Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 193

Chapter 193 – Wrong From the Start

But…how was that possible?

If Woolf’s main body wasn’t here in Section Nine, where could it possibly be?

Did it have multiple main bodies?

No, that wasn’t right either. They had already considered the possibility of multiple main processors when they first developed their strategy, and the experiment results confirmed that there was only one main processor.

The truth was that the single-processor theory was the only logical explanation to their current situation. A massive AI processor was not something that could be easily replicated by tossing it into a 3D printer. Even for someone like Chief Woolf, to be able to build a powerful AI of this scale behind the entire world’s back when he was alive was already a sign of the remarkable control the man had over the Union; would someone like this possibly risk mass-producing these AIs? As for the AI itself, it had only been a little over a month since it began operating. The First Galaxy had already been in chaos before the AI awakened, therefore it should not have been able to find time to build a backup body for itself.

So, where had they gone wrong?

“Your logic is correct, the model is correct, and the calculations are also accurate.” As the core of the Third Squadron’s technology team, Thomas quickly scanned all the data the Alliance sent over with a sharp and precise eye.

Lu Bixing shifted his gaze towards him uneasily, his heart sinking as he heard Thomas said “correct”.

“Watch out!”

Before Lu Bixing could ask any questions, the pursuing AI fleets charged toward them from behind. The high-energy particle beams clashed against the mech’s shields. Lu Bixing’s mech was no longer a heavy mech that could withstand a small collision; the violent shaking of the shield caused the gravity system inside the mech to malfunction temporarily.

Lu Bixing tripped over himself and crashed right into Thomas’s projection. “Then what’s the problem?”

“Prime Minister, a real-life issue isn’t a word problem on a test,” Thomas said. “Any variables outside of set requirements can become an issue…for example, consider that your private channels with multi-layer protection have already been hacked, and the AIs can manipulate the data in your system to make it seem like it was all wrong. Another example would be the model interstellar map of the First Galaxy you all used; can you confirm that the map is accurate? What if there was a secret transfer portal that even the top commanding generals of the Union were unaware of? Or perhaps you were all….”

Thomas’ projection blurred for a second under the brief signal disruption of the particle cannon. Lu Bixing had managed to keep his soul inside his body with the number six relaxant, but at this moment he felt as if his brain had shut down.

“…..You were all wrong, and the main processor didn’t exist the way you all had imagined. It’s true that historically speaking, super AIs from the old Sideral Era mostly kept their processors on land or space stations, but does that guarantee that it will be the same in NSE? What if the processor was nothing like you had imagined and didn’t exist on a space station? Have you considered that maybe it’s a culture of smaller processors that exists on multiple space stations? Why couldn’t it exist in a non-traditional way? If that’s the case, then the model was completely built on a false presumption, Minister!”

The small mech couldn’t withstand such a violent attack from the enemies. It was like a trapped mouse dancing between flames while the soldiers inside the mech were bouncing around like the paper shreds inside a kaleidoscope. If it wasn’t for decades of harsh training, these galactic soldiers would have already had their heads blown up.

Lu Bixing bounced around inside his protection airbag like a ball while a soldier ran up before him and screamed, attempting to put a space suit on him.

“Prime Minister, what….buzz….what should we do next?”

Lu Bixing couldn’t speak up.

He didn’t know what to do. Nobody knew what to do.

Whether it was using the wormhole to create a delay, using himself as bait to lock in on Woolf’s main processor, everything had been a gamble for that narrow trail of survival.

Everyone was dancing on the tip of a blade, who could possibly have time to think up a plan B?

If they could pinpoint exactly where their model was wrong or what they had missed, perhaps it could have been possible to find a solution by combining all of the brains in the Human Alliance. Perhaps they could patch up their mistake and turn the tables around.

But just as Thomas had said, their thought process, model, and logic were completely correct. The problem existed beyond their imagined problem, which meant that opened up an infinite amount of possibilities.

The separated Human Alliance were like prey being trapped within their barricades; any move would be a pointless struggle.

