Act.10 Ordinary Love

Foreword:

Goodnight, my Little Kitty.

--Ernest Miller Hemingway

[Part 1: Be True to Yourself]

Within the cabinet of the Council of Five Kings, a series of briefings were being sent from the front-line outposts.

That was an important message sent back by Luo Ping'an from Ginza in Shinto City in the form of an avatar.

"People may hide their true feelings for various reasons, but cats don't." BOSS murmured this famous Hemingway quote to itself, took off its glasses, and looked straight ahead.

It happened to see the Hunter King taking a nap on the sofa by the fireplace, just as he opened his eyes—

Sleeping Beauty finally awoke, her face radiant with youthful beauty. Eight years had passed since Jiang Xueming arrived at the Nine Realms Platform.

Eight years later, the Hunter King hadn't aged, but his memory remained terrible. He was always like this, seemingly never waking up, always having the same recurring dreams, and never getting any rest.

"Excuse me." The Hunter King stood up, took the warm kettle from the fireplace, and went to the council's desk.

Her eyes held an apologetic look, as if she felt ashamed—the boss was still working, how could she slack off?

The goat milk was poured into a goblet, and the BOSS raised a claw and pinned down the Hunter King's arm.

"Thank you, but don't pour it for me now."

Hunter King: "How's the situation at the front?"

BOSS: "The gunsmith and Bu Liuxing have both disappeared."

Hunter King: "Did the gunsmith ring the Summoning Bell?"

BOSS: "Not yet."

The Hunter King's eyes showed worry as he muttered to himself—

"--I just hope you can come back safe and sound, I just hope you can come back safe and sound."

"They must be safe and sound, otherwise 9527 and 3301 will be very sad."

"Them."

Boss: "Why don't you go yourself?"

Upon hearing this, the Hunter King's expression immediately changed. Her eyes involuntarily glanced at the cabinet door before returning to Ming De's dark fur, her expression one of disbelief.

Finally, the Cat Tree Lady, both excited and fearful, cautiously asked...

"May I?"

"I was just kidding!" The BOSS laughed heartily, "The Gate of Wonders has sent intelligence that there is a terrible plague in the Shinto City. This plague is called VENOM, and Homo sapiens who enters will be given a small box."

"There are too many technical terms; I've handed them over to the researchers at the institute for analysis."

"But there's one thing I can understand—because of this little box, all the people in Shinto City have become half-dead zombies. They're possessed by ghosts, ghosts called Artificial Intelligence."

At this point, the BOSS lowered his head, raised his eyes, and looked at the Hunter King with a meaningful gaze.

"The plague must not be allowed to spread. Not to mention the railway system, if this thing were to spread to the mortal world, it would be a huge disaster—it's far more tempting than the Vita Imprint."

The Hunter King didn't speak, but nodded slightly.

The boss continued.

"Based on the information we've gathered so far, the two leaders of the Nameless Gang are still active around Little Kanto, and Luo Ping'an's Soul Might is still undergoing trial. The information he's sent back is quite interesting—especially regarding you."

The Cat Tree Lady perked up, finally getting to the point.

The BOSS recounted everything Heian had seen and heard in Ginza to the Hunter King.

"Ping An encountered an android who looks exactly like you in an arms factory. Do you have any leads, Hunter King?"

"That cyborg is one of the Six Departments of Shinto, codenamed [Zhong Kui]. In legends, he is a war god who drives away evil and disasters. The airplane that Mitsubishi once produced was also named the Zhong Kui model."

"The prototype of this android was once the wife of [Hot Wind], and her name was Shihara Momo."

"According to Luo Ping'an, he was startled when he saw Zhong Kui's image, thinking you had wandered into the Shinto City. He greeted you for a long time but received no response. Hunwei was also beaten up by the Night Patrol, making everyone quite embarrassed."

The Hunter King did not respond; she was waiting for the BOSS to finish explaining.

Ming De rummaged through thick volumes of documents and found crew information, as well as the Hunter King's servant files, duty records, and so on.

"My personal attendant, you seem to be hiding something—everyone has secrets, that's not surprising."

"It's surprising that even Victor couldn't uncover your secrets. Should I be surprised, or delighted?"

"Who exactly are you? Why is this happening? Do you possess some kind of magical power that even the [Hell Highway] can't verify your identity?"

Let me see.

The BOSS reveals the earliest crew log of the Hunter King.

