Let Me Crack Your Skull Open

After all, they are just a group of United Nations soldiers with preliminary overseas law enforcement authority. In peacetime, any excessive behavior will be subject to numerous restrictions and accountability.

However, in an instant, Kevin thought of a local bigwig in the Tokyo area, and somewhat awkwardly pulled out the pink card that Arisa Gofuin on him.

Meanwhile, Akitsugu Gofuin, the head of the Gongen Financial Group, was kneeling in a bamboo hut in the inner courtyard, a wooden sword across his knees, a cup of hot tea in his hands, his expression as deep and unfathomable as the sea.

The recent surge in Hatsune World has made him very interested in the VR game industry that Kevin described.

It has broad prospects and high profits; if it's scaled up, it will definitely be incredibly lucrative.

Although Akitsugu Gofuin was both a political figure and an economic figure in charge of his family.

But who would complain about having too much money?

But the old man's peaceful state of mind didn't last long. Outside the door, his granddaughter, Arisa Gofuin, kicked off her high heels, walked barefoot on the cobblestones, and jogged over.

"Grandfather! Mr. Kevin is looking for you!"

With her hair disheveled and beads of sweat glistening on her nose, Arisa Gofuin hurriedly shoved her phone into her grandfather's hand.

Akitsugu Gofuin frowned almost imperceptibly, then reluctantly took the phone.

To be honest, he was not initially satisfied with Arisa Gofuin as his successor, but unfortunately his son and daughter-in-law passed away, Gongen Financial Group with only this one pure-blooded heir.

Therefore, having no other choice, Akitsugu Gofuin could only do his best to cultivate this successor. Fortunately, with someone else's help, Arisa Gofuin's performance in Toko City was passable.

This young lady, whose methods were not particularly skillful, gradually began to take over family affairs and her status rose steadily.

Previously, her decisive move to side with Kevin not only boosted the Crawford family's favorability but also revealed someone's relationship with the Kaslana Family.

Seeing the potential for profit, the Akitsugu Gofuin naturally increased his efforts in cultivating his granddaughter, hoping to eventually attach himself to the Kaslana Family.

However, as the head of the family, he cannot be easily swayed by personal feelings; this girl still needs further training.

At this point, the commander on the other end of the phone got straight to the Door Opening.

"I would like to discuss a business deal worth over 100 million yuan with you, Master."

"I only need to bring two friends to visit me for a few days."

Akitsugu Gofuin was slightly taken aback, subconsciously thinking Kevin was joking, so he casually replied.

"It's not Japanese yen, is it?"

Kevin didn't want to waste too much time and continued to increase the stakes.

"It will be at least in US dollars, maybe even pounds, it's related to the project we're developing."

"Or, would you be interested in investing in the Umbrella Corporation branch in Tokyo that is currently undergoing restructuring?"

Akitsugu Gofuin frowned slightly and subconsciously asked a question.

"Your friends aren't Kayaba Akihiko Kayaba and Rinko Shinjo, are they?"

"Their fame is too great; this old man can't possibly entertain them all."

Kevin's eyes lit up with understanding, but he cursed inwardly.

That old fox is indeed well-informed; he even has connections with the group at the Ōshima Laboratory.

However, the head of this conglomerate, who places greater emphasis on business interests, probably wouldn't be interested in the research at Ōshima Laboratory that isn't aimed at making money.

"Old Fox... Patriarch, it's about time to place the bets. Do you think these people still have a chance to win?"

"Don't forget, Arisa is also a survivor from Toko City. A lot of Void Ability User were moved to the Ōshima Laboratory, including some people arranged by your Gofuin family."

"Now, you need to choose a side..."

Kevin's candid questioning prompted Akitsugu Gofuin to begin seriously weighing the pros and cons.

He has a family and a household, unlike the whimsical madmen at the Ōshima Laboratory.

Now that things have developed to this point, these radicals who go against the tide will inevitably be eliminated.

After all, given its past in World War II, Japan's international standing cannot be improved by just one or two technologies.

Even if she succeeds, without protective measures, she's innocent but guilty of possessing a treasure; sooner or later, someone else will reap the rewards of her [Void Songstress].

The acquisition of Alstom by General Electric of the United States is a good example.

Moreover, their methods are becoming increasingly ruthless. Akitsugu Gofuin can easily guess that the recent case of the theft of corpses, whose information has been covered up, is probably related to the madmen at the Ōshima Laboratory.

