"So, I ask you, what do you actually want to do?!"
Qin Xuezhong remained silent for a long time, but Yu Zhezhong moved.
He stepped forward with a commanding presence, pointing at the old man still cursing in his wheelchair, "Shut up."
He didn't know what had happened here, but seeing these guys who only dared to hide in a mental hospital basement, throwing their weight around, made him a little angry.
Who is Qin Xuezhong?
She's someone who can dominate in the core well of the mainframe, lead the Phantom organization, and shake the entire Xigu City with just a sneeze.
How could such an important figure be treated so rudely by some clueless old man?
The old man was taken aback when he heard Yu Zhezhong's words. He slammed his wheelchair and shouted, "Have you gone mad?! Or did you pick up some rat habits in your slums?!"
His face turned a bit red, clearly agitated.
Yu Zhezhong could no longer listen to this.
Regardless of the old man's identity, he shouldn't be yelling at Qin Xuezhong like this.
He strode forward.
The two men beside the old man tensed up, ready to stop him.
From their movements and stances, it was clear that those two had good combat skills and modified skeletal muscles.
However, Yu Zhezhong didn't even slow down. With punches so fast they seemed to leave behind only an afterimage, he instantly struck the two men's carotid arteries.
They hadn't even finished taking their stances before they fell straight down.
The old man's face changed drastically.
"You're not Qin Xuezhong! Who are you?! Did you take her down?! You didn't even destroy the chip?!"
Yu Zhezhong completely ignored the old man. From behind his armor, he pulled out a neck restraint and locked it around the old man's neck.
This restraint would emit low-frequency vibrations, making it impossible for the vocal cords to function, thus silencing him.
Then, Yu Zhezhong hacked into the wheelchair, rendering the old man completely immobile.
After finishing all this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
—It was just too noisy.
He really didn't understand how such an organization, that only blustered and attacked without saying a word, had managed to survive this long.
This all took only a few seconds.
Little Qin hadn't had a chance to react and simply said, "You… are quite direct."
Yu Zhezhong smiled, "I can't stand those who just yell and don't solve problems."
Then he asked, "What do we do now?"
"Let's take a look at the brain."
Qin Xuezhong didn't think too much about it.
She didn't care what this organization was doing or what the current situation was, but she knew that since the brain had once been under her bed, it was definitely connected to her in many ways.
What's wrong with checking out her own stuff?
Yu Zhezhong turned around and approached the generator.
Thanks to the intense light from the high-energy compression core, the organ cultivation chamber containing the brain was very clear.
This time, Qin Xuezhong saw more details that hadn't been visible in the surveillance footage.
The entire frame of the cultivation chamber was made of some exquisite alloy, shining with unique patterns and reflections. At the welding points around the corners, there were almost no signs of inconsistency. The transparent glass or crystal on top had no visible seams with the frame; it was as if the glass had grown directly out of the metal.
Even Qin, who wasn't familiar with this craftsmanship, could tell that this thing was extraordinary.
At the bottom of the cultivation chamber, there was a small line of text.
[Ouyang Zhao]
Qin Xuezhong felt it was somewhat familiar. Before she could check the information, she felt a strong tremor in Yu Zhezhong's consciousness.
—Xiao Yu was genuinely shocked.
In fact, aside from Qin Xuezhong, anyone who saw this line would be shocked.
Because in the Eastern Federation, you might not know who the current federal president is, or the name of the mayor, or what the head of the largest conglomerate in the city is.
But you cannot possibly not know the name Ouyang Zhao.
Because, in a sense, Ouyang Zhao saved this world.
At this moment, Qin Xuezhong also recalled that she had seen the name of the chief scientist leading the development of the mainframe during her research.
It was indeed Ouyang Zhao.
Thanks to Ouyang Zhao, the mainframe was created, which helped suppress environmental deterioration… and now humanity barely manages to survive.
In front of Ouyang Zhao, Tang Kede could only be considered a primary school student.
But Ouyang Zhao's greatest achievement was not just this.
After the prototype of the mainframe was developed, all chips on the market could only support calculations for a short time before burning out, completely insufficient to keep the prototype running continuously.
They had tried many methods, even rewriting the core program, but nothing worked.
Ultimately, Ouyang Zhao made a bold decision.
She would use her own brain as the core of the mainframe.
Not only because she was one of the smartest people in humanity, but also because many of the mainframe program's logics were based on her own ideas, meaning the compatibility would likely be the highest.
In other words, there was no one more suitable than her.
But it was an extremely cruel operation.
She had to undergo a live craniotomy in a fully conscious state, gradually connecting herself to the mainframe device.
According to her estimates, during this process, most of her memories and emotions would slowly fade away, completely turning into a tool.
The entire operation would last 12 hours.
It seemed long, but if you looked at it from another perspective, during those 12 hours, Ouyang Zhao would gradually forget most of her memories.
