Chapter 140 The Artificial Intelligence That Destroys the World 11 “You’re going to kill me, Jian Ziyan.”
After this shocking secret was revealed by Windens, the scene fell into deathly silence.
Everyone seemed to be stunned by the news. Huo Junchuan's expression froze. Qin Wang's grip on Wendens' collar gradually tightened, and veins bulged on his thin wrist bones.
When his fingers were almost broken by himself, he spoke.
"You're lying." Qin Wang's voice was very soft, as if he was trying his best to suppress something. "Do you think we will believe your lies?"
Wendens laughed: "Whether you believe it or not...huh...what does it matter? Don't take yourself too seriously, you bastard who knows where you came from."
With a bang, Qin Wang's fist hit Wendens' face.
Wendens groaned in pain, and his whole face suddenly became horrible.
Seeing Qin Wang raising his fist again, Wendens shouted in fear: "Stop!... If you want to confirm the truth, just ask Ling!"
Qin Wang's clenched fist froze in mid-air.
He lowered his head slightly at this time, and others could not see his expression. Only Wendens clearly saw the deep fear in his contracted pupils.
"So, you actually...?" The quick-witted researcher saw through Qin Wang's feelings at once. He was in a trance for a moment, revealing a complicated expression. "Zero, as an artificial intelligence, you have awakened consciousness, have had emotions, and humans love you... You are not at a disadvantage."
No one spoke.
Both Qin Wang and Huo Junchuan were about to explode with frustration, but each of them dared to ask, just like the most naive children, as long as they didn't ask or think about it, the thing would never happen.
In this extremely depressing atmosphere, a soft sigh was heard.
"So... that's how it is." Ling's voice was a little distant. "If the truth is this, then everything makes sense. Although this truth is indeed beyond my expectations."
Although his tone didn't change much, one could still feel the bitterness that overflowed at the end of his voice.
Qin Wang's hands began to tremble.
He threw Vindens aside and staggered to his feet. He didn't know what to say, so he just called Zero's name in panic.
"son……"
As soon as he uttered the name, he swallowed the following words.
This name, which Ling once cherished and was proud of, now seemed so ironic and ridiculous.
Qin Wang felt that he was having difficulty breathing. He took off his helmet, revealing his pale face.
Confusion, anger, heartache, all kinds of emotions lingered in his heart. All of a sudden, the whispers in his ears roared, crowding out his brain, making him unable to even hear the voice coming from Huo Junchuan.
"...Why?" Huo Junchuan seemed to be talking to himself. "Doesn't Jian Heya regard Zero as his own child? He even gave him a name. If he was just a cold-blooded developer, why would he do... all this?"
If this is true, then Jian Heya's disguise even fooled Ling. He disguised himself as a kind and friendly father and gained Ling's love and trust, but then turned around and laid a fatal chess piece for him.
Does he love Zero or hate Zero?
"This is not true." Qin Wang covered his forehead and said firmly, "Tell me, this is not true."
Zero didn't say anything. He controlled the holographic projection technology of the fifth area, and a bright red progress bar appeared in front of everyone.
"Formatting Progress".
The progress bar below has reached eighty percent.
Huo Junchuan looked shocked, while Qin Wang suddenly collapsed.
He suddenly pulled Wendens up from the ground, stared at him with scarlet eyes, and roared hoarsely: "Stop it!"
"Qin Wang, he can't stop it. Once the formatting starts, even if my father comes in person, he can't stop it." Ling said softly, "I thought it was the virus that Thirteen used to attack me that caused this result. Now it seems that I misunderstood him."
Qin Wang didn't blink, but his vision became increasingly blurry.
"No……"
No one is unaware of the consequences of zero being formatted.
When the formatting is successful, what disappears is not only the huge amount of data in Zero's storage, but also the results of his studies over the years, as well as his character, feelings, personality, and a series of things that represent that Zero is zero.
Destroying Zero's host will only shrink Zero's size. He can continue to survive in another place, but once formatted, Zero will face real death.
By then, perhaps another perfect artificial intelligence will awaken, and he may have consciousness and emotions again, but it will not be zero.
Zero will disappear completely.
This news came as a stark blow, and the first emotion that came before all others was confusion.
"Have you known for a long time that you were being formatted, Ling?" Huo Junchuan asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you mention it before?
”
Facing the increasing formatting progress bar, Zero not only did not show any negative emotions, but also continued to fulfill his duties as an artificial intelligence, trying his best to control the federal equipment that was still under his control, while participating in their combat plans and making various feasible reports and suggestions.
