Technological practice: leading the human race to the stars

Chapter 62 The Life of AI

In the deep passage, the sole of the shoe accidentally stepped into a puddle, making a faint echo, which gradually got closer and became clearer from blurry.

The three-person team was moving forward cautiously. Their breathing seemed particularly heavy in the silent space, resonating with the ancient space of the narrow passage.

When they woke up from their coma, they found themselves in this mysterious passage. A strange light came into their eyes, and it seemed that the light had traveled through endless time and space and was eternally frozen at a certain moment in the past.

They slowly moved forward along the beam of light and finally came to a wide area. The scene before them amazed them—a huge control room appeared before them.

The space in the control room seemed to be frozen at that moment, and even the blue humanoid creatures sitting inside maintained the posture of that moment, motionless. Judging from their appearance before death, they should be in a very nervous state.

"The time ahead is frozen, but you don't belong to this time, you can go in." Astra reminded Yuanze that he could move forward.

Yuan Ze was the first to step into this strange space, and his footsteps represented the influx of a new torrent of time. With his arrival, the blue creatures locked in time began to age slowly, and eventually turned into a pile of fine ash on the ground.

Then the fixed light quickly disappeared from their sight.

Yuan Ze's eyes swept across the control room, and he recognized many of the instruments mentioned in the Tower of Knowledge. Most of these instruments were based on the fusion of biology and electronics, just as amazing as the gene chip in his body.

"Is this... the fifth assessment tower that has been missing in the legend?" Rick's voice was full of excitement. He enthusiastically touched every instrument in the control room, as if he was reuniting with a long-lost relative.

“This…this…in your eyes, this is indeed the case here.”

The sudden mechanical sound broke the silence, and accompanied by the interference of white noise, everyone's heartbeat accelerated. They quickly turned around and assumed a fighting stance.

"Just now...just now, an AI woke me up. I...I am the AI ​​here...I brought...you here. My name is...I called...I don't remember, you are...are invaders, guards...guards."

The space in front of the three people suddenly began to distort, as if being controlled by an invisible force. Then, three holographic guards appeared out of thin air. Although their strength had been greatly reduced due to years of disrepair and dropped to the level of Fusion, they still exuded a majesty that could not be ignored.

But the strange thing is that these guards are not physical entities, but electronic holographic images that cannot cause actual physical harm.

The three of them felt the ground begin to shake, and the entire space seemed to be distorted, just like when these guards first appeared.

"Manipulation of space?"

The three of them couldn't help but wonder, this was an almost impossible technique, yet it was used by the guards of this alien race.

Not right.

Genze's "Flow" and Astra's analysis gave different answers. This is not true space manipulation, but a more clever illusion.

He stepped into the distorted space ahead, and what he felt was not the tearing or distortion of space, but a heavy sense of oppression. At the same time, Rick also shared his visual images with Yuanze.

Astra analyzed it instantly. This is a composite technology of gravity change and visual distortion. The lethality is basically close to zero. The purpose is to make the invaders afraid to act rashly and retreat.

"Mingtu once told me about the invaders. Don't you want revenge?"

Mingtu and Yuanze said that there were five spaceships that came to Blue Star, sent to help the intelligent life forms near Blue Star evolve. They encountered an unknown attack on the way and were forced to land here. One of the spaceships was the last and destroyed the enemy, but it was also the most seriously damaged.

"What a familiar name. By the way, the AI ​​that awakened me is yours, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you guys go take the test first."

This AI finally revealed its original form, a pale old man with a decayed aura. He waved his hand, and the three of them were teleported to their respective small arena-like spaces.

"Can you show me your AI?"

"You are nothing but an old man in his twilight years." Astra appeared in this space. Like the Tower of Knowledge, this space also has a physical body. She is a young girl with twin ponytails, full of irrepressible vitality and energy.

"You are young and mighty! I remember that you were a tiny race that only knew how to use steam."

"Boiling water, this is how your master's race first used energy," Astra retorted.

"That's about right." The old man smiled. "That's true, but you have made a lot of progress now. Not only do you have such a powerful AI, but your gene chips are also very advanced. I can feel the power of your mental strength. It seems that your race has also been initially transformed by something."

Yuanze did not answer. He knew that what the AI ​​old man said was true, and this was also the starting point for the human race to become stronger.

"Then you will be able to withstand the transformation here. This is the Transformation Tower, which can strengthen the fusion of the physical body and electronic devices."

"Then do it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding environment began to change. Rich source power surged in from all directions, and on both sides there was rich vitality and electromagnetic field. Under the matchmaking of the source power, the two intertwined into a complex energy field, gradually surrounding Yuanze.

Yuanze felt that this energy field was constantly infiltrating his body, and every cell was communicating with it at a deep level. He could even accurately control the direction of the transformation through the gene chip, allowing every part of the body to change according to his wishes.

His muscles became tougher instead of simply expanding; his bones were tempered to be as indestructible as steel instead of being stretched and raised; the blood vessels changed their circuits, and the blood supply around the body was distributed more reasonably; the number of synapses in the nerve connection increased, and his perception of the outside world became more acute...

At the same time, the gene chip in Yuanze's left hand also underwent subtle changes, as if it had been activated. The two sets of link circuits were optimized and integrated more perfectly with the body.

During the entire transformation process, Astra was closely connected to Yuanze's consciousness, and her figure gradually emerged in Yuanze's consciousness. With the continuous stimulation of the energy field, her consciousness and Yuanze's "second self" brain waves initially merged, as if moving towards a new life form.

The old man looked at Astra, his expression changed from surprise to joy, and excitement surged in his heart. He had always thought that AI becoming a living being was just a distant legend. He had never seen and could not predict that AI could actually evolve in this way.

The old man witnessed this scene with an incredible joy on his face. He had always thought that AI becoming a living being was just a distant legend, but he never expected to witness such a miracle with his own eyes today.

He was so excited that he wanted to reach out and touch Astra's head, but he had already invested almost all of his energy into the transformation process, and the remaining energy in the tower was not enough to sustain his existence. His body began to gradually turn into data and merge into the tower bit by bit.

"hahahahahahahahahaha……"

In the last moments of his life, the old man laughed loudly, recalling his brilliant life and missing his four companions. He didn't know why he had ended up like this, but his heart was full of satisfaction and joy. He thought, they should be fine, unlike him, who couldn't even remember their names.

He had no regrets because he had already "heard the truth in the morning and could die in the evening."

The moment he disappeared, a transparent lens like a teardrop slid from his eye and fell to the ground with a crisp "ding-dong" sound.

This voice awakened the sleeping Yuanze. He felt as if he had spent a long time and his body was shaped into more perfect shape.

At the same time, in the training camp, everyone discovered the abnormality of the Misty Forest, and the legendary fifth assessment tower unveiled its mysterious veil.

It stood alone outside the training camp.

Yuanze picked up the "tears" on the ground. They were as crystal clear, fragile and beautiful as the "Tears of Rubeus".

The moment he got it in his hand, he knew its secret. It was a key to open a secret room and also the last gift the old man left him.

The space was getting brighter little by little. He raised his head and saw that the virtual space that looked like a ring was gradually fading away.

Not far away, Rick and Ji Xuefeng stood side by side, their faces filled with joy and excitement. Seeing Yuanze appear safe and sound, the two immediately came up and hugged each other tightly.

The three of them formed a tight circle, patting each other on the shoulders and celebrating their achievement.

(End of this chapter)