Chapter 114

Chapter 114: Artificial Soul 41

He Kangshi stared blankly at his phone screen, feeling a chill run from his tailbone to the top of his head.

He had thought he might be exposed, but not this soon. He had moved to a different city, prepared backup phones and SIM cards, used someone else’s ID for the SIM card registration, disabled the microphone and camera permissions on the phone, and even covered them with opaque stickers. When uploading videos to websites, he also changed the IP address.

He had tried every preventive measure he could think of, yet he still got caught.

After a brief moment of panic, He Kangshi calmed down and read the message on the screen.

“Do you have interest in collaborating?”

The tone was not coercive.

This made his rapidly beating heart slow down slightly.

It was suspicious that the other party approached him directly, but they could easily have killed or kidnapped him after obtaining his information instead of sending a message directly.

He waited over ten minutes, but no further message arrived.

These words appeared on the screen, not through SMS or another method. The other party had control of his phone.

Unable to ignore the message on the screen, He Kangshi eventually tapped open his phone after a long internal struggle. As soon as he touched the screen, the keyboard appeared—his heart skipped a beat. He typed, “How did you know this was my phone?”

“I’m a hacker,” the other replied instantly, “although you disguised it, your methods were too amateur, leaving traces.”

He Kangshi continued typing, “Could others have discovered my location like you?”

“Highly possible.” the other responded.

“Are you the first to contact me?”

The other took a couple seconds before replying, “No, your phone shows signs of having been accessed by others. I am not the first, but I am the first to communicate with you.”

Sweat poured down He Kangshi’s face. His legs trembled uncontrollably, and he felt dizzy, nearly collapsing onto the table.

His whole body quivered in fear.

“Who?” He Kangshi struggled to type these two words.

“It will take time to investigate fully.” The tone seemed accommodating, “If you want to commission me for such an investigation, I can help you.”

He Kangshi remained silent.

This was a sign of goodwill on the part of the person controlling his phone. At least this person’s intentions were not malicious.

After some time, he gathered himself and typed again cautiously, “Someone has invaded my phone device without my knowledge, and there may be more than one group involved?”

“Yes.”

“What have they done?”

“They installed several monitoring and control virus programs on your phone.”

Shock surged through He Kangshi’s body. It turned out his precautions were completely futile; those with ill intentions had long been infiltrating his device without him knowing anything.

“Am I being monitored while we speak?” He Kangshi asked, feeling a senseless question.

The hacker confidently replied, “No.”

“Then…can you remove the virus program?” He Kangshi cautiously probed.

Given that the hacker was willing to help him look into who invaded his phone, cleaning up the virus would likely be trivial.

The hacker replied, “I advise against that. The viruses are deeply concealed and removing them abruptly could alert the attackers, potentially escalating their actions. We cannot ascertain their purpose.”

He Kangshi furrowed his brows and said after deliberation, “What about your motive?”

The hacker was proactive and showed great willingness to help. He Kangshi felt either the hacker had a vested interest in him or intended ill towards him, these gestures merely being deceptive.

He wondered what made him worth attention. His extraordinary abilities interested the Removers, but if the hacker were indeed a Remover, he would have simply killed him. As for his unique value…he couldn’t fathom any reason why a hacker of importance would seek him out in the first or second world—he was just a nobody.

“My motive is already clear,” the hacker typed, “I wish to collaborate with you. There are things I cannot do in person; you would be doing them on my behalf.”

He Kangshi immediately understood, “You want to stay hidden and let me take the front lines?”

“Exactly.” said the hacker, “You won’t be asked to do overly dangerous tasks. Just necessary ones. What I ask would be beneficial to both First World and players, for our shared interests. However, you will bear significant risks, so I’ll compensate you.”

Compensation? What kind?

Was it helping him trace the intruders or providing physical protection?

He did not refuse outright, but neither did he consent quickly.

Not knowing identity, agreeing to cooperate seemed rash.