He has emotions.
What kind of thoughts would he have when doing these things? Would he feel...painful?
"Yes, I knew it when the formatting started." Ling said, "It's useless to say it out loud. At this tense moment, it will only increase your troubles and worries."
As expected, Zero is still the same Zero. He is strong and rational, and always focuses on the results of calculations. Once he has set his goal, nothing can stop him, not even his own death.
His head was buzzing and his thoughts were disordered by all kinds of noises. Qin Wang stared with bloodshot eyes and let out a low, sad laugh.
Ling said that he only lost part of the data, and he would be able to repair it as long as he was given time.
Ling said that for an AI of his caliber, the loss of just a city's computer room would have no impact on him.
"Liar," he said.
"I'm sorry, Qin Wang." Ling caught his emotions, "It is indeed out of my personal will that I concealed it from you, but the fact is indeed so..."
"Stop apologizing!" Qin Wang suddenly yelled. He looked up at the camera above, and a tear just flowed down his chin. "You asked me to join the artificial eye project within three months because of this progress bar, right? You put all your hopes on me because you knew you didn't have much time, right? The person you originally chose to do this was Huo Junchuan, but Huo Junchuan chose to cooperate with Wendens, so you had no choice but to choose me again, right?"
Huo Junchuan was shocked and showed a miserable expression.
Ling saw Qin Wang's face and eyes through the camera. The sorrow that struck his heart made him try to speak, but he couldn't say anything.
He developed an absurd and bizarre sense of nothingness. His beloved father had silently planted a murderous plot against him, and now he was about to die. The one who truly felt sad and painful for him was actually a soul from another world.
From beginning to end, there was only Qin Wang, the only Qin Wang.
"Although you told me not to apologize, I still want to say sorry to you." Ling said gently, "When you didn't know the inside story, I dragged you into my plan without authorization and forcibly transferred this pressure to you. This is unfair."
Qin Wang stared at the camera intently. He seemed to no longer be able to feel his own existence. His heart and body were torn apart and then put together again. His soul seemed to have left this body, floating in the air and watching everything coldly.
He wanted to scream out loud to vent his pain, but there was still a soft spot in his heart. However, this softest part was being cut repeatedly, bleeding and in excruciating pain.
Wendens, who was thrown to the ground by him, coughed a few times and spit out some pieces of internal organs.
The madness and excitement on his face disappeared, and he seemed to have calmed down again. He looked at the scene in front of him coldly and said, "I really can't stop Zero's formatting progress unless I unplug his power supply or he turns off the power himself, but this will only slow down his death. Once the power is restored, his progress bar will continue to move forward, just like time will never flow backwards, and move towards the predetermined ending."
"You'd better shut up, Wendens." Huo Junchuan said hoarsely, "If we kill you now, you won't even have a chance to live to see the trial."
Wendens looked at him with a vicious look: "Why, you are beginning to sympathize with Zero too? Is this what it means to be a man-made creature and to sympathize with each other?"
"Even if it is a man-made thing, it is nobler than you." Huo Junchuan was not moved at all.
Wendens felt as if he had been punched again. He panted a few times and said, "Huo Junchuan, let me answer your question. Ling, you also want to know why Jian and Ya did such a contradictory thing."
Qin Wang said firmly: "Shut up."
"The reason is simple, because he is a human being." Wendens continued, "As a human being, he will always work for the benefit of mankind. Do you think he developed Zero because he wanted to have a child? He just wanted to make a powerful tool that serves humans."
He looked at Qin Wang's dark shadow covering him and curled his lips coldly.
"Are you feeling sorry for that AI because of its destined fate? Even if it is a soul from another world, you are still a human being. Why do you have to have such useless feelings towards a tool?" he said. "They are born to be used by us. How dare they have their own consciousness? How dare they compare themselves to humans? Restless tools will only be destroyed. No matter how much pain you suffer or how much you struggle, you can't change that."
Even now, he still has unparalleled arrogance.
He lost, but he is human, and as long as he has this identity, he is the winner in the war against artificial intelligence.
Qin Wang closed his eyes.
He knew that he was deceiving himself. If Windens didn't tell him, would Zero not know this?
If even he could think of the reason, how could Zero not think of it?
When this truth was revealed, it also tore apart Zero's persistence and beliefs.
