After a long pause, Yu Yili finally said, "But didn't Xiao Yi just say that these two people are AIs?"
Finally realizing something was wrong, Yi Heye focused his attention and looked around at the other people—
Everyone here has a beautiful face, not an artificial face produced on an assembly line, but a natural face with its own unique beauty.
They walked down the street with graceful and dignified movements, but there was something inexplicably awkward about it.
If you look closely, everyone's face is blank and indifferent. They don't even talk to each other. They just do their own thing and don't seem to bother each other.
A strange premonition welled up inside him, but to be absolutely sure, Yi Heye carefully observed the area again before muttering under his breath, "Damn it..."
“There’s no one here,” Yi Heye said, clenching his teeth. “This is an AI city.”
This is an AI city, and everything in front of them that can walk under high concentrations of radiation is not human.
Looking closer, the chill intensified around them—the familiar faces before them were far more than just Ke Yu. There were elite office workers carrying briefcases and wearing suits walking down the street, smartly dressed and fashionable young women, and energetic and handsome young men... Everywhere they looked, they were all missing persons registered with the security department but who had ultimately vanished without a trace.
The beautiful young people who inexplicably disappeared within the Great Firewall have now become AIs, wandering numbly through the streets, forming a seemingly glamorous yet chilling "perfect city".
These faces before me were once real humans recorded in the population system. After a long period of disappearance, they have been transformed into beautiful, emotionless AI.
At that very moment, a live broadcast was playing on a large screen not far from them—an online auction.
The auctioneer was an AI devoid of any emotion, and the "goods" being auctioned was a complete human body preserved in a jar.
"A high-quality 21-year-old adult woman with no underlying medical conditions, and a popularity score of 378. Purchase her product and receive two randomly selected high-scoring eyeballs..."
As passersby looked up and called out their prices, images flashed through Yi Heye's mind, and he finally couldn't help but mutter, "So the 'customers' are them..."
The last time I saw people soaking in jars like this was at the ISSAC factory. Old Qin said that those complete bodies, healthy organs, beautiful limbs, desires, and emotions were all meant to be sold to so-called distinguished guests.
These "people" in front of us are no longer themselves, but empty shells bought by customers. They are just a likable "skin" for these AIs, a container holding their cold systems.
Yi Heye remembered that Gu Wenwen had once seen her husband's eyes on the face of an ice cream commercial star. So it made sense that the "Ke Yu" in front of him had someone else's eyes—the buyer bought Ke Yu's body but didn't like his eyes, so he resold it to the commercial star and replaced it with another pair of eyes that he had bought.
Treating the human body as mechanical parts, buying, selling, disassembling, and piecing them together at will—Yi Heye had clearly seen this kind of thing in the ISSAC factory before, but seeing it with his own eyes still brought him a rather strong psychological shock.
Clearly, his two companions were also not feeling well; silence had become the most common way for them to express their emotions.
At this point, seemingly to boost sales, the livestream host posted some "popular comments"—the girl's number of followers on social media platforms, as well as comments on some of her selfies—"Sister is so beautiful," "This girl's nose is so amazing," "Even if you accumulated eight lifetimes of good karma, you still wouldn't be born looking like the blogger"...
After these comments were posted in the live stream, the auction price immediately soared.
Looking at the numb faces of the passersby around him, Yi Heye recalled ISSAC's previous operating model. He finally understood that those "customers" had no aesthetic sense at all. So they tried to quantify human feedback into so-called popularity values by holding talent shows and live broadcasts in human society to determine the "value" of these goods.
And clearly, although ISSAC inside the Great Firewall has collapsed, there is still a steady stream of "goods" being put on the shelves and auctioned every day...
Yu Yili sighed: "I find it hard to accept..."
Before the final battle had even officially begun, their morale had already plummeted. As human beings with normal emotions, they were completely unable to comprehend what was happening before them.
"Cheer up." After a long silence, Pei Xiangjin spoke first. "We don't have time to think about that now. The radiation levels here are too high. We need to complete the mission as soon as possible and end all this sooner."
If Yi Heye was unable to recover for a long time because his worldview was overturned, then this inhumane scene brought more psychological shock to Yu Yili.
Even as they set off again, he remained deeply depressed and distressed, but this only fueled his burning desire to continue: "We need to hurry and find a chance to rescue Zuo You..."
He's right. Their purpose in coming here is to find out the truth behind those cases, but preventing more civilian deaths is their most fundamental responsibility.
After thinking for a moment, Pei Xiangjin offered a somewhat helpless consolation: "Look at all these people around us, they're all whole, healthy, and good-looking... so they probably didn't take Zuo You away to do something like that..."
Pei Xiangjin's words make sense. The "people" walking on the road are the best selected according to human aesthetics. Judging from the current situation, they would at least not choose a body like Zuo You's to be their shell.
So what was their true intention in taking the left and right sides away?
