There were quite a few Pseudo-People in the city, but currently, only Wu Piwu could see them; Jiujiu and Ashen Kiran could not perceive the presence of the Pseudo-People.
Based on Wu Piwu's estimation of the crowd he saw, there was roughly one Pseudo-Person for every thousand individuals, a staggering number indeed.
Moreover, once these Pseudo-People spotted Wu Piwu, regardless of what they were originally doing, they would converge towards the direction of the sports car.
Gradually, at least dozens of Pseudo-People began to follow behind the car.
Ashen Kiran was simultaneously using the smart navigation system while typing to inform Dong Ting of Wu Piwu's discovery.
Dong Ting immediately replied, "This aligns with what we discussed earlier. The Pseudo-People are distinct individuals, yet they possess a form of supernatural collective consciousness link. The confirmed intelligence indicates that this supernatural collective consciousness link operates over time, rather than instantaneously. It is estimated that there is a time delay for information exchange, so currently, the other Pseudo-People are unaware of Mr. Wu Piwu's situation."
Ashen Kiran said, "Then we must race against time; we need to start the live broadcast before the Pseudo-People can exchange information..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a window suddenly popped up in the entire chat group, and the laptop he was typing on shut down immediately.
At the same time, smoke began to rise from the laptop.
Ashen Kiran was taken aback, then quickly opened the car window and threw the laptop out.
A few seconds later, the laptop spontaneously ignited.
Ashen Kiran immediately said to Wu Piwu, "The Big Data SkyNet system has detected me. According to our comprehensive estimates, we have about twenty minutes of operational time left. All our information has already been reported to the nearby police station, and soon, a large number of police will arrive. From the time of the report to their arrival on the scene, it will take approximately twenty minutes."
"That’s enough."
After Wu Piwu said this, he began to close his eyes and rest.
He had just consumed two meatballs and was now nurturing his blood qi in preparation for the battles to come.
The sports car had not been driving for long when a bustling area appeared before the three of them.
This was the downtown area, the most prosperous part of the city, filled with shops, entertainment facilities, and throngs of people.
Ashen Kiran quickly exited the car with the live broadcasting equipment, even parking the sports car illegally by the roadside.
He casually found a square and looked towards Wu Piwu.
Wu Piwu glanced around and spotted at least five or six Pseudo-People.
As soon as they noticed him, they immediately began to approach.
Wu Piwu nodded at Ashen Kiran.
Ashen Kiran promptly set up the outdoor broadcasting equipment, and even a very small drone, about the size of a palm, took to the air.
All these actions were executed swiftly, indicating that Ashen Kiran was indeed a very skilled live broadcaster.
In just five minutes, Ashen Kiran cleared his throat and spoke into the camera, "Family, guess what I’ve discovered? Pseudo-People! Real Pseudo-People!!"
Ashen Kiran was indeed a major UP master, a big streamer.
Within ten seconds of starting the broadcast, tens of thousands of viewers flooded into his live stream, likely all his die-hard fans.
Soon, a continuous stream of virtual gifts began pouring in, and in less than a minute, the number of viewers reached several million.
As the virtual gifts flooded the screen, the viewer count kept increasing.
Ashen Kiran looked at Wu Piwu with satisfaction, and the drone in the sky focused its camera on Wu Piwu.
Wu Piwu stood his ground and walked directly towards the nearest Pseudo-Person, who did not dodge or avoid him and also walked towards Wu Piwu.
"Hehe."
"Hey, what the hell… wait a minute, this dialogue seems familiar?"
Wu Piwu muttered, then quickened his pace, swiftly appearing in front of each Pseudo-Person.
With a loud bang each time, every Pseudo-Person was instantly killed, and they all quickly transformed into withered corpses—corpses that were clearly inhuman, over two meters long, lying on the ground.
As several Pseudo-Person corpses appeared, combined with the explosive sounds of Wu Piwu's attacks, the surrounding pedestrians naturally turned to look.
They were first stunned, then someone began to scream, and the crowd started to retreat.
Some even fainted upon seeing the skeletal remains.
With so many people around, some began to call the police, while others shouted about a murder.
However, some claimed that the bones were not human but had suddenly transformed; they were Pseudo-People!
This was just the downtown area with hundreds or thousands of people, yet in the live stream, there were millions, nearly tens of millions, watching.
As Wu Piwu revealed the true forms of the Pseudo-People, the viewers in the live stream erupted in excitement.
Some claimed it was a movie, others said it was CGI, and some pointed out the recognizable buildings of the city.