Even if Lu Bixing could miraculously figure out a way to overcome the immediate danger and reunite everyone, how could he possibly locate the main processor after?

And even if there was a god in the world that could no longer stand seeing the extinction of mankind and benevolently could drop a ‘Super AI System Manual’ in his hands, where would he find the time to execute the new plan?

How long had it been since the Great Swords invaded the Eighth Galaxy?

Seven days? Nine days? Ten days?

Could Lin Jingheng wait another ten days for him?

Could the Eighth Galaxy wait another ten days for him?

Relaxant number six silently flowed through his veins and kept him from the brink of breakdown.

With the help of the drug, Lu Bixing thought calmly and clearly, “What if I never gave up on the Nuwa Project back then?”

The Nuwa Project was extremely dangerous with over a 90% death rate for its test subjects; many people would die during the process of genetic modification. Those people who refused to take the risk would simply remain average humans, and as time went by, social hierarchy would begin to develop as resources were redistributed. The evolved humans and normal humans would stop allowing intermarriages, perhaps even forbid the exchange of their genes in order to preserve genetic purity….many awful things would happen in the world.

Yet removing all of the negative social impacts, he would have a team of superhumans.

The superhumans were much tougher in the field of mental network attacks, were wittier and had heightened senses. They wouldn’t need to rest or sleep since their bodies would be modified to the point that they would surpass even the most elite galactic soldiers of their time.

The technicians would never know fatigue and work around the clock, helping to create a new technological breakthrough in the Eighth Galaxy. New technologies, weapons, economy…the possibilities were endless.

He was already labeled a criminal, so what if he had been more determined back then and had pushed forward alone like Lin Jingshu to continue the Nuwa Project? Would that mean the internal warfare would not have happened and the Eighth Galaxy’s military might would have been much more than what they were right now?

Then…would it mean that they wouldn’t have to fight with fear right now against these AIs that could annihilate them at any minute?

Perhaps it was as Thomas said, he had been wrong from the start.

Perhaps the world didn’t need someone as indecisive and soft like him leading the way.

The Eighth Galaxy—

The AI fleet pushed forward once more.

“Watch out, sir,” Zhanlu suddenly sent a message to Lin Jingheng through the mental network. “They’re getting too close.”

Lin Jingheng froze momentarily.

Just as Zhanlu finished, the Eighth Galaxy sent out a few supply ships.

The supply ships were mostly automated and designed with low cost and high efficiency in mind. Nobody would have imagined that one day they would face against AIs on their homeground, and these ships would one day become easy prey. At that moment, these automated supply ships suddenly lost control and began crashing into their homebase like mad dogs. It wouldn’t have been an issue if it was food and medical supplies, but among them were also arms and weapons!

“Out of the way!”

All of the supply ships that had been affected self-destructed; a few mechs that couldn’t escape in time were caught in the explosion. The Eighth Galaxy Galactic Forces suffered an internal attack and felt as if their stomach had also blown up.

Lin Jingheng crashed violently into the wall inside the mech that lost its artificial gravity, the ring box from his pocket dropped out and fell right through the gap within the protection airbag. He couldn’t catch it in time and let the box roll out of his palm.

“Goddamn, just how long until their shitty anti-missile system is ready?”

Of course, at a time like this, Lin Jingheng had not a spare moment to waste on the small box. He didn’t reorganize the team and steered the mech right into the AI fleet. The small mech’s speed was accelerated up to the maximum, welling up almost enough energy to activate an emergency warp. As the leading mech Longyuan immediately locked in on the Eighth Galaxy’s commanding ship, all other small AI mechs began to close in and lock on it–

“Liu!”

Liu Yuanzhong immediately noticed when the commanding ship moved and had already prepared to support his commander from the side. While Longyuan’s attention was taken in by the commanding ship, he quickly sailed in from the other side of the barricade. The Sixth Squadron’s swift moves cleaned up a whole row of the AI fleets attempting to close in on the commanding ship while the missiles from the AI fleet began chasing after Lin Jingheng’s mech. Three rounds of chase and run virtually formed a lock on the frontlines.

