The Creators: From Night City

Page 284

Then came the creation of four wine glasses out of thin air, but this act seemed insignificant compared to the 'East of East' wine poured into the glasses, which exuded a faint aura of 'chaotic magic' and the aroma of wine.

The remaining three people stared at the red wine in front of them and fell silent without prior agreement.

As the saying goes, the layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the details.

Jiang Bing's cyber "void creation" might seem like nothing more than a simple trick to ordinary people—just adding an item code—but the three people present are all experts.

They knew it perfectly well.

First of all, before Otto Cunningham even opened the door, this private room had already been taken over by the other party for the sake of secrecy; in other words, it was now their territory.

Under these circumstances, Jiang Bing managed to write a whole new block of code.

Secondly, there are varying degrees of difficulty in simulating objects. Programming a simple cube in cyberspace is something any competent hacker can do, but to write a bottle of wine that is perfectly colored, fragrant, and textured, almost indistinguishable from the real thing, requires an astonishing level of cybersecurity skills. Those who are truly experts understand this perfectly well.

Finally, and most importantly, 42 and Mr. Blue Eyes were able to confirm that when they met Jiang Bing not long ago, he was a pure human being, a carbon-based life form, and his online affinity was vastly different from that of these 'pseudo-silicon-based' life forms.

Faced with the brief silence, Jiang Bing smiled but remained silent, simply swirling the red wine in his glass.

What a joke! In the real world, he can already create things in the void using the [Ether Furnace]. The complexity of the online world is far less than that of the real world, so what difficulty could it possibly pose?

After all, compared to the 'underlying code' that constitutes items in the real world, the complexity of item codes in the online world is worlds apart.

After exchanging 'elegant' displays of strength, Ultraman finally spoke again, this time via internal communication, addressing the blue-eyed man beside him.

[Ultraman: The target strength benchmark implementation assessment has exceeded the standard; it is proposed to increase the cooperation reward to increase the probability of cooperation.]

[Blue Eyes: Agreed.]

They probably never imagined that Jiang Bing could directly 'see' these words at this moment.

“Mr. Sabur, the cyber police are tracking me based on the data traces I left on the black wall, so I’ll keep it short,” Ott Cunningham said bluntly.

"I want to ask you to help me enter the realm of the gods in Arasaka."

"The reason?" Jiang Bing stared at the other person, his face showing no surprise.

"I retrieved some data left behind when I was forced to flee into the First Network during the nuclear explosion at Araban Tower decades ago, which was used to recover military technology."

"That part about your humanity?" Jiang Bingyi revealed the truth in one sentence.

Otto was no longer shocked; after several complex calculations, she simply agreed.

That's right.

“I know this mission is very difficult. After the last attack, Arasaka’s defenses of Kamiya have become even more meticulous and stringent.”

With a wave of her hand, Otto lifted the roof of the private room, revealing a river of code as vast as the stars. She then tossed all the code aside, revealing a colossal object bearing the Arasaka Corporation's clover logo in the air.

That was Arasaka's god's projection in cyberspace, and also one of the most difficult data fortresses to crack in the network.

As a world-leading company, Arasaka Shin's data firewall had been repeatedly breached by Ultraman, leaving her with no choice but to try and change the method of entry to 'social engineering'.

"So, Otto Cunningham, what is the reward?" Jiang Bing's expression at this moment was exactly like Grommash Hellscream asking Gul'dan.

"The technology and knowledge lost in the early days of the Internet, money, or perhaps the Soul Killer, or the solution to the Soul Killer." Ultraman offered his bargaining chips.

To be honest, for a normal power in this world, such as Military Science, Kangtao, or Zeta Technology, Ultra's bargaining chips would be quite tempting, but for Jiang Bing, these things are really rather useless.

“Not enough,” Jiang Bing shook his head. “Compared to the impact of this matter, the reward you offered is not enough.”

Jiang Bing stared at the other person, then tapped the table. "I need you."

"Me?" Otto was somewhat confused.

"I need you to stand on the side of [Anti-Entropy], and to provide allied-level assistance when fighting against Arasaka or other companies in cyberspace or even the real world."

“No, physical entities and ownerless AI have always been under close surveillance by the internet censors. I cannot take action for an extended period of time, nor can I confront the internet censors head-on for long, nor can I cross the black wall for an extended period of time.” Ott frankly stated his current limitations.

In reality, cyber surveillance is only relatively low-key in Night City; this low-profile organization, which spans most of the world, has an absolute behemoth-level dominance in the cyber sphere.

Moreover, the physical entities in cyberspace and the roaming AI are not monolithic; they also have factions, such as pro-human, neutral, radical, and cyber supremacist factions.

Putting aside everything else, the Great Firewall is something created by the internet censors in collusion with a powerful entity in the cyberspace.

Despite her global fame, Otto Cunningham's life was far from easy. Behind the Black Wall, she not only had to face various dangers left over from the collapse of the initial network, but also the pursuit of Arasaka and the Internet Police, the covetousness of other major forces, and the ambushes of her own kind lurking in the shadows.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have partnered with Kangtao to establish the 'Cyber ​​Ghost City' in order to survive.