Many insisted that the surrounding crowd were ordinary people, not actors, while others began analyzing the withered bones using various programs, causing the live stream to become a frenzy of activity.
At that moment, the live stream experienced a brief lag before resuming.
Ashen Kiran immediately realized that the Big Data artificial intelligence was attempting to disconnect his network but was thwarted by Dong Ting.
Dong Ting was the founder of their chat group and the most mysterious among them.
Despite being a person, he possessed his own artificial intelligence, a second-generation strong AI, second only to the government’s most powerful third-generation Big Data AI.
At this moment, he was able to forcibly prevent the government from disconnecting the live stream's network.
Ashen Kiran shouted loudly into the live stream, "Family, immediately use the paper and pen around you to record everything you see! Remember, do not use the internet or computers to record this; it can be tampered with!"
"I believe everyone has heard something about Pseudo-People. That's right, my friend and I are encountering Pseudo-People right now, but my friend knows 'Kung Fu,' so he can temporarily resist the Pseudo-People."
"But who knows what will happen next? Like the government or something, I dare not elaborate, but those who understand know. This is not just about my life or death, family; Pseudo-People are hiding among us, hunting us. I’m sure you all know some information about Pseudo-People."
"Once a hunter kills, all memories and traces of the hunter will vanish. So family, you must immediately record everything on paper and pen, and write down codes that only you believe in. If I disappear in the future, it will serve as a probe into these deep waters. Otherwise, when the government comes to suppress us, you will know nothing and will only become targets replaced and hunted by Pseudo-People."
The entire live stream fell silent for a moment before erupting into a flurry of activity, with many people genuinely beginning to record everything in real life.
At that moment, more than ten police cars appeared around the square, followed by a large number of officers who began forcibly dispersing the crowd while surrounding the three of them.
Some even drew weapons, aiming them at the trio.
Ashen Kiran immediately ran in front of Wu Piwu, raising his hands high and shouting, "I have no weapons! I have nothing on me! The remains on the ground are not human; they are the remains of Pseudo-People! I am right here; you can arrest me at any time, and I will not resist!"
The officers were carefully observing the three, noticing that none of them had any weapons, and they breathed a sigh of relief.
They also confirmed through their radios that the person in front of them was a streamer, while the Asian man and woman were of unknown identity, suspected to be illegal immigrants.
Although they had no weapons, the officers remained cautious.
Five of them approached, one holding a weapon and the other holding handcuffs.
Wu Piwu quietly said to Ashen Kiran, "One of them is a Pseudo-Person."
Ashen Kiran was taken aback.
He had been thinking of ways to stall for time, and now there was a Pseudo-Person among the police.
He felt both surprised and puzzled, saying, "Strange, do these Pseudo-People really want to kill you? They could have killed us at any time if they wanted to arrest us."
"... I think I understand the situation."
Wu Piwu felt an impulse to cover his face.
Because the Pseudo-Person among the police, upon seeing him, revealed a seemingly disdainful smile and emitted that signature "Hehe" sound.
No, there were already several Pseudo-Person corpses lying on the ground.
Why did this Pseudo-Person still think he was weak?
Was it really just pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger?
At that moment, the five officers reached the trio, cautiously glancing at the broadcasting equipment.
One of them intended to step forward to turn it off, while three of the remaining four moved to put handcuffs on them.
The last officer walked straight towards Wu Piwu.
Then, at that moment, Wu Piwu struck out with a palm, and the officer approaching him had his head explode, blood and brains scattering everywhere.
The four officers stood dumbfounded, while the distant police were equally stunned.
In the next instant, nearly all the officers aimed their guns at Wu Piwu.
"Wait! Look at this person's corpse! This is a Pseudo-Person!!"
The officers were about to pull the trigger to shoot Wu Piwu, but the Pseudo-Person's body transformed even faster.
Almost before their eyes, in just one or two seconds, it turned into a withered skeleton, over two meters long.
This scene was anything but normal.
Whether it was the rapid decay in two seconds or the two-meter-long mutated skeleton, these were changes that could not occur from a normal human death.
In an instant, all the officers were stunned, unsure whether to shoot or not.
At this moment, Wu Piwu walked towards the edge of the square, and all the officers immediately aimed at him again, while most of the police shouted angrily, "Stop! Immediately!"
Ashen Kiran raised his hands high and shouted, "We have no weapons! We will not harm humans! Didn’t you see? That person just now was a Pseudo-Person! It replaced your colleague's identity and body! Those Pseudo-People are hiding among us humans, constantly hunting us and replacing our identities!!"
