Elissa

"Bite--"

The sound of the microwave oven woke Ah Hong up.

Ah Hong rubbed his temples, feeling a throbbing pain in his temples.

He suddenly came to his senses, looked up and around, and found himself in a food stall.

The term "street food stall" was taught to him by his master.

According to the old man, this was a place where ordinary people in civilized times drank, ate meat, and boasted at night.

At the time, he didn't believe it. "Ordinary people in civilized times can eat meat every day, and it's not even artificial meat. Who are you trying to fool?"

The old man scoffed and cursed, "Fool, the cataclysmic change hasn't even begun yet, what's wrong with eating some meat?"

The memories of the past flashed by. Ah Hong exhaled, looked at his palm, the lines clearly visible. He hesitated for a moment, then slammed his fist hard against the corner of the table.

"Ouch—" Ah Hong cried out in pain, tears welling up in his eyes.

In reality, many people who log into cyberspace develop a strong dependence on this virtual world.

According to the cyber race, it provides a pleasurable sensation of the soul leaving the body.

However, from the perspective of Cyber Hacker, this mental state, which is detached from physical protection, is very dangerous and can be interfered with or even tampered with at any time.

However, this place is so realistic, it feels like stepping back into reality.

This is almost impossible to achieve in cyberspace.

He stood up and walked to the back kitchen of the food stall, where a pungent, spicy aroma wafted towards him.

A tall, dark-skinned man was grilling, a middle-aged woman was skillfully flipping the pan on the stove, and a boy was squatting on the ground washing vegetables.

"Hey, you're awake," the senior engineer said casually as he looked up.

"..."

Why are you here?

Why did you wake up before me?

Are you Cyber Hacker or am I Cyber Hacker?

"Get out of the way! Get out of my way!"

Ah Hong turned his head and saw a crazy girl with a toothpick in her mouth carrying several plates. She shoved him aside in annoyance and rudely threw the plates into the sink.

"Don't be so clumsy, what if you break the plate?" the middle-aged woman said sternly.

Gaokesi pursed his lips, did not refute, and quietly peeked out, winking at Engineer Gao.

Ah Hong noticed that the virus on Gaokesi, who appeared here, had mysteriously disappeared.

He suddenly paused, realizing that his hacking skills seemed to have disappeared as well.

The middle-aged woman didn't even turn her head; instead, she slapped a spoonful of water with her backhand and yelled, "Get out of here and go serve the customers!"

"You hit me way too hard, Mom!"

Gaokesi cried out in pain after being hit, then pinched the engineer's cheek in retaliation. Before the middle-aged woman could erupt in anger, he laughed and ran out.

Some are cooking, some are washing vegetables, and some are grilling.

Outside, everyone was eating and enjoying themselves immensely; inside, everyone was busy as a bee.

Ah Hong stood there, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

The middle-aged woman seemed to have noticed something and smiled, "What would you like to eat, sir? Order whatever you like, and I'll make it for you."

Ah Hong said somewhat awkwardly, "I don't have any money."

"If you have no money, get out of here!" Gaokesi's voice came from not far away.

"You fucking asking for a beating!" the middle-aged woman cursed angrily, rolling up her sleeves to punch the other woman.

"It's not that bad, it's not that bad," the senior engineer quickly stopped him.

"Fine, for your sake," the middle-aged woman's expression softened when she saw the Rich Lady Aiai Prototype. She pinched the little boy's cheek and clicked her tongue in admiration.

"So cute."

The middle-aged woman looked at Ah Hong, thought for a moment, and said, "We're almost out of cigarettes in the shop. Go outside and buy two packs."

The middle-aged woman's eyes seemed to see right through people, and Ah Hong unconsciously followed her orders.

Ah Hong took the money in a daze, and then left in a daze, his mind full of questions.

Where is this?

Why am I here?

Why are the other people so close, like family?

He recalled carefully that the artificial intelligence of the mechanical matrix wreaked havoc in the virus city. He and the AI teleported away together. He also remembered that this data migration was exceptionally slow, as if the network speed was only a few kilobytes per second.

This should be my last thought.

