Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 27

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“Hahaha!” Atmore laughed a few times, as if he had heard a joke, but Lu Mingqiu didn’t change her expression at all, she just smiled at him, he laughed for a while and then stopped abruptly.

Atmore coughed a few times, “I really am not a spy.”

“I can tell.” Lu Mingqiu said.

Since the incident with Poison Sting, Lu Mingqiu had actually become a little distrustful of her psionic ability. For a long time, she had relied on it, just like people rely on their hands and feet, she had never thought that her psionic ability would one day not work.

But Poison Sting had sounded an alarm for her, and taught the organization a lesson. The device dug out from his brain was tested and found to be a memory fabrication device.

Human memory is actually very subjective, if a person is hypnotized and implanted with memories that don’t belong to him, making him subconsciously believe that he has another experience, then the images in his mind will change accordingly, the brain will weave a memory that fits his imagination.

But to determine whether a person is lying, there are many methods besides reading memories, the simplest and most convenient method.

Not everyone in this world has psionic abilities.

Lie detectors have been invented for hundreds of years, and micro-expression observation is a course that almost every student in the criminal investigation major learns.

Lu Mingqiu had naturally learned it, she was a perfectionist. Later, when she thought back carefully, Poison Sting’s behavior did have some abnormalities, but she had been too reliant on her psionic ability, she trusted its judgment and ignored what her eyes were seeing.

Atmore rubbed his hands, “Okay, then what else do I need to do to join you? Any special skills?”

Lu Mingqiu looked into his eyes, her tone was still gentle, “Tell me about your skills.”

“I can basically use all the firearms on the market, my aim is pretty good. I know Night City very well, I have some connections, um… let me think, also, also,” Atmore pondered, “I’m a good driver, I can drive any type of motorcycle or car, I can fix some simple furniture, I can also fix cars, oh, and I can cook.”

“Also! This, does playing cards count? I’m pretty good at poker and mahjong, my friends say I can make a living playing cards.”

“We can play cards together.” Yan Xianchuan said, then added, her tone sincere, “If you’re still alive later.”

Atmore’s expression was complex, “Thank you, I’ll try my best.”

“Although you may have some psychological expectations, I still need to reiterate, you need to know that if you join us, it means you will be at odds with the most powerful people in this world.” Lu Mingqiu said, “The Resistance doesn’t have retired members, only sacrifices, do you understand?”

Atmore smiled nonchalantly, he said, “I’m not worried about that, everyone dies eventually, I’d rather die with a little more value. And being a bounty hunter isn’t easy, you make a lot of money, but you also have a lot of enemies, there are countless people who have died because they didn’t have good eyesight and offended the wrong people.”

He sighed with a hint of melancholy, “After all, in this world, the least valuable thing is human life.”

That’s not true, Yan Xianchuan retorted in her heart, at least the lives of the upper class are very valuable. After all, countless people have died for Dongye Zhengqi’s ambition to live forever, he alone has at least hundreds of lives on his hands.

“There’s one more condition.” Lu Mingqiu said softly, “A mental imprint will be placed in your brain, if you betray the organization, I will know, and you will die.”

“Are you a psionic?” Atmore asked in surprise, he muttered to himself, “No wonder the two of you dared to break into the Warren Building.”

“Are you one too?” He turned to look at Yan Xianchuan.

“No.” Yan Xianchuan propped her chin, “I’m just a normal person, like you, without any special abilities.”

Lu Mingqiu: …

Didn’t she know there was a word called “trying to cover up your tracks,” and another word called “a guilty conscience”?

Atmore looked like he didn’t quite believe it, but he believed it anyway. After all, the other party didn’t have any reason to deceive him, it didn’t matter if it was one or two, ordinary people were powerless against psionics.

“Okay, I have no problem.” He said, “How do you put it in? Do I have to sleep or something, look at a swinging clock or something?”

“It’s already been placed.” Lu Mingqiu blinked.

“Ah? When did that happen! How come I don’t know?” Atmore reflexively touched his head.

“The second time we met.” Lu Mingqiu’s eyes twinkled with amusement, “You’re now a peripheral member of the Resistance, you have a probationary period, I’ll tell you when you pass.”

The second time we met… wasn’t that at the abandoned processing plant when she said we should talk in person? He hadn’t noticed anything!

Atmore’s mouth dropped open, his face was a true reflection of bewilderment and disbelief, “Wait,” he suddenly realized, “Then Harper, she…?”

Lu Mingqiu nodded, “It’s just to prevent you from leaking information, it won’t cause any real harm to her. I’ll remove the imprint when Harper leaves Night City.”

Atmore breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good.”

He inhaled and exhaled, as if he was calming himself down, but he couldn’t help but say softly, “Psionics, they’re really amazing, you can’t guard against them.”

