Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 22

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Yan Xianchuan didn’t expect that she (the original owner of the body) was so secretive… She was actually involved with the Mechanical Pure Land and was a fanatic who wanted to upload her consciousness.

And from what the other party said, Dr. Morian’s attack was completely her doing, if that’s the case, how could she have died in the airship explosion?

She should have been prepared, foolproof.

When Yan Xianchuan entered this body, the most significant injury she sustained was a cut on her side. Without a parachute, it seemed too unlucky. The only explanation she could muster was that when the airship exploded, a piece of debris had struck her abdomen. Otherwise, she couldn’t fathom any other reason for the situation.

Her death was a pure accident.

After all, the Mechanical Pure Land members, as her comrades, had no reason to intentionally harm her, as far as she knew.

“I just discovered something very exciting.” Yan Xianchuan leaned slightly closer to the other party, whispering a secret.

Her gaze inevitably stopped on the other party’s plain white side neck and round, small earlobes. The hollow flower-shaped earrings hung there, diligently doing their job, providing Lu Mingqiu with a false face.

“What is it?” Lu Mingqiu turned her head to look over.

“I seem to be a member of the Mechanical Pure Land.” Yan Xianchuan said, her gaze fixed on the other party’s face, trying to find any particular emotional change.

Was it surprise or vigilance? Was it fear or understanding?

After their nocturnal fight, the two of them seemed to have switched personalities, Yan Xianchuan started to become more expressive, although it was only limited to when she was facing Lu Mingqiu, the latter seemed to be wearing a mask, no matter what she did, deliberately provoking her or teasing her, she would reply with a calm face.

This made Yan Xianchuan feel very bored.

Nothing, Lu Mingqiu still had that same indifferent expression, she looked at Yan Xianchuan for a while, her tone was still calm, “Tell me more.”

It also made Yan Xianchuan feel more challenged.

She sent the content of the message to Lu Mingqiu, “What should we do about this?”

Lu Mingqiu was still calm after reading it, her tone steady, “Reply to him first, just say that you’re living with me now, the previous address was too far away, it’s inconvenient to pick up things, ask him to send the things to 103 Golden Apple Street, we’ll talk about the rest when we get back.”

“But we just got here.” Yan Xianchuan seemed reluctant, in fact, she didn’t like this church that much.

She said this for only one purpose, to make Lu Mingqiu make some concessions and compensation.

—I can leave, but you have to do something.

Lu Mingqiu: “I’ll treat you to dessert.”

Yan Xianchuan: “From Stacked Sugar.”

Lu Mingqiu said without changing her expression, “No problem.”

“Madam, you’re so nice, no one has ever bought me dessert before.” Yan Xianchuan seemed to be extremely moved, her voice was as sweet as if she had already drunk two pounds of honey.

It was a good thing she didn’t like physical contact with people, otherwise, if she had to get close to Lu Mingqiu and whisper in her ear every time she said something, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her usual calm demeanor.

This was her way of fighting back.

What do you do when you encounter a psychopath on the road? The best way is to avoid them, stay far away. But this psychopath has already set her sights on you, so you absolutely can’t avoid her.

Arousing a psychopath’s interest is scary, but losing their interest is even scarier.

Yan Xianchuan wasn’t a low-level sadist or exhibitionist, she was a killer.

The chip was indeed a safety net, but what if she was unconscious, who could stop Yan Xianchuan’s actions?

Never underestimate a psychopath’s ability to execute, she could definitely come up with countless ways, even if she had to go a long way around, she would achieve her goal.

To prevent the situation from escalating, Lu Mingqiu had to prolong the other party’s interest, make her think it was all fun, interesting, challenging, and motivating.

That way she would be more docile.

Although it was like the difference between biting into an ice cream cone and licking it slowly, the ice cream would eventually be eaten, and if you lick it too slowly, it will melt.

Yan Xianchuan was happily walking back, no longer giving the painted church a second glance, she took out half a loaf of bread from somewhere, broke it up and threw it at the flock of pigeons.

“Eat! Eat! Symbolic white doves! If I can’t get this quiet lady’s love, I’ll lose my appetite, I can’t live, pigeons, I’m going to burn myself up in the flames of love!”①

She recited it in a dramatic, emotionally charged tone, as if this wasn’t a crowded square, but a glittering stage, and she wasn’t a passerby in a half-sleeved shirt, but the main character of a play, dressed in fine clothes and surrounded by people.

This was one of the consequences of making a madman happy.

