Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 38 - 26 Implants
38: Chapter 26 Implants
38 -26 Implants
Indeed, the three brain processors on display at the shop were all quite impressive.
Xu Yang’s original brain processor was an in-house product of Kyushu High Pavilion, codenamed “Grand Master.” It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a top-tier processor; furthermore, as an internal product meant exclusively for company personnel, it was never sold to the public.
In comparison, the Arc of Thought 5th Gen was suitable in function, but was not as powerful; it was 50% less capable than the “Grand Master,” which made it rather unsatisfactory to use.
The Nanaco processor, on the other hand, was designed for those peaceful residents of Kyoto Infinity who had no desires or requests.
It could uplift spirits but Xu Yang did not wish to lose the ability to perceive pain and sadness.
These were all parts of humanity; once forsaken, it would be hard to say one was still a complete human.
“Destiny,” though expensive, was because its functionalities overlapped with Digital Mind to some extent.
To a certain degree, it could serve as a cheaper substitute for Digital Mind, but it was not particularly strong in enhancing cognition itself.
All of these were outshone by the implant that Cui Junyou was presenting at the moment.
Implants were a highly popular science, with various companies establishing large R&D departments to design and manufacture them.
The gem Cui Junyou brought out was the previous flagship product of the Scarlet Reconstruction Company, “Flying God 4.”
Scarlet Reconstruction Company, led by the Witch, was a colossal enterprise headquartered on the seas close to the Agave Continent, isolated from the world and home to the largest implant and prosthetic manufacturing center globally, preeminent in body modification.
“Flying God 4” was launched five years ago and, upon release, it propelled Scarlet Reconstruction Company into the spotlight because its performance was just too strong.
It could almost quadruple the efficiency of a person’s brain activity, causing all other brain implants that entered the market at the same time to pale in comparison.
No doubt Scarlet Reconstruction was flaunting its technical prowess.
The news shook the stock prices of numerous implant companies, incapable of contending with it.
Consequently, after being reviewed by the Corporate Alliance, “Flying God 4” was ordered off the market to prevent Scarlet Reconstruction from monopolizing the industry.
In response, Scarlet Reconstruction introduced “Flying God 5” as a substitute.
Its performance was actually 30% weaker than its predecessor, barely on par with the brain processors sold by other large enterprises, turning into a classic case of bad money driving out good money.
“I want this one,” Xu Yang said.
For him, it was an opportunity not to be missed.
The performance of Flying God 4 was on par with Grand Master and even stronger in some assistive respects.
After all, the “Grand Master” processor was mainly provided to neural network engineers like himself, specifically for cooperation with Digital Mind.
Flying God 4 was geared towards civilian needs, able to handle a wider range of situations.
For example, photographic memory refers to an ability to remember scenes with a glance, never to forget no matter how much time passes, with the memory remaining vivid in the brain.
Unbelievably clear.
For Flying God 4, just by being equipped with this processor, one would automatically have this capability.
After activating the related module, whatever one saw would be completely recorded and could be reviewed at any time, truly extending the functionality of electronic computers to the human brain.
“This one was originally 3 million, I got it for 4 million, and now I’ll sell it to you for a little less profit, 4.5 million,” Cui Junyou said, drafting a contract on his phone, “How much do you want to borrow?
How many installments for the payment?
I know a way with only a 12% service charge.”
“I’ll pay in full,” Xu Yang said, pulling out his cash card, “Direct transaction means no third-party fees.
We go back to basics.”
“Are you trying to rob me?” Cui Junyou asked warily, his face full of caution, “There are security devices in the store, you know.”
“I should be the one worried about being robbed by you,” Xu Yang said, “If I can pay in full, guess how much money I have.”
“You…
you really…” Cui Junyou looked Xu Yang up and down, “So you’re a rich dude!”
“He’s too rich,” Kanako said after hearing this, feeling quite bewildered.
Only the scions of wealthy families would play with cash cards like this.
She shook Farosa’s arm, “Why does he have so much money?”
“I don’t know,” Farosa admitted, but she too felt troubled.
Why would Xu Yang, so wealthy, appear at a filthy and chaotic excavation site?
Could it be that he was the one who had spent a fortune hiring a large group of people to dig me out?
Given the manner in which those people had buried me back then, without a rich benefactor, it would have been very difficult to dig into such deep and dangerous places.
Seeing their reactions, Xu Yang couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.
As long as he could take this large sum of money alive out of Aizu City, the risks he had taken would not have been in vain.
He took out his cash card and set the amount.
Cui Junyou also took out his, and after overlapping the two cards, they read each other’s biometric information bound to them.
The transaction was successful — 4.5 million was transferred to Cui Junyou just like that.
The cash card facilitated peer-to-peer transactions, eliminating any intermediary intervention and brought to fruition the grand vision of decentralized currency.
The inventor of the cash card, the scientific Witch Cassandra Whiten, sought to make transactions free and ungovernable, allowing currency to escape manipulation.
Thus, she created the cash card, convenient for transactions and impossible to supervise.
The cash card initially was a novelty.
