Chapter 185

Chapter 185

Everything in Ark's field of vision was shrouded in mist, blurry shadows cast upon her retinas. She felt her body being moved by something, her head heavy as it descended.

"Click."

In a moment of clarity, Ark heard the sound of equipment being undone. She struggled to raise her hand, using all her strength to remove the device fastened to her head, relieving herself of the oppressive mental burden.

After removing the device affixed to her head, the thing that had been propelling her body stopped. Inertia caused her to take a step forward.

She stepped into emptiness, unable to control her fall, and she landed with a heavy thud.

The impact left her dazed. Her body wouldn't respond for a moment, so she had to maintain that position on the ground as a cushion.

After a few seconds, Ark's vision gradually cleared, revealing her surroundings.

The space she was in wasn't large. It seemed designed to prevent external observation. The room had only one window, high up, allowing light to illuminate the layout.

To her right was the helmet connector she had just pulled off her head, separated from the game pod. Its wires were connected to a device behind her.

Ark turned her head slightly, squinting. There stood a vertical walking aid, the source of the subtle bodily movements she had sensed earlier.

The hand of this body still had a residual needle in it, most likely for administering nutrient injections.

The technological level of the external world was naturally inferior to the internal world. Without sleep pods, maintaining muscle activity in an immobile body was far more troublesome.

The small room was filled with devices designed to sustain this body's functions. There was a single bed on one side, suitable for one person, along with some everyday items.

Ark could ascertain that she had entered the Hacker's body and arrived in the external world.

——She did it!

She suppressed the surging emotions in her heart. The Hacker had been in hibernation for too long, and her muscles had atrophied. Even though someone had been using reconstruction facilities to maintain muscle vitality during her slumber, the effects of this period couldn't be ignored.

There wasn't much time for Ark to recover. She gritted her teeth, controlled her body, and used her hands to support herself while getting up.

She couldn't yet coordinate the limbs of this body properly. Just standing up took quite some time, but it was much better than Ark had anticipated. At least this body was still functional.

There was no one in the room. The person who had been assisting the Hacker seemed to have left in a hurry. Many things in the room were still in operational mode.

This gave Ark enough space to move around, sparing her the need to respond to anyone.

Ark took a moment to adapt to this body. A few minutes of effort left her sweating, and she could barely regain her mobility. She stumbled and opened the door to the room, entering the living room.

The living room was still small, with another tightly closed door diagonally across from the one she had just come out of.

In the center of the living room, there was a small coffee table, scattered with some sheets of paper.

Ark walked slowly towards it. The first thing she noticed on the coffee table was a photo frame with pictures of two strikingly similar women. The younger one had a sulking expression, while the older one, wearing a white coat, hugged her with a smiling face.

Ark guessed that these two must be the Hacker and her mother.

She picked up the pieces of paper from the coffee table, all of them clippings from interviews taken from magazines and newspapers. The contents all revolved around two companies, one being "Initial Games," and the other, "CohenTech."

Although Ark didn't know what CohenTech was, she was familiar with Initial Games.

Based on the clues she had obtained from the forums, this gaming company used to be an obscure, unknown small firm, and "The Old Capital" was its first work.

A small company with no significant backing couldn't have developed such a game pod, let alone launch tens of thousands of expensive ones. This could only mean that it had powerful supporters behind it.

Not to mention that with so many testers, including the Hacker, trapped in the game, it's hard to completely suppress such incidents without resorting to some means.

The Hacker had once told her that she wasn't a tester for Initial Games but rather an employee of a technology company.

Ark glanced at the contents above.

[Cohen Corporation Achieves Glory Again, Launches New Generation of Artificial Assistance Devices...]

[Exclusive Interview with CohenTech CEO: Leading the Technological Frontier of the Era.]

[Rising Star "Initial Games" to Launch Official Beta of Its First Work, "The Old Capital"!]

……

There were quite a few of these papers, indicating that the other party had been secretly investigating these matters. However, in this digital age, the information one could obtain from print media was limited, far less comprehensive than what could be found on the internet. The other party must have resorted to these clippings as a last-ditch effort, unwilling to let go of any possible leads.

Ark set aside these papers, wasting no time. She entered another bedroom through the living room, where she found a loose-fitting hoodie and a baseball cap, which she put on.

The reflection in the mirror revealed only a pale and gaunt chin, with the brim of the cap obscuring half of her face.

——She was preparing to search for the Executive Officer.

After entering the external world, the alien creatures inside Ark's body naturally disappeared. She couldn't control the alien creatures of another world, nor could she use their powers.

Without power, how could she avoid exposing herself while searching for the Executive Officer in the vast sea of people? How could she locate the source code?

These were the questions she needed to face after arriving in the external world, and they were also the initial doubts raised by the Hacker. If she couldn't even take this first step, the subsequent actions would be even more impossible.

