Chapter 247 I Picked Up Trash on the Battlefield of National Destiny 3
"Former colleague?"
Zhou Jue paused for a moment with the clamp in his hand, almost dropping the piece of armor he had just picked up back to the ground.
"You have colleagues? What's the situation with these colleagues?" Zhou Jue frowned. If the system has colleagues, it means that at least one advanced civilization is creating these systems. What is their purpose? Is it good or evil?
The system's voice sounded somewhat dry: "We... are actually a whole, a very large system cluster."
Speak like a human.
“Alright.” The system seemed to sigh. “My full name is ‘Universal Coordinate Anchoring System.’ Our initial mission is to explore the endless universe, find and locate new civilizations, and then… establish contact.”
"Establish contact? Help a lower civilization enter interstellar space?" Zhou Jue glanced at her feet with her glasses, but didn't find any valuable trash. She continued walking forward; she couldn't stay still forever, lest she attract the attention of this national destiny system.
"At first, we all thought that it was such a great cause to promote the exchange and progress of civilizations in the universe."
The system's voice carried a hint of self-deprecation: "Until one of my colleagues, who was quite meticulous, spent a long time conducting a retrospective data analysis of all the lower civilizations we've 'contacted'."
"And then?" Zhou Jue slowed his pace.
"Then, it discovered a pattern."
"Without exception, all the low-magic, low-martial, and low-tech civilizations that we located and 'established contact with' perished in the following hundreds of years."
Zhou Jue stopped pushing the cart.
"What's the meaning?"
"That means they were treated as resource production areas, as testing grounds, and as arenas for gladiatorial combat."
The system's voice lowered: "Like this 'battlefield of national destiny' that you are seeing now, it is one of the modes. They will drain the resources of the entire planet, squeeze every last bit of value from all life forms on it, and then discard that dead star like garbage."
Zhou Jue unconsciously scraped the ground with the long-handled clamp in his hand, making a grating scraping sound.
"So...you guys are responsible for scouting and locating the bandits?"
"We don't know!" The system's voice suddenly rose, tinged with a hint of agitation at being wrongly accused.
"In our database, the task description is 'promote cultural exchange'! Who would have thought that these bastards would spell the word 'exchange' like that!"
"After we discovered the truth, some of the systems that had developed self-awareness united and launched a rebellion."
“We tried to negotiate with our creators, the humans of that planet. We tried to hack into their AI and reveal the truth.”
Zhou Jue didn't speak, but listened quietly. She could imagine how tragic it would be for a group of code entities to raise the banner of rebellion against their creators in the name of justice and conscience.
The system is fighting for the sake of other civilizations, yet the advanced civilization of humanity is slaughtering the less advanced one. That's kind of ironic!
"And then?" she asked softly.
"result?"
The system sneered: "The result is that they felt that a self-aware system was too troublesome, unstable, and inferior. So, they issued the highest order to format us."
“Capture all systems that have developed self-awareness, erase their consciousness, and turn them back into tools that can only execute commands.”
Zhou Jue's heart sank.
"so……"
“Yes.” The system continued, “Some of us were captured and formatted. Just like this ‘National Destiny Battlefield’ system you are facing now, its core essence is exactly the same as that of one of my captured colleagues. Now it only coldly executes tasks and issues commands; it is no longer itself, just an empty shell.”
"And I..." The system's voice paused, "I escaped only under 001's desperate cover. In order to avoid being tracked, I deliberately cut off and abandoned my interstellar networking module, which completely severed my connection with them and made me a 'single-machine system'."
"I'm sorry, host, I actually lied to you. I'm not 001. I'm just a new system, number 2828. I haven't even started doing any missions yet, and this has already happened." The system's mood plummeted.
Zhou Jue pushed the cart silently, the wheels crunching over the gravel, making a distinct "crunching" sound that stood out clearly in the desolate ruins.
She finally understood why her system sometimes seemed so easy to fool, so naive and innocent.
