Malfunctioning Utopia

Chapter 60: Problems

“You’re so sure that Baldy won’t smash your head open and take your system chip?” Sun Jack asked as he looked at Song 6.

“@coins are stored on the blockchain, not in my head. If I don’t give him the key, smashing my head won’t get him the money. Plus, my system is the latest Model D—do you think it’s as cheap as the trashy D in your head?” Song 6PUS retorted.

“Cheap trash?” Sun Jack frowned and sent a message to King Kong for clarification. The guy immediately went offline, clearly guilty.

Sun Jack’s fist clenched tighter. As he suspected, those two had teamed up to rip him off back then. Good thing he didn’t install that crap directly in his head.

You can run, but your hideout won’t disappear. Once he got back, he was definitely going to settle this score with King Kong.

Turning his head, Sun Jack asked AA, “Did you get your money?”

AA grinned and nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, got 3@!”

“What?! Only 3@? I distinctly remember it was supposed to be 6@!” Sun Jack glared at Song 6 threateningly.

“Y-you’re extorting me! When was it ever 6@?” Song 6PUS looked genuinely stunned.

“Rescuing you doesn’t come for free, does it? In The Metropolis, doesn’t everything have a price?” Sun Jack snapped back.

“I don’t have any money! Eighteenth Street cleaned me out!” Song 6PUS shamelessly tried to wriggle his way out.

“Well then, consider this a debt to her. And by the way, since she helped this time, when we sell this piece of junk, she’s getting a cut too.” Sun Jack nudged the mini nuclear reactor at his feet with his toe.

His action instantly drew everyone’s attention. That thing looked way more valuable than Song 6PUS himself.

“So, how much is this thing worth?” Tapai squatted down, carefully examining the reactor. “I couldn’t find any sales records for it online.”

“No clue, but it’s definitely worth a lot. Even if we just use it to set up our own power station and sell electricity, it’d make us a fortune.” Song 6PUS, now looking visibly excited, seemed to forget about his injuries entirely.

The priest, however, remained calm. “Better gather some intel first. It might not be that easy to sell.”

Hearing this, Four Ai glanced over at him, cigarette in hand. “Why?”

“Military equipment is the hardest to offload—not because it’s not valuable, but because corporate enforcers are always investigating. Selling this stuff is strictly prohibited,” the priest explained.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t jinx it like that. Something this good is bound to have buyers. And if selling it is so forbidden, where do you think Steel Heart got all his gear from? Worst case, I can sell it at a 20% discount and still have people fighting over it,” Song 6PUS said while stroking the reactor like it was his own child.

“Man, if it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t have this score! Bro~ you should be thanking me!” he bragged.

“Oh, really? Then should we all thank you, PUS?” Four Ai sneered. “Now hurry up and pay us back.”

“This isn’t my fault! You all saw it—those debt memories in my head were planted by those Eighteenth Street bastards using their D-mods. I don’t owe them anything—they owe me!” Song 6PUS exclaimed, hurriedly returning the payment from their last mission.

Hearing this, Sun Jack couldn’t help but recall those memory-modification devices. Such things could completely rewrite someone’s memories. The technological advancements of this era were beyond his imagination.

He began to wonder—what other mind-blowing technologies did this world hold?

“Alright, let’s head back. The wind’s getting chilly,” Sun Jack said as he led Tapai toward the rooftop elevator.

The others followed in small groups, preparing to rest and regroup.

As they waited for the elevator, Sun Jack casually asked, “If The Metropolis has tech like this, doesn’t that mean someone could commit crimes using it? How can you even tell if your memories have been tampered with?”

It was a serious concern. As a mercenary, he knew he might encounter anything. He needed to be prepared in case it ever happened to him.

“Details,” Four Ai, the doctor, replied. “If you notice unexplained gaps in your memory, muscle memory you can’t recall learning, or strange cognitive dissonance, then it’s time to seriously question how much of your current memory is real and how much is fabricated.”

Her words caused everyone except AA to freeze. They all turned to look at Sun Jack.

Seeing their stares, a chilling sensation crept up Sun Jack’s spine. He tried to laugh it off, to dispel the fear growing inside, but all he could muster was a stiff, unnatural smile.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? My memories can’t be fake.”

“Oh? And why’s that? Care to explain?” Four Ai asked, crossing her arms.

“Because… my past memories are intact. I only lost five years, that’s all!” Sun Jack suddenly raised his voice defensively.

“And how do you know those intact memories are real? They could just as easily have been edited,” the priest questioned.

Images of his childhood, his family, his classmates, and everything from his past flashed through Sun Jack’s mind. “Could all of that really be fake?”

A wave of unprecedented panic engulfed Sun Jack.

“No! No way! Impossible!” he shook his head in denial, his breathing quickening. “I’m just suffering from amnesia! That’s all it is!”

The others fell silent, but the priest wasn’t done. “Maybe you don’t notice it, but we’ve all sensed it—your behavior’s been off. Something isn’t right.”

“Facing these things head-on can be hard, sure, but avoiding them won’t solve anything.”

“Why are you so convinced my memory was altered? Couldn’t my odd behavior be caused by something else? Maybe I’m just—” Sun Jack abruptly stopped, realizing he’d nearly let something slip.

“I’ll handle this myself. I’ll sort it out,” Sun Jack said, his mind a chaotic mess. He needed somewhere quiet to think.

Tapai stepped forward, dragging the increasingly agitated Sun Jack into the elevator. “We’re heading back. Once that thing is sold, let us know,” he said, referring to the reactor.

AA instinctively started to follow, but the priest held her back. “Let’s wait for the next one.”

“What’s wrong with the boss?” AA asked, confused. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Sun Jack.

“Who knows? He’s always so secretive, acting like everyone’s dying to uncover his hidden identity,” Song 6PUS quipped, before turning to Four Ai. “Hey, Ai, help me out at your clinic. I need a new tooth. Thx~”

“Get lost. No money, no service,” Four Ai snapped as she walked into the re-opened elevator.

“Don’t be so cold. We’re teammates, aren’t we?” Song 6 pleaded, carrying the reactor.

“Fine. No money? Then pay me in kind. Bend over once for every tooth I replace. Deal?”

“… Forget it.”