The Creators: From Night City

Page 319

Edmund.

Jiang Bing kept the name in his heart.

"Have you determined the cause of the damage? Can it be repaired?" Mann immediately asked when Jiang Bing stopped his hammering and tinkering.

"As I expected, there was a leak in the cooling system. Such a superconducting environment, which needs to be maintained at near absolute zero for many years, requires an extremely complex multi-stage cooling system. Any pump failure, pipe leak, or insulation failure at any stage can lead to a local or overall temperature increase, triggering a chain reaction. However, this time the failure was very minor, just a small leak."

Jiang Bing tapped the screen on the main control panel, and the 'honeycomb' crystal on the left side of the tower immediately rose, revealing the complex pre-reserved maintenance passage behind it.

"However, the topological insulator nano-ice that needs to be supplemented can't be made with ordinary nano-elements. You'll have to find some polar nano-elements. I can do the work, but you can't expect me to provide both labor and materials, can you?"

Hearing Jiang Bing say that it could be repaired, Mann visibly relaxed. He crossed his arms and coldly retorted, "Don't worry, although Xiyong is short of resources, it still has the necessary polar nano-elements for repairs."

"I'll have someone deliver it to you."

"And send over a nano editor as well," Jiang Bing added at the end of his sentence.

Although he can indeed conjure topological insulator nano-ice on the spot, and even more radically, he doesn't need to use polar nano-elements, he still needs to keep a low profile for now. After all, he hasn't finished studying Xi Yong's knowledge yet, and it would be a real pity if he were kicked out or had a conflict.

Time passed gradually during the somewhat tedious repair process.

It wasn't until nightfall that Jiang Bing finally resolved all the issues.

Under Mann's seemingly escorting but actually guarding surveillance, the two left the Tower of Memory and returned to the Audience Hall to report to the prophet Olko.

I'll also take this opportunity to ask for my unpaid wages.

The machine behind "Matrix 11" Olco emitted a holographic light screen, forming a topographical map of the area around Chion, while also marking the location of the recording hall he mentioned.

"This recording hall is located in Matrix 11. Although the matrix has been abandoned, the main structure of the recording hall itself is very sturdy and has most likely not been damaged."

“However, if you’re going there, I suggest you prepare your weapons and supplies. My personal link has detected traces of the Nergigante’s activities in the vicinity. But then again, which corner of this planet is safe? Hehe~” The prophet shook his head and laughed self-deprecatingly.

The next day, Jiang Bing's clinic, which had only been open for a few days, was hastily closed down.

Although hope Yong is said to be joyful, it is better to return home early.

For Jiang Bing, recording the knowledge in the hall was as tempting as a small hamburger was to Lao Ba.

He didn't want to wait a moment longer.

So one moonlit, starry morning, he left quietly, just as quietly as he had come, as if he had made up his mind. He didn't even say goodbye to the two Karakaya sisters.

The desert is called the desert because it is so vast.

At least when the 'flying shuttle' was flying at an altitude of a thousand meters and encountered the air defense type Nieqiba bombardment, Jiang Bing could see the mottled decorations of other colors through the observation window, but he still could not see the boundary of this huge desert.

Under the threat of ground-based anti-aircraft fire from the Nyxelba creatures, Jiang Bing didn't have time to take a closer look and hastily lowered his flight altitude.

However, he saw the remains of Matrix 2, which had been torn from the soil by the shockwave and scattered on the surface.

Beneath the surface of this world lie numerous giant matrix structures.

The main reason for this situation is that the Earth's environment deteriorated drastically for a period of time. Humans deduced that if this continued, the ground would soon become uninhabitable, so the Matrix Project was proposed.

The plan aims to relocate most of the residents to habitable underground areas and construct extensive environmental modification facilities on the surface, thereby ensuring the continuation of humankind in a harsh natural environment.

However, for some unknown reason, the original plan was not implemented, but the completed matrix was still utilized and used as various underground facilities.

The Matrix 11 that Jiang Bing was heading to was once the main underground transportation hub in this area.

A vast network of underground transportation tracks once stretched across the earth's surface, transporting travelers from all corners of the world to their destinations. Unfortunately, with the fall of the Star Ring, most of the underground passages were destroyed and collapsed by the shockwave, leaving only a few passages still passable, but even those were buried under the rolling yellow sand.

Although the 'flying shuttle' lowered its altitude, its flight still attracted several four-winged bird-like niqiba to chase after it. These niqiba would occasionally spit out clumps of unidentified slime from their headless necks, attempting to contaminate the aircraft in front of them.

However, most of the slime missed its target, and the few clumps that managed to hit the airship were engulfed by the suddenly ignited golden flames.

Jiang Bing dared not let the saliva of these monstrous creatures touch his 'new car'. These monsters, composed of mutated flesh and nanotechnology, not only possessed an extremely strong ability to twist and assimilate flesh, but also could not escape the corruption of machinery and inorganic matter.

