Chapter 83: Brought Back an A.I. Brain? (Fifth Update – Please Subscribe and Vote!)

A flicker of surprise passed through Lu Yan’s eyes. The moment his personal terminal was locked, he felt that faint, nearly imperceptible trace of Spirit Energy once again seep into his body.

The first time he had sensed that trace of Spirit Energy was when he initially bound the terminal. It had conducted a full-body scan.

Lu Yan had been cautious even then, sealing his mana within his dantian and disguising himself as an ordinary person to deceive that trace of Spirit Energy.

Later, with Quentin’s help, he investigated thoroughly—no one seemed aware that the terminal housed such hidden Spirit Energy.

Now that it activated again upon being locked by the A.I. brain, Lu Yan was sure: this was a backdoor deliberately left by the Universal Conglomerate inside every personal terminal.

“In territory governed by the Universal Conglomerate, personal terminals are practically equivalent to a citizen’s identity—combining communication, banking, computing, and more. Without it, you’re paralyzed.

Above the personal terminal is the A.I. brain—a synthetic intelligence with computational capacity rivaling that of the human mind.

More importantly, its authority far exceeds any personal terminal.

Its user can scan and filter every terminal in a designated area, rapidly locating specific targets.

And once locked on—even if the terminal is destroyed—you still can’t escape its pursuit.”

Quentin spoke grimly.

Shack cast Quentin a strange glance. These were basic facts—why was Quentin explaining them as if Lu Yan didn’t already know?

Still, the situation left Shack with no room for his usual composure.

“This was my miscalculation. I never expected that Enforcement Officer Scott would have a personal A.I. brain. That alone proves he must hold an extraordinary position.”

“Considering that the Upper City is planning major operations against the Lower City, he might be directly involved.”

Expression shifting several times, Shack shoved the silver case into Quentin’s arms and gritted his teeth.

“The target is clearly the arena, and as its owner, I’m the primary suspect. Once they apprehend me, the A.I. lock should be lifted.

You two, on the other hand, aren’t connected to the arena at all. Once you enter the underground passage, you’ll be able to escape Zone 33 quickly.”

“If they catch me, they’ll surely send me to the Heavenly Computation Center.”

“I’ll do everything I can to pull strings and get out. Once I do, I’ll reconnect with you to continue our transaction.”

He spoke with conviction, but deep down Shack knew: once he was sent to that place—even big shots from the Upper City rarely came back.

He was just a small-time merchant from the Lower City. If he entered, there was no way out. His only chance was to settle the Spirit Energy tax before arriving.

While Shack’s mind churned, Lu Yan suddenly asked:

“You’re sure you can settle the Spirit Energy tax problem?”

Shack blinked in surprise, then caught the implication of Lu Yan’s words and broke into a grin of wild joy.

“Rest assured, sir! As long as we escape the Enforcement Officer’s pursuit, paying off the Spirit Energy tax will be no issue at all!”

The mention of an impending Lower City incident had already made Lu Yan uneasy. He urgently needed to gather the information he sought.

Shack’s connections and capabilities were still valuable. Keeping him alive was worth it.

“I hope you prove your worth—otherwise, you’ll regret not going to the Heavenly Computation Center on your own.”

Lu Yan’s voice was calm, but ghostly Yin energy rippled outward, chilling the air around them. Shack and Quentin shuddered violently—the cold seemed to freeze their very souls.

What their mundane eyes couldn’t see was that a dozen vengeful ghosts had silently launched themselves toward the chaos in the arena.

At the same time, Enforcement Officer Scott had already arrived outside the VIP booth. His wrist-mounted A.I. brain had long since locked onto every individual in the arena and now clearly marked Shack’s position.

“If I hadn’t used the A.I., he really might’ve gotten away…”

“But he’s got two people with him. Did he already hand off the USB drive?”

Scott’s face darkened, and he rushed toward Shack’s location.

But just then, a surge of danger prickled every nerve in Scott’s body—as if he’d just been targeted by a high-powered sniper.

The battle instincts carved into his soul and the Spirit Energy codes etched into his body ignited. With a roll, he threw himself dozens of meters away, shattering the floor beneath him.

Glancing back, he saw nothing but broken tiles.

“A hallucination?”

The thought had barely formed when that same chill swept over him again. Acting on instinct, Scott sprinted and dodged again—yet still found no sign of an attacker.