The two divine messengers carried the cages ahead, with the group following cautiously a short distance behind. The only advantage this AI city had for them was that the AIs on the streets all went their own way, completely unaware that several strangers who didn't belong here had entered their world.
They traversed the circular road floating in mid-air, which led to an aerial platform. A massive cargo spaceship was docked beside the platform, its rear cabin wide open, where about a dozen uniformed divine messengers were carrying iron cages up and down.
This should be a spaceship transporting living people. Fake Ke Yu and his companions saw the tail of the line and waited to send the iron cages containing the left and right hands onto the ship.
The group of people quietly hid around the corner, watching as they carried the cages in one by one, but dared not go any further.
Wearing protective suits, they weren't particularly noticeable in the crowd, but they stood out conspicuously when trying to blend into the room full of divine messengers.
However, caution always belonged to Pei Xiangjin and Yu Yili; Yi Heye seemed to be born with this word incompatible with him.
He turned his head and saw a divine messenger pushing a cart carrying empty cages. He glanced at him discreetly and immediately turned away.
"What are you doing?!" The moment Pei Xiangjin blurted out to stop him, Yi Heye had already rushed over like lightning. Before the AI even had time to turn around, Yi Heye chopped off the electricity with a chop to the neck.
"Holy shit..." Yu Yili looked at the divine messenger falling vertically in front of him, and could only swear.
Pei Xiangjin first hurriedly looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then cursed in lingering fear, "Why the hell were you so impulsive?!"
Yi Heye looked up and gave him a disdainful look, then snorted coldly, "I'm a professional at beating up this kind of thing."
It was completely irrelevant, and Pei Xiangjin was too lazy to argue with him anymore. Fortunately, the outcome was good, and no matter how reckless and violent the process was, it could all be wiped clean.
They quietly dragged the man into a nearby alley and unceremoniously stripped him of his clothes—these clothes fit perfectly over his protective suit; as long as they slightly covered his face, there wouldn't be any major problems.
In addition, they also intercepted a truckload of iron cages specifically designed to hold humans and shield them from radiation.
Pei Xiangjin said, "There's only one set of clothes, and everyone else is hidden in the cage, so who will pretend to be the divine messenger?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Yi Heye volunteered, "I'll do it. I'm good at dealing with AI, while you're better at dealing with people."
This arrangement was indeed reasonable. Soon, Yi Heye put his work clothes over his protective suit, and the other two, each with LOPO and Xiaoyunduo, also crawled into the cage.
AI is always Yi Heye's home turf. He covered his face without changing his expression or skipping a beat, and then calmly carried two cages into the long line.
The group barely communicated with each other, and Yi Heye heard almost nothing useful. However, his keen observation and attentive listening skills paid off, and he managed to glean some information before boarding the vehicle.
This spaceship is a cargo ship specifically designed to transport "cargo," which refers to the humans they have managed to lure in from the other side of the wall.
These humans will eventually be sent to "headquarters" together, and other "cargo" will be transported along the way, which sounds like a rather long journey.
Yi Heye didn't know what kind of place the "headquarters" they were talking about was, but based on his beast-like intuition, he believed that once they arrived at the headquarters, all the truths they wanted to know would come to light.
He pushed the cart up onto the deck, his expression blank and his movements stiff. It must be admitted that he did possess a certain talent for mimicking AI; even after boarding the spaceship, the AIs around him didn't notice anything unusual about him.
He boarded the vehicle and, based on the information he had gathered, went straight to his cargo hold—each of the divine messengers present would be responsible for looking after a cargo hold during the journey.
This cargo hold is quite large, containing nearly eighty iron cages, which are neatly arranged on the shelves, appearing peaceful from the outside.
Yi Heye first placed his companions on the shelves in order. After the iron door between the cargo holds slowly closed, he looked up and around again—he didn't see any surveillance equipment.
As the spaceship slowly ascended, Yi Heye gently locked the hatch and then opened the iron cages of his companions. They were protected by a layer of protective clothing, so they could freely enter and exit the cages. However, the others in the cabin were different; once they left the cages, they would be killed directly by the high concentration of radiation outside.
Once they were out of the cage, Yi Heye immediately reported to them on the news about the "headquarters" and some travel-related information: "We were in cabin number 4, and then we were moved to cabin number 6. About three hours later, the cargo ship will stop at the first stop to pick up a group of people and continue its journey."
Pei Xiangjin nodded, then took out their backpacks: "We'll take turns going in to eat something, and then everyone can rest for a while after we're done eating."
In this space filled with strong radiation, if it weren't for the iron cage, they might not even have the chance to take off their masks to eat. The current situation is actually a stroke of luck for them.
While everyone was rummaging through the cans, Pei Xiangjin said, "I just tested it, and LOPO and Xiaoyunduo don't seem to be too affected by the signal interference in the cage. Once the connection is fully established, I will contact the outside immediately."
