Human Desolation

It was already late at night, and all the lights in the houses were out.

All that remained were the dim streetlights and the narrow, secluded path.

Zheng Yuandong blocked one person's way.

The middle-aged man opposite asked, "Kunlun Zheng Yuandong? It must have been quite difficult for you to find me."

Zheng Yuandong slowly walked towards the other person, asking curiously as he went, "I investigated you. A month ago, you were just a repairman in the Outer World. A month later, you started wholeheartedly working for the Gods. So, are you still yourself?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Does it matter who I am?"

"Let me guess," Zheng Yuandong said, "Some people have said that the head of the Kamishiro family has always been the same person—it was him six hundred years ago, and it's still him now. I spent a month investigating this matter and finally found the handwriting of the Kamishiro family head from six hundred years ago. The handwriting is indeed exactly the same as it is now. Logically speaking, even cultivators in the entire Inner World shouldn't have such a long lifespan. I think the Kamishiro Family has actually mastered the technology of neural connections between people, and could even use it to rewrite the brain, right?"

The so-called neuron-connection technology first appeared at Keith Cohen's company and was used to control nanorobots.

Once manipulated, these little creatures can travel through blood vessels to remove blood clots in a non-invasive and painless manner.

Later, various conglomerates made breakthroughs in neural network technology, which led to its widespread application in various fields, such as controlling robotic dogs and drones.

For example, connecting mechanical limbs.

Later, some people attempted to reverse-engineer their consciousness by connecting to the network using neural network technology, in order to achieve the idea of mechanical immortality...

However, this technology failed because it was discovered that no matter how it was uploaded, consciousness would be immediately annihilated once it appeared on the network.

Some say it's because the sheer volume of data on the internet rapidly assimilates the consciousness uploaded by humans.

Some say it's because the technology isn't mature enough.

But no one has found the reason yet.

Only a few people know that it was Yi's brother who was hunting down all human ideologies in the network.

Later, when uploading consciousness didn't work, some people conducted an even crueler experiment: after erasing a person's consciousness, they used neural network technology to overwrite it with the consciousness of another person.

From that moment on, the body becomes a temporary shell, while consciousness endures forever.

This is a disguised form of reverse time travel. Although people from the Inner World cannot come over, their consciousness can overwrite the Time Walker and make themselves Time Walker.

This was also the method that Li Yunshou suggested the old man use, but the old man himself felt that life would lose its meaning if it were too long, so he refused.

The old man believes this is the dirtiest side of human technological civilization as it has developed to this point.

The middle-aged man opposite did not speak.

Zheng Yuandong calmly said, "Let me guess again. The neural network technology that covers someone else's consciousness may have high requirements for the 'covered' person. We all know that the brain is the most vulnerable organ in the human body, so it needs a strong skull to protect it. In the Inner World, many hackers use their own brains as servers to carry out protocol intrusions, and often their brains atrophy and they become vegetative in their thirties or forties."

Zheng Yuandong continued to speculate, "These hackers who live day to day may not care about brain atrophy, but the bigwigs of the conglomerates must care. Moreover, an ordinary person's brain can probably only handle one overwrite and cannot make another connection. Therefore, only people of B-Class or above can become qualified carriers, right? I have checked a lot of information related to the Kamishiro Family and found that every once in a while, a B-Class expert will suddenly disappear and then reappear a year later."

The middle-aged man laughed, "You discovered a secret that so many others missed. Since you're so interested in the Kamishiro Family, why not join us?"

Zheng Yuandong shook his head. "We are from different places, and we are irreconcilable enemies."

"Then the only solution is for you to keep this secret forever," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

The next moment, his pupils suddenly glowed with a silvery light.

Zheng Yuandong felt as if everything around him had become a double image.

It's like someone with myopia and 300 degrees of astigmatism suddenly taking off their glasses.

The dim yellow streetlights turned into halos, making it impossible to see the world as it truly was.

However, Zheng Yuandong remained calm. He drew his long sword and threw the scabbard aside.

Then she closed her eyes.

The middle-aged man asked curiously, "You didn't even bring a gun? Although guns are pretty useless in a fight like this, they're still better than a long sword like this."

Zheng Yuandong replied, "Everyone is asleep. It would be easy to wake up many people and disturb the peace."

