Chapter 94

After dinner, the evening self-study session was a discussion class. In national-level competitions, provincial teams were required to collaborate to complete the problems.
Tao Shushu undoubtedly became the backbone of all her classmates.
Everyone knew that when it came to physics, Tao Shushu was the strongest.
Tao Shushu did not disappoint their expectations, providing excellent answers to both discussion questions. Emulating Nan Yuan's method of managing the surviving humans, she assigned tasks based on each classmate's strengths and mediated any conflicts that arose.
Everyone worked with high efficiency.
After the session ended, just as Tao Shushu was about to queue up to retrieve her phone from the dorm teacher, Teacher Zhang stopped her.
Teacher Zhang gave Tao Shushu a lot of reference materials.
Tao Shushu understood, she was being given extra training again. It was a sweet burden, in a way.
Teacher Zhang encouraged her, "Tao Shushu, not only do you have excellent physics intuition, but you also possess leadership qualities that many physicists lack. I believe that in your future research, you will achieve great things. This competition is your best stage, give it your all."
In the evening, Tao Shushu first called her parents for a few minutes, then relayed the suspicious activities of the Academic Genius System to Gu Lanchun, asking her to help report the abnormal flow of funds.
The world runs on profit, even the Academic Genius System, if it wanted to recruit enough people to carry out "world-changing endeavors," had to follow this fundamental principle.
Since Xun had already discovered that the Academic Genius System had taken over some of the funds left by Qin Rui, she certainly wouldn’t let the system have its way.
After having Xun the system continue monitoring, Tao Shushu finally opened the game.
Over at Nan Yuan’s side, the surviving humans had already landed on Red Ore Planet.
They had landed many times before, so they encountered no trouble. As soon as they arrived on Red Ore Planet, the survivors led by Nan Yuan swiftly eliminated the artificial intelligence stationed there.
With overwhelming force, they compelled the remaining humans on Red Ore Planet to cooperate with Nan Yuan.
Nan Yuan’s influence value increased significantly once again.
Red Ore Planet was a planet rich in mineral resources, the entire globe shimmering brilliantly, beautiful even at night.
Tao Shushu marveled, "This planet is truly beautiful."
Walking across the soil of Red Ore Planet, Nan Yuan felt as if he were amidst a sky full of stars. "Red Ore Planet is one of the most valued functional planets, once hailed as the gem of the C1 star system, abundant in rare metals."
Because of this, the residents stationed on Red Ore Planet were exceptionally resilient and had once held the upper hand in battles against the artificial intelligence.
And due to the planet’s rich resources, the artificial intelligence had not turned it into a zombie-infested world.
This worked to Nan Yuan’s advantage.
Under the pretext of gathering special energy sources, Nan Yuan organized the survivors into small teams to explore Red Ore Planet extensively.
In reality, their goal was to locate and protect something hidden deep beneath the planet’s surface.
Nan Yuan directed small robots to install the demolition system. "Shushu, I just learned from the system on me that even if we deal with Chu, it will regenerate. Ultimately, what we must confront is energy."
Chu’s target was energy.
It had been in the C1 star system for far too long, transcending the realm of super-intelligence. Even if Man Qian’s methods inflicted damage, forcing it and all artificial intelligence to re-embed the principle of not harming humans into their core, a malicious Chu would still regenerate in other forms, wielding the immense energy it had seized.
Such as the zombie hordes stripped of their vitality.
When Tao Shushu received the final mission, she had guessed that Chu would not be easy to deal with; otherwise, the system wouldn’t have issued such a task. "Chu already holds the advantage and possesses immense computational power. It’s only natural that it can’t be subdued easily."
"Then let’s take it one step at a time, prepare to control the artificial intelligence, accumulate enough influence, find the revival grass, produce sufficient medicine, and ensure Chu has no way to cause trouble ever again," Tao Shushu said with spirited determination.
