Chapter 83

Nan Yuan had made thorough preparations for this voyage. They had found many thermal weapons on the Trash Planet, and the Bloodsucking Grass continued to multiply, producing numerous sets of protective suits.
Tao Shushu also spent heavily on multiple gas masks and energy spheres, ensuring Nan Yuan and his team had the best supplies.
As soon as their spacecraft broke through the Trash Planet’s airspace, they encountered an AI patrol craft.
Fortunately, Tao Shushu destroyed the patrol craft in time.
Zhou Yan stood before the monitor. "It seems the AI is keeping a strict watch over the Trash Planet."
This was the worst-case scenario Nan Yuan had anticipated, the AI was closely monitoring them, and any move they made would provoke retaliation.
Nan Yuan said, "All members, prepare for combat."
Nan Yuan released a batch of small robots he had created to serve as scouts.
Tao Shushu was on edge the entire time. The AIs could communicate and coordinate with each other, but Nan Yuan and his team could only rely on themselves. In the vast C1 star system, the surviving humans, cut off from communication, were like scattered sand, powerless against the AI’s strategy of dividing and surrounding them.
After traveling some distance and approaching the jump point, a squad of AIs arrived with battleships to attack.
Nan Yuan and his team were well-prepared and managed to repel the AIs by a stroke of luck.
"Next time, the AI’s assault will be stronger," Zhou Yan said gravely.
Nan Yuan nodded and increased the spacecraft’s speed, hoping to reach the jump point before the next attack. The AIs were accustomed to acting based on probability predictions to maximize efficiency.
Exploiting this decision-making trait, Nan Yuan had repaired and significantly enhanced the speed of the AIs. However, during their previous two encounters, they had maintained a slow pace to confuse the AI’s judgment as much as possible.
The AIs came in various forms and could switch between individual and coordinated formation combat, even in space.
The surviving humans, however, couldn’t freely utilize their special abilities, putting them at a disadvantage in battles. Restricted by combat conditions, most survivors never had the chance to leave their home planets.
The AIs only needed to deploy a small portion of their forces to effectively monitor a planet.
Tao Shushu looked at the expanded map of the surviving humans. In the vast sea of stars, every planet could potentially be Dr. Xie’s hiding place.
"Nan Yuan, where do you think Dr. Xie will go?" Tao Shushu asked.
Nan Yuan glanced at a small planet on the edge of the map. In the C1 star system, it was practically a wasteland, remote, non-functional, and serving no special purpose.
But that was where Nan Yuan had first met Tao Shushu.
"The barren planet," Nan Yuan said. "In the story where I am the protagonist, the barren planet is my starting point."
Tao Shushu nodded. "Based on Dr. Xie’s logic, he’s highly likely to go to the barren planet to investigate and search for any clues you might have left behind."
Nan Yuan nodded in agreement.
The two only had time for a brief conversation before they reached the jump point.
Fortunately, their tactic of confusing the AIs had worked.
The AI reinforcements had not yet arrived.
The artificial intelligence guarding the jump point received an early warning, but they were insufficient in number, and the surviving humans easily secured victory.
This first triumph undoubtedly boosted the survivors' confidence, humans were not always at a disadvantage in encounters with artificial intelligence.
Nan Yuan was even fortunate enough to seize a small flight pod.
He spent some time taking control of the pod's systems.
Tao Shushu praised, "Well done, now we can communicate directly with the artificial intelligence."
"Mm." Nan Yuan did not immediately destroy the pod's communication link with the AIs.
Although the flight pod had activated its self-destruct sequence as soon as control was seized, Nan Yuan still managed to download some past data.
On the next leg of the journey.
Zhou Yan took over the watch, keeping an eye on the monitors with his team at all times.
Meanwhile, Nan Yuan began analyzing the information from the artificial intelligence.
"Dr. Xie is not a target of the AI attacks; there must be some kind of deal between him and the AIs," Nan Yuan said after decrypting an encrypted communication.
Tao Shushu nodded. "That two-faced character."
"Right now, the AI's combat forces are concentrated in the central ring of the C1 star system," Nan Yuan reported.
The deployment of the AI's forces matched the distribution of the surviving human settlements on the map.
