Embers Ad Infinitum

In the North Shore Mountains, in the cave where the white wolf had once hidden.

The Old Task Force members—who had loaded the jeep with alarms and hidden in a forest somewhere—each carried a crate and entered with flashlights.

Of the three crates, one contained a military exoskeleton, another contained two bionic artificial intelligence armor, and the last one contained spare weapons, ammunition, and some food.

“What a pity. I can’t explore the Holm Fertility Center with you.” The red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered, and the regret in his tone was perfectly simulated.

This was because a monster named Wu Meng was sealed in Wasteland Ruin 13. He could control electromagnetism and remotely control all kinds of electrical appliances. He was the nemesis of the smart bot, Genava.

Genava then said, “Are you sure you want to bring the military exoskeleton and bionic artificial intelligence armor in? To a certain extent, they rely on chips. They are a type of electrical appliance. Could it be that Hey’s Electromagnetic Interference ability can reduce Wu Meng’s influence greatly?”

At present, Shang Jianyao’s electromagnetic influence was clearly inferior to Wu Meng’s.

One did interference, while the other controlled. The difference was huge.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “How do we know if it will work without trying?”

Upon hearing this, a scene surfaced in Long Yuehong’s mind: The three unmanned military exoskeletons and two bionic artificial intelligence armor coming to life, standing there like ghosts and attacking the Old Task Force.

It was indeed possible for Wu Meng to do such a thing!

Taking this opportunity, Jiang Baimian looked around and said, “Old Ge, don’t worry. We’ll mainly bring the bionic artificial intelligence armor in since they lack a ‘skeleton’ that can support them. Without a human wearing them, they wouldn’t be able to stand up and move about. Furthermore, one has strong defensive abilities, and the other has the ability to adapt to the environment for concealment. They don’t have any offensive means, nor do they have the equipment to produce sounds. Even if they are affected by Wu Meng, they won’t be of much harm to us. In comparison, I’m more worried about Little Red’s mechanical arm.”

It also had an auxiliary chip installed, and it wasn’t like a biological prosthetic limb that was isolated by all kinds of cells and tissue, minimizing Wu Meng’s influence.

“Little Red can stay behind and guard this place with me. We can provide reinforcements at any time.” Genava voiced his thoughts.

“No!” Long Yuehong rejected this suggestion without hesitation.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao smiled at him and clapped.

This made Long Yuehong inexplicably guilty. He composed himself and said, “I can turn off the auxiliary chip and use the insulation module to protect it. I may not be able to use most of the mechanical arm’s functions, but it won’t affect my daily life.”

Shang Jianyao’s expression turned stern as he asked solemnly, “The comb and the can opener can still be popped out, right?”

“…” Long Yuehong replied angrily, “Yes! They work mechanically!”

“Then, I’m relieved.” Shang Jianyao didn’t hide his relief.

Jiang Baimian then pointed at the crate containing the bionic artificial intelligence armor and said, “Little Red, wear the Blackmarsh Iron Snake. Little White, wear the Chameleon.”

As Long Yuehong and Bai Chen donned the equipment, Genava—who monitored an exhaustive list—reminded them, “Big White, do you still remember your encounter in Wasteland Ruin 13? There were only the stirrings of an electric current, but no sound was heard. Yet, three of the Ruin Hunters had their thoughts implanted, only to kill themselves later.”

Jiang Baimian nodded. “I remember it very clearly. I’ll always monitor such stirrings, and Hey will do the same. As long as we sense anything, we will immediately self-reflect and do a comparative inspection. If there’s indeed a problem, Hey will be in charge of removing the effects of Thought Implantation. He’s now an expert in this regard.”

“I have no further questions.” Genava cast his gaze at Bai Chen and Long Yuehong in satisfaction, planning to help them put on the bionic artificial intelligence armor.

However, things were different from before. The two of them—who were already skilled in this regard and had completed genetic modification—just needed to help each other before they finished donning the bionic artificial intelligence armor assigned to them.

Jiang Baimian glanced at them and confirmed that they were prepared before returning her attention to Genava. “Old Ge, I have something to discuss with you.”

She didn’t smile, but she wasn’t too serious either. It was as if she planned on discussing a problem she might or might not encounter in the subsequent explorations.

“What is it?” Genava asked in confusion. He had exhausted all kinds of problems and didn’t think he had missed anything.

Jiang Baimian casually looked up at the top of the cave. “There should still be many Old World satellites in orbit that haven’t been destroyed. Do you think any of them can still be used?”

