"So, do you understand?"

[Yes... I admit I was impulsive. Let's go to the club! I want to take the first step, just like you expect. Let's have some fun...]

Kenichi Sora seemed to have figured it out.

John crossed his arms and sighed again.

"Kenichi Sora, you're such a coward. I mean, without you, I wouldn't take on this mess, so you have to promise me that after one round, you'll quit messing around and return to normal!"

[Uh, wait, you agreed? You're going into the ring?]

The excitement was evident in its voice, but after a brief pause, it spoke hesitantly.

[But, I... I'm not sure. This is a malfunction I've never seen before. What if I can't adjust after one round? What if I can't perform?]

It was the first time John had seen Sora so lacking in confidence.

[Maybe I really should give up, let's go to the club!]

"Go kiss your own ass."

John was fed up with Sora's cowardly attitude.

Especially after seeing it rampage through mercenary tasks, confident and arrogant; hearing these words just made his chest feel stifled.

"You clearly enjoy fighting, yet in front of what you love, you're a coward. And on the bed, you're equally useless. Enough nonsense, I'll support you for one round, just one round!"

[John, I...]

"Shut your mouth, there's no need to be sentimental. If I get killed by that macho guy called Crocodile, our agreement is off the table. You won't have to worry about Soul Ark treatments anymore, just find another mercenary. Remember to collect my body, don't let the Ghouls desecrate it."

The chip behind his ear started to heat up.

Kenichi Sora remained silent, giving only static noise.

John didn't want to wait, so he opened the door and left.

He saw the pathway to the ring covered with strip lights, and the heatwave formed by lights and the audience swept over the entrance with the fan's urging.

It made his nose itch.

[Wait, John.]

Kenichi Sora finally fully loaded.

A Black Light prompt immediately followed.

[Detected hacking, user unknown, data feedback anomaly, isolated... Agree/Reject] 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Another new trick?"

John received the clear feedback from Black Light.

Sora wanted to fully take over his nerves, which was a higher access level than experiencing senses with a chip.

It would no longer be a hitchhiking "tenant," but a landlord, an owner, capable of instantly paralyzing the body until black light automatically purges it.

"What, you're finally showing your true colors, trying to steal sovereignty over my body?"

John shrugged.

[Agree to authorization. (Optional)]

[Reject authorization. (Optional)]

John had already made a decision about trust; in the current situation, even if Sora betrayed him on the spot, it wouldn't matter—even if the opponent did nothing, he wouldn't survive the weekend.

How much worse could it get?

John taunted the AI but agreed to the authorization.

Kenichi Sora frizzed out in the chip, like a childish kid rolling around on the ground.

[This is deep binding! I can hack you, and that thing in your body can invade me too. We're really a single life's relationship now!]

Sora explained its actions:

It wanted to create a virtual sandbox, peeling off its malfunctioning computational core while allocating a portion of its computing power to focus on controlling John's body.

It was equivalent to "hosting."

Deep binding carried risks.

Using human body as a metaphor, it was like removing part of its own bones to transplant into John's body.

Previously, John could remove the chip and the two would disconnect peacefully. Now Black Light could determine Sora as a hostile target and "spread" through the bound body parts to infiltrate AI, comparable to "amputation surgery."

[That's the only way I can think of to protect you as much as possible.]

"Can I become really strong? Just like when you killed?"

[Dream on, you're human, you can't use AI's calculating logic. I put a set of weapons in your body, you can feel their presence, but you can't use them.]

"Alright then."

John chuckled softly, undeterred.

After speaking, he was suddenly dazed.

A distinct smell.

The air mixed with the smell of blood, saliva, sweaty stench, and some fermented industrial-scented sour heat wave swept past his nose, as if it had brushed past his nerves.

He saw the passage ahead cut into sections by a massive data grid, densely packed, the data indistinguishable to the naked eye clouded his vision like dust.

John blinked.

The anomaly disappeared.

Kenichi Sora explained in his mind.

[Be aware, from now on, you'll have a unique sensation; blurred vision or enhanced or weakened senses are normal phenomena.]

[Besides the human part, you'll be able to "feel" the AI's data stream.]

John felt his ears expand, as if capturing every cheer from the audience seats, his prosthetic eye instinctively zooming and scanning, trying to memorize every fanatical face.

"Damn, fuck!"

A sharp pain came from deep within the prosthetic eye.

[Relax, don't get lost in it. We "sense" the world through massive data, and such an enormous scale is a burden humans cannot bear. Don't subconsciously use your brain to process it.]

"I can't fucking control it!"

John had no choice but to close his eyes.

[I'm debugging, trying to help you filter and this deep-level binding is the first time.]

At this moment.

"Now entering the arena, the big, bright star of the West District~ The new street legend—John!"

The host's voice spread throughout the central arena via speakers, spurring the audience to an uproarious wave.