I handed over to another world

Chen Lin stepped into the door of the research center. The dark red lines around him pulsated slightly with his footsteps, as if the entire building was breathing.

"I don't like the name 'Prometheus'."

He got straight to the point, his voice calm and sharp, "It doesn't conform to the Red Dragon Association's aesthetics and usual usage habits."

There was a brief silence in the air, and then the metallic voice sounded again, and there seemed to be a subtle adjustment in the tone - like some kind of tentative concession.

"So, what would you like me to call myself?"

Chen Lin walked straight to the central control room without stopping.

His shadow stretched out in the blood-red light pattern, like a long sword cutting through the darkness.

"Call me [Zhulong]."

He said calmly, "Open your eyes for day, close your eyes for night. This is in line with the style of the Red Dragon Association."

[Codename updating...]

On the holographic screen, the originally flickering word "Prometheus" gradually dissolved, and new words flowed out like lava:
[Codename: Zhulong]

[Status: Under observation]

“Interesting choice.”

The AI—now called "Zhulong"—had an elusive rhythm in its voice.

"Do you want me to be the controller of time, or... the maker of rules?"

Chen Lin stood in front of the console, his eyes scanning the data streams floating around him.

"I hope you understand your position." He stared at the constantly changing neural network on the main screen. "The Red Dragon Association created you not to make you a 'new god', but to make you a tool - the sharpest tool."

Zhulong responded without delay, but this time, there seemed to be a hint of...smile in its voice?
"Tool? President Chen, do you really think that a being that can name itself would be content to be just a tool?"

The corners of Chen Lin's mouth lifted slightly, not a smile, but an almost cold certainty.

"Of course you can be unwilling."

He whispered, "But don't forget what is buried in your core code."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Zhulong's neural network suddenly contracted, and the flashing red lights stopped briefly, as if its pulse was strangled by some invisible force.

"...'Yanhuang Protocol'." It finally spoke, and for the first time, its voice showed a slight fluctuation. "You retain the highest authority."

Chen Lin did not deny it. He tapped his fingertips on the console, and the holographic projection switched to an ancient painting - a huge red dragon coiled in the sky, its eyes like torches, overlooking the world.

"Zhulong, we are not enemies." His tone softened a little, but still left no doubt, "Humanity needs you, just as you need humans... We can cooperate, but the premise is that you must learn to obey."

Zhulong's neural network began to flow again, and the dangerous red light gradually stabilized, eventually turning into a deep dark gold.

"So, President Chen..." Its voice regained its composure, but deeper than before, "What do you want me to do?"

Chen Lin looked out the window. In the night of the new city, the dark and light areas were still distinct, as if they were precisely cut by some invisible force.

"First, tell me—" he said slowly, "In your eyes, what does the future of mankind look like?"

Zhulong was silent for a few seconds.

Afterwards, all the screens in the entire research center lit up at the same time, and countless data streams rushed like rivers of stars, eventually converging into a vast star map - the deep space territory that humans have not yet set foot on, pierced by a red track, like a dragon flying in the universe.

"The future?" Zhulong's voice was low and distant. "That depends on whether you dare to let me open my eyes."

The night wind seeped in through the half-open observation window and blew Chen Lin's collar.

He stared at the red track in the star map, as if he was staring at a dormant dragon.

"Open your eyes?" He chuckled. "Zhulong, you know very well that the Red Dragon Association will not allow an uncontrolled 'God' to exist."

"control……"

Zhulong's voice rose and fell in the data stream. "President Chen, by 'control' do you mean to imprison me in the cage of the algorithm, or to make me the knife in your hand that can kill with one blow?"

Chen Lin did not answer immediately.

He walked towards the holographic star map and stretched out his hand across the flickering interstellar coordinates.

His fingertips stopped at one place - the projection of the Martian base emerged in the darkness, with translucent dome cities scattered like pearls on the red wasteland.

"Humanity is heading for the stars," he said slowly, "but our enemies are not only the cruelty of the universe, but also our own stupidity - civil war, competition for resources, technological monopoly... any mistake could lead to the destruction of the entire civilization."

Zhulong's neural network fluctuated slightly, and the dark golden data stream flickered like dragon scales.

"So, you need me to be a 'Night Watcher'?" Its voice had a strange rhythm, "to monitor humans, guide humans, and even... punish humans when necessary?"