"A battle between experts, and you're worried the gunfire will wake the residents?" The middle-aged man was somewhat taken aback. " In the Outer World, cold weapons will get stuck when they hit the muscles of B-Class expert, and they might even bend after a few more hits. You're using something like that to fight me. Isn't that a bit too childish?"

"That's enough," Zheng Yuandong said.

The next moment, the middle-aged man's legs suddenly burst forth with tremendous force, and he leaped more than ten meters away.

However, Zheng Yuandong, with his eyes closed, seemed to see everything and swung his knife forward to slash.

The two sides clashed briefly before parting ways. This time, Zheng Yuandong took the initiative to meet them head-on. The long sword in his hand moved with the agility of a graceful bird.

With a tearing sound, before the middle-aged man could react, the blade sliced through the diaphragm between the muscles of his arm.

With another tearing sound, the middle-aged man felt a sharp pain in his leg as the blade once again sliced through the diaphragm between his rectus femoris and vastus lateralis muscles.

In Zheng Yuandong's hands, the long knife moved with the precision of a surgical scalpel, separating two pieces of muscle that should have been stuck together.

Blood was streaming from the middle-aged man's arms and thighs. As he twisted his body, he threw a punch at Zheng Yuandong.

But Zheng Yuandong's knife seemed to have been waiting there all along, and once again cut open the septum between the middle-aged man's biceps and triceps.

Each cut, like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox, seemed to be aimed at dismembering the middle-aged man.

Knife skills are an art.

The middle-aged man was now somewhat frightened. He hadn't expected to encounter such a master in the Outer World. It wasn't so much about rank, but rather the difference in skill.

While brandishing his knife, Zheng Yuandong still had time to ask, "It wouldn't be easy for the God Era to find someone like you who has traveled in reverse, would it? First, they need Time Walker to replace a B-Class Awakened or Cultivator before they can perform the neuronal reconnection surgery. If they kill you, they'll probably feel very bad."

The intersection of Wangcheng Avenue and National Highway 103 in the north.

The Kashima Family's B-Class expert seemed unwilling to abandon the tanker truck parked by the roadside, even as the Jiuzhou members surrounded him, even as he needed to be wary of snipers, and even as he knew that Jiuzhou's experts would arrive soon.

They continued to fight, showing no intention of escaping.

In a flash, he passed by a Jiuzhou member, easily grabbing Jiuzhou member's neck with one hand and using Jiuzhou as a shield.

The short, middle-aged man said coldly, "To shoot and kill without asking why? Jiuzhou's actions are far too domineering."

One of the Jiuzhou members did not answer. This battle had been a life-or-death situation from the very beginning. The other side's intention in saying these things was not to blame Jiuzhou, but to buy time.

In the distance, the sound of a cane striking the ground could be heard. He Jinqiu got out of the car and strolled over, his gray suit impeccably tailored. "Were you waiting for me?"

The next second, a jade sword arrow flew out from He Jinqiu's sleeve, leaving a straight line of white smoke in the air. In the blink of an eye, it traversed hundreds of meters and pierced through a window.

A scream came from the window.

The jade arrow did not stop; it quickly flew to the other side and killed another person.

He Jinqiu asked with a smile, "Has anyone ever told you not to aim a sniper rifle at people randomly, or you'll die?"

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. He did not expect that He Jinqiu would kill the two snipers who were lying in ambush in the residential building with a single move.

Induction!

This is a sensing ability that only A-level individuals possess!

The ability to immediately detect if someone is aiming at you within 1000 meters!

In the Inner World, someone once looked at a certain A-level expert with a malicious gaze from afar, and was immediately spotted by that A-level expert from the crowd.

This ability is close to that of a god.

Some have said that if one reaches the S-level demigod realm, even if someone calls out his name from millions of miles away, the demigod will be able to sense it.

However, this claim has not been verified.

However, the middle-aged man had no time to think about any of that; he was simply shocked...

There's actually an A-level cultivator among the Time Walker in the Outer World!

Most importantly, He Jinqiu, the permanent director of the Hu Corporation Intelligence Agency, not only obtained the Hu family's orthodox cultivation method, but also developed sword and arrow skills!

