"The doctor said I was exceptionally gifted."

"There's always someone who thinks they're unique, but in the end, they're just hopeless fools."

Oulos smiled faintly.

She always used frivolous language and expressions to mask her true thoughts.

"Sorry, I can't explain, after all, I'm not the original owner of this body either."

John met her scrutinizing gaze.

Oulos seemed to frown slightly, picked up the red wine, as if fighting against the intense pain from her body.

"I know, John... I used to think I was the special one too..."

Oulos had shown John her mechanical heart.

The code known as the trump card was hidden inside it.

This was something Oulos had accidentally acquired in her early years, and even with all the technology and connections she had, she couldn't decipher its origin or nature.

The city echoed with distant sirens.

Oulos glanced back out the window, just in time to see a massive virtual headband advertisement, then turned back and tried to describe to John in the simplest language possible,

"As far as I know, there is more than one of these things, like treasures scattered across a game map, powerful and mysterious enough that those who obtain it always become the lucky ones, even falling into the illusion that they are the protagonist... yes, an illusion."

Oulos' gaze returned to John.

Her success had been a combination of strength and luck, now standing high enough to have achieved everything she ever wanted, and in the process, it seemed like every twist and turn in the story revolved around her.

Oulos continued.

"...And then, I came to Eden City."

The story switched chapters.

The protagonist became John.

"Igdrasir came into your possession, and even my life-saving trump card underwent special changes in you..."

Oulos looked into his eyes.

"Tell me, John, what happened when the data cable was connected?"

John didn't hide anything.

He conveyed the chaotic information that popped up, the anomalies in the cyberspace, and his own speculations...

He said it all.

"Black Light can be upgraded."

The Pandora Algorithm made it more [controllable].

Oulos' trump card allowed it to [add functionality].

At that moment, Black Light completed the upgrade, immunizing John from hackers' remote attacks.

"Your trump card indeed worked."

John glanced toward Oulos' heart area.

But Oulos shook her head with a bitter smile.

"But I lost it, that's right, that code has disappeared from my hardware, I didn't tell you earlier to verify some hypotheses.

Oulos believed Black Light was a similar entity.

She summarized some patterns based on John's description.

It indeed existed, unpredictable, possessing magical and powerful abilities.

The key point is they merge with each other.

In the future, John might encounter more 'codes,' enhancing Black Light through continual upgrades.

Problems followed.

Oulos' trump card was absorbed by Black Light.

Why wasn't it the other way around?

How is the priority determined?

"I suddenly have a ridiculous thought."

Oulos put down the wine bottle, displayed both palms, and drew them close together.

"Maybe all the coincidences in you are to let it collect more special codes, reaching some kind of... complete state? Black Light now is powerful enough to breach corporate firewalls, what will it become in the future?"

John pondered for a moment, then laughed.

"You'd have to be lucky for that, honestly, what if something unexpected happens, like being hit by a stray bullet outside, or getting caught in an explosion during a mission... what if the person carrying the special code suddenly drops dead?"

"Then someone else would continue to collect."

Oulos replied casually.

Both paused for a second, then locked eyes with mutual understanding.

They both thought of...

Tiebang Logistics' transportation incident.

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.