Debate

"Graphics Card Yellow" had clearly heard the last sentence and said with some surprise:

"Merkel, aren't you the fourth generation?"

According to business rumors, the Johnson & Johnson Group tycoon who looks so old now is a fourth-generation clone.

The fourth-generation clones, however, have clearly not experienced the changes of the times.

Merkel gave a mysterious smile. "Yes, I am already the fourth generation."

"Graphics Card Yellow" and Dr. Manhattan exchanged a glance, unsure of each other's intentions.

Only senior engineers could discern that the "biological information" on the other party was extremely ancient and definitely not a product of normal cloning technology.

Perhaps this is also a clone, but this clone is definitely different from those commonly found on the market.

"So, Johnson & Johnson Group has also joined the 'virtual reality headset' camp? You guys are brain-computer interfaces using the biological approach!"

"Dr. Manhattan began."

External brain-computer interface "virtual helmets" are all electronic products and do not cause interference.

However, it's hard to say whether a biological brain-computer interface can be compatible with a virtual reality headset.

"Dugo Technologies has signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson Group, and we will be responsible for developing a virtual reality headset that can match the brain-computer interface."

"Tsk tsk, Mr. G's methods are truly unpredictable."

"Graphics card yellow" sighed.

First, by assisting the Holy Brain Group, they successfully became the hegemon of the Northern Hemisphere.

With the added pressure of the "mech army," they successfully merged the super corporation in the Southern Hemisphere.

If any link in this chain goes wrong, it could even trigger a collective backlash.

However, by feigning madness and displaying his formidable personal strength, Mr. G actually managed to accomplish this, thus surpassing the Holy Brain Group and becoming the biggest winner.

"I can guess that you, Mr. G, teamed up with old Merkel to set up that 'skull,' but wasn't that burning 'Mr. G' you?"

The senior engineer smiled and said, "It's both me and not me. To be precise, he created me from that 'skull.' He created a Mr. G himself, and then used his last bit of strength to kill that 'fake Mr. G.'"

Of course, Mr. Merkel also played a crucial role in this process. He used some methods to confuse the 'skull's' perception. "Come on, I'll take you to see where the real 'skull' is now."

The senior engineer led the way, with the others following behind. Soon, the group arrived inside the mechanical mainframe, in a large weapons depot.

The warehouse was the size of three football fields. All weapons, regardless of type, had been completely shattered. Under the influence of an unknown force, the metal fragments had coalesced into loose human figures, and there were quite a lot of them.

"These are all 'artificial souls,' right?" A greedy glint flashed in the graphics card's yellow eyes. "We've been reverse engineering for so long, but we haven't been able to develop this technology."

Dr. Manhattan deliberately contradicted the other party, immediately saying, "These are all Mr. G's spoils of war; it's best if someone doesn't have any ulterior motives."

Graphics Card Yellow gave Dr. Manhattan a resentful look. "Your planet doesn't research energy, so naturally you don't know how precious it is."

If this thing can be successfully replicated, I can at least get promoted one level within the group.

The senior engineer smiled and said, "I'm not a stingy person. You all contributed to this war. Each of you three will receive a thousand of these 'artificial souls'."

This weapons depot contains approximately five thousand artificial souls, and three-fifths of them were sent out at once.

Huang, the graphics card developer, was overjoyed and showered Huang with compliments without restraint.

"Mr. G is magnanimous, Mr. G is bold, truly a man who single-handedly stirred up an entire corporate war. I told you long ago, Mr. G would become the new corporate overlord... What is that?"

The group walked to the center of the warehouse, where a huge transparent vortex appeared on the floor. In the center of the vortex was a faint human figure, with a skull face that could be vaguely seen.

"The boundary between reality and virtuality has been broken down, and this is the anomaly of 'sinking'."

Merkel squinted, seemingly lost in thought.

"Sinking down, you mean the kind of 'sinking down' that connects to the cyber network?"

Dr. Manhattan looked surprised. As a half-energy being, this 'vortex' felt to him like an unfathomable abyss.

Even the expression on Huang's face turned serious for once; he felt this even more deeply.

"I have finished my business, and now I should leave."

Merkel suddenly uttered this remark and then left without looking back.

"Gentlemen, there are also some mechanical cities with 'soul recognition technology' that I'd like you to handle," the senior engineer said without turning his head.

Dr. Manhattan and Huang, the graphics card expert, exchanged a glance. Although they still wanted to continue their research, it was clear that the other party had already begun to close the door and ask them to leave.

The "ding-ding-ding" sound rang three times in a row.

[You have obtained the faction-exclusive building: Soul Factory]

[You have acquired a Level 2 Civilization super technology, [Soul Technology]]

[You have acquired corporate assets: 200 billion Machine Coins]

And then the familiar electronic cigarette sound rang out—

"Your G- Research Association, through the implantation of virtual reality headsets, has completed the integration of the Southern Hemisphere's 'Electronic Brain Project' and automatically entered the third phase."

You have gained 5000 Mother City Trading Points.

5000 points?

If the senior engineer remembers correctly, the reward for the Dugo Group's assistance to the Sacred Brain Group in completing the "Electronic Brain Project" in the Northern Hemisphere was 50,000 points.