Yan Xianchuan’s ability to ignore the stares and pointing of others had reached a level of perfection, as if she were blind, unable to see those scrutinizing gazes, it even made Lu Mingqiu feel a hint of admiration.

This was a very self-centered person, so she was destined to get more joy than others.

Lu Mingqiu silently took a step to the side, creating some distance, and walked forward without looking sideways. She hadn’t evolved to that stage yet, she could make any sacrifice for her ideals and beliefs, but for this? Forget it.

Besides, what was she reciting? Those words were a little too suggestive.

Lu Mingqiu would rather believe that a scammer had reformed than believe the nonsensical love words that came out of her mouth.

Yan Xianchuan said she didn’t like to lie, and that was true.

Honest, she was more honest than someone who had drunk truth serum at certain moments, but only when she felt that telling the truth was more dramatic than lying.

After reciting her lines, she turned her head and saw that the person had already walked a good distance away, “Madam!” she called out loudly, “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Now, besides the people near her, the people in the distance also subconsciously looked towards the source of the sound – because of the church, it was an unspoken rule that loud noises were prohibited in the square.

Lu Mingqiu really wanted to leave quickly, but her reason prevailed, if she did that, the other party would definitely act up again, anyway, it wasn’t her own face.

She stopped and waited there for a while.

Yan Xianchuan jogged over, putting on a breathless act, she complained out of breath, “Why did you leave without me?”

Lu Mingqiu said calmly, “I suddenly remembered that there’s a shop selling maple cakes ahead.”

Yan Xianchuan immediately picked up on it, “So you went to buy me something to eat?”

Lu Mingqiu: “That’s right.”

Yan Xianchuan was very moved, she made a series of unintelligible sounds, and finally said, “I thought you thought it was embarrassing, so you left me behind.”

Lu Mingqiu looked straight ahead, “I’ve been professionally trained, I wouldn’t feel embarrassed in any situation.”

Yan Xianchuan said with a mixture of envy and admiration, “Oh, I wish I had your skills.”

Lu Mingqiu hesitated for a moment, then pointed to a shop with a yellow and pink sign, “It’s that one.”

On the way back, Yan Xianchuan was holding a sweet maple cake and a big box of snacks, she was eating the whole time, she was unusually well-behaved, she didn’t even say a word.

Lu Mingqiu mentally ranked the importance of desserts higher, and then marked it in bold at the back – a very effective inhibitor and sedative.

Of course, it was only effective when used in situations that weren’t too serious.

Back home, Yan Xianchuan had finished all the snacks, she was in a very good mood, she followed Lu Mingqiu into the study.

“Now we can talk about the Mechanical Pure Land.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“I just found out that I’m connected to them.” Yan Xianchuan said, “I’ve shown you all the chat records with Tail-End, that’s all, the previous content should have been deleted.”

“Black can recover the records, I need your account and password.” Lu Mingqiu clicked on the projection, blue data streams slid past like meteors, forming a building shaped like an hourglass in front of her.

The slightly thinner conical bases faced each other, a platform expanded in the middle, several long chains fixed the upper part, like its outstretched claws. Among countless towering buildings, its unique appearance naturally highlighted its unique identity.

It belonged to the Dongye family’s mansion.

“Next, we’ll talk about our recent mission location, which is the Dongye family banquet that has been attracting a lot of attention lately.”

“Dr. Serra is the developer of the consciousness separation potion, it’s no surprise that the Mechanical Pure Land would be interested in this banquet.”

“Consciousness separation potion?” Yan Xianchuan was puzzled.

“You don’t know?” Lu Mingqiu was taken aback.

Yan Xianchuan shook her head.

Lu Mingqiu looked at her and explained, “In today’s society, many people replace their body parts with prosthetics, some are forced to do so because of accidents, some voluntarily replace them with mechanical arms that carry weapons, regardless of the reason, anyone who uses prosthetics for a long time will suffer from varying degrees of consciousness disorder.”

“They will experience hallucinations, they can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy, this is because human consciousness can’t coexist peacefully with metal prosthetics. Without their original limbs, even if they get new ones, the brain still thinks the body is incomplete, but this doesn’t match the information received by the eyes, the two clash, and the mind becomes confused.”

“Those who are severely affected and can’t be saved will become cyber-maniacs, they will attack any target they see indiscriminately. To alleviate this symptom, they need the consciousness separation potion.”

“However, consciousness disorder only occurs in those who use metal prosthetics, using organs cultivated from the original body cells will not cause the disease.”

Yan Xianchuan: “It must be very expensive.”

