Chapter 9

Neo and Zhang Yang directly rushed above the clouds, using the thick cloud layer as cover to leave the area. The two landed on a rooftop, where there was a telephone in an adjacent attic, and from there, they returned to the Nebuchadnezzar.

Zhang Yang opened his eyes, and Morpheus extended his right hand, smiling broadly.

"Welcome to the Nebuchadnezzar, Zhang Yang!"

A semi-transparent bar flashed before his eyes, displaying the mission information.

"Ding. You have completed Side Mission 1: Become a formal crew member of a flying ship."

"You have completed the captain's first task, earning the trust of all the Nebuchadnezzar crew members."

"Morpheus's favorability towards you has increased by 25 points, Neo's and Trinity's favorability towards you has increased by 20 points."

His side mission progress changed to:

"Side Mission 1: Become a formal crew member of a flying ship (Completed). You have joined the Nebuchadnezzar and become a formal crew member. Mission Reward: 1500 Universal Points, Penalty: 500 Universal Points."

"Side Mission 2: Gain the trust of two main characters (65/100). Neo (40/100), Morpheus (45/100), Trinity (40/100), Niobe (0/100), Roland (0/100). Mission Reward: 1500 Universal Points, Penalty: Deduct 500 Universal Points."

"Side Mission 3: Escape from the agents three times. 1/3, Mission Reward: 2000 Universal Points, Penalty: None."

"Phew."

Zhang Yang exhaled, then shook Morpheus's hand.

The battle with Smith's clone had made Zhang Yang extremely nervous, the most nervous he had ever been in his life. The rewards for this mission were substantial. The first side mission was completed, the second was only 25 points away from completion, and the third was a mission with no penalty even if not completed, leaving only the main mission.

Neo gathered everyone to discuss a plan. They decided that, except for Link who would stay on the Nebuchadnezzar, the four of them would all enter the Matrix to find the Keymaker on the Frenchman's territory.

Following the address given by the Oracle, Morpheus led the group to a building and entered the elevator.

"There are bombs on every floor."

Neo suddenly said, immediately putting everyone on alert. Neo's current Messiah ability allowed him to see the code of the Matrix world and notice that the code in this building was different from the outside, suggesting it was encrypted.

In the story, the Frenchman, Merovingian, is a special ancient program that has existed since the first Matrix world, with high authority to modify other programs' code to some extent. His hobby is collecting various old, abandoned, and deleted programs, such as the Keymaker they were looking for.

In the story, the Frenchman has survived through five generations of the Matrix, and five consecutive Messiahs have failed to kill him. He has various henchmen, and the most memorable to Zhang Yang are the virus twins, a pair of identical twins with white hair and white clothes.

The twins' special ability is to materialize when attacking and dematerialize when defending, similar to the masked man in "Naruto." However, one is a program effect, and the other is a spatial jutsu effect.

Led by a waiter, the two groups entered a luxuriously decorated Western restaurant and met the Frenchman and his wife.

The four sat at a table, and Merovingian, with neatly combed hair, was savoring a top-tier 1959 Haut-Brion wine.

"I have tried every language, but French wine and French are my favorites, especially for cursing."

"*##￥#%@#%￥&"

"It's like wiping your ass with silk, so satisfying."

Morpheus was responsible for negotiating with the Frenchman. After a few words, the Frenchman began his "performance."

"Look at that noble woman, watch me serve her a special dessert."

In Zhang Yang's memory, the Frenchman served a black forest cake program laced with a sexual desire program to the white woman at the adjacent table, essentially a powerful aphrodisiac. After eating it, the woman became overwhelmed with sexual desire and went to the restroom to avoid embarrassment. Merovingian followed her... His wife, Persephone, helped Neo and the others find the Keymaker because of this incident.

Sure enough, the woman soon went to the restroom, and Merovingian, not wanting to miss out, found an excuse to leave. His henchmen and the twins watched the group enter the elevator, and as the door closed, one of the twins blew a kiss to Trinity.

Just as Neo and the others thought they had failed, the elevator stopped, and when the door opened, standing outside was the Frenchman's wife, Persephone.

"If you want to find the Keymaker, follow me."

Persephone led Zhang Yang and the others to a men's restroom. A man who had just finished urinating ran out in a panic, and Persephone began to complain to the group.