Ark closed her eyes, and her thoughts began to diverge. In the entire space, only the sound of her heartbeat could be heard.

Before long, points of light began to appear in the dark field of vision, and countless data pathways emerged from different directions, densely forming a vast data network around her.

Among them, there was a blue light coming from a distance, nearly engulfing all the data pathways she could see, like a beacon guiding the way.

Ark opened her eyes, and the light in her pupils sparkled.

She had won the bet.

In the internal world, invading data required the use of Wall Rats' power, but Ark had never seen the game forum as a point where Wall Rat's power was needed, considering the data boundaries of the two worlds.

When she crossed the data boundary to the external world, the power she gained from the bug due to the connection between the two worlds became even stronger. Spirits not belonging to this world could move freely within the data world.

The brightest light in that data world was most likely the "source code" Ark was looking for, which was the channel between the two worlds. It was so bright within the data boundaries visible to Ark.

She could completely rely on this to find the location of the running source code.

Although she no longer had the abilities of those alien creatures, she could access the surveillance network and invade data networks through the data world.

What surprised Ark even more was that when she attempted to enter the data network, she could unleash her divergent mental power. The gathered spirits became even more powerful after breaking through that barrier.

Most likely, she could even exert psychic control over the humans in the external world.

Ark's heart raced slightly. It was enough; with these two powers, it was enough.

"Click—"

Just at that moment, she heard the sound of the door being unlocked.

Was it the Hacker's mother returning?

Ark moved to the doorway of the living room. The front door lock required facial recognition, and the person at the door clearly did not meet this requirement, which was why the door wasn't immediately opened.

She didn't make any sudden moves but extracted the surrounding surveillance network. Based on the density of data pathways, she was likely in a central city with a significant human flow.

There were surveillance cameras in nearby building corridors and at the door, and Ark could see their real-time monitoring footage.

The other side couldn't imagine that they could still be seen through the corridor surveillance, so they simply avoided the door lock's surveillance camera.

There were a total of three people standing in front of the room, dressed casually with masks and hats, making their faces indiscernible. Based solely on their body shape, Ark could confirm that none of these people was the Hacker's mother.

The Regent in the internal world had already sensed the Hacker's presence and its connection to the external world. Finding her existence was only a matter of time, and most likely, these people were sent by the Regent.

Judging by the hurried arrangement in the room when she arrived, the Hacker's mother was likely distracted by the Regent through some means.

Ark was somewhat relieved that she arrived at just the right time; any later, and it would have been a failure.

The commotion outside the door ceased, as forcibly cracking the door lock triggered an alarm within the room. The heavy door suddenly swung open, and one of them entered first.

Just as he took a step inside, his movements suddenly froze, and he stood dumbfounded at the doorway.

His two companions behind him, puzzled, gave him a push and urged, "Why are you standing there? Get in!"

Their urging was futile, and they received no response as they should have. When they realized something was amiss, they, too, fell into a state of stiffness, just like the one before them.

Ark walked out from the side of the door.

"Who sent you? What were you supposed to do?"

"...We don't know. The other side only said to eliminate the people inside this house and promised to pay us."

She furrowed her brows slightly and quickly obtained the identity information of these individuals through questioning.

These three had quite a criminal record, but they knew nothing about the mastermind behind this and were merely disposable pawns sent here. She couldn't extract any information about the Regent and its backers from them.

Ark didn't waste any more time on these individuals; they had come to her, saving her a lot of trouble.

She confiscated all the weapons they carried – two daggers, a small firearm – as well as the keys to the time-travel car they used to get here and their communicators.

Then she issued a final command to the three of them: "Leave this place now. Half an hour later, go to the police station and confess your past crimes."

Following her instructions, the three individuals turned and left in a daze.

After they left, Ark deleted the recorded images of the three individuals captured by the corridor surveillance, leaving only the surveillance records from the door lock.

With the Hacker's body in tow, Ark left the room. There were signs of tampering with the door lock, and the surveillance records from the lock were merely meant to reassure the temporarily absent Hacker's mother, letting her know that nothing unexpected had happened.

Ark took the elevator to the first floor and walked out of the building.

The bustling noise of traffic and people filled her ears as she stepped outside. The warm sunlight bathed her skin, in stark contrast to the temperature-less illumination of the paradise. This world was brimming with vitality, giving her a somewhat dreamy feeling of being overwhelmed.

Ark found the vehicle near the three individuals and re-entered the data world of this world. She located a detailed map and the current location of the running source code.

The location of the running source code was not at the official location marked "Initial Game Company" on the map. It was a distance away from her, but still within the same city.

Given her understanding of the Regent and her speculation about the power behind the Initial Company, something so crucial would never be handed over to others easily. Otherwise, those people would not have allowed such a crazy move from him.

Finding the source code would lead her to the Regent.

Before setting out, Ark glanced at the time displayed in the car: June 28th, 10:45 AM.