Chapter 159 Rebooter Base - 16 *** ……
***
The group of six was quickly descending the wet stairs. They did not take the elevator as instructed by the female poisoner, since the elevator was controlled by the research institute's main computer, and they could not be sure that the main computer would obey them.
While they were talking to the female poisoner, the water level dropped. When they reached the sixteenth basement level, they saw the body of a researcher lying on the steps. The body was swollen from being submerged in water and had fallen down due to the drop in water level.
Tang Bufan glanced at the corpse with some guilt. He couldn't say he wasn't responsible for its death, but they needed to leave as soon as possible, so he could only suppress his emotions and continue with Lu Yi.
As they approached the -22nd floor, Evelyn's gentle electronic voice suddenly rang out: "Louis, Miss Fang Yue has sent a communication."
Lu paused as he walked downstairs, then replied, "Connected."
A virtual screen popped up in the air, and Fang Yue, dressed in a smart business suit, appeared on the screen. She still had exquisite makeup on, but her expression was slightly tired, revealing a sense of travel fatigue. Judging from the background behind her, she was hiding in a toilet at this moment.
"Mr. Louis, is it convenient for you to talk now?" Fang Yue asked Lu Yi in a low voice.
Because Lu Yi stopped, Sirius and the others also stopped. Lu Yi then looked at them and ordered, "Sirius, you and Fick go down first and take control of the main brain of this research institute. Fick, you take good care of R5166. Anderson, you... do as you please."
Anderson was satisfied. He leaned against the railing and rested his elbow on it, making it clear that he intended to stay and listen to their conversation.
Sirius and Fick received their orders and continued down with r5166. After they had descended two levels, Lu Yi looked at Fang Yue on the virtual screen again: "Please speak."
"I'm on Guo Shen's warship now, and we're about to reach the sea area where you are. I want to ask you... do you still remember the promise you made to me back then?" Fang Yue looked at Lu Yi with a little nervousness.
In fact, Lu Yi had already guessed the purpose of her call. He nodded: "Of course, if it weren't for the pass you gave me, Miss Fang Yue, we wouldn't have been able to successfully invade this island. I won't hurt your brother, nor will I hand him over to Guo Shen."
When Lu Yi suddenly pointed out her true relationship with Zero, Fang Yue's expression flashed with a slight panic, but she quickly gave a bitter smile and let out a long sigh of relief.
"So you already knew..." Fang Yue said in a low voice. Ever since her brother decided to erase her identity in the underground city, this matter had become a secret she could never tell.
"It was my teacher who told me." Lu Yi gave Tang Bufan a quick shot to let Fang Yue know that he was still safe.
Tang Bufan and Fang Yue nodded to each other across the camera, and then Fang Yue apologized to Tang Bufan: "I'm so sorry that my brother used you as an experiment, Madam."
"..." As a victim, receiving an apology from the perpetrator's family, Tang Bufan felt a mix of emotions. Even though he harbored a lot of resentment towards Zero, Fang Yue was innocent. So he remained silent for a moment, not venting the resentment he had suppressed for so long on Fang Yue. He simply lowered his head and looked at the wet steps, saying, "It's already like this, so... let it be."
After he finished speaking, his throat inexplicably felt sore. Perhaps he really lacked an apology. In order not to lose control of his emotions, Tang Bufan turned to look at Lu Yi beside him. His handsome and cute face immediately comforted him a lot.
Although he lost his original life, he gained another life, it's just a pity... Tang Bufan quietly touched his flat stomach.
Lu Yi and Anderson both noticed his little action.
"The child is still alive," Lu Yi quickly told Tang Bufan, trying to calm him down.
Tang Bufan stood there, stunned.
Lu Yi then looked at Fang Yue, his expression turning serious: "We need to crack the research institute's security system now. Considering the Rebooters' technological level, the Western Federation's network technicians might not be able to handle it. Can Miss Fang Yue help us?"