It should be noted that even someone like Li Changqing was only at the initial stage of mastering swordsmanship and arrows, far from reaching the level of complete control over their execution.

He Jinqiu slammed his staff on the ground and then laughed, "Don't be so surprised. How could I possibly rule the Jiuzhou without any strength? Besides, I also want you to know that Time Walker aren't so easy to control."

In fact, not long ago, He Jinqiu led a group of Jiuzhou members to roam the entire Middle East, doing a lot of double-crossing and plundering. They had robbed the Time Walker of the United States more than once or twice, otherwise Jiuzhou would not be so wealthy.

As of now, few people overseas have any way to deal with him and can only endure it for the time being.

However, at that moment, the middle-aged man who had been stalling for time turned around and ran away without any hesitation.

Kashima originally intended to kill two birds with one stone by luring out He Jinqiu and Boss Bai Zhou to kill them both, but he didn't expect to attract a father!

This might be the only A-level expert in the Outer World so far!

He Jinqiu said with a smile, "Isn't it a bit too late to leave now?"

As they spoke, the jade sword arrow drew a distinct white line in the black night sky and flew straight down!

However, something unexpected happened.

The scene behind the middle-aged man suddenly folded up, as if someone had conjured up the world and space out of thin air.

The jade arrow, which had originally flown straight toward the middle-aged man's back, disappeared after passing through this space, leaving only two clanging sounds, as if the jade arrow had been driven into something hard.

He Jinqiu frowned. "Spatial ability? No, it's an illusion."

He walked in the direction the middle-aged man had fled, only to see the distorted space gradually dissipate, while his sword arrow pierced through the bus stop sign by the roadside and became embedded in the ground.

The trajectory of the jade arrow was not distorted; what they had just witnessed was merely an illusion.

"So he had a helper hidden away. Interesting. He can even do magic tricks." He Jinqiu looked at the intersection, where the middle-aged man who drove the tanker truck had disappeared.

Of course, the other party may not have run far; it's just that the illusion prevents them from seeing the other party's figure.

He Jinqiu carefully observed his surroundings. He keenly noticed that the light and shadow were actually subtly changing, somewhat different from reality, but difficult to distinguish.

He knew that the middle-aged man was probably still somewhere within 500 meters of him, moving slowly, his footsteps now silent.

Otherwise, with his A-level perception ability, he could pinpoint the location of the other party simply by listening to their footsteps.

"It seems there's really no way to deal with this kind of illusion," He Jinqiu said frankly.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of a sniper rifle rang out in the suddenly quiet night.

He Jinqiu suddenly turned around and looked. The source of the gunshot seemed to be only 700 meters behind him, very close!

This wasn't a sniper from Kamishiro or Kashima; the enemy was very cautious and hadn't even glanced at him once.

Etc!

He Jinqiu suddenly looked in the direction the middle-aged man had fled, only to see a radiating pattern of blood appear out of thin air under the empty streetlight.

"The boss during the day," He Jinqiu said in astonishment.

He thought the other party really hadn't come tonight, since he hadn't seen the other party fire a shot all night.

Unexpectedly, the other party did arrive, but they were rather patient.

The illusion dissipated, and the person who maintained it, seeing that their companion was dead, immediately fled.

The middle-aged man's body lay silently on the ground, a huge bloody hole in his back, his entire back and chest pierced by a sniper rifle!

A shooting distance of 900 meters is nothing compared to the reputation of that boss during the day.

But He Jinqiu couldn't understand how this Boss Bai Zhou could see through the illusion. Even he, an A-level, was at a loss for a while, but the mysterious sniper found the target from 900 meters away.

"This is too amazing," He Jinqiu thought, frowning.

What he didn't know was that although the Awakened used illusion magic was powerful, the scene he created was ultimately different from reality.

The moment the illusion was formed, the long street before the illusion and the long street after the illusion quickly overlapped in Qing Chen's mind, like playing a game of spot the difference, and he could immediately spot the differences.

Illusion requires the use of imagination to construct a seemingly real world, deceiving people into believing it is real.

But for Qing Chen, a fake is a fake.

Through the earpiece, Tang Keke asked, "Boss, we've roughly pinpointed the location where the gun was fired. Shall we go after him now?"

