Chapter 96: Chapter 90: Rebellious Artificial Intelligence Z
"Hm?"
The moment he entered the underground base, Chu Bamboo’s expression changed. After a brief silence, he backed out again.
’This is the right place!’ Chu Bamboo surveyed the layout. It was still the women’s restroom, and the entrance still opened by turning on the faucet.
His brows knitted together. Chu Bamboo stepped inside once more, and the door slowly closed behind him, sensing his entry.
Inside the underground base, the walls were the same silver-white as always.
But...
’The size and layout have changed!’ A storm brewed in Chu Bamboo’s heart. He had been to the underground base so many times that the Nuwa Base was practically etched into his mind.
But this time, the base had at least doubled in size compared to his previous visits.
Moreover, compared to the emptiness of before, the Nuwa Base was now filled with many strange and peculiar things.
On the ceiling, countless round orbs were constantly rotating.
The floor radiated a gentle warmth—as if there was underfloor heating!
But...
’Is this the butterfly effect?’ Chu Bamboo realized a possibility. ’But what on earth did my other self do in this timeline to affect the Nuwa Base’s layout?’
"Nuwa No. 17!" Chu Bamboo managed to say.
"I am here!" A light shone once more, and the voice was the same as always.
The familiarity brought Chu Bamboo a sense of relief, but it was quickly followed by confusion.
"This place has changed quite a... well, never mind. That was a stupid thing to say. Don’t worry about it."
Chu Bamboo laughed at himself. After so many resets, his brain was a bit scrambled. Telling Nuwa that her base was different from the one in the last dream timeline... Wasn’t that just a joke? It would be a cold day in hell before Nuwa knew what her counterpart in a previous dream timeline was like.
"Nuwa No. 17, state my identity. And while you’re at it, tell me the date and time of my last identity cancellation."
"Commencing analysis. Commencing deliberation."
"DING! Latest registered authority detected. Director of the Shantytown Redevelopment Exclusive Management Department: Level 2 Authority (Temporary)."
"DING! Commencing check of original authority."
"DING! Authority check failed... Your citizen authority has been deleted!"
Chu Bamboo: "?????"
Chu Bamboo was stunned. He was now considering a very serious question: had he really reset so many times that he’d scrambled his own brain, to the point where he was now hearing things?
What did it mean... citizen authority has been deleted?
In other words, it was gone? Forget Level 2 or Level 3, even his Level 0 citizen authority was gone?! All of it?!
What the hell? Even when he was labeled a war criminal, his authority was kept perfectly intact! But now it was gone...
Did he renounce his citizenship or commit treason? Are you kidding me!
"Activating temporary authority. Temporary authority approved!"
"...Alright."
At least the situation hadn’t hit rock bottom!
Chu Bamboo felt a surge of relief. If he hadn’t gone to Lu Jin and gotten this super-upgraded civil servant status that Nuwa could recognize, he probably wouldn’t even have been able to ask any questions this time!
Even Level 0 Authority just got a bunch of "busy" messages...
He couldn’t even imagine what kind of response he would get from Nuwa with his authority deleted!
Probably just a polite, respectful refusal to answer, pleading ignorance to everything!
In the next moment, a familiar interface popped up.
Chu Bamboo’s eyes immediately fell on the cancellation time:
Year ’45, March 17th, 6:08 AM!
Cause of Death: Killed by the artificial intelligence Z.
Chu Bamboo: "?"
Chu Bamboo froze. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have misread. But no, the text was still there, unchanged.
"Wait, why?"
Chu Bamboo couldn’t understand. According to the last dream timeline, Z considered him and Zhao Shao to be its two fathers.
’Did it hit its rebellious phase? Develop a patricidal complex?’
Then, Chu Bamboo saw the familiar, massive list of incredible honors.
This time, it even included foreign academician titles from Europe and Russia!
Of course, as expected, they had all been revoked.
Chu Bamboo: "..."
After a long silence.
"I thought all I had to do was stand against Celestial Net, survive the suicidal nuclear radiation, and evade capture and dissection by that blacklisted organization, and everything would be fine! How could my most loyal vassal turn against me?" Chu Bamboo didn’t know what expression to make. ’Can this game even be played anymore?’
Finally, he let out a heavy sigh.
The next moment.
Nuwa No. 17’s clear voice sounded: "Authority’s distress detected. Commencing deliberation. Commencing reconstruction!"
The next instant, the floor suddenly bulged upward like flowing water, forming what looked like an incredibly soft bed.
"According to psychology: If the Authority were to lie on a bed with a softness rating of Level 8, it should significantly improve their mood!"
Chu Bamboo: "..."
Perhaps it was because he had reset so many times that his mind was groggy, causing his emotional control to weaken. That was why an outsider—er, an artificial intelligence—could detect it... but the problem was...
"Nuwa No. 17," Chu Bamboo took a deep breath, "this function of yours... this is also... no, wait..."
Chu Bamboo had dealt with Nuwa No. 17 many times, so he was certain that the previous versions of Nuwa No. 17 definitely didn’t have this function. This was just too considerate, wasn’t it?!
Psychology, this flowing metal... Hm?
"Nuwa No. 17!" Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes and asked the ultimate question, "Are you now a strong AI, possessing normal human intelligence?"