Not long after he left, he saw several old-fashioned self-propelled guard turrets in the desert that had been corrupted by Nieqiba. These autonomous machines were purely inorganic from beginning to end, but their decision-making units and behavioral logic systems had also been eroded and assimilated by Nieqiba, turning them into killing machines that would kill anyone they saw.

This thing is simply a natural disaster. No wonder it can drive the 'Mother Domain,' which represents the pinnacle of human technology, into the sky. Its assimilation ability is simply abnormal.

After all, biochemical viruses like the T-virus and G-virus only target living organisms, while the Extinction Monster is like a cancer of the world, capable of infecting all organic and inorganic matter, shamelessly and unreasonably.

Chapter 646 The Fourth Airborne Squad

Annoyed by these flying monsters, Jiang Bing simply turned the 'flying shuttle' engine to maximum power and sped towards Matrix 11, dragging a huge noise, completely ignoring the growing number of 'little tails' behind him.

Although Olco provided the exact location of the recording hall, finding it was not as easy as he had imagined.

First, unlike other ruined cities, where there are still many ruins standing on the ground as reference points, the Matrix 11 suffered from land subsidence due to the collapse of its orbit, and after a long period of time, almost everything was buried under thick yellow sand.

Jiang Bingfei was in the sky, and all he could see was endless yellow sand. There were no specific landmarks to refer to.

Until he discovered a train station that was half-buried in the vast desert.

The 'flying shuttle' roared away and successfully landed on the ground before a large group of Nieqi Ba could catch up. After being bombarded a few times by Jiang Bing with the [Treaty], the flying Nieqi Ba were finally hurt and scattered in all directions.

Having resolved the minor trouble, Jiang Bingcai finally had time to observe the dilapidated station.

This station used to be quite large, probably three stories high, but the surging yellow sand has completely submerged the two lowest floors, leaving only the third floor with windows featuring huge clock faces, which serves as the building's entrance.

The actual area of ​​Matrix 11 is very large, with various tunnels and pipelines running in all directions. Fortunately, in the information age, what a station needs is a large enough central processing unit with comprehensive information.

The staircase leading to the second basement level had long been buried by the rubble of the collapsed building, but that didn't stop Boss Jiang.

Although reinforced concrete floor slabs are sturdy, their suitability depends on the individual user.

Under the encroaching golden flames, Jiang Bingcheng fell from the third floor to the second floor, and then to the service hall on the first floor.

The power had long been cut off, and even the service terminals were almost completely damaged. Fortunately, they guided Jiang Bing to the location of the station server. So Jiang Bing went down to the basement server room by himself and successfully obtained the topographic map of Matrix 11, as well as a usable nano network server.

Lu Jiangbing knew the truth, but things didn't go smoothly for him.

The dampness, the cramped space, and the darkness were not the biggest problems.

Nie Qiba is the one.

Following the central hub, Jiang Bing walked two subway stops through a tunnel before encountering trouble in the waiting hall of the 'Xinshikou' station.

This place is in turmoil.

Dozens of creatures resembling desert scorpions, but with human-like features, roamed the spacious waiting hall. Some even crawled through the broken platform railings into the tunnel.

The reason they gathered here is simple: there were two corpses on the ground, half of which were already wrapped in mutated flesh.

The two corpses of scavengers served as a breeding ground for them.

Survivors existed within the intricate network of underground tunnels, much like a spiderweb, which was not unexpected for Jiang Bing.

After all, Xiyong was only the largest human settlement, and for various reasons, the number of scavenger groups fighting independently in the wild was not small.

But what intrigued Jiang Bing was that both corpses were still very 'fresh,' clearly indicating that they had only recently died.

More importantly, this is where the 'Recording Hall' is located.

So Jiang Bing crawled out of the subway tunnel.

The battle was uneventful; these creatures, using their extra limbs as body parts and crawling frantically on the ground, posed no real trouble.

When Jiang Bing kicked open the platform entrance, which was mostly covered by yellow sand, by dragging a fleshy, venomous thorn made from a deformed tailbone that should have degenerated in humans, he found himself in another place.

However, as far as the eye can see, it is still desert.

A massive wreckage of a tram lay across Jiang Bing's face; the magnificent metal structure looked like a giant steel dragon lying prostrate on the ground.

However, this is just its remains.

This ultra-high-speed pipeline train, originally intended for crossing continents, has been broken into pieces. Even if a few sections of the pipeline survive, they are merely a glorious memory of the past.

This place is very far from Xiyong, and the surrounding area is extremely resource-poor, except for the desert. Ordinary scavengers would never come here. Jiang Bing had prepared for the area to be desolate and uninhabited, but he did not expect to find a fully equipped rest camp near the dilapidated train tunnel.

Of course, there were also three bodies lying dead near the camp, some of which were already desiccated.

These corpses were all wearing similarly exposed nano-combat suits. All three corpses were female, but the nano-elements that made up their bodies had been severely deactivated, causing the corpses to become like melted wax figures, a blurry mess.

This is how the 'new humans' decompose. Compared to the human flesh and blood, the combination of inorganic materials made of metallic nano-elements decomposes much more slowly.

So Jiang Bing also got his money.

