CHAPTER 496: CHAPTER 158: SUGGEST DIRECT ACCOUNT BAN_2

"Skylark, your mental fluctuations were extremely intense just now. Was there any new development?"

No one cared about her safety, no one cared if she felt uncomfortable having just one head here, everyone only cared whether the experiment could succeed.

"....."

Song Zhaomei closed her eyes. Ever since the Black Wall showed abnormal data fluctuations that day, she often dreamed while sleeping, but those dreams were very blurry, and she couldn’t remember anything upon waking up.

As the experiment progressed deeper, her database became more tightly connected with the Black Wall, and Song Zhaomei’s dream became increasingly clear.

There were three people in that dream, one man and two women. They seemed to frequently discuss something. Every time Song Zhaomei tried to get closer to hear clearly, she encountered an invisible wall that blocked her path, preventing her from seeing or hearing anything.

And today, that man seemed to have noticed Song Zhaomei.

When Song Zhaomei approached again, the man subconsciously turned his head to look in Song Zhaomei’s direction. Somehow, it felt as if a hand was choking Song Zhaomei’s neck, nearly suffocating her.

Even though it was inside a dream or at worst in Cyberspace, neither place required breathing, yet she still had a physical reaction and almost choked herself to death.

It was an extreme feedback of fear. The other party might be a powerful cyber AI, or perhaps an experimental body like hers, but regardless of which it was, the other party’s capabilities were growing at a rate far surpassing Song Zhaomei’s.

Watching the concerned gazes around her, Song Zhaomei didn’t know whether to tell them about this matter, and she fell into a struggle within.

Until that woman’s figure appeared on the screen.

"Zhaomei, I just heard them say you’re feeling quite unwell? Are you sick?"

"..." Song Zhaomei closed her eyes, steadied her heartbeat, as she knew there were at least seven truth-detecting devices aimed at her, checking her heartbeat, facial expression, gaze, pupils... Any slightest anomaly would be immediately fed into the database for calculation.

"Nothing... it was just a nightmare... a very terrible nightmare."

What kind of nightmare could be more terrifying than now, watching her body hanging on the wall just a bed away?

——————

Huang Ban reacted swiftly. At dawn that day, they were still battling players. Before the battle concluded for two hours, not even reaching eleven in the morning, they sent someone to knock on Lin Miao’s door.

Huang Ban didn’t even give Lin Miao a moment to nap.

The visitor did leave Lin Miao a little surprised.

He sat on the couch, amusedly watching ’Huang Ban Division’ Ah Bu, should be ’Huang Ban Missions’

"Ah, welcome, welcome."

Though his words were welcoming, Lin Miao had no intention of getting up, even leaning back in his chair with a languid posture, which greatly displeased the Huang Ban agent next to him.

"kisama!"

But the mission proxy extended his hand to interrupt the agent’s outbreak, forcing him to swallow all his words.

The proxy sat on the chair across the table, facing Lin Miao, speaking.

"Mr. Lin, we meet again."

"Eh..... aren’t you the one who frequently visits our bar for drinks with Jack?"

A modern artificial eye ought to identify the other person’s identity, but Lin Miao still feigned a forgetful demeanor.

"I’m called Valerie, or you can call me V. Last month, I cooperated with mercenaries under you. With your methods, you should know which incident it was."

"Ah!!!"

When Valerie finished her introduction, Lin Miao suddenly understood, extending his right hand.

"Ah, it turns out it’s Miss Valerie, my apologies, my apologies. If you had told me early on you were a distinguished guest of Huang Ban, I’d have let my people issue you a VIP card, a twenty-percent discount on drinks, saving you the expenses at the bar below every day."

V also politely extended her right hand and shook hands with him.

"No need; maintaining the current relationships is fine."

This bar is one of the few places that doesn’t exhibit any grim face towards corporate operatives. Despite its clamor, it’s not vulgar and is very safe. Any troublemakers would be subdued by mercenaries, gaining an infamous reputation even within corporate circles.

"Hehe."

Lin Miao chuckled, "I can’t guarantee that. After all, I heard there was a minor unfriendly friction between Huang Ban and the guys below last night, and who knows they won’t change their attitudes."

While saying this, he kept rubbing the five fingers of his left hand on his palm. California’s November was already winter, yet compared to the Northeast, the weather remained warmer, generally around ten degrees, and with indoor heating, it wasn’t cold at all.

Valerie waved behind her, the two agents he brought swiftly placed a briefcase on the table, unlocked it, revealing stacks of cash inside.

This amount, combined into two cases, Lin Miao guessed must be around a hundred thousand, enough to hire several mercenary teams for an all-out assault on Lin Miao’s bar.

Even now, it was quite a substantial sum for Lin Miao.

Despite business magnates and entrepreneurs claiming wealth in billions, asking them to instantly fork out half a million in cash, they likely couldn’t manage.

Lin Miao pretended not to understand: "This... what’s the meaning?"

"Huang Ban lost four operatives yesterday. I heard Mr. Lin here has some information, so I’d like to come and inquire."