radicalducati Chapter 46: Who are you?
Chapter 46: Who are you?
The taxi drove smoothly through the night.
Lu Xiaobai leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, his breathing light and even, as if he were asleep.
But his mind had already sunk into a strange place that only he could reach—his consciousness space.
This is neither the "inner landscape" used by sorcerers to divine good and bad fortune, nor is it the eternal illusion "heaven" built by Joaquin on Nathan Island using ancient witchcraft.
This is a unique spiritual realm that he created in his mind through his powerful spirit and soul!
He called it the "Dark Dimension"!
Time flows differently here than in the unchanging [Inner Landscape] or the eternal [Heaven]; it is only about twice as slow as in the outside world.
What truly matters is that this place is "real".
In the space of consciousness, Lu Xiaobai's figure was clear and solid. This was not an illusion, but a manifestation of the essence of his soul.
His every thought here was crystal clear, and every thought he had was as if he were in reality.
But this authenticity comes with enormous risks—if the soul body here is injured, the damage will directly affect its true soul essence, which is far more terrifying than physical injury.
After entering this [Dark Dimension], he needs to expend a certain amount of mental energy to maintain its operation, while also being able to perceive every subtle movement in the outside world.
For example, the vibration of a taxi engine and the sound of tires rubbing against the road surface.
At this moment, his consciousness was focused on deducing a newly conceived, massive magic spell—the basic formation of the [Lord of the Mysterious Mist].
Complex energy models are constantly changing and combining in the space of consciousness.
Meanwhile, the source of his magic power, a unique innate Qi that had undergone a special experiment—the transformation of his entire body into magical particles—was slowly repairing itself at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people.
However, this "speed" is relative.
The nature of primordial Qi dictates that its recovery is extremely slow, like a snail crawling.
Therefore, Lu Xiaobai is currently multitasking and cannot tolerate being disturbed.
however……
Just as a crucial magical structure was about to be unraveled—
hum!
A strange fluctuation, extremely faint yet carrying a clear intent to "spy," touched his cell phone, which was in the inner pocket of his trench coat, and attempted to silently infiltrate the communication device.
Lu Xiaobai suddenly opened his eyes in the consciousness space, his gaze icy and piercing, as if filled with extreme displeasure.
The simulation stopped abruptly.
His soul and consciousness swiftly and completely returned to his body in the real world.
He didn't make any extra movements, but simply lowered his head slightly and reached into his inner pocket to take out the seemingly ordinary cell phone.
The screen is black.
But under Lu Xiaobai's deep blue right eye, the faint current flowing inside the phone and every byte of data running in the background seemed to have its shell peeled away, clearly revealing its energy trajectory.
One of the tracks, with a clear purpose, is attempting to bypass the basic defenses he has set up and peer into something deeper.
……
Northeast, the branch of Nadutong, a top-secret underground core.
This is a fortress encased in heavy metal and a powerful electromagnetic barrier.
Countless server racks stood in neat rows like silent soldiers, emitting a low hum.
At the heart of the fortress,
A large life support pod stands quietly here.
Inside the cabin, a young girl, or rather, her remaining upper body, floated quietly.
Her eyes were closed, her mouth and nose were connected to a breathing tube, and her lower body was empty. This was the real Gao Erzhuang, a temporary worker in the Northeast region.
At this moment, in the electronic ocean inaccessible to ordinary people, Erzhuang's consciousness is experiencing a thrilling adventure.
She wasn't just wandering around aimlessly; she had received direct orders from her father, Gao Lian, the head of the Northeast region: to investigate a target named "Lu Xiaobai".
The instructions were simple: use the phone number registered by Xu Si as a starting point to get a preliminary understanding of the target's recent activities and daily routine, and be instructed to "observe discreetly and not disturb or alarm him."
Lu Xiaobai?
Who is this person?
How could it make my dad so concerned?
Er Zhuang's curiosity was instantly ignited.
Her father rarely gave her such specific personal investigation orders unless the target was extremely special.
She immediately locked onto the phone number and, as usual, extended her invisible data "tentacles" to conduct a routine scan.
