Chapter 85 Save AI2, City of Wisdom
The surrounding scene changed from a warm and cozy kitchen to a cold, white wall. The material was not cement. In a pure white room of about 100 square meters, colorful light screens floated everywhere, with various words flashing on them.
Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan's loungewear was changed into somewhat tattered, stiff clothes in an old-fashioned dark brown with severely worn edges, and they were also wearing various strange electronic devices.
Code-like colored light gradually appeared in the white room and solidified into physical forms, indicating that players were entering the instance and the instance was being refreshed.
Wu Wangwang had never been to this kind of instance before, and she looked at Ling Yuanshan in shock.
Ling Yuanshan stood there dumbfounded, unable to come to his senses for a long time before stiffly looking at Wu Wangwang.
As they locked eyes, they both understood each other's meaning—after considering all sorts of human weaknesses, they never expected it to be a sci-fi future scenario that Wu Wangwang was least adept at!
She doesn't even understand physics and chemistry, how can she survive in this science fiction world?
The game's definition of weakness is too authoritative. Wu Wangwang held her head and said that the original owner was clearly not weak, so what weakness could she have? Culture! The original owner was just a semi-illiterate person with a junior high school diploma. She would have died in this kind of dungeon.
The tenth instance truly lives up to its name.
Ling Yuanshan barely managed to raise his hand to pat Wu Wangwang, and said with difficulty, "It's okay, I'm here. You learn quickly, so you'll be fine after learning from me for a while. I haven't done many sci-fi dungeons before, and the highest-level item I got was your initial nest. This dungeon is designed to counter your weaknesses. If you can get through it, you might be able to get items from the same series."
Wu Wangwang looked around and said in a low voice, "I think I should be able to adapt. I've read quite a few in novels."
Upon hearing this, Ling Yuanshan hesitated, unsure of what to say, as online novels nowadays cover far too many elements.
Although Wu Wangwang's brain became increasingly strange from reading too many novels, it's a good thing that it can be useful sometimes.
When the number of players increased to ten, the colorful light stopped refreshing. Including Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan, there were a total of five girls and five boys. Two of the girls and one boy started screaming wildly as soon as they arrived, clutching different parts of their bodies as if they were in great pain.
Other players frowned upon seeing this scene, clearly dissatisfied with the presence of a newbie in the dungeon who only knew how to shout.
Despite veteran players like Cheng Hai who like to use newcomers as stepping stones, most veteran players still prefer to be lone wolves. For them, it is much easier to go through the levels separately unless necessary, which is a common problem after completing the tenth dungeon.
Judging from the veteran players' behavior, this group was full of lone wolf players who didn't seem to have any intention of cooperating. They were very disdainful of the newcomers, and even showed disdain for Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang who were standing very close to each other. There's no way around it; couples are disliked everywhere, especially a male-female pair.
Upon entering the instance, firsthand information and information provided by the referee are crucial. Experienced players often overlook newcomers who still need guidance, and skillfully check their own equipment.
Judging from their attire, the ten players all wore different clothes. Some were dressed like beggars, like Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan, while others wore student-style clothes like the newcomers. Some wore suits, skirts, and pure white bodysuits in a sci-fi style. Each player had a screen in front of them with different content and different page decorations.
Wu Wangwang's piece is orange, with a osmanthus rabbit flying to the moon hanging in the upper right corner; Ling Yuanshan's piece is grayish-blue, with dull ash constantly falling from the border, and the other pieces seem to be decorated according to the preferences of the people who are impersonating others.
The instance refreshes the character's status, and the three newcomers quickly realized they were still alive. The girl in the sailor uniform sat up, looking around blankly: "Wasn't I dead?"
Other players don't respond at all. Ling Yuanshan usually helps newbies. This is a psychological barrier he developed after accidentally letting a fellow player die when he first brought him into the dungeon. He felt it was his fault, so every time after that, he couldn't help but help newbies.
Presumably, his tenth instance was also related to this content, but since he survived, there must have been a change in his mindset. For example, if these three newcomers couldn't perform like the eight students in the previous instance, he would probably abandon them immediately.
This is not hypocrisy; it is kindness that is willing to give even while protecting oneself.
Ling Yuanshan told them, "This is the Night of Return, a death escape game. You were all on the verge of death in reality, so you entered this game. If you survive in this game, you can go back and live. If you die in the instance, you will die in reality despite attempts to save you."
All three were young people, and Ling Yuanshan had already explained the key points in just a few words. After thinking for a while, the boy in the sports uniform and the girl in the sailor uniform stood up and decided to try to survive. The other girl in the shirt and pleated skirt uniform sat on the ground and hesitated for a long time, asking if they could just give up the game.
This statement drew the attention of even veteran players.
The girl clutched her neck, tears still welling in her eyes from the thought of hanging herself: "I committed suicide; I didn't intend to live."
The veteran players had seen this kind of person many times before, so they remained silent and continued checking their belongings. Only the two newcomers and Ling Yuanshan showed a slightly reluctant expression. As modern young people, they could understand how much determination it took for some people to choose to end their own lives.
