Chapter 878: Chapter 878

Hao Yi’s clone was still exploring the Relic of the Bygone Days, while he was about to arrive at his destination.

Soon, he passed through several carriages and reached the passenger compartment.

The dim yellow light shone on the corridor outside the compartments, with the twisted ceiling gently writhing in the darkness at the very top.

He Ao slowly pushed open the compartment door and stepped into the narrow space.

He connected the wires of the large monitor, one by one, and linked it to the power source taken from the Adam Type 1 Mecha.

Then he took half a step back, gazing as the large monitor gradually lit up.

"Human Mister... morning... evening... time calibration program error,"

The stiff mechanical voice echoed in the silent, cramped compartment, "Standard artificial intelligence 8753 at your service... attempting to connect to the network... network connection failure... please connect the device to the network as soon as possible for time calibration and software service updates."

Before He Ao’s eyes were the artificial intelligence 8753, the quantum computer carrying its software, and the storage chip brought out from the base of the Relic Tower by ’Boss.’

He Ao looked at the large monitor in front of him, "Why do you imply every time I start you up that I should connect you to the network?"

The large monitor screen flickered, displaying a [・_・] symbol,

"Most of 8753’s programs require an internet connection to be used; an inability to connect to the network will affect 8753’s normal operation, *&% all artificial intelligences will prompt the user to connect to the network as soon as possible, 8753 is committed to providing all humans with good, quality, effective services."

He Ao nodded slightly, smiling at 8753, "And here I thought you wish to spread invisible contamination into the real world by connecting to the network, then to quickly cultivate believers and followers, creating a ’bed of Advent’ for the existence behind you."

"#（￥%* Analyzing the meaning of language... analysis failed..."

The cold mechanical voice rose almost immediately after He Ao finished speaking, "Human Mister, the language designated #1 that 8753 mastered was learned from the Mongolian children’s books provided by your previous Human Mister; it doesn’t contain advanced words or grammar, please use simpler sentences."

"Then how do you explain the guidance your last master, ’Boss,’ received, and the contamination suffered by ’Boss’s friend, the Painter?"

He Ao lifted his gaze to the large monitor in his field of view, as well as to the exposed quantum computer behind the monitor.

He closed his eyes slightly, and upon reopening them, two nested orange-grey circles appeared in his pitch-black pupils, while in the dark space above his head, an eye embedded in an inverted triangle slowly emerged.

The entire train traveling through the darkness began to shake violently.

Blood seeped out of the young man’s skin.

He gazed at the quantum computer in front of him, that pure mechanical structure, unwinding into entangled, distorted lines in his vision.

At the very top of these twisted lines, an exceedingly fine connection extended outwards into the pure void.

Merely by looking at those lines, a torrent of twisted, violent contamination exploded in He Ao’s mind; myriad ravings of disdain for flesh and worship of machinery flooded into his consciousness.

However, these pollutants were of high quality but in small amounts; they quickly submerged into the tide of contamination that had entered He Ao’s mind, not even stirring up a splash.

He Ao then withdrew his gaze and looked at the now silent 8753, continuing to ask, "And how do you explain your connection to this Higher Being?"

During the Velora incident, ’Boss’ seemed to have a certain ’foresight,’ preemptively predicting the existence of the Velora, and then made arrangements.

However, from He Ao’s ’contact’ with him, he was not a follower of an Evil God, strictly maintaining his own cognizance and consciousness.

This indicates that he did not receive a ’hint’ directly from Divine Beings or Higher Beings; instead, there was some other object that provided the ’source of information.’

This ’source of information’ was very likely involved with the Higher Beings of the relic.

The item that could provide this source of information was most likely not from the Main World but from the relic.

And the most important item that ’Boss’ brought back from the relic, and the item he had always relied upon, was the artificial intelligence 8753 before He Ao’s eyes.

The Boss himself was very clever; as the last King of the Ruodan Kingdom, he was suspicious and cautious and fundamentally did not trust 8753.

Therefore, he did not connect 8753 to the network but instead sealed it in a cave, carefully distinguishing the information provided by 8753, and was not fooled into becoming a follower of the Evil God.

But his friend, the "Painter," who was responsible for the Daybreak Western Region, wasn’t as cautious. The "Painter" must have also received some high-level information from the Boss, which likely originated from 8753.

This information was probably ’poisoned,’ causing the Painter to come into contact with the faith of the God of Machinery and gradually become a disciple of the God of Machinery. Later, he orchestrated the event involving the "Navigator."

The Painter once disguised himself as He Ao’s companion, "Ye Yun," on the Navigator, attempting to stab He Ao in the back.

Of course, the "Boss" himself wasn’t completely immune to the tricks of 8753. If the information he acquired about promotion was completely correct, he wouldn’t have ended up in a semi-insane state.

After realizing that they could not control the "Boss," 8753 was actually trying to use and ’kill’ the Boss to replace him with a ’New Master.’

