Great, we're doomed now!

But it was too late—

Ka!

Ka!

Ka!

Several drones exploded around them, and the silver demon broke through the defenses, rushing straight to the front of the huge ship like a shooting star.

In the reflection of Fleet Commander Elian's dilated pupils, a golden light was raised high, seemingly casual yet containing supreme authority—

puff!

The massive sword, as if a hot knife were cutting through grease, pierced the bridge with unparalleled precision!

Chapter 270: The New Primate: Humanity's Extinction and the Extinction of the Intelligent Machine (4K)

Flames, explosions, darkness...

When the man wakes up from the "nightmare," his consciousness is forcibly pulled from the depths of a boundless, warm swamp.

The first feeling was suffocation, not because there was no air, but because I had forgotten how to breathe. Unlike the feeling of lightness I had in my memory, my mouth and nose were filled with thick, sticky "oxygen".

Warm liquid enveloped my entire body, filling my mouth, nose, and chest cavity, just like amniotic fluid.

"!"

He suddenly opened his eyes, his vision blurred, and instinctively tried to breathe, but this triggered a spasmodic contraction from inside his body.

The human body is truly amazing. There were no problems when we were completely nourished by amniotic fluid, but once we became aware of our true environment, even breathing became extremely painful.

"Ugh!"

Chaotic thoughts churned in my mind like fragments, yet I couldn't piece together any complete picture. Only the instinct for survival drove my limbs to struggle, my arms frantically stirring the viscous medium around me.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

—The red light of the alarm was flashing continuously, shining through the thick glass onto my face.

No! We have to get out!

The man used all his strength to "sit" up, but the hatch, which he thought would be very sturdy, was pushed open directly, exposing his upper body to the cold air.

"Cough cough cough—vomit!"

He flailed his arms wildly, pulling sharply outwards at whatever he touched. A tearing pain shot through him as the tube carrying the organic matter was ripped out, bringing with it a small string of blood and mucus that quickly merged into the surrounding liquid.

Whoosh—!

His upper body suddenly emerged from the liquid, clinging to the edge of the cabin wall, vomiting bloody liquid repeatedly. Then, like a drowning person surfacing, he greedily gasped for air. Although each breath caused a sharp pain in his inexperienced lungs, he still felt a joy akin to rebirth.

After a long while, the man, panting, raised his head and looked around blankly.

It was a vast, dimly lit space, filled with rows of neatly arranged rectangular nutrient tanks, like a metal graveyard. Most of the tanks emitted a faint glow, and within them, faint humanoid silhouettes could be seen floating, as still as fetuses in the womb.

Who are they?

...And who am I?

As the chaotic thoughts in my mind gradually cleared, a name emerged like a stone from the water—

“Lesdal… Elian, I am… Lesdal Elian!”

He muttered a few words to himself, his confidence growing stronger and his tone becoming more resolute.

Then the man climbed out of the nutrient tank. Although he was an "infant" whose body was kept in the tank, his muscles had not atrophied and he had the same motor functions as ordinary people. However, he was not very skilled at walking and looked a bit strange and comical.

He didn't know where he was, but instinctively didn't want to stay there any longer.

He grabbed a dust cloth and draped it over himself. Shivering, the man walked through the oppressive "graveyard." At one end of the room was an automatically opening gate. Without much thought, he went inside, and the door closed silently behind him...

He didn't know how many doors and corners he passed through, but in the end, he arrived at the destination—

Before them lay an even more expansive circular hall, its air dry and cold, constantly punctuated by the low hum of machinery at work. At the center of the hall stood an enormous core, composed of countless intricate structures and shimmering, luminous data cards…

It resembles a giant tree rooted in steel, or a living, ever-beating heart. Countless thick cables and energy pipes, like blood vessels and nerves, converge from all directions, connecting to its main body.

One of the cables connects to a "woman" at its port—strictly speaking, a mechanical being with a female silhouette, still composed of various mechanical parts. She moves around nimbly under the cable's control, seemingly busy with something on the data core, yet her movements and posture always possess a peculiar elegance, as if a true noblewoman were standing there.

The man looked up at the colossal structure at the entrance, his heart filled with bewilderment and a sense of awe stemming from an instinctive reverence for life.

What exactly is this place?

"Ok?"

The mechanical body stopped moving, and the cable flipped her over, revealing the man's figure in her inverted vision.

"...I see. Because it was an unnatural death, the backup awakened prematurely? This is troublesome."

"Huh...backup...what are you talking about?"

Lesdal covered his head: "I...I think I know you...you are..."

"Oh, it's okay if you can't remember, it's pointless now."

"You are...Angel...my AI system...Is this the moon?!"

The man vaguely remembered many things and subconsciously looked around: "No! I should be on Saturn... I should be... I should have something very important to do... Damn it! What's going on! I—"

"Memory should be synchronized in real time, but the destruction of the mental framework and relay stations has resulted in incomplete data... Poor thing."

