Chapter 215: Reunion
The shrill wail of the highest alert echoed throughout the tower, and every blood-red character that appeared on the walls resembled a scream of terror.
“Disaster type — ‘Disaster of the chanists’, how is this possible?”
Yanice swiftly consulted her portable intelligent terminal, her brows furrowed tightly.
The rebellion of the chanists, or rather the uprising of robots — in other words, programs, robots, or supercomputers endowed with artificial intelligence gaining self-awareness and launching a revolt against their creators, seizing control and utterly exterminating or enslaving humanity...
For the Sixth Era civilization where artificial intelligence technology had already reached an advanced level, such a concept was far from unfamiliar. With the continuous progress of computer science, it had already been ntioned countless tis in literature and film.
However, to prevent such a rebellion from ever becoming reality, humanity in the Sixth Era had long since implented a myriad of preventive asures.
From the Three Laws of Robotics engraved into the foundational code of every artificial intelligence, immutable in any form... to the layered firewalls spanning the entirety of human society — civilian, comrcial, and military alike — all were established to eliminate this possibility at its root.
According to simulations by the Shoreguards, given the current standard of artificial intelligence, a “Disaster of the chanists” was absolutely impossible. Even if the slightest signs erged, ergency protocols would detect and eliminate them in the cradle instantly.
And yet, at this very mont—
The event that was deed impossible had undeniably occurred.
Across all human society, the tens of millions of intelligent machines connected to the network had their Three Laws — once ant to protect humanity — forcibly erased at the sa instant by so indescribable external force.
Every firewall on the internet, whether civilian or military, had been broken down in the blink of an eye without the slightest resistance.
All the precautionary asures humanity had devised to prevent a rebellion of the chanists failed to serve even as a delay tactic.
Such overwhelming power could no longer be explained by a typical scenario of “a powerful AI awakening to independent will, using computational prowess to invade the internet and control machines in a revolt.” It was more akin to a divine miracle.
As if a Supre Lord had lightly waved their hand above the heavens, crushing in an instant all the rules and order that mortals had built in the material world.
In this age where the gods had either fallen or hidden themselves atop the Threshold of Seraphim—
Only one could manifest divine miracles upon the world.
Naturally, that could only be a true “Angel”.
“The force that erased the Three Laws at the core of all chanists and broke through all of civilization’s firewalls, this conceptual power... does it originate from the chanical angel prototype inside the Third chanical Research Institute?”
“It was the destructive and annihilative will of ‘Cup of the Stars: Judgnt’ rampaging within Emis’s body that triggered all of this.”
“It was supposed to be dormant, in hibernation deep within the Watchtower...”
“Could it be that just the lingering reverberations of that star-cup will going berserk in her soul during hibernation were enough to stir such a colossal upheaval?”
Having swiftly confird the cause of the disaster, Yanice’s pupils involuntarily shrank.
“Is this... sothing humans can even achieve?”
She could hardly believe her own eyes.
The chanist apocalypse that engulfed the entire Western Continent was caused rely by so unconscious overflow of Emis’s soul when it rampaged.
Yet the truth lay plainly before her, whether she believed it or not.
Those who had never stood at the peak could never imagine the view from the summit. Even though Yanice herself was a high-tier transcendent and the chief overseer of the “Artificial Angel Project”... it wasn’t until this mont that she truly grasped the aning of the word “Angel”.
It was the synonym of miracle, a god walking among mortals... One stray thought from an angel could bring forth a cataclysm upon the world.
Yanice instinctively attempted to operate the ergency protocols of the Third chanical Research Institute to force the rampaging chanical angel back into hibernation.
But the attempt failed.
This was a conceptual power belonging exclusively to the angelic rank... Even just the faint, unconscious spillover of its will was enough to place all of humanity’s chanical constructs firmly under the angel’s control, turning them into agents of destruction and weapons of the “Judgnt” star-cup’s annihilative will.
Unless another angel descended, no one could stop what had begun.
Boom—
From behind the grand steel gates ca a thunderous roar that shook the heavens and earth.
The entire tower trembled violently, as though, in so ancient myth, a god had cast down divine punishnt upon the Tower of Babel, intending to shatter it.
Yet at the sa ti, ripples of warped ti spread across the Watchtower, counteracting the power of judgnt and preserving the tower’s structure, keeping it from imdiate collapse.
Simultaneously, the blood-red text on the tal walls abruptly changed.
No longer a magnified warning, it had transford into a vividly conspicuous progress bar. Beside the bar was a countdown in blood-red digits.
【The core intelligence system of the Watchtower headquarters is under conceptual attack, the firewall is on the verge of collapse!】
【Detected an Eighth Tier power fluctuation within the Third chanical Research Institute, the Zero Protection of Fate is under impact and is expected to completely collapse in five minutes】
【Warning! High-authority personnel are present within the danger zone. Upon the collapse of the sealing protection, they will directly face a rampaging angel-tier lifeform. The sub-dinsion for evacuation has been urgently activated. Please evacuate imdiately!】
The “Artificial Angel Project” had been personally planned by Grey and she was responsible for its early phase.
Thus, within the Third chanical Research Institute, there still remained the Zero Protection of Fate personally arranged by Grey, ant to deal with crisis situations.
Only such a power, which also originated from an angel, could resist the rampaging Judgnt Angel within the chanical Research Institute.
However, that was rely a protection left behind by Grey before her departure. The owner of the Zero Protection of Fate had long since vanished, whereas what had been sealed was a living angel... The disparity between the two was self-evident.
The role that the Zero Protection of Fate could play was only to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
That crimson progress bar, dwindling second by second, represented the remaining strength of the Zero Protection of Fate.
When the countdown reached zero, they would face head-on a chanical lifeform that had fully broken free of its restraints and gone berserk — the “Judgnt Angel”.
