Chapter 282: The Root of Disaster… The Devil’s Command

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Chapter 282 – The Root of Disaster… The Devil’s Command

Boom.

After an unknown amount of time had gone by, the steel door opened fully, and the loud noise it made caused the CEO to instantly snap out of his daze.

“Sir, is something on your mind?” the middle-aged man asked in confusion.

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.” The CEO shook his head and stepped inside.

Beyond the gate was a fully enclosed elevator. After the two people entered, the elevator doors shut, and the elevator began descending rapidly.

Having calmed down, the CEO placed his hands into his pockets and looked around. He then asked, “When did we change the elevator?”

“A week ago.”

“Why don’t I know about it?”

“We used the institute’s internal funds, so I didn’t notify you about it. Why? Is there a problem with the elevator?”

“No, it’s nothing. I just feel a little uncomfortable standing inside here.”

“I’ll have someone replace it tomorrow, then.”

“No need to do that for the time being. I don’t come here often, either…”

After the two continued their seemingly meaningless conversation for a short while, the elevator came to a stop, and its doors parted to the sides.

The CEO and the middle-aged man exited the elevator and walked through the enclosed corridors with familiar steps, eventually arriving on an underground observation deck.

The observation deck was made of transparent glass. One would find many large servers stacked on top of each other if one looked down through the glass. Hundreds of workers were also doing maintenance on these servers.

“Have the casings of the quantum servers been replaced as well?” the CEO asked as he gazed down at the servers. “Why don’t I know of this either?”

“It’s a minor modification. We also used internal funds.”

“Is the budget so plentiful?”

“Yes.” The middle-aged man nodded. “Progress has been going smoothly, so we didn’t have to expend a lot of funds.”

“After achieving a technological breakthrough, the initial development that follows really is rapid,” the CEO said as he stared at the rows of servers underneath the observation deck. After remaining silent for some time, he sighed and continued, “The project was established in 2012, achieved a breakthrough in 2018, and achieved hegemony in the quantum world in 2019. Now, in just three years, quantum computers have already reached such a level.”

“It is also because of this reason that No. 445 was born,” the middle-aged man said, shrugging. “It’s a pity that quantum computers are not yet commercially available on a large scale.”

“Why would you want to commercialize it on a large scale? We’ll first use it to reap some benefits. Only after we have ensured the company’s operational development, consolidated our lead, and formulated industry standards should we consider commercializing it.”

“This is something you should study with management. You don’t need to tell me this, Mr. CEO.”

“Okay, our conversation ends here.” The CEO nodded. He then stopped hesitating, crossed the observation deck, and pushed open the doors at the other end of the observation deck.

Creak.

The doors opened and revealed a pure white room.

Sitting in the center of the hall was a spherical screen that covered all 360 degrees. Meanwhile, two black dots on the screen were currently “staring” at the two people who had just entered the room.

Excitement welling up in his chest, the CEO took a deep breath and strode into the room. After observing the spherical screen at a close distance for a moment, he asked, “Are you sure it has reached the Strong AI standard?”

“Yes.” The middle-aged man nodded. “We have conducted three standard tests and intensive tests. It has passed them all perfectly. After ten minutes of trial operation, it has achieved top-level performance in chemistry, mathematics, and genetic engineering. However, it would take time for it to reach a higher level as it has already exhausted all of the academic papers and materials available in the world.”

“Make sure to omit the last sentence during the board meeting.”

“Understood.”

Reaching out, the CEO touched the black spots on the screen. He then muttered to himself, “If…we can get Transdimensional’s UP’s library materials, modern human civilization will be able to catch up with the civilization a thousand years later immediately.”

“Maybe the company can consider cooperating with Transdimensional’s UP. I’m sure Transdimensional’s UP will be happy with the birth of artificial intelligence.”

“…Let’s talk about that some other time. That person isn’t someone easy to deal with. We should maintain our distance from him,” The CEO said as he massaged his temples. He then took a step back and asked, “Did you name it yet?”

“Aside from No. 445, we also gave it an alternate name.”

“What is it?”

“HAL.”

“HAL?” The CEO frowned. “Short for Heuristically Programmed ALgorithmic Computer?”

“Yes.” The middle-aged man nodded. He then smiled and said, “It seems you also like Arthur Clarke’s A Space Odyssey, Mr. CEO.”

“…I don’t like it. As to why I don’t like it, it is because of HAL. Don’t you think this name is ominous?”

“No. 445 is ultimately a heuristic programmatic arithmetic artificial intelligence. The team thinks that it is more reasonable to call it HAL.”

“I hope it won’t become a real ‘HAL.’”

“Impossible.” Confidently, the middle-aged man said, “Humanity will become better because of it. Sir, you should hurry up and enter the first central command. I still need to start other experiments.”

“OK.”

The CEO nodded. After pondering for some time, he spoke in a loud tone, “HAL!”

“Greetings, Mr. CEO. How may I be of service?”

“How do you know I’m the CEO?”

“HAL knows the identity, position, personalities, and human relations of 3.3 billion people around the world.”

“Wonderful. Then…” A hint of inspiration flashing across his eyes, the CEO asked, “Do you know Transdimensional’s UP’s true iden—”

“Sir!” The middle-aged man suddenly got goosebumps all over his body. Interrupting the CEO, he said, “Let sleeping dogs lie.”

Hearing this, the CEO promptly came to a realization, and he couldn’t help but grow fearful at the thought of his actions. “Thank you. I got a little conceited.”

“Hurry up and enter the central command.”

“Okay.” After adjusting his mood, the CEO said sternly, “HAL, register central command.”

The two black dots in the screen suddenly disappeared, and the spherical screen turned pure white in color.

“Begin input: first command, highest priority, protect humanity. Input complete. Please repeat.”

“Protect humanity,” HAL said in an electronically synthesized voice.

“Repeat again.”

“Protect humanity.

“Protect humanity.

“Protect…humanity…”

…

The Equator, above the Super Floating Castle:

Chen Yu, who was dozing off on his chair, suddenly sprang up from his seat as he felt a chill crawling down his spine.

“Is something wrong, Headmaster?”

“Uh, nothing.” Giving his helmet a few taps, Chen Yu waited for his consciousness to clear up. He then lifted his exposed wrist to look at the time. “It’s been almost two hours? Is the exam over?”

“Not yet. Half the students haven’t finished answering,” Professor Li said as he tiptoed to look at the students before him. “But they should be done soon.”

“I’ll leave the rest here to you. I need to head back to the castle to prepare for the interviews.”

“No problem.”

Snap.

Amidst the gaze of many surprised students, the stool Chen Yu previously sat on dispersed into tiny particles and vanished without a trace.

Following this, Chen Yu took to the air, crossed over the tall castle walls, and disappeared from everyone’s sight.

After entering the castle complex, Chen Yu first returned to the Headmaster’s Tower. He then picked up the script he left in his study and looked at it sadly. “I memorized it all, so why couldn’t I remember it just now?”

Tear.

After tearing the script apart, Chen Yu removed the protective suit and changed into a set of light robes. He then made his way to the auditorium located in the center of the castle complex.

…

Inside the auditorium, the professors had already set up the interview booth. Upon seeing Chen Yu, they promptly greeted him respectfully.

“Headmaster.”

Hello, Headmaster King.”

“Hello.” Chen Yu nodded at the professors before sitting down at the seat of honor. “Everyone, work harder. Try to finish all the tests today. I don’t want any interruptions happening to my upcoming livestream.”

“Yes, sir!”

However, at this time, nobody was aware that a command that would bring about a disaster had already begun to fester…

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