"Last question."
The girl's gaze suddenly sharpened, fixating intently on Qin Xuezhong. "Why can you access my brain?"
Upon hearing this question, Qin Xuezhong hesitated.
How should she answer?
Should she directly say that she had a 'golden finger' because she crossed over?
She didn't dare to.
After all, this negative aspect of Ouyang Zhao clearly had a reckless nature, and she didn't want to add more uncertainty to an already complicated situation.
Before she could respond, Ouyang Zhao sighed. "Don't blame me for being cautious. I currently have no means of self-defense. If someone outside decides to destroy me, I wouldn't even be able to escape... Logically, my brain itself is abnormal; if a living person connects, they could experience brain death after one or two times... I'm curious why you can."
"So..." she squinted her eyes, her gaze full of threat. "You can't get out now. If I determine you have any issues, at the very least, I can keep you locked up here."
She waved her hand, and a virtual passerby suddenly soared into the air, face down, directly pressed against the scorching iron plate at the entrance!
A sharp sizzling sound erupted, accompanied by a chilling scream.
Ouyang Zhao watched with interest and even smiled, "If you'd like, I can let you enjoy a few weeks of iron plate face treatment. After all, it's a virtual space, so you can revive anytime. Don't worry."
Little Qin's heart sank.
She had been a bit careless.
This negative aspect of Ouyang Zhao was indeed not to be underestimated.
Despite their earlier pleasant conversation, Ouyang Zhao's eyes were now unwavering as she began to threaten her.
It made sense; someone like Ouyang Zhao, who developed world-changing technology and sailed through life, would be anything but soft!
Such scientists, when emerging, were already targeted by the federal secret departments, private elite from corporations, and underground black organizations, using intimidation and coercion to control them.
If they felt her future interests were threatened, they would kill without hesitation!
These people had no morals or compassion when it came to power and profit, willing to eliminate entire families without a second thought.
Even in such an environment, Ouyang Zhao had steadily navigated her way out.
In fact, there wasn't even negative news about her.
This only indicated that, amid her research, she and her team had already dealt with all issues discreetly and thoroughly.
How could a person like that not have a ruthless side?
The person still screaming on the iron plate was growing weaker by the moment.
The air was filled with a nauseating burnt smell.
Little Qin frowned, remaining silent and still, coldly staring at Ouyang Zhao.
She focused her mind and released her consciousness into the void.
In this virtual world, under the observation of her consciousness, the true form emerged—a vast framework made of neural signals and data.
—Just as Ouyang Zhao said, the boundaries here were indeed strong, like the intensity of the mainframe's firewall.
Unless Ouyang Zhao herself allowed it, escaping was quite unlikely.
However, back when dealing with Tang Kede, Qin Xuezhong had already broken through the mainframe's firewall once. She merely nudged it slightly and discovered something was off.
—This firewall only looked intimidating from the outside; in reality, it lacked subsequent defenses.
Perhaps ordinary people found it challenging to breach, but Little Qin easily slipped through with just a light touch.
Ouyang Zhao's expression changed dramatically.
This meant Qin Xuezhong could mess around inside her head!
Before she could react, Little Qin glanced at the person still pressed against the iron plate. That person immediately returned to their original standing position, their terrifying burn scars vanishing as if nothing had happened.
He continued walking forward, laughing and chatting as if nothing was amiss.
Only then did Qin Xuezhong turn to Ouyang Zhao and say, "Let's not waste time on meaningless threats."
"Who exactly are you?!" the girl Ouyang Zhao retreated a step, asking with feigned bravado.
Little Qin shrugged. "I'm Qin Xuezhong, a chip data analyst at the Security Bureau of Xigu City's Bayflow District."
Ouyang Zhao: ?
This scene was akin to someone just defeating the world's big boss and, when asked who she was, replied that she was a vegetable vendor in Liu Family Town's Second Street market.
