Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 24

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The Warren Building used an internal network, to hack into it, someone had to open a backdoor inside the building first, insert a node, and let Black in.

And the security was very tight, there were security personnel on every floor, and the surveillance was manned 24 hours a day, it was very difficult to physically infiltrate.

This was why they needed someone to take them in.

Lu Mingqiu’s plan was for her to enter the building, quickly deal with the guards, hypnotize the doctor to read her memories, and get the formula for the consciousness separation potion.

She and Yan Xianchuan were enough for the actual infiltration, Black would cut off the alarm, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they would have enough time to get the job done before reinforcements arrived.

Lu Mingqiu wasn’t a rigid, inflexible person, she could be ruthless in using herself to achieve her goals, and she naturally didn’t mind using others.

Talking in person was also for insurance, if Harper agreed, they would have to sign an agreement, this was a written agreement, the real insurance was Lu Mingqiu’s psionic ability, this was a big operation, she couldn’t allow any possibility of information leaks.

If Harper disagreed, she would directly hypnotize her, making her “agree.”

The moment she said those words, Yan Xianchuan understood her thoughts, and she had no intention of exposing her.

She liked and enjoyed the tacit understanding and balance between her and Lu Mingqiu, she found it very interesting.

In the morning, sunlight squeezed into the room through the gaps in the curtains, spilling a pool of pale gold, its tentacles crawled onto the blue plastic artificial flowers, slowly shining on Yan Xianchuan’s eyelids.

It was very sunny.

Night City was further south than Nanjin City, it was clearly early morning, but the heat it brought was comparable to noon in the north.

Yan Xianchuan turned over, she was awake, but she chose to cover her head.

She had a very good dream last night.

She rarely dreamed, it was said that people who were emotionally rich, loved fantasy, and had active minds often dreamed, her brain was the opposite, it was calm, empty.

If you were to use an electrocardiogram as an analogy, her thinking was like a patient being resuscitated by a defibrillator, most of the time it was a straight line, only when she was shocked did it suddenly jump.

Yan Xianchuan actually knew she wasn’t normal, there was nothing to say about it, anyone with a basic ability to judge could easily see the difference between herself and others.

She just didn’t want to admit it.

She had been like this since she was a child, her parents were the first to notice. It wasn’t obvious when she was a baby, but when she was three or four years old, when she could talk and walk, her two novice parents gradually noticed her peculiarity.

Yan Xianchuan never smiled, and she didn’t get angry often, she just didn’t have much emotional fluctuation. Her father would tease her with toys, and she would always quietly watch him, her mother would ask her why she wasn’t playing, if she didn’t like it, she would say it was boring.

They had a dog at home, children are always very curious about animals, but she wasn’t, she would go around the dog, just like she would go around a table or chair.

Her parents took her for a checkup, it was congenital emotional deficiency, it couldn’t be cured, the doctor looked at them with pity, he only said to try to give the child a loving environment.

That night, her mother secretly wiped away tears in bed, she wasn’t regretting having a child with a defect, she was worried that when Yan Xianchuan grew up, she would have to enter society, she was destined to be out of place, what if she was ostracized?

Yan Xianchuan had a good memory, she remembered everything that happened when she was a child, when they came back from the hospital, her parents bought her her favorite ice cream, and they bought her two.

A child’s stomach is fragile, she could only eat one every two days.

Two ice cream cones, one matcha flavor, one strawberry flavor.

She dreamed that she was being held by her father, one in each hand, the ice cream was delicious, cold, and soft.

Yan Xianchuan didn’t understand why she dreamed of this scene, maybe she had eaten too much yesterday, and it made her brain associate it with this event.

Or maybe it was because of something else, she didn’t want to think about it.

Knock knock knock, Lu Mingqiu was knocking on the door outside.

Yan Xianchuan got out of bed, she responded, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

The bathroom had no windows, cold white light shone down from above, she turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face.

The square mirror clearly reflected her face, pale lips, deep black eyes, her hair had grown a little longer, it hung on her shoulders, like a blooming mushroom.