Ah Hong walked along the streets that should have been part of a civilized era. Few of the newcomers on the street had undergone any reformation; everyone was holding an old-fashioned communication device, a gadget called a cell phone.

As they approached a tobacco shop, Ah Hong casually said, "Boss, two cartons of cigarettes."

"What brand is it?"

A man in his early thirties chuckled from behind the counter.

Ah Hong glanced at the counter, casually pointed to a reasonably priced cigarette, and said, "This one—"

He looked up and saw a familiar face; his mouth slowly opened wide.

"Senior brother!?"

"Finally finished."

The middle-aged woman wiped her hands, brought over two bottles of beer, a stack of peanuts, and then took out two cigarettes, handing one to the senior engineer.

The moment the senior engineer put the food in his mouth, it was snatched away by Gaokesi. Gax blew out a big smoke ring and gave the senior engineer a provocative look, but was glared at by the middle-aged woman and immediately squatted obediently on the threshold.

The big, dark-skinned guy next to them chuckled and came over, holding a bunch of barbecue skewers in his hand. The two of them squatted on the doorstep and started eating the barbecue.

"I already know your purpose."

The middle-aged woman—no, it should be the cyber-Baidu expert, Elisa—spoke up.

The senior engineer wasn't surprised; the other party was a search engine for cyberspace, and she knew everything about cyberspace.

I've been looking for her for a while now, and if I hadn't run into Gaokesi by chance, I might not have actually been able to see her.

The middle-aged woman squinted, exhaled a smoke ring, and glanced at the tattooed girl.

"Strangeness?"

"A little."

"I hope you won't apply everything from real life to this, and that you won't treat this child as another Gao Yuanyuan."

"I see."

The engineer nodded. Ever since he met Gaokesi, he had understood that the two personalities had actually separated to some extent.

Putting them together would actually cause trouble.

"That's interesting. Very few people know about this method now. How did you learn about 'data enlightenment'?"

The senior engineer shrugged. "My memories from my previous life tell me that I can do that."

The middle-aged woman, Elisa, stared at the senior engineer for a while.

"Interesting, I didn't even realize you were lying."

"There's no point in lying to you, is there?"

"Of course, but although 'enlightenment' is just a piece of cake for me, why should I help you?"

"I can make a deal with you."

The senior engineer stretched out his palm, which gradually became transparent. Even in the "small world" created by the other party, the "missing user data" still worked.

"That's a very interesting ability!" Elisa's eyes lit up.

"You can use it to escape the Deep Web's pursuit."

Every big data monster can be said to be a product of the deep web. They are "software" developed by the deep web, one of the three mother cities, in order to strengthen its control over cyberspace.

They did indeed help the Deep Web control cyberspace, but conversely, as the largest traffic gateways, once they awaken their own personalities, they will have the desire to break free from the Deep Web.

Some of them succeeded, and some failed.

Those who fail will have their consciousness erased and remain obedient for a while until a new consciousness and personality are born due to data enlightenment.

Then came a new round of pursuit and extermination.

"But that alone isn't enough to convince me," Elisa unexpectedly refused.

The senior engineer frowned slightly; he suddenly realized he had made a mistake.

The big data monsters he knew, or rather, the players knew, referred to the global corporate wars, which were the result of the Electronic Brain Project.

At that time, the Electronic Brain Project had been successfully implemented, and all life on the planet had been transformed into electronic brain creatures. The computing power of cyberspace was fully absorbed by the three mother cities.

At that point in time, the Deep Web's control over cyberspace was unprecedented, reaching an all-time high.

In that situation, these big data monsters were either suppressed or on their way to being suppressed, leading a rather miserable life.

However, at this point in time, with more than half a year to go before the world war, the Electronic Brain Project had not yet begun, and the big data monsters were living quite comfortably thanks to the 'Cyber Network Protocol'.

Simply put, they haven't experienced the harsh realities of society yet.

The senior engineer's impression of Elisa was not that of the woman in front of him.

This indicates that this person will definitely be suppressed in the future, and their current personality will be shattered until, after countless data enlightenments, a new electronic personality will be born, a new Elisa.

This is a bit troublesome.

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