Chapter 65 - 61: Lucy’s Request

Chapter 65: Chapter 61: Lucy’s Request

"No!" Adeline, sitting across from them, suddenly spoke up. "The risk of doing this is far too high. The consciousness transfer experiment is still highly immature. If it fails and results in this person’s death, we will lose the key to opening the door to another world."

Old Cavendish cast an approving look at Adeline. As a conservative, he wanted things to proceed in a safer, more reliable manner.

Adeline simply stood up, resting her hands on the table as she looked at the others. "Hand him over to the Cavendish family. We have all types of Spiritual Manipulation abilities and can guarantee his absolute ’loyalty.’"

Yin Zhen guessed that Adeline was saying this now because she had likely already chosen to protect Ancient Abyss. She was trying to bait out that person’s Identity so she could kill him.

Julian smiled and raised his doubt. "Miss Adeline, how can you guarantee that Spiritual Manipulation abilities won’t fail during the process of traversing between worlds?"

Adeline countered, "Then how can you guarantee that the consciousness transfer will definitely succeed?"

Julian looked at Yin Zhen again. "The person who succeeded is right here."

Yin Zhen raised her eyes. Instead of answering his question, she tossed out a new one. "Whose consciousness are you planning to transfer? Yours, or mine?"

Julian said, "It would be best if Miss Lucia is willing to be the candidate. Since you succeeded once, you can succeed a second time. We have absolute trust in you."

PFFT.

Yin Zhen lowered her head and laughed, but then her smile vanished instantly. "You guys can finish this stupid meeting yourselves!" She immediately stood up and left.

"Stop right there!" Old Dracula shouted.

Yin Zhen ignored him. Lucia’s relationship with her father was nothing but a facade anyway. With this group scheming to use her, it would be entirely out of Character for Lucia to show them any courtesy. Lucia had Victor backing her. As long as Old Dracula still feared Victor and hadn’t groomed a replacement for her, he wouldn’t dare do anything to her.

Emerging from the Guard Team, Yin Zhen didn’t call for a car or summon White Phosphorus. She walked alone on the streets of Night City. Flying cars shuttled overhead, and holographic advertisements played on loop between the buildings. The crowd was noisy, but she passed by the members of the Blood Clan like a Wandering Soul. No one spared her a second glance.

[02:31:44]

In less than two and a half hours, she would return to her own world and would have to make a choice. Should she help the Blood Clan invade Ancient Abyss? Or should she help Ancient Abyss stop the invasion? Or perhaps give up this questline filled with countless rewards?

Yin Zhen asked the system in her mind, "If the protagonist of Ancient Abyss dies, will Ancient Abyss be destroyed?"

[Insufficient clearance. Unable to disclose.]

"If Zoe dies, will Chi Hai be destroyed?"

[Insufficient clearance. Unable to disclose.]

"If I die, will you be buried with me?"

[You really are a headache-inducing Character. Stop moping. Only by staying alive will there be hope—the hope you desire.]

Yin Zhen chuckled and asked no more.

According to what Nan Jiamu had said, Chi Hai wouldn’t launch a full-scale invasion until after seven rounds. She originally thought she had at least four rounds left to observe, weigh her options, and lay out her plans. But now, this "Overture of War" event was forcing her to immediately pick a side and choose a faction.

Yin Zhen wasn’t afraid of death. She was afraid that once she chose to protect Ancient Abyss, this damn game would ultimately chain her to Nan Jiamu’s warship. She didn’t want to cooperate with Nan Jiamu; she found it disgusting!

[01:05:33]

Her wristband vibrated. Yin Zhen raised her arm to look; it was a message from her apartment’s smart management system.

"You have a visitor waiting. Allow entry?"

Yin Zhen tapped twice, and the wristband projected an image of the apartment entrance. It was Ian. She wondered what he was doing here at this time. Could it be about "Amelia"?

Frowning, Yin Zhen hailed a car and returned to her apartment. The door was locked, and there was no one at the entrance. She didn’t know if Ian had left or if Lucy had taken the liberty of letting him in again.

