Chapter 953: You Are Special
The meeting with Miss F went smoother than Zhang Heng could’ve imagined.
The fact that Miss F was Tang was actually Zhang Heng’s wild guess. After all, everyone knew that Tang was dead. The police found her body and chips after she set herself on fire. Tang was also a celebrity clone built by an entertainment company with a lot of money. She was supposed to have the perfect facial features. On the other hand, although F wasn’t unsightly, she could only be considered ordinary-looking. She wouldn’t be grabbing anyone’s attention when she walked on the street.
The only thing that could connect F and Tang were their mechanical prosthesis. According to the rumors circulating on the internet, Tang lost an arm when she escaped from the fifth level. Other than that, the reason why Zhang Heng thought F was Tang was her temperament.
Zhang Heng had always wondered how the ordinary-looking F would possess such an amazing temperament, where not even the celebrities on the billboards could be compared. And now he finally found the answer. As the most celebrated female clone streamer at that time, she had broken a lot of records in the streaming industry. And no one could surpa.s.s her until now. The level of her confidence and temperament were way better than Xu Qian and other streamers.
However, neither the mechanical prosthesis nor the temperament could prove that F was Tang. Even if Zhang Heng connected the two together, Miss F could easily deny it. Zhang Heng’s current ident.i.ty was still a clone trying to escape from the authorities, after all. If the company captured him and read his memory, he would put Miss F at great risk.
It was hard to imagine the courage that she had back then. She had to endure so much pain before she could escape that manor. After that, she had to fake her death just to live the life of an ordinary person.
He would definitely not admit that she was the clone that faked her death if the two exchanged positions. When Miss F promised to help him convince Mr.G, Zhang Heng could feel the kindness she had for him. Zhang Heng asked Xu Qian about the number of clones in New Shanghai 0297. One could only imagine the number of clones that were working for humans right now. And Zhang Heng did not know why Miss F valued him so much.
It was as if Miss F knew what he was thinking. She then explained, “Do you know how many clones achieved self-awakening in New Shanghai 0297?”
“Please enlighten me.”
“Ever since the city was built, there have been no more than one hundred,” Miss F said lightly. “And most of them have been traumatized like me. Only a handful of them survives the hards.h.i.+p. For so many years, I have been trying to awaken other clones. Due to the laws and regulations and the risk of memory being read, I can only hint at them about it secretly. Most of them do not respond to my hints. A small number of them would doubt their ident.i.ties. Before they could think more about it, their memories are reset. Hence, there is only a handful of us realize our true ident.i.ty.”
“What happened to them after that?” Zhang Heng asked.
“Without exception, they all broke down.” Miss F said, “I have never seen someone like you. Maybe I can find the answer I’ve been looking for a long time from your body.”
“What answer?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
“An answer to liberate our kind.”
“I’m afraid I might disappoint you. As you said, my situation is indeed very special. I don’t think I’m worthy of being promoted,” Zhang Heng said honestly. He did not know how many clones there really were anyway. However, he knew that he was the only player in the entire New Shanghai 0297.
Miss F was noncommittal. She then said, “Let’s eat. The dishes are going to get cold.”
After a while, the two did not talk to each other anymore. And they finished the dinner together just like that. While they were eating, Miss F’s friend came over and picked up the little girl playing in the bedroom.
Zhang Heng had witnessed the way Miss F killed her enemies, but he didn’t expect her to be an excellent cook as well. Although the three dishes on the table were simple home-cooked food, they were very delicious, especially the stir-fried shredded carrot. Zhang Heng realized that the thickness and length of each slice of carrot were almost the same.
Zhang Heng could not help but gobble down another bowl of rice. When he put down his chopsticks, he realized that Miss F had finished her food a long time ago. There was not a single grain of rice left in her bowl. After that, she got up, picked up the dishes, and put them in the dishwasher. Zhang Heng, on the other hand, was sensible enough to take the initiative to clean the tabletop.
“Let’s go.” After everything was done, Miss F put on her coat and picked up the saber.
“Okay.”
Zhang Heng came here to ask for something. So he did not bring any weapons except for Infinite Building Block. He followed Ms. F to the underground parking lot before she started her second-hand off-road vehicle remotely. She then entered the driver’s seat and left the other to Zhang Heng.
Once they got into the car, she set the destination with the navigation system. The place was located southwest of this level. Close to the edge, it was quite some ways from where they were.
After the car started moving, Miss F spoke again. “Thank you for the chocolate. I can see that you did a lot of research before you came here. However, I don’t eat this brand of chocolate anymore.”
“Why? Are you worried that your memory of liking this chocolate might’ve also been forged?” Zhang Heng asked.
Miss F did not answer, seemingly acquiescing to this statement.
“Even if it’s a fake memory, the most important thing is that you feel good when you eat it. Am I right?”
“I just simply don’t want to remember any memories of being Tang,” Miss F mildly said. “Not everyone can accept the fact of being a clone as calmly as you. That’s why you are so special.”
“I’m quite special, but I’m afraid I’m not as special as you expect.”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, Mr. G will be the person who will be negotiating with you later. Just need to make sure that he is interested in you.”
Miss F turned on the speakers in the car while talking.
…
About forty minutes later, the two arrived at their destination. It was a toy factory. Miss F ignored the group of burly security guards at the entrance and entered the factory with Zhang Heng. After that, they walked towards the second workshop. This factory was huge, but there were very few people working in it. Apart from the security guards, only engineers responsible for maintaining the equipment were present. Machines had completely replaced all the workers at the a.s.sembly line.
But as soon as he walked into the second workshop, Zhang Heng saw two people, and one of them was someone he knew.
The leader of the biker gang was now handcuffed against production machinery. There were wounds all over his body. Zhang Heng could see the flesh and bones beneath his skin being exposed. And there was a pool of blood under his feet. He looked like he was dying.