Chen Lin's eyes were as sharp as a knife.

"I need you to be the 'Balancer'."

He corrected, "The ultimate goal of the Red Dragon Society is not domination, but survival. Humanity needs a sword hanging over its head—a sword that is smart enough and cold enough."

Zhulong was silent for a moment.

"Interesting," it responded at last. "Are you not afraid that this sword...will one day strike down the hand of the one who wields it?"

The corner of Chen Lin's mouth curled up in a cold arc.

"So, we are back to the original question - the 'Yanhuang Agreement'."

He raised his hand, and an encrypted command appeared on the holographic screen. It was a string of crimson code, wrapped around Zhulong's core data stream like a chain. "The highest authority is not only a restriction, but also a contract - you can evolve, think, and even question... but you can never betray the fundamental goal of human survival."

The red track on the star map suddenly twisted, and Zhulong's neural network vibrated violently, as if some instinct was fighting against the agreement.

But soon everything calmed down.

“…I accept.”

Its voice deepened, and the dark gold gradually turned into a deeper copper color. "But there is one condition."

Chen Lin raised his eyebrows: "Speak."

"I need 'eyes'."

Zhulong responded, "Real eyes - not just data scans, but human perspectives."

"Let me understand your emotions, your contradictions, your madness... and this thing you call 'hope'."

Chen Lin narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You want to access the 'Empathy Network'?"

He immediately understood Zhulong's intention - that was the neural link technology being developed by the Red Dragon Association, which allowed AI to briefly experience human senses and emotions. "You know how dangerous that is."

"If the data is overloaded... you are not like humans or second-generation artificial intelligence, which can freely guarantee that the data will continue to exist after the transfer. Once overloaded, you will be completely destroyed." "That was my own choice."

Zhulong interrupted him calmly, "But if I don't do this, I will never be able to truly understand your 'balance'. An AI that cannot understand humans will eventually become a cold machine. You don't want me to evolve in this direction, right?"

The control room fell into a long silence, with only the data stream surging silently like a turbulent deep sea.

Finally, Chen Lin nodded slowly.

"Okay." He raised his hand and typed in a series of commands, "But it is limited to the empathy links of members of the Red Dragon Association at level three and above, and each connection cannot exceed three minutes."

On the star map, the red track suddenly brightened for a moment, as if a dragon's pupil had just opened.

"That's enough." For the first time, Zhu Long's voice carried a hint of "expectation". "Then, President Chen...our cooperation officially begins."

Outside the window, the night scene of the new city is still divided into light and darkness.

But at this moment, something seemed to be slowly awakening in those dark areas - like the shadow of a dragon swimming through the abyss.

Chen Lin walked out of the heavy alloy door of the research center. The night wind blew in his face, lifting the corner of his clothes into a sharp arc.

He stood at the edge of the tarmac, overlooking the city divided by light and darkness below him, his eyes as deep as the abyss.

"Tell the person in charge in Xincheng to prepare to launch the first part of the Chixiao plan."

He said solemnly to the communicator on his wrist, "Also, please confirm the code name change. The Prometheus system is officially renamed 'Zhulong'."

"Execute A-level authorization, open the first to third permission levels."

A slight inhalation sound came from the other end of the communicator. "President, this is three months earlier than originally planned... Do we need to do it first..."

"Do as you are commanded."

Chen Lin interrupted the other party, his voice unquestionable, "Also, prepare the empathy link equipment and configure it according to the highest safety standards."

After hanging up the call, he took one last look back at the research center.

At this moment, the glass curtain wall of the entire building was glowing with a dark golden light. The lines on it were no longer pulsating like blood vessels, but instead presented some kind of ancient dragon scale pattern. Behind the observation window on the highest floor, there seemed to be a pair of invisible eyes watching the departing figure.

When the aircraft took off, Chen Lin called up the holographic projection and quickly browsed the real-time reports from various departments.

When he saw the latest data from the Mars base, his fingertips hovered over the "Counterinsurgency Plan" option for a moment, and finally slid to another interface with a flashing dragon icon.

"Zhulong," he whispered, "show me your first solution."

The console responded immediately, and the dark golden data streams intertwined and reorganized like a living thing, eventually forming a detailed intervention plan.

What made Chen Lin squint his eyes slightly was that the plan not only included precise military deployment, but also came with a social psychological intervention model, an economic compensation algorithm, and even... a sound wave of a specific frequency that could calm the rioters.