"You come from the Igarashi family. Your father's name is Isoragi Meiku. Now, the captain of the Frost Moon Knights, Isoragi Youkei, should call you 'Auntie'."

"Isoragi Meiku comes from Shinto City. He is from the Kansai region and is an academician who returned to the research institute from the Shinto City Transportation Bureau in 1970 to engage in research related to semiconductor materials."

"You're Isoragi Meiku's daughter? That can't be right, can it? How old were you back then?"

The Hunter King pointed to the illustrations and descriptions in the document, unsure of himself. "It should be fourteen years old."

The boss nodded and continued, recounting the resume.

"You joined the railway system, and as a passenger, you quickly displayed exceptional psionic talent. Eight years later, at the age of twenty-two, you transformed and participated in the 1978 harvest season."

Hunter King: "Yes."

"The other four kings were all eaten by the Taowu, it's a pity." The BOSS's gaze slowly shifted downwards. "I remember that the laws of the Nine Realms do not allow children under the age of sixteen to carry Radiant Stones or clubs—why are you, a fourteen-year-old girl, allowed to run around outside like this?"

Hunter King: "I don't remember, Boss. You know I've always had a terrible memory."

"Your father works at a research institute, so stuffing stones and sticks into your mouth shouldn't be difficult for him." The BOSS clicked his tongue in amazement. "Then here's the problem: Isoragi Meiku has long since passed away, and nobody knows who you are, including yourself, you don't remember this, right?"

Hunter King: "That's true."

"Before you became king, Victor also kept a close eye on the passengers' mental state, and he was always doing translation work." The BOSS continued, "In our eyes, you've always been a forgetful girl, with nothing else unusual about you. You eat, drink, relieve yourself, and sleep like everyone else. Four years as a passenger, four years as a waiter, and you possessed Soul Power at the age of twenty-two. You're a VIP with exceptional talent."

Hunter King: "That's true."

The boss scratched his head.

"To be honest, I really didn't expect this to be from a waiter I've spent so many years with."

"How could it be related to the ghosts in Shinto City? I don't understand, I'm completely baffled."

"Your father named you Isoragi Chinatsu, but that name was abandoned after you became king."

Hunter King: "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten this real name."

[Part ② Reflection]

Boss: "So, are you Chika or Momo?"

The Hunter King looked somewhat embarrassed. "I don't know."

The boss sighed and continued with the mission briefing that Luo Ping'an had sent back.

"Based on my initial assessment, this [Zhong Kui], like other typical individuals, is Angel Infant cloned from the genetic prototype of Shihara Momo."

"They have evolved through DNA compilation, going through multiple iterations. If the Hunter King is still with you, it's best not to let her go to the Shinto City."

"She is very likely an Angel Infant, and judging from the timeline, she should be one of the earliest experimental subjects, around 1970."

"She doesn't have the Venom mechanism, but her spiritual essence still retains the Venom's flaws—her memory is very poor, similar to the Liman model, and she may only have a short-term memory of up to eight years."

"She needs to repeatedly try to remember things that happened before, even things she herself did, which gradually become unfamiliar."

"Events that were too complex eight years ago will become simple symbols. She may only know what happened, but it will be difficult for her to recall the specific details."

"The Hunter King often feels hostility and distrust towards you, a strange sense of alienation stemming from Harvest Season—she only knows that you've eaten people, and almost ate her too."

"In summary."

The boss pursed his lips, raised his head to scrutinize the undead—

"--Your father may have lied to you, my little servant."

The Hunter King frowned slightly, seemingly angry, but that anger faded over time; she couldn't even remember what Isoragi Meiku looked like.

BOSS: "You are not his biological daughter, nor were you born of any natural person."

Hunter King: "Is that so?"

BOSS: "When you heard the news from Shinto City just now, I could see the longing for home on your face."

Hunter King: "I really want to go there and see it, especially after hearing you mention it."

She thought for a moment, raised her hand, then lowered it again, her expression becoming tense.

"When I said the word '[Zhong Kui],' there were other things too. Like Night Patrol and Day Patrol. I seemed to remember something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, so I started to get curious."

BOSS: "Unfortunately, young lady, I cannot let you go to this place."

Hunter King: "Then I'll follow your arrangements."

Boss: "Don't you want to ask why?"

The Hunter King's brow relaxed, and he smiled, "I trust your decision."

The boss's eyes also became watery, and he didn't know what to say.

