My Cyber Psychosis is Task Prompt-Chapter 447 - 278:

Raphael placed the empty cup on the table.

"EUROPHASARK [Neural Ark], I know a bit about this project too. Did Sora promise to use it to heal your brain? It’s pointless. You’ll die on the operating table..."

"Why don’t you make it clearer."

John stared at Raphael, his tone calm.

"Since you know, why don’t you elaborate? I’ll compare it with the AI in my brain. If it’s a bad deal, I won’t go through with it. How about that?"

"Intelligence requires payment."

Raphael also smiled.

John shrugged, looking indifferent.

"See, that’s how middlemen are, love playing riddles, deep down it’s all about business, yet expect others to trust you unconditionally!"

"Did it say anything?"

Raphael’s sympathetic gaze swept over John as he reached out and pointed to his own glowing chip.

Through the Behavior Chip, she was controlling her employees and hinting to John—she knew that Sora was using a similar method to borrow John’s body.

"..."

John’s mind was quiet.

Sora offered no defense.

Raphael showed an ’I knew it’ expression.

"Not even a peep, because what I said is true, you fool. I don’t have patience left. For Randall’s sake, I’m advising you one last time, sell this AI!"

[Accept Raphael’s Offer. (Optional)]

A task prompt popped up.

John did not respond but instead picked up the rifle on the table.

As soon as his palm touched the grip, he received feedback from the ballistic coordination processor, with intelligent components automatically connecting, and actions including reloading and positioning the gun flooded into his mind.

Black Light surged, overwriting the Tri-leaf Maple’s smart firearm system in unseen places.

It wiped Plato Company’s firewall and data backdoors clean.

John raised the gun, his tone still light.

"The final payment is settled. I’m not interested in other matters."

Click.

The sound of a newly chambered bullet was excellent.

This time, the magazine was full.

He silently declined the deal.

"I’ve done my utmost."

Raphael raised both hands, chuckling, and shook her head.

She didn’t show obvious disappointment; it seemed as expected. She pulled out a chip from her lining.

"This is a completely clean identity information, a legacy of the Special Affairs Bureau’s witness protection program, very rare. I wish you a successful surgery. When you wake up from the hospital bed, use it to change your identity and leave Eden City forever..."

"Why?"

John understood Raphael wanted the AI, but he didn’t understand why she wanted him out of Eden City.

"I’m not talking to you." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Raphael reached out and pressed down John’s raised gun muzzle, and smoothly slipped the chip into his work jacket pocket.

"Kenichi Sora. (Japanese)"

She offered no explanation, speaking while brushing past him.

"Be obedient, get out, or I’ll bring down the satellite in low Earth orbit. (Japanese)"

John frowned, tilting his head.

Raphael also turned her head, her gaze indifferent as she picked up the coat on the sofa and left the clinic.

The dim room was left with only the TV blaring.

John put down his weapon and asked,

"Do you know her?"

[Nope.]

Sora answered in a second, as if the earlier silence was a disconnection.

John felt Raphael was hinting at something.

"She seems to hate you, really, she even knows your data core is hidden on the satellite."

[I’m as shocked as you, brother. Where do these middlemen get their intelligence? Except for a few famous hackers in cyberspace... no one should be able to pinpoint my coordinates.]

Sora sounded a bit frustrated.

[I swear, I really don’t know her! Before contacting you, I hadn’t even heard of this name.]

"That’s just how middlemen are, the whole city operates under their watchful eyes."

John chatted casually while packing his new gun.

Raphael did not withhold the reward.

Under the iron table, there were three boxes of custom bullets, all products from Plato Company’s manufacturing line.

John accepted them all.

He worked silently, calling for transport, securing the new gun and bullets on the motorcycle’s backseat, waiting to take them back to the workshop.

Smoke filled the entrance to the East District Underground Mall.

Steam rising from the manhole cover converged from the exhaust vents at their feet, clinging to the asphalt road, spreading onto the wet street, becoming part of the chaotic night scenery.

John bought a pack of traditional cigarettes from a vending machine.

He was waiting.

Finally.

Sora couldn’t hold back and took the initiative to ask,

[Do you trust Raphael?]

"Heh, which part."

John placed a cigarette in his mouth.

[...All of it, why she’s targeting me, why she says the Soul Ark Project is a trap. Aren’t you going to ask me anything?]

"No need, puff~"

John blew smoke at his feet, watching the white mist dissolve in the glowing puddles.

[Thank you for your trust.]

"Ha, then you’ve misunderstood, I don’t trust you, nor Raphael. I’ve reached this point because I have no choice. Who’s the one with a melting brain? Me, right?"

John didn’t want to sit and wait for death.

Raphael outright said she couldn’t save him.

So none of her deals held any meaning.

As for the AI’s promises...

This was gambling, but it was also the only hope.

"I had no choice at all."

John candidly told Kenichi Sora.

"Even if it’s a scam, I want to see the cards flipped, there’s no point in being cautious."

[You’re really speaking my language, brother. Even if I explain the complex technical methods to you, you might not understand... but trust me, I’ll make sure you survive!]

Sora declared passionately in his mind.

John quietly endured, enjoying the torment of nicotine.

[Detected account fund changes...]