"You help me, I'll help you," Jiang Bing reiterated his idea.

"If necessary, I'll take care of the network surveillance for you." Compared to getting entangled in the old and new internet that spans the globe and even outer space, physical destruction is Jiang Bing's forte.

It's true that cyber surveillance forces are powerful, but the problem lies in their overwhelming strength. After all, while cyber surveillance can wield considerable influence in Europe and the Americas, it possesses a large number of personnel, buildings, equipment, and assets outside of cyberspace.

This is their advantage over cyberspace entities and roaming AIs, but their disadvantage against [reverse entropy].

Ott Cunningham observed the data flowing continuously, undergoing intense computation, and ultimately, she drew a conclusion.

"The cooperation is agreed. As long as you can retrieve the data I left behind in God and the World, I will formally establish a defensive alliance with you. In addition, the previously promised reward will remain unchanged."

Chapter 559 Little Rich Girl Rebecca

It was clear that the internet monitors were really pushing Ultraman hard. After discussing the most important matter of cooperation, the two sides didn't even have time to talk about his old flame, Johnny Silverhand, or discuss how to break into Arasaka Tower. They just left behind a packet puppet for communication and quickly retreated behind the black wall.

As Mr. Blue Eyes said earlier, Otto went to such great lengths to break through the black wall to get here just to meet and get to know Jiang Bing.

The blue-eyed man, who hadn't said a word the whole time, brought up the topic of the tea party again after the other person left.

"The Arasaka Tower is easy to enter, but how to suppress their retaliation afterward requires careful consideration."

Mr. Blue Eyes took another sip of his drink: "Originally, we planned to disguise the whole operation as a terrorist attack by cyber madmen on Aragaka Tower. After all, Night City has everything, but it doesn't lack fringe travelers whose heads are filled with madness and who only think about becoming famous."

"Then why did you give up?"

"Because of you, there's this unstable variable called 'reverse entropy,'" Mr. Blue Eyes bluntly stated.

"Then thank you for your compliment." Jiang Bing acted as if he hadn't heard the complaint in the other person's tone at all.

“Let’s get back to the Black Wall,” 42 suddenly spoke up from the side.

“Yes, Black Wall, that’s what I was just about to say.” The blue-eyed man poured himself another cup of East of East, looking quite pleased with himself.

"The Black Wall has developed its own consciousness. Compared to a high and mighty, impartial tool, having consciousness means instability."

"Therefore, we need to get a solution to it," the blue-eyed man said, revealing his long-planned scheme.

“If the Black Wall were so easy to fight, it wouldn’t be the taboo subject that all hackers talk about,” Jiang Bing retorted.

“That’s right, that’s right.” The blue-eyed man lightly lifted his wine glass, revealing a smile that said he had everything under control.

"Therefore, we first need to obtain intelligence and information closely related to the Black Wall, and it would be best to have a sample for reference."

"Sample?" Jiang Bing pondered the other party's words, a myriad of guesses surfacing in his mind.

But Mr. Blue Eyes changed the subject and started talking about something that seemed completely unrelated.

"Speaking of which, would you like to go to the Crystal Palace, take a trip to the moon, and see the Cloud Sea Project with your own eyes?"

……

Rebecca is already a well-off woman.

Compared to six months ago when she lived a cramped life in Long Beach North, barely scraping by, she is now a true tycoon in Night City.

Putting aside her fixed monthly salary at [Anti-Entropy], her commission as the sales manager of the high-end organic food Night City easily surpasses that of Pila, the technical director of the 'Hao Zai Lai' food processing plant.

It's more than ten times stronger.

But she deserved all of this, after all, the days of driving a beat-up car all over the city at night to develop clients were really tough.

Fortunately, her current vehicle has been upgraded.

This violent little girl drove her Thunder Macintosh "Sky Beast" on the overpass leading to the company square in the city center, looking impatient and honking the horn from time to time, assaulting the eardrums of drivers around her with noise loud enough to be used as a sonic cannon.

In the world of family cars, there is an unwritten rule that men mostly prefer to buy compact, sleek sedans or SUVs, while petite women tend to prefer large, spacious, noisy, and fuel-guzzling muscle cars.

Not only that, Rebecca went even further.

The Thunder Mackintosh "Skybreaker" is a heavy-duty off-road vehicle whose size embodies the typical aesthetic of a little girl – thick and large.

The vehicle weighs over 6 tons and drives like a small tank. Its height allows the driver to easily see the heads of drivers waiting at traffic lights in the adjacent lane.

What's more, the car under the little girl's bottom was a custom-made and modified vehicle that she had the company specially commission. Compared to the original Nissan Thunder Mackintosh "Beast", it was faster and had racing-grade suspension. The roaring engine made the original version pale in comparison, and the jet-black paint would scare any coward to death.

Of course, the finishing touch is the pink doll placed on the front of the car, which adds a touch of girlishness to this muscular behemoth.

Of course, there was only a sliver of light, since the doll was still bound to the top with its limbs stretched out.

