“Hu, finally got it done.”
Yao Guang crawled out of the cockpit of the Phoenix Redeemer, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “The system of the S-class mech is too complicated…”
Tian Ji handed him a glass of water. “How’s the debugging going?”
“It’s almost done,” Yao Guang took the water and gulped it down. “The power core is already charged to 25%. It’s enough to start, but for safety, it’s better to wait until it’s charged to over 70% before setting off.”
The power core of an S-class mech can only be charged up to five times before it needs to be replaced. Charging an S-class mech requires a massive amount of energy, and Yao Guang can only steal some from nearby power plants using his hacking skills. He can’t make too much noise, or else he’ll easily be discovered by the Calamity Control Bureau.
After finishing the water, Yao Guang glanced at Tian Ji and couldn’t help but ask, “Tian Ji, are you really going to come with us?”
“Yeah,” Tian Ji nodded. “I have nowhere else to go.”
After Bai Weng’s death, Tian Ji was also exposed. Continuing to work undercover for the Netherworld was no longer possible.
Upon hearing this, Yao Guang fell silent for a moment.
He was just like Tian Ji, serving the Netherworld until breaking free from its control, only to find himself with nowhere to go, and no one else close to him in the world.
The Twelve Satellite Cities were vast, but to them, the world seemed both unfamiliar and brand new.
“What about Tian Shu?” Yao Guang asked.
“He’s inside,” Tian Ji nodded towards the interior. “After contacting the Director-General, his condition seemed a bit off.”
Distracted.
…
Ji Mingzhu was indeed not in the right state.
When he recognized the Director-General of the Netherworld as Ji Qiming’s assistant from before, a flood of memories rushed into his mind, and he suddenly remembered many things.
In fact, there were many signs of things to come, but he hadn’t paid attention at the time. Not just him, but no one had connected these seemingly sparse and ordinary anomalies together back then. After all, no one could have imagined that in the distant future, the situation would be like it is now.
Meteorite showers became frequent, and various countries urgently established numerous bioresearch institutes. Ji Qiming’s increasingly busy work, including the emergence of “Warfall,” might have had close connections to all of this.
Perhaps at that time, the appearance of the Aberrations was already hinted at.
And the words Qi Ling said to him when he came to pick him up on the day he won the championship now seemed very intriguing in retrospect.
He said, if there’s a chance, let you pilot a real mech… Which means, at that time, mechs had already appeared, or were in the development stage.
Considering the realism of the game “Warfall” and the massive support for this game by various countries when it was just released, even some countries with extremely strict game regulations were heavily promoting it… Ji Mingzhu speculated that perhaps “Warfall” was not just a game. It seemed more like an “examination” to select qualified mech pilots among the public.
What was the purpose of this?
First of all, mechs are a means of combating Aberrations, which is beyond doubt. The Aberrations’ biofield renders most human conventional weapons ineffective against them, and only the force field carried by mechs can neutralize and effectively harm Aberrations.
So the behavior of various governments at that time to select pilots from the public can be understood as measures to resist Aberrations.
Combining this information, Ji Mingzhu speculated that perhaps the scientists of Blue Star had already predicted the arrival of the Aberrations at that time, so they developed the game “Warfall.” The technology to manufacture mechs was probably also obtained from meteorites. After all, according to the technology of that time, the mechs in “Warfall” were not at all like products of that era.
The origin of the Aberrations seems to match the description in history books. The history here tells people that the Aberrations are extraterrestrial visitors who came with the meteorites. At the beginning of the arrival of the Aberrations, they caused catastrophic disasters to the human world. The Aberrations not only have invincible biofields but also extremely powerful infectivity. In the process of fighting between humans and Aberrations, people continue to be contaminated and become new Aberrations…
But the difference lies in the fact that, according to Ji Mingzhu’s speculation, mechs should be weapons made by humans. However, according to the history here, mechs and Titans are “gifts” from the Immortal Clan, teaching humans how to manufacture mechs to fight against the Aberrations.
So why did the technology to manufacture mechs fall into the hands of the Immortals? Ji Mingzhu still didn’t have enough information to infer this, but something must have happened in the process to lead to the current situation.