The cold white light shone from above, the illuminated areas were too bright, and the shadowed areas were particularly obvious.

She looked at herself in the mirror for a while, they both found each other a little annoying, “Why are you looking at me?” she said, the person in the mirror didn’t speak.

Yan Xianchuan reached out and pressed her hand against the cold, smooth mirror surface, the bluish veins on the back of her hand were faintly visible, she stared at the person opposite, her pupils were like ink marks painted by an artist, motionless like a dead thing.

“Come eat breakfast.” Lu Mingqiu’s voice came from the living room.

Clear, melodious, like a stream in the forest, it flowed into Yan Xianchuan’s ears, she blinked, let go of her hand, and replied, “Coming.”

She wiped her hands, turned and walked out of the bathroom, several cracks appeared on the mirror surface, like frost flowers on glass in winter.

Buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks… several Chinese breakfast items were neatly arranged on the dining table, steam rising, the cold dishes next to them were covered with chili oil and garlic, making people salivate just looking at them.

Yan Xianchuan sat down on the chair, picked up a bun with chopsticks and put it in her bowl, Lu Mingqiu picked up a piece of cold dish, she was also skilled in using chopsticks.

“Speaking of which, I forgot to ask you, are you mixed race?” Yan Xianchuan said.

“Yes.” Lu Mingqiu said, “My real name is Inola Bolovov, I don’t know if you remember. Most of the Bolovov family are of Nordic descent, my mother is of Asian descent.”

She chuckled softly, her blue eyes were as clear as glass, “I thought my appearance was pretty obvious.”

“But I like my current name better than my real name, it’s also one I made up myself, um… a stage name.”

“Does it have any meaning?” Yan Xianchuan asked.

“If I have to say, autumn is the season of harvest and decay, I like autumn.” Lu Mingqiu said, “There’s no other special meaning.”

“We’ll go out after dinner, Harper agreed to meet. Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ve allowed enough time.”

Lu Mingqiu was driving this time, as Su Hong wasn’t with them.

Yan Xianchuan really couldn’t drive. When she entered the escape game, she had just graduated from high school, she was still a minor, she hadn’t reached the age to learn to drive, her family planned to let her learn when she was more relaxed in college. After entering the escape game, there was no need to learn.

The car was very smooth, she sat in the back seat, turned her head to look at the traffic next to her, and didn’t say a word for an hour.

This was very unusual.

If they had just met, Lu Mingqiu wouldn’t have thought anything of it, the other party was just a lifeless person, she would only find it strange if she spoke.

But after getting to know Yan Xianchuan a little, or rather, after they both shed their disguises, the other party started talking more, sometimes she even felt like she was talking too much.

Because she would deliberately find topics.

Instead of being silent like now.

Lu Mingqiu glanced at her through the mirror, she was staring out the window.

“Do you want to chat?” she said cheerfully.

The other party turned her gaze back, “Chat about what?”

Good, at least she wasn’t lost in her own world.

At this moment, she felt like a psychologist, counseling her patient, and she was relieved that the other party wasn’t completely hopeless.

The trouble caused by leaving Yan Xianchuan and killing Yan Xianchuan was about the same, the former, Yan Xianchuan herself was a potential variable, she was controllable and uncontrollable, for Lu Mingqiu, who liked to act according to plan, her existence was like a thorn in her side.

But if she killed Yan Xianchuan, she would still have to marry another alpha, to match the children of other chaebol families, the changes that would result from this were extremely uncontrollable, just as bad as the former.

But there was more to it than that, which made Lu Mingqiu choose the first path.

This psychopath had a very strange aura, she was so self-centered that everything in her eyes was equal.

For Lu Mingqiu, it was actually a rare experience. Her identity, her abilities, the career she pursued, were destined to evoke great admiration in others when they learned about them.

“How did you do it, being an omega?”

“It’s unbelievable, an omega can do this.”

“It must have been difficult for you to be an omega all this time.”

“It’s not easy, you could have chosen not to do this, after all, you’re an omega.”

