Me and My Encounter

Freedom Beyond, Deep Pit Hotel, a room on the third basement level.

"So that's how it is, I've finally figured it out."

As soon as the bird of paradise spoke, the wall began to change. First, a crack appeared in the middle, and then countless cracks emerged from this small opening. These cracks pieced together to form a large gate, on which the number 302 was engraved.

"Deconstructing the punk code, restoring the underlying visual data, and retranslating the avalanche software—only by doing all three simultaneously can this room be fully unlocked."

Although it sounds simple, these three highly skilled hackers spent nearly a month here before they were able to deduce the location of this encrypted meeting place.

House 320, Third Street, Donglun Special District

"Shall we go in together?"

"Of course, we finally found this place, how can we not go in and take a look?"

Then the bird of paradise pushed open the door and entered.

Inside the door was a place resembling a coffee shop, where a salon seemed to have just been held; there were still unfinished coffees on the long, dark wooden table.

Meanwhile, in the corner, there was an old-fashioned anti-disc player, but there were no discs.

Bird of Paradise pondered for a moment, then said, "Put in the disc from before."

Ah Hong did as instructed, and soon, strong, vibrant Baroque music began to play.

To the sound of this music, blurry human figures appeared as if the camera had been sped up, some sitting at a table with their legs crossed, others standing in a corner, discussing something silently.

"What's this, data backtracking?" Ah Hong whispered.

"Cyberpunk is unlike any encryption method we've learned before. It seems to require certain fixed conditions and circumstances to activate," Xiu Yue said with an elegant smile. "Like this."

Soon, the rousing music ended, but the aroma of coffee and cigarettes lingered in the room. On the long table, there was an old-fashioned folder.

The bird of paradise picked it up, opened it, and found a letter and some pages of numbers that looked like gibberish.

This letter appears to be addressed to someone named 'zero'.

Dear Zero, I'm so glad you chose to join us during the most difficult time of our career. I know it must have been a very difficult decision for you.

Only by transcending the constraints of the old society can we prove our true selves.

Now that you've made up your mind to complete the final transformation, after the vote at the "Cyberpunk Anonymous Meeting," we will take you into a new world at the end of data.

I know you are very proficient in cryptography, so this is your final test.

By the way, be careful of the "Information Liberation Front." They are different from us. We are committed to protecting privacy, while they are trying to use "privacy" as a special way to sell it.

Your, true friend, an observer who does not exist.

"Transformation location, information liberation front, cryptography."

Ah Hong, who had extracted these three key points from the text, stared blankly at the strange gibberish.

"Seriously? Another decoding? I feel like my head is going to explode!"

Xiuyue stopped laughing, picked up the garbled pages, and began to examine them carefully. Soon, she let out a soft exclamation.

"Senior Sister, this encrypted data looks familiar. Has this kind of thing appeared in Master's diary?"

"So you really did peek into Master's diary," Bird of Paradise gave the other person a deep look, then pulled out an old diary. Skipping over the rambling and self-praise in the first half, she found some strange symbols and corresponding numbers on the last few pages.

Ah Hong was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Could the old man be from the Punk Family? Considering the timeline, it's not impossible!"

"There's another possibility: he's a member of this organization," Bird of Paradise nodded at "Information Liberation Front." Judging from this letter, the Punk Family and the Information Liberation Front seem to be hostile to each other.

And through the old man's diary, a special coordinate quickly appeared.

Upon seeing these coordinates, all three of them changed their expressions.

The reason is simple: the location of this positioning coordinate is database 0!

"What a coincidence?"

"No two leaves are the same," Xiu Yue laughed, turning her neck and stretching. "But anyway, the mission here is finally over, and I can finally report back to Minister Gao."

"Sycophancy," Bird of Paradise said coldly.

"Haha, Senior Sister, didn't you say that Second Senior Brother did this to revive the old man?" Ah Hong quickly interrupted to prevent the two enemies from arguing again.

"Yes, I have endured so much humiliation and hardship, and you still say such things to me, Senior Sister," Xiu Yue said aggrievedly, her words and actions befitting a woman.

"I want to inform Minister Gao of this good news as soon as possible."

"..." Ah Hong.

However, Xiu Yue's expression soon stiffened, and her usually gentle and refined face was filled with disbelief.

"What's wrong?" Bird of Paradise couldn't help but ask.

"Rumors are circulating within the department that Chief Taka of the Ghost in the Shell Mobile Division killed Chief Human of the Humanity Experimentation Division during a meeting of the Six Departments."

Ah Hong and Bird of Paradise exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat subtle.

"Senior, isn't the Inspectorate you joined basically the Humanity Experimentation Department?"

"So, wouldn't your current behavior be considered colluding with outsiders?" The corners of Paradise Bird's mouth curled up slightly, as if he enjoyed seeing his junior brother suffer a loss.