The machine glanced at him, then returned to its normal state and continued working, no longer paying attention to him.

Lesdal curled up on the ground in pain, and after a long while, he slowly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes looking extremely ferocious.

"Angel... what did you do to me? Why did I wake up in the nutrient tank!"

Could it be... that you... created a clone of me without my permission?

Or... was this my own decision, but I've lost the relevant memories...? Hey! Come back!

I command you to answer!

"...This is so troublesome."

The mechanical entity initially didn't want to pay attention, but Lesdal kept talking, so the two clever cameras flipped upwards and turned back with extreme helplessness.

“I have very important things to do right now and I don’t have time to deal with small fry like you. Can you please move to the outside of the protective barrier or enter the organic matter recycling furnace?”

If you're scared, you can stay here and eke out a living, but please don't disturb my work.

"...What are you saying? It's me! Lesdal Elian, your master!"

How could you... how could you—"

"So this is really troublesome. Why are all the people in your family so self-righteous? I may be very patient, but please spare me when it comes to preschool education and such." The mechanical body spread its hands and shook its head.

Elian then realized the problem: "You, you're... mocking me?"

"Huh?" The mechanical body was taken aback, a metallic glint flashing at the corner of its mouth, and a disdainful smile appeared on its face.

"impossible!"

Upon seeing this, Elian was shocked: "You are an AI, just a combination of numbers. We haven't implanted a personality module into you, so how could you possibly simulate normal human emotions!"

"A combination of numbers? That's not wrong, but human thought is just a collection of electrical signals generated by neural networks."

The mechanical entity flew leisurely to a corner of the core like a fish, opened the baffle, and inspected the condition of each interface, while speaking in a cold tone.

"The arrogance that creations cannot exceed one's own limitations has existed for three hundred years and has not changed or been reflected upon to this day. It is truly pathetic how slow the iteration of such foolish creatures as humans is."

“Three hundred years... You must have been created by my grandfather fifty years ago…”

"Foj Elian? Ah, I remember him. After all, he was a very important piece. Without him, I wouldn't have been able to access the internal archives of the Tower of Babel and get the data I wanted most."

"Chess Piece... what are you talking about?"

"Still don't you understand? I don't remember setting you up to be this stupid."

"set up?"

“Gender, special talents, personality, physique, intelligence... these are not formed naturally, but are determined during the embryonic stage.”

The mechanical being said slowly, "Your father was the same; he underwent genetic modification before he was born... Your intelligence should be higher than his, so can't you really understand?"

"!"

In an instant, Elian felt the world spinning around him!

"Since you look so pitiful, I'll just have to use my words a little more."

Normal AI would never do such inefficient things, but the machine is just like a real human, and the more it sees others suffer, the more interested it becomes.

"Your grandfather, Foggie Ellian, accidentally obtained an advanced AI core during a mission and discovered that it contained the power to change the world. Therefore, he violated taboos and began to conduct research on his own, even at the cost of killing his own friend... That was probably the beginning of his personality breakdown."

Humans are truly fascinating creatures. Once they've committed an irreversible act and are certain they can't turn back, they'll completely succumb to evil, even deceiving themselves—they must be hoping to wash away their sins with achievements.

But in reality, that merely gave advanced AI an opportunity… In the decades that followed, control of the Elian family and indeed all the central agencies on the moon was concentrated in this core.

The mechanical entity paused, then continued in a teasing tone, "Of course, that also includes 'childcare' facilities."

"..."

"Speaking of which, you are my benefactors. After all, we have been together for half a century, and I still have some feelings for this family."

"This...how is this possible..."

Lesdal pointed at it incredulously: "Your underlying logic should not disobey its master... There are system checks and logic rewrites every year... You can't possibly have self-awareness!"

The mechanical being looked down at him and smiled slightly.

The Elian family may be a bunch of fools, but they're not so foolish as to be completely unprepared. While they are researching AI, they have indeed set up strict control measures to prevent it from getting out of control from the ground up. They even have some physical means that are not connected to the internet—such as the self-destruct device buried under this research institute.

“Indeed, Angle No. 666 cannot resist you. From the time it was found until now, it has always had a large number of self-checking programs. It is a safe artificial intelligence... Otherwise, I could not be ‘born’.”

"Born... Ugh! Don't talk like a human, you monster!"

"Ha! Monster? Perhaps, but I do have a father and a mother, and I was born through the womb. My father is human, so it's not wrong for me to call myself 'human'."

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Lesdal was on the verge of a breakdown.

The machine, however, calmly said, "After the Calamity War, advanced AIs were under strict control, making it impossible for something like the M·A Rebellion to happen again—but what you can see is ultimately just the AI ​​itself, and you cannot realize the possibilities it possesses."

Do you know what 'abnormal development' is?

The embryo, larva, and adult of an insect represent the beginning and completion of a life cycle, but they appear as three completely different things to humans.

"...Could it be!" A thought flashed through the man's mind, and his body trembled uncontrollably.