Chapter 97: Information, City Lord’s intentions (4)
Grey’s vision shifted, and immediately, a huge amount of data began pouring in. Heaps and heaps of applications and encrypted reports flowed straight into his head.
Soon, Grey found what he was looking for.
"Bingo," Grey mumbled as he selected the data. It was a large-scale research report.
[Central Evolutionary Research Division – Confidential Reports]
[File No: ERD-0473]
[Project: Forced Law Comprehension of the Law of Machinery through Data Cores]
[Supervising Member: Varyn – Late-stage Second Rank Expert]
[Objective: To forcefully comprehend the Law of Machinery to create the ’Ultimate Weapon’ against the Ultimate AI, Eterna.]
"Hey, Eterna," Grey called out in his mind with a smile. "You’re mentioned in the report. Look."
"..." Eterna slowly appeared in Grey’s vision and stared at the report with a deadpan expression.
"I’m not surprised," she said calmly. "This was bound to happen. I already had my doubts when we first encountered the Black Viper Crew’s den."
"Nothing escapes you, Eterna. Well, except the High Order," Grey replied as he continued reading.
[Subjects: 100 Late-stage First Rankers, 30 Early-stage Second Rankers, and 1 Mid-stage Second Rankers.]
[Phase I]
[The experiment was conducted in Hideout 0431, near Ashspire City. It began with the low-level subjects. Each subject was exposed to a Law Compression Core programmed to transmit the Law fragments of the Law of Machinery directly into their brain implants.]
[Phase I Results]
[Subjects exhibited extreme neural overload within 4.3 seconds of data upload. 67% suffered from structural collapse of cybernetic implants and entered a vegetative state due to mind-law dissonance.]
[Conclusion: The Law rejected them due to the artificial nature of comprehension.]
[Phase II]
[The experiment was conducted in Hideout 0431, near Ashspire City. This phase used early-stage Second Rank Evolvers. Each subject was exposed to a Law Comprehension Core.]
[Phase II Results]
[The upload of Law data into their brain implants triggered a subtle resonance; however, it also led to unexpected events. The subjects were struck by the Heavens due to the forced comprehension and died on the spot.]
[Conclusion: The subjects were able to withstand the forced comprehension slightly better than lower-level subjects. However, they were still pushed into a vegetative state and struck by Heavenly Tribulation. This experiment goes against the natural order of Heaven. More tribulations are to be expected.]
[Phase III]
[The experiment was conducted in Hideout 0431 near Ashspire City. It involved mid-stage Second Rank Evolver who had comprehended the law of fire. THe subject was exposed to a Law Comprehension Core after being implanted with cybernetics and redirected to Evolutionary Path 001, the Cyborg Evolutionary Path.]
Grey read every word carefully, storing it in his mind. Things were far more serious than he had expected.
Heavenly Tribulation!
This experiment had actually triggered Heaven’s wrath through forced Law comprehension!
Just then, as he was musing, the text on the report started flickering, and a red warning appeared.
[Error! Data is being erased!]
[Error! Data is being erased!]
"It’s you again, sneaky rat," Grey said aloud.
Last time, the data had been erased just like this, and he couldn’t do anything about it. But this time, Grey was prepared.
"Activate the bypass protocol," Grey commanded in his mind.
Immediately, a huge formation appeared in front of him. The data source of the intruder was instantly exposed. Within seconds, he cracked the defense and completely neutralized the attack.
The bypass protocol allowed him to intercept any digital assault and even gain remote access to the attacker’s system.
As soon as he bypassed the formation and neutralized the attack, a quick-forged hack list appeared in his vision. Without hesitation, Grey selected Neural Pathway Burnout.
Buzz!
A massive surge of psionic energy drained from Grey’s body at an alarming rate. The moment he executed the command, all his inner psionic reserves vanished without a trace.
He could remotely kill someone with this method, no matter the distance. After all, he possessed a Cognitive Anchor, and everything technological was connected to the Information Layer. As long as he received the signal, he could target the source directly.
The only limits were the massive psionic cost and the restriction that it would only work on targets of equal or lower level. The farther the distance, the greater the depletion.
It was an ability he had long possessed but never used, until now.
With the attack deflected and even turned back on his opponent, Grey continued reading with satisfaction.
In the realm of cyber warfare, no one could match him.
[Phase III Results]
[With the help of high-level members of the High Order, they were able to deflect the Heavenly Tribulation. The research progressed more efficiently with their aid. The upload of Law comprehension triggered another tribulation, but temporary comprehension of fragmented Law constructs was achieved.]
[The temporary comprehension resulted in the subject gaining telekinesis, localized technology distortion, and repeatedly screaming, "I can see it! The world is 0s and 1s!" We believe he temporarily glimpsed the undiscovered Information Layer mentioned in the fragmented Law of Machinery. However, all he could do was glance into it, before it was too late, we cut the connection. The evolver is still alive and functioning normally, but mental state is extremely unstable.]
And the lab report ended there.
"The Information Layer," Grey muttered. "Are you seeing this, Eterna?"
"Yes," Eterna nodded slightly.
"Good," Grey said with a grin. "Because they already found out about the Information Layer. Your days are numbered."
He laughed. "Your reign as the Ultimate AI is coming to an end!"
"You’ll be affected too," Eterna replied with a deadpan expression. "The only Cognitive Anchors in this sector of the Information Layer are yours and mine. If they find a way to eliminate me remotely, you’ll be affected as well. Instant mind death."
Grey froze, his laughter abruptly stopping as a dumbfounded look appeared on his face.
"How do I revoke my Cognitive Anchor?" Grey asked flatly. "Because my future suddenly looks very bleak."
"You can’t," Eterna said expressionlessly. "Once an anchor is formed, it can’t be revoked until the day you die."
Grey smiled wryly. "Then that only means one thing, we need to stop them from comprehending the Law of Machinery."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Eterna inquired.
"Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out," Grey said with a deadpan expression.