Fang Yue hesitated briefly, then nodded: "I have indeed won over some people from the Academy of Sciences. I can let them participate in the system cracking, but Mr. Louis needs to guarantee me that after taking control of the research institute, he will not harm any of the Rebooters. They are the descendants of our Chinese nation."
Lu Yi agreed without hesitation: "I have no intention of harming any human being. You know my position, Miss Fang Yue. I have always been committed to reconciliation between humans and animals."
Fang Yue immediately relaxed and was satisfied: "I'm relieved to have your promise."
Lu Yi has an excellent reputation among humans, which is why Fang Yue sought his help instead of making a deal with Guo Shen. Guo Shen's stance has always been on the side of the orcs, and even the more benevolent Guo Wen prioritizes the orcs.
After Fang Yue finished speaking, she thought for a moment and was about to end the call: "If you break through the research institute's security system, my brother will definitely come to stop you. I will go to him to negotiate and buy you some time. My AI will help you contact the researchers in the East District Underground City."
She ended the communication with Lu Yi after she finished speaking.
The stairwell fell silent again, and Tang Bufan, who had been in a daze for a long time, finally came to his senses. He anxiously asked Lu Yi, "How come the child is still alive? My stomach had been hurting for a long time when Zero caught me here."
“After you fell into a coma that night, my father made a deal with Zero. He allowed Zero to take you away, but on the condition that the embryo of our child be left behind,” Lu Yi said softly. In fact, he hadn’t cared much about the child. After learning that his genes were normal, he stopped paying attention to him. So much so that he had forgotten to tell Tang Bufan about it even after seeing him for so long: “He is being raised in the incubation chamber now. He is an orc boy. Dr. Bohr said he is very healthy.”
Tang Bufan listened blankly, then turned to Anderson, who seemed indifferent, and asked, "Do you know about this?"
“I know.” Anderson reached up and touched his face, his fingertips able to feel the slightly raised scar, left from his fight with Zero that night.
Tang Bufan was getting annoyed: "Then why aren't you telling me?"
Anderson lowered his hand and sneered, "Why should I tell you? I just want to make you suffer."
He still resents Tang Bufan for discovering Zero much earlier that night, yet he kept it a secret from him and Lu Yi, thinking he could handle it himself—it was incredibly foolish.
"You! You..." Tang Bufan felt like strangling him.
Anderson saw his furious expression, a smirk playing on his lips, and let out another cold laugh. Lu Yi quickly wrapped his arms around Tang Bufan, who was tense with anger, and continued walking down with him, saying, "Alright, let's hurry down and meet up with Sirius and the others."
Tang Bufan, thinking that business was more important, could only glare at Anderson again before walking downstairs with Lu Yi.
The three arrived at the 22nd basement level and saw a large, brightly lit door in the distance. They hurried over and went inside. There, they saw a small, green, poisonous girl sitting on a spacious control panel, swinging her legs. Sirius and Fick were standing together in front of dozens of virtual screens, trying to crack the research institute's system. Sirius was responsible for inputting the code, while Fick was responsible for plugging and unplugging the wires under his and the AI's instructions.
Several screens were floating around the two of them, displaying the faces of researchers from the Western Federation, who were providing them with remote assistance.
Soon, the researchers from the Eastern District Underground City that Fang Yue had recruited also joined the cracking effort.
Tang Bufan didn't understand these things, so he didn't go over to disturb him. He circled around the huge control room and found the r5166 locked in the corner.
He didn't look well. Tang Bufan squatted down and lifted his face, finding his eyes somewhat blank and his forehead covered in a fine sweat.
Tang Bufan wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but his face seemed more like a girl's... that girl with her toes dangling.
"Mother." He called Tang Bufan's name softly.
"Yes, I'm here." Tang Bufan could see that he was mutating, and he couldn't stop it or know how to comfort him, so he could only reach out and hug him tenderly.
Lu Yi watched from the side with a hint of envy; that embrace smelled wonderful.