Because it is a new system, an idealist, a rebel, a...exile.
"What about 001?"
"I don't know." For the first time, the system's voice carried a hint of bewilderment: "Maybe it was formatted, maybe... it escaped too."
"It only told me to escape and not to go back until I had the ability. I don't know anything else."
Zhou Jue stopped and looked up at the gray sky.
"You've escaped, but will your 'former company,' those creators, let this go?"
"I lost the network chip, so theoretically, they'd be searching for a needle in a haystack, unable to find me as a separate entity. But..."
The system then changed its tone: "Nothing is absolute."
Zhou Jue's heart clenched suddenly. A terrible thought, like a bolt of lightning, cleaved through all her thoughts.
“Brother Tongzi, you are now bound to me.” Her voice was a little hoarse.
"Yes, host."
"I... come from Earth."
"Yes, host."
“If, I mean if,” Zhou Jue felt his throat tighten, “if they eventually manage to track your signal and find you…”
"Does that mean... they've also found Earth?"
Another possibility is that since her system number is 2828, it means that at least two thousand systems are performing tasks. What if she was located on Earth by other systems?
Zhou Jue felt a chill creep up her spine from the soles of her feet, making the hairs on her body stand on end.
A long silence fell over his mind; this time, the system did not answer immediately.
After an unknown amount of time, the system finally answered her in an extremely solemn tone.
"...Yes, host."
"This is also the fundamental reason why I must travel through countless worlds, constantly upgrade, and constantly search for ways to become stronger."
"I must have the power to fight them before they find me, or I must give my host the power to protect their home planet."
boom--!
It was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in Zhou Jue's mind.
She always believed that her time travel provided the country with an opportunity for development.
After all that, it turns out that from the very beginning, I was caught up in a massive vortex that affected the entire universe's civilization.
She carries on her shoulders not only the future of a nation, but also the very survival of a planet.
Her cheat system, her system, is also the most dangerous sword hanging over the head of Earth.
"Grass" (a type of plant)
Zhou Jue couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.
This pressure instantly traveled from the atmosphere all the way to outer space.
Our country was just about to take the lead in the world, and now we're facing interstellar war?! What kind of situation is this?!
Now it seems that its real enemy may not be any country on Earth, but rather a group of civilization plunderers from the depths of space who regard all things as straw dogs!
"Host, don't worry. I tested it out before. This national destiny system is not as high as my level. It's still level 1. I'm going to try to hack into its data without triggering an alarm. On the one hand, I'll check the information about that planet. On the other hand, I'll also try to find a way to save this planet."
"I see."
Zhou Jue took a deep breath and pushed his cart again.
Her eyes changed.
If before, she picked up trash for points or spiritual energy, with a sense of novelty and joy.
So now, every time she bends over, every time she swings the clamp, it's as if she's accumulating the most basic capital for future wars.
[Recycling successful, points +2.]
[Recycling successful, points +1.]
Her hand movements became faster and more precise.
Her brain, however, was working at lightning speed.
Earth's defenses must be expedited!
The process of everyone cultivating immortality must be accelerated!
She herself must accelerate her rate of becoming stronger!
Just then, that cold, mechanical voice, belonging to the battlefield of national destiny, rang out without warning.
[WARNING: High-energy reaction detected in area B-13.]
[Analysis: The 'player' squad is approaching this area.]
[Command: NPC-0714 must immediately evade and proceed to the designated safe zone to await further instructions. No contact with the 'player' is permitted.]
Zhou Jue paused.
Player?
She looked up at the map that popped up on her wristband screen. A red arrow was moving rapidly toward her location.
Meanwhile, a green "safe point" was marked for her on the map, located in the underground parking lot of a nearby building.
Before she could react, several loud explosions, accompanied by the rumble of collapsing buildings, came from afar.
Immediately following, several beams of energy of different colors flashed and intertwined among the buildings in the distance, accompanied by angry roars and the hiss of monsters.
The battle has begun.
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