“May I ask your name?” He Kangshi probed further.

The hacker responded promptly, “Call me ‘Black Snake.’”

Great, a “Black Snake”? This alias was aptly mysterious, fitting the secretive nature the hacker displayed.

He smirked inwardly, feeling like he’s entered a spy sci-fi thriller movie, with some high-end secret organization extending a job offer.

Determined to seize this opportunity, he impulsively replied, “If I cooperated, should I invent myself a code name?”

Black Snake: “You can even go as ‘Ultraman’.”

“Heh!” He Kangshi felt much lighter as Black Snake playfully teased him.

Regardless of their reasons, this lightened his mental load.

“So it’s settled… You’re normal, speaking rationally, joking around, not a deranged killer…”

Wiping the cold sweat off his forehead, he forced a stiff grin.

He wasn’t scared if the response was curt or lacking substance. Having grown estranged from normal conversations, Black Snake’s levity eased the tension, making the discussion palatable.

“Just a code name isn’t enough.” He Kangshi maintained caution, “This doesn’t qualify as collaboration.”

“Fair point.” said Black Snake, “Consider it an ‘employment’. I’m your boss, you’re my employee. I’ll pay you ‘wages’. How does that sound?”

“Not entirely unacceptable…” he fretted, deleting and retyping repeatedly, “But I need to ensure my safety.”

“I won’t give you my real name, but I can tell you my forum nickname.”

He Kangshi stared keenly at the screen.

“My forum nickname is ’233’,” Black Snake continued, “if you frequent the forum, you probably remember my username.”

He Kangshi was taken aback.

He remembered him vividly!

Forum expert 233 was among the first to educate players, explaining xenomorphic creatures, secret cults, and heterogeneously blooded beings. When the Federation started arresting and cleansing players, 233 was the first to warn everyone.

Initially, people doubted if the forum expert and Remover 233 were the same. Yet, after 233 warned everyone, these doubts disappeared. Those brave enough to reveal secrets usually have complex ties within the second world, often connected to government agencies or clandestine organizations, risking their lives for education.

Partially influenced by them, He Kangshi stood out to warn people against entering “Crimson Soil.”

“Can you post something in the forum to prove it’s you?” He Kangshi, still rational, requested verification.

“Sure. You specify the content.” Black Snake replied.

“Post ‘Teddy Bear Biscuits Jiggle’.” He Kangshi suggested casually.

Less than a minute later, Black Snake replied, “Done.”

Hurrying to the forum, He Kangshi refreshed it to find a thread titled “Teddy Bear Biscuits Jiggle” standing out amongst serious discussions.

Players were questioning it endlessly.

1L: Looking at the nickname, is 233 being hacked?

2L: The forum can’t possibly be hacked…

3L: Huh? What’s the deal, 233?

He Kangshi finally relaxed, exhaling deeply. He sent a message to Black Snake, “I saw it. Indeed that’s you, 233!”

“Call me Black Snake henceforth.”

He Kangshi paused, considering his next words, “Why choose me? Because I was exposed and you had no choice but to find me?”

“No. With my capability, finding more players and identifying useful individuals would be easy. Even those with stronger extraordinary abilities.” Black Snake replied, “But it’s different with you. You are a principled and grounded person. I don’t need a fence-sitter, someone who changes sides based on the wind. You risked your life to warn people, proving you’re reliable. Good people deserve to be protected; you shouldn’t perish like this. Hence, I picked you.”

He Kangshi froze momentarily, then unexpectedly felt his face tingle—it wasn’t until he touched his cheeks that he realized he had been crying without him noticing.

“Well… then, I agree.” He typed.

Black Snake didn’t expect him to assent so readily.

“Don’t you want to know the compensation?”

“That’s resolved, right? You promised to protect me.”

“You aren’t curious about what exactly I want you to do?”

“No… If you wanted to kill me, you’d never bother talking here. Trusting Expert 233, you aren’t likely to harm me or anyone.”