Zhanlu: “Watch out, they may use particle cannons to disrupt your airway.”

As the last word dropped, another fleet of AI mechs sailed forward. A whole row of particle cannons crashed onto the small mech’s shield, which redirected towards the missiles coming from behind from the collision.

That was when Lin Jingheng suddenly detached his armory and pushed it out toward the enemy–his armory was already depleted. The almost-empty armory was pushed right in between the incoming missiles and particle cannon wave, and just as it all crashed together, the armory blew up like a blooming sunflower in space. The main mech body that had left the firing zone remained safe inside the eye of the storm, fleeing without breaking a sweat from the immense energy explosion.

The Sixth Squadron took this opportunity to push Longyuan into a corner, blowing up this arrogant AI into a beehive.

Liu Yuanzhong managed to catch it all as he trapped the super AI, legs numbed: “Marshal, I was so scared I’m crying!”

Lin Jingheng didn’t have time to pamper poor crying Captain Liu. The heavy mechs of the Galactic Forces were heavily damaged. Most of the mechs on the battlefield right now were all highly mobile small mechs, which also meant they couldn’t carry large amounts of weapons or energy. Supply ships needed to follow up, and now that the commanding ship’s armory was depleted, they were all in desperate need to replenish their supplies.

That last wave of emergency supplies had been taken down by the AIs, which made their situation even more grave.

“Marshal, I…”

Before Lee could finish, Zhanlu had already made the report within the mental network: “The First Squadron is contracting their line of defense, they are low in supplies.”

Zhanlu’s analysis was also the analysis of the AIs; Lin Jingheng didn’t wait for Lee to finish and ordered instantly: “Bayer, send in backup!”

The AI fleets suddenly pressed forward at full-speed, so Bayer didn’t manage to catch up. The First Squadron was low on ammo and was immediately blown off to the side.

The defense had been broken!

The First Galaxy.

Inside the communication channel, everyone was calling for the Prime Minister. Lu Bixing attempted to push away the space suit and the soldier beside him. “I….”

He used some force with this gesture, the notebook from his jacket pocket dropping out as he did. Inside the mech with unstable gravity, the notebook floated in mid-air; Lu Bixing quickly reached to grab it, but accidentally ripped out a few pages from the notebook instead.

Lu Bixing frantically fished the notebook back in his arms; his heart ached that this national treasure was damaged. Yet the next instant, his gaze fell onto the few pages he ripped out–they happened to be the record of the last battle with AI King Hertz.

“….We will need to close up Wolto and trap King Hertz at this time. We must ensure that this is carried out, Hubert, the fate of humanity lies in your hands. No matter what happens later, even if Hertz doesn’t disappear, you must never open up Pandora’s Box…..”

When they were baiting King Hertz, the person in charge of closing up Wolto was Chief Woolf himself.

A ray of light seemed to flow from the gaps of the ripped pages into his head–

Woolf personally closed up Wolto.

Woolf personally closed up the First Galaxy.

A young Woolf had once said that an unlimited framework AI was doomed to become our enemy.

“The fate of humanity lies in your hands.”

Before they left, General Nagus’ anxious words, “Will my Third Galaxy be able to wait for me to return?”

Without the main fleets, would those unprotected galaxies across the universe even last six years by themselves?

Humanity…

If it doesn’t disappear, you must not open Pandora’s Box.

Lu Bixing’s head shot up as he said,“Give me the interstellar map of the Section Nine military zone.”

The map on his personal device zoomed in immediately on Section Nine—it was the area closest to the direction of the Second Galaxy, so all transfer portals and military stations were listed on the map.

Thomas asked, “What’s up, Prime Minister?”

