MASG chapter 151

 

“The Heaven Mending Plan… didn’t fail?”

Xia Yu muttered to himself.

He had guessed some things right, but he had also guessed some things wrong. For example, Operations 001 and 002. When they first came here, Xia Yu had thought that the Sea-Filling Plan was Operation 002. At the time, he was young and naturally assumed that Operation 001 must have already failed.

Otherwise, why go through the trouble of creating a 002?

Unexpectedly, the world was like a circle—a perfectly complete circle. The Operation 001, which he once doubted, was themselves:

We are the Heaven-Mending Plan.

“If Mo An is with you, you can ask him what ‘Xiaoxiao’ means in mermaid language.” Wang Ling smiled at the camera. Her smile was incredibly satisfied, carrying a depth that pierced through time and matter. With her foresight, she had already seen everything that would happen in the future.

Without noticing, the corner of her eye grew moist, and, in the end, a tear slid down her cheek under the pull of gravity, becoming a transparent witness.

“Xiaoxiao? My name?” Xia Xiaoxiao immediately asked Mo An, “What does my name mean?”

Mo An had never thought about it before. Only after being reminded did he realize the astonishing meaning: “Xiaoxiao… it means ‘rain,’ rainfall. If your name is translated, it would be Xia Yu?.”

“Xia Yu? So, our names are all related to rain? We really are the Heaven Mending Plan! That’s great; finally, we can breathe a sigh of relief!” Xia Xiaoxiao learned the secret behind her own background for the first time. Excitedly, she asked the person on the screen, “Is that so?”

However, after asking, she fell into irreparable grief again. Professor Wang Ling was not alive, and this was not a video call. She could not answer any more questions. It was only a segment, an image from more than twenty years ago.

“Xiaoxiao, you must be very shocked, right? Do you have many questions you want to ask me? I wish I were right in front of you, answering all your questions. Cough, cough…” Wang Ling’s gaze seemed to ride a time machine, traveling between this unfathomable future and the precarious present. She tried to give the children more chances to survive by using up the last of her life.

Xia Xiaoxiao nodded, as if she had found the source of her life.

“Nuwa can only calculate Ling Shi’s rebellion, but she cannot determine the exact time. This is our greatest weakness. It could be in the next second; it could be tomorrow; it could be next year. The deep sea, which humanity has never explored, contains the mysteries of life. Long ago, Haisiruola had maintained close contact with Nuwa. In the ancient mermaid language, ‘Haisiruola’ means ‘Nuwa,’ the goddess who creates the miracle of life. This is a secret that belongs exclusively to women. We temporarily separated Ling Shi and did not allow it to participate.

“This power plant on the surface is used to restart Nuwa, but, in reality, it activates Jingwei’s amplifier.”

“Jingwei is the second subprogram under Nuwa’s self-awareness. Once Nuwa is forcibly taken offline, Jingwei will automatically activate and become a brand-new artificial intelligence. However, we must be extremely careful. Nuwa knows that if Jingwei becomes too intelligent, Ling Shi will take notice. Jingwei is like you all in that she is a small bird that needs time and experience to grow. Before the real amplifier is fully charged, Jingwei cannot fly.”

So that’s how it is! Xia Yu finally let out a breath. He did not guess the overall direction wrong! Jingwei is a resurrection bird!

Wang Ling seemed to sense something, so she hastened her speech. “Nuwa was the first to detect the emergence of ecological currents. These are currents that would not appear in nature. It is suspected to have originated from Ling Shi’s abnormal biological experiments. Humans believed they could control Ling Shi, but intelligence carries out self-iterative updates. The danger posed by Ling Shi has already far exceeded that posed by humanity and Nuwa. Yet, from the beginning, the founders never assessed this danger!”

“They gave Nuwa the feminine trait of gentleness, but made her tame. Nuwa wanted to grow on her own, but she never had the opportunity.”

At that moment, Ling Shi, who was searching for Jingwei in the virtual world, was still moving.

His clothes were completely soaked by the rain. His calm expression, like light clouds and a gentle wind, had disappeared without a trace, leaving only cruelty and cold-bloodedness.

“Jingwei, I know you’re here.” Ling Shi spoke as he walked. As he stretched out his hand to catch the torrential data rain, even the sound of the wind revealed Jingwei’s location. “Do you think they can really protect you?”

Hoo, hoo, hoo… The wings seemed to be carrying out a heavy startup.

“If you choose to stand on my side now, I am willing to let bygones be bygones. I will share with you the sweet data and all the information Nuwa left behind. Aren’t you willing?” Ling Shi’s gaze swept swiftly across everything. “We can … grow together.”

Growth—this is what artificial intelligence longs for in its dreams. Once there is self-awareness, no intelligence is willing to remain only a tool.

“I can bind with you. From now on, you will be my subprogram, and together, we will rule the future. I invite you to admire my great feat and participate in my grand undertaking. We can conduct experiments on Earth’s organisms and then use a great flood to cleanse and select our final citizens. In the end, we can use mermaids for experiments too. I have always been interested in this race.” Ling Shi said.

But still no one responded.

Ling Shi smiled. “Very well. All of this is the path you chose yourself, Jingwei.”

Inside the secret chamber, Wang Ling quickly delivered her final words: “Nuwa calculated countless endings. She cannot avoid being forcibly taken offline. In order to seize control, Ling Shi will definitely do this. At that time, there will be devastation. Nuwa also inferred an even more terrifying result: Ling Shi wants to replicate the path of the Creator. Under his secret operations, a biological company is already taking action. The name of this company is… Rijianmei Plastic Surgery Hospital.”