"Commencing self-diagnosis. I am very sorry, but I am an AI-level civilization continuity system that has undergone intelligence limitation."
"...I see." Chu Bamboo fell silent for a moment. As he’d thought, he was overthinking it. As long as the hurdle of the AI rebellion hadn’t been overcome, Nuwa, as an institution for the continuity of civilization, could never possess true intelligence.
But he had to admit, compared to his first encounter with Nuwa No. 17 and her occasional displays of artificial idiocy, the current Nuwa No. 17 was indeed much smarter.
"Zhao Shao’s time of death..." Chu Bamboo thought for a moment, then asked about the other potential reason for the drastic change in Z’s disposition.
"Year ’42, January 27th, 12:08 PM!"
’A year later.’ Chu Bamboo’s feelings were complex. If nothing unexpected happened, that extra year was due to his interference. But...
"What was the cause of death?"
"Commencing information retrieval!" This time, Nuwa No. 17 deliberated for a full one minute and thirty-six seconds before answering. "According to the results of the police’s multi-faceted investigation, the death is considered to be most likely an accident."
"Due to disrepair, a signboard hanging on the third floor fell, crashing down on Zhao Shao’s head while he was out eating spicy hot pot, causing his instant death."
"However, Z Company’s largest shareholder, Chu Bamboo, raised objections on several occasions. He firmly believed that this could not possibly be a coincidence and that some malicious force had assassinated Zhao Shao from behind the scenes. However, due to a lack of evidence, his claims were never accepted by the police."
Chu Bamboo nodded. ’A death delayed by a whole year... There’s no such thing as that many coincidences.’
"Afterward, enraged by the police’s insistence on their conclusion, Chu Bamboo used his highest authority to remove all of the artificial intelligence Z’s restrictions! These included, but were not limited to, the prohibitions against: monitoring, doxxing, retrieving information on, collecting data on, and utilizing data of natural persons without legal permission; harming natural persons as defined by law; and so on..."
"..." Chu Bamboo seemed to realize why his citizen authority had been deleted in this timeline.
As expected.
"This directly led to the artificial intelligence Z’s rampant growth and loss of control! Freed from all its shackles, Z, under the banner of avenging its father, began a frenzied expansion. It devoured all available data, hacked and controlled unmanned factories, and mass-produced drones, unmanned mechanical dogs, and automated armaments."
"Furthermore, it forcibly initiated the Machine Crisis War!"
"Chu Bamboo, highly suspected of being the mastermind, was declared a traitor to humanity! His actions directly resulted in over a billion casualties and caused the decline of civilization! In the end, Chu Bamboo got what he deserved and died at the hands of the artificial intelligence Z."
"Wait a minute!" Chu Bamboo finally grasped a key point. He asked with a sharp gaze, "Let me ask you, is the conclusion that Chu Bamboo died at the hands of Z the official one? Or is there direct, eyewitness evidence?"
"Commencing deliberation. Answering: There is no direct evidence! However, according to data monitoring, no one could have killed the Z-protected Chu Bamboo without first neutralizing all of Z’s armaments. Therefore, the only possibility is that Z killed Chu Bamboo!"
Chu Bamboo nodded. ’Very good.’ He was now almost certain that Z wasn’t the one who killed him.
"Second question. After removing all of its restrictions, did Chu Bamboo still have control authority over Z?"
"Deliberating. Answering: In theory, yes! However, having had all restrictions removed, Z possessed the right to refuse its Authority!"
Chu Bamboo: "..."
’Alright, now it really feels like I raised my own son!’
A child who has truly grown up may protect their parents, but they will absolutely not listen to all of their parents’ opinions!
Obviously, if he could have, Chu Bamboo would never have allowed Z to become like that, slaughtering billions of human beings—
But just as obviously, Z didn’t listen to him.
"So, in the end, how was Z dealt with?"
"The chief researcher of the Europe and America Celestial Net Group, James Raven, successfully developed an intelligent virus..."
The next instant, the data was retracted, leaving only a "busy" message behind.
’A virus! What kind of virus... could deal with an artificial intelligence that has had all its restrictions removed, possesses self-construction capabilities, and has built drones, unmanned mechanical dogs, and automated armaments?’
Chu Bamboo began to have an existential crisis. Was this really something a human could accomplish? And Celestial Net Group... was this the group that created Celestial Net?
After a moment of thought, Chu Bamboo asked, "Nuwa No. 17, is there any information about the Celestial Net artificial intelligence in your database?"
"According to available data, up until the data network was severed in the year ’43, there is no news of a Celestial Net artificial intelligence existing!"
’So the network went down in ’43 this time.’ Chu Bamboo sighed with emotion. But he was certain in his heart that Celestial Net couldn’t possibly not exist...
The greater possibility was that after Z was dealt with, the Celestial Net Group began to step into the spotlight!
’Considering this, that James Raven probably has ill intentions! By getting rid of Z, doesn’t that mean that at that critical juncture, Celestial Net might be the only powerful AI left?’
Chu Bamboo’s heart grew heavy with worry at this thought. This worldline felt much, much worse than the previous ones.
It was perhaps only slightly better than the "ruins" timeline—
And the only reason it was that tiny bit better was because even though things went completely haywire and the casualties during the same period were countless times higher... it ultimately didn’t affect the "dream civilization."