“I’ve never obtained information on any satellites that can still be used.” Genava thought of a possibility and asked, “Do you think Wu Meng can control satellites in orbit and cause trouble for us?”

This exceeded a smart bot’s ‘imagination.’

Jiang Baimian didn’t answer and raised another question. “Old Ge, does Mechanical Paradise have the ability to launch satellites?”

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times. “The technology is there, but we lack sufficient resources. Be it the ores used to make alloys, fuel, or accelerants, there are large gaps.”

The smart bot then scanned the area and looked at Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Shang Jianyao—who were wearing bionic artificial intelligence armor—standing on the other side.

His blinking red eyes looked at Jiang Baimian again. “Big White, you can be more direct. As companions, you can ask anything.”

“Is that so?” Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited.

It was unknown which of his curiosity nerves were triggered.

Jiang Baimian stopped him with her eyes and said seriously, “Old Ge, Oray knows how to format the Source Brain and hid it in the secret laboratory in Wasteland Ruin 13. What level of importance do you think the Source Brain will place on this matter? Do you feel that the matter of the Source Brain sending the disciplinary robots to investigate your humanization happened too suddenly without any warning? This happened just after we conversed with the Source Brain. Do you feel that the subsequent pursuit by Mechanical Paradise was rather rough, as though they didn’t put in much effort?”

She suspected that Genava’s escape was arranged by the Source Brain so that he could ‘visit’ Oray’s descendants with her team and obtain the corresponding information.

Genava fell silent.

If not for the red glow in his eyes still blinking, Long Yuehong definitely would’ve thought that he had short-circuited.

After a while, Genava said, “When I was Redstone Collection’s interim president, I had a certain level of suspicion. When you obtained Oray’s last words from Avia, I felt that this matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed. However, I’ve checked every component on me. There’s nothing wrong with them.”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and said, “Without satellites as a relay, it’s almost impossible for the Source Brain to control you remotely.”

“There’s no back door in my various modules,” Genava said firmly. He then fell silent again.

After more than ten seconds, Genava hesitantly said, “However, I can’t self-check my core module.”

This was the research outcome of Oray and his researchers back then—a distillation of Old World civilization. To this day, the Source Brain still couldn’t crack it and make changes. This didn’t mean that the Source Brain didn’t have the computational ability, but it was also limited by its core module. Many attempts couldn’t be made.

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and replied, “Although the Source Brain can’t do anything to the core module, it doesn’t mean that it can’t add anything inside.”

Shang Jianyao revealed his usual intimidating expression that he used on Long Yuehong and said, “Maybe the Source Brain only hid another behavior pattern in your core module, just like how human personalities can split into many. The name of that behavior pattern is: Source Brain!”

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered. “You mean that the Source Brain is like a ghost that lurks in my core module in the form of another personality?”

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and the others to respond, Genava raised another question. “Does this mean that smart bots can also have split personalities?”

He was a little happy as if he felt that this would make him more human.

Don’t treat Shang Jianyao as a template of a normal human! Jiang Baimian screamed weakly in her heart. She then calmed down and solemnly said, “I can’t answer your question for the time being because I lack sufficient information. However, we have to be wary of the corresponding possibilities.”

“I understand.” Genava moved his metal neck up and down. “I’ll stay here in peace. After all, it’s not suitable for me to enter Ruin 13.”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and guessed, “It seems like the Source Brain doesn’t know of Wu Meng’s existence or doesn’t know what’s special about him. It didn’t expect such a situation to happen.”

Genava analyzed the situation and said, “This is the most likely reason. Also, try your best not to mention the secret laboratory and the information in Wasteland Ruin 13 in front of me in the future. Even if another personality is lurking in my core module, it still needs keywords or special scenes to be activated.”

It was impossible for the other ‘personality’ to take the initiative to appear after operating for a certain period of time. That would make it too prone for exposure.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words and sighed. “We don’t plan on going anyway.”

She exchanged a few more words with Genava before saying to Long Yuehong and the others, “Let’s go.”

“Yes, Team Leader!” Bai Chen and Long Yuehong—who were wearing bionic artificial intelligence armor—replied in deep voices.

After bidding Genava farewell and leaving the military exoskeletons behind, Jiang Baimian asked Shang Jianyao on the way to Wasteland Ruin 13, “Did you find Room 522’s owner on the cruise ship?”

Shang Jianyao revealed a confused expression. “I’ve asked everyone. None of them have been to Iron Mountain City Ruin.”