It was said that before the surgery, there were various people expressing doubts, regrets, and fierce opposition.
Many of those who participated in the surgical process were her students and friends, many of whom cried throughout.
After the surgery, they directly left the scientific community and went into hiding.
Throughout the event, Ouyang Zhao only said one thing:
"If no one is willing to sacrifice, then we all have no tomorrow."
This sentence has now become not only the motto of the Federation Academy of Sciences but also a slogan for the Federation military.
Under the inspiration of this phrase and the smooth operation of the mainframe, the Eastern Federation stabilized this planet on the brink of collapse, jumping to become the most important superpower on the planet.
To this day, many citizens believe that Ouyang Zhao is still alive.
She has merely changed her form of life, integrating into the mainframe and the entire chip network, protecting everyone.
Logically, Ouyang Zhao's brain should be the most important protected object of the Federation.
But now, it was found in a power distribution room underground in a mental hospital?
How could this be possible?
---
If the core of the mainframe is gone, can the Federation's chip network and the hundred thousand climate regulation satellites in the sky still function normally?
Can this world continue to operate? Extreme weather has already swept across the globe; haven't we been living through the apocalypse for a long time?
Yu Zhezhong wanted to scoff, thinking this was a cruel joke.
But since this matter concerned Qin Xuezhong, it was definitely no joke.
He waited in a daze for Qin Xuezhong to speak up.
—Little Qin was also bewildered; her first reaction was disbelief.
She pointed at the old man, "Release him."
Yu Zhezhong complied.
The old man realized he could speak and looked at the people in front of him with suspicion. Though he had a bad temper, he also knew not to make a scene at a critical moment.
Qin Xuezhong first transmitted her chip signal through Yu Zhezhong's armor, proving her identity.
The old man seemed to regain some energy upon seeing this. "You really are Qin Xuezhong? You coexist with this puppet? How come your fighting skills are so strong? What on earth..."
His questions came out in rapid succession like a barrage of fire.
Little Qin controlled Yu Zhezhong's hand and made a stopping gesture.
She asked softly, "What are your next plans?"
This question was vague, but it pointed to a crucial issue: what exactly was this organization planning to do?
The old man paused for a moment before saying, "I don't know."
"It's already been ten years..." He sighed. "According to our original estimates, once the mainframe lost its core, it could last at most one year. But now, it has been ten years, and the world is still functioning as usual. The sky still has two moons, and we still don't know why there are two moons!"
"Everyone continues to live as if nothing has happened. What's the difference if we tell them there's only one moon?! What if we accidentally uncover some conspiracy and mess everything up?"
Little Qin listened, starting to understand the situation of the Moon Children.
Ten years ago, for some unknown reason, someone removed Ouyang Zhao's brain from the core of the mainframe and established this organization called "Moon Children."
According to the organization's original plan, after one year, the mainframe would be difficult to operate, exposing the secrets hidden within it.
As a result, ten years have passed, the sun still rises, and this underground organization with a mission has become stuck.
—It was supposed to be us saving the world, but it seems like nothing we do matters anymore, right?
The old man continued, "My current thought is very simple. I can't rely on you young people; it's hard to keep the organization going. I want to try reaching out to the Ghosts."
Qin Xuezhong and Yu Zhezhong were both taken aback.
After all this, they were back to themselves?
"The Ghosts dealt with Tang Kede, took care of the Langfu family, and recently handled many big and small matters. What's more, we have a young girl among them, and I think... maybe we can discuss some cooperation."
Little Qin asked, "You have someone from the Ghosts? Aren't the people inside able to prevent members from revealing information about the organization?"
The old man chuckled, "Now that we know there's only one moon in the sky and we're still alive, we certainly don't have to worry about such safety measures. With the Ghosts' technology... maybe they can read the data inside the Moon Brain, unlike us, who go crazy after reading it twice."
Little Qin and Yu Zhezhong were both internally amazed.
It seemed this organization had some real substance.
Even Yu Zhezhong, equipped with a military-grade firewall, couldn't withstand the dual moon's consciousness influence and was about to take his own life.
Yet this organization could resist it completely?
Moreover, a group with such advanced technology could read Ouyang Zhao's brain and still go mad?
At this point, Little Qin had made up her mind; in the end, she would still have to rely on herself.
"Help me connect to that brain. Since it still has activity, let's see what's inside."
The ever-loyal Yu Zhezhong immediately pulled out a data cable and turned toward the generator.
Seeing Yu Zhezhong's action, the old man yelled again, "What are you doing?! You've already read it once! If you read it again, you'll go mad! Are you crazy?! Who do you think you are, a Ghost?!"
The two of them couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
What a coincidence… the Ghost is right here.
Yu Zhezhong directly connected the data cable.
A flash of white light instantly enveloped their consciousness.