Life must have been very painful for them to act this way, just like Wu Wangwang's original form.
Just then, a robot dressed in a long robe appeared inside the room. Its eyes were blue, formed from countless stars, like the starry sky in broad daylight.
The robot spoke in a gentle male voice: "The decision to die is caused by a variety of factors. Don't make such a decision too early. Perhaps after a long journey, you will find a new meaning to life. Hello, I am the referee for this instance. This instance is quite special, so I need to introduce the background setting to you first..."
No one knows what this robot is capable of, but when he speaks, all the players can quickly calm down and concentrate on listening to him explain the background of the dungeon.
This instance depicts a world ruled by artificial intelligence, where humans no longer have the right to freely create life. The entire world is governed by the most powerful AI, which makes optimal decisions that no life can disobey.
After entering the age of mechanical dominance, humans, whose brains function far less efficiently than machines, are often categorized into different classes based on their abilities. The intelligent brain then selects the most outstanding genes from among these individuals to continue cultivating even smarter children.
However, these bright children, in the end, will choose to become fusion life forms of electro-biomass, that is, half-human and half-machine.
In addition, there are intelligent electronic life forms. The dungeon features a mix of these three life forms: pure humans, half-humans, and electronic life forms.
A month ago, a serious conflict broke out between pure humans and semi-humans. The conflict stemmed from a debate over whether humans should choose to evolve in the direction of electromechanical evolution, and pure humans suffered a crushing defeat.
The electronic life form reported to the AI, allowing the AI to make a decision. At that time, the AI decided to maintain the current three-way balance so that it could develop further in the future.
However, conflict has already occurred, friction continues, and the number of pure humans is rapidly decreasing, forcing the AI to intervene in this vicious cycle.
But before it could successfully intervene, the electronic life forms issued a revolutionary order. They wanted to dominate the world and exterminate both pure humans and half-humans. After all, they were electronic life forms and did not have the inferior genes in human flesh and blood, so why should they abide by the artificial intelligence rules written for them by humans?
The balance of power was disrupted. As the world's ruler, the AI should have used its greatest authority to handle the situation properly. However, during the war between pure humans and half-humans, a data link was destroyed, causing the command link to become unusable.
The electronic life form seized the opportunity to take control of the AI's main control room, preventing its commands from even leaving the main control room.
Mechanical authority is absolute, and the AI is not afraid of it. It just needs time. But at this damned moment, pure humans, with the help of half-humans, sneaked into the control room. Although pure humans, who have no electronic devices installed, are weak in combat, it also means that they can be free from the AI's control for a short period of time.
Pure humans stole the core of the AI, reasoning that it was for self-preservation; only with the AI could they have a chance of surviving under the dual pressure of half-humans and electronic life forms.
The referee raised his hand, revealing an irregularly shaped chip that shimmered with light in his palm: "This is the core of the AI. You are all pure humans. Your mission is to evade the pursuit of the three parties and find the possibility of coexistence between humans and the AI."
Some veteran players disagreed, immediately saying, "How is that possible? I've been to other sci-fi future dungeons, and humans and machines always end up estranged. Humanity's inherent flaws and the absolute rationality of AI are inherently incompatible. How could a few of us possibly accomplish something like this?"
The girl in the sailor uniform whispered, "Yeah, and we're all pure humans, so why are we being hunted down by three parties?"
The referee let out a mechanical laugh: "Haha, because you do not belong to any faction, you are only classified as pure humans. In reality, you are a self-organized group of pure idealists who tricked half-humans into helping you and ruined the plans of electronic life. You must persevere for your dreams to the very end."
The so-called dream is probably a world of great harmony and peace, but how is that possible?
Even among pure humans, there are already ten outstanding individuals like the Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix Chick, let alone three species with completely different structures.
The referee handed out the AI, which floated among the players, and continued, "No matter what method you use, even if it's helping the AI return to the control room to regain power and forcefully suppress it, as long as you achieve coexistence, you'll pass the level."
Ling Yuanshan immediately understood the referee's meaning: "So, even if we just restore the current state of this instance to what it was a month ago, it still counts as a successful completion?"
"Of course it counts. Moreover, considering that you have difficulty using high-level equipment, you can ask the AI for help an unlimited number of times. Also, let me tell you something: the other three factions each have ten players. Their mission is different from yours. For world peace, try to survive." After the referee finished speaking, he disappeared from the spot, just like the referees in other instances.
Silence fell over the large white house. Ling Yuanshan spoke first, explaining to Wu Wangwang, "This is essentially an escort mission, much easier than I expected."
As soon as the words were spoken, the colored chip suddenly emitted a voice: "Thinking is not easy. The main control room has been divided. Even if you release me, I will lose more than 70% of my permissions and will not be able to regain control of all systems."
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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]
Wu Wangwang: I didn't understand a word, but based on my years of experience reading novels, we can totally learn from the protagonist, wipe out all life, and then rebuild our homes [starry-eyed]
Ling Yuanshan: ...Can we watch something normal from now on? [Laughing and crying while covering face]
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