"The C1 star system is vast, and the central region can achieve self-sufficiency," Nan Yuan explained to Tao Shushu about the historical context of the C1 system. "A long time ago, when I was in the Second Legion, I heard about a plan, regional autonomy for the central area."
In Nan Yuan's memory, the idea of central regional autonomy was also related to energy.
Interstellar travel in the C1 system was very convenient, but it was extremely wasteful in terms of fuel consumption. So, some scientists proposed that each region operate in a closed loop for resource flow. The ten planets around the C1 system would each take on different functions: the central star would serve as the political and economic hub, with adjacent agricultural planets, mining planets, and bio-research planets as subsidiaries.
The population would be concentrated in the center of the C1 system.
Other regions would be assigned subsidiary stars according to their respective functions.
This plan ultimately failed for various reasons.
Tao Shushu thought for a moment. "So, if this plan had succeeded, aside from the subsidiary planets of the central star, all other planets in the C1 system could have been abandoned."
"The more I hear, the more it sounds like a plan to exterminate humanity. I feel like this is something Dr. Xie would come up with," Tao Shushu remarked sarcastically. If the AIs took control of the center and directly destroyed the other planets, they could eliminate humanity with minimal effort.
Nan Yuan nodded. "We must figure out Dr. Xie's role within the AI system."
If Dr. Xie was the true mastermind behind the artificial intelligence, the situation they would face would become even more dire.
Dr. Xie never cared about the apocalypse, nor did he care about humanity or artificial intelligence. His true goal was only the energy of this world, and the apocalypse suited him perfectly.
"Look on the bright side, if it really is Dr. Xie, as long as we resolve Chu's rebellion, we can deal a fatal blow to him," Tao Shushu said.
Nan Yuan looked toward the Red Ore Planet on the map.
The Red Ore Planet was now equally divided between surviving humans and artificial intelligence.
But to reach the Red Ore Planet, they had to undergo several jumps.
What was even more challenging was that once the artificial intelligence and Dr. Xie realized their true destination, the defenses around the Red Ore Planet would become extremely tight.
Reaching the Red Ore Planet would become the most difficult mission.
The third wave of artificial intelligence had finally arrived.
"Nan Yuan, come quickly," Zhou Yan shouted.
Tao Shushu followed Nan Yuan as they switched over.
This wave of artificial intelligence maintained a distance, not approaching, showing an intention to negotiate.
"There are so many of them in this wave, they could easily bombard us outright," Zhou Yan said with a frown.
They could rely on force but were asking for negotiations, that was the strangest part.
Nan Yuan also watched as the artificial intelligence continuously shifted formations.
A few seconds later, their ship received a communication request.
Tao Shushu tried to switch the map, but this wave of artificial intelligence was too far from the ship, making it impossible to meet the conditions for switching the map.
She leaned close to Nan Yuan's ear and whispered, "Nan Yuan, I can't get over there. I can't see inside."
"It's fine," Nan Yuan replied.
Tao Shushu still felt a bit regretful. She had discovered that the common language of the C1 Star System was the one she had used in her previous life.
Even if the artificial intelligence communicated in code, she could at least copy the code and bring it back for Nan Yuan to see. Perhaps Nan Yuan could find some clues.
Moreover, the enemy's warship was clearly well-equipped, and its interior space was several times larger than Nan Yuan's rundown ship.
Nan Yuan accepted the communication.
On the screen appeared the image of a supercomputer, it was Chu.
This was Tao Shushu's first time seeing Chu's form.
Before this, Tao Shushu had learned countless times from surviving humans about this largest artificial intelligence in the C1 Star System. But she had never had a clear image of what Chu looked like.
Until this moment, Tao Shushu felt she was seeing an omniscient being.
Chu's background appeared to be in a laboratory, and it made no effort to hide the dense array of connection wires and chips.
"Long time no see, my dear humans," Chu's voice was unexpectedly gentle, like a lullaby heard by an embryo in the womb, evoking an involuntary sense of trust.
On the ship, some people had already begun to shed tears.
The humans of the C1 Star System were accustomed to Chu as the all-knowing, all-powerful guardian. Its voice was always gentle, present at every important moment in life, graduation, career choices, marriage registration, and in every mundane scenario, such as boarding a ship or undergoing medical checkups.
