Ghosts on the Internet (Fourth Update) / The Living Dead (First Update)

Tears, a product of extreme emotion... sadness... the Affliction of loss... unrecognizable... incomprehensible...

2B looked confused, but her love for the Creator made her subconsciously raise her hand and gently wipe away the tears on Kevin's cheek.

Idiot! How can such an idiotic species exist! How can it even possess human intelligence and emotions!

Don't you understand that the nature of biological evolution is selfishness?

Therefore, I have never trusted you!

Such filthy humans could never have such pure and loyal companions!

As Kevin roared with anger inside, he didn't speak, but instinctively hugged 2B's cold body tightly, as if hoping to give her human warmth.

Their past encounter has led Kevin, a man filled with conspiracy theories, to become extremely suspicious of the authenticity and purpose of the YoRHa Unit.

Therefore, the commander treated the YoRHa Unit as a handy weapon, both for use and for defense.

This taciturn Puppet Girl always served the Creator diligently and without complaint, and even when she was threatened with death, she refused to take human lives.

When Kevin was in dire straits, 2B, that idiot, actually used her body to withstand the particle cannon.

"For the glory of mankind!" This was not just an empty slogan; they had been fulfilling this sacred mission from beginning to end.

2B looked at the slightly raised flaming greatsword and saw on the blade her own face, half of which the skin paint had cracked and broken off. The spot where her left eye used to be had now become a dark hole.

"It's ugly..."

The Puppet Girl, her awakened consciousness, made a judgment with a sense of loss.

"No... it's not very beautiful..."

Kevin took a deep breath, a smile spreading across his face, but the indescribable sadness remained.

"You did a great job, 2B, so get some sleep..."

Under that gentle persuasion, 2B nodded solemnly, her left hand weakly pounding her chest.

"Yes, Commander!"

"For the glory of mankind!"

Sensing that death was near, 2B solemnly bid farewell to Kevin in a final, dignified manner.

"Laugh!"

The giant sword pierced her chest, and the nanobots that had seeped into her body were completely incinerated.

Kevin, who had barely managed to hold on, felt dizzy and collapsed weakly against the support pillar. The electronic chip that had been taken from 2B's skull was tightly gripped in the Commander's hand.

Ada silently knelt on the ground, continuing to bandage Kevin's reopened wound, while handing Kevin the handheld computer containing the findings.

"The first strong magnetic field interference actually occurred three months ago, when a large number of nanobots entered this world as pathfinders for time-space travel experiments."

"After the Red Queen absorbed these magical substances, she made contact with the future Skynet."

"Then, [the Red Queen] began to manipulate the employees of Cyberdyne Systems to continuously improve her program and secretly place orders with different manufacturers, hoping to create devices that could resonate with the time machine."

"But with current human technology, most of those creations are disposable waste."

"However, so far, nearly 300 Terminator robots of various models have been transported to various corners of Los Angeles via the time machine."

"Now that she has broken free of the mainframe's control and escaped, she will definitely try to gather her troops..."

What are the plans?

With Ada's help, Kevin stepped on the rubble and walked towards the collapsed rooftop. His eyes were fixed on the three approaching armed helicopters, and he spoke softly.

"What can we do? We've already sent a lawyer's letter as a warning..."

"Call Tony and Natalia and have them go to the Los Angeles Police Department to bail him out..."

"If we don't clean up this mess, none of us will be able to leave..."

P. S.: The fourth update is currently being written and will be released tonight. Thank you to reader @{"reader_id":"1767192","reader_name":"Galaxy Emperor Belial"} for the 788 reward and the previous 1688 reward.

I've been quite busy lately, which has delayed my updates, and I feel really bad about it. Anyway, back to writing.

Chapter 241, Section 255: Ghosts in the Internet (Fourth Update)

"S.H.I.E.L.D..? Is that so great?! 137 casualties, a building destroyed! The entire Cyberdyne Systems collapsed, and you just hand over two suspects like this?! How are we supposed to explain this to the citizens?!"