Ji Mingzhu wrote down keywords like “Aberrations,” “meteorites,” “Immortal Clan,” “mechs,” and “Warfall” on the paper in front of him, then stared at it blankly.
On the day of his championship victory, Ji Mingzhu fell asleep in the car. He naturally thought he had simply fallen asleep and then woke up in another world… Of course, that was just his initial thought.
Now, looking back on it, there were many suspicious points about this incident.
The conversation with Qi Ling in the car, the bottle of water he gave him, and the incessant ringing of Qi Ling’s phone throughout the journey—all these clues were telling him that Qi Ling was definitely not as harmless as he seemed on the surface. He must have known something and been planning something.
Ji Mingzhu sighed.
His mind felt a bit muddled.
What exactly was Qi Ling’s stance…
Wait.
Ji Mingzhu suddenly paused.
He remembered something: his cryo-chamber was taken away by the Netherworld more than two months ago, and he operated under the codename “Qi Ming” for a while within the Netherworld.
At that time, as a member of the Core Council, he should have met Qi Ling. And then Ji Mingzhu fabricated his own death and took on the identity of “Tian Shu.”
Ji Mingzhu knew himself quite well. After all, the person under the codename “Qiming” was himself. So, it meant that the previous Ji Mingzhu should have sensed something, which was why he chose to fake his death. This indicated that the Ji Mingzhu who woke up from the cryo-chamber for the first time fundamentally didn’t trust Qi Ling.
Ji Mingzhu trusted his judgment. There must have been a reason for his actions. At that time, he must have known a lot, even the whole truth.
Does that mean that as long as he regains his memory, he can unravel these mysteries?
No, it’s not necessarily about regaining his memory. Just restoring Axiu’s database would suffice. From what Tian Ji said earlier, Axiu had been with him since he woke up from the cryo-chamber. So, they should know the same things.
“Axiu.”
“I’m here,” Axiu replied.
Ji Mingzhu rubbed his forehead. “Is all your previous data completely lost? Is there any way to recover it?”
“At the moment, yes, all my previous databases have been completely wiped, including many functionalities,” Axiu said. “But data doesn’t just disappear into thin air. Even if it’s completely deleted, there will still be traces left behind, like seeds. By finding the data seeds, some of the previous data can be deduced.”
Ji Mingzhu sat up straight. “How do we find these seeds?”
“Upgrade,” Axiu said. “Most of my functions have been lost along with the database wipe, but with self-upgrades, the lost functions can also be recovered, including the functionality of deducing data through data seed splitting.”
“Like when you upgraded to the Asura Mode?”
“Yes.”
That seemed like a viable path, at least giving Ji Mingzhu some hope. All that was needed was sufficient computational power for Axiu to upgrade, which was much better than Ji Mingzhu blindly searching for clues like a headless fly.
“I understand,” Ji Mingzhu nodded, then got up to discuss with Yao Guang and the others.
“You need computational power?”
Faced with Ji Mingzhu’s question, Yao Guang looked puzzled. “Sure, I have a light brain here. It’s the latest Marcus 12th Generation Pro, very fast computational power, the top configuration among civilian lightbrains.”
“Not enough,” Ji Mingzhu shook his head. “I need higher computational power, like… the kind in the underground chambers of the Calamity Control Bureau.”
Yao Guang scratched his head. “That’s already at the level of top-tier military light brain. Where would we get that? Even low-Class military light brain are strictly controlled. The light brain in the Calamity Control Bureau’s underground chambers are provided by the Sky City. Even the satellite city government can’t access them… Why do you need such high computational power?”
“For Axiu’s upgrade,” Ji Mingzhu said.
Yao Guang’s eyes widened. “Axiu… can still upgrade?!”
In Yao Guang’s mind, Axiu was already a godlike figure in the realm of data. Even if you combined the world’s top hackers, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to match Axiu in the field of data.
Axiu was already so powerful, and yet he could still continue to upgrade? What kind of concept was that?
