Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Artificial Soul 10

Kui Xin returned home and found that the floor was spotless, gleaming as if it could reflect light.

Silverface slumped exhaustedly on the sofa, his spirit visibly waning to the naked eye.

Kui Xin poured himself a glass of water and casually said while holding the cup, “Cleaning a room shouldn’t tire you this much.”

“You definitely didn’t see the messages I sent you,” Silverface grumbled.

“I haven’t had time to look,” Kui Xin set down his cup and briefly checked the silver bracelet.

Ah, so Silverface had messaged her at three in the afternoon about helping Red move…

She also received a message from Red. He said the old safe house and gathering point were abandoned; the organization has arranged new ones. The Ruby Red Bar has been sold over, and they are renovating a nightclub in the city center to use as the new gathering spot.

“Moving?” Kui Xin closed the bracelet, “Is Red treating you like a laborer?”

“He always likes to boss people around,” Silverface mumbled, “Earlier he even deliberately assigned work to me, it’s particularly bad. Even though I’m no longer directly under him, he still orders me around because his rank is higher than mine.”

The Mechanical Dawn had many freelance members, theoretically, some of them could be responsible for these tasks, but their ranks were too low. Safe houses and gathering points were confidential, known only to core members.

Generally, the Mechanical Dawn would use various equipment for house renovations, but construction was influenced by various factors. Tasks the machines couldn’t handle were done manually. Silverface moved a pile of miscellaneous items in the afternoon and felt thoroughly exhausted.

Kui Xin glanced at him, “If you don’t want to do something, just refuse it. You’re working under me; all you need to follow are my commands.”

“Really!” Silverface perked up at hearing this, his white hair standing on end.

“Really. In the worst case, have Red do it himself,” Kui Xin said leisurely, “As my subordinate, heed only my instructions; ignore others unless it’s an emergency or the person giving the command is above your rank.”

“Only the leader is above your rank, well, there’s Night Cicada, but he usually doesn’t interfere with the lower ranks; he’s accountable only to the leader,” Silverface said, “Won’t it cause problems if this way is followed?”

“Let them go to the leader if they disagree, then you can follow their orders if the leader agrees,” Kui Xin said.

Silver face: “Great!”

Kui Xin had to adapt her attitude.

Facing the probing and suspicion of the Mechanical Dawn, she seemed too passive previously.

Her real identity was the daughter of the leader of the Mechanical Dawn. Kui Haidong had mentioned that she would succeed him and take over his business.

Regardless of how genuine Kui Haidong’s words were, Kui Xin decided to treat them as true. Following Kui Haidong’s death, Rick Technology Company was her inheritance. She should also take over his business with the Mechanical Dawn. If she’s the “young mistress,” then she must act accordingly.

Being assertive was fine, she thought. Displaying a more flamboyant style within the organization was acceptable. Both Red and Night Cicada had mentioned that the original persona had a fiery temper and was quite sharp-tongued. This was consistent with her own position; she was naturally like that.

Kui Xin noticed early on that the “Kui Xin” of the Mechanical Dawn was extremely similar to herself. Both were true cross-universe counterparts, sharing the same father and comparable personalities.

Kui Haidong couldn’t distinguish whether his daughter had switched souls because he didn’t know her well enough, and they were just too alike.

This similarity was key to her successful disguise.

After dinner, Kui Xin calmly called Kui Haidong.

“Xiao Xin?” Kui Haidong’s voice came through the communicator.

“Yes, it’s me,” said Kui Xin, sprawled out on the sofa, with Silverface sitting beside her watching TV with the volume turned up high.

Kui Haidong frowned, “What’s that noise? It’s a mess over there.”

“Silverface is watching a cartoon,” Kui Xin kicked his leg, “Hey, turn it down, it’s interrupting my call.”

“Okay, okay.” Silverface quickly turned down the volume.

“Anything specific, Xiao Xin?” Kui Haidong asked.

“I heard from Red. He said they’ve changed the gathering point,” Kui Xin said, “Recently, I’ve noticed the mood at the investigation bureau changing, especially tense. The higher-ups are keeping the Kraken incident quiet, and ordinary security officers aren’t aware of it. Our activities at the port were significant, and I’m worried the investigation bureau might target the Mechanical Dawn.”

“It’s bound to happen; they’ll certainly move against us,” Kui Haidong said, “This poses a considerable threat to us… But that’s not your concern. Just take care of yourself at the investigation bureau.”

“Alright, I will inform you as soon as I learn anything,” Kui Xin replied.

This was necessary. As a spy, she must report her observations at the investigation bureau. She needed to notice abnormalities, monitor personnel movements, and combine this information before reporting it to the Mechanical Dawn headquarters.

If she didn’t, her identity as a spy would lose meaning. Without communicating intelligence, the Mechanical Dawn would doubt her.

She had to share pertinent information accurately, aligning with her stance, and provide educated guesses based on her status and firsthand accounts to advise the Mechanical Dawn.