After being embraced by Tang Bufan, r5166's symptoms eased somewhat, but not much. Soon after, Evelyn reported: "Louis, Fang Yue, representing the Eastern District Underground City, has initiated a multi-party summit negotiation meeting. Should we attend?"
Lu Yi straightened his expression, walked to a corner away from Sirius and the others, and used his fingers to comb his wet, golden curls, pulling them all back as if he had used hair gel.
His handsome face suddenly became much more serious and dignified. Tang Bufan looked over while holding r5166 and actually saw a little bit of Hans's shadow.
This child looks like both his mother and his father. Tang Bufan thought to himself.
"Attend the meeting," Lu Yi said solemnly after tidying his appearance.
A few seconds later, several virtual screens popped up in front of him, showing Zero, Fang Yue, Guo Shen, and the current head of the Northern Federation, an old man with gray eyes.
***
Zero looked at Fang Yue through the screen, his heart filled with hatred.
After discovering that the d0328 offspring had restored power to the research institute, he immediately dispatched a team of androids. Since the location of the Rebooter base had already been exposed, he no longer hesitated and directly reactivated the satellite permissions that Fang Yue had closed, regaining control of two-thirds of the satellites in the East District Underground City.
These satellites were naturally developed and launched by the Academy of Sciences of the Eastern Underground City, while the remaining one-third were commercial satellites manufactured by the New Business Alliance and controlled only by Fang Yue.
Traitor. Zero's eyes were a little red as he stared directly at his blood-related older sister through the screen.
Fang Yue could see the hatred in his eyes. She was heartbroken, but she pretended to be indifferent. She couldn't let Guo Shen know that she and Fang Hai were siblings. It would be detrimental to her future contact with Guo Shen and would also cause huge rumors in the East District Underground City. Many people wanted to dig up dirt on her. She had to secure her position first before she could protect the people she wanted to protect.
“This meeting was originally supposed to be attended by Mr. Qin Feiniao, representing the humans of the Eastern District Underground City from the peacekeeping faction. However, due to Mr. Qin Feiniao's assassination during the previous political purge of the Yu family, he is currently recuperating in the hospital. Therefore, Fang Yue from the New Business Alliance will attend on his behalf.” Fang Yue spoke slowly and calmly, then looked at Zero on the other side of the screen:
"I am delighted to learn that besides the Eastern Underground City, there is another group of people living in the world. After a period of detailed investigation, we, the people of the Eastern Underground City, have come to understand the mission of you Rebooters. We are grateful that you have not abandoned humanity, Earth, or the people of China for a thousand years. You could have traveled to the vast space in your spaceship, but you chose to stay and face the difficulties with us, fighting against the harsh Earth environment. On behalf of the people of the Eastern Underground City, I thank you."
Fang Yue, along with her secretary and dozens of human assistants, bowed deeply and solemnly to all the researchers in the Rebooters' conference hall on the other side of the screen.
Their bow stunned the researchers in the Rebooter conference room. At first, there were one or two rounds of applause, followed by enthusiastic applause from everyone. Many retired researchers with gray hair even had tears in their eyes. They had spent their lives drifting in the ocean, collecting samples and data from all over the world, studying the environment, and searching for purification solutions, all for this recognition.
As Zero listened to the applause around him and looked at his sister putting on a show, he felt even more resentful, because he knew that the more people Fang Yue gained, the fewer people would support him.
“Since you know our mission as Rebooters, why did you betray humanity?” Zero spoke up, interrupting the applause around him, and questioned his sister: “I think you should be well aware of the oppression that orcs have inflicted on humanity for the past two hundred years.”
The three orcish federation leaders present subtly changed their expressions upon hearing his accusations.
"The orcs have not oppressed humans. For hundreds of years, we have been searching for minerals, oil, timber, and other resources for you on the ground, and we have also supplied you with meat, rice, and other food when you could not meet your own needs." The gray-eyed elder of the Northern Federation spoke first in a serious tone: "I think you humans should have a sense of gratitude."
He didn't mention the history of orcs being enslaved by humans.
