Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 135 Finding the Refrigerator (Fifth Update)

Lucy's breathing suddenly became rapid.

When Chen Yu calmly uttered the words "black wall" and "remnants of the early internet," her back instantly stiffened. Her nails dug deeply into her palms, and the familiar taste of rust filled her mouth—she bit her lip again.

Beyond the black wall... those fragmented memories suddenly came alive: distorted data streams, abysses of code with non-Euclidean structures, and those beings howling in the data storm.

She was one of the few who had actually been there and managed to come back sane—or rather, she thought she had.

Arasaka's special training, those days as a "cyber diver," made her more aware than anyone of the horrors beyond the Great Firewall. Every piece of data brought back from outside the wall might be tainted with imperceptible contamination, and every coordinate could be bait pointing to destruction.

This terrifying mechanical giant not only casually discussed intelligence from outside the walls, but could even pinpoint specific AI entities...

Cold sweat trickled down her spine. This was no longer a difference in skill, but a dimensional crushing defeat.

It's even possible that the terrifying monster before us is a machine controlled by a wandering AI, and it's collecting these wandering AIs simply to devour their data.

She instinctively took a half step back, as if that would keep her away from the nightmares that had been awakened within her.

Chen Yu seemed completely unconcerned about the hackers' strange behavior, and added in a calm tone, "And then there are those 'blue-eyed men' who occasionally appear in the city."

He paused briefly, as if to let everyone understand the meaning of his words.

“They are not the same person, but a sequence of puppets controlled by a wandering AI—specially modified bodies with their original consciousness overwritten. These puppets blend into the crowd, observing, guiding, and even directly interfering in the course of certain important events. Capturing one of them would complete the mission.” This addition made the already tense atmosphere even more subtle.

Compared to AI hidden in infrastructure, this kind of presence lurking in the crowd is more chilling—you never know which seemingly ordinary passerby might be hiding a pair of inhuman eyes.

Mann couldn't help but speak up, his voice low: "Boss, none of these things you mentioned... are things that our team can easily deal with."

Dogtown is Hansen's territory; we have no idea what's underneath. Delaman taxis are everywhere; messing with them is like going against the entire city's transportation system. And that blue-eyed man… it sounds like a conspiracy theory come true.

He shook his head, completely dispelling any wishful thinking the team might have about helping David choose the first path.

“Therefore,” Chen Yu’s crimson lens refocused on David, “your choice, evaluated from the perspective of efficiency and safety, is the optimal solution at present.”

He accepted David as an apprentice, but did not immediately begin teaching him.

One of the traditions of the Mechanics is that knowledge is never free.

“Since you have chosen this path, the first lesson will begin with fulfilling your obligations.” Chen Yu’s synthesized voice rang out smoothly, and a data file was simultaneously transmitted to David’s personal terminal. “Remember, there are no free gifts in the Temple of Om Messiah. Even apprentices must exchange knowledge for actual contributions.”

He paused briefly, and this short silence seemed to carry a certain weight—it was a rule he had experienced before, and now it was David's turn to experience it.

"This document records an abandoned refrigerated container located in a landfill outside the city. The lease has expired, and it has now been transported to the garbage mountain along with other waste." Chen Yu's mechanical finger tapped lightly. "Your task is to find this specific model of refrigerated container in the garbage mountain and bring it back here intact and undamaged. The items inside the container must also remain untouched; opening them is strictly prohibited. This is the price you pay for acquiring the first stage of knowledge."

David stared blankly at the blurry address coordinates and the picture of the old refrigerator on his personal terminal.

"Find a specific refrigerator... in a garbage dump?" He could hardly believe his ears.

He knew about the landfill in Santo Domingo; it was an endless ocean of waste, with new garbage being dumped into it every day.

Finding a specific refrigerator there is like finding a specific grain of sand in the desert.

He had envisioned all sorts of difficult and dangerous missions: infiltrating company facilities to steal data, fighting gangs, even confronting cyber lunatics. But this seemingly simple task before him made him doubt himself for the first time—could he really find that specific refrigerator in the vast sea of ​​garbage?

This seemingly absurd task was, in fact, the first step he had to take on his path to the hall of knowledge.

At this moment, this step seems so distant, so unreal.

Rebecca's eyes widened dramatically, and her voice rose eight octaves: "Huh? Looking for the refrigerator? Boss, are you serious? The garbage piles in that godforsaken place, Santo Domingo, are higher than Arasaka Tower! How am I supposed to find it?"

Pila nervously rubbed the metal scalp, making a soft scraping sound: "At least the AI ​​has a general location. This refrigerator is probably already crushed into scrap metal."

Even the usually composed Mann couldn't help but speak up, his brow furrowed: "Boss, what exactly is the purpose of this mission? If it's to test David, isn't there a more direct way?"

He simply couldn't understand why this being, capable of transcending dimensions, would be interested in an old refrigerator in a garbage dump.

Chen Yu's response remained as calm as a machine reading: "Just execute the order. The significance of the mission is beyond your comprehension."

His optical lens turned to David, “Find it, bring it back intact. This is the price for knowledge. Any damage will be considered a mission failure.”

These words silenced all doubts. The moment David made his choice, he lost the right to bargain.

David stared at the blurry image of a refrigerator on the terminal, and the scene of the Santo Domingo garbage mountain flashed through his mind—mountains of waste, a pungent stench, and homeless people scavenging for food in the garbage heaps. The realization that the road to saving his mother had to begin with such a garbage mountain struck him as absurd.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the complex emotions surging within him, and bowed his head towards the dark red figure: "Understood, boss. I will find it."

And so, David's apprenticeship began with a seemingly absurd task.

The members of Mann's team exchanged helpless glances, knowing full well that David was destined to spend his days with the garbage mountain.

(End of this chapter)