Due to its limited quantity, media hype, and people’s optimism about its future, its value started low but quickly skyrocketed.
Many of those who first traded cash cards became overnight millionaires, giving rise to numerous wealth legends.
The black market was the first to accept cash cards, using them exclusively for transactions of products banned by the Corporate Alliance.
Due to its excessive convenience in use and the inability of large companies to suppress it unanimously, the cash card gained widespread acceptance.
Within a century of its development, it became the most popular payment tool.
In response, the Corporate Alliance opted to legalize and incorporate cash cards.
Through corporate resolution, they forcibly pegged the value of “funds” to the gold standard — 1 kilogram of gold was equal to 350,000 cash card funds, thereby still controlling the currency to a certain extent.
Even so, all currencies issued by other companies were eventually phased out, and the entire financial market and stock exchange were reshuffled to integrate with the cash card system.
Cassandra did not live to see the day when her cash cards became universally accepted and did not profit at all from them.
Her company, Bospar, deemed her a threat to humanity, extracted her brain to create a personality matrix.
Having received a large sum of money, Cui Junyou was completely satisfied.
“It’s actually the first time someone has paid a seven-figure sum in full,” he remarked, “Many people spread their money across multiple cards.”
“I’ll buy it and you can install it for me,” Xu Yang said.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have high-grade neural circuits here; I can only use a number 4 circuit to help you connect.”
Neural circuits are classified from number 1 to 8, used for transmitting and transforming brain neural signals.
If we use a number 4 circuit, it would be a complete waste of the Flying God 4’s excellent processing capability, like driving a luxury sports car in the narrow alleys of Aizu City, it would be utterly stifled to death.
“Robot artificial intelligence units also use neural circuits, don’t they?” Xu Yang remembered.
“Right, after all, the mode of simulation is the same.
But where would you get a robot?”
“There should be robots equipped with advanced AI at the Toshiaki Robot Megastore, and they definitely use number 6 and 7 circuits.”
“Talking nonsense, are you new here?
That place is under the Toshiaki Family Group’s control; they won’t let you dismantle their precious robots, especially not the high-grade circuits.
Unless you buy them, but that’s going to cost a hefty sum of money.”
“I’ve already eradicated the Toshiaki Family Group.”
“What?” Cui Junyou was somewhat shocked, “When did that happen?”
“Just recently,” Xu Yang said, “there’s no Toshiaki Family Group anymore.”
“That’s frightening,” Cui Junyou muttered, “but with Digital Mind, they really couldn’t stand against you.”
“Exactly.”
“What do you want to do?
Should I go over?”
“Of course, if you want to survive, pack up everything useful from here and move with us to the Megastore.”
“Move?
I didn’t say I wanted to leave this place.”
“The door’s broken.
Are you sure you want to stay here?
Do you really think this place is very safe?”
“This shop is my life’s work, all my money’s been invested here.”
“Still better than dying in a rat’s mouth, and you will have to perform surgery on me, so you need to take this trip with us anyway.”
“…Fine, but I need to ask you something.” Cui Junyou walked up to Xu Yang, a little shorter than him, but not yielding an inch in terms of aura, with a fierce look in his eyes, “You, do you have even the slightest hatred for the giant corporations?
Have you ever thought of destroying the world’s order completely?”
“Yes,” Xu Yang nodded, “I just don’t know how yet.”
“We will find a way!” Cui Junyou started packing, “I want to see this despairing world smashed to pieces before I die!”
“Do people of this era become like him when they get old?” Farosa watched Cui Junyou’s retreating figure.
“Most don’t live long enough to reach his age,” Xu Yang said.
He then remembered the “Giant Tower Project.”
“Hey, Old Cui,” Xu Yang said, “what exactly is the ‘Giant Tower Project’?”
“It’s a big plan,” Cui Junyou paused his work to say seriously, “everything we see is fake; we are illusions created by others, our true selves are in another world, and from birth, we are implanted with invisible, unsightly implants that secretly monitor and control us.
We’re actually living inside a metal giant tower, and the whole world is simulated by computers.”
“How is that possible.” Xu Yang wanted to laugh.
So this was the so-called Giant Tower Project, merely a cheap conspiracy theory, easily dismissed by anyone with a bit of knowledge.
The truth of the Giant Tower Project being so far-fetched was actually a relief to Xu Yang.
“You’re wrong,” Cui Junyou said, “I guarantee that you’ve never seriously considered one issue since you were born.”
“What issue?”
“The most straightforward proof of the ‘Giant Tower Project’: Why can we understand each other when we speak?
Why hasn’t our language diversified?”
Xu Yang was stunned.
“I don’t know,” he said, “I’ve never thought about this question.”
“Then think about it now.
Why does the entire world speak the same language, use the same writing, yet there are abbreviations like ‘AI’, ‘MK’, ‘VIP’ that we don’t understand?
They’re clearly different from the language we use! frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Yet we accept them as natural, instinctively knowing what they represent without doubt, using them seamlessly.
Why?
— Because we have always been living inside a giant tower!”
