CHAPTER 287: CHAPTER 91: TIMED EVENT - ERO EMERGENCY RESCUE_3

[Anonymous Mr. Wei: 300-500? That’s a massive jump, can your servers handle it?]

[W: Please trust our servers, they’re totally OJBK]

...

Lucy unplugged the data cable linked to her neck and slowly got up from the hacker chair.

Her face was pale, and the data on the computer screen earlier showed several peak calculations, but it hadn’t reached the point of needing brain-computer overdrive.

Lin Miao noticed something was off about her complexion and quickly helped her from the hacker chair to a chair nearby, bringing a wet towel to wipe away her cold sweat.

"Sit down and rest for a bit."

Saying this, he was about to get a bottle of cola to calm her down.

Lucy grabbed Lin Miao’s hand tightly, unwilling to let go, her eyes showing a hint of unease.

"This person... there’s something wrong with him!"

"What did you find out?"

"I’ve rarely encountered such a situation before..." Lucy shook her head slightly, speaking urgently. "His modification level is very high, including his brain, and even his memory storage is digitized. But the problem is... it seems like his memory has been deliberately erased. Lots of data segments don’t match, and there’s no memory of the past three months, even the records of his body enhancements have been deleted. They stop at April this year, and before that, he was only slightly modified, relatively normal."

"Even in the more complete memory segments, there’s a strong sense of disconnection in his behavioral logic, almost as if... he’s two different people. Who did this to him?"

"... A troublesome group, but I’ve already sent them off."

Lucy’s discovery was undoubtedly bombshell news, and Lin Miao trusted she wasn’t lying, but it also weighed heavily on his heart.

If what Lucy said was true,

it would mean the roaming AIs could alter people’s memories, even distorting their personalities, unknowingly turning them into puppets to serve the AIs...

How do they manage it?

Lin Miao rubbed his head...

He suddenly had some understanding of the main mission. These guys were truly pure disasters.

But now wasn’t the time to go head-to-head.

Though Blue Eyes couldn’t figure out Lin Miao’s background and was smashed by the system firewall’s counterattack, it didn’t mean Lin Miao had the possibility of competing on the same level as them.

These AIs, hiding in the corners of human society, know exactly how to use their power.

If they fell out, who knows how many weapons and people they have; this is not something the Night Wanderer or Tiger Claw Gang can compare to.

To put it bluntly, if they acted rashly and directly targeted the agency, a few hundred troops could easily overwhelm Lin Miao.

But, as the saying goes: Stability, Rashness, Stealth, Harmony, Cunning—five tactics that counteract each other: Stability beats Harmony, Harmony beats Rashness, Rashness beats Cunning, Cunning beats Stealth, Stealth beats Stability.

Lin Miao was currently employing the Stealing Rune Skill, while Blue Eyes and the other AIs, though also stealthily growing, were in the Stability Rune Skill concerning Lin Miao.

They dared not easily fall out with Lin Miao unless absolutely necessary.

"You have a good rest first, and later archive this as top secret, don’t disclose it to anyone."

"Sigh... got it." Lucy sighed helplessly; she would never have meddled in such trouble before, but having met someone like him, what else could she do?

Suddenly, Gloria returned to the basement and looked at the two, saying, "Oh right, I forgot to mention two things."

"Hmm?"

"First, the military tech folks want to talk to you. I reckon it’s about purchasing."

"And the second?"

"The old captain said the Sixth Street Gang has begun finding ways to assemble exoskeletons themselves, and small studios have started appearing with counterfeit exoskeletons, pitching them to those small gangs."

Lin Miao nodded, "That’s good news."

"That’s good news?" Lucy was a bit flustered upon hearing this. She had witnessed how fast this business raked in money, and now that it was being snatched, Lin Miao was saying it was good news?

The numbers involved were ones she could never save up!

"It shows the power of everyone’s creativity is limitless. If no one imitated the bread machine’s works by now, that would be a problem."

Lin Miao extended his hand to push the almost jumping Lucy back down onto her stool.

Whoever was quicker to mimic the work showcased their higher capability; a creatively barren and stagnant society is no fun at all.

He told Gloria,

"Have the old captain help me check where that studio is. I need to meet them, and let Reyes reply to the military tech folks that if they want to discuss acquiring, they should send someone capable of making an offer, and show sincerity. Otherwise, there’s no need to come."

The middleman’s job is to act as an information conduit between parties, it’s safe and profitable.

As for the military tech acquisition, Lin Miao wouldn’t believe a word of it.

There’s absolutely no way any multinational corporation would be willing to produce it, and they might even use force to smother it in its cradle.

Because it’s not just about profit margins or performance strength, but how much this affordable civilian-priced external exoskeleton would affect the sales of low-end combat prosthetics.

Originally, what could buy two mantis blades could now be swapped for an exoskeleton set. Which would be more cost-effective for those small gangs?

The loss of big bucks is something they absolutely couldn’t tolerate.

And Lin Miao’s meeting with the military tech people wasn’t genuinely to discuss purchasing or patenting, but to discuss New America with them.

As they say, "Make America Great Again," and this is more than just a slogan Lin Miao casually tossed out; he was truly preparing to make America great again.

At least, it had to appear that way; the agency needed a shield in front, and he was willing to contribute a small but notable effort to that shield.

For instance, after a hundred or two hundred years, if the Easterners resumed their ancestral business and engaged in infrastructure construction and environmental protection in North America again, wouldn’t be out of possibility.

Of course, beyond inheriting the Eastern tradition, the Western tradition had to be upheld too.

Private property is sacred and inviolable; what roads I build are mine.

Only by combining East and West can the ultimate skill be achieved.