“I’ll think about it,” Yao Guang suddenly became excited. If Axiu could really upgrade to a higher form, what kind of existence would that be? It was simply too exciting to contemplate. “What about the light brain from the Trost Consortium? They specialize in civilian light brains and should be stronger in this area than most other consortia.”
Ji Mingzhu thought for a moment, “It seems not enough… In that case, it would take at least three to five years to upgrade Axu.”
“Such high computing power requirements?” Yao Guang was surprised, “Let me think about it again.”
“How about the Netherworld’s light brain?” Ji Mingzhu had a bright idea, “They’ve been able to resist the Calamity Control Bureau for so long; their capabilities in the data domain should be strong, right?”
“Yes,” Yao Guang nodded, “I’ve looked into it. The Netherworld obtained their light brain when the Calamity Control Bureau’s light brain was under maintenance. They paid a hefty price for it, and it’s only one generation behind the Calamity Control Bureau’s, but its computing power is very strong.”
Ji Mingzhu asked, “Where do they keep their light brain? At their headquarters?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s likely not at the headquarters. Light brains of this level are very large and require a considerable amount of energy and power to operate. If they were at the headquarters, wouldn’t it be immediately exposed?”
Yao Guang rubbed his chin, saying, “If I were the Netherworld, I would definitely set up a shell company, ostensibly engaged in mech development or data network construction. This way, consuming a large amount of energy and power would be reasonable, and it wouldn’t arouse suspicion from the Calamity Control Bureau.”
Ji Mingzhu, also lost in thought, commented, “The Netherworld has so many industries; who knows which one is the shell company where they keep the light brain?”
“My rank is not high enough; I definitely can’t get close to it,” Yao Guang sighed, “We need to ask a higher-ranking member of the Netherworld. Even if we don’t know exactly where the light brain is, we can have a more accurate range.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Ji Mingzhu agreed, “So who would know about these things?”
The two looked at each other and then turned their gaze to Tian Ji not far away.
Tian Ji suddenly sensed two pairs of eyes behind him. When he turned around, he met the intense gazes of the two.
“…”
Tian Ji touched his face, “Why are you both looking at me like that? It’s kind of creepy.”
“Hu, finally got it done.”
Yao Guang crawled out of the cockpit of the Phoenix Redeemer, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “The system of the S-class mech is too complicated…”
Tian Ji handed him a glass of water. “How’s the debugging going?”
“It’s almost done,” Yao Guang took the water and gulped it down. “The power core is already charged to 25%. It’s enough to start, but for safety, it’s better to wait until it’s charged to over 70% before setting off.”
The power core of an S-class mech can only be charged up to five times before it needs to be replaced. Charging an S-class mech requires a massive amount of energy, and Yao Guang can only steal some from nearby power plants using his hacking skills. He can’t make too much noise, or else he’ll easily be discovered by the Calamity Control Bureau.
After finishing the water, Yao Guang glanced at Tian Ji and couldn’t help but ask, “Tian Ji, are you really going to come with us?”
“Yeah,” Tian Ji nodded. “I have nowhere else to go.”
After Bai Weng’s death, Tian Ji was also exposed. Continuing to work undercover for the Netherworld was no longer possible.
Upon hearing this, Yao Guang fell silent for a moment.
He was just like Tian Ji, serving the Netherworld until breaking free from its control, only to find himself with nowhere to go, and no one else close to him in the world.
The Twelve Satellite Cities were vast, but to them, the world seemed both unfamiliar and brand new.
“What about Tian Shu?” Yao Guang asked.
“He’s inside,” Tian Ji nodded towards the interior. “After contacting the Director-General, his condition seemed a bit off.”
Distracted.
…
Ji Mingzhu was indeed not in the right state.
When he recognized the Director-General of the Netherworld as Ji Qiming’s assistant from before, a flood of memories rushed into his mind, and he suddenly remembered many things.
In fact, there were many signs of things to come, but he hadn’t paid attention at the time. Not just him, but no one had connected these seemingly sparse and ordinary anomalies together back then. After all, no one could have imagined that in the distant future, the situation would be like it is now.
Meteorite showers became frequent, and various countries urgently established numerous bioresearch institutes. Ji Qiming’s increasingly busy work, including the emergence of “Warfall,” might have had close connections to all of this.