Omega, omega, omega…

It’s okay to praise her, but why do you have to add this word, anyone who chooses to join Starfire to fight against the companies is a worthy warrior, but she’s the only one who has to be singled out, just because she’s an omega.

Maybe it’s well-meaning, but this underlying discrimination against the entire omega population is really unacceptable to her.

But Yan Xianchuan didn’t, she looked at her, no different from how she looked at others.

She didn’t think it was anything special, and this “equality” was exactly what Lu Mingqiu wanted.

This was also the fundamental reason why she was willing to be as peaceful as possible with Yan Xianchuan.

“Chat about you, chat about me, anything.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“For example, do you want to learn to drive?”

“I should learn.” Yan Xianchuan thought for a moment.

“It’s actually very simple, an auxiliary chip will do the trick.” Lu Mingqiu said, “You only have an internal communication chip now, there’s a spare slot.”

“I don’t like chips very much.” Yan Xianchuan refused.

“Then I can teach you.” Lu Mingqiu said. She stepped on the brake and parked the car on the side of the road, “Come on, get in the passenger seat.”

Yan Xianchuan didn’t want to move, but her mother had taught her to try not to refuse someone who was showing kindness.

She let out a sigh, as if she were sighing, she got out of the car and opened the passenger door.

“Driving isn’t difficult. This is the steering wheel, the accelerator, the clutch, the dashboard, this is the horn…” Lu Mingqiu said, pointing as she spoke, “And every car has an assisted driving system, the more expensive ones even have autopilot, it’s very easy to learn.”

She stepped on the accelerator, the car restarted, “But driving an airship is much more exciting than driving a car, you might like that better.”

Speaking of airships, as if by coincidence, a medical team’s airship flew over from the sky ahead.

“It seems like only the medical team’s airships can fly.” Yan Xianchuan watched the red and white airship whistle as it roared through the air.

“There are flight regulations, but the medical team doesn’t have to follow them, because human rights are paramount, human life is at stake, and so on.” Lu Mingqiu chuckled, her meaning unclear, “But only residents of third-class citizens and above can afford insurance and pay for a medical team rescue.”

“There are also helicopters that can fly, of course, that’s the standard for chaebol families, they’re rare, it’s normal not to see them.”

Lu Mingqiu commented lightly, “Flight regulations are just something the chaebols use to show their superiority.”

Ordinary people simply couldn’t afford helicopters and airships.

“Do you have a helicopter?” Yan Xianchuan asked.

“I used to, but after my infertility came out, the family confiscated most of the property they had given me, so I don’t have one anymore.” Lu Mingqiu said, “But the organization still has a few airships, I can teach you if you want to learn.”

An airship costs two hundred million, and it’s not hard to tell from Lu Mingqiu’s casual tone that these so-called “few” airships are not considered valuable items.

“It seems like the organization is quite rich.” Yan Xianchuan mused.

“It’s probably a little richer than you think.” Lu Mingqiu curved her eyes, “We’re here, this is it.”

The car skidded to a stop, Yan Xianchuan stepped out of the car and looked around.

It was hard to imagine that there was such a desolate place in the bustling Night City, an abandoned processing plant, everything that could be taken away and sold was gone, even the gate had disappeared.

A tattered poster was half-submerged in a puddle, the other half was covered in dirt, you could barely make out the words “Smart Refrigerator”.

There wasn’t even a single bird, let alone a person.

“It’s ten minutes before the agreed time.” Lu Mingqiu said, “Let’s wait a bit.”

Yan Xianchuan hummed, she lowered her eyes and saw a few ants crawling past from the front, she walked over and squatted down, silently staring at the ants, like an autistic person.

Now Lu Mingqiu was completely sure that this person had a problem.

“Are you spacing out? Are you feeling down?” she asked.

“Your question is wrong, I’m an emotionally deficient madman, I can’t feel down.” Yan Xianchuan’s voice was indifferent.

This was not good.