The Frenchman, Merovingian, was not a good person, a lecher who liked to say "every cause has an effect," enjoyed French wine, and loved speaking French, especially for cursing. His greatest hobby was collecting old, abandoned programs.

After her rant, Persephone suddenly said to Neo, "I can give you what you want, but you must give me something in return."

"What?"

"A kiss."

Persephone, frustrated by the Frenchman's constant philandering, asked Neo to kiss her with the same passion he showed Trinity. Trinity pulled out her gun.

"Try this instead."

Morpheus stopped Trinity, and Neo, with no choice, kissed Persephone, but it was clear she was unsatisfied and prepared to leave. Neo, in a bind, imagined her as Trinity and kissed her passionately.

Satisfied, Persephone led the group through the kitchen to a storage room, closed the door to another storage room, and took out a key from her handbag, inserting it. When the door opened again, they were in a large hall.

The Frenchman had the authority to modify program code to some extent, and the key clearly opened a backdoor.

Persephone entered a room, shot a henchman, scared another one into running to report, and then pulled a book from a bookshelf, which turned into a door leading to a prison.

The group stopped at an iron door, and Neo opened it, revealing a room full of keys and an old man sharpening a key.

The number of keys was vast, and Zhang Yang didn't know exactly how many there were, but he knew that the old man had at least the 65536 keys for the white corridor's doors.

He was the high-level program that held all the backdoor keys for the system, the Keymaker.

"I am Neo."

"I am the Keymaker."

The group quickly left and returned to the hall just as Merovingian and his henchmen arrived. Persephone calmly taunted Merovingian before leaving. The Frenchman, frustrated, looked at the Keymaker and ordered the twins:

"Go and capture the Keymaker."

The twins, upon receiving the order, turned into a pale green dematerialized state and sank into the ground. The Keymaker, seeing the twins, turned and ran.

"I will never go back."

He held all the backdoor keys, and no door could stop him. Neo glanced at the others and said, "I'll cover the rear, you go after him."

Trinity led the way, Zhang Yang was in the middle, and Morpheus was last. The Keymaker opened a door to the parking garage and ran in. As Trinity passed, the twins' upper bodies emerged, still in a dematerialized state.

Zhang Yang and Morpheus each grabbed a Tang knife from a nearby armor and pursued. As they entered and closed the door, one of the twins materialized, trapping his right arm in the door. If the door closed, it would not lead to the parking garage again, given the Keymaker's abilities.

Trinity pulled out her gun and shot the twin's arm, causing it to bleed profusely. The other twin, who had just materialized, calmly said:

"Hurry up, OK?"

The other twin quickly dematerialized, passed through the door, and squeezed in. Zhang Yang, seeing the situation, slashed the arm blocking the door with his Tang knife, cutting it off.

"Close the door quickly."

The severed arm was a bloody mess, and Zhang Yang, suppressing his urge to vomit, tried to close the door.

"Stop, open the door."

Trinity, unable to dodge, was held at knifepoint by the incoming twin. Zhang Yang was just a moment away from closing the door and had to let the twin with the severed arm in.

The twin, now dematerialized, quickly regrew his arm, as he was a program, not a human, and regrowing an arm was just a matter of code.

Morpheus took the opportunity to shoot, and the twin holding Trinity quickly dematerialized, avoiding the bullets, allowing Trinity to escape. The Keymaker used his key to open a car door and hid inside a car.

Zhang Yang sat at the steering wheel, letting the Keymaker and Trinity hide in the back, and drove off.

Morpheus was fighting the twins, who could dematerialize, making them very difficult to handle. Zhang Yang drove over, and Morpheus rolled over the hood to the other side, quickly sitting in the passenger seat.

"Run you over!"

The twins, wielding knives, charged at Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang, feeling a mix of tension and excitement, stepped on the gas, and the car charged at the twins. At the moment of impact, the twins quickly dematerialized, and their dematerialized knives grazed Zhang Yang's neck, causing no harm.

In the original story, Trinity drove the car to help everyone escape. This time, it was Zhang Yang driving.

Thanks to the Matrix's enhancements, Zhang Yang's vehicle driving skill was now at Level 4, Expert!

"Let's go!"

Zhang Yang gripped the steering wheel and stepped on the gas, driving out of the underground parking garage.

(PS: Continued support is appreciated.)

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