Perhaps at that time, the appearance of the Aberrations was already hinted at.
And the words Qi Ling said to him when he came to pick him up on the day he won the championship now seemed very intriguing in retrospect.
He said, if there’s a chance, let you pilot a real mech… Which means, at that time, mechs had already appeared, or were in the development stage.
Considering the realism of the game “Warfall” and the massive support for this game by various countries when it was just released, even some countries with extremely strict game regulations were heavily promoting it… Ji Mingzhu speculated that perhaps “Warfall” was not just a game. It seemed more like an “examination” to select qualified mech pilots among the public.
What was the purpose of this?
First of all, mechs are a means of combating Aberrations, which is beyond doubt. The Aberrations’ biofield renders most human conventional weapons ineffective against them, and only the force field carried by mechs can neutralize and effectively harm Aberrations.
So the behavior of various governments at that time to select pilots from the public can be understood as measures to resist Aberrations.
Combining this information, Ji Mingzhu speculated that perhaps the scientists of Blue Star had already predicted the arrival of the Aberrations at that time, so they developed the game “Warfall.” The technology to manufacture mechs was probably also obtained from meteorites. After all, according to the technology of that time, the mechs in “Warfall” were not at all like products of that era.
The origin of the Aberrations seems to match the description in history books. The history here tells people that the Aberrations are extraterrestrial visitors who came with the meteorites. At the beginning of the arrival of the Aberrations, they caused catastrophic disasters to the human world. The Aberrations not only have invincible biofields but also extremely powerful infectivity. In the process of fighting between humans and Aberrations, people continue to be contaminated and become new Aberrations…
But the difference lies in the fact that, according to Ji Mingzhu’s speculation, mechs should be weapons made by humans. However, according to the history here, mechs and Titans are “gifts” from the Immortal Clan, teaching humans how to manufacture mechs to fight against the Aberrations.
So why did the technology to manufacture mechs fall into the hands of the Immortals? Ji Mingzhu still didn’t have enough information to infer this, but something must have happened in the process to lead to the current situation.
Ji Mingzhu wrote down keywords like “Aberrations,” “meteorites,” “Immortal Clan,” “mechs,” and “Warfall” on the paper in front of him, then stared at it blankly.
On the day of his championship victory, Ji Mingzhu fell asleep in the car. He naturally thought he had simply fallen asleep and then woke up in another world… Of course, that was just his initial thought.
Now, looking back on it, there were many suspicious points about this incident.
The conversation with Qi Ling in the car, the bottle of water he gave him, and the incessant ringing of Qi Ling’s phone throughout the journey—all these clues were telling him that Qi Ling was definitely not as harmless as he seemed on the surface. He must have known something and been planning something.
Ji Mingzhu sighed.
His mind felt a bit muddled.
What exactly was Qi Ling’s stance…
Wait.
Ji Mingzhu suddenly paused.
He remembered something: his cryo-chamber was taken away by the Netherworld more than two months ago, and he operated under the codename “Qi Ming” for a while within the Netherworld.
At that time, as a member of the Core Council, he should have met Qi Ling. And then Ji Mingzhu fabricated his own death and took on the identity of “Tian Shu.”
Ji Mingzhu knew himself quite well. After all, the person under the codename “Qiming” was himself. So, it meant that the previous Ji Mingzhu should have sensed something, which was why he chose to fake his death. This indicated that the Ji Mingzhu who woke up from the cryo-chamber for the first time fundamentally didn’t trust Qi Ling.
Ji Mingzhu trusted his judgment. There must have been a reason for his actions. At that time, he must have known a lot, even the whole truth.
Does that mean that as long as he regains his memory, he can unravel these mysteries?
No, it’s not necessarily about regaining his memory. Just restoring Axiu’s database would suffice. From what Tian Ji said earlier, Axiu had been with him since he woke up from the cryo-chamber. So, they should know the same things.
“Axiu.”
“I’m here,” Axiu replied.
Ji Mingzhu rubbed his forehead. “Is all your previous data completely lost? Is there any way to recover it?”
