"320,000 Silver Cannons."

"That's everything I got after killing my companion, the childhood friend who had been with me for over twenty years."

Jack lifted his head, staring straight into the eyes of the blue-clad worker, without a hint of evasion.

What kind of emotion lay within those eyes hidden beneath the gas mask?

Yun You couldn't tell.

But to be honest, Jack's response truly surprised her.

Killing might not be much of an issue, considering in a terrible place like Nest City, if you want to live long, you have to get your hands a little dirty. It's just a difference of doing it indirectly or directly.

But killing a companion, and for money... that's harder to justify.

Although Jack had mentioned before that greed is in a mercenary's nature, and killing a companion for money is normal, but... Yun You felt Jack wasn't that kind of person.

It's not about being naive, but rather a judgment based on past experience.

A person who betrays for money couldn't be like Jack, charging ahead in every danger willingly.

He must have some unspeakable secret...

But these are just speculations; the specifics need to come from Jack himself.

Yun You perked up her ears.

And apparently, the blue-clad worker was equally curious.

"No specific details?"

It asked with a smile: "Like why you had to get that money, or how exactly you took his life."

"Was it with a knife? A gun? Or with your bare hands?"

"Isn't that exceeding the scope of one question?"

Jack wasn't angered; he calmly countered: "Or are you already asking the second question?"

"..."

The blue-clad worker uncharacteristically paused for a moment, then chuckled and shook its head.

"Let's leave it for another time, then; it's not too late to ask again later."

Saying that, its aura visibly weakened, its head drooped as if it were tired.

Clearly, it had triggered the "successful answer" mechanism of its ability, losing some physical strength.

But it didn't seem too bothered.

"Now, onto the second person."

After resting briefly, the blue-clad worker turned its gaze to Frost Moon.

"I find this question format interesting, so this time it's another truth question."

"And my second question is—"

"For you, as a hacker, what exactly counts as human, as a companion?"

A very strange question.

Can people be defined as anything other than "people"?

Yun You found it hard to understand.

But in the next moment, Frost Moon's answer left her astonished.

"Tools."

Frost Moon's expressionless face met the monster's eyes, his tone as indifferent as always.

"My cerebral cortex has been modified, so I'm not very familiar with things related to 'emotions.' If you're trying to provoke me with words, you'll never succeed."

"To me, 'people' made of protein, fat, and keratin are no different from machines made of steel and chips; their essence is all just tools, only with different functions."

"Nest City's society is a giant steel furnace, and we are its screws, living our whole lives just to keep this society running, fundamentally no different from tools. Even the surplus emotions in our brains are just caused by the secretion of chemicals like dopamine and endorphins."

"As for companions."

Frost Moon paused slightly, then answered honestly: "They're tools too, just more handy ones, tools for contractual cooperation. Of course, to them, I'm also just a tool, with no high or low, noble or humble distinctions."

"But out of respect for the spirit of the contract, I will never betray a tool labeled as a companion because we are a whole."

With those words, even Jack and Yun You, let alone the blue-clad worker, were left stunned for a moment.

"Uh... Chica... don't mind what Frost Moon says."

Jack took a half-step back, leaned beside Yun You, and explained in a low voice: "Hackers are like this, something's off in their heads, speaking without a filter... they can say the strangest things; don't take it seriously. He's very loyal to his employers, and that won't change."

"Hmm... I don't mind that."

Yun You, coming back to her senses, shook her head and said: "Hackers, you know, who've had brain surgery, it's normal for them to have an odd personality."

Hearing this, Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

But before he could relax for long, the young girl's next words made him tense up...

"However, I'm quite interested in your past experiences of killing. If there's ever a chance, feel free to tell me about it."

Yun You glanced at Jack lightly, her blood-red eyes flickering slightly, revealing some unfathomable meaning.

Jack was silent for a moment before slowly turning his head away, softly saying: "Let's see if there's an opportunity in the future."

The two no longer spoke.

...

Turning back to the grudge ghost.

Frost Moon's answer was undoubtedly his truth, so the blue-clad worker once again bore the cost of game failure, continually losing physical strength.

Slowly, it began to pant, its limbs hung down.

Yet, it still did not give up, nor did it change targets, but continued with a smile: "Since that's the case, let's go again."

"The third question, or rather, a request."

"I hope you can cut off your hand, let me taste the flavor of flesh..."

The monster squatted down, sniffing Frost Moon's hand with its inverted nasal cavity, its face full of intoxication.

To be honest, Yun You found it hard to believe this creature could sniff out the smell of human flesh through a protective suit and disinfectant alcohol.

But since it acted so excited, she might as well believe it could...

Cutting off his hand was obviously an impossible request to agree to.

Not to mention secondary things like blood loss, in this environment full of fungal mats and unknown pink gases, Yun You did not want any team member to have an open wound.

If they got infected or poisoned by the gas, it would be over.

However, Frost Moon was unafraid of injury.

He knew that by speaking ambiguously, he had a 50% chance of avoiding a slash.

But that chance only existed once, so Frost Moon thought it would be better to save it for the stronger Yun You.

God knows what request the blue-clad worker would make next...

In times when hackers couldn't fully leverage their strengths, the life of an Apprentice Death God was far more valuable than a hacker's.

This wasn't out of friendship; in fact, a hacker wouldn't feel a sense of friendship toward others. It was merely an extreme rational consideration.

So without hesitation, he drew his knife, intending to cut off his wrist.

Seeing this, Jack's heart skipped a beat, instinctively wanting to intervene, but ultimately, he put down his hand.

Because the mercenary also understood, the hacker's reasoning was correct.

But just as the blade was about to fall, Yun You, who had been silent all along, suddenly reached out and grabbed Frost Moon's wrist.

"Answer it ambiguously, skip this question."

"Don't worry about me; I have my ways."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.