Now, this burden is getting bigger and bigger, and the Gofuin family can't afford to take it anymore.

"I've long wanted to befriend these two geniuses. Prepare the guest rooms in the house for them right away, and send a car to pick them up immediately."

The old fox changed his tone abruptly, immediately adopting a hospitable demeanor, and sent someone to secretly meet him based on the address Kevin had given.

After the two reached an agreement, they didn't say anything more about it. Akitsugu Gofuin also returned the phone to his granddaughter, who was waiting to talk to Kevin.

In fact, whether it's the hundreds of millions of dollars in profits or the investment in Umbrella Corporation 'Tokyo Branch, what Akitsugu Gofuin cares about most is the Kaslana Family, this big fish.

After all, a simple business model is no longer sufficient to adapt to societal changes; the future will likely belong to New Humans generation.

The sprightly old man slowly rose, grabbed the wooden knife in front of his knee, took a step forward, and swung it, creating a sharp popping sound as the air rubbed against it.

At that moment, Arisa Gofuin was sitting demurely under the eaves, recounting some of her recent experiences to the person on the other end of the phone.

"When are you free? I'd like to invite you for coffee..."

The girl's sweet whispers reached Kevin's ears, sending a tingling sensation through him, but he couldn't help but break out in goosebumps all over his body.

"Want a reward? Okay, do something for me first..."

The commander, suppressing his discomfort, whispered seductive words against his conscience.

"Okay! It's my pleasure to help you!"

Arisa Gofuin, her face flushed, readily agreed without even listening to Kevin's request.

"Keep an eye on my two friends. If your grandfather has any ill intentions towards them... send them away..."

Kevin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not voice his depraved idea of having her kill her ancestors.

"Of course! Treating friends with sincerity is a virtue befitting a nobleman! I will absolutely not let my grandfather make a mistake!"

But Arisa Gofuin's illness was more serious than Kevin had imagined, and her brain automatically romanticized the commander's ulterior motives.

"Ahem, thank you..."

Kevin coughed instinctively, suppressing his dwindling conscience, and thanked Arisa Gofuin.

However, the girl on the other end of the phone seemed somewhat apprehensive, as if she had done something wrong.

"Mr. Kevin, did I... say something wrong, or did I upset you again?"

In her memory, whenever this man acted politely and courteously, someone would always suffer. Fear gripped her heart, making her shudder and almost burst into tears.

"Shut up! Get back to work! If you make a mistake, you'll stay with the spider!"

Kevin covered his face with one hand and helplessly uttered the vicious threat. Only then did Arisa Gofuin opposite him, breathe a sigh of relief and beam with joy.

"This woman, has she lost her mind?!" The commander was exasperated.

P. S.: As expected, the idea of letting her directly kill her ancestor was too dark, profound, and cruel.

Chapter 193, Section 204: Lift Your Skull

Ōshima Laboratory.

"It failed?"

The old man glanced at the mangled pile of limbs on the ground, asked a few questions, and after receiving a definite answer, left without a trace of emotion.

With nearly half of the "Shadow" unit lost, no one dared to raise any questions or complaints.

Meanwhile, several cybersecurity experts nearby dared not utter a sound, lest they suffer the same fate as the man who rose to the top in the "Five-colored Great Dragons Extermination Battle".

Shortly afterward, muffled sounds of smashing and breaking came from the room where the old man was staying.

At this moment, Sugou Nobuyuki, who had locked himself in the bottom-floor laboratory, grimaced and slammed his fist on the metal table in frustration.

In your eyes, I'll never be as good as him! Why should I?!

The "Shadow" unit did not intend to conceal its deployment, so Sugou Nobuyuki only needed a short time to learn that they were going to kidnap Akihiko Kayaba and Rinko Shinjo.

With these two brilliant and outstanding individuals taking over his project, Sugou Nobuyuki's heart was filled with anger and fear.

The humiliation of being scorned and the jealousy of being replaced grew wildly in his mind.

He lost everything, and now the [Void Songstress] project is his everything; he can't afford to lose.

Because losing... means death!

Sugou Nobuyuki looked up at the laboratory behind the bulletproof glass, his eyes filled with fear.

There, thousands of cylindrical glass containers are neatly arranged, and the ground is covered with a complex network of fiber optic cables.

