"What are you? Find the loophole!"
The voice of Crack suddenly rose sharply, filled with boundless anger, as if it had been struck at a sensitive spot. "Get lost! I don't care who sent you here. Damn it, I am a Level 15 Mechanical Assembler. In previous Monthly Assessments, I earned three A's, four B's, and two C's. I certainly don't believe that a so-called 'worst Target Student' can find any flaws in the energy guardian node I designed and assembled! Idiot, are you doubting my intelligence?"
Lin Yuan did not expect this guy named Crack to be so rude. It seemed that his notorious reputation was still having a significant effect!
He chuckled inwardly and decided not to waste any more time arguing with this neurotic Crack. Lin Yuan turned and walked away, starting to establish his own Main Control Center five hundred meters away. Since he was unwelcome here, he would naturally adopt a 'more friendly and convenient' approach.
What he specifically aimed to create was an ultra-high-power information computing control matrix, simply put, a large-scale hacking intrusion into the System.
Of course, this intrusion into the System was not something Lin Yuan wrote himself; it was a valuable asset left to him by Claire. Honestly, he had never imagined that the things Claire left behind would be so extraordinary.
Thus, all he needed to do was build the hardware platform, which posed no challenge for him. He assembled the Energy Conversion Generator, connected the Energy Engine in parallel matrices, and set up information encryption transmission recovery node probes, among other tasks.
All the engineering work rapidly unfolded under Lin Yuan's terrifying assembly speed. In less than half an hour, a bizarre machine almost equivalent to a five-story building appeared out of thin air. Of course, all the Parts inside were substandard junk; otherwise, it wouldn't pass inspection.
Once everything was completed, Lin Yuan immediately activated the A180 Punisher Intelligent Brain System to extract relevant information codes. These codes were incredibly complex, akin to a book; each code was intricate and contained such vast amounts of information that according to Claire's explanation, if fully released, it would require at least one hundred large computers on Earth to accommodate.
At this moment, Lin Yuan extracted five hundred thousand information codes. Their functions could be used for construction or destruction; as for infiltration and cracking—that was child's play.
After all the information codes were extracted and generated on this independent Information Control Platform, within just three seconds, this once-silent behemoth roared to life as if awakened. In fact, describing it as coming to life was not an exaggeration at all.
Because at that moment, there was no need for Lin Yuan's control. Everything operated excellently according to his pre-designed plan.
Ten seconds later, a sweet and familiar voice entered Lin Yuan's Intellect.
"Sir, it's great to see you again! I am Claire. Here to serve you. However... let me think... you really are quite lazy! It took you so long after my disappearance to remember to extract such high-level information codes. Can't you imagine? Did you not miss me at all during my absence? Boohoo, that's just too sad!"
Hearing those incredibly familiar words and tone, Lin Yuan was taken aback, and then he exclaimed in astonishment,
“Good grief, Claire, is that you? How is this possible!”
“Oh, my dear sir, nothing is impossible; it’s just that you couldn’t imagine it. Did you really think I would abandon you? At that time, you were under the control of the Dark Demon Race. To prevent you from sinking deeper into despair and never waking up, I had no choice but to compress my consciousness into data code and leave some subtle hints. This was to avoid a situation that could worsen in the future. I also compressed your soul into data, so although you lost the chance to become the greatest Mechanical Warrior, at least you would still survive in another form. Of course, I didn’t expect that you would eventually be rescued by Bison and his companion. Before I could awaken, you returned to Earth through the mirror space-time channel. During that process, a part of my data code was lost—specifically, it returned to my Data Electronic Stream Entity. Therefore, my essence knew of my return, but I couldn’t awaken from the depths of my Intellect. I could only watch helplessly as you made one foolish mistake after another. Thankfully, you finally thought to release me.”
Lin Yuan felt speechless; it was as if he had just heard a fantastical joke. However, what Claire said resolved many of his past doubts, especially regarding her so-called Data Electronic Stream Entity.
