A thousand miles away from Jade City.
Inside the Mirror City Data Center, numbers and letters flashed rapidly on every screen wall.
Nurous sub-modules handled different computational tasks and missions.
They integrated all results and consolidated them on the spherical main screen.
The most crucial data trics were displayed from top to bottom.
[Public support for secession from the Legal Front: 9.17%↑]
[War simulation success rate: 50.31%↓]
[Probability correction underway... frequency probability is 51.17%]
[Subjective probability adjusted to 49.54%]
[Enemy new Light Core Bodies: Wuhu Elevated Bridge, Leshan Buddha]
[Risk level increased.]
Six chanical lifeforms stood beneath the spherical screen.
They silently stared at the lines of data.
The vast, empty hall was filled only with the howling of the cooling fans.
One of the intelligent wheelchairs spoke: "Everyone, we have been invited as legal advisors to provide suggestions related to the legal procedures. The current legal calculation errors are unresolved, hence the activation of external information collection and manual intervention chanisms. Everyone must speak up."
"For the benefit of the entire Legal Front and each city, I urge you to use your talents to resolve the imdiate crisis."
A copier next to it said: "Mo Kong, you are the Great Monk, you start."
The chanical monk shaped like a wheelchair said: "I propose we be open and honest, and once again dispatch soone to negotiate with Zhou Yi, the chairman of Wasteland Developnt Company, to restore normal exchanges and cooperation—I am willing to go."
"This plan was submitted by you long ago. Law has yet to pass it; it's likely there will be no follow-up. Otherwise, it should have been you going to Sand Port instead of Shangyang."
The response ca from a giant spherical chanical lifeform.
It stated, "I am a doctor. From a dical standpoint, surgery at a deep level is perford only on a life form suffering from an incurable disease."
"Although the Legal Front is being impacted by the Floating Heart and Electric Cat System, it has not yet reached a completely unacceptable level of disaster."
"Whether facing the 'Key' or 'Law,' my attitude remains the sa. Avoid choosing a radical route, as it will cause irreversible major damage."
"Strong dicine is not a regular ans of treatnt, only a last-ditch effort."
"Liszt, even you doctors at the expert level remain so conservative," the copier said in a sharp voice. "I'm not pretending anymore; I hope to go to war directly, start a world war!"
"Either get utterly destroyed, and the chanical City continues to be devastated, or let the Law regain the upper hand! Hahaha! Many people want to see us fight! Let's fulfill their desire!"
"Are you insane?!"
chanical Doctor Liszt focused his electronic eye on the copier, the red light flashing: "Dak! You are a senior advisor of the Security Departnt, how can you give such an extre and crazy suggestion! Was it you who suggested Shangyang to carry out the assassination?"
"It wasn't it."
Great Monk Mo Kong said: "Dak has been striving to avoid war and conflict, lobbying everywhere, spreading awareness to all cities to avoid war... it's just disappointed. Dak, don't be like this. None of us wanted the current situation."
"We don't, but 404 City does."
Replied coldly Dak: "This is the scene they want to see, activating the radical Law, ruining the stability and trust that chanical lifeforms have painstakingly accumulated, and putting most resources into a war of attrition with other groups."
"chanical City would then fall into the quagmire of war, continually declining until chanical lifeforms can't stand it and start migrating outward. Eventually becoming an atomized society, unable to construct a united and trusted city."
"By then, chanical life won't be a threat, just tireless chanical laborers."
All were silent.
Dak continued loudly: "It's already moving in that direction. Can't you see?"
"404 unleashed Shangyang, initiated the Law procedures, replaced the general protocol, tightening friction and conflict with the outside world for every chanical city!"
"The efforts of the Security Departnt to avoid initiating wars and conflict have all gone up in smoke. The reason for the Law is ironically to maintain the social security of chanical life by starting a war!! What an ironic chanical joke, killing tens of thousands of chanical residents!"
"Can't you all see!"
Another agricultural machine spoke up: "Given the current situation, we can only strive to preserve chