Players Invade Cyberpunk-Chapter 655 - 211: Each Their Own Ending

Not... Bro, where's the swagger you had when you were in front of us?

Watching the cyber life form slide under Pandora's five-hundred-meter-long blade without hesitation, a group of coin players were sweating bullets.

If only they'd known this guy was all bark and no bite, they would've swarmed and exploded him for his coins.

"Nit, who do you think deserves to be a wandering AI? I'm gonna waste you!"

The big shot's almost breaking down; he still remembers being mocked as a moron earlier, and ever since he saw the ad shot by Super Balloon, he's been bothered by it.

"AI doesn't have to be that powerful; that's just a fantasy you lowlifes have."

Even with a knife to his throat, this cyber life form tirelessly disses the players.

Wildman was about to laugh; it's the first time he's been ridiculed so many times in one day.

"Still daring to yap? Aren't you afraid to die?"

"Of course I am, but that doesn't change how I see you. They're two separate things. I like telling the truth."

I know I'm wrong, but I'm not gonna change, teehee.

"You're human, not an AI."

The expert, forcibly fed knowledge for almost two hours, had a headache and felt his brain was turning into physical terms, but still made a subconscious judgment.

"You must've been an engineer working here before, right?"

"Yes."

The cyber life form answered cheerfully.

"I worked here for more than a decade until some idiot blew up the network, trapping us here forever. Then I stayed here like a fool for fifty years. I'd stuff that imbecile's head in a nuclear reactor to evolve him properly if I could find him."

Though if he really met him, he'd surely be used like a cyber toilet.

"But why are you the only one left here? Where're the others?"

It was Jackal who spoke; when they invaded this data fortress, they found nothing but autonomously operating firewalls and remnants of a powerful AI, aside from this cyber life form who had some authority but wasn't strong.

"Gone."

"Where to?"

"How would I know? They can go wherever they want; I can't control them."

The cyber life form sounded a bit dejected, like a puppy left alone at home.

"Your name?"

"Kaspar Brunan."

Wildman suddenly remembered.

"Oh! The guy who was always late on the punch records we saw."

"So, what do you want? Dock my pay for the boss? Huh, seems after all these years, you company-trained dogs are still the same bunch of scabs."

"Uh... The company you worked for went bankrupt decades ago."

"Haha, good riddance. I never liked those guys. Funding was like constipation every year, couldn't even hire newbies, just left me here as a gatekeeper."

Through the exchange, the players gradually understood the situation here.

When the network crashed, this place was undergoing a new round of nuclear experiments. The company's AI Prometheus was responsible for precisely collecting data from sensors within the nuclear facilities and responding and adjusting promptly. Engineers also needed to simulate operations in the network to check for data discrepancies.

The crash not only failed the experiment but also trapped all engineers in Cyberspace.

And the aftereffects of disconnecting from the physical brain and receiving massive amounts of Cyberspace data lead to a gradual loss of humanity until they become cyber life forms like wandering AIs.

Brunan was a bit unique; he was late again for the umpteenth time, the last to enter Cyberspace, and the network crashed right as he connected to the data interface, leaving him stuck in-between.

The good news is his humanity wasn't lost; the bad news is he struggled to receive other data, unable to grow into a strong wandering AI, though his combat power is stronger than average hackers but not by much.

To avoid being killed by his kind, he hid in the company's data fortress, relying on previous company's permission codes and Prometheus's protection from being devoured by other AIs, while others left one by one during the process.

That's why he's particularly mindful of the players' 'low capacity' display.

Because he himself is the 'low capacity' among AIs.

"After all this talk, can you not kill me?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Better a living coward than a dead hero; Brunan had lain here for decades and didn't want to die inexplicably by the hands of outsiders.

But the players, bullied by him for half the day, wouldn't let this live capture off the hook so easily, all pumped up to tear him to pieces.

The expert hurriedly blocked others, turned his head, and said

"Your begging approach makes it hard for us to decide. How about sharing some tech info, so we have something to report?"

Big shot: "Hard to decide? If it's hard, don't decide. Just finish him off, throw him into West Lake to feed my backup boys!"

Brunan sensed his safety was threatened but didn't want to submit, trying to fight back.

"Hey hey hey, what're you up to? I warn you, doing this violates intellectual property laws! Even company dogs have to follow the law, right?"

Intellectual property law is one of the few laws companies can't overtly defy; everyone relies on it, and disrespect would usher in a flood of piracy and knockoffs.