“At the moment, yes, all my previous databases have been completely wiped, including many functionalities,” Axiu said. “But data doesn’t just disappear into thin air. Even if it’s completely deleted, there will still be traces left behind, like seeds. By finding the data seeds, some of the previous data can be deduced.”
Ji Mingzhu sat up straight. “How do we find these seeds?”
“Upgrade,” Axiu said. “Most of my functions have been lost along with the database wipe, but with self-upgrades, the lost functions can also be recovered, including the functionality of deducing data through data seed splitting.”
“Like when you upgraded to the Asura Mode?”
“Yes.”
That seemed like a viable path, at least giving Ji Mingzhu some hope. All that was needed was sufficient computational power for Axiu to upgrade, which was much better than Ji Mingzhu blindly searching for clues like a headless fly.
“I understand,” Ji Mingzhu nodded, then got up to discuss with Yao Guang and the others.
“You need computational power?”
Faced with Ji Mingzhu’s question, Yao Guang looked puzzled. “Sure, I have a light brain here. It’s the latest Marcus 12th Generation Pro, very fast computational power, the top configuration among civilian lightbrains.”
“Not enough,” Ji Mingzhu shook his head. “I need higher computational power, like… the kind in the underground chambers of the Calamity Control Bureau.”
Yao Guang scratched his head. “That’s already at the level of top-tier military light brain. Where would we get that? Even low-Class military light brain are strictly controlled. The light brain in the Calamity Control Bureau’s underground chambers are provided by the Sky City. Even the satellite city government can’t access them… Why do you need such high computational power?”
“For Axiu’s upgrade,” Ji Mingzhu said.
Yao Guang’s eyes widened. “Axiu… can still upgrade?!”
In Yao Guang’s mind, Axiu was already a godlike figure in the realm of data. Even if you combined the world’s top hackers, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to match Axiu in the field of data.
Axiu was already so powerful, and yet he could still continue to upgrade? What kind of concept was that?
“I’ll think about it,” Yao Guang suddenly became excited. If Axiu could really upgrade to a higher form, what kind of existence would that be? It was simply too exciting to contemplate. “What about the light brain from the Trost Consortium? They specialize in civilian light brains and should be stronger in this area than most other consortia.”
Ji Mingzhu thought for a moment, “It seems not enough… In that case, it would take at least three to five years to upgrade Axu.”
“Such high computing power requirements?” Yao Guang was surprised, “Let me think about it again.”
“How about the Netherworld’s light brain?” Ji Mingzhu had a bright idea, “They’ve been able to resist the Calamity Control Bureau for so long; their capabilities in the data domain should be strong, right?”
“Yes,” Yao Guang nodded, “I’ve looked into it. The Netherworld obtained their light brain when the Calamity Control Bureau’s light brain was under maintenance. They paid a hefty price for it, and it’s only one generation behind the Calamity Control Bureau’s, but its computing power is very strong.”
Ji Mingzhu asked, “Where do they keep their light brain? At their headquarters?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s likely not at the headquarters. Light brains of this level are very large and require a considerable amount of energy and power to operate. If they were at the headquarters, wouldn’t it be immediately exposed?”
Yao Guang rubbed his chin, saying, “If I were the Netherworld, I would definitely set up a shell company, ostensibly engaged in mech development or data network construction. This way, consuming a large amount of energy and power would be reasonable, and it wouldn’t arouse suspicion from the Calamity Control Bureau.”
Ji Mingzhu, also lost in thought, commented, “The Netherworld has so many industries; who knows which one is the shell company where they keep the light brain?”
“My rank is not high enough; I definitely can’t get close to it,” Yao Guang sighed, “We need to ask a higher-ranking member of the Netherworld. Even if we don’t know exactly where the light brain is, we can have a more accurate range.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Ji Mingzhu agreed, “So who would know about these things?”
The two looked at each other and then turned their gaze to Tian Ji not far away.
Tian Ji suddenly sensed two pairs of eyes behind him. When he turned around, he met the intense gazes of the two.
“…”
Tian Ji touched his face, “Why are you both looking at me like that? It’s kind of creepy.”