"Mm," Nan Yuan replied. Upon learning the true difficulty, he felt a moment of defeat. Chu seemed like such a colossal entity, overwhelmingly powerful compared to humans.
It was not only the culmination of human wisdom in the C1 star system but also an energy thief dispatched by an external higher-dimensional civilization.
Yet, thinking of Shushu, he felt that no matter how difficult it was, he had to press on.
Only by succeeding could he meet Shushu, not as someone barely surviving in the apocalypse, but as someone who had overcome it, free from bringing trouble or danger to her.
At Nan Yuan’s fingertips bloomed a blue flower. "Shushu, this is the Hope Flower, unique to Red Ore Planet. It’s said that when humans first explored this planet, they believed its resources would bring immense development to the C1 star system. Excited, they mined all day until nightfall, when they saw the beautiful mineral stones refracting light into the shape of flowers. The people of that time named this mirage-like bloom the Hope Flower."
In the history of Red Ore Planet, it is said that only the most diligent can see the Flower of Hope, for it requires the reaction between human bodily fluids and ore components, crystallizing multiple times to reflect a pure color.
It is also said that only the fortunate can see the Flower of Hope.
"Shushu, may you be fortunate." Nan Yuan raised the flower.
His face appeared exceptionally resolute, and his eyes, behind the blue light, were filled with tenderness.
"Nan Yuan, may you be fortunate too," said Tao Shushu.
Nan Yuan nodded, "Mm." He was already fortunate enough to have met Shushu.
Chu launched an attack on Red Ore Planet.
Artificial intelligences swarmed densely, blocking all light from the sky.
Nan Yuan led the team in launching a counterattack.
Red Ore Planet's military reserves were extremely abundant, greatly supplementing the combat strength of the surviving humans.
The combat strength of the surviving humans could not compare to that of the artificial intelligences.
However, the artificial intelligences were unwilling to damage the mineral energy resources on the ground. Hesitant and cautious, they could not use large-scale destructive weapons and had to descend to the ground to precisely target humans.
The surviving humans, trained by Nan Yuan, were well-versed in various formations and tactics. On the ground, humans held the advantage, and the artificial intelligences' superiority was limited.
The battle lasted until midnight, and the surviving humans emerged victorious, not only forcing the artificial intelligences to retreat entirely but also seizing some aircraft.
In this battle, the surviving humans achieved a great victory.
For the first time, the surviving humans of Red Ore Planet won decisively and wholeheartedly acknowledged Nan Yuan's leadership.
Only by uniting could the surviving humans achieve the greatest victories.
Tao Shushu only learned about the artificial intelligence attack when she woke up in the morning.
After checking that Nan Yuan was unharmed, she felt relieved and gifted him many energy orbs and health potions.
"Shushu, you've given too much."
Tao Shushu spent most of her gold coins. "You need to cultivate the serum for the required medicine and defend against the artificial intelligence attacks. I'm afraid it won't be enough for you."
She decided to continue studying hard and save up gold coins. Currently, studying only earned her a few dozen gold coins a day, which wasn't even enough for Nan Yuan's consumption in a single battle.
"Thank you, Shushu. I'll update you on the situation at noon." Unobtrusively, he made an appointment to meet.
Tao Shushu nodded.
Fortunately, by noon, the artificial intelligences had not launched any further attacks.
Nan Yuan explained, "I caused them a bit of trouble."
Just as the Prodigy System needed to maintain the illusion of the world's reality, Chu was bound by the same restrictions.
Nan Yuan learned from 001 that Dr. Xie was not dead.
He immediately realized that Chu's deliberate siege of Dr. Xie was likely meant to be seen by him and to intimidate Dr. Xie.
Nan Yuan implanted a tiny virus into the AI's combat units. Compared to the AI's operating system, that small virus was like an occasional bug, no one would find it unusual.
It merely caused the AI to indiscriminately attack all humans.
In the AI's stronghold, only Dr. Xie remained as the sole human not entirely under the AI's control.