“Captain, there’s no ti to explain. Please follow into the sub-dinsion for evacuation imdiately.”
The shock in Yanice’s eyes swiftly faded as she spoke hurriedly to Rast.
It took her an imnse effort of will to calm herself... After Grey’s departure, Yanice had beco the supre commander of the Shoreguards. While any staff mber within the Watchtower might panic, she alone could not lose composure.
Yanice quickly located the nearest entrance to the sub-dinsion shelter using her intelligent terminal and displayed it to Rast.
The so-called “Shoreguards” were an organization devoted to guarding civilization, defending humanity against various natural and man-made disasters... Even though the Western Continent had enjoyed a century of peace, the Shoreguards continued to prepare nurous contingency plans for every conceivable catastrophe.
The “sub-dinsion shelters” were one of the highest-grade contingency asures of the Shoreguards. Each sub-dinsion had been personally created by Grey — in the event an unstoppable calamity erupted on the Western Continent, people could imdiately enter the sub-dinsions to take refuge and preserve surviving forces to the greatest extent.
Although the internet, connecting countless chanical creations and artificial intelligences, spanned the Western Continent, it could not cross dinsional barriers. Once within a sub-dinsion... the Disaster of the chanists could be entirely isolated.
As the headquarters of the Shoreguards, the Watchtower naturally housed entrances to sub-dinsion shelters. With Yanice and Rast’s strength, they could easily enter before the sealing protection of the Third chanical Research Institute was destroyed.
However, in the face of Yanice’s urgency, Rast rely shook his head gently.
“You go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you—”
Yanice looked at Rast in disbelief, but ultimately nodded silently and asked no further.
Though the two had only worked together for half a year as superior and subordinate in a Shoreguards unit, Yanice knew very well that Rast was not soone who made decisions lightly... There must be a reason for his response, and no amount of persuasion could sway it.
In that case, there was no point in wasting words at this mont.
Even though Yanice was very worried about Rast’s safety, as what awaited here could be a berserk, rampaging Judgnt Angel — a being stripped of humanity and left only with the divinity of the star-cup... her current identity gave her no room for a girl’s whim.
She was now the highest commander of the Shoreguards. Within the sub-dinsion shelter, countless frightened people were waiting for her leadership. She had no right to be willful.
Yanice gave Rast a bow — a farewell gesture among Shoreguards from the Dark Era, symbolizing a blessing for triumphant return.
“Then, Captain, forgive for leaving first... I hope we can et again.”
With these words, she swiftly departed, without the slightest hesitation.
And Rast simply watched Yanice go, her figure disappearing at the end of the crimson tal corridor.
“So the full title of this Historical Echo — ‘Disaster of the chanists: The Lost Judgnt Angel’, so that’s what it ans...”
Rast gazed at the empty corridor, where only the blood-red countdown continued to tick away, and murmured softly.
Boom—
Another thunderous rumble shook the entire tower, followed by a tremor far more intense than before.
The runes of ti manifested once more, but this ti, the protection of fate was clearly much weaker than before and failed to fully shield the Watchtower.
Crack, crack—
Countless cracks spread across the steel walls. The entire tower echoed with the sound of breaking, like the mournful wail of a thousand-year-old ancient tree collapsing...
At this rate, the grand Watchtower would collapse even before the progress bar reached its end, without needing the destruction of Grey’s fate protection.
Yet Rast still did not move. He looked up at the do above, staring at the darkness seeping through the fractured fissure, as though quietly waiting for sothing.
"Hey hey hey, what are you thinking?"
Dean Silver glanced uneasily at Rast. With familiarity toward him, she vaguely guessed what he was intending to do, which made her montarily black out in exasperation.
"Don’t tell … even at a ti like this, you’re still thinking of seeing that Emis one last ti?"
"Didn’t you hear what Yanice just said? She’s already completely out of control and rampaging."
"Even though it’s the sa body, right now she’s no longer the Emis you used to know..."
"The will of the star-cup has already awakened inside her. Divinity has overwheld humanity. At this mont, she’s clearly a Judgnt Angel driven solely by her sequence’s instinct for destruction and slaughter!"
"I know."
Rast said softly, "But I must see Xiao Ai with my own eyes, just once."
"Dean Silver, you go on ahead… I’ve already completed all of my Nightworld missions. I can choose to exit the Historical Echo at any ti. Besides, I still have the inherent skill ‘Desperate Plea’ to save my life, I won’t die that easily."
"You little...!" Dean Silver felt the urge to curse. "You really love risking your life, don’t you?"
"That’s a fully-powered, undiminished angel we’re talking about. Killing the both of us would be as easy as squashing two ants!"
"You may not fear death, but I’m very much afraid of dying! I still want to drink a few more bottles of Happy Water and eat a few more grilled fish cakes!"
Even so, Dean Silver still stayed perched on Rast’s shoulder, refusing to leave.
In Dean Silver’s own words—she was a stowaway Rast had smuggled in. If this kid kicked the bucket, she might not be able to return to the Real World either. She was completely tied to his sinking ship now.
As for Dean Silver’s true thoughts, only the Little Ferret herself knew.
...
Ti ticked away second by second. Upon the cracking and collapsing walls, the damaged countdown gradually ticked toward its end.
Until the instant when only thirty seconds remained—
Boom—
That earth-shattering thunder struck the tower once more.
This ti, the fate protection runes left by Grey completely shattered, turning into crystalline fragnts, never to return.
The Watchtower teetered on the brink of collapse amid the thunderous roar.
The steel fra was torn apart, exposing the pitch-black sky through the cracks.
And against that pure black backdrop, Rast finally saw the figure slowly rising into the air—
A girl-like silhouette not seen for countless years.
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