied.
"No way! I want to go too!" Amy was already unhappy about being forgotten by her Master, and John's perfunctory reply made her temper flare up.
"Oh, alright."
"Huh? You agreed just like that?" Amy was a little surprised.
"Otherwise?"
Amy's mood brightened again. Actually, it was normal for Lucy to forget her, but she was still very happy to get John's permission.
Amy secretly decided that on the day she met her Master, she would dress up to be especially, exceptionally beautiful. Because the moment John saw Lucy, it was as if he had seen a beautiful woman for the first time in his life, yet when she stood naked in front of him, he showed no interest in her at all. She was clearly very pretty too, and comparing these reactions, Amy was somewhat jealous. Even if she understood that John's expression when seeing Lucy was merely shock, she still felt a pang of jealousy in her heart. Therefore, Amy decided that she absolutely had to make Senior Brother understand that she was the prettiest one!
After the two returned to the real world, shattered ice still floated in the cooling bed. It was obvious that Angela had been continuously adding ice to prevent the water from overheating, but neither of them felt the water was particularly cold at this moment.
Amy extended her foot and stepped onto the smooth floor, quickly grabbing her clothes and putting them on. Because she noticed that John's eyes were black, meaning he hadn't activated the visual mode with all blue lines, she was afraid of being seen naked by John, so she quickly got dressed.
When Amy triumphantly looked at John, she realized that he had been watching her the whole time, and with his black eyes.
"What are you doing?!"
"Uh, what are you doing?" John didn't understand. Was she still cold even after just coming out of the Net? Why was she running to put on clothes like a monkey?
"Sigh, you still saw everything!"
Amy sighed, but John didn't understand what that meant. He had indeed seen her naked just now, but was that really important?
John didn't understand, and he didn't want to think about it. His mind was now focused on completing the mission as quickly as possible and then returning to Shenyang to report. For him, the mission was above all else. Originally, he had planned to contact friends in Arasaka's intelligence department to complete the mission, but that would violate the mission's confidentiality principle, especially if Arasaka found out. Lucy's inclusion was an unexpected bonus and also made John look at Amy with new respect.
At this moment, the voice of the artificial intelligence Angela sounded.
"Because, esteemed Mr. John Carter, I must remind you that during the recent deep dive, a major error may have occurred in your program. It is recommended that you immediately contact Trauma Team for a system security check of your body."
"No need."
John and Amy walked out of the deep-dive room into the spacious living room. Her brother, Mark Martinez, was no longer there.
It was already dark, and the electronic light cloud on the table emitted a gentle glow, illuminating the entire living room.
"I'll make a call," John said. Then his eyes glowed blue. Amy nodded, sitting obediently on a nearby sofa.
The call connected, and Ms. Johnson's synthesized voice from Kang Tao came through.
"Is something wrong?"
"I need to report something..."
John told Ms. Johnson about Lucy, and the other party listened in silence. It seemed even Ms. Johnson was shocked.
"She's actually still alive."
"That's right, and as long as we revive David Martinez, she is willing to serve Kang Tao. And she knows how to get that relic chip on Parrot Island."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and John waited patiently.
"That relic chip on Parrot Island is crucial. This mission must be completed no matter what. I will report Lucy's matter to the Board Secretary, but it's just releasing someone from Mikoshi. You can reassure Lucy, you will see David Martinez the moment you get off the plane in Shenyang."
"Understood."
This Ms. Johnson was also a mystery to John. Sometimes John suspected she wasn't human, but an artificial intelligence operated by the Board of Directors. Because sometimes her power was absurdly great, for example, now, releasing a person from the independently operating Mikoshi at Shenyang Headquarters seemed as simple to her as opening the front door of her house; other times, she couldn't even approve a few thousand euros in operational funds.
Amy pouted, not knowing how long he would be on the phone, so she said to John: "Senior Brother, you go ahead and make your call, I'm going to take a shower and change."
John nodded, indicating he understood.
After her shower, Amy planned to choose a slightly more seductive nightgown, which was indeed difficult for Amy. Because she found that John didn't react to her cute style at all, she decided to try a different style to see if Jo