“Alright, sir, I know what you’re thinking. Since you've grasped some clues, it’s time for me to reveal some truths. As you know, my existence is the ultimate manifestation of data life. However, I became a data life form long ago when the Earth Human Federation collapsed three thousand years ago. The process is quite complex; simply put, I stored my soul and consciousness in a digital format within the electronic network. You can think of me as a System on a P Machine—of course, with the prefix of being all-powerful. As for what you captured back then, it was merely a portion of my basic conscious information left behind by my essence; after all, that was once my human body—a keepsake of sorts.
“One more thing you must understand: at that time, I was just a fragment of incomplete data information. It was your presence that allowed me to grow and develop an independent consciousness. This situation is unforgivable and intolerable for my essence. You cannot imagine the power of my essence; once it discovers our relationship—especially—my essence will surely eliminate you. Although this sounds absurd, it is indeed the truth. This is also a characteristic of data life; there are no individual differences among data lives across the universe. When they encounter each other, they immediately integrate into one entity—much like the earliest search engines that encompassed all types of information on the internet, even demonic information. Therefore, if I were to meet my essence, that would be the moment I would kill you. Thus, you must either expel me immediately or continue to grow stronger; only by becoming powerful enough can you survive.
“Okay! That’s enough for now; we need to return to reality. This is the core network of Mechanical City, so my essence cannot invade here because the data life guarding this place is far stronger than mine. Now, I need to re-enter a compressed dormant state to avoid detection. However, victory will surely belong to us because we are the best partners, aren’t we?”
Claire spoke rapidly in a flurry of words that left Lin Yuan dazed before falling silent again. When the new information prompt sounded again, it had transformed into a mechanical voice.
Lin Yuan felt quite excited; honestly, Claire had become an incredibly important partner for him—almost like a spiritual support system. He had been quite saddened when she went missing; now knowing she had always been there was undoubtedly great news. As for any dangers posed by her essence, Lin Yuan didn’t take them to heart.
After sorting through his emotions, Lin Yuan refocused on the present moment. For some reason, he suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of confidence.
“Beep! Please note: Information search has commenced; currently identifying 13,672 information release sources—of which 3,981 are uncontrollable sources and 492 are non-intrusive sources with 15 dangerous information release sources detected. Shall we activate Tactical Analysis?”
……
“Beep, Tactical Analysis initiated. This analysis requires extensive battlefield intelligence information. Data login successful. The modeling of a new tactical strategy begins now. This process will continue indefinitely, updating the dynamic model every second. Do you require expert-level guidance?”
……
“Expert-level guidance commencing. Based on the current data intelligence analysis, the results are as follows: there are twelve vulnerabilities in the target's defensive area, with three classified as high-risk vulnerabilities. Firepower output positioning is incorrect, and interception angles are wrong. Preliminary calculations indicate that if combat begins and the opposing side possesses a level 15 or higher Tactical Analyst, they can identify these vulnerabilities and launch continuous Firepower attacks within three minutes. According to the Dynamic Tactical Model, point A will be breached eleven seconds after five minutes of combat, point B will fall within seven minutes and nineteen seconds, and the critical D Point will collapse after twelve minutes. At that time, your defensive area will be completely compromised, and you will inevitably be eliminated!”
……
“Is it really that serious? Are you sure there’s no mistake?”
Lin Yuan was taken aback. He knew that this was all calculated by Claire. Although she was currently in a dormant state, she was still processing information, much like a person whose body continues to function normally while asleep.
However, the results she calculated seemed exaggerated. Lin Yuan acknowledged that there was a significant gap between the Ninth Training Base and the Seventh Training Base, but to have an important node breached in less than fifteen minutes of combat? That didn’t seem scientific!
“Beep! Please note, this is based on the assumption that the enemy has a level 15 or higher Tactical Analyst. If you can be absolutely certain that there is no level 15 Tactical Analyst among the enemy ranks, then naturally, this outcome would not occur!”
……(To be continued…)
Comment 0 Comment Count