"I don't deny that you orcs did lend a hand when humanity was in its most difficult time, but what did you do when we recovered, started producing robots, and began trying to return to the surface and become self-reliant?" Zero questioned the old man. "You sent troops to guard the entrance to the dungeon! You prohibited all human self-reliance! Just because you were afraid that if we humans got rid of you, we wouldn't intermarry with you anymore!"
The old man frowned as Zero refuted him: "The ground is not yet suitable for human survival. The supplies we have worked so hard to provide are not for you humans to use to manufacture expensive robots and protective suits, but for you to produce necessities. Your actions are wasting our resources."
"So you're just giving us food?" Zero sneered, and his words aroused righteous indignation among the researchers behind him. Their indomitable will was unacceptable to the Orcs, who kept humans locked up underground and "raised" them. This was one of the reasons why they wanted to eliminate the Orcs.
Seeing the situation getting out of control, Fang Yue quickly spoke up, saying calmly, "It is undeniable that there are conflicts between humans and orcs, but war is not the way to solve problems. Now, mutated poisonous humans are rampant all over the world, which has seriously affected the return of humans to the ground and also seriously threatened the survival of orcs. In the face of common crisis, humans and orcs should put aside their hatred and fight the enemy together."
After Fang Yue finished speaking, she looked at Zero with a meaningful gaze: "I heard that the Rebooters have found the weaknesses of those mutated poison people and have developed a way to kill them, is that right?"
Zero was slightly taken aback. Fang Yue was well aware that he was the one who led the research on those mutated poisoners, but her words were clearly an attempt to absolve the Rebooters of any connection.
Seeing that Zero remained silent, an elderly man beside him decisively stood up from his chair. Understanding Fang Yue's meaning, he spoke up: "Yes, those mutated poison people have attracted our attention since they appeared. After our hard work and research, we have now tested a method to make them die quickly, but..."
The old man abruptly changed the subject, his wrinkled eyes sharply fixed on the three orc leaders present: "We, the Rebooters, wish to represent humanity and renegotiate an agreement with the orcs."
The gray-eyed old man frowned immediately. The current peace treaty was very advantageous to the orcs. He did not want humans to get rid of their dependence on the orcs. However, the rampant spread of mutated poison people had indeed seriously threatened the survival of the orcs on the ground. So he looked at Fang Yue through the screen with hostility, cursing the woman's cunning in his heart. She had actually given the Rebooters a bargaining chip in their negotiations.
At this moment, Guo Shen lazily spoke up: "But as far as I know, the mutated poison people were created by you Rebooters, right?"
"You're spouting nonsense and making baseless accusations." The white-haired old man next to Zero lied and denied it without even thinking: "The Poison People are just like you Orcs; their genes are very prone to mutation. They've been exposed to radiation on the ground for a thousand years. We've discovered and recorded over a thousand cases of mutations. What makes you think we invented them?"
“We found your Rebooters stuff on many of the toxic people,” Guo Shen said: “Beacons, messages, markers.”
“Those are the tags we used to study them.” The white-haired old man was old but clear-headed: “We mark animals. We even train monkeys, mice and dolphins. What’s all the fuss about?”
"..." Guo Shen was momentarily speechless.
Seeing that the white-haired old man had gained the upper hand and had successfully caught the chips she had thrown out, Fang Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad that there were other influential high-ranking members among the Rebooters, and that it wasn't just her brother's one-man show.
"Could you tell me about the new agreement?" Lu Yi, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. Of the three orc leaders present, he was the only one who genuinely had something to say about it.
Guo Shen and the gray-eyed old man from the Northern Federation immediately tensed up. They both knew that Lu Yi was famously biased towards humans. If he really made a deal with the Rebooters, would the orcs still be able to reliably obtain humans every year?
Just as they were about to interrupt Lu Yi, a gloomy voice spoke first: "Without an agreement, humans will not reach another agreement with orcs."