Lu Mingqiu pondered for a moment, she gently walked over to her side and squatted down, “You’re just a normal person with a little problem, those were your own words, don’t you remember?”

Yan Xianchuan stared at her for a while, her black and white eyes were emotionless, for a moment, Lu Mingqiu had the urge to detonate the chip, but she stopped herself. Fortunately, the other party didn’t suddenly attack, but slowly uttered a sentence, “Do you have parents?”

What a good question, who was born without parents, artificial human technology isn’t that advanced yet.

This was obviously not literal.

Lu Mingqiu thought for a moment and said, “My mother was a textbook omega, she was beautiful, weak, obedient to her family’s arrangements, she was sent to the Bolovov family head’s bed, and became his lover.”

“Her mind was filled with fantasies about love, after the family head’s first wife died, she thought she would become his legal wife, but reality was always disappointing, he remarried another woman.”

“She cried for several days, then forgave him, because she was just the daughter of a small family, she couldn’t bring any help to the Bolovovs, it wasn’t the Bolovovs’ fault, the problem was with her, she didn’t have enough ability to help her lover, how could she blame him for choosing someone better?”

Yan Xianchuan: “Her thoughts are strange.”

Lu Mingqiu suddenly smiled, “You’re the first person to say that.”

She said slowly, “I was brought back to the family when I was seven years old, and I learned that I had ten siblings. I only saw my father at the monthly academic check-ups, after his second wife died, he married again, it wasn’t my mother, nor was it the mother of any of my siblings.”

“So I have parents, but it’s actually no different from not having any.”

“You’re so miserable.” Yan Xianchuan said softly, a layer of sympathy slowly appeared in her eyes, like a mist on the sea, it would dissipate with a gust of wind, “You’re so miserable.” She repeated.

“When you’re born into a family like this, you get used to this atmosphere, it’s not a matter of being miserable or not. At least I’m well-fed and clothed, I can receive the best educational resources, I can’t fault anything about my material life.” Lu Mingqiu said with a self-deprecating tone, “Compared to the wanderers, I’m still lucky.”

“Do you miss them?” Yan Xianchuan asked.

“Who?”

“Your parents.”

“I do, I often think about them, but not in a way that makes me miss them.” Lu Mingqiu said, “Most of the time, I think about how to get rid of my father, and I sympathize with my mother, although she doesn’t think she’s living badly.”

“…I dreamed about them yesterday.” Yan Xianchuan’s voice sounded like the most timid squirrel in the forest, any sound could make it run away quickly, “I dreamed that my father was holding me in his arms, buying me ice cream.” It was like the moss in a dark forest that had absorbed moisture, it was damp and growing on the rugged black rocks.

“It’s strange, it’s the first time I’ve dreamed about them in five years.”

Lu Mingqiu was silent, the other party didn’t need her to answer, and she was confused by the information revealed in these words.

Yan Family Head wasn’t a loving father, it could be said that the heads of these chaebol families were all representatives of coldness and indifference, like products on an assembly line.

Holding a child in his arms was more ridiculous than the most absurd joke, at least the things in jokes could happen, but the former was impossible.

Five years ago, this time node, which was singled out, clearly had a special meaning. Lu Mingqiu thought back, but she couldn’t think of anything.

If you were to count the time when Yan Xianchuan was abandoned by her family, it should start from her first academic check-up.

The roar of a motorcycle came closer, the person they were waiting for had arrived, Lu Mingqiu stopped thinking, but she kept this doubt in her heart.

The good news was that the talk therapy was having some effect, Yan Xianchuan stood up, and there was an expression on her face.

The two people present knew that this expression was completely fake, but the process didn’t matter, what mattered was the result, she was willing to make herself look like a normal person.

Lu Mingqiu felt a little complicated, she never thought she would one day be actively concerned about a psychopath’s mental health.

Atmore was sitting in the front, he was the one riding the motorcycle, and the one sitting behind him must be Harper.

The latter wasn’t dressed as revealingly or as distinctively as she was in the video, she was still wearing red lipstick, her honey-colored skin was like wheat under the sun, showing a vibrant vitality.