"No, I have to get back to the department right away," Xiu Yue said, a rare look of panic flashing across her face. Without another word, she walked outside.

But as he reached the door, he paused, then said without turning his head:

"Given my current identity, it will probably be difficult for me to continue dealing with you for the time being, so I'll trouble you to retrieve the old man's ashes from Ghost in the Shell."

The bird of paradise's smile faded slightly. It gave the other person a deep look and nodded.

Successful electronic ascension grants the user a G account from the planet's mainframe. However, a failed ascension results in a backlash that completely disintegrates the ascended individual's physical data, leaving behind a "high-risk electronic virus."

The unit responsible for dealing with this virus is the Ghost in the Shell Mobile Division.

Meanwhile, in a corporate database, Gao Yuanyuan slightly raised her head, her eyes filled with the constantly being recorded data.

According to the older brother, another "professional knowledge chain" was soon completed.

What kind of reward will my brother give me then?

Thinking of this, Gao Yuanyuan couldn't help but smile quietly.

However, very soon, a bright red "prohibited" sign appeared on the large screen in front of us, and then this kind of red text quickly covered the entire screen, and the alarm sounded instantly.

How could this be?!

Gao Yuanyuan panicked. Although she was now a high-level information life form, the strongest on this planet, and those who were stronger than her could be counted on two hands, she still instinctively panicked when faced with an unexpected situation and without her brother by her side.

With a thought in her mind, her figure disappeared within the firewall. The neurons in her brain were like stars in the night sky, and the light streams generated by neurotransmitters were like shooting stars. Sometimes, when a person had too many distracting thoughts, Gao Yuanyuan felt as if she were seeing a meteor shower streaking across the night sky.

She once asked her brother curiously, if each planet is a neuron and each star is a nerve node, then is the entire universe a super brain?

She remembered that when her brother heard those words, his expression instantly turned quite serious, and unusually, he didn't tease her.

Regardless, when she enters someone's mind, she always experiences an indescribable calm, and her panic slowly fades away.

"Little girl, don't be afraid. It was just another little girl playing a joke on you... You run really fast!"

A slightly helpless voice rang out.

Gao Yuanyuan ignored the other party. She knew that some corporate firewalls were infected with an anti-tracking virus that would automatically enter download mode if a response was received.

She ran even faster.

"Young lady, my web crawler can barely crawl your data anymore. I am Alyssa. You should have heard of my other identity, the search engine of CyberNetwork. Rest assured, no corporate firewall can cover the brains of 30 million people at the same time."

In just a short moment, Gao Yuanyuan had already traversed 30 million brains.

At the same time as 'Elisa's' voice came a sneer.

Does she still recognize her brother?

That's even more incredible! This virus can actually read my brain data!

Gao Yuanyuan panicked again and turned back to ask her brother to check her over carefully, fearing that she had been infected by the virus.

However, a voice from the depths of her heart made Gao Yuanyuan, who was initially flustered, immediately stop in her tracks.

"Hey, you coward, stop running! If you run again, I'll beat you up!!"

"... It's you!"

Gao Yuanyuan stopped in her tracks, her face becoming complicated. She knew that no matter how powerful the virus was, it wouldn't uncover the secrets hidden deep in her heart.

Because this is not one person's secret, but two people's secret.

She is only one half of the personality named "Gao Yuanyuan"; the other half is another person.

"What, you think you can enjoy life with a clear conscience just because you gave me all those good things like fear, tension, anger, despair, misanthropy, and anxiety? Then what's with your current fear? Hahahaha, even if you cut yourself in half, you'd still be that coward hiding under the bed, too afraid to utter a sound. Unlike me, now, there's nothing that scares me anymore. I'm the real Gao Yuanyuan, no, I'm her upgraded version, my name is Gaokesi!!"

Gao Yuanyuan suddenly stopped, biting her lower lip tightly. After hesitating for a long time, she finally made up her mind. Suddenly, an aura of collapse burst out from her body, causing the system to spin in reverse.

The next moment, the scene seemed to be replayed many times over. In less than a second, Gao Yuanyuan was back at the original corporate database headquarters. At this time, the firewall had not yet been disturbed, and the ground was already littered with the corpses of electronic guards, piled up like a small mountain. At the top of the mountain was a girl covered in punk tattoos, blowing her green hair and lowering her eyes with bright red eyeshadow.

"Oh, Collapse Entity? What a coincidence, me too!"

An even more powerful aura of collapse emanated from it, and wherever it passed, all electronic firewalls were destroyed. Compared to the 'Rewind System', this aura of collapse was far more powerful.

Compared to the rewind system which was only half complete, this is a Collapse Entity that has reached its peak.

Honkai Impact 9 - Mutant Combined Formation!!