Thanks to the widespread availability of 'Memory Sticks', these three people, though dead, were still able to leave their final words. Moreover, with a dedicated reading and writing device, even their life stories could be accessed.

However, such a device is impossible to find on the surface of the earth.

Jiang Bing thought he could use himself as a 'card reader', but when he rubbed his hands and squatted down in front of the three corpses, he was surprised to find a problem.

Memory stick, gone.

That's understandable. Maybe their surviving companions took their memory sticks with them, since these people are always saying, "May your memories last forever."

So Jiang Bing had no choice but to cremate the three on the spot and collect the leftovers.

However, when it was burned, some things actually came out.

[C1:C3, a strong signal emitted by 'Nieqiba' has been detected in the facility next to the vacuum tube track ruins. It's possible that the other party is the ancient Negiba. I and the other two members of the team will go to the target location first to build a camp and wait for the other team members to arrive.]

[C3: Received. Please be careful. I have received this fluctuation. The target appears to be extremely powerful. Please do not act rashly.]

[C1: Understood. At least until Firebat arrives..., we will not... enter.]

[C1: Speaking of which... will the 'Firebat' and 'Viper' come?]

[C3: They found the second empty... "Raven's" inheritance recorder, which... suggests that the "Raven" might still be in... state. They went to investigate the location of the inheritance record... not far away, near your memories... .]

[C1: The enemy has been living on the surface for... so long, and they've somehow managed to gather information about the 'Ancient Evil Spirit'... This is truly good news... The Fourth Airborne Squad might... be assigned a mission in the "Main Domain".]

[C1: Also, I have a feeling that there's a big secret hidden beneath the ancient sewage purification device in this matrix, C3.]

[C3: Yes, yes, yes, even if it gets bigger... be careful. 'Firebat' replied and is asking me for your... coordinates. I... sent them... and I think I'll... meet up with you.]

[C1: Received, I'll add more to the camp...]

This is all the information Jiang Bing found from the three corpses: a wide-area communication channel band from the 'Mother Domain' airborne squad, plus a fragmented communication.

Chapter 647 The Mysterious Truth

The communication information was as incomplete as the three corpses on the ground, with pieces missing here and there, but some clues could still be made out.

Based on the scene, it can be clearly concluded that the three corpses on the ground did not die naturally, but were murdered. The murderer's combat strength was overwhelming against the three. Apart from the first one being ambushed and decapitated, the remaining two showed obvious signs of resistance. Unfortunately, one was cut diagonally from the shoulder to the abdomen, severing in two, with nano-blood smearing one side of the wall. The other had his arm severed while blocking, and his abdomen was ripped open in the process. His body battery was also cut in two, and he died on the spot.

The edges of the wound were very rough, and it didn't look like a wound caused by a sharp blade; rather, it looked more like a wound caused by a sharp blade.

It was caused by their rough and deformed claws and teeth.

However, this has nothing to do with Jiang Bing. He is not some high school detective from Beika Town who pretends to be young. Investigating the truth is meaningless to him. His main target is still the 'Record Hall'.

So after looting the unwanted supply station equipment, he continued his journey to the 'Record Hall'.

At the same time, hope Yong was in the audience hall.

"I am Lily, Lily Artemis II, a great engineer," a tomboy was boasting in front of everyone.

"I am Eve," said another stunningly beautiful 'angel' in the Seventh Squad's paratrooper uniform, nodding to Olko. The nanoblades at the ends of her hair, which had transformed into hairpins, rose and fell with her nods.

Olco's natural right hand involuntarily paused when he heard the name 'Eve'.

“Orco, they are looking for Alpha Nechiba’s trail, so I brought them here to you.”

A yellow-skinned man dressed in old-fashioned combat uniform spoke familiarly to the prophet.

“Of course, but my personal link is currently constrained by energy, and most of it has fallen into a dormant state…” Following the pre-arranged script, Olko acted out the scene meticulously and quickly finalized the deal to exchange the super-energy battery for Alpha Negiba’s whereabouts.

Eve and Lily, having obtained what they desired, did not linger and returned to Chion City to prepare for their journey in search of the super-energy battery.

The audience hall returned to its usual tranquility.

However, this peace was soon broken again when the Asian man in the old-fashioned combat uniform returned.

The prophet Orco nodded to Mann, who was guarding him, and the taciturn guard walked out of the audience hall without a word, leaving the two of them alone.

“Everything is going exactly as you planned, Edm.”

The prophet stopped flipping through the book in front of him, looked up and gazed with cloudy eyes at his former friend and former boss.

"How many 'Eves' have you found now? They all look remarkably similar."

Edm, ranked 4th, no longer had his usual friendly expression; instead, he looked incredibly heavy and filled with endless sorrow.

"They are all artificial humans mass-produced by the 'Mother's Domain,' and their appearances are all optimized to be the most perfect yellow-skinned females in theory. Of course, they have many similarities."

"So, does this candidate suit your taste?" The mechanical arm behind Olco gently turned the page of the book in front of him, revealing a prayer from the Bible to the prophet.

If the priest were here, he would know that this passage is from the Book of Joel.