Chapter 1 The Readiness for a Fierce Attack

When the gate opened, everyone braced themselves for a fierce attack—though they hadn't encountered any real resistance on their way here. They all knew that was because the main control unit's malfunction had caused the entire defense system along the way to go offline, making their progress so easy. But behind this gate was the core of the main control unit itself, and that core couldn't be offline. The reason was obvious: even now, the fortress was still sending out command after command, proving that the main control unit was still functioning.

A functioning main control unit wouldn't let a group of uninvited guests get so close to its core.

Yet as the gate opened, the expected attack didn't come. Nor did they hear any alarms sounding through the fortress. In fact, Hao Ren didn't hear a thing—if one ignored the buzzing that never stopped and could be heard everywhere in the fortress.

Even so, Vivian quietly reminded everyone, "Stay alert. We've reached the fortress's center. Anything could happen here."

Hao Ren raised his shield and, with Lily on his left and right, led the way into the circular hall where the main control unit was located, cautiously observing their surroundings.

The hall was extremely empty and vast, yet in a space the size of a football field, there were hardly any complex cables or machines. This was completely different from the machine rooms and equipment rooms they had passed through before. All that could be seen in the hall were thirteen black machines arranged against the walls and a black cylinder in the center of the hall. Hao Ren's gaze was naturally drawn to that extremely conspicuous cylinder.

It was dozens of meters tall, its lower end buried in a complex black base, and its upper end disappeared into the hall's high dome. There was a dark hole up there, and the cylinder probably had even more structure beyond that hole. This strange "pillar" was about three or four meters in diameter, its surface black, but with straight lines and various grooves of unknown purpose. Between the lines and grooves, one could see many slightly flickering lights. These lights should have given the cylinder some life, but when Hao Ren saw them flickering slowly, he only felt a sense of decay washing over him—

He could feel that a huge consciousness behind this cylinder was gradually dying, and those sluggish lights were proof of its approaching end.

"This is the main control unit's core?" Lily looked curiously at the black cylinder. The husky's instinct made her want to poke the surface of the pillar with her paw or take a bite to taste its saltiness, but her remaining rationality and timidity forced her to stop her suicidal impulse. She just circled the cylinder from a distance, examining it. "But I don't see a keyboard or mouse… How do you communicate with this thing?"

"I don't know either," N-6 was also slightly shocked by the true appearance of the main control unit's core, and then shook her head in frustration. "Ordinary Executors don't even have the right to enter the fortress. This is the first time I've seen the main control unit's true form. The information that can be downloaded from the Great Library is limited. I only know that the main control unit's core is indeed a black cylinder, but as for how to communicate… I thought your advanced technology would come in handy."

"Advanced technology can certainly come in handy. We just want to gather more information before rashly connecting," Hao Ren said, stroking his chin. "And I think… the main control unit is definitely watching us. We've already come this far. It would be too much to say it hasn't noticed us. Right—Mr. Main Control Unit?"

"As you say," almost as soon as Hao Ren finished speaking, an emotionless electronic synthesized voice came from all directions in the hall. "I have indeed been observing you."

Lily, who was now close to the cylinder, observing the lights and excuses on it, was startled by the voice. Her tail bristled and she jumped back to Hao Ren's side. "Wow! The main control unit is talking!"

The decaying black cylinder seemed to "come alive" with the voice that echoed through the hall. The lights on its surface were much brighter than before, and the frequency of the light's flickering was also faster. Hao Ren heard a low buzzing sound echoing in the depths of the hall and on the upper end of the cylinder: the main control unit seemed to be starting up from some kind of low-power protection mode, and the lights in the entire hall were also brighter than before.

"I thought you would use a more violent way to 'welcome' us," Hao Ren was probably the most calm one on the scene. After all, no matter how powerful the main control unit was, in his eyes it was just a powerful artificial intelligence. He could chat and laugh with the host of the Crystal Nucleus Research Station or the swarm intelligence of the drone clusters, let alone this big pillar in front of him. He shrugged. "After all, according to the information we have, you are in a state of madness."

"I have indeed fallen into… a huge malfunction," the main control unit's voice sounded a little slow, but gradually became smoother. "But that will not affect my curiosity. If I'm not mistaken, you are those outsiders from the depths of the universe who crashed on our mother planet, and that farce in the Zenith… was also your masterpiece? You only did that to sneak into my fortress?"