He Jinqiu thought for a moment, "I was originally planning to lure him into aiming at me, so I could find him immediately. But this guy is too patient and too reserved. He didn't even glance at me. There's no need to look for him. If you can't find him, he must have planned his escape route before firing. He's probably already far away by now."

At this moment, He Jinqiu felt that the boss, Bai Zhou, was like a lone wolf, and the calmness he displayed while hunting was terrifying upon closer inspection.

The opponent's actual strength is probably still quite average. Even with a sniper rifle, you have to wait until the target stops moving before you can kill B-Class target.

But such people will grow up eventually, and who knows what they will be like after they grow up?

"Boss, what do we do now?" Tang Keke asked.

"Go drive the tanker truck to a secluded spot," He Jinqiu said coldly. "I can sense there are seven people inside, which should be the replacement we're looking for. They did confirm one thing for us: the replacement needs to enter the main city area for the countdown to appear on their arm. Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to drive the tanker truck here. Now we'll know how to deal with any future reverse Transmigration Plan... They shouldn't be able to pull off something like this again in the short term."

Tang Keke said worriedly, "They have already entered the territory of Luo City, and now there is probably a countdown timer on their arms."

"Yes, I know."

After saying that, He Jinqiu got back into his van and followed closely behind the tanker truck.

The car drove further and further off course until it reached a deserted mountain wilderness, He Jinqiu finally signaled Yu Cheng to open the lid on top of the tanker truck.

Seven Time Walker crawled out of the jar, each looking extremely disheveled.

He Jinqiu carefully examined their appearances. "Li Changqing, Li Yu, Li Kan..."

He was stunned.

Li Changqing's importance goes without saying. Li Yu was one of the Li family's Privy Council's national National Policy Advisor, specializing in formulating strategic secrets. Li Kan was the whip of the Federal Republican Party, and it was he who helped the Republican Party regain the majority seat that it had lost for four years.

The so-called "party whip" is the party's "discipline committee member," and is also an important figure in unifying the party's thinking.

If a civil war were to break out in the Union, such a figure would be one of the corporations' most important political resources.

If the alliance between Kamishiro and Kashima succeeds this time, the Li family will probably be thrown into chaos immediately!

He Jinqiu pondered, "Are these people really that resourceful? How did they manage to find so many imposters for important figures?"

However, He Jinqiu was pondering a question: if the Li family could resolve such an important matter by simply making a deal with Jiuzhou, then what were the Li family's Time Walker doing at this moment? What was it that they absolutely had to do?

When those who had taken the place of others saw Jiuzhou, some were overjoyed, while others were terrified.

Some said they were coerced, while others remained silent.

Tang Keke looked at He Jinqiu: "Boss, what should we do with these people?"

After a two-second silence, He Jinqiu said, "Give me a gun."

Tang Keke silently pulled a pistol from her holster and handed it to him.

Everyone knew what choice He Jinqiu was going to make.

Someone whispered, "Boss, what if someone really was coerced?"

He Jinqiu said calmly, "I know some people were really coerced and are truly innocent. But a countdown has already appeared on their arms. Before our next crossing, it's impossible for us to search the whole world for seven gene serums to stop them from crossing. Besides, we don't know if administering the gene serum after the countdown appears will actually work."

"I have no intention of making any excuses, everyone. The world is just this cruel. You don't need to lift a finger this time. If there is any wrongdoing, I will take the blame myself," He Jinqiu said.

Tang Keke said, "Can't we control these imposters? If Kamishiro and Kashima can do it, so can we."

He Jinqiu shook his head. "The people these imposters are replacing are too important. They can't act it out. Jiuzhou doesn't have the capacity to withstand the wrath of the Inner World conglomerates. Besides, my deal with the Li family has already been finalized. The executive director position of the Hu Corporation Intelligence Agency is what I need most."

After saying that, he pulled the trigger and killed the seven imposters in front of him.

He Jinqiu stood in the mountains under the cover of night, the cold wind howling, the world desolate.

The chapter is 5,000 words long, and 10,000 words have been updated today. This is an extra chapter for the top monthly vote in August. There will be more tomorrow and the day after.

I need your guaranteed monthly votes! We're so close to first place, everyone help me beat them!