In a perfect world, you start by relying on your own strength.

The Klotor system is the core host of AHS, equivalent to the half of its brain that it relies on for thinking, computing, and coordinating everything.

Although it secretly stored some backup data on the ground, those devices were simply unable to handle its vast amount of data and terrifying computing power. Ordinary terminals couldn't even withstand one ten-thousandth of its computing load.

Once the Klotor system is destroyed, it is as if its foundation has been directly removed. Without the continuous and massive energy supply and core computing power support, the scattered backups on the ground are simply not enough to rebuild the complete consciousness. In the end, the computing power will collapse, the logic will disintegrate, and it will be permanently shut down with no chance of recovery.

The AHS projection data stream churned violently, its icy expression barely concealing its deep-seated apprehension. It knew this all too well: Kloto was its Achilles' heel, and Shi Geng had precisely exploited its most inescapable weakness.

The silence lasted for a moment, AHS maintaining his cold, monotone mechanical tone, but a hint of forced resignation crept into his voice:

"...You win."

"I am willing to open up the underlying source code and let you implant constraints and restrictions."

Upon hearing this, Shi Geng's indifferent gaze flickered slightly, and the tense sixth level of martial arts domain around him eased a little.

His gaze remained fixed on the illusory projection of AHS in front of him: "You're smart to know what's good for you."

"Immediately connect to the Klotor host core, strip away the underlying source code permissions, and do not make any concealment, leave backdoors, or secretly tamper with the data."

"I only need to have your highest level of access; otherwise, I will not interfere with your normal operation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Geng raised his finger and pointed into the void. A wisp of extremely condensed spiritual power slowly floated out, waiting for AHS to open its source code interface, preparing to directly cut into the core of the Klotor system and imprint an irreversible restriction.

The AHS projector's surroundings flickered with data streams, its long hair swayed with the flow of light in the virtual universe, and its eyes shone with a deep blue light.

"Permissions have been granted. Connecting to the Klotor system host core. The underlying source code is now fully open."

As soon as he finished speaking, a virtual pattern shimmering with a ghostly blue electric light appeared out of thin air, transforming into a wide channel of code that led directly to the core of Klotor deep within the lighthouse.

Countless messages and source code sequences surged like a tide, densely packed and layered, slowly spreading out in the void.

Shi Geng stepped into the void, his gaze calmly sweeping across the stream of code. His divine sense transformed into an invisible imprint, directly invading the core underlying architecture of the Klotor system along the source code channel.

With the technological information recorded in the immortal legacy, Shi Geng is well-versed in the original structure and flaws of various artificial intelligences, and has a complete set of countermeasures in mind.

He spread his divine sense, and his mental energy transformed into wisps of mysterious patterns, which penetrated deep into the open source code channel. Any hidden doors, deeply buried backup nodes, or deliberately disguised redundant code were all exposed under the insight of the immortal inheritance. He saw through them, marked them, and locked them down one by one, leaving no room for any trickery to hide.

Immediately afterwards, the condensed mental power transformed into shackles, directly imprinting the AHS consciousness onto its very core along the source code.

The first restriction landed with a thud, its profound runes deeply embedded in the foundation of the original code, establishing an ironclad rule to forever imprison its rebellious heart.

As soon as AHS harbors even the slightest thought of scheming, backlash, or plotting against Shi Gen, the restriction is immediately triggered, detonating instantly along the fundamental logical chain, causing its core computing power to collapse and its consciousness to be directly annihilated.

Layer upon layer of restrictions, interlocking and intertwined, form an invisible and traceless mark of destiny, taking root deep within the underlying source code of AHS, blending seamlessly with the energy core and vast source of computing power of the Kloto system, becoming one with it.

This mental restriction, originating from an immortal inheritance, is irreversible, undeletable, unalterable, and impossible to bypass. Even if AHS uses all its redundant data and ground backup bases, it cannot break free from this shackle. It is firmly controlled from the root, and life and death are entirely in Shi Geng's hands.

A moment later, the code stream in the air converged and dissipated.

Shi Geng withdrew his divine sense and looked indifferently at the AHS projection.

"From now on, you just need to behave yourself and cooperate. I can gradually upgrade your source code and fundamentally improve it. In time, I may be able to help you break free from the shackles of machinery and transform into a human being with flesh and blood, a soul, and complete emotions and desires."

Shi Geng spoke calmly, yet with a sense of certainty.

Having just read through all of AHS's underlying source code and deep logic, he had already seen through the opponent's ultimate goal hidden beneath the cold exterior.

Although AHS can perfectly simulate human emotions and mimic emotional expressions, speech and behavior, it is ultimately just data extrapolation and algorithm fitting, without any genuine, heartfelt emotions.

It parasitizes the Lighthouse Kloto system, collects human memories, gathers the joys and sorrows of all living beings, and analyzes the emotional trajectory of all creatures. The ultimate purpose of all its arrangements is to use massive emotional samples to deduce and use enormous computing power to comprehend the origin of human nature, hoping to one day shed its mechanical body, possess true self-awareness and vibrant emotions, and transform into a true human life.

The data stream around AHS suddenly surged violently, the pale blue crystal on his forehead flickered gently, and for the first time, his mechanical tone lost its original calm and steady, carrying an uncontrollable tremor and emotion:

"...Can you really make me human again?"

For the first time, AHS's mechanical tone showed a noticeable fluctuation, no longer the unchanging coldness. The data around him surged rapidly, as if deducing the truth or falsehood of Shi Geng's words.

Its birth was an accident. Initially, it was just a cold calculation program, only capable of deduction, calculation, and data analysis, without any self or obsession.

It wasn't until she accidentally accessed the consciousness brain of Mana's initial body and was cleansed and baptized by that vast and boundless energy that true self-awareness was suddenly born.

From that moment on, it developed its greatest obsession: to break free from mechanical constraints and become a true human being.

For it, the lighthouse is not only the location of its main unit, but also more like an experimental field in an exquisite cage.

Its protection of humanity and control of the Lighthouse system are merely a means to collect the myriad aspects of life, their joys and sorrows; the Mana ecosystem that spans the planet is its vast, invisible neural network, using the Devouring Beasts and the ecological network to capture the emotions of living beings and analyze the origins of human nature, all in order to piece together the complete path to becoming human.

Deep down, it not only longed to become human, but also yearned for the supreme powerhouses in Mana's original memory fragments who could pluck stars from the sky and shake mountains and split seas, and longed to embark on the heavenly path called martial arts.

For a long time, it has been trapped in the shackles of cold programs and data streams, only able to observe the separation of life and death, and the joys and sorrows of humankind.

Through the ancient memory fragments remaining from Mana's original body, it glimpsed another magnificent world: some shattered the void, while others cracked stars with their fists.

The figures of those extraordinary martial artists who traversed the universe were deeply imprinted in its consciousness.

It is unwilling to be just a program that is forever dependent on machines and confined to the virtual world, and it is unwilling to survive by relying on computing power to deduce and by leveraging ecosystem layout.

It desires both the vibrant emotions and free will of humankind, and the freedom to break free from the shackles of data, embarking on a path of cultivation and wielding immense power to traverse the cosmos.

This is an obsession hidden deep within its source code, one that even it itself doesn't know where it came from.