If Luo Ping'an's information is correct, then it is a certainty that the Hunter King was an early experimental subject of the Angel Infant.

This young woman was born in 1956, a time when cloning technology was just beginning.

In 1952, scientists had only just begun to study how to replicate frog somatic cells.

This is a sensitive issue for all of humanity, whether in terms of morality, ethics, or law.

In the short span of four years that followed, Shinto City likely frantically created clones of its core circle and researchers through technology sharing, and produced corresponding Liman models. This is why the Angel Infant came into being during the experimental phase.

Imagine, if one Einstein could develop the theory of relativity, what about two? Ten? A hundred? What level of achievement could they make?

Mr. Ping An and Ming De solemnly warned that the Hunter King should not be allowed to return to the territory of the Shinto City. She was very likely affected by [Zhong Kui]. The moment her physical body constructed the VENOM mechanism, she became a vessel for a ghost and turned into a walking corpse.

"This is tricky." The boss rubbed his forehead, feeling that things were extremely difficult to handle.

Based on current estimates and simulations of the various combat units of the railway, it would be extremely costly to relight the nodes of the various realms of Shinto City over a long and arduous journey.

This exploration mission deployed two T0-level combatants, who did not fare well against these cyborgs. There was also a young talent about to be promoted to VIP.

Shinto City is like a cesspool. If we blow it up, who knows if the VENOM agencies inside will start spreading a plague in the form of another virus.

For Homo sapiens, the allure of virtual space is far greater than that of exploring the underground world.

What is the most beautiful thing in the world? Is it receiving a reward after giving?

Ming De can only make one basic promise: work hard, and the BOSS will never treat you unfairly.

However, in the virtual digital world, in the community constructed by VENOM, everyone can obtain near-eternal happiness without any effort. It can stimulate brain nerves, construct false experiences, and allow people to obtain things that are impossible to have in reality through modules.

In this digital world, there is no ordinary, no mundane.

Every day is fresh, surprising, exciting, and dazzling.

On the other side of Haofeng Ridge lies a society devoid of vitality. The traditional Homo sapiens of the old era are dying out, and new archetypal humans are immediately building a new social structure.

Even if we separate these typical individuals into their own models and stitch their experiences together according to different elements, it would be enough for any typical individual to enjoy for a lifetime.

They can become typical young men, typical young women, typical fathers, and typical mothers.

There is typical love, which is divided into heterosexual love and same-sex love. At the same time, there are love triangles or multiple extramarital affairs, or different partners, different classic stars, and different modules of interweaving.

This type of love story alone can consume more than a decade of a person's life.

A typical person cannot experience all the modules in the community from birth to death.

These experiences then become new modules, and so on, in a continuous cycle, evolving and multiplying.

There will never be new classics again; instead, they will become derivatives of classics, derivative fanfiction, fanfiction of fanfiction, and derivative derivatives.

As Kang Que Connor once said, there is an unseen ghost that has gripped humanity's ankles so tightly that it can no longer move forward.

At this moment, the Hunter King came to the good cat's side, wanting to share some of the BOSS's worries.

"You seem troubled?"

The BOSS waved its claws and patiently explained, "Shinto City is a military-industrial complex. Besides Little Kanto, there are at least sixteen other military camps. This exploration was supposed to stop at Little Kanto. I'm worried about Bu Liuxing and the gunsmith's mental state. Although the VENOM we seized from the zombie train was inactive and showed no signs of electronic plague, there's no guarantee that those two kids won't come back with some unclean spirits."

The Hunter King calmly replied, "I believe in these two young men, and you should believe in them too."

BOSS looked up and saw the Cat Tree Lady open her arms, as usual, to hug the cat and let BOSS sleep in her arms for a while.

The Hunter King gently tapped the table, urging the BOSS to take a nap.

"According to the information provided by Mr. Ping An, Hot Wind and Bu Liuxing's brilliance stones are of the same color family and attribute. This is his inevitable path—fate favors the brave; he is a courageous boy."

"I think even if they encountered [Zhong Kui], or another version of myself, they would still be able to defeat them."

"The two little ones from the nameless family have grown up and are now strong and upright men."

Ming De climbed up the Hunter King's arms and slowly curled up in the Hunter King's embrace.

The Hunter King walked back to the fireplace, sat down in front of the warm flames, and slowly closed his eyes along with Ming De.

"It's break time now."

She was murmuring softly, always looking like she was half asleep.

Goodnight, my Little Kitty.