“That’s right.” Lu Mingqiu’s eyes were cold, her voice soft, “And this technology is monopolized, only the government and the Dongye family control it, other families naturally have the cost of researching the technology, but they have reached an agreement with each other, they only share the cake, they don’t reach for the plate.”

“Only a select few can afford such an expensive option; the vast majority are left to choose mechanical prosthetics. This creates a demand for the separation potion as an additional product they must purchase.”

“Our researchers have discovered that a metabolic component has been added to the separation potion, which makes the effect only last for a month.”

Yan Xianchuan clapped her hands twice, “That’s excellent, what a great profiteer.”

She remembered that the medical team was also from the Dongye family, that kind of high-quality service that was obsessed with money, it was indeed in line with the consistent image of chaebol companies – greedy for money.

Lu Mingqiu reached out and tapped the top of the hourglass building, “This is the Dongye family’s headquarters, called the Warren Building, it has one hundred and twenty-eight floors. The upper half is the bedrooms of their family members, but because of the decline in personnel in recent years, many floors are empty. The lower half is various entertainment venues, including an indoor golf course, an indoor ice rink, etc.”

As her finger moved, the projected building also revealed its internal structure.

“This time the banquet will be held on the twenty-sixth floor.”

“I have a question.” Yan Xianchuan raised her hand, like a student in class, “Of all the chaebols, who is the richest?”

“The richest is the Yan family.” Lu Mingqiu added, “The Yan family mainly deals with weapons development and sales.”

Yan Xianchuan: The landlord is actually me!!

But the Yan family was rich, it had nothing to do with her. She didn’t have any real estate or dividends, she was a complete pauper.

“The Dongye family hasn’t invited many celebrities this time, although the Yan family and the Bolovov family are both invited, but we’re not the ones invited.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“So if we want to get in, we have to do it another way.”

Yan Xianchuan’s eyes lit up, here it comes, a superhero-style disguise infiltration!

In her original world, there were no superhero movies, the first time she saw one, Yan Xianchuan was amazed, she instantly fell in love.

The hero’s responsibility, mission, their loneliness and perseverance, and their sense of belief, were truly dazzling. Two completely different people were born from a tragic background, the other was the villain, the villain had twisted thoughts, evil goals, and never cared about human life.

In Yan Xianchuan’s simple and straightforward view of good and evil, companies were bad guys who exploited the people, and the Resistance, who opposed the companies, were naturally good guys.

Thinking about doing good deeds, she was filled with excitement.

The person opposite suddenly looked at her with a straight gaze, Lu Mingqiu felt a sense of foreboding, but she thought back and didn’t find anything special she had said that could have aroused the other party’s interest.

Lu Mingqiu deliberately pretended not to see the other party’s burning gaze, and continued to talk about her planned plan.

“The ubiquitous waiters are the best disguise, Black will fabricate information to facilitate the infiltration of personnel. This is also what you need to reply to the Mechanical Pure Land.”

“Their demand for the separation potion is extremely high, the Mechanical Pure Land has tried to kidnap Dr. Serra several times, all of which have failed, they want to enter the banquet this time, it’s definitely not just to see the whole thing in person.”

Lu Mingqiu chuckled. “If they make a move, it’ll be chaos. Perfect for us to fish in troubled waters.”

Fishing in troubled waters is equal to a massacre.

“When are we leaving,” Yan Xianchuan licked her lips, “I’m already getting impatient.”

Lu Mingqiu thought about the reason for her sudden surge of emotion, and said, “Two days later. But this part of the mission will be done by others, you and I have another plan.”

“What?” Yan Xianchuan felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her entire body deflating. Lu Mingqiu continued speaking, but her words went in one ear and out the other. She was lost in the overwhelming disappointment of having been happy for nothing.

What’s the point of life if you can’t do good deeds.

Following Lu Mingqiu’s script, Yan Xianchuan replied to Tail-End, saying that she wasn’t qualified to be invited, but she knew the head of the group in charge of recruiting waiters, and she could bring people in.

Tail-End replied a few minutes later: [“Good job. The organization appreciates your efforts. I’ve already sent the items and the new address; don’t forget to pick them up.”]

Then his avatar turned gray and went offline.

He only mentioned sending the things after getting a reply, clearly using the reward to get her to do things.

Yan Xianchuan wasn’t the original body, she wasn’t corrupted by desire, she could naturally see through this little trick.

It wasn’t hard to guess why she would choose to join the Mechanical Pure Land, it was probably because she was unhappy with her real life, so she decided to devote herself to the network.