"Alright, I do have a few other identities. I hold level ten permissions for the mainframe, am a senior advisor for the Security Department's anti-intrusion team, an independent executive director of the Fifth Consortium's board, and the leader of a ghost organization that has invaded the mainframe well and kidnapped senior directors from the Fifth Consortium."
Ouyang Zhao: ???
—What kind of ultimate fool's identity is this?
Qin Xuezhong scratched her head in irritation. "None of that is important. What's important is that you wanted to know why I can enter, right? It might be because... I've died once."
This was a reason she had just thought of.
Since connecting to this brain was dangerous, the original host's brain was still under the original host's bed when they died.
Thus, it was very possible that the original host accidentally died while attempting the connection?
According to the old man outside, the original host had actually connected once before, but for some reason, she connected again, leading to her death, which in turn caused Little Qin's crossover.
The overlapping consciousness of the two created Little Qin's golden finger.
"You've died once? Why?" Ouyang Zhao asked.
"I don't know; I lost that memory," Qin Xuezhong shook her head. "Alright, I don't want to say too much. I already have a general understanding of the situation. Regardless of whether you believe me, I don't care. Now, I want to get out and figure out how to solve this."
The pressure shifted to Ouyang Zhao.
Little Qin's intention was clear—no matter what Ouyang Zhao wanted, she was determined to resolve this issue.
At the same time, she knew she couldn't keep Qin Xuezhong trapped, so cooperation was up to her.
The girl in front of her immediately made her decision: she would follow!
She had been trapped for ten years, and... she had nothing left to lose.
Finally, she asked, "What's your purpose in all this?"
Ouyang Zhao was still a bit puzzled about Qin Xuezhong's identity.
Everyone had their motives; unless they were truly selfless like the positive Ouyang Zhao, how many completely unselfish people existed in the world?
"As for me... I just want to clock in and out on time, comfortably goof off in the office..." Little Qin smiled brightly. "If this world won't let me relax, then let's change the world a bit."
Ouyang Zhao: ?????????
—You actually managed to make such a lazy dream sound so passionate?
---
After Qin Xuezhong came out, she learned that Yu Zhezhong hadn't entered the brain at all but had remained fully conscious.
Three days had already passed outside.
During these three days, Yu Zhezhong didn't dare to move, relying on the people from the Children of the Moon to continuously bring him food and drink. They even built a makeshift toilet next to the generator.
The unusual activity in the brain excited everyone.
They had never seen such vibrant activity before.
By the third day, patients in the entire mental hospital had started to miraculously recover—thanks to Qin Xuezhong's consciousness expanding through Ouyang Zhao's brain, impacting the whole hospital.
However, by the afternoon of the third day, everyone stopped laughing.
Drones began to monitor the area outside the hospital.
Several box trucks were loitering nearby, appearing suspicious.
Initially, Yu Zhezhong didn't think much of it, as with the power of the Ghost Organization, he didn't worry about such things.
If things got out of hand, they had the aerial Sky Manor to rely on.
He sent a message to Kess and Zhang Yuan, asking them to come for support.
But in the black space, not a single familiar face replied.
At that moment, Yu Zhezhong sensed that something was wrong.
Then, messages gradually appeared in the black space.
[Kess's company was sealed due to financial fraud, and all executives and engineers were taken away.]
[The Security Department underwent a sudden purge, not even through the anti-intrusion team, but through a high-privilege secret department from headquarters. Nearly half of the personnel from the Xigu branch were taken away.]
Many departments or companies with active members of the Ghost Organization had experienced similar issues to some extent.
The last message was from the Fifth Consortium. No need to check the black space; the news flooded in from Xigu City.
[The Fifth Consortium was thrown into chaos! The consortium's flagship aerospace carrier—the Fifth—lost all engines and fell from the sky! Currently, the board members aboard are missing and presumed dead!]
Yu Zhezhong felt a chill run through him.
The mastermind was able to take down the Fifth Consortium's board, the most powerful entity in Xigu City???