Even he couldn’t ignore it now—something unseen was threatening him.

He began carefully scanning the area, bracing himself for an ambush.

Then, from beneath his feet, cold dread surged upward—another wave of deadly pressure.

“Below!”

Scott gathered Spirit Energy underfoot and stomped hard, countering the danger.

BOOM!

The impact shattered the floor, but the threat didn’t vanish—it intensified, coming from all directions.

From the sky, the walls, even the floor—everywhere exuded a terrifying malevolence.

“DIE!!”

Overwhelmed by terror and fury, his body thundered with Spirit Energy. His blood—infused with Spirit Energy—roared, and a wave of power exploded outward like a miniature sun.

In that brief moment, under the illumination of Spirit Energy, Scott finally saw them—the source of his fear.

Ten floating wraiths, their bodies radiating a deathly aura. Their claws gleamed like they were born to reap life.

They simply stood there, yet the strange field around them nullified his Spirit Energy entirely.

His attack had done nothing.

“What… are these things?”

“Weapons from the Ministry of War? Some naturally occurring Spirit Energy lifeforms?”

A dozen theories flew through his mind. Scott snapped, “A.I. brain! Analyze them!”

A special Spirit Energy wave pulsed out. Half a second later, a window popped up.

Scan Complete

• 1% chance: Optical illusion
• 4% chance: Lifeforms formed from special magnetic fields
• 95% chance: Souls

Scott’s eyes went wide. “Impossible! Souls with that kind of power?!”

But before he could say more, the ten wraiths charged—claws like death’s scythe, unleashing another wave of unavoidable peril.

The residual Spirit Energy faded. Without that glow, Scott couldn’t even see them anymore.

He had to rely purely on instinct to dodge—but the next instant, agony ripped through his body.

There was no wound. But his soul—it felt like it had been slashed to pieces by invisible blades.

Pain and terror overwhelmed him. For the first time, Scott was truly panicked.

His powerful Spirit Energy, his body tough enough to tank anti-tank rounds—completely useless against these strange ghosts.

They were predators in the dark, waiting for a moment of weakness to tear his soul apart.

Dodging another invisible strike, Scott finally made a desperate decision.

“Activate Vanguard-class Spirit Energy Cannons! Saturation fire!”

Outside the arena, several massive metal crates unfolded, revealing cannons as thick as tree trunks.

Under the A.I. brain’s direction, energy condensed at the muzzle, and beams of high-intensity light burst through the arena walls—targeting Scott’s location in a full barrage.

BOOM!!!

The explosions rocked all of Zone 33. The enormous arena collapsed, Spirit Energy turning every building into rubble.

The precision bombardment avoided hitting Scott, while the remaining shockwaves were absorbed by silver Spirit Energy circuits that glowed across his skin.

Ten minutes later, the cannons fell silent.

The area where Scott had stood was now a wasteland. A hundred meters in every direction was nothing but molten metal and scorched stone—a pool of lava.

“A.I. brain—track those soul creatures.”

Scott gave the command.

No response.

Startled, he looked to his wrist—and saw that his A.I. brain, the pinnacle of Spirit Energy technology—had completely shut down.

Meanwhile, far from the arena in the underground passage, Lu Yan paused mid-stride. The ten wraiths he had sent out had returned.

Though several were badly damaged by the bombardment and would need half a year in the Soul Banner to recover, they had fulfilled their mission.

“So this is the firepower of a primary city’s defense system… Its strength is nearing that of a Second-Rank Spell. But it’s far too dispersed. With preparation, I could counter it.”

“And this is only primary level. Since the cavern is hundreds of meters underground, they can’t even use their truly large-scale weapons.”

“If I ever end up in direct conflict with the Universal Conglomerate… no matter how strong I get, I’ll never match a full-blown civilization’s power.”

The thought only deepened his wariness of the world above. If his identity were ever exposed and he were targeted by saturation fire… he’d be finished.

Without a sound, Lu Yan drew back the wraiths into the Soul Banner.

But then—he blinked in surprise.

Inside the banner was a new, softly glowing white soul.

It seemed to be a fusion of Spirit Energy code and spiritual essence. Fragile, yet displaying an unusual intelligence.

“Where did this soul come from?”

Lu Yan searched through the wraiths’ memories.

Moments later, he understood.

“I told you to hold the enemy back, and you brought me back a whole damn A.I. brain?!”

(End of Chapter)