"So you've been aware all along," Hao Ren was a little surprised this time. "And you've just been quietly watching from the sidelines? Without any reaction?"

"I only finished combining all the information just now," the main control unit replied, with no emotion in its tone. "You completely concealed yourselves from the intelligence network under my control from the beginning. You shielded the entire Zenith airspace and also invaded and tampered with a large number of security systems on the lunar base. Quite advanced technology. Outsiders, can you tell me your purpose?"

Lily put her hands on her hips, her face full of pride. "We're here to maintain peace and save civilization…"

Vivian quickly dragged her back. "Who would believe that at this time—would you believe it if you were them?"

Hao Ren stepped forward, while quietly instructing the data terminal to land on the ground, and looked up at the black cylinder in front of him. "Although you may not believe what she said—but what she said is indeed the truth. We have no malice. The conflict that occurred in the Zenith space station was just an unavoidable part of it, but you should have already received the report. In this 'battle', my drone clusters did not cause any…"

"No battle damage," the main control unit took over the second half of Hao Ren's sentence. "I used 1.4 seconds to process this illogical report. In the hours-long 'fierce battle', your army almost paralyzed all of the Zenith's defense systems, but you never used a single lethal weapon. The most seriously damaged Zenith troops also managed to save their lives in the nick of time… What is the meaning of this? I cannot understand."

Hao Ren frowned. He suddenly noticed something strange: as the highest-ranking artificial intelligence of this surviving civilization, the degree of personification of this "main control unit" felt even lower than that of Executors like N-6. Although the main control unit had shown sufficient thinking and reasoning ability when speaking, but…

Hao Ren found it difficult to describe this feeling in words, and finally could only summarize it as: a lack of humanity.

And at the same time that he had this doubt, N-6 next to him spoke. "Main Control Unit, please believe these outsiders. They are indeed here to help us. They are looking for the sparks of civilization in the universe and providing protection. I have personally seen their technical strength. They may be able to help us take back our mother planet, and they can also help you troubleshoot…"

Before N-6 could finish speaking, the main control unit interrupted her. "Factory Number: e75-3C6215, Current Code N-6, you should have crashed on the surface of the mother planet in the last operation. I have confirmed that your signal has completely disappeared, but you have safely returned here… Did these outsiders help you?"

N-6 looked directly at the main control unit's core, her tone full of firmness. "Yes, Main Control Unit, and I can prove that my main personality has not been tampered with."

"No need to prove," the main control unit said, then turned its attention to Hao Ren. "Outsiders, I still cannot confirm your origins and your purpose, but I declare: we do not need the help of outsiders. We will complete our mission on our own. Please return."

"But you're dying," Hao Ren said suddenly, while the data terminal floated to his side. "Your server arrays are going offline. Faults are all over almost every computing unit in this fortress. I've just confirmed that you're using the last of your components that can still operate normally to support this conversation. We can help you, but first I need to know what your purpose is—your mission is to protect humanity and help humanity take back the mother planet, and if you refuse our help now, you are conflicting with your mission."

"You once forbade anyone from approaching our spacecraft, but then you sent out a reconnaissance team to find us. Now that we're here, you're refusing further communication," Vivian also asked curiously. "I feel like you're very… contradictory. Can you tell us why?"

This time, the main control unit chose silence.

A few seconds later, Hao Ren took the initiative to break the silence. "Is it because of the humans—the humans living in the Palace of Final Rest? What's happened to them?"

The lights on the surface of the cylinder instantly brightened several times and flickered violently.

"Looks like I guessed right," Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "Humanity is about to become extinct, isn't it?"

"Can you scan the life signs inside the Palace of Final Rest?" the main control unit asked in an emotionless tone.

"I can't, because the Palace of Final Rest you built seems to be able to isolate any form of life detection. Is this probably to block the prying eyes of the planet devourers? But my daughter can. She seems to be able to ignore the shielding layers you built," Hao Ren patted his clothes lightly, called Dou Dou out, and held her in his arms. "You definitely wouldn't guess, would you, that she's the last remaining life form in a certain universe? As the end of life in a world, she can hear the voices of a race on the verge of extinction."

Dou Dou looked curiously at the cylinder in the room and waved to it friendly. "Hello, my name is Dou Dou!"

"Hello, my name is the Main Control Unit."