Chapter 419

Inside the car, an eerie silence fell; in the dim interior, five pairs of eyes glowed brightly.

"Actually, I don't believe he's the One," the blonde woman broke the silence. "Only Morpheus believes him."

"But I believe Morpheus, so I believe him."

"Apoc, turn on the lights."

As soon as the blonde woman finished speaking, Apoc turned on the car's interior lights, adding a faint glow to the dim cabin.

Cui Cui Nidi pulled an electronic bug catcher from beneath her seat; it resembled a camera used by directors during filming, but instead of a lens, its front held something like a syringe.

"This is an electronic bug catcher—it can extract the electronic bugs inside your body and help you evade the Agents," Ye Nan said immediately, seeing Neo's confusion, to show he knew everything.

Cui Cui Nidi glanced at Ye Nan, her astonishment unmistakable.

"I told you—I know everything about the past, present, and future. Even your Oracle, I understand. I even know her origins, though she may not know mine," Ye Nan said cryptically, deepening his aura of mystery among them.

Hearing this, Cui Cui Nidi unusually fell silent, plugged in the electronic bug catcher, and said, "Move aside. Neo, lift your shirt. I'll remove the bug for you."

Ye Nan immediately swapped places with Cui Cui Nidi, while Neo, half-skeptical, pulled up his shirt.

"Don't tense up. Don't move."

Cui Cui Nidi pressed the electronic bug catcher against Neo's navel, securing it with two posts. The device's imaging system instantly pierced Neo's abdomen, capturing the bug's image.

"Found it." Cui Cui Nidi stared at the bug on the screen and pressed down hard. "Come out."

Cui Cui Nidi fixed her gaze on the screen, watching the bug. Her fingers trembled violently—she was exerting all her strength.

"It's trying to slip away," the blonde woman said.

"No, it isn't." Cui Cui Nidi gritted her teeth, staring at the bug on the screen, then yanked sharply. "Come out!"

A live electronic bug was violently pulled from Neo's body by the device, trapped inside a vial, along with a trace of blood and skin—but strangely, Neo was unharmed.

"Because this is the Matrix world—everything here is data, so no injury occurs?" Ye Nan stared thoughtfully at Neo, understanding the Matrix deeper than before.

"Alright, we can begin," Cui Cui Nidi tossed the vial containing the bug aside, then looked at Ye Nan with a faint, knowing smile.

"Apoc, drive," the blonde woman instructed Apoc, then turned back to Ye Nan. "We still have some distance to go. During this time, the Agents can't find us—we have plenty of time to hear what you know."

Ye Nan fell silent. So the blonde woman still hadn't given up—she still wanted the secrets.

"First, who are you?" the blonde woman said. "We found your data in the Matrix, but it clearly doesn't match the database records. We assumed you hacked the system and altered your own file—but strangely, our investigation revealed you simply appeared out of nowhere."

Ye Nan remained silent. He had already heard from Elise about his origins, so her words meant nothing to him.

"Three days ago, you suddenly appeared in the Matrix world and moved in with a woman named Elise. She helped you find a job, even claimed you were a computer genius to get you hired—but in truth, you know nothing about computers. Everything was done by Elise. Who are you?"

"Three days?" The blonde woman's words struck Ye Nan like lightning, freezing his mind.

He remembered Elise telling him he had appeared three months ago—but now the blonde woman said three days. One of them was lying.

"Surprised? Not just you—even I'm surprised," the blonde woman said, pleased with her effect. "No one can alter the Matrix database—not even us. We can only disable it, never change it. But your girlfriend did. Yet she forgot: hackers aren't omnipotent. Even in the Matrix, altering a person's memory is impossible."

The blonde woman pointed to her head. "We aren't programs. We have our own thoughts. Changing them? Impossible."

"So what exactly are you trying to say?" Ye Nan accepted her words, his suspicion toward Elise growing.

"First, I want to tell you: your girlfriend lied to you. Second, your girlfriend won't help you reveal Neo as the One—because she never went to the police station. She vanished. Your backup plan failed."

"So I must rely on you, cooperate with you—is that it?" Ye Nan sneered, voicing her entire plan.

"Exactly." The blonde woman showed no concern that Ye Nan saw through her. When they first investigated him, they found his odd situation intriguing. They tried to recruit his girlfriend—but discovered she never went to the police station. She vanished. Realizing something was wrong, they rushed to rescue Neo, hoping to mock Ye Nan.

But they hadn't expected Ye Nan to know secrets about the Matrix. So she changed her plan—now she'd use this to threaten him.

"What do you want to know?" Ye Nan grew quiet now, realizing his backup had failed. He decided to lie low.

"Who are you?" The blonde woman stared into Ye Nan's eyes. "You appeared suddenly. So who are you?"

"My name is Ye Nan."

"I know your name. I want to know your background," the blonde woman nearly screamed, her gun now aimed at Ye Nan. One more irrelevant word, and she'd shoot him.

"I am Ye Nan, CEO of ICQ Corporation. Our company specializes in developing artificial life."

The blonde woman and Cui Cui Nidi exchanged glances, both sensing something significant—like they were on the verge of grasping a key truth.

"Yes. Artificial life. To better serve the public and free them from grueling labor, ICQ developed artificial life, extracted data from it, and implanted it into robots. We also built a vast virtual world for gaming," Ye Nan said earnestly, his words half-truth, half-deception.

"But the virtual world meant to be a game became a giant prison," Cui Cui Nidi sneered, hatred flashing in her eyes.

"Without ICQ Corporation, perhaps the Matrix world wouldn't exist," she thought, her hatred deepening.

"Cui Cui Nidi," the blonde woman snapped. "The past is done. What matters now is uncovering the Matrix's secrets."

"Reveal every secret about the virtual world and the AI network."

The blonde woman's commanding tone stirred a flicker of annoyance in Ye Nan's eyes—but he quickly smiled. "The virtual world is built from data. Brainwave receivers serve as entry and exit credentials. Oh, right—brainwave receivers are devices that intercept brain signals."

The blonde woman and Cui Cui Nidi exchanged another glance. They trusted Ye Nan's words a little more.

"Are there any program vulnerabilities in the Matrix?" asked Cui Cui Nidi, the former hacker knowing that if the Matrix had flaws, collapsing it would be far easier.

"I don't know. I'm just the CEO. I don't understand programming."

Ye Nan wanted to flood them with misleading information—but he feared his lies might be exposed, so he stayed silent.

"So you're just a useless CEO," the blonde woman sneered. Seeing his lack of reaction, she lost interest. "Fine. All he knows is history. Take him back. At least we can learn some history."

"That's all we can do. He's a burden," Cui Cui Nidi added.

From the start, their contact with Ye Nan was a mistake. He wasn't a hacker—just an ordinary man. The real power was his girlfriend.

And when he claimed to know past, present, and future—he truly knew the past, but only general history. It helped them nothing. Had they not feared his vanished girlfriend, they'd have abandoned him long ago. After all, better safe than sorry.

"I'm no burden. I might be more important than your One," Ye Nan thought silently, his gaze drifting far away, stirred with emotion.