Chapter 63 - 59: Hacker

Chapter 63: Chapter 59: Hacker

Yin Zhen had consumed too much ammunition yesterday, so when she went to the armory today, she was politely stopped. White Phosphorus rolled up her sleeves, ready to beat up the armory staff, but Yin Zhen waved a hand to stop her.

"That’s enough. Let’s go back."

Yin Zhen suddenly realized that while she needed to win, she couldn’t let her Slaughter points get too high. Otherwise, the Players in Night City would easily connect the dots to "Lucia." The troublesome part about this round’s Slaughter event was that the points did not update in real-time; whether one won or lost wouldn’t be known until after returning. If they didn’t work hard at the Slaughter, Players would constantly worry about losing and having their word count deducted. An Identity Card downgrade was one thing, but Gray Card Players who lacked enough word count to pay the penalty would die.

Yin Zhen did the math. She had completed the Copper Card heartbeat event and the "Guardian Night City" Silver Card event, earning 8,000 words. It was more than enough to pay any penalty. She didn’t want to expose her Identity this early; Lucia’s high-profile move once was enough. Her chances of winning were high, and even if she lost, she had nothing to fear. For the next two days, the most pressing matter was mastering the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method as quickly as possible, so that her real body could learn it upon returning.

Yin Zhen arrived at Lucia’s private training ground. The space was massive, with all four walls serving as holographic projection screens. Combined with other equipment, it could simulate any environment. It could also project various enemies to fight against.

She sat cross-legged in the center of the room, closed her eyes, and sank all her spiritual power into her body. Victor had said that the first level was the most difficult. It acted like a switch—as long as one could activate the first level’s blood-listening state, the subsequent two levels would follow naturally. As for the final level, a breakthrough in will, that was something one could only comprehend when pushed to the brink of death.

Yin Zhen carefully recalled the sensation she had experienced in the training program. Her blood had felt like an underground river: deep, continuous, and unceasing. But back in reality, the sound was like a fleeting phantom upon waking from a dream, impossible to grasp. She wasn’t in a hurry. Calming her mind, she thought carefully. She thought of her own Super Sensing Ability. Could it be used to assist her?

She immediately put the thought to the test. Yin Zhen’s five senses were amplified to their limits. Her skin felt the flow of the air, her ears caught the hum of the fluorescent lights, and her nose smelled the rubber beneath the floor mats. She turned all her perception inward, focusing entirely on the inside of her body. Slowly, her senses grew clear. The blood was flowing from her heart to her fingertips, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, like an undercurrent of a tide.

She had succeeded!

Yin Zhen opened her eyes. The memories of her nerves, muscles, and bones awakened. Guided by her will, the blood surged into her right hand. Her entire arm began to burn hot. Starting from her toes, her bones hummed in sequence, merging into a deep resonance. She stood up, letting the motion of her legs drive her body, and threw a punch.

The air exploded with a muffled CRACK, like a whip being snapped in midair. White Phosphorus, who had been idling on the sidelines playing a handheld game console, jolted at the explosive sound.

"White Phosphorus, come here."

"Huh?" White Phosphorus swallowed hard with a loud GULP. Seeing her captain’s stance, which clearly indicated a desire to spar, her toes involuntarily pointed toward the door. "Captain, how about I go beat up that armory administrator instead? I promise I’ll smash the door open for you." Usually, Lighthouse was the one who handled sparring. He had an Iron Bone physique and could take a beating!

"Cut the nonsense and get over here!"

White Phosphorus hesitated for a moment, set down her game console, and dawdled over to stand opposite Yin Zhen. "Captain, go easy on me..."

Yin Zhen launched a punch. White Phosphorus’s pupils shrank drastically, her Blood Flame igniting instantly as she crossed her arms to block. Yin Zhen’s fist slammed into White Phosphorus’s forearms, and the girl slid backward for half a meter, the soles of her shoes leaving two black streaks on the floor mat.