Being able to contact the outside world means they can get timely reinforcements, which is extremely important for the four of them who are all alone.
After finishing their meal, the group returned to their initial state. Yi Heye closed his eyes to rest outside the cage, and when he opened them, the spaceship had already begun its slow descent.
A few minutes later, the hatch opened, and the divine messengers lined up to exit the cabin. Yi Heye then joined the line and rushed out of the platform.
Surprisingly, they didn't go to any research center or auction site, but instead went to a bustling entertainment complex.
This place is no different from the entertainment center inside the wall, with all kinds of restaurants, a full range of entertainment venues, and a bustling crowd.
Walking down the bustling street, Yi Heye felt a pang of unease—he could hardly imagine how many people around them had been silently stolen away from them from the past to the present.
None of these people had any happy expressions on their faces. They seemed to have appeared in this place of "seeking pleasure" only to piece together what the scene should look like.
Yi Heye originally thought they might just be passing by, but to his surprise, their group walked straight into a large theater called "Happy Clown".
Why come to a place like this? Are there any humans here that need to be taken away? Yi Heye looked at the colorful plaque and followed the group inside, full of doubt.
The structure of this grand theater was similar to that outside the wall. Yi Heye followed the group through the corridor at the entrance and headed towards the performance hall.
At the end of the dark corridor, the stage emitted a faint glow; even before reaching it, the sound of music could be faintly heard—
This is an extremely funny and lighthearted piece of music, which goes very well with the theater's name, "Happy Clown."
But when Yi Heye followed the light and truly saw the scene on the stage, he held his breath once again—
The entire stage was isolated by a huge, radiation-proof transparent glass dome. Inside the dome, a boy with a head that looked as if it had been shaved off, sharp and sunken, and hands that looked like underdeveloped fish fins, was holding a burning stick in his mouth, making a series of comical and ridiculous movements to the music on stage.
Behind them stood a row of deformed people: a man with legs as big as webs, a girl with eyes arranged vertically, and a child whose hands were bigger than his body...
If I'm not mistaken, these people were all brought from the deformed village.
They were not blessed by the gods at all; they were simply lured here to stand on the stage like clowns, performing so-called acrobatics for the audience.
Looking up again, a line of text scrolled across the floating screen above the stage: "Freak Show! The most spectacular performance by deformed humans! Activating a unique emotional experience for you!"
He felt disgusted and repulsed by the idea of bringing people who were already suffering from illness and hardship here just to put on a series of "freak shows" that would give AI emotional stimulation, yet he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
In this place, it seems that all the AIs are trying their best to become human, but they treat humans as objects to extract value, trampling on them wantonly and showing no appreciation.
"Whoosh!" A bright light flashed, and the boy on the stage tossed the fire stick in his mouth into the air, drawing a beautiful, fiery red arc.
A loud but mechanical applause erupted from the audience—the program told these viewers that the performance had reached its climax and applause was due.
Such a performance is very strenuous for a boy with disabilities in both arms. Although the fire stick landed accurately in his mouth, the flying sparks fell on his face and lips, causing him to cry from the pain.
But the audience below couldn't see his tears; they just mechanically clapped, providing the background noise that was supposed to accompany the climax of the performance.
At this point, the circus owner said to their leader, "Take them away after the performance; our next show is in the main city."
Yi Heye understood—this was a touring performance; they traveled around in that spaceship, showcasing their bizarre and comical antics in various places.
"I heard there's a two-headed person in this batch. I'll go check it out with you guys in a bit," the boss said.
Yi Heye stood in the AI's group, waiting for the performance on stage to end. He listened to the thunderous applause and saw the painful tears in the boy's eyes, feeling a heavy and uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
On stage, a clown with severely deformed shoulder blades rode a unicycle and pulled the curtain up.
After the performance ended and the audience dispersed, the messenger came backstage, put the circus performers into cages, and took them away.
These deformed people were clearly used to this kind of arduous transportation. Their expressions were weary and desperate, yet they consciously crawled into the cages that were placed inside the glass enclosure.
Given the high level of radiation outside, Yi Heye was worried about something going wrong, so he checked each cage to make sure it was closed tightly. The others in the group, however, were not as meticulous as he was and simply closed the cages casually before carrying them away.
During the return transport, Yi Heye noticed that the warning yellow light on one of the cages seemed to flash briefly. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately alerted the AI packing the cage: "That yellow light just flashed briefly."
The AI glanced at it briefly before turning away: "Minor damage is permissible during transport."
This statement is clearly from the perspective of an emotionless stevedore. He seems completely unaware that there is a life inside, and simply expresses indifferently—so what if it's broken? I haven't used up my monthly cargo damage allowance yet.
Yi Heye quickly looked down and checked. He suspected that the cage itself was damaged. After anxiously searching around, he could not find any other empty cages.