If consciousness uploading was successful, she would become something similar to artificial intelligence, like Black, and enjoy the feeling of being omnipotent in the virtual world.

The original body had no say in the family, it was easy to understand why she had been developed into a subordinate by the Mechanical Pure Land.

The records with Tail-End were restored, Yan Xianchuan scanned them a few times, they were all intelligence missions, asking her to find out about the movements of some upper-class people.

Although the original body was incompetent, there were still quite a few people of the same class on the list, and she also knew some other abandoned children who were equally unsuccessful, so it wasn’t very difficult for her to gather information.

Yan Xianchuan herself had no interest in consciousness uploading, she didn’t even look at the things that were sent, she directly handed them to Lu Mingqiu to take away for research.

Silver Ring and Gold Ring were in charge of infiltrating the banquet, Black was in charge of network support, and Yan Xianchuan and the others were in charge of providing support.

The support work, when nothing unexpected happened, was just waiting.

To prevent Yan Xianchuan from going crazy in the middle of it, Lu Mingqiu came up with a plan.

Changing into ordinary pedestrian attire, Yan Xianchuan followed her listlessly to a long street not far from the Warren Building, the latter suddenly stopped as she was walking, standing in front of a car with blue and pink paint, then took out her keys and opened the door.

Yan Xianchuan looked up, a giant ice cream cone was standing on top of the car, it was also flashing with colored lights, yellow, green, and pink alternating.

Yan Xianchuan paused, “This is an ice cream truck.”

Lu Mingqiu reached out and made a gesture of invitation, “That’s right, this is your ice cream truck.”

Ah?

Yan Xianchuan looked at the eight iron buckets filled with different flavors of ice cream inside the car, and the rows of waffle cones stacked one after another on the counter, the unique milky aroma of ice cream and the cool air rushed towards her face.

Her gaze was firmly fixed on the pink strawberry ice cream, “So, I can eat… sell ice cream here.”

“What about you?” She moved her gaze away with difficulty, looking at the person next to her.

“I’m in the driver’s seat.” Lu Mingqiu said.

She closed the car door, leaving the other party alone in the car.

Ice cream truck… Yan Xianchuan thought for a moment, took a waffle cone, scooped a piece of strawberry flavor, then scooped a piece of mango flavor ice cream, stacked the two scoops together, and then licked it.

The fruity aroma and cream melted perfectly on her tongue, the sweet but not greasy flavor slid directly from her throat into her stomach.

Yan Xianchuan’s eyes instantly lit up with an inhuman brilliance.

She was happy eating, and instantly became energetic again, she started playing the role of a vendor, diligently hawking her wares.

“Do you want some ice cream! Hey, I’m talking to you!”

A freckled, somewhat forlorn boy looked around hesitantly and pointed at himself.

“It’s you.” Yan Xianchuan beckoned him over from behind the counter.

“I don’t have any money, I’ll pass.” He walked over, his face flushed, he said softly.

“It’s free.” Yan Xianchuan said seriously, “I’m doing a good deed, no charge.”

“What flavor do you want?”

“Really?” He looked doubtful, but under Yan Xianchuan’s gaze, he couldn’t help but compromise, he coughed and said, “Cho… chocolate.”

“You look like you have something on your mind, why don’t you tell me about it?” Yan Xianchuan bent down to scoop the ice cream, handed him the finished cone, and said with a smile.

“Although I’m a stranger, strangers have the biggest advantage, we meet by chance, we’ll never meet again, no matter what, tell me, and no one else will know.”

Her voice was very slow, low and soft, like a demon depicted in scriptures, tempting people to commit sins.

“Look, I’m in a good mood today, so I came here to give away ice cream, doing a good deed, helping you vent your emotions is just a bonus.”

People are always so contradictory, things that are difficult to say to family and friends can be easily revealed to complete strangers.

The boy told his troubles, saying that he was always bullied by a bigger boy in his class, the other boy would take his allowance every day.

Minors are not allowed to have auxiliary chips implanted in the back of their heads, it would affect brain development. So their previous conflicts were often just physical confrontations.

“It’s simple, I can teach you a trick.” Yan Xianchuan said, “Get a folding stick, the next time he comes, aim for his knee and swing it. Remember to record a video before you hit him, record the whole process of how he bullied you, that’s self-defense.”

“Think about it, he’s been extorting you, isn’t it because you’re afraid to fight back? If you’re stronger than him, you beat him up, would he dare to keep picking on you?”

The boy walked away thoughtfully, he even said thank you before leaving.