"Captain, your Strength is way greater than before!" White Phosphorus shook out her numb arms. Her Blood Flame burned even brighter. Not daring to complain anymore, she lowered her center of gravity and took the initiative to charge forward. Her fighting style was completely different from Yin Zhen’s beast-like brawling. It consisted of highly trained, meticulously forged routines. Combined with her high-temperature Blood Flame, it forced Yin Zhen to avoid taking her strikes head-on.

Yin Zhen drew the blood toward her legs, her speed skyrocketing instantly. She dodged White Phosphorus’s straight punch with a sidestep and retaliated with a backhand elbow strike to her lower back. White Phosphorus tightened her core, forcefully tanking the hit. Using the momentum, she spun around and delivered a sweeping whip kick aimed at Yin Zhen’s knees.

Yin Zhen still had her Super Sensing activated. Hearing the surge of the airflow, she jumped up in advance to dodge White Phosphorus’s fast whip kick. Blood surged into her right hand as she smashed a fist into White Phosphorus’s shoulder. White Phosphorus was sent flying backward, slamming into the wall before sliding down. She dropped to her knees and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Captain... you’ve gotten stronger again. I really can’t beat you."

Yin Zhen looked down at her fist, slowly clenching her fingers tight before releasing them. In this state, her speed and Strength had indeed improved significantly. However, it required the coordination of Super Sensing. Once she deactivated her Super Sensing State, she could no longer hear the resonance of her blood, making it impossible to precisely manipulate the blood flow. But this was only temporary. Once she familiarized herself with the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method and accumulated enough combat experience, everything would become her body’s instinct, just like Victor now.

Yin Zhen glanced at the clock on the wall. The anti-addiction time limit was almost up, and there was no point in bullying White Phosphorus here.

"You can head back." She grabbed her jacket and walked toward the elevator.

Leaning against the wall, White Phosphorus stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Where are you going, Captain?"

"To kill!"

***

Meanwhile, in the West District, the extermination of the Fallen Species was still ongoing. The Mutants along the coastline were gradually being cleared out as well. Cargo ships and oil tankers entered the port one after another, and the entirety of Night City slowly returned to order.

The time to return was drawing closer. Ever since Adeline was taken away by the helicopter that day, she hadn’t made a single appearance. Nan Jiamu was playing the role of Amelia in the laboratory, while Cole led the other team members to hunt Fallen Species across the various districts.

Nan Jiamu had originally planned to change her disguise after work, grab the biochemical Weapons from the lab, and join the other team members to clear out the Fallen Species Nests in the sewers. However, she found herself being targeted by Ian. This unexpected situation forced her to temporarily halt her plans to hunt the Fallen Species.

[03:30:00]

With exactly three and a half hours left until their return, Yin Zhen—who had been killed by Urban over seventy times in the simulation—was on the verge of successfully counter-killing him when her Training Pod was forcibly opened from the outside.

White Phosphorus crouched next to the Training Pod and spoke anxiously, "Captain, something terrible has happened! Someone hacked into the North District’s anti-light dome, causing nearly ten thousand Blood Clan citizens to die in the sunlight."

Yin Zhen’s rising anger was instantly replaced by shock, but White Phosphorus wasn’t finished.

"Also, less than half an hour later, the same thing happened at the Blood Feeding Ground in the North District. The blood collection system was hacked, resulting in over two thousand Blood Beasts being drained of their blood and dying. If it hadn’t been discovered in time, the remaining three thousand or so would hardly have survived either."

Just as Yin Zhen was about to speak, White Phosphorus paused before continuing.

"There’s another urgent matter. The council’s consul is holding an emergency meeting and demands that you immediately report to the Guard Team’s conference room. Captain, why do I feel like..."

"Shut up!" Yin Zhen barked angrily, cutting off the rest of White Phosphorus’s sentence about things feeling ’wrong.’ She couldn’t bear to hear such talk right now.

These two incidents were undoubtedly connected to the Slaughter event the Players had to complete. She wondered if Nan Jiamu could have done it. If it wasn’t Nan Jiamu, then an absolute expert had emerged among this new batch of Players!