However, as soon as her senses touched the signal layer surrounding the phone, she felt a strange resistance!
As if she had struck a tough yet resilient energy membrane, her probe was gently "bounced away"!
"Hmm? This is interesting!"
Seeing this, Erzhuang was not deterred; instead, he became interested.
The phone's basic security was much stronger than she had imagined; it was definitely not a simple encryption method!
This further confirmed that her father's emphasis on her was not without reason. She pouted, her competitive spirit ignited: "Hmph, you think a mere membrane can stop me? Watch me!"
She mobilized more sophisticated "tentacles" to try to bypass that layer of protection and find vulnerabilities.
Once, twice... her consciousness, like a precise probe, constantly probed and analyzed the edge of the phone's energy field.
Just when she felt she was about to find a breakthrough and was preparing to delve into the core data flow—
Um?
An indescribable sense of "profoundness" instantly enveloped her!
This feeling wasn't one of attack; it was more like... being "watched" by some indescribable being!
She suddenly snapped back to reality, her consciousness highly focused, but she couldn't find the source of this feeling.
Immediately afterwards, her consciousness involuntarily focused—observing the outside world through the pixels of the phone screen.
Then she saw a pair of cold, indifferent eyes that seemed to hold boundless anger.
It transcends physical distance and is clearly reflected in her "perception"!
Those eyes... were staring intently at her!
"Wha...what's going on?!" Erzhuang's heart jumped into his throat, and a strange panic began to grow.
"He found me? Impossible! My 'tentacles' are still on the outer edge!"
"This is the electromagnetic spectrum! How can he 'see' me?"
She tried to calm herself and reassure herself:
"A coincidence? Or did it trigger some kind of firewall? Yes, it must be a coincidence! Trying to scare me off? Hmph, this young lady isn't falling for that!"
However, no matter how much she denied herself, those deep blue pupils stared at her like a brand, showing no sign of moving away.
That icy gaze seemed to pierce through her proud data facade and land directly on her consciousness!
The longer Erzhuang was being watched, the more panicked he became.
There was no emotion in his eyes, only a pure scrutiny and all-knowing indifference.
A suffocating sense of oppression, stemming from the unknown and mysterious, slowly tightened around her "existence," like an invisible giant hand.
"Impossible...this is impossible!"
"My special ability is invisible electromagnetic waves... How could he possibly see me? How did he do that?"
The inner voice of denial grew weaker and weaker, replaced by an increasingly intense fear.
Although her brain was still stubbornly denying the absurd fact that she had been "seen through," her "body" had already instinctively begun to retreat, wanting to curl up like a frightened little animal.
That instinctive fear overwhelmed his competitive spirit.
A wave of panic washed over her instantly, like icy seawater!
This is definitely not a coincidence!
The owner of those eyes is a terrifying being who can truly "see" her and pose an unknown threat to her!
"Damn it! We've really been found out! Caught red-handed!" This thought exploded in her mind like a thunderbolt!
"What to do? What to do?!" Her mind raced, trying to save herself:
Pretending to be stupid?
Immediately disconnect all active connections and pretend you're just a normal phone that doesn't understand anything and has just crashed?
Applying oil to the soles of the feet?
Retract all the extended "tentacles," erase all traces of access, immediately activate dozens of pre-set encrypted gateways, then circle the earth a few times before sneaking back home?
Begging for mercy with cuteness?
She slapped the last thought away as soon as it popped into her head.
"Waaaaah~ That guy's gaze is so cold it could freeze data! Trying to be cute will probably get me mistaken for a virus and 'deleted' right away, right?!"
Just as Erzhuang's consciousness was frantically searching for a way out in the torrent of data, preparing to execute the most thorough "emergency retreat," an even more terrifying "voice" rang out directly in the core of her chaotic data.
This is neither a sound wave nor an electromagnetic signal.
Rather, it was a more direct and domineering whisper on a spiritual level, as cold as ancient ice, piercing through all her digital disguises and physical barriers:
"Who are you?"