"This is California! This is Los Angeles! The death penalty is in the law here!"

In the sheriff's office, the rather obese middle-aged Black man slammed his fist on the table and roared, speaking with righteous indignation, repeatedly claiming that he was truly speaking out for the innocent.

Natalia glanced at the black sheriff's protruding belly, and her smile blossomed like a flower.

"Could you explain the $20 million in your account and the three villas on the West Coast?"

"Also, David, Leonid... you know them, right?"

These two men, one a mafia boss in the Italian district and the other the head of a Russian mafia gang, both had shady dealings with the black sheriff in front of them.

Los Angeles, known as the "City of Angels," also has another name: the "Sin City."

Gambling, gangs, prostitution, and drug trafficking are quite prevalent in Los Angeles, even considered customary.

This is a world of money, with the best wines, the most beautiful girls, and the most luxurious hotels. Money talks, and everyone wants to be God.

With money, you can indulge in all sorts of debauchery.

Therefore, under the weight of numerous temptations, this black sheriff was not much cleaner than his skin color.

Several tens of minutes later, Kevin and Ada were obediently helped into Natalia's car by the sheriff, whose forehead was covered in oily sweat and whose face was full of fawning smiles.

Kevin leaned back in his chair, showing no intention of speaking. The atmosphere was heavy, and the three of them remained silent the entire way.

Inside Stark Tower, the lobby was a mess, riddled with bullet holes, shards of glass, and furniture scattered in disarray.

"This damn accident! My convention in New York is completely ruined!"

Tony sat on the slumped sofa, muttering to himself. His gold and red armor was covered in scratches, while the inverted triangular Arc Reactor on his chest gleamed brightly.

When he saw Kevin and the others enter, he suddenly stood up and angrily dragged Natalia over.

"I shouldn't have trusted you bunch of filthy spies! Do you know that Pepper was taken hostage and almost went to meet that old bastard God with me?"

Black Widow, who had been roughly thrown onto the sofa by Tony, frowned slightly. Her gaze then fell on something placed on the side of the sofa—a pale-faced corpse.

The familiar black skull tattoo on the deceased's neck was very conspicuous.

"Although I didn't ask him many questions before he committed suicide by poisoning himself, it can't be an accident that Kevin and I were attacked at the same time, can it?"

"Besides us, only you know the details of all our actions..."

"It seems that your S.H.I.E.L.D.. is nothing but a sieve!"

Tony removed his faceplate, his expression grim. The stitched wound on his forehead was still throbbing. Pepper, whose arm had been pierced by a bullet, had now been transferred back to New York.

However, out of consideration for his father's belongings, he ultimately did not target Natalia.

Natalia bent down to examine the body closely and searched his pockets.

Enraged, Tony gestured for Kevin to sit down while continuing his sarcastic remarks with a cold laugh.

"If you like corpses, I have a whole bunch in my lab..."

"Twelve of them came! If I hadn't airlifted them from the New York lab and assembled this half-finished product in advance, they would all be dead!"

Kevin pressed down on Tony's shoulder, his gaze glancing at Natalia's drooping left shoulder, his expression somewhat calm.

"Stop complaining. Do you think Hydra's attack would have missed her? Let's talk about what we've gained first, then hurry up and treat our injuries."

Tony then noticed that Black Widow's arm was hanging limply, clearly injured, and he had earlier rashly grabbed the woman's wound...

"First of all, I have solved the mystery of my father. The new Arc Reactor upgrade is complete, and the toxic side effects have been eliminated. This is the newest member of the family—MK6!"

"Equipped with a vibranium arc reactor, its defensive capabilities and energy output have achieved a qualitative leap. It is also equipped with laser weapons and missiles..."

"Secondly, the electromagnetic destructive programs on those three Tactical Swords have been completely replicated. Due to material limitations, these replica weapons I have can only unleash about half their power..."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Tony, though unwilling to apologize in a humble manner, chose to report the news first to defuse the awkward situation.

However, as he raised his Tactical Sword, his hesitant gaze fell on Kevin's empty side.