What kind of power was this?
At that moment, he sensed Qin Xuezhong's consciousness returning to his body.
"Three days have passed. Just now, many members of the Ghost Organization were controlled, there was a large-scale purge in the Security Department, and the Fifth Consortium's mothership has fallen, with board members unaccounted for!" Yu Zhezhong quickly conveyed the current situation.
Qin Xuezhong was also stunned for a moment.
Just as she resolved one issue, another hellish scenario unfolded.
Then, Yu Zhezhong received another message from the Sky Manor: [Sky Manor is under attack from three reorganized fleets of the federal military and needs to leave the area immediately!]
Both of them:!!!
If the Sky Manor moved or was attacked, it meant Qin Xuezhong would soon lose her connection!
Qin Xuezhong immediately pointed to the brain in the generator, "Protect her! Get out of here! I'll meet up with you as soon as possible!"
Yu Zhezhong didn't hesitate. "Okay! Be careful!"
"You too!" Qin Xuezhong vanished in an instant.
She briefly wondered if it was the negative Ouyang Zhao behind this, but immediately dismissed that possibility.
While inside the brain, she had sensed Ouyang Zhao's condition.
Due to her fragmented consciousness, Ouyang Zhao couldn't externalize her awareness; at most, she could produce slight, nearly imperceptible fluctuations within the hospital's network, not even qualifying as information.
The simultaneous attacks on Ghost Organization members, Security Department partners, and the Fifth Consortium's personnel could only be the doing of the positive Ouyang Zhao!
Perhaps the positive Ouyang Zhao had gained deeper control over the mainframe.
Little Qin boldly speculated that Tang Kede's technology was intentionally released for experimentation by the positive Ouyang Zhao; the kidnapping case involving the Langfu family wasn't merely for that fool's selfish desires but likely aimed at cultivating a new replacement brain for the positive Ouyang Zhao!
All these matters that Qin Xuezhong resolved had likely pushed the mastermind into a corner!
Now, it was highly probable that they inferred Qin Xuezhong would collaborate with the negative Ouyang Zhao, prompting them to take preemptive action.
Unexpectedly, the initial strike was so thunderous that it nearly forced Qin Xuezhong into a desperate situation.
In the room of the Sky Manor, Little Qin abruptly opened her eyes and tore off the transmission electrodes from her head.
At that moment, a full-power blast from the mothership's main cannon struck the energy shield of the Sky Manor.
The entire manor shook violently, and the energy shield visibly dimmed.
Qin Xuezhong didn't rush out immediately.
She first carefully donned a set of combat armor from the nearby equipment room, prepared her gun, and loaded ammunition and energy packs—she anticipated a potentially prolonged battle and wanted to ensure her preparations were thorough to avoid mistakes later.
"Ms. Qin, please instruct on the current combat direction!"
A calm voice from the communications channel interrupted her thoughts.
Qin Xuezhong immediately replied, "Declare surrender and accept inspections aboard the ship. Staying alive is the priority; do not resist, just cooperate with their work."
She understood clearly: there was no way to win; rather than suffering countless casualties, it was better to lie down and do nothing.
As long as she escaped, the others would be fine.
The commander paused. "What about you?"
"Find me a blind spot and open the energy shield."
The commander quickly realized what Little Qin intended to do, feeling both surprised and touched, and swiftly sent guidance while saying, "Take care, and I'm glad to serve you!"
Little Qin replied, "No need to hold back; just say everything. That saint... should not give you too much trouble."
Although the commander didn't know who the saint Qin Xuezhong mentioned was, he still responded, "Understood!"
Qin Xuezhong soon reached the edge of the Sky Manor.
On this side, due to the obstructions, the outside enemies found it hard to observe the situation above.
She activated the flight mode and stealth function of her combat armor, took a deep breath, and looked at the turbulent clouds below and the cannon fire overhead. With a push of her legs, she jumped down.