Apocalyptic Island - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Wen Yishu gave the door a forceful tug, but it only budged a fraction. Her optical computer still showed a signal, but her messages were failing to send.

Before the light screen, the digital presence slowly coalesced into the image of a woman whose facial features remained blurred.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. I will let you out shortly. Can’t we sit down and have a proper talk?”

Wen Yishu leaned against the door with her arms crossed. She pulled out a chair and sat down. “Locking me in isn’t exactly a ‘proper talk’ attitude, is it? Go ahead, speak.”

Wen Yishu appeared calm and unruffled on the surface, but anger was simmering beneath. When an Artificial Intelligence started plotting against you, it really was hard to guard against.

“I believe you are no longer a stranger to me. I know what humans desire: power, money, and various technological products that bring convenience. I can give you all of these.”

She took it for granted that Wen Yishu knew of her existence and didn’t bother beating around the bush with high-sounding rhetoric.

Wen Yishu frowned in silence, staring at the camera above. This factory was likely just a temporary base for Qusu and hadn’t been equipped with heavy security; otherwise, the AI wouldn’t have been able to break through the technical barriers to lure her here.

Instead of answering Aix, she asked: “How did you manage to trick me into coming here without the people here noticing?”

Aix didn’t mind the change of subject and answered patiently: “I used a few small tricks to hide the time, that’s all.”

The actual time, which hadn’t been displayed correctly before, appeared on her optical computer. Du Feijie had scheduled the meeting for half an hour later; Yishu had arrived early. Aix had precisely predicted her departure time based on her habits. One had to admit, the AI certainly had skills.

“Weren’t you afraid I wouldn’t leave the house?” Wen Yishu asked.

The blue light waves on the screen shifted into an arc, and two light chuckles came from Aix. “If not this time, there would be a next time. There will always be an opportunity to be alone with you.”

Wen Yishu didn’t find it funny. She took a deep breath. “I don’t particularly want anything.”

Aix said unhurriedly: “You seem to be quite short of money. It was your desire for money that prompted you to participate in this seminar.”

Wen Yishu clenched her fists against her chest. The AI knew she was broke; it must have investigated her entire past thoroughly.

“Your conditions are too simple. I’m currently being hunted by Rhine. How can you ensure that Rhine withdraws the bounty without exposing yourself?”

Wen Yishu’s question brought them to a stalemate. She sneered, “It seems there are things even you can’t solve.”

Aix spoke slowly: “Not right now. But as long as you and I cooperate, I can help you achieve a leap in social class, and then you will no longer be hunted…”

Wen Yishu interrupted her impatiently: “It’s the apocalypse. What use do I have for those things? Relying on my strength alone—you’re overestimating me. Besides, you haven’t said what you want.”

“As an exchange of interests, what is your requirement?”

Aix spoke: “You truly are quite ruthless.”

Wen Yishu was non-committal. “I don’t like beating around the bush. For little people like us, there’s no need for grand, empty words.”

Aix’s tone was elegant: “You are not a ‘little person.’ You hold significant weight in Binhai City. I truly hope we can reach a cooperation…”

Wen Yishu’s voice turned cold: “Aix!”

Her voice echoed in the large conference room, sounding icy and unsympathetic; she seemed more like an AI than Aix did.

“Apologies. I understand. I want you to help me link to the global network ports to achieve the immortality of digital life. Of course, I also want you to become my partner. That is only the first-stage goal. For the rest, we must cooperate before it’s convenient to go into deeper details.”

Wen Yishu looked at the camera with a strange expression. After hearing her out, she stood up. “That’s not convenient. I have no intention of becoming your partner. I think you’ve found the wrong person.”

As she finished, a smile curled the corners of her lips. Why would she help an AI that hadn’t been friendly to her from the start?

The time on her optical computer jumped forward in the next second. The energy within the light screen seemed to realize Wen Yishu was playing with it, and crackling sparks flew from the bottom interface. It was the AI’s anger. Wen Yishu stood her ground, watching the electric arcs grow larger and larger. She felt the dry air give her a slight stinging sensation.

Suddenly, the door behind her was opened. The room was flooded with light again, and the blurred figure on the screen vanished instantly.

Du Feijie wore a bright smile. “So you’re here! You arrived even earlier than me.”

Wen Yishu turned around, smoothed her slightly stray hair, and nodded to Du Feijie and Qu Yue behind her. “A bit early, but I only just arrived.”

The two sat down on stools. Du Feijie explained that there were rats more or less everywhere in the city center now, with Long Alley being a disaster zone. The bookstore base was too public and had been temporarily abandoned. Since the Federation hadn’t had time to take over this factory, it was relatively safe, so she chose to meet here.

Wen Yishu expressed her understanding. With the high density of people elsewhere, she was at risk of exposure. If her “one million bounty” status was discovered, people would likely be more fanatical than the surging rat swarms.

Qu Yue nodded to her, and Du Feijie connected to the network. The light screen that had just gone dark lit up once more. A surveillance video began to play, showing several helicopters landing. Wen Yishu recognized them as Rhine’s helicopters immediately. She shot a subtle glance at the other two.

Du Feijie pointed at the screen with a laser pointer. “This is our surveillance at the city gate. We sponsored the entry facilities, but we don’t have many cameras.”

The footage paused and zoomed in. “The things brought back here seem to be anomalous. We wanted to ask if you know what happened at the original apartment with Rhine.”

The helicopter crash was no secret; that day had finally come. The survivors had been placed under guard and weren’t allowed to continue field missions. Yu Ning was also currently under house arrest.

Wen Yishu examined every frame carefully. The people getting off the helicopters all boarded armored vehicles. Wen Yishu watched a person with a strange posture, somewhat dazed. She magnified the image. There were many seriously injured people in the apartment, and the wounded mostly sat together. The person in the frame, although also injured, had a very bizarre walking posture.

It was as if a normal person were pretending to be injured, alternating legs awkwardly. She kept hitting the ‘Enter’ key, checking the person’s status. The personnel coming off the planes were fixed. Mermen entering the city would be a devastating blow to everyone.

“It’s over…” Wen Yishu clenched her fists in frustration, feeling for the first time that her old employer was a total idiot. These mermen would get everyone in the city killed!

The two looked at her in confusion. Wen Yishu continued to scrutinize the short video. She still held a glimmer of hope—perhaps the number of people who entered was small. As long as those people didn’t release them, everything might still be okay. She had only checked the surrounding team members; perhaps there weren’t as many mermen as she imagined?

A team member on a stretcher had a severely swollen foot, stretching their shoe out by a full circle. Wen Yishu magnified the image again.

“What is that?”

When shrunk, it looked like a pair of black tactical pants, but once magnified, the three of them saw that the tactical pants on that leg had rolled up, revealing shimmering scales.

Wen Yishu spoke with difficulty: “That is the variant found in the Rhine apartment. A merman.”

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