The First Disagreement / A Murder

It was meticulously documented, detailing every aspect of his life from childhood to adulthood, leaving no stone unturned in the investigation.

The details of the National Primary School Computer Championship, down to the elementary school level, were written down meticulously.

Did someone investigate her background afterward?

Lin's reading speed allowed him to memorize Qianqi's entire life story in thirty seconds.

Her parents were in a car accident when she was young. She grew up in an orphanage, was adopted, and became independent after leaving her adoptive family.

Lin couldn't find any fault with Qianqi's life, which was quite special compared to ordinary people, and her life that naturally led her to become an eccentric hacker. He could even analyze how some of Qianqi's characteristics were formed by matching them with her experiences.

Next came her hacking career, which Lin quickly finished reading. The ID "Unsigned Hacker" was indeed quite well-known on the dark web. She wrote down all the companies and countries she had attacked. So, she confessed everything without hesitation.

She said she didn't want to talk about the past because she felt he could find out by checking the information.

Lin exited the database, and his entire being sank into the darkness.

Are you overthinking it?

Chapter 120 The First Divergence

September 12th.

"Seahorse Effect".

When Mobius coldly threw this conclusion in Lin's face, she had just gotten up from the sofa in her laboratory, yawning. Judging from her sleepy but unable to sleep look, she must have been suffering from insomnia, with a stack of paper data in her hand.

After investigating Qianqi's background last night, Lin pondered the feeling that had appeared on him, and finally he understood what that indescribable feeling was.

Déjà vu.

Even before he left the ball, a deep Déjà vu filled his mind, as if he had experienced the same thing somewhere before.

"The two hemispheres of the human brain process information at different speeds, so sometimes information gaps occur, meaning that the memory system remembers first, and then the other hemisphere reacts, creating the illusion of 'having a familiar memory'."

"However, the true cause of the Seahorse Effect has not been proven. Some people even believe that the Seahorse Effect is the brain's short-term prediction of the future. Your brain's information processing speed is not on the same level as others, so it is unknown whether the Seahorse Effect is more likely to occur."

So is this Déjà vu caused by the Seahorse Effect?

After explaining, Mobius stepped to the front of the stage. Not sleeping all night was nothing to her. The three basic qualities of a researcher are the energy to stay up all night, the ability to think without getting stuck, and an extremely low moral standard.

She adjusted the instruments on the table, then patted the table to signal Lin to come over.

"Put your hand in."

Lin examined the instrument. He had never seen anything like it in Mobius's laboratory before, and Mobius didn't seem to be the type of person who was proficient in mechanical manufacturing.

"I had the Research and Development Department make a physical fitness test device suitable for Flame-Chaser." Seeing that he hesitated to reach out, Mobius casually explained, "You should understand that neither you nor Kevin are the end goal."

There will be more and more Flame-Chaser in the future.

Lin stared at the instrument, took a deep breath, and put his hand inside.

Since he had no sense of touch, he didn't know how far to extend. Seeing that Mobius didn't give any hints, he simply extended until he couldn't extend any further.

Mobius slid across the panel, and then Lin heard a slight start-up sound as the instrument began to operate.

"Confidential information was leaked from the database last night."

In the intervals between the repetitive beeping sounds, Mobius suddenly uttered a chilling remark.

Lin remained silent, his hands still on the instrument, calmly watching Mobius fill out the form, waiting for her to continue.

"All the data from WM—I to WM-IV show signs of being copied and then destroyed."

Regarding the information related to the WM series, Lin remembers that...

The inner web of a moth drawn to a flame.

"As always, the 'do-nothings' failed to discover who had entered the database and destroyed the data."

Mobius seemed to have thought of something and chuckled coldly, "Of course, you should know what I'm going to say next. That's right, they did discover that you went into the database last night."

"..."

Lin wasn't afraid of being misunderstood or framed. If he were truly suspected, Lin wouldn't be sitting here obediently waiting for Mobius to give him a medical examination; he would be sitting in the interrogation room getting a Truth Serum.