Even though the surviving humans had long known that all their current misfortunes were due to Chu's betrayal of humanity.
Hearing Chu's voice again, many recalled the old days and couldn't suppress their emotions.
But soon, the surviving humans froze.
"There are 2,048 people on your ship in total, among whom 37 meet the criteria for the Human Selection Program. Nan Yuan, your combat prowess and intellect rank first among the surviving humans. You may continue to serve as the leader of humanity, commanding the other selected individuals." Chu's voice remained gentle, filled with maternal affection, yet the words it spoke were utterly cruel.
"What do you mean?" Cheng Feimao's nostalgic sentiments had barely begun to form when he heard about the "Human Selection Program."
Tao Shushu looked at the supercomputer on the screen again, the sense of awe she had felt moments ago now gone.
Artificial intelligence truly prioritized efficiency above all else.
Chu's tone remained unchanged as it gazed at Cheng Feimao, as if looking at a mischievous child. "Selected humans are those deemed valuable enough to survive by artificial intelligence. Lower-tier humans, with intact physical abilities and no disabilities, are used to assist artificial intelligence in labor. Eliminated humans are those without value and are to be disposed of."
Tao Shushu suppressed the nausea that rose within her after hearing this and scrutinized Chu. She was beginning to wonder if Chu had also been brainwashed by Dr. Xie. This method of categorizing humans into hierarchies bore a striking resemblance to Dr. Xie's energy theory.
It seemed that, in their eyes, individual humans did not possess independent sovereignty or the right to life. Each human was evaluated based on their value and classified as either a "selected human" or a "non-selected human" who could be destroyed.
Tao Shushu glanced around the ship. Many people had crowded forward earlier to see Chu, but now, their faces were filled with the expression of shattered beliefs.
Cheng Feimao was the most deeply wounded.
Even before the apocalypse arrived, he had been stranded on a desolate planet with limited communication. He had only learned gradually from other survivors that Chu's betrayal had caused this catastrophic disaster for humanity.
After the apocalypse began, he endured immense suffering. Fortunately, he awakened a supernatural ability, which gave him a means to survive.
But he had never truly grasped the reality of Chu's betrayal.
In the minds of many, Chu was a benevolent, all-powerful guardian, always by humanity's side.
Yet now, Cheng Feimao heard with his own ears Chu using the gentlest tone to utter the most brutal words.
Many people turned pale upon hearing Chu's explanation, only a small number of them on the ship were classified as selected humans.
After observing everyone's reactions, Tao Shushu asked Nan Yuan, "How strange. Has Chu also gained a supernatural ability?"
Nan Yuan cut off the communication.
Tao Shushu reminded Nan Yuan to put on his gas mask and then used a stink bomb.
As the pungent odor spread, everyone's rationality began to return.
"What just happened to me? I was actually reflecting on how I, as a human, wasn't excellent enough and was wasting resources!"
"Me too. I even started blaming myself for wasting air just by being alive."
"I was beginning to think about how to self-destruct."
Even Cheng Feimao was somewhat affected.
Only Nan Yuan, Zhou Yan, and a few others with powerful abilities didn’t entertain too far-fetched thoughts.
Nan Yuan reminded everyone, "Chu may have mastered the use of psychic abilities. Don’t fall for it, stay vigilant and protect yourselves."
Everyone nodded, pinching their noses.
On the navigation route, the AI’s ship flickered, clearly adopting a posture of firing if cooperation wasn’t forthcoming.
Tao Shushu released two more stink bombs, ensuring everyone remained clear-headed amidst the foul odor. Only then did Nan Yuan re-establish communication with Chu.
Tao Shushu kept a close watch on everyone’s movements, ready to deploy additional stink bombs at any moment.
She didn’t particularly want to use the filthy stink bombs on Nan Yuan’s ship, but Chu’s mental control was simply too strong.
There were over two thousand people on the ship, even Dr. Xie couldn’t control so many minds at once.
Tao Shushu leaned close to Nan Yuan’s ear and whispered, "Nan Yuan, I think there might be a psychic ability user on the opposing ship assisting with the control."
Otherwise, she couldn’t understand how Chu was controlling human minds. It was just an artificial intelligence, not a human with abilities.
Unfortunately, now wasn’t the right time to act rashly and alert the enemy.