Her cat-like eyes scanned them both. “You’re early. Tell me everything. Don’t hide anything. I know this isn’t simple. If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t pay for an unknown danger.”

“The person we want to see is Dr. Serra, you should know about the news from the past two days.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“No wonder it’s so strict lately.” Harper cursed under her breath, it was a slang phrase, “If you’re looking for him, it’s not for a heart-to-heart talk, right?”

Lu Mingqiu smiled, she didn’t say anything.

The news of the perfect version of the consciousness separation potion being developed caused a stir, but many people at the bottom, like Harper, didn’t get excited about it.

She had long known the company’s tricks, the price of this thing, was definitely not something ordinary people could afford, they could only obediently buy the previous version, and be cut like leeks for the company.

A clear look of hesitation appeared on Harper’s face, but after a while, she suddenly looked at the two of them, her eyes were like tempered fire, “I agree.”

“I’d love to cause trouble for the company’s dogs.”

Atmore seemed to think of something, he looked at Harper, hesitating. The latter glared at him, “This isn’t the place to talk, let’s go to your place and talk about it.”

“Ugh, why go to my place…” Atmore mumbled, seeing that Harper’s hand was already raised, he quickly raised his hands and said in a pleading tone, “My place is perfect, it’s perfect for business!”

Yan Xianchuan didn’t say anything the whole time, she was like a clingy bodyguard, whatever Lu Mingqiu said, she did.

The motorcycle led the way, Lu Mingqiu drove behind, and they arrived at Atmore’s place after a short drive.

The clothes he was wearing weren’t cheap, they were a small brand, he also seemed to care about his image, he even sprayed himself with perfume, he didn’t look like someone who would live in a slum.

It was a two-bedroom apartment, the house was fairly tidy, there were no clothes thrown around on the sofa, and there were many beer and cola cans on the coffee table.

Yan Xianchuan very seriously picked up a can of cola, then picked up a box of cookies, and sat down to quietly munch on the cookies.

“When are you planning to act?” Harper asked.

“The sooner the better.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“The Warren Building has seventy floors, I live on the forty-second floor, I don’t know where this doctor is, but it’s definitely higher than me. There are four cameras on every staircase and corridor, two in front, two behind, the stairwell too, there are basically no blind spots in the public areas.”

Harper drew a rectangle as she spoke, and marked points on it, it was very simple, but very to the point.

“I can take you into the building, as guests, after all, I’m registered as a sex doll, it’s common for me to bring guests back.”

She didn’t feel anything when she mentioned her work, instead, she looked at the two of them, “But you have to prepare clean information to register, and you have to act like it.”

Harper raised her chin. “It has to be that awkward, embarrassed, wanting-to-disappear kind of look.” She pinched her eyes, a mischievous glint in them. “Who told “me” to be a whip-wielder?”

“You’d better find another hacker to help cover the surveillance, otherwise, two suspicious people wandering around the building will be reported by the security guards.”

“We need to know where the monitoring room is.” Lu Mingqiu said without changing her expression.

“The monitoring room is on the fifth floor.” Harper said, “Do you have a hacker in mind? If not, I know one.”

“We have a hacker we know.” Lu Mingqiu said, “Don’t worry about that.”

“After kidnapping the doctor, we need a safe evacuation route…” Harper hadn’t finished her sentence when Lu Mingqiu interrupted her.

“We’re not kidnapping her.”

“Huh? Not kidnapping? Just chatting?” Harper clearly didn’t believe it, but she didn’t say anything, “But we still need an evacuation route.” She gave Atmore an elbow, “It’s your turn, don’t be so slow.”

“The company has its own specially trained security force, and if things are exposed, the search team will also come.” Atmore said with a smile, “So you have to prepare enough weapons, in case you really have to fight and don’t have any weapons.”

“If you’re surrounded by security and can’t escape, I’m not going to risk my life to save you, just saying.”

Yan Xianchuan chewed her cookies with a crunching sound, she didn’t know what this person was talking about.

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