Sitting in the driver's seat, the little girl had to use the specially raised pedals to operate the car normally, and compared to her petite size, the interior space was so large that it was almost empty.

However, it was precisely because of this that she received the task personally assigned to her by Gloria.

"What kind of people do you need to pick up that require a vehicle with space?" Rebecca used a beautiful drift to push aside her angry but silent colleagues, smoothly turned from the intersection onto the roundabout of the company square, and then braked directly to a stop on the side of the bustling commercial street.

'Parisian Style'

The name sounds like a low-class KTV in a rural club, but it is actually one of the top luxury clothing stores in Night City.

As the store name suggests, all their clothes are air-freighted from Paris. Of course, the prices are commensurate with the cost of the cargo planes they carry—so high they make you want to jump off.

Rebecca kicked the car door open and jumped out of the car.

Even with her fanny pack bulging, her style of dressing remains unchanged.

Her loose-fitting, entropy-increasing style coat concealed her slightly oversized "Friend" prosthetic arms. Shorts, fishnet stockings, high-heeled ankle boots, and newly dyed rainbow pigtails, along with the gum she kept chewing, made her stand out from the surrounding pedestrians in suits or luxurious clothes.

That's normal, after all, this is the most bustling company square in Night City, a glamorous commercial CBD.

However, she still managed to pass through the two ornately carved doors of the 'Parisian Style' and enter.

"Hello madam, welcome to 'Parisian Charm'. How may I help you?"

A service worker whose arms and cheeks had been gilded came forward, but as a man, he exuded a strong gay vibe in his demeanor.

"Picking up people"

The little girl looked around at the magnificent store environment, her previous inferiority complex replaced by disdain.

"This place reeks of nouveau riche." Rebecca, who had seen the Anti-Entropy One reception room, was absolutely qualified to say that.

"Are you Ms. Rebecca?" Upon hearing her say this, the staff member immediately recognized her by the flash of her prosthetic eye.

"This way, please."

Under the watchful eyes of several well-dressed, high-class 'upper-class people' with varying expressions, the service staff led the little girl through a lobby that was more than ten times the size of her original apartment, to a special rest area.

Chapter 560 Lust Blinds Reason

"Please wait a moment, our esteemed VIPs are still trying on clothes. I will inform them shortly." The staff member politely turned and went to the showroom next door, which was comparable to a city hall.

As a high-end luxury store, 'Parisian Style' naturally doesn't just hang clothes in a row on the wall for customers to choose from. If a customer finds something they like, they can ask the owner to use a fork to take the clothes down from the wall.

The clothes here are displayed like antiques, complete sets in well-organized, spacious showcases. The living conditions are much better than those of the poorest people at the bottom of society.

Each season, each designer's clothing has its own showroom, allowing customers to browse and choose.

There was a data board on the table with carefully photographed product model pictures, but Rebecca was completely indifferent to these things and could only listlessly stare at the TV on the wall with her chubby cheeks.

The television is currently showing a rerun of "Talking to Zig Q Tonight" on News 54. Zig Q, the silly guy who is Crystal Palace's spokesperson in Night City, is still tirelessly promoting his old employer, New America.

"It is reported that the new US President Rosalind Myers will soon visit Crystal Palace in low Earth orbit with her administration to try to advance a classified commercial cooperation between the new US and the European Space Agency. According to our sources, if the two sides reach an agreement, the cost of space tourism for US residents will decrease by at least 30%, which is undoubtedly great news for all viewers who want to go to the dream paradise of Crystal Palace..."

Rebecca flipped her beautiful, colorful prosthetic eye, but before she could even utter a few words of complaint, a rich young man with hair combed as if licked by a cat, wearing a pair of Jinguji-style glasses made of imitation tortoiseshell material, and dressed in high-fashion neo-kitsch clothing walked past the little girl. He glanced at Rebecca, who exuded a "streetwise" aura, and then at her simple, large, and cheap-looking prosthetic hands. He curled his lip in disdain, then led his bodyguards away.

This undoubtedly greatly affected the little girl's mood. She clenched her fist and missed the "law" she kept in the car.

If she weren't on a mission, she would have given the other person a good beating.

However, the opportunity soon presented itself.

A commotion suddenly broke out in the exhibition hall. Just as the little girl was peeking out to see what was going on, a staff member rushed out and bumped into her.

"Ms. Rebecca, three VIP customers encountered a minor issue. I have already contacted the store manager to resolve it. Please..."

In fact, before the other party could finish speaking, the little girl had already loaded a pink 'Liz' pistol.

"What a joke," the little girl thought with a cold laugh. "Daring to cause trouble for [Anti-Entropy] in Night City without even asking around in the underworld? They're asking for trouble."

The two rushed into the exhibition hall one after the other, only to find the bodyguard of the rich young man blocking the way of three tall and beautiful women, so that the employer would have a chance to talk to the three women.

"Ladies, my name is Scarl Tachira, the owner of a venture capital firm. May I ask how you are addressed?"

To be honest, as a rich second-generation, Scarl had seen plenty of beautiful women in his daily life, and his extravagant early life had given him a great immunity to such things.