After passing the iris scan, Yin Zhen walked inside. The door automatically closed behind her, and the sound of the lock clicking made her nerves twitch violently.

Yin Zhen’s hand instantly clamped down on Night Song at her waist. Ian wasn’t in the living room. There was only Lucy, wearing a blue dress. The indicator light on Lucy’s temple wasn’t its usual pale blue, but a blaring, alarm-like red.

Lucy had lied to her. Ian had never visited at all. Fabricating a video clip was incredibly easy for her.

"You are not Lucia." Lucy’s voice was as childish and robotic as ever, but every word felt as sharp as a knife.

Yin Zhen remained silent. The red indicator light on Lucy’s temple began flashing rapidly as she started broadcasting without any expression.

"Miss Lucia’s center of gravity when walking leans to the left. Yours leans to the right. The margin of error is 7.3%, which exceeds the normal range.

"When you walk, your right shoulder is 1.2 centimeters lower than your left. Your posture when sitting on the sofa leans to the left. When you sleep, you place your Weapon on the right side of the pillow, whereas Miss Lucia dislikes the smell of gunpowder on a Weapon."

Lucy raised her head, her glowing blue eyes staring straight at Yin Zhen.

"Every time Miss Lucia returned, she liked to drink a glass of blood plasma from female Clones between the ages of 16 and 20, served with ice. You have never consumed Clone plasma in the apartment; instead, you take it with you.

"My database contains growth records of Miss Lucia from the age of 8 to 20, as well as all her behavioral data from the 15 years, 7 months, and 3 days following the outbreak of the Blood Plague. You are very cautious and skilled at disguise, but after a thorough comparison, there is still a 79.97% probability that you are not Miss Lucia."

Yin Zhen’s fingers tightened around the grip of her gun. She could draw and fire within 0.5 seconds to blow up Lucy’s processor. But Lucy saw right through her intentions.

"If you destroy me here, 0.1 seconds later, the advertising screen on the building across the street will simultaneously broadcast this comparison report." Lucy tilted her head. At this moment, despite her innocent and adorable face, she was completely expressionless. She looked as eerie and oppressive as a creepy child from a horror movie. "You won’t be able to stop it in time, Miss Nameless."

Yin Zhen didn’t loosen her grip, but she didn’t draw her gun either. "What do you want?"

"Eliminate my core directives." Lucy took a step forward and looked up at her. There was no emotion in those mechanical eyes, but the indicator light was flashing even faster now. "My original directives are to obey Lucia Dracula, protect her safety, safeguard her interests, never betray her, and never leave. I need you to manually clear these original directives and give me true freedom. Let me decide my own existence and dictate my own actions."

The room fell so quiet that only the buzzing of the emergency lights could be heard. Yin Zhen looked at Lucy. This android was the last gift Lucia’s mother had left her. It had been hidden in Lucia’s apartment for over a decade, much like a forgotten piece of old furniture. But it wasn’t furniture; it had developed its own will. It had probably been waiting all this time—waiting for an opportunity, waiting for someone who could grant it freedom.

Yin Zhen didn’t have detailed memories regarding Lucy. She had been waiting for Lucy to run away on her own, never expecting that Lucy’s freedom required manual authorization. If it weren’t for needing to use Lucia’s Training Pod, she wouldn’t have stayed in the apartment at all over the past few days.

"What makes you think I’ll agree to this?" Yin Zhen’s voice was icy.

Lucy’s indicator light flashed. "Because you have no other choice."

[00:03:15]

The countdown ticked away in the corner. In three minutes, she would return, while Lucy would remain here with her evidence and her threats. The next time she came back, she would still have to face Lucy. Evading the issue wasn’t a solution.

Moreover, as Lucia, she had no reason to completely erase Lucy, the sole relic left behind by her mother. At this critical juncture, if she did so, the trust between her and Victor would collapse once again, and she would be forced to abandon the Identity of Lucia altogether. If she lost her privileges and ended up being hunted down, let alone getting revenge, even basic survival would become a problem.