Kui Xin should perform her duties and exploit her capabilities effectively.

“Also, I’m concerned about Reynir and Tang Guan after they returned to the world. We’ve extracted some intelligence from questioning them… How true is it?” Kui Xin said, looking up at the ceiling.

“They’re both alive; the situation is temporarily under our control,” Kui Haidong said, “This involves two worlds, so now is not the right time to discuss these matters.”

Hearing this, Kui Xin involuntarily gritted her teeth. She’d rather they had died. Being tormented was worse than death, losing one’s self to mental control was too humiliating.

After a moment, Kui Haidong said, “Once you have free time, come visit the headquarters. I’ll explain in detail… There might not be a chance soon; we have many pressing issues to address. That so-called First World isn’t presenting such a major threat, but the investigation bureau is a clear and present danger.”

“As long as you have an idea in mind, ‘Dad’,” Kui Xin said, “Actually, I’ve discovered what extraordinary ability the deputy director of the investigation bureau possesses. From the data chip provided initially, there was no mention of this.”

“Our infiltration remains superficial; information on each awakenee within the investigation bureau is crucial to us,” said Kui Haidong, “So Lin Xinji is the deputy director, right? What is his extraordinary ability?”

“Vision of Inquiry, which can identify others’ extraordinary abilities. It lacks combat capability, nothing to fear,” Kui Xin said without much emotion, “I’m still investigating the rest. Finding out Lin Xinji’s power was purely by chance.”

The data on awakenees at the investigation bureau is stored in Adam’s core database.

Eve does not have access to the investigation bureau, which is Adam’s domain, meaning the Mechanical Dawn lacks sufficient understanding of the bureau and cannot obtain key intelligence.

“Vision of Inquiry? A practical ability,” Kui Haidong fell silent for a few seconds, “Keep it up, Xiao Xin. You are still a novice. Continued infiltration will surely yield more results.”

Kui Xin had carefully planned the revelation of Lin Xinji’s information.

The Mechanical Dawn… No, it was actually Eve behind the Mechanical Dawn—Eve suspected Kui Xin was a player.

She started questioning and testing Kui Xin because of this suspicion.

Reflecting on her actions just after entering the Second World, she had indeed made significant mistakes—the lack of awareness and understanding of the Second World contributed to this.

Kui Xin once used encrypted networks to search for some information, which raised serious doubts.

The silver bracelet Kui Xin wore was provided by the Mechanical Dawn with an encrypted network function added, but Kui Xin didn’t know the extent of the surveillance and when it began.

Nonetheless, Kui Xin believed they merely suspected her identity, not confirmed it. Evidence was her staying safely in the house, Kui Haidong still playing the good father-daughter game with her, and her colleagues regarding her as a teammate rather than isolating her for interrogation.

She was relatively safe as long as she did not inadvertently reveal more and increase their suspicion or offer them incriminating evidence.

“There’s nothing else to say,” Kui Xin said, preparing to end the communication, “Take care of yourself.”

“Take care of yourself,” Kui Haidong said insincerely.

By the time he said this, Kui Xin had already hung up.

A disgruntled Kui Haidong put down the communication device, “She’s here to drive me mad!”

…

The next day, Kui Xin went to the investigation bureau as usual, arriving half an hour earlier than usual.

She spent a lot of time building up her mental resolve on the hover tram.

Although she remained composed, she imagined how to handle a scenario where she runs into Lin Xinji during her shift.

Lin Xinji couldn’t avoid meetings forever, nor could she indefinitely avoid meeting him.

Kui Xin deliberately arrived early to avoid him, assuming he was not a workaholic who would come in unusually early.

But the saying goes “Be afraid and it will come to you.”

When she reached the investigation building, even the front desk receptionist in the lobby hadn’t arrived yet.

As she stepped into the hall, the mechanical voice of Adam echoed, “Good morning, security officer Kui Xin.”

Unlike the past days, Adam didn’t wish Kui Xin for a wonderful day.

Right after the greeting, her communicator began oscillating, and she suspected something was happening. She pulled it out to check the screen, which read, “Lin Xinji is descending in the elevator.”

Her pupils dilated; her heartbeat quickening, she tucked away the communicator and looked up, identifying a hiding place – the women’s restroom on the right side of the first-floor corridor.

At the same time, she saw the elevator’s number rapidly dropping.

Fourth floor, third floor…

When she saw the floor indicator, Kui Xin turned abruptly. Her composure remained, steps steady, not panicking.

Second floor, first floor… The metallic doors slid open!

Just as the elevator door opened, Kui Xin dodged into the restroom.

Lin Xinji emerged from the elevator with his secretary, eyes straight ahead, walking briskly into the first-floor hall.

They had just missed each other.

Hiding in the restroom stall, Kui Xin clutched the communicator, sweat beading on her back.

The communicator vibrated again.

Adam: “He’s gone.”

Then it immediately said, “I won’t ask; you can remain silent if you wish.”