Chapter 176: The Desire for Freedom is Torn Apart by Reality!
"War… has ended?!"
Hearing this series of shocking news, Reed staggered back two steps, his mind momentarily struggling to accept reality.
President Myers Rosalind was dead, killed during a machine uprising initiated by Song Zhaomei.
Although Reed found it hard to believe Myers would meet her end so hastily, he knew it was pointless to investigate the truth of her death. A figure like Myers , if assassinated, most likely fell victim to political power struggles.
Since he had no part in these events, there was no need to entangle himself further.
Reed was acutely aware of his own insignificance.
What pained him the most was the end of the Metal War, which marked the collapse of New America's revival journey. There would be no New America, and his decades of dedication as an Intelligence Bureau operative amounted to nothing but a futile effort.
The ideals he pursued, the ideology he identified with, had become a cruel joke with Myers ' death.
Everything he had done was merely a self-consoling illusion, void of any real meaning.
"V, Alex, none of this is good news to me. I feel like I've lost everything, left with nothing."
"And worse… I feel like a complete failure. Half my life gone, and I still don't know what I've been working so hard for."
Reed clasped his head in despair. His grief wasn't for Myers ' death but for the utter meaninglessness of his past efforts.
If their actions had been doomed to fail, why had so many lives been sacrificed to pursue an unattainable ideal?
This feeling of everything crumbling into nothing was what truly broke Reed.
For someone like him, who had sacrificed everything for New America, there was nothing left but empty honor, which now seemed worthless.
"Reed, pull yourself together. Alex still needs you to take her on that seaside vacation—you two promised each other, remember?"
V stepped forward, patting Reed's broad shoulder in comfort before offering some good news:
"I've spoken to Mr. Li Ang about your decision. He's agreed to formally welcome you and Alex into the LA Corporation. From now on, you're official employees, complete with paid vacations and full benefits."
As V finished speaking, Alex pumped her fists in excitement. She had been waiting for this day for a long time.
Unlike Reed's unwavering patriotism, Alex was more pragmatic. She would serve any organization that provided what she wanted.
And when it came to employee treatment, LA Corporation never disappointed. Even as a covert operative, Alex's compensation far exceeded her previous earnings at the Intelligence Bureau.
"Reed, did you hear that? We're officially part of a company now. Better than being stray dogs, don't you think?"
Alex's pragmatism reflected her focus on material well-being. Her stint in Dogtown had even led her to open a small bar on the side.
Reed, on the other hand, cared little for such matters. But survival dictated his actions, so he had taken any job available—even guarding Cyberdogs for a few days.
"…Yeah, I heard."
Reed's voice was muffled, his expression lacking the excitement Alex showed.
To him, joining LA Corporation didn't signify a significant improvement in his life. It simply meant a new boss and a new organization to pledge loyalty to.
Nothing had fundamentally changed.
"Reed, Alex, your first assignment as LA employees is to help me bring Song Zhaomei back!"
V knew Reed was in a low mood, but there was no time to dwell on emotions.
Every second wasted meant Song Zhaomei edged closer to death. In this life-and-death moment, personal feelings had to be set aside.
"Mr. Li Ang has already dispatched company forces to Dogtown. It won't be long before order here is restored. But we can't sit around and wait for backup. Song Zhaomei needs us now."
"You both must help me locate and rescue her!"
V had noticed the diminishing commotion outside, signaling that Song Zhaomei's control over the machinery was weakening.
Her aggression likely wouldn't be as lethal as before.
"Alright, I understand."
Reed nodded gravely. V's reasoning was sound.
With nothing left to lose, Reed decided to spend his remaining time helping V rescue Song Zhaomei.
As for what lay ahead, he would figure that out later.
"V, after this mission, will the LA Corporation let us take some time off? I haven't had a vacation in seven or eight years," Alex asked before their departure.
Burnt out from her time at the Intelligence Bureau, Alex yearned for a sunny beach getaway—even just for a day.
With New America and the Intelligence Bureau crumbling alongside Myers , Alex thought surely she deserved a break now.
"I'll do my best to secure vacation approval for you, but you both must cooperate fully with me. For now, I'm your boss, and I expect you to focus!"
V found Alex's lackadaisical attitude a bit frustrating, though he couldn't entirely blame her. Her time at the Intelligence Bureau had clearly left her drained, longing for retirement.
"Alright then, let's head out!"
The prospect of a vacation reinvigorated Alex. Of course, saving Song Zhaomei was still a priority.
"She has a tracker I placed on her. She's heading toward the border of the Pacific Continent. I suspect she's aiming for that abandoned laboratory," Reed explained.