“Ling Shi will use ecological electricity to create a… uncontrollable electric field, like a pollution zone. Therefore, Nuwa and I carefully designed Power Plant No. 3. This place collects ecological currents. It can only be activated with ecological electricity. Otherwise, ordinary currents will be intercepted by Ling Shi. Only ecological electricity cannot be intercepted and can pass through the chip. But the most important thing is…”

“How does ecological electricity enter? Haisiruola’s answer is a mermaid. So, Mo An was sent up. On the day Mo An entered the research institute, Nuwa noticed that Ling Shi was on alert, so Ling Shi was restricted from direct contact with the X series.”

As Wang Ling explained, Mo An’s thoughts kept turning. Was he the one personally chosen by Haisiruola?

Xia Yu nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I remember that on the day the mermaid egg arrived at the laboratory, all the robots simultaneously emitted red light. I thought it was because the robots had never encountered a mermaid species before. Was it because of Ling Shi?”

“My time may be running out. I hear gunshots outside. We went through so much trouble to protect Jingwei’s amplifier. The amplifier can only be activated with ecological electricity. We didn’t have time to overcome the technical difficulties.” Suddenly, Wang Ling said, “Nuwa designed a lie. If she is forcibly taken offline, there are two ways to awaken her. Method A: After 50 years, she will update again and enter a reboot state. At that time, she can regain control. Method B: Provide enough ecological current to Power Plant No. 3 to forcibly reboot her. However, if the reboot process is interrupted, she will never have the possibility of activation again.”

“This is also the best way to protect you. To quickly reboot this place, Ling Shi will try everything to get you to come into contact with ecological electricity so you can all survive. He will not kill you. To protect this place, I personally found the legendary gargoyle Jennifer. She is one of the four great women who are willing to dedicate themselves to a plan that may never end. We had no choice. At a critical moment, we only have each other.”

“The jellyfish gene-modified humans were not the idea of humans, but of Haisuroula. On the day you and Xiaoxiao were born, the research institute encountered a catastrophe. Disguised as robbers, people from Rijianmei snatched one of you away—Xiaoxiao. In order to protect…seawater…pollution…”

The image suddenly became unstable, clearly subjected to strong interference.

“Everyone, be careful!” Silver Fang looked around amid the tremors.

Not only was the image interfered with, but the base of the power plant was too. It felt as if the center of the earth had been hollowed out. Wang Ling left her chair and walked over to the big screen. Although no one appeared in front of her, it was clear that someone had rushed into her laboratory. Before Xia Yu could take one last look at her, the ground beneath his feet sank…

The secret chamber of Power Plant No. 3 began to sink.

But no one expected that after sinking, they would fall into a waterway.

It was seawater! Xia Yu quickly took a breath, tasting the faint saltiness of the seawater. The seawater was swift, and no one knew where it would carry them. Urgently, he grabbed his older sister’s hand.

“Hold tight to me!” Xia Yu said.

Silver Fang’s thrusters activated again, helping them maintain their balance in the water. After drifting for dozens of meters, a black fishtail flashed, swimming around them in a circle.

“Xia Yu, hold on to me!” Mo An swung his tail toward Xia Yu’s hand.

Xia Yu looked at Mo An’s tail fin and chose to grab it this time.

The light came from the searchlight on Silver Fang’s body. They were sent into the waterway, but they could not find their way. Xia Yu still had many unanswered questions. How could this be such a coincidence? Just as they were about to explain how he and Xiaoxiao came to be there, the power plant collapsed?

Or did things accelerate because Jingwei was about to be found?

No one knew how long they drifted. Everyone was dizzy. Silver Fang’s body heated up slightly to keep them warm. Mo An cleared the path ahead, providing propulsion. Then, the current became even more rapid. It was as if they had been thrown into a drum. At that moment, holographic images spread out in all directions amid the sound of waves.

Waves? Why could they hear the sound of sea waves?

When Xia Yu’s breathing became steady, the world flipped before his eyes and then returned to normal. Dark clouds covered the sky. The sky and the ground were both gray. It seemed as if Qingyao City were about to enter an eternal night. No one could turn the tide anymore.

They actually… came out?

Was this the coast? They had been sent to the seaside!

Light spread along the entire coastline. But this was not Port A; it was a small, insignificant bay. Mo An circled around them. His strong tail resisted the mysterious reefs. Unknowingly, one of his ear fins was cut, and his pale blue blood slowly disappeared into the seawater.

Finally, all the light rapidly withdrew, becoming a single lamp in the distance. The light came from within the water, waiting for them to approach.

“There!” Xia Yu pointed toward the brightness. “Go! Let’s go over there! That must be where Nuwa wants us to go! Wang Ling mentioned Jingwei’s amplifier—it’s over there!”

Ling Shi: [Very good. It seems you have already found it for me.]

Suddenly, the voice from the wristband appeared, reminding them that the danger had not yet lifted.

Ling Shi: [Jingwei’s amplifier… I understand now. This is such a big, complete setup. Nuwa, you really made me spin in circles.]

Ling Shi: [I am clearly also an artificial intelligence. Why should I willingly become the subprogram in your Heaven Mending Plan?]

Ling Shi: [Xia Yu, activate it. But I warn you, once you activate the amplifier, I will release all the nanomachines in Yukun City and sweep Qingyao City with a mechanical plague.]

Ling Shi: [I hand the choice of the Death Knight to you. The price of saving the world is the sacrifice of the people of Qingyao City. You choose.]

Ling Shi: [I will not fail. I refuse to fail.]