"Even with the Honkai threatening to Honkai, they still have time to fight amongst themselves. Humans never disappoint me, no matter what."

As expected, Mobius was right.

After Lin finished those tedious physical examinations, the first thing he saw as he stepped out of the laboratory was two people walking silently past him, side by side, disappearing at the end of the dreary corridor.

This should have been an ordinary scene, but Lin noticed the two people's synchronized pace and some subtle movements, indicating that they were not simply passing by.

Search in progress.

This is a time when we must avoid making a big fuss. The Speaker has already taught them how to handle internal problems, and a secret investigation is probably the best approach.

But... was it a database intrusion?

Having the ability to escape detection by headquarters' surveillance system, which is so sophisticated that not even a fly could get in, yet leaving behind traces of copying and destruction, is inherently contradictory.

But more than that, he...

"..."

A casual glance made Lin abandon his plan to go back.

A blank, pretty face was frozen as if it had been frozen into an ice sculpture. She walked stiffly from the end of the corridor, her trendy clothes, which she hadn't changed out of, had some dust on them that wasn't there yesterday.

She seemed to be muttering to herself, unaware that there was someone in her path.

"Uh..." She bumped into Lin and then looked up in a daze, only to see him.

He was a completely different person from last night. His face was droopy and listless, and there were some glaring blood vessels in his eyes. The once carefree hacker was now listless as if his soul had been taken away.

"... Lin, good morning." Qianqi forced a smile, as if trying to put it on, but unfortunately, she couldn't.

Occasionally, you'll see vendors using two iron hooks to hang up and pull apart the flesh at meat stalls. That sight perfectly describes Qianqi's current smile; calling it terrifying wouldn't even be an apt description.

"..."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Lin stepped aside, and Qianqi lowered her head even further, as if she were about to step into the floor, dragging her legs as she walked away.

He really didn't have much of a relationship with Qianqi.

Lin and Qianqi should have had a relationship that was like parallel lines. Whether Qianqi stayed up late playing games last night or was forced to work overtime by Mei, it had nothing to do with him. There were hundreds or thousands of people in the headquarters who stayed up late every day, and there were many who were in worse condition than her. He wouldn't necessarily care about anyone in particular.

Those he cares about usually express their desire to be cared for; otherwise, Lin will simply respect their lifestyle and wishes.

Qianqi clearly didn't want him to get involved.

Looking at her retreating figure, Lin recalled what Mobius had just said.

Hacking into a database—that sounds absolutely perfect.

"..."

Preconceived doubts are foolish.

This was outside Lin's jurisdiction, and he had no task assigned to investigate it, so it was just an event that Mobius mentioned out of boredom, which had only a tiny bit of connection to him.

More professional people will handle it, and who the prisoner is, whether he is executed or imprisoned in the Deepest Place, is not his concern.

So, should we catch up now?

Lin watched Qianqi's retreating figure; her single ponytail had lost its vitality and hung limply behind her.

He shook his head silently, turned around, and left.

Chapter 128 Murder Case

"Let me briefly explain the concepts related to the Divine Key and the Key of Blankness."

Lin Qingmei's style is to never simplify complex matters; she doesn't care whether others understand her theories and designs.

When she opened the containment chamber and revealed all eight Herrscher Core to Lin, even Lin was shocked.

Although it has been said many times, these Herrscher Core are the pinnacle of Honkai creature, the cores of Herrscher who control countless Honkai creature and wield power akin to laws.

When they appear together, does it remind one of the power of humanity that defeated them, or of the people who lost and sacrificed themselves in the process...?

"A Soul Steel anti- Honkai and god-slaying weapon powered by Herrscher Core. This is the definition of Divine Key. The core lies in 'Herrscher Core powered,' which means that this is a weapon that uses Honkai to fight Honkai." Mei tapped a few times on the panel, and the most Herrscher of Flames core among the several cores in front of her was sent to the front where it could be observed. "No matter what form the weapon is made of, it will not deviate from this definition."