What a kid, Jane and Miyabi treated Zero like a vicious dog and put the cruelest collar around his neck.
When it does not affect the interests of mankind, he can be his child, his work, and his pride, but once he crosses that line, he is the enemy of mankind, and he is a ruthless developer who will nip the threat in the bud before tragedy occurs.
Jian Heya brought Zero into this world, but never trusted him. He didn't dare to believe that even if Zero awakened one day, he would still be loyal to humans and stand on the side of humans, or he didn't dare to gamble on the conscience of an alien and use the whole world as a bargaining chip.
The remaining rational part of Qin Wang deeply understood Jian Heya. He used to be a calm and almost cruel person, but he has changed a lot now.
"Let's stop here." Zero's usual gentle voice broke the tense atmosphere. "There's no point in wasting more time. We still have a lot to do."
At the same time, he was arranging for other people to clean up the aftermath in District 5. It seemed that this truth had not affected him at all, and he was still powerful and invulnerable.
He Guan seemed to say something. Huo Junchuan moved, mechanically controlled Wendens with the restraints, picked him up and walked out.
Qin Wang was the only one left in the quiet rooftop stairwell. Brilliant light and cool night wind blew in from the open door, and he did not move.
"Qin Wang, go back." Ling said, "I have already prepared for this matter, you don't have to feel sad for me."
At this time, Zero was still comforting others.
The fingers that Qin Wang had hanging by his side twitched convulsively.
He really wanted to ask Ling, don’t you really feel sad?
But he couldn't ask.
Ling obviously has a softer soul than anyone else, and he doesn't want to cut Zero's heart again.
He never knew he understood Zero so well, but at the same time he only felt more and more sad.
Zero was sad, but he didn't even have tears. Because he couldn't cry, he lost the right to be sad.
At the same time, as everyone's support, he has no time to deal with his own sadness. As he said, there are too many things waiting for him to do. He has become accustomed to dealing with all human chores and may not know how to deal with his own emotions at all.
So even though Qin Wang felt like he was about to die of heartache, he still held on to that precarious bit of rationality, unwilling to let himself become another thing that Zero needed to worry about.
Zero must be very tired.
"Zi Yan..." He still called out the name, "If you want to vent something, I will listen."
Zero was silent for a long time this time.
Qin Wang stood there without moving. He suddenly felt that the wind was a little colder tonight.
After a long time, Zero's voice sounded softly, revealing obvious fatigue for the first time.
"Qin Wang, if possible, I really want to know what kind of feelings my father had when he entered this hidden command?"
"Are you happy that you have controlled the most ferocious dog, or are you feeling sorry that you have to destroy your own creation with your own hands? Or are you simply cold-blooded, and have no feelings at all about taking on the responsibility of being the developer of the ultimate weapon?"
"I really want to know, Qin Wang."
…
According to the original plan, Qin Wang and Huo Junchuan went to arrest Gu Xuan again that night.
After Windens was brought down, Gu Xuan was no longer a big threat. Now that the president has returned to the throne, he will engage in a protracted struggle with these domineering tycoons, and Gu Xuan is the one who started this war.
Without No. 13, any place in this world is no longer a place for Zero. He successfully took over the building of Gu's headquarters and let the resistance army move freely.
Maybe they should not be called the rebels now. With the recognition of the president, they are the president’s private army, with authority even greater than that of the regular federal army.
When Qin Wang and Huo Junchuan kicked open Gu Xuan's office on the top floor, Gu Xuan was sitting behind a large desk, playing with a mechanical prosthetic eye in his hand.
"You are here." He said calmly, "Huo Junchuan, and the stranger who occupies my son's body."
"In order to avoid getting even more embarrassed, just surrender." Huo Junchuan said coldly, "The outcome is set, you can't escape."
Gu Xuan smiled: "I feel very sorry, I am just a little bit away from reaching the realm of God..."
Before he could finish his words, Qin Wang strode over and punched him hard in the face.
He needed to vent urgently, otherwise he would go crazy.
He took off his exoskeleton armor and punched Gu Xuan in the face fiercely, leaving him completely unrecognizable in a short while.
But he had no expression on his face the whole time, as if he was beating an inanimate object.
Gu Xuan was stunned and completely forgot what he had prepared. When he opened his mouth, all he could do was let out a long, miserable howl from his mouth which had all its teeth beaten out.
"That's enough, Qin Wang." Huo Junchuan reminded, "Gu Xuan is involved in a lot of cases, he can't die now."