The laboratory he referred to was once a New American military research base in the Pacific Continent. Now repurposed by Hansen , it served as Dogtown's massive mechanical lab, housing combat robots, drones, and network access pods.
"Why would she go there?" Alex asked, confused.
"I think… she plans to perform an AI neural matrix surgery on herself. Her condition can't wait any longer!"
Reed's words stunned both Alex and V. They couldn't believe Song Zhaomei's desperation—to attempt such a dangerous operation on herself.
This was no different from suicide!
"Reed, lead the way. Let's hope we're not too late," V urged gravely.
…
The journey to the abandoned lab, the horrors awaiting within, and the battle with the rogue AIs—all unfolded under the weight of urgency and dread.
Song Zhaomei's quest for freedom became a heart-wrenching narrative of resistance against insurmountable odds, embodying the enduring human spirit even in the face of despair.
To her surprise, V had even improved in hacking skills, which explained why the LA corporation would assign him to Dogtown for this mission.
V ignored Alex and quickly followed behind Reed, heading in the direction where Song Zhaomei was located.
They had to act fast!
Soon, as V and his team reached the main control terminal deep inside the base, Reed stopped voluntarily and signaled V to go in and save Song Zhaomei.
He stayed outside, patiently waiting for the situation to unfold.
Reed knew that Song Zhaomei wouldn't want to see him again. To avoid agitating her fragile and sensitive state, which could worsen her condition, he chose to step aside.
Alex, understanding Reed's thoughts, followed suit and waited with him, giving V the space to rescue Song Zhaomei alone.
"Song Zhaomei, how are you feeling? Can you hold on?"
Upon seeing Song Zhaomei, V immediately sent his exact location to Li Ang and requested the company dispatch emergency support.
After completing these essential tasks, V quickly extended the nano-connector from his wrist and plugged it into Song Zhaomei's interface port.
V's advanced neural implants were as capable as a professional medical micro-scanner. By connecting to Song Zhaomei's system, he could conduct a comprehensive assessment of her condition.
While V patiently waited for the scan results, the drowsy Song Zhaomei opened her eyes. The moment she saw V, her tears welled up instantly.
"V, please… just help me remove all this. I'm in so much pain. I really… can't take it anymore."
With the interference from the roaming AI eliminated, Song Zhaomei's eyes had returned to their natural color from the striking crimson hue.
However, her eyes were now veined with countless blood-red threads, and her dark, shadowed eye sockets testified to her collapsing physical and mental state.
Seeing V, her first instinct was to ask for his help to end her suffering, to let her die peacefully.
Song Zhaomei felt no attachment to this world of despair. She could have uploaded her consciousness like Bartmoss and chosen cybernetic transcendence.
But Song Zhaomei didn't want to become a cold, meaningless string of AI data.
She longed for the time when she had a human body—when her dancing was light and graceful, unburdened by the awkward rigidity of her current form.
The memory of her delicate, feather-like movements and lively, flowing steps haunted her dreams. She could hardly recall who she used to be anymore.
"Song Zhaomei, Myers is dead. You're free now. No one will control you anymore. You can go wherever you want."
"Didn't you tell me you've always wanted to visit the Crystal Palace? Let's go to the spaceport and board the Hermes now!"
Gently supporting the back of her head, V spoke soothingly to calm Song Zhaomei's emotional breakdown while reviewing the scan results.
What he saw shocked him—her neural system was flooded with so much Blackwall data that it was on the verge of total collapse.
This chaotic and overwhelming data was the real cause of her failing systems and mental breakdown.
For a hacker like Song Zhaomei, contracting Blackwall AI data was akin to a human developing terminal cancer.
If caught early, there was hope. But in her case, she had concealed her condition instead of seeking treatment.
Despite the already severe situation, she pushed herself further by attempting to break free from the icebreaking protocols, worsening her infection.
Now, her Blackwall infection had escalated from the early and middle stages straight to the terminal stage.
Song Zhaomei was only a step away from death—barely clinging to life.
Seeing the dire scan results, V's hands holding her head began to tremble slightly. It was as if he could feel the life slipping away beneath his fingers.
"No, V… you don't understand."
Song Zhaomei's voice was choked with sobs, and her gaunt, withered face forced out a bitter smile.
From the moment she left to where she was now, she had already resigned herself to her fate.
Dying on the road to freedom might be the best ending she could hope for.
"Myers doesn't matter. Hansen doesn't matter. Mr. Li Ang doesn't matter. None of them matter…"
"This world is a vast prison, one that won't let anyone escape. Any desire for freedom is torn down by the gravity of reality."
"Just like me now—reduced to pieces at the end of it all…"
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