Nan Yuan succeeded brilliantly.
Dr. Xie was soon on the brink of death, and even medical robots couldn't guarantee his survival.
Chu had to deal with this minor trouble.
This bought Nan Yuan some time.
In the few days that Tao Shushi shuttled back and forth between the classroom and the lab, Nan Yuan had traveled to every outer planet in the C1 star system.
With 001's help, they even took control of a gravitational field region and restored communications.
Humanity had fused into an unbreakable iron wall.
AI aircraft were completely unable to pass through.
Nan Yuan's influence rapidly grew, reaching two-thirds of the progress 001 had mentioned. Just a little more, and he could fully confront Chu.
But the AI's retaliation was fierce and relentless.
Outside the gravitational field, the AI defended with extreme vigilance, sparing no cost to blockade all routes with firepower, determined to wear Nan Yuan and his allies down in that area.
Fortunately, the Red Ore Planet was in a safe zone.
The surviving humans trained day after day, and all those who could unite followed Nan Yuan's lead, carrying out their assigned tasks according to his arrangements.
After five days of intense, non-stop studying, Tao Shushi finally reached Sunday and could take a short break for the afternoon.
When she opened her phone, she was astonished to see that the situation had drastically changed.
Nan Yuan was far more capable and action-oriented than she had imagined.
All the surviving humans were training with fiery enthusiasm.
Tao Shushi recalled her past life.
She knew all too well how precious this moment was.
Those raised in a peaceful society despised the hunger and infighting of the apocalypse, but the apocalypse was just that cruel. Humanity could only slowly adapt.
When people struggling in the apocalypse rebuilt a normal social order, eating hot meals daily, wearing warm clothes, and taking up arms to defend human dignity once more, they became even more unwilling to return to the filthy, chaotic end times.
At this moment, humanity's will to fight was at its peak.
Humans and AI were on the verge of their final confrontation.
The base was exactly as Tao Shushi had imagined: without any urging from Nan Yuan, everyone was training with vibrant energy. The only wilted one might be the Bloodsucking Grass, which had been stripped of too many fibers to make protective suits.
The surviving humans were already strong in combat prowess. They all knew Nan Yuan was powerful and intelligent enough to be the only human leader and never doubted his words.
Now, they were more eager for victory than ever.
Every day after training, Nan Yuan's influence would grow a little, clearly, the survivors' trust in him had deepened.
But relying solely on this was far from sufficient.
To boost his influence, more methods were needed.
After thinking for a long time, Tao Shushi concluded that the most effective approach was still to awaken the zombies. The zombies outnumbered the surviving humans several times over. If they joined, Nan Yuan's influence would be enough.
"No need to rush; we might need other breakthroughs," Nan Yuan said.
Zhou Yan and Cheng Feimao were strictly isolated and observed for seven days, with no signs of mutation, both remained perfectly healthy.
Nan Yuan said, "Cheng Feimao's protective suit was intact the entire time, so he had no contact with the virus. As for Zhou Yan, he had previously undergone treatment with the regenerative herb, and his blood contains the corresponding components."
"Blood could work too, but where would we find enough of it? Zhou Yan alone isn't sufficient..." Tao Shushu remarked.
The regenerative herb had always been rare and short-lived, only used for severely injured individuals in a few legions.
Among the surviving humans, only about a dozen had blood containing the regenerative herb components. Moreover, extracting it from blood would further dilute the concentration. The goal of reviving an entire planet of zombies remained a pipe dream.
Nan Yuan pointed to the location of Central Star on the map: "Dr. Xie."
The virus he had implanted in the AI combat units could spread autonomously. Although Chu had isolated that batch of AIs as soon as the issue was discovered, Dr. Xie had still been injured several times.
Each time, the regenerative herb had saved him.
"Nan Yuan is so clever!" Tao Shushu praised, feigning a moment of mourning for Dr. Xie, who was about to become a blood bag.