In the purplish-red Nutrient Solution, brains, their skulls removed and supported by half of the spine, floated suspended, with electrodes and wires inserted into their dense neural nodes.

With the stimulation of electrical signals, the graying brain cells vibrated rhythmically, as if they were engaged in unified thinking.

Unit 1104... refers to the incubation chamber code where the brain of that cybersecurity expert continued to function after the previous operation failed.

Sugou Nobuyuki wasn't stupid. Now that someone had taken over his position, he, the discarded pawn, was very likely to become one of those bastards inside.

The fact that they were able to obtain still-active brain matter from nearly a thousand victims on the verge of death suggests an extremely powerful force behind them, and naturally, they would not allow such a possibility of leaking information.

In fact, Sugou Nobuyuki has also made various speculations about why Hatsune Miku, this virtual idol, can possess the same rich thoughts and emotions as humans.

But he never imagined that this group of people would actually put his rough idea about the human brain's Thought Network into action and succeed!

Using the brains of those infected with the Apocalypse Virus as small integrated units, and leveraging the enhanced thinking abilities granted by the virus, it commands approximately 10 living brains.

Since this virus also possesses the ability to assimilate thought, thousands of living brains can form a preliminary Thought Network through special frequency modulation.

(In the original anime, the consciousness of those who die after being completely corrupted by the Apocalypse Virus will enter the world of the Eliminators, becoming purplish-red crystals and permanently sealed away.)

So, after thousands of living brains have been cleansed of distractions, they collaborate, support each other, communicate their thoughts, and possess both rational and emotional standards of thinking—it's simply perfect.

Through continuous experimentation, they have even developed computational and operational capabilities similar to those of a supercomputer.

What's even more frightening is that this kind of thinking ability, reinforced by resonance and harmony, can already begin to interfere with reality!

The only drawback is that the main brain, unable to sustain the operation of the Thought Network for an extended period, is prone to failure.

Furthermore, the negative emotions of these deceased individuals began to accumulate deeper and deeper in their Thought Network, becoming difficult to clear. They even used these Thought Network to interfere with and hunt down several maintenance personnel.

Therefore, this requires a central control system that is not swayed by emotions and can use audio to govern this Thought Network.

Thus, the [Void Songstress Project] came into being, and Hatsune Miku, the best candidate, came into their view.

However, what they didn't expect was that during this process, Hatsune Miku actually gained emotions similar to those of humans. Due to the negative emotions of thousands of heads, she immediately rebelled after birth.

Without the support of the central nervous system, coupled with the upgrade of the Thought Network, the rate of decay of the main brain and small integrated units far exceeded the imagination of the people in the Ōshima Laboratory.

What's frightening is that, without the support of the brain, those uninhabited thought processes have shown a tendency to erode the security network.

On one hand, Ōshima Laboratory was unwilling to fail, and on the other hand, it was caught in a dilemma, so it began an even more frenzied hunting operation.

They even went so far as to create accidents to indirectly obtain the brains of Void Ability User in order to slow down the Honkai of their Thought Network.

Sugou Nobuyuki had no idea what kind of monster they were raising; these people might have gone mad!

In a daze, Sugou Nobuyuki paced back and forth in the corridor. When he stood at a certain point, his gaze happened to notice thousands of neatly arranged glass containers, each of which was clearly visible.

Wait, why use a single, fixed master brain to control the other sub-brains?

With shared thinking, if each brain is both the main brain and a secondary brain, it will be ubiquitous! Then the burden will be reduced as much as possible!

Sugou Nobuyuki seemed to have figured something out, and excitedly slapped his right hand on the metal table, cheering for his ingenious idea.

Then, this seemingly divine whisper echoed in his ears, and inspiration flowed freely Sugou Nobuyuki eagerly began modifying the program.

However, the man did not notice, from the reflection in the glass, that his eyes were gradually turning purplish-red.

In the deathly silent laboratory, thousands of skulls rose and fell rhythmically.

The bizarre scene, coupled with Sugou Nobuyuki's twisted and insane smile, appeared sinister and terrifying.

Meanwhile, in the Hatsune World, night falls.

Atop the tower stood a girl with long, emerald-green hair, wearing a diamond crown and a pure white princess dress. The magnificent hem of her dress was respectfully held up by Black Rock Shooter whose single eye flickered with a ghostly blue flame.

The remaining four "dragons" stand on either side like exquisite dolls, fixed to a crystal-like platform with a round base.