Lu Mingqiu had been observing his expression, seeing this, she said apologetically, “I need to apologize to you, I didn’t ask for your permission to…”

“It’s okay, I understand.” Atmore waved his hand, “After all, you guys, no, now it should be us, are also considering the safety of the mission.”

“Ugh, I wish I was a psionic…”

“So you guys are still leaving?” Atmore rubbed his face, the momentary dejection was rubbed away, and he was once again in a spirited mood.

“That’s right.”

Before leaving, Lu Mingqiu reminded him, “It won’t be peaceful lately, be careful.”

The two of them left the two-story building, walking down the street. On the way, Yan Xianchuan asked, “Just leaving like this, leave him outside to do whatever he wants?”

“Black is monitoring him, and I didn’t just put in an imprint.” Lu Mingqiu said, “I told you, if he leaks information, he’ll die.”

“Is that one of the uses of your psionic ability?” Yan Xianchuan said, she exclaimed, “It’s really useful.”

“Speaking of which, when did you awaken your psionic ability?” She asked curiously.

There weren’t many pedestrians on the road, half the people in the West District only liked to be active at night, a light mist was scattered in the air, the mist carried a faint smell of engine oil, and the aroma of food from the breakfast stalls at the alleyway.

The two of them walked side by side, leisurely, like friends who had made a date to go for a walk early in the morning, the atmosphere was harmonious.

“When I graduated from high school. The law stipulates that omegas become adults at the age of seventeen, which is the same age as high school graduation, most omegas will get engaged at this time, and they will get married at the age of twenty.”

“I had a friend in school, she didn’t want to get married, or rather, she didn’t want to get married too early, but her family didn’t agree.”

Lu Mingqiu lowered her eyes slightly, her voice was lighter than the morning mist around them, “I went to her engagement party, and the next day, I went to her funeral.”

“Her family said she fell to her death, but I didn’t believe it. I used my family’s connections to catch her fiancé and ask him about her cause of death.”

“She died in bed, she died from sexual abuse.”

“I’m sorry.” Yan Xianchuan said, with concern.

Lu Mingqiu suddenly smiled, she shook her head, “No, your not.”

She pursed her lips and said lightly, “Actually, we weren’t that close, she was from a third-class citizen family, she was ostracized a little at school because she was poor, I would occasionally help her a few times, that’s all.”

“But it was that moment. That man, that alpha, he didn’t have any remorse at all, he shouted that she was his possession, that he could do whatever he wanted, her family also took the money and accepted this statement, telling me not to meddle.”

“I looked at him and thought, why don’t you just die?”

“I guess he did die.” Yan Xianchuan said.

“That’s right. Then I got a fever, the doctor said it was from shock, but it was actually the awakening of my psionic ability.” Lu Mingqiu said, “It was a very sudden process, there were no signs.”

Perhaps her desire at that moment was too strong, or perhaps the countless questions and resentments she had bottled up burned her soul, the flames were strong enough to forge the blade that could fulfill her ambitions.

Yan Xianchuan didn’t offer any opinions, instead, she stopped and bought two strawberry ice cream cones from a fast food restaurant selling burgers and fries, she handed one to Lu Mingqiu.

“Eating sweets will make you feel better.” She said.

“Do I look like I’m feeling down?” Lu Mingqiu looked down at the pink ice cream ball in her hand.

“You don’t look like it, but when you mention someone who has passed away, people always feel heavy.” Yan Xianchuan sighed with a serious expression, as if she was also sad, “Poor thing, may she have the right to choose for herself in her next life, may she have a happy and fulfilling life.”

The ice cream was full of cheap artificial flavoring, it was sickeningly sweet, but Lu Mingqiu ate it all, she said lightly, “I hope so.”

Although she didn’t think the person who said this was truly feeling sorry for the deceased.

But she was indeed very considerate.

“Why do we have so many strongholds?”

Standing in a new two-bedroom apartment, Yan Xianchuan asked sincerely.

“When we need them, they’ll be there.” Lu Mingqiu rarely smiled sincerely, her eyes curved, “This is a task that other members are responsible for.”

After saying this, she realized belatedly that she had wanted to laugh sincerely a few times recently, and it was all related to the person in front of her.

She said it was to soothe the other party’s emotions, but she seemed to be too relaxed, why was she telling her all her privacy? She hadn’t even told Su Hong about these past events, let alone the others in the organization, they didn’t even know her real identity.

Yan Xianchuan seemed to have a kind of magic, it was because she didn’t care about anything that she had loosened her lips. Wasn’t that why people like to confide in strangers?

But as she watched the person walk around, as if she was inspecting her new territory, watching her pick up an empty cookie box and shake it, watching her test the softness of the sofa, the vigilance that had risen suddenly subsided.