How much does the mother city dislike virtual reality headsets?

This thing can even be used for online gaming.

The senior engineer had a lot of complaints he wanted to vent.

However, he was soon drawn to Soul Technology and Soul Manufacturing Plant.

Undoubtedly, this is a supporting technology and product, and its function is to transform "artificial souls".

According to the system introduction, the "artificial soul" has many functions, including enhancing consciousness, creating virtual life, manufacturing virtual weapons, and, most importantly for senior engineers, building an information security house.

The "architectural framework" of the "Information Security House" is composed of the "Planet Host Firewall," but to ensure its absolute security, the internal building materials are equally important; otherwise, even the slightest gap will allow the memory worm to crawl in.

Among all the "information building materials," the "Artificial Soul" is the most suitable one.

"Gao Yuanyuan is going to be busy from now on," Engineer Gao thought to himself.

"Brother," Gao Yuanyuan said softly as soon as the person left, "That old Mr. Merkel is in some danger."

"What did you sense?" the senior engineer asked.

"I just used the 'Rewind System' to look through it, and strangely enough, I didn't find much about Merkel's past. It seems that his past was covered up by some special force."

"Special power?"

"Hmm, this power seems to be very familiar with our Collapse Entity. Just as I was about to investigate, it vanished without a trace."

"Oh? Is that so?"

The senior engineer thought for a moment, but couldn't find any clues, and said:

"Old monsters who follow the information route are very dangerous, so I've taken precautions."

"That's good."

"Alright, now it's time for the real harvest. Yuanyuan, open the back door of this 'skull's' head, I want to go in."

"Okay, brother."

Merkel walked out of the main brain area with seemingly slow but actually quick steps, carrying a cane in one hand and what appeared to be a clutch in the other.

His old face seemed to be constantly deep in thought.

Finally, he shook his head, sighed, and flicked his finger, sending the thing flying into the sewer.

Then, an aircraft arrived, Merkel stepped into the cabin, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

In an alley behind him, another shadow passed through the wall and walked directly to where he had just been standing. With a swift movement, the object that the other person had dropped earlier returned to his palm.

It was a pill.

White pills.

The news that the three giants had conquered "soul recognition technology" spread quickly, causing a great uproar among onlookers who were following the war.

Because once the situation became clear, it exceeded everyone's expectations.

No one could have imagined that this corporate war would end with such a dramatic outcome.

Especially in the various peripheral betting schemes surrounding corporate warfare, everyone except the bookmakers suffered huge losses.

"What's going on? The Northern Hemisphere is Mr. G's mercenary group, and the Southern Hemisphere is Mr. G's business association. How are we supposed to fight like this?"

"The Holy Brain Group must be in an awkward position. Its orders are probably ineffective in the current situation."

"Doesn't this violate the employment contract signed by both parties?"

"How much is the compensation? How much profit is involved in this corporate war? Can't you do the math?"

"So, what if the roles were reversed, and the 'Mech Legion' joined forces with the 'Research Association' to bring down the Holy Brain Group? Is that a possibility?"

"It seems very likely! I have to place a bet right away!"

Not only on the streets and alleys, but also at some high-end parties in the Free Shore, some androids with exquisitely detailed features are discussing this topic.

The Deep Pit Hotel, one of the best hotels on the other side of freedom, during a cocktail party.

"Neither biological brain-computer interfaces nor virtual reality headsets look very good," a android lady lamented, touching her face.

"It's alright, our bionic technology will do a great job of it, just like we replaced native humans," another bionic manager laughed.

"I really hope the 'family' can get these sorted out as soon as possible. I don't want to replace any parts this year."

In a corner of the party, a tall, masculine android was drinking, the liquor dripping from his lips, making him appear even more carefree and unrestrained.

Many android women lit up their "love module" when they saw him, but unfortunately, the android ignored them all.

"Sir, this is the last bottle," the waiter said cautiously.

The android A gave a strange smile, its mouth splitting open. Only then did the waiter notice that the android's tongue seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a strange thing made up of countless "earthworms".

Fortunately, this illusion was fleeting.

The waiter forced a smile, letting the other person rudely snatch the glass and forcefully gulp it down.

As he walked to the door and glanced back, his gaze suddenly froze. He saw that on every exposed part of the bodies of all the androids, regardless of their type, whether on their shoulders, faces, or scapulae, there was an earthworm crawling on them.

Fortunately, this is also an illusion.

When the waiter looked over again, the 'earthworm' had disappeared once more.

Beyond the shores of freedom lies the Deep Web, one of the three mother cities.

Every city has landmark buildings.

The Machine City is the "brain center," or the headquarters of a large corporation.

Each mother city also has its own landmark buildings, and among the three mother cities, there are only six iconic buildings, which are the headquarters of the six departments.

The headquarters of Ghost in the Shell is a strange building filled with electrical wires and data cables.

What's even more interesting is that there are countless data channels on the ground floor of this building. Every now and then, a phantom figure appears from the channel, walks towards the elevator, or goes directly to the storage compartment of a 'mechanical body', and then rides the mechanical body out.

The mechanical bodies here are all lightweight machines, mounted on a body that curves backward.

High mobility, high performance, and expertise in virtual and special operations are the hallmarks of this department.

Someone will probably like it here.