Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 672 - 563 Consciousness Upload_2

Chapter 672: Chapter 563 Consciousness Upload_2

"I... I have to focus my mind and not let it wander," Lu Jing realized after several minutes.

"Right, because your consciousness is essentially fluctuating electrons jumping and migrating within the physical system. Once your thoughts become unrestrained, you can get lost in Information Space and disappear, fading away. This is the most difficult aspect of controlling a Digital Mind," Xu Yang explained.

Lu Jing, thinking of the terrifying thoughts she had made up earlier, felt ashamed and regretful, but also grateful that Xu Yang had pointed out these subtleties to her.

It was her first time experiencing consciousness upload, and it was so fascinating! Reality was nowhere near as liberating.

Now on a vast beach, Lu Jing faintly felt the warmth of the sunlight on her skin and heard the sound of tourists nearby, though both sensations were unclear.

Is this where Mr. Web Monitor’s capabilities end?

She tried hard to distinguish the temperatures and sounds, but the processor issued a warning, indicating that she had reached the limit of available information units.

Only then did Lu Jing realize it wasn’t that the other party lacked the ability to create a lifelike illusion, but rather that she herself was too weak, having uploaded too few neurons into the system, and seeing these scenes was already a stretch.

Looking at the enigmatic Xu Yang, Lu Jing felt even greater awe.

"Did you create all of these surrounding illusions? Such a beautiful beach," Lu Jing asked, curious.

"Think of those accomplished executives, famous celebrities, and investors who, after amassing wealth in the mundane world, upload their consciousness to servers and see such sights every day," Xu Yang nodded.

"Do they also edit their worlds?"

"At first, they are taught how to use their consciousness to adjust the space around them. Gradually, they learn to design a world that is uniquely theirs, living eternally in their conscious dreams, creating a host of companions or entering others’ worlds to seek out friends, using various film and animation materials to create fun scenarios, enjoying all sorts of pleasures. Ordinary people live but a few decades in the dust of the world, but their consciousness blurs the scale of time, possibly having lived thousands to tens of thousands of years already," Xu Yang described.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jing nodded in understanding. Learning of the lifestyles of the wealthy from Xu Yang stirred a hint of envy in her—why did the rich live so carefree?

They were born atop the pinnacle of power and wealth, and then surrounded by businesses, armies, law, and enforcers, thriving in their networks. Beyond the high walls of money and power lay the struggling masses.

Fortunately, with the help of Digital Mind and the teachings of Mr. Web Monitor, she had started exploring the realm of consciousness upload, not falling far behind them in this aspect.

"You must be multi-tasking right now," Lu Jing thought of something frightful, "engaging in conversation with me while also guarding against the Cyber Specter, maintaining the stability of the Helis Sea, scanning the company’s network affairs, out-tasking every aspect, utterly maximizing the potential of the Digital Mind..."

"Indeed," Xu Yang said, working efficiently and able to handle many tasks in parallel.

But with ample staff and complete laws, he only needed to pick interesting and important matters to attend to without having to cover all areas.

Lu Jing deeply understood that this was the best opportunity to reach the pinnacle of technology, with the person in front of her being The Big Shot who could impart all the knowledge of information technology to her.

If she worked hard, she might one day become a tech expert and ultimately meet the Cyber Specter again, that extravagant and mysterious being, untamed and defiant.

"I want to know more about the secrets of the Digital Mind," Lu Jing said, summoning her courage.

"Alright then, name any distant city," Xu Yang suggested.

Lu Jing was somewhat bewildered as she mulled it over.

"Petersburg?" Lu Jing suddenly thought of Northern Military Industry’s headquarters.

With a nod, the entire beach vanished, and Xu Yang took Lu Jing instantly to an even darker area.

"Where is this?" Lu Jing realized she had entered a highly dangerous hostile zone, filled with highly sophisticated antivirus programs and scanning software, all eager to sweep clean any accidental intruders.

"This is Sagittarius Communications Technology Company’s base station set up in Petersburg’s great square," Xu Yang explained.

"We’ve already arrived?" Lu Jing was utterly astonished.

Impossible! That was so fast!

"We are now in the form of electronic signals, we are light," Xu Yang said nonchalantly.

"Even so..." Lu Jing felt utterly amazed.

"I just transported your consciousness at sub-light speed, transmitted through the core of the submarine fiber optic cables from Shangjing, across the Arctic undersea cables, then climbed up the repeaters to enter the commercial optical fibers. Look, it’s a nice time now, it’s morning in the Northern Archipelago, and it’s still sunrise in Petersburg."

Xu Yang took Lu Jing into a networked surveillance camera, allowing her to see the scenery of the square through the camera’s live surveillance footage.

It had just rained, leaving large and small puddles on the smooth concrete Ground. There were few pedestrians. She saw a group of youths riding flying skateboards to school, passing through the ancient classical knight statues below, which bore the name and dates of a general from 500 years ago.

The iron fence surrounded a pink garden bed. There were bronze street lights, marble columns, and granite memorials nearby. She saw the ancient buildings with arched domes, robust corporate courts, large hostels, and the office buildings of the natural gas company. The red brick apartments looked fresh under the light rain, exuding an exotic charm.

Lu Jing had never experienced anything so dreamlike.

Her consciousness had turned into a light signal, arriving thousands of miles away...

"We just became light?" Lu Jing said in disbelief, "Or did you fabricate all this?"

"How about I go back and leave you here?"

"No!" Lu Jing hurriedly said.

Xu Yang watched the scene in Petersburg Square through the camera, looking through the white stone railings as the river water flowed gently, and fashionable speedboats were docked at the banks.

A coffee shop had just opened, and a tall, white-bearded shopkeeper was rubbing his hands at the door, utterly unaware that two digital minds from 8,000 kilometers away were watching him.

"Are those people... trying to evade capture?" Lu Jing noticed some movement in a distant alley.

Xu Yang took Lu Jing to another street corner camera, where they saw a few bald, ferocious-looking men clutching black plastic bags as they ran, with security personnel firing at them from behind.

The men rushed towards a black luxury car on the street, trying to use it to escape. Xu Yang hacked into the car and locked it, so no matter how hard they pulled, the doors wouldn’t budge.

They were angry and panicked, cursing loudly. The security personnel took advantage of this unexpected gift and quickly took their shots, wounding and arresting them.

"There are some guns in the bags!" Lu Jing glimpsed the contents of the bags.

"Public order is quite chaotic," Xu Yang said as he brought up some data.

For a long time, due to the lack of economic drive, conditions in the Great Northern Region had been even worse compared to other areas. Most companies had cut staffing, and the unemployment rate was very high. There were many unemployed people on the streets. Xu Yang quickly noticed some disturbances in other blocks as well, only the company barracks and factories were somewhat stable.

Lu Jing gazed at the exotic Petersburg landscape, the tops of the buildings bearing ads for unfamiliar local small businesses.

She suddenly felt very afraid. This place was too far from home, and her body was still at Nestor Headquarters, as if her soul had traveled far from her body.

In her life, the farthest Lu Jing had been was to the Northern Archipelago. She had thought she would never have the opportunity to travel overseas, but with a little guidance from Mr. Web Monitor, Lu Jing found herself on the streets of Petersburg.

To have such a beautiful experience... rather than sinking day after day into her duties and work.

If only she could travel freely without burden.

"Take me back," she said slowly.

"I’ll get ready." Xu Yang took Lu Jing’s digital mind on the return journey.