She had so many things hidden in her heart, like a swamp, pulling her feet down, having someone to confide in, and she wouldn’t make any random comments, this experience was truly rare.

“Don’t tell anyone about my business.” Lu Mingqiu still said this.

“I’m very trustworthy.” Yan Xianchuan made a zipper gesture, “This is a secret between the two of us.”

“In exchange, shouldn’t I tell you one of mine?” She said with a serious expression, “A relationship where you hold each other’s secrets is the most stable.”

“What secret do you have?” Lu Mingqiu’s eyes moved slightly, she asked casually.

“I…” Yan Xianchuan opened her mouth, then suddenly choked, she hesitated for a long time, and finally squeezed out a few words, “…I don’t know.”

“I’m a straightforward person, I don’t have any secrets.” She concluded as if she were giving herself an award.

Lu Mingqiu: …

“Normal people all have their own little secrets, how could you not have any?” Lu Mingqiu said slowly, trying to coax her, “Think about it again.”

“You make a good point.” The other party’s words deeply moved her, Yan Xianchuan thought for a moment, “I do have a secret, but I have to think about it.”

She couldn’t tell her that she wasn’t the original owner, although this was a real secret, but Yan Xianchuan would rather tell something that was closely related to her.

What was considered a secret, something unknown, even the closest friends and lovers, even parents who shared the same blood, didn’t know.

Strictly speaking, she didn’t have any friends. Of course, she had some “friends,” but that was just their own assumption, she didn’t acknowledge it.

Lovers, even less so.

As for her parents…

“I do have a secret.” Yan Xianchuan said, then nodded, “No one knows about this.”

“There was a boy next door who always insisted on talking to me, even after I explicitly told him no, he still insisted on playing with me, he was very childish, very annoying. His parents also indulged him, saying stupid things like children should be close to each other.”

She said in a flat, unemotional tone, “He was like a frog in a pond, all he knew was to croak, so I pushed him into the pond.”

“Don’t worry, he didn’t die.” Yan Xianchuan curled her lips, she seemed very happy, “There were adults nearby, I went over and called someone, I said he fell into the water.”

“Poor thing, he was shivering when he was pulled out, he was crying like a little mouse about to die.” She clicked her tongue, “My parents took me to visit him, then I secretly told him that if he bothered me again, I wouldn’t call anyone to save him next time.”

“He never came to find me again.”

Her parents had explicitly told her that intentionally hurting others or animals was wrong, so she kept this incident from them, and she even got praised and a big meal for doing a good deed.

“Ugh.” Yan Xianchuan sighed, “I really love doing good deeds.”

She said it sincerely, and there was no trace of fabrication.

Lu Mingqiu also believed that she wouldn’t fabricate this incident, so the content of her words was worth pondering.

Putting aside her classic and simple evil intentions, a neighbor? How could the Yan family have a neighbor.

Yan Xianchuan wasn’t an illegitimate child, she had lived in the Yan family building since she was a child, the only thing that could be called a neighbor was the clouds outside the window.

And she had amnesia, would a person with amnesia be able to recall childhood events so accurately?

If she was Yan Xianchuan, what was going on with these events, was it her imagination? Different personalities of a multiple personality disorder patient would have their own experiences, but she wasn’t.

If she wasn’t Yan Xianchuan, the DNA comparison results wouldn’t show that they were the same person.

Lu Mingqiu looked at this person, she suddenly had the urge to shout at her and say, do you know that your words are full of holes?

Their eyes met, she suppressed all the questions that were about to come out of her mouth.

“Now we’re even, one for one.” The other party seemed very happy.

She definitely wasn’t happy because they were even, but because she had found a secret that any normal person should have, proving that she was “ordinary” made her happy.

Lu Mingqiu was very clear about this.

But she forced herself to ignore those unreasonable details, she couldn’t explain why, maybe it was because she wanted to have someone to confide in her secrets.

“I suddenly remembered that you have something you promised me that you haven’t done.” Yan Xianchuan sat on the sofa, looking up at her, her eyes were full of longing.

“Wh… ah, you want me to treat you to dessert, right?” Lu Mingqiu said, “But there are no high-end desserts in the West District, the ingredients here are cheap, the things they make aren’t as good as those outside. What about waiting a bit?”

“But I want to eat now.”

Okay, now she was completely like a child begging for candy.

There’s a saying that psychopaths are more pure than ordinary people, maybe it’s because they’re missing something, so the remaining personality is more prominent.

Since meeting Yan Xianchuan, Lu Mingqiu had been reading books on this subject whenever she had time, her brain was filled with theoretical knowledge points, and this person was her practical teaching object.