Aside from the second Herrscher Core that Lin had briefly seen in Mobius's laboratory last time, this was the first time he had observed Herrscher Core so closely, a seed of destruction containing the Herrscher's consciousness.

It is as clear and transparent as crystal, yet as unstable as a bomb about to explode.

Each core has a unique color, which Lin cannot see, but he can determine the color by scanning with his helmet.

There was only one core, which was gray, but Lin felt that it did not need to be identified by scanning.

Like its own color perception, it has lost its original color.

Therefore, it is also the most stable of all the cores, a lifeless crystal.

"Heh..." Mei noticed that Lin had already discovered the core, so she stopped hiding it and pulled the core of the Herrscher of Reason from the Previous Civilization closer.

"However, at the beginning of the design of the Divine Key, I had already proposed the idea of the Side Key, also known as the Key of Blankness. This is the only 'Divine Key' that will not follow the definition of the Divine Key, because it is not driven by the Herrscher Core, but by the Key of Blankness Herrscher Core."

"This most stable Herrscher Core will serve as the permanent core of the Key of Blankness, allowing the Key of Blankness to maintain its combat capabilities even without other Herrscher Core linked to it."

Mei's introduction was surprisingly fast this time, perhaps because she thought that even if Lin listened to her obediently, he might not take it all to heart. So she went straight to the point and said, "According to our plan, Kevin will use the Divine Key of the Herrscher Core of Flame, and you will be the user of the Divine Key and the Key of Blankness the Herrscher of Death."

It's not surprising that after Lin's Hypervariable Surgery failed, he had already thought that Mei might try to make up for his "shortcomings" in other ways.

The original design concept of the Key of Blankness was precisely this: Divine Key primarily driven by humans.

"... Are there any other planned users of the Divine Key?" Lin asked, standing in front of the isolated transparent material, gazing at the core.

"The Herrscher of Thunder Core's Divine Key will be given to Sakura, while the main forms of the other Divine Key have not yet been determined," Mei added, before saying, "Adaptation and testing will begin in half an hour."

"Phew... Okay."

"Forest."

After Lin finished what he was doing with Mei, he went outside and ran into Prometheus.

Prometheus Unit 1, which initially appeared as his support AI, now seems to be completely independent and acts freely, much like a daughter who has grown up and become self-reliant.

"I'll perform the system's routine maintenance," Prometheus reported to Lin expressionlessly.

Speaking of which, last night Vill-V specifically mentioned that she personally designed Prometheus's clothes, and Lin, as if possessed, looked at Prometheus's appearance, which he had seen countless times before.

It resembled a heavily modified military uniform in every way, except for the addition of some of Vill-V's own preferences, such as the combination of black pantyhose and knee-high boots, as well as black silk gloves.

"Lin, what are you looking at?"

Even a brief pause could not escape Prometheus's detection, she asked naturally, tilting her head.

Is your body still mechanical in its internal structure?

No matter how you look at it, Prometheus's body no longer has those doll-like joints, and her pupils no longer have the mechanical pupil feel that could trigger the uncanny valley effect. If you didn't know her, you would just think of her as an ordinary girl who is cold and expressionless.

Therefore, Lin suspects that Vill-V used cloning technology to create a real human body, only modifying Prometheus's brain and inserting an AI.

"It consists of 63% mechanical structure and 37% humanoid structure."

Are there fewer human-like structures than before?

"Therefore, Lin doesn't need to worry about whether I have sweat glands that cause foot odor."

"..."

After telling a joke that might only make her laugh, or one that she herself didn't find funny, Prometheus walked up to Lin, stood on tiptoe, and whispered, "At 3:21 a. m. today, a corpse was found at headquarters."

Lin suddenly turned his head and stared intently at the expressionless Prometheus.

"An investigation is underway. No signs of a struggle or clues that could be used to identify the perpetrator have been found at the scene."

Has it happened again?

What was the identity of the deceased?

"MSA-650, Private, Erwin."

"...I see."