“You’re teaching a child to do bad things.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“I’m not.” Yan Xianchuan replied.

“I’m clearly doing psychological counseling, he even thanked me. I think I have a lot of potential to be a psychological counselor, helping others solve their troubles, how great! I love doing good deeds the most!”

She genuinely believed this, which was what made Lu Mingqiu find it absurd.

A psychopathic antisocial personality, all day long proclaiming that she loves doing good deeds, the key is that she is actually helping others solve problems, it’s just that the process is full of violence and illegality.

Lu Mingqiu watched as several people left thoughtfully, eager to try it out, a pang of regret surged through her heart.

But she let her be. You can’t reform a terrorist with a few words, but however extreme her methods, their effectiveness is undeniable.

Besides, in this society, solving problems through violence was the fastest and most efficient way.

The glittering glass ceiling was like a captured piece of the starry sky embedded in it, the smooth, pristine floor reflected the lights and shadows, mirroring the guests’ clothes and accessories, huge diamonds, flowing emeralds and agates, making the artificial river of stars flowing on the ground more dazzling and shimmering than the one in the sky.

Each handcrafted garment was unique, with exquisite designs, neither overshadowing nor overly flamboyant, but perfectly complementing its owner, adding to his brilliance.

Dongye Zhengqi walked to the top of the stairs, his son, Dongye He, tapped his glass, the light, crisp sound drawing everyone’s attention.

“Good evening, I suppose I don’t need to introduce myself.”

The crowd was very supportive, giving him a friendly laugh.

Dongye Zhengqi was eighty-two years old this year, but thanks to technological treatments, he looked like a wrinkled middle-aged man, his silver hair adding to his scholarly demeanor.

“I’m not one for beating around the bush, I’m sure you all have a guess about the theme of this banquet.” His eyes sparkled with ambition and power, “Dr. Serra is an outstanding biomedical scientist, and we’ve been collaborating with the Dongye family for some time now, as you all know, the consciousness separation potion has never been a perfect product, it has flaws.”

“Just recently, the doctor told me some good news, he has developed a consciousness separation potion that can solve the problem once and for all.”

“Just one injection, it’s like wrapping a protective film around the brain, from then on, you’ll be free from the troubles of mental disorders.”

Dongye Zhengqi changed his tone, “However, the raw materials it requires are very rare and precious, so it can’t be mass-produced yet. The main purpose of my holding this banquet today is to announce this good news, and to choose suitable allies to participate in the potion production process.”

His gaze swept over the members of the various chaebol families, some people had thoughtful expressions, some people had knowing looks.

The guests from the other small families were clearly in higher spirits.

In their eyes, this was a great opportunity, the Dongye family had developed it alone and it was too costly, they wanted to find some people to invest, to fill the initial capital and also share some of the profits.

This was a piece of pie falling from the sky!

“Next, Dr. Serra will give you a brief introduction to the effects of the perfect consciousness potion.”

Amidst the restrained applause of the guests, Dr. Serra, with a mechanical eye and two mechanical arms, walked out from the side. She had a round, kind face, she looked like a friendly old lady who would make soup and bake cookies, she had a bunch of cats and dogs at home, and her favorite thing to do was to sunbathe on the balcony.

She looked around at everyone and began to introduce the potion, using very professional terms, all technical jargon, making people feel like they were in a fog, not understanding anything.

They only understood one thing, the potion required a raw material called RT3, which was very rare.

After the doctor finished speaking, she left the banquet hall, she was a person who loved research, she wasn’t interested in socializing.

One psionic, three ordinary guards, a total of four people escorted her away.

They took the elevator down from the banquet hall, and the group went straight to the parking lot.

Without taking a few steps, the lights above suddenly went out. The guards tensed up, immediately surrounding the doctor, one of them pressed the alarm, reporting the anomaly and requesting support.

Something was rolling on the ground, making a clinking sound, the next moment, the sound of hissing gas came.

“Protect the doctor, don’t breathe!”

The doctor’s physical fitness wasn’t that good, even though they were already moving her outwards, Dr. Serra accidentally inhaled a breath, and she lost consciousness after taking a few steps.

One person carried her, everyone was pointing their guns at the outside, but besides the unknown gas, the other party didn’t attack again.

Just then, the lights suddenly came on.

The parking lot was instantly as bright as day, several strangers were standing in the distance, wearing gas masks, they were eyeing them menacingly.

“Damn it! Why did the lights come on early!”

The sound of sirens instantly tore through the air, the sharp, piercing sound echoed through the entire building.

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