Yan Xianchuan stared at her, pitifully, eagerly, she knew what kind of expression would make her more endearing. When she did something wrong, or when she wanted to get something, she would put on this expression, it was always successful, never failed.

This time was no different, she didn’t put it on for a minute before the person opposite gave in.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you out.” Lu Mingqiu said.

The two of them both changed their faces, it wasn’t the face they used to infiltrate the Warren Building. There were three faces stored in the projection device, all designed according to their facial features and bone structure, the most fitting and perfect appearance, and they all had one thing in common – they were unremarkable.

Being beautiful and attracting attention was a good thing, of course, but for special workers like them, it was a big bad thing.

The two of them walked out of the West District, the roadblock on the main street was still there, Captain Hill, with her sharp demeanor, was standing by the side of the road, watching her subordinates check the vehicles and people passing by.

They were naturally checked, the two of them didn’t have any weapons, their new identities were clean, and they were quickly let go.

As they walked out of the West District, the lingering, faint stench disappeared from their noses.

Yan Xianchuan was used to it, she had almost forgotten what clean, fresh air smelled like.

She couldn’t expect the vagrants and drunks to be polite and well-mannered, she couldn’t stop them all from spitting on the side of the road, or turning around and relieving themselves against the wall.

Walking along the street that was gradually getting brighter, Yan Xianchuan took a deep breath, “Can’t we change strongholds? Let’s go back to the previous house.”

“We can move out of the West District.” Lu Mingqiu said, “But we won’t go back to the previous place, we’ll change to another one. We didn’t disguise our identities or route when we went to see Atmore, the previous stronghold is no longer safe.”

“Why are there so many people who relieve themselves on the street, don’t they think it’s rude?” Yan Xianchuan couldn’t help but complain, “They live in the West District too, can’t they take care of the environment? Anyone who has been to elementary school knows not to relieve themselves on the street.”

“They haven’t been to school.”

“Ah?”

“Tuition is expensive, only a small percentage of fourth-class citizens choose to send their children to school, and even if there’s only one child, the cost of education is enough to bankrupt a family. School textbooks have to be bought, the virtual dream device also has to be a specific model, custom uniforms, a special canteen, every item costs more than their monthly income.”

Lu Mingqiu looked at the bustling crowd, her tone was indifferent, “The less knowledge they learn, the less likely they are to escape their original environment, they can only repeat their parents’ lives, they spend their whole lives at the bottom, either scavenging, stealing, or joining gangs to do some illegal things.”

“Isn’t basic education free?” Yan Xianchuan was a little puzzled.

That’s how it was when she was alive, extra interest classes required parents to pay, but basic education was free and universal, it was even required that school-age children go to school to learn to read and write, and to master a certain amount of knowledge.

Here, where technology is even more advanced, this regulation is gone.

“Free?” Lu Mingqiu sounded like she had heard a joke, her tone wasn’t intense, just a light mockery, “Do you know what the easiest people to control are? It’s idiots.”

“Even useless knowledge can broaden people’s horizons, the more you know, the more mature your thinking becomes. Those in power don’t need smart people.”

Lu Mingqiu said with a cold gaze, “They only need idiots, only idiots are the most obedient.”

“So even though people are divided into three, six, and nine grades, the residents at the bottom don’t feel unfair, they only complain about why they’re unlucky and born at the bottom. They also don’t think there’s anything wrong with the chaebols controlling money and power, isn’t it natural for the upper class to have these things? Their businesses are all over the place, it’s only natural that they have money.”

“But the chaebols’ money is earned with the blood of the lower class.”

“This world is really terrible.” Yan Xianchuan said, “It’s a good thing the food is still delicious.”

Lu Mingqiu chuckled, she let out a sigh, muttering, “Yeah, it’s a really shitty, rotten world, sometimes I really want to just burn it all down.”

“You’re swearing!” Yan Xianchuan turned her head in surprise, as if she had seen a sheep flying in the air, “You’re actually swearing?”

“Everyone swears,” Lu Mingqiu said. “Is that so surprising to you?”

“But you swore,” Yan Xianchuan looked at her with a look of wonder, even more surprised than when she first met her.

“If you keep looking at me and not watching where you’re going, you’re going to bump into the streetlight,” Lu Mingqiu said helplessly.

It wasn’t until the two of them were sitting in a warm and bright dessert shop, on a warm yellow sofa, with a tiramisu in front of them, and Yan Xianchuan still glancing at her from time to time, with that look of staring at a flying sheep, that she finally spoke.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Lu Mingqiu sighed.

“I am, I am,” Yan Xianchuan said, but she still couldn’t stop looking.

“Otherwise, let’s just go, I don’t think you really want to eat anyway,” Lu Mingqiu said.

Yan Xianchuan immediately turned her head, staring at the dessert on the table, not moving.

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