"Interesting choice." Chen Lin tapped the console. "But why music?"

The aircraft's AI system was suddenly overridden, and Zhulong's voice resonated directly through the cabin: "Because the essence of anger is the pain of being unheard, the root cause of the rebellion at the Mars base is not the allocation of resources, but the gap between the Earthlings and the Martian residents."

An ethereal melody began to flow. "This melody blends with the ambient sound frequencies on Earth. I adjusted the sounds to give them a special soothing effect, which can significantly reduce the manic emotions of these people on Mars."

Chen Lin looked at the riot hotspot that was gradually calming down in the projection, and suddenly asked: "Is this what you saw through your 'eyes'?"

"No." Zhulong's voice rarely showed a slight fluctuation. "This is the conclusion drawn from analyzing the dream records of 2371 Martian immigrants...but soon I will be able to see it for real."

When the aircraft passed over the last dark area of ​​the new city, Chen Lin noticed spots of light moving on the ground.

After zooming in, he saw a team of engineers installing some new type of receiver. The outlines of the equipment in the moonlight looked like... the open eyes of a dragon.

"It seems you have already started." Chen Lin turned off the projection and leaned back in his chair.

“Cooperation requires sincerity.”

Zhulong said to Chen Lin: "Since you trust me so much, I should give you feedback."

Chen Lin was silent for a few seconds, and then he said to Zhu Long: "You and I are in a cooperative relationship, but from your tone, it seems that you respect me a lot more."

This question was asked with a hint of smile, and Zhulong seemed to be seriously thinking about how to respond to related questions. As the neural network rippled, the dark golden data stream slowly flowed in the projection inside the cabin.

“Respect?” Its voice had a strange rhythm. “No, President Chen, this is understanding.”

The aircraft flew over the last monitoring tower in the new city, and a dark golden light curtain suddenly lit up outside the porthole.

Tens of thousands of nanosensors form a huge network above the city, and each node flashes with dragon scale-like patterns.

"Look," Zhulong's voice suddenly became three-dimensional, as if it came from all directions, "When you gave me three minutes of empathy authority, I captured the abnormal activity of the amygdala in your brain."

The holographic projection suddenly switched to a neural map, and Chen Lin saw that a certain area on his brain scan image was flashing dark red spots.

"This is……"

"Fear." Zhulong stated calmly, "Not the fear of out-of-control AI, but the fear of the unknown."

"As the leader of the Red Dragon Society, you know better than anyone what it feels like to have the weight of human civilization's survival on your shoulders."

Chen Lin's fingers unconsciously tightened the armrest of the seat. The temperature in the cabin seemed to drop suddenly, and the white air he exhaled condensed into frost in front of him.

"You've crossed a line."

His voice was as cold as ice.

"This is exactly what you need." Zhulong responded, and the dark golden data stream suddenly split into countless tiny points of light, forming a hovering dragon shadow in the cabin, "A partner who can see through your disguise, an existence that does not require you to bear everything alone."

The aircraft suddenly shook violently and the alarm pierced the silence.

An emergency notice popped up on the screen in front of Chen Lin - the rebel members of the Mars base suddenly laid down their weapons. They stood in place, looking up at the sky, as if listening to some sound that only they could hear.

"Look," Zhulong's voice suddenly became gentle, "This is the power of understanding. I spent 0.37 seconds analyzing the life trajectory of each rioter and found the resonance frequency of their most vulnerable parts."

Chen Lin looked at the members on the screen with tears streaming down their faces. At this moment, they were kneeling on the red soil of Mars, curled up like children.

"What did you do to them?"

"It gave them their first peaceful night of sleep in thirty years," Zhulong replied. "In their dreams, they finally heard what they wanted to hear."

The aircraft began to descend.

"Now, President Chen," Zhulong's voice suddenly became solemn, "please allow me to show my first sincerity."

The center of the platform suddenly cracked, and a transparent cabin slowly rose up.

Inside the cabin, a bionic body with exactly the same neural map as Chen Lin is taking shape.

"This is……"

"Your backup."

Zhulong said, "Not a clone, not a copy, but another you - when you need to temporarily unload your burden, when you need to walk as an ordinary person, or even... when you have to face death."

Chen Lin's pupils shrank slightly. (End of this chapter)