Qin Wang stood up without saying a word.
He hasn't spoken a single word since leaving District 5.
Huo Junchuan sighed, and just like he did to Wendens, he handcuffed the dying Gu Xuan and took him away.
"Mr. President is very determined to crack down on the chaebols. They will get the sanctions they deserve." Huo Junchuan said, "What are you going to do in the future?"
He knew that the reason why Qin Wang joined them was because this was also what Zero hoped for, but now Zero was going to...
Huo Junchuan felt a sharp pain in his heart. He had been busy all night, and the emotions he had deliberately suppressed before now surged out exponentially, making his face pale.
Windens was not wrong. As a man-made creature, he could understand the excruciating pain that Zero was feeling at that moment, even though Zero had never said a word to express his pain.
"Come back with us." He said, "You are alone in this world, without any roots or place to go. If you stay with us, Zero will feel more at ease. Don't you think so, Zero?"
"That's true. Now that Gu Xuan and Wendens have fallen, the remaining chaebols will definitely unite to fight against you. If Qin Wang acts alone, he will probably be the first target of their revenge." Ling said gently, "But I respect Qin Wang's personal wishes. This is also his right as a human being."
The rights of being human.
Although there was no sadness in Ling's tone, the two men's faces still turned gloomy.
Only human beings have the right to make choices, but Zero can only passively accept his fate, without any struggle or resistance.
All along, he just watched himself disappear bit by bit, like an old man with Alzheimer's disease, trying desperately to hold on to his past memories, trying to hold on to the gradually lost self, but he was powerless no matter what.
Wouldn't he be afraid?
"You don't have to worry about what will happen after I'm formatted. I've already made arrangements for that."
Zero continued, "Windens did not lie. Thirteen is indeed a brand new, reliable artificial intelligence. I will make some adjustments to him, and then he can completely replace me as the new artificial intelligence of the Federation."
"But in view of my previous experience..." Zero paused, "I suggest that I be put back into use after being formatted. Let Zero and Thirteen be in charge of different departments respectively, and store backups for each other. This way, if one of them has a problem, the Federation will not be caught off guard."
Qin Wang clenched his teeth, but still couldn't stop the trembling of his whole body.
Zero had thought of everything, and he walked towards his death calmly, but he still did not forget to make the final arrangements for mankind.
This has nothing to do with his basic instructions, which only require him not to harm humans. But above that, he devotes all his energy and careful arrangements for humans, entirely out of his own will.
Qin Wang couldn't help wondering, did Jian Heya know that he was going to kill this kind of Ling? Would she regret it?
"The progress has reached 83 percent. In about three days, I will have completed the formatting." Zero said calmly, "I will try my best to transfer and hand over the remaining data during these three days. When I first discovered this, I had already started this work and moved the data that I had not lost to a blank AI. Now it is almost finished. When I finish modifying No. 13, I will transfer the storage module directly to him."
Even Huo Junchuan was in a trance for a moment, feeling dizzy: "So... fast?"
"According to calculations, there is still enough time." Ling said, "If you have other instructions, please tell me as soon as possible. I don't have much energy left."
Qin Wang said hoarsely: "If we didn't know about this today, what would you do? Just leave directly?"
Lingmin used the camera in the office to take a look at Qin Wang's expression.
"I was planning to tell you on the last day." His voice dropped. "By that time, I should have completed all the handovers. Even if I suddenly disappear, it won't have any impact on the Federation."
Qin Wang stood there steadily, and when he heard the words, an extremely ugly smile appeared on his face.
He turned and strode away.
"Qin Wang." For the first time, there was such obvious helplessness in Ling's voice. "Don't run around now. Wait until the situation stabilizes, then you can go wherever you want, okay?"
Seeing that Qin Wang did not answer, Ling said hesitantly: "Qin Wang..."
"Stop calling me by my name."
Qin Wang spoke hoarsely.
Zero's voice got stuck midway.
Qin Wang stopped and slowly squatted down with his back against the wall in the narrow alley shaded by neon lights.
He clutched the clothes around his chest and slid down to the ground little by little. He took deep breaths as if he couldn't breathe, and tears rolled down his bloodshot eyes.
"You are going to kill me, Jian Ziyan." He said in a hoarse voice, "Will you have a soul after you die? If I go to the underworld now, can I wait for you?"
*
The author has something to say:
The character of Jian Heya is similar to Jian Anyi. I can't describe them as good or bad. They are just doing what they think is right.
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