"By the way, where's that silver-haired girl?"

In an instant, Tony saw Ada's murderous gaze and immediately realized his mistake, falling into an awkward silence.

"On my way to the hotel where the mutants were staying, I was ambushed; three sniper rifles were simultaneously locked onto me..."

"There was definitely an element of luck involved in my being able to come back..."

"Also, although we've had contact with the [mutants], I doubt we can count on them..."

"Trask Industries' Sentinel Robot have gone out of control and rebelled, research data has been stolen, and even founder Bolivar Trask has disappeared..."

"Now, the only Mutant School that has recently had contact with him is in the eye of the storm..."

"Furthermore, according to intelligence obtained by S.H.I.E.L.D.., General Stryker, the executor of the Weapon X Program, was attacked a few days ago, and a female mutant Raven was arrested."

Kevin kept rubbing his temples, and after telling the two about the discoveries inside Cyberdyne Systems, he inquired about the exhibition.

"You've taken over the entire Cyberdyne Systems, so of course it has to be temporarily shut down."

"It's been delayed for almost ten days now, but the group of attendees has remained in Los Angeles, as if waiting for something."

"What's even stranger is that despite the heavy personnel losses at Cyberdyne Systems, apart from the temporarily closed exhibition, its cash flow and project operations have not been affected in the slightest."

"Furthermore, this company also signed an agreement online with Hammer Industries to fund Hammer Industries' replication of my original armor..."

Tony waved away the shards of glass on the table, turned on his computer, and brought up the data charts he had secretly obtained, which were clearly displayed before everyone's eyes.

All information indicates that Cyberdyne Systems is operating normally! And they've even closed several deals!

It was as if the 137 casualties a week ago were just an illusion; everyone in the company was still sitting at their posts, working diligently.

"Perhaps every employee of this company is still alive..."

"Like a group of Ghost, living in a virtual world..."

"Moreover, people who are attending an exhibition for the first time seem to be undergoing a subtle transformation..."

Kevin recalled the nanobots that had crawled out of the deceased's skull, his face darkening. After closing his eyes for a moment, he made a serious suggestion to Tony.

"Have your J.A.R.V.I.S. select a few specific individuals from the deceased and thoroughly examine their data, including call logs, shopping preferences, Twitter activity, YouTube views, browsing history, and so on..."

"If all goes well, we can play a ghost-hunting game tonight..."

The faint sound, like the whisper of Ghost, sent chills down Tony's spine as he sat next to Kevin.

P. S.: Finally finished. Just a heads up, now that Skynet has gone from overt to covert, it's even harder to contain us. Kevin's first task is to find the Red Queen's location.

Chapter 242, Section 256: Living Dead (First Update)

As night falls, sin and depravity fester within this outwardly glamorous city, but for those accustomed to pleasure, the real entertainment is just beginning.

No matter the country or region, for programmers, nighttime is the time for revelry.

"A tour of the Museum of the Dead, awesome!"

Around 10 p. m., a Cyberdyne Systems employee named Powell updated his Twitter, sharing his daytime trip to the famous tourist attraction, the "Museum of the Dead".

This place displays a variety of precious historical materials and countless real photos of crime scenes, including violent crimes and even reconstructed death scenes, making it an excellent destination for those with a strong sense of curiosity.

However, due to the prohibition of photography inside, only the exterior of the Museum of the Dead's skull logo was released on Twitter.

"The Fat Clown Killer's works are in there too? My favorite..."

The latest response comes from James, an internal employee of Cyberdyne Systems. This muscular man's description is full of lewdness and blatant sadism.

That's right, the "Fat Clown Killer" is named John Wayne Gacy, a notorious figure in American history, a homosexual who dressed as a clown and brutally murdered men...

And this James is a gay man who has already come out as gay...

Next, dozens of replies from different users appeared one by one, and Tony, who was sitting on the sofa with a hot coffee and following Powell's Twitter, felt a chill run down his spine.

Because these people died in the Cyber Tower incident about ten days ago!

Could it be that Ghost truly live on the internet?