“Our experimentation confirmed that the main processor is in section nine.” Lu Bixing’s head turned quickly as he organized his thoughts. “Old Bu had already cleaned up the outermost ring of transfer portals, but Woolf’s processor wasn’t successfully isolated, this means that even though the processor exists within section nine, it was not within the isolation zone….”

Thomas was puzzled, “What do you mean, General Bu blew up the wrong portals? Wait, no…those were all locked-on automatically based on the maps, he couldn’t have missed.”

“The outermost layer of transfer portals in the military zone wasn’t just the ones we’ve locked on, there are more here.”

“Wait,” Harris interrupted, “that portal is a key portal that connects the First and Second Galaxy; didn’t it get blown up already when we were battling against the Freedom Corps?”

“The transfer portal had been blown up and lost its functionality, but it still exists on the transfer network.”

“Prime Minister, do you know the energy scale of a single transfer portal?” Poisson frowned. “Especially key portals here that connect important points– if we can get it fixed and rebuilt in a year after we blow it up, how could the Eighth Galaxy possibly close up for a hundred years and only use wormholes to travel?”

“Transfer portals connect timespace but are also a part of a long-distance communication networks.” Lu Bixing had already sent the coordinates to all pilots in the Alliance. “But the energy requirements for each function are not on the same level, am I right?”

Poisson froze.

Lu Bixing: “Follow me, unless you all have other ideas?”

This was quite true. Everyone here were lost lambs without a direction, so they would follow anyone that could stand up and point a direction for them.

“Let’s gamble this once,” Lu Bixing said in a soft tone.

Harris heard it and said, “Gamble on what, Professor Lu?”

“Let’s bet that Chief Woolf, the man that closed up Wolto, opened up the New Sidereal Era, and stood ground for three hundred years–was not merely a sociopath who wanted to live forever in the form of an AI.” Lu Bixing mumbled as if he was talking to himself, “Removing Lin Jingshu did mean that the horrific biochip empire would never be realized, but the other galaxies would never be able to wait for a helping hand. The world changes every five years, six years is enough for humanity to be annihilated, I’m sure he must have thought of this–”

Harris: “Huh?”

Poisson didn’t hesitate and sent the order, “Third Squadron, shield the commanding ship!”

The remaining Third Squadron fleet sailed out and blocked off the pursuing AIs from behind while Lu Bixing took his escorts and made an emergency warp.

“Thanks, brother.”

They were like an arrow that shot out of its bow, from the depths of a marsh towards a strange destination.

The AI pursuers came wave after wave behind him.

“The First Galaxy troops will pave the way for you, Prime Minister Lu.”

“We’re part of the Second Galaxy Central Militia, Prime Minister Lu, after you–”

The different fleets that made up the Alliance began to peel off like layers of clothing, yet they were also like layers of heavy armor that blocked off all pursuers.

After four consecutive emergency warps, Lu Bixing finally arrived at that blocked-off border at the edge of the First Galaxy.

“Alright, it’s just us now.” Harris let out a sigh and said, “So are we allowed to operate legally as an recognized religion after this, Professor Lu?”

Lu Bixing answered firmly: “Dream on, unless I step down.”

“Oh, alright.” The Grand Prophet shrugged his shoulders. “Then…the space pirates AUS will block the enemies for you, for life and nature.”

The AUS blocked off the last pursuers and Lu Bixing’s mech once again accelerated towards its destination.

He saw with his own eyes a massive space station at the remnants of the blown-up transfer portal.

In the Eighth Galaxy, supermech Chixiao ripped through the defense line of the Galactic Forces. Lin Jingheng didn’t have anything else on his mind as he rushed forward to face the supermech head-on.

Turan howled through the channel, “Marshal, you already detached your armory!”

Was he really going to die if it meant he could stop an AI?

Did he want the rest of his comrades to repeat what she had done many years ago to tell Lu Bixing….

Lin Jingheng had already sailed out of the transfer portal and was facing Chixiao.

Just then, a message from the Milky Way Galaxy arrived: “Reporting to Marshal Lin–”

“Interstellar anti-missile system final adjustment has been completed!”