The officers hesitated, as they had just witnessed this scene with their own eyes.
One of their colleagues had indeed been transformed by a Pseudo-Person, so... how many more were Pseudo-People?
At that moment, Wu Piwu stepped forward, his speed surpassing the observation capabilities of everyone present.
By the time they saw him again, he had already killed two civilians at the edge of the square, and those two civilians immediately transformed into Pseudo-Person corpses scattered on the ground.
All the officers instinctively lowered their weapons, while the surrounding onlookers retreated, cautiously eyeing those around them, some dialing phones, filming, and going online.
The entire scene fell into a bizarre atmosphere.
Then, at that moment, a roaring sound came from the sky, with helicopters and mechas appearing above and rapidly approaching the square.
The area outside the square was already packed with people, and the windows of nearby shops, office buildings, and restaurants were filled with onlookers.
They watched as two helicopters and a military mecha landed in the square, followed by eight soldiers rushing out of the helicopter, quickly surrounding Wu Piwu and the others.
Then several people jumped from the second helicopter, starting to bag the Pseudo-Person corpses in white bags.
Ashen Kiran saw soldiers approaching to shut down his broadcasting equipment and immediately shouted, "Family, remember to record!!"
With a few loud bangs, the soldiers did not turn off the equipment but smashed it to pieces, and all of this was recorded by the surrounding crowd with their phones, quickly spreading it online.
At the same time, an officer and an old man descended from the helicopter.
The old man rushed to Wu Piwu's side, closely followed by the officer.
The old man immediately said to Wu Piwu, "You can kill Pseudo-People!? How did you do it?"
Wu Piwu frowned and remained silent, while the officer sternly commanded, "I advise you to answer immediately! This is not a request!"
Wu Piwu simply shook his head, then turned and appeared beside a soldier.
Before the soldier could raise his weapon, Wu Piwu clawed at him, causing the soldier's head to explode, and his body began to rot, transforming into a skeleton.
However, this skeleton was far larger than just over two meters; from its length alone, it was nearly three meters long.
What was most terrifying was that the thigh and arm bones of this skeleton were curved, resembling a non-human species more than the remains of a Pseudo-Person.
"Lizard, lizard people!?" Ashen Kiran exclaimed in shock.
All the soldiers immediately aimed their weapons at Wu Piwu, but they did not pull the trigger, as the weapons of the police were now aimed at them.
Meanwhile, the arms of the military mecha opened simultaneously, one pointing at Wu Piwu and the other at the police.
The entire scene became tense, and even the previously noisy crowd fell silent.
At that moment, the old man suddenly shouted, "Lower your weapons! Everyone lower your weapons! He can distinguish between Pseudo-People and the higher-level lizard people; he is our savior!!"
The soldiers were the first to lower their weapons, followed by the mecha, and then the hesitant police lowered their guns.
The officer then immediately said to Wu Piwu, "Very well! I allow you to directly kill any Pseudo-People and lizard people you detect! You are now a member of our military; your green card will be processed shortly!"
Wu Piwu and Ashen Kiran exchanged glances, feeling that the development of the situation seemed to be beyond their expectations...
The government's response appeared to be inconsistent with what they had anticipated.
And just as Wu Piwu and Ashen Kiran were feeling bewildered...
In a certain location in the capital of the country, a young man in a wheelchair was being pushed forward by a dozen individuals wearing ultra-small exoskeleton mechas.
"Leader, we are in position and ready to act."
The young man looked at the sky for a few seconds before suddenly coughing violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood before beginning to breathe heavily.
"I am dying..."
The young man murmured, "This terminal illness is incurable."
The dozen individuals stood silently behind him.
The young man continued, "But just because technology cannot cure it does not mean that divine beings cannot heal!"
"It is unimaginable that a human can harm and kill Pseudo-People. Perhaps with the arrival of divine beings, humanity is slowly evolving, just like the relationship between bacteria, viruses, and the immune system. But it is too late, really too late. If you had appeared a year earlier, I could have collaborated with you. After all, my worldview still belongs to humanity. Who would want to become a monster?"
The young man took out his phone to check the chat records, chuckling as he tossed the phone aside.
"The majority of the SkyNet's computational power is focused on Ashen Kiran's side. The ability to kill Pseudo-People is now the top priority of its computational resources. Very well, let us go to the SkyNet mainframe, destroy it, and..."
"Divine beings will ultimately save everything!"
(End of Chapter)