Everyone looked at Zero, who was dressed in a white lab coat and wearing glasses. He coldly looked at Fang Yue and said, "I know what you're up to. You want to use orcs to build a new ground base for humans, but your idea is too naive and short-sighted. Yes, orcs and humans can maintain peace in the short term, but you need to know that the technological gap between orcs and humans is constantly narrowing, and their physical abilities far surpass those of humans. When they completely equalize their technological level with humans one day in the future, what will we humans rely on to coexist with them on an equal footing!"
Zero grew increasingly angry as he spoke, and he couldn't help but shout at Fang Yue: "In the face of absolute power... all peace is nothing but a matter of being at someone else's mercy!"
His back was ramrod straight, his voice firm and resonant. Fang Yue, facing his hateful gaze, paled slightly. Zero turned to all the researchers in the conference room and continued indignantly, "Now, an opportunity to annihilate the orcs is right in front of us! I know there will be casualties in war, but... but! How can humanity say it has risen again without fighting this war! Our mission as Rebooters is to restart human civilization! But with the orcs growing stronger and having no voice in the future, can we still say we have fulfilled our mission?!"
Zero glared angrily at each of his companions, pounding his mechanical fist against his chest: "Ask yourselves honestly! Do you want to live on your knees, or die standing?"
As soon as he finished speaking, most of the researchers stood up excitedly. Lin Xia sat in the corner of the conference room, looking at Zero with mixed feelings. Many years ago, Zero, who was only in his early twenties, had gained 70% support with such a speech and outstanding academic achievements.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control again, Fang Yue panicked. Looking at her younger brother, who was yelling until his face was red, her eyes even welled up with tears. She couldn't help but clasp her hands together in front of the camera and call out to her brother through the screen in a choked voice: "Ah Hai... Ah Hai... No... It's not like that... You have to think about it, we only have less than 100 million people now... Ah Hai..."
However, Zero ignored her completely, his back to the screen. Fang Yue could only plead with the white-haired old man through her tears, begging, "Sir, old man... I beg you to listen to the voices of the humans in the dungeon... We've been trapped underground for a thousand years... The children don't even know what the sun and moon are... When humanity was at its peak... we had 10 billion people... But because of war... because of war... 9.9 billion of us died... Now we're about to come out... We've reached an agreement with the orcs... We'll be able to emerge from underground soon... I beg you, don't let war destroy all of this again... I beg you..."
Fang Yue burst into tears. As a leader, she had lost her composure. So her secretary, Yang Fengqing, came out from behind, put his arm around her, and handed her a handkerchief.
Chaos erupted. Guo Shen and the leader of the Northern Federation, seeing the researchers who had become increasingly agitated, both hardened their expressions. Just as they were about to order their subordinates to prepare for battle, a young and gentle voice rang out:
"Our Western Federation will abolish the peace treaty."
These words, like a gentle breeze, swept into the sweltering and chaotic meeting room, instantly clearing everyone's minds.
Everyone turned their heads in astonishment, staring at the gentle-looking young man. Even Sirius and Fick, who were cracking the security system, were stunned, staring blankly at their superior.
Lu Yi calmly looked at everyone through the camera and continued in a steady and sincere tone: "In the name of the Western Federation's leader, I hereby declare that starting next year, we will no longer demand that humans hand over a hundred prisoners in accordance with the peace treaty. I will join forces with Miss Fang Yue to select a suitable site and establish a mixed human-beast settlement. It will be a place with clean air, and also a place with new systems and new laws. Humans will educate the beastmen culture with wisdom, while the beastmen will protect human survival with strength."
After Lu Yi finished speaking, he looked at the white-haired old man next to Zero. Although he didn't know who he was, he knew that this old man had an influence among the Rebooters that was no less than Zero's: "If the Rebooters can provide guidance and assistance to the Western Federation in the construction of the base, I will be extremely grateful. At the same time, I hope that you can read a research report from our Western Federation on the conversion of dominant to recessive genes. Our researchers have been looking for a way to stabilize the genes of the orcs, and now they have made some progress and breakthroughs."
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