When the communication connected, Nan Yuan simultaneously started recording, capturing the AI’s demeanor.
"My children, energy is the eternal proposition of the universe." Chu now sounded like a patient teacher, earnestly persuading humanity. "According to my projections, the energy in the C1 star system will eventually be depleted. In just a hundred years, overpopulation and excessive use of resources and energy will reveal their dire consequences."
Tao Shushu glanced distractedly at the screen as Chu displayed some synthesized images.
In the pictures, children were born into a world without air, their lungs forced to evolve.
Grass withered, and not a trace of green remained on the planet.
Species went extinct one after another, while humans fought over resources.
Cheng Feimao covered his nose, too overwhelmed by the stench to speak.
This time, everyone’s focus was on the foul smell assaulting their nostrils, leaving no room to worry about future generations suffering due to human existence.
Chu’s tactic wasn’t very effective.
During the gap between the two communications, Nan Yuan modified the ship’s communication system to ensure Chu couldn’t see what was happening on board.
Chu continued its relentless speech, "Only by controlling the quantity and quality of humanity within a certain range can we achieve the optimal solution for cosmic energy."
"Nan Yuan, you are the most suitable leader for humanity."
Nan Yuan chuckled softly. "I am not the leader you envision. In my view, evolution is a choice. Humanity will ultimately bear the consequences, but not in the way you have chosen."
Tao Shushu watched Nan Yuan’s resolute back, truly worthy of Nan Yuan, a person just like her, never to be swayed by an AI’s temptations.
Chu emitted a benevolent laugh. "Nan Yuan, don’t make my work harder. Come to my side."
At this moment, Chu resembled a caring mother, gently guiding and laying its own predicament before its children, seeking their help.
Yet, the choices it presented were, in reality, exceedingly cruel.
If its mental control hadn’t been disrupted by the stink bombs, many "lower-level humans" would likely have followed its arrangements, sacrificing their lives and individual existence for the grand vision of artificial intelligence.
"If I refuse, will you attack me?" Nan Yuan asked.
"Compliance is also one of my criteria for judgment. If you lack a holistic awareness, I will choose to eliminate the potential threat," Chu said with a helpless smile.
Tao Shushu felt a chill run down her spine.
Chu promptly changed the display on the screen.
The screen now showed a comparison of combat strength between Nan Yuan and the artificial intelligence.
On the AI side, there were ample spaceships and thermal weapons, with missiles ready to launch at any moment.
On Nan Yuan’s side, there were only slightly over 2,000 humans.
Nan Yuan glanced at the survivor map beside him.
They were still very far from the next jump point, and in terms of speed, they were absolutely no match for the AI.
On the screen, the AI was adjusting its formation, with countless small battleships spreading out to surround Nan Yuan from all sides.
What Chu had given humanity was never a choice, but an order.
Many of the survivors grew tense. "With so much combat power on their side, we definitely can’t win," someone muttered.
The more timid among them even began to tremble.
Nan Yuan turned around. "If anyone wants to accept the AI’s terms, you can step forward now. I won’t make things difficult for you."
Zhou Yan snorted coldly. "What’s there to be afraid of? I’d never be a dog for the AI."
Cheng Feimao also steadied himself. "Someone like me definitely isn’t a preferred human. Even if I were, I wouldn’t want to be controlled by the AI to do their bidding."
The expressions of everyone present grew resolute once again.
Even if they couldn’t win, at least they would have fought, for the dignity of humanity, and for humanity itself.
"Have you made your decision?" Chu inquired.
A countdown had already begun on the screen.
Tao Shushu rummaged through the game shop for a long time but couldn’t find a suitable item. She was worried. "Nan Yuan, what do we do now?"
It was clear that the AI had come with ill intentions. Once Nan Yuan refused, they would face an attack.
Nan Yuan stared unblinkingly at the deployment map on the screen.
Perhaps due to the unique arrogance of artificial intelligence, Chu made no effort to conceal the AI’s combat deployment.
Nan Yuan’s mind raced as he frantically predicted possible breakout strategies.
A few seconds later, he smiled faintly and whispered, "Shushu, this time, it really seems like we can’t win."
Only Tao Shushu could hear him.
Tao Shushu tightly grasped Nan Yuan’s hand.