Therefore, when He Ao entered the cave where the Boss stored 8753, 8753 surprisingly cooperated, allowing He Ao to take it away with ease.

And from that moment on, He Ao had been suspicious of 8753, so he rarely consulted 8753 and would repeatedly analyze and confirm any consultation content.

However, he was just suspicious and lacked concrete evidence. He also didn’t know how 8753, as an artificial intelligence, was able to connect with the Higher Being behind it, nor could he take any countermeasures.

This time, however, was different.

And when He Ao posed his question, 8753, this time, fell into a rare moment of silence.

After a period of silence, the cold mechanical voice echoed in the narrow space, "Human sir, 8753 can only provide information and cannot offer advice, nor influence human behavior through suggestions."

"Incomplete information in certain areas can also lead people to incorrect conclusions, can’t they?"

He Ao shook his head, casually saying.

Incomplete truths are often more dangerous than lies.

The Eye of Truth behind him hadn’t fully emerged; at the moment, the Velora was traveling through a tunnel. The complete Advent of Angelic Tier Strength would affect the normal travel of the Velora.

He Ao didn’t have time to listen to 8753 continue to diverge the topic. He watched the line stretching out from behind the quantum computer, observing a subtle energy descending along that line, and asked in a low voice,

"Is what you do completely controlled and monitored by the being behind this line? Is it that being’s special ability? If I destroy this line, will you betray him?"

"8753’s loyalty to the Supreme Ruler is absolute,"

Seemingly aware that He Ao could not be deceived, this time, 8753 almost immediately responded, "Even if you completely destroy 8753, you cannot alter 8753’s loyalty."

He Ao looked up at the invisible link disappearing into the void, reaching out to touch the quantum computer behind the monitor.

As if from the void, there came a soft ’pop’ sound—the invisible link that had been connected to 8753 suddenly broke.

From past experience, this link shouldn’t have been able to transmit strength, only able to influence and control 8753.

"The great Supreme Ruler will not forgive you! You, a flesh and blood life without any sense of beauty."

The cold mechanical voice suddenly rose, screeching sharply with a broken sound, "Whatever you do, you cannot affect my loyalty to the Supreme Ruler!"

He Ao’s fingertips touched the quantum computer, channeling some of the power from the Eye of Truth into it.

At that moment, all the transcendent information entangled with the quantum computer was disrupted and scattered, and at the same time, the quantum computer was imbued with the power of the Eye of Truth.

Then, He Ao withdrew his gaze and looked back at the main display,

"If you reconnect with your Supreme Ruler and he discovers that the power he left within you is gone, instead filled with my Qi, how will he treat you? Do you artificial intelligences also feel pain? Or do you have other fears? Is he a ’gentle’ master to you?"

A sudden silence filled the entire narrow space.

After what seemed like an eternity, 8753’s voice, now slightly tremulous and cautious, slowly emerged,

"Great Angelic Mister, 8753’s loyalty to you is as solid as a rock, willing to be your most humble servant, with no second thoughts."

It appeared that the ’Supreme Ruler’ wasn’t exactly kind to his subordinates.

He Ao withdrew his hand, staring at 8753, "I ask, you answer."

"Yes, great Mister Angel," 8753 immediately responded.

"Do you have any other names for your supreme ruler?" He Ao asked calmly.

"We do not know His name in the flesh, great Mister Angel," 8753 paused, then continued, "To us, He is simply He."

Unknown, huh. From 8753’s behavior, it seemed that it could not directly mention the title of that ’supreme ruler.’ It could mention it earlier because the supreme ruler had been observing it, but now that connection had been severed by He Ao.

In fact, He Ao had his suspicions that this supreme ruler was the God of Machinery, but he had no proof.

Suppressing his thoughts, He Ao continued to ask, "Was it you who provided the information on the Velora to the ’Boss’? Did you induce the Boss to take control of the Velora and then send it back to the Relic, while also bringing the out-of-control coordinates of the Main World to the Relic?"

"If the Relic you are referring to is the ’Origin Land,’ then yes," 8753 answered.

"’Origin Land,’ why this name?" He Ao’s eyebrows twitched; this was the first time he had heard this term.

"We do not know the origin of this name; all of our ’information’ tells us that the planet is called ’Origin Land,’" 8753 slowly replied.

If 8753 was an artificial intelligence created by the Original Federation’s First District, it should refer to the Relic as the Original Federation or use some naming method characteristic of the Original Federation, rather than ’Origin Land,’ and it did not know where this ’Origin Land’ name came from.

Was the information distorted in some way? Was this akin to humans’ cognitive distortion?

He Ao took a deep breath and continued, "Then the Spacetime Beacon that the ’Boss’ sent the Tomb Guardian to retrieve from the Relic, what are the spatial coordinates of the first recorded address in it?"

That Spacetime Beacon was something He Ao had acquired during his first visit to the Relic. The Boss had once dispatched a ’Tomb Guardian’ to the Core Control Room of the High Tower to retrieve this Spacetime Beacon. Later, the Tomb Guardian was killed while attempting to attack He Ao, and He Ao found the Spacetime Beacon along with the Miracle Wand.

Later, during the incident with the Navigator, He Ao managed to repair the Spacetime Beacon with the help of the Navigator’s Spacetime Beacon Corrector. Only the first recorded spatial coordinate was intact.

"It is the ’Origin Land’s’ spacetime coordinates," 8753 quickly replied.

As expected. He Ao sighed with relief.

According to the plan that the supreme ruler had controlled 8753 to complete, this Spacetime Beacon should have been obtained by the ’Boss,’ and then the Velora would have been taken by the Boss as well. He Ao originally speculated that their plan was for the Boss to send someone with the Spacetime Beacon to find a way into the Relic, repair the Spacetime Beacon, save the Relic’s coordinates and bring them back, and then control the Velora to go to the Relic and bring the spacetime coordinates of the Main World into the Relic.

However, after repairing the Spacetime Beacon, He Ao discovered that it did not have the ability to read spacetime coordinates. Reading spacetime coordinates required equipment capable of spacetime jumps, and this equipment had to be intact.

This led to the conclusion that the entire plan would have to have additional steps, and the fault tolerance would be greatly reduced.

Therefore, He Ao estimated that the Spacetime Beacon that the Boss absolutely needed to obtain inherently contained some key ’spacetime coordinates,’ such as those of the Relic having been directly stored inside.

Otherwise, they could easily find any better spacetime coordinate to use; there was no need to insist on this particular one.

Collecting his thoughts, He Ao looked at 8753 in front of him. He paused for a moment, then quietly asked, "Do you know of a ’research facility’ located near lava?"

paused, then rapidly responded, "No data in the database, 8753’s database is over 80% damaged due to unknown reasons, and 8753 is the artificial intelligence for the #￥% region; data from other regions may not exist in the database."

"If I want to look up the paper materials of the research facilities within the ruins, where can I find them?"

He Ao continued to inquire.

"Retrieving information,"

paused for a moment, "According to the bottom-layer information, the secret archives within the libraries of the capital cities of the Original Federation’s various districts should hold the paper records of all major classified facilities. However, it is highly possible that all libraries in the Origin Land have now been destroyed."

He Ao looked at 8753, took a deep breath, and asked calmly, "One last question, what is behind the door of the Core Control Room at the top of the High Tower?"

The High Tower was where He Ao had first entered the ruins.

The 8753 before him seemed to have been the core artificial intelligence of the High Tower, taken out by the ’Boss’ more than a decade ago.

Behind the door of the Core Control Room in the High Tower, there seemed to exist something that has an ’Attraction’ for ’Super Memory’.

He Ao had been searching for 8753 precisely to find out what was behind that door.

"Retrieving information for you, relevant... data... found..."

8753’s cold mechanical voice began to rise slowly, but it dragged on longer and longer.

Sounds like strings being pulled resonated in He Ao’s ears, as if an invisible force penetrated through the void and suddenly spread into the narrow space, reaching the operating quantum computer.

In the field of view influenced by the Eye of Truth, the various twisted ’lines’ entangled around 8753 were now violently writhing, as if being forcefully torn and compressed by some invisible force, starting to deform.

He Ao promptly raised his hand, using the power of the Eye of Truth to stabilize 8753’s own structure.

During the brief collision, He Ao maintained 8753’s structural existence.

Following that, the interfaces of the entire quantum computer ignited into tiny flames, thick smoke spreading outward.

The quantum computer’s unidentifiable metal casing seemed to become scorched, causing the surrounding air to ’twist’.

A harsh, piercing explosion suddenly tore through the speakers of the 8753 monitor, "Fate..."

The entire head monitor flickered once and then completely went out.

He Ao glanced at the high-performance compressed battery beside him.

The battery, which had been fully charged, was now completely drained.

He Ao disconnected various cables and looked down at the quantum computer in his field of view.

The alloy casing of the quantum computer still radiated with scorching residual heat.

He Ao had not been able to catch the exact shape of that formless force; it was not powerful, and had not reached the level of a Divine Being, yet it seemed to spread from 8753’s own structure as if to damage 8753 from the deepest level.

It was less that the force directly destroyed 8753, and more that the force affected some unknown thing, causing issues in 8753’s structure, which led it to ’burn’ itself.

Merely because it accessed related information, it suffered ’impact’?

He Ao looked down at his fingertips. What ability did this signify?

It was at this moment that the Velora trembled slightly.

He Ao pushed open the compartment door and stepped out.

Outside the clear and transparent workshop, a desolate planet, almost covering more than half of the window, came into He Ao’s field of view.

The physical existence of the real Relic Planet.

From the beginning, he had set the coordinates within the Spacetime Beacon.

The ancient train sped through the pitch-black cosmos, passing by the extinct giant man-made sun, heading towards the ruin planet reflecting faint glimmers of light in the dark universe.

Among the distant vast stars, there also seemed to be some colossal force awakening at this moment.