Butterfly

Someone had hacked into my nervous system?!

Gao Gong forced himself to calm down.

He was certain that before he put on the "neural frequency amplifier," he hadn't been affected by the illusion.

Because without an "implant pod," interfering with simulated sensory signals wasn't easy.

To some extent, the "neural frequency amplifier" could substitute for an "implant pod" and amplify the nervous system's connections.

As Gao Gong ran, he pressed his thumb against his right temple.

There was a direct-connection switch here that could forcibly shut down the "combat cyber-eye."

In short, it pulled the network cable.

Smack!

His right eye went black.

The surrounding illusions froze. The next moment, like an old television with a bad signal, snowy pixels appeared across those pink brain grooves.

Just as I thought!

The only thing on his entire body that could count as electronic equipment was this combat cyber-eye.

If someone wanted to hack him, they had to start with the cyber-eye.

And cutting the network was effective against most hackers.

This was a concrete jungle. Electronic signals were severely disrupted, which meant the possibility of a "remote hack" had been ruled out.

The hacker had to be nearby.

Yet after only three seconds, the brain grooves resembling intestines began writhing again. Even the ground had gained a layer of soft, fleshy carpet.

They hacked in again?!

Gao Gong took a deep breath. The two statuses naturally attached to his skin, "skin respiration" and "cold-blooded," activated simultaneously.

Skin respiration: blood activity decreased, stamina recovery per second increased by 15%.

Cold-blooded: reduced his infrared radiation and lowered the probability of being detected by enemies.

The former reduced the processing power of his brain, while the latter increased the difficulty of connecting to his neural signals.

The sound of dripping water vanished once again.

Yet the next moment, countless points of light appeared in his other eye.

Aside from points of light in various colors, nothing remained but darkness.

It was like closing his eyes before sleep, with all kinds of points of light forming dreamlike patterns.

But his eyes were open.

Did they hack in again?

The thalamus has been hacked, and the visual system in my brain is being interfered with.

But the other systems have returned to normal.

Gao Gong touched his skull. It was hard. Then he reached for his ear and, sure enough, touched an "earpiece."

Although he didn't have any hacking skills and couldn't launch a counter-intrusion, in this concrete jungle where information was severely disrupted, the other party couldn't possibly hack him from a distance.

Not even the most powerful cyber cowboy could do that.

The underground system extended in all directions. Finding the enemy in a short time was practically impossible.

Gao Gong gritted his teeth and once again turned the "neural frequency amplifier" to its maximum.

The next moment, the maddening noise that made him want to tear off his own skin and flesh flooded over him again.

Gao Gong could clearly hear the sound of blood flowing from his ears.

Drip.

Drip.

Likewise, under the amplifier's effect, traces of the intruder stretched into the darkness like a rain-soaked path.

There seemed to be a tiny black shadow within the "rain."

Did it look like a butterfly?

Kill!

Killing the hacker would solve the hacking problem!

The miniature motors in his knees went to maximum output. Gao Gong charged forward with his knife, murderous intent boiling in his heart.

In less than ten seconds, after turning a corner, the rainy path was nearing its end.

He seemed to have crashed into something and was bounced back.

The Red Unicorn cleaved horizontally and vertically, cutting the opponent apart again and again.

This texture... some kind of metal?

Something grabbed his calf, but he kicked it away.

The hacker was right in front of him.

Before he struck, a string of images flashed through Gao Gong's mind.

The strange warden.

The deserted Cable Tribe.

His perception had been affected, and his five senses had been hacked.

The strange cyber hacker.

Professor Han controlling the reaper leader.

Professor Han?

Even if the enemy was Professor Han, he still had to die!

If Gao Gong didn't have even this much ruthlessness, he wouldn't be Gao Gong.

A butterfly?

A butterfly!

Not a cyber hacker.

Nor Professor Han.

It was—

At the critical moment, Gao Gong's blade stopped before the opponent's throat.

Only heavy breathing remained. In and out, in and out.

The amplifier's noise gradually faded away.

At the same time, the ringing in his ears disappeared, and Gao Gong's vision began to recover.

Beneath the blade's tip, Huang Yuanli slowly opened her eyes as well.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Huang Yuanli weakly cursed, "You scared me half to death!"

Gao Gong looked around. Not far away was the prison gate he had cleaved open.

All around them were terrified faces.

Not far away, Meng Duo wore a pained expression. A black footprint marked his chest—the print of Gao Gong's foot.

Fortunately, Meng Duo's body was tough. Otherwise, that kick would have done more than break a few ribs.

"Did you lure me here?" Gao Gong asked.

"I don't know. It felt like it was you. Thank goodness you came. If you'd been any later, it would have been too late," Huang Yuanli said, her face pale.

"Can you explain?"

"There's no time. Get us out first. I'll tell you on the way."

"Everyone, hurry! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late."

Gao Gong lifted her up, slung her around his waist, and walked out of the cell.

Seeing this, the other Cable Tribe members hurried after him as well. Meng Duo was supported by several other young men, and when he saw Gao Gong looking over, he forced an extremely ugly smile.

"That kick was too hard."

"Sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Gao Gong retraced his route and soon saw several corpses chopped into pieces.

Many people wore satisfied expressions when they saw the scene.

If Huang Yuanli hadn't been seriously wounded, she would have loved to kick them a few times herself.

"They were all under the First Elder. That old bastard has no humanity at all. He actually wanted to sell us into slavery."

"So you started a revolt? You're pretty brave."

"Of course it wasn't just me. I originally wanted to rescue Professor Han and have him lead us."

Huang Yuanli paused and glanced behind them, looking like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

Gao Gong understood and nodded. Then he turned and asked, "Do you have a temporary hiding place?"

"I know of an underground air-raid shelter nearby that hasn't been occupied by beasts," one of the tribal youths said boldly.

"Then we'll split into two groups. You go to the shelter first. We'll come find you afterward."

The tribal members looked at one another, hesitation written across their faces. Huang Yuanli suddenly cursed, "Are you all idiots? If you don't escape now, do you want to become slaves!?"

"We can help you!" one of the young men said through gritted teeth.

"You? I'll believe it when you can take two steps without falling over."

Meng Duo took a deep breath. "Everyone, listen to Sis Li. We'll leave first!"

Then he looked seriously at Gao Gong. "Please make sure you protect Sis Li!"

Gao Gong rolled his eyes. "If I can't handle it, she'll be the first person I throw out as a shield."

"Wow, you scumbag. After all the kindness I've shown you."

"What kindness? You nearly ruined my ears."

"You ungrateful bastard. Have you forgotten who went to all that trouble to find the big bugs for you?"

"You didn't exactly eat any fewer lollipops."

Only after the two groups had separated did Gao Gong calmly say, "Everyone's gone. Explain it. How did that Professor Han go insane?"

"How do you know he went insane?!" Huang Yuanli's eyes widened.

"If he weren't insane, could your First Elder have defeated him?"

For a scavenger tribe to have a monster with a Perception above 40 was already incredibly lucky. How could they possibly have another one?

Professor Han really had gone insane.

In fact, the young woman hadn't been recklessly headstrong from the start. Before deciding to cause trouble, she had wanted to find the professor first.

In her eyes, the professor was the smartest person in the world. There was no problem he couldn't solve.

Yet the professor had refused her.

"The professor still hasn't given up on exploring," Huang Yuanli murmured. "The professor said that only by opening that place could he save everyone."

"Didn't you fail?"

"Yes. So the professor changed his plan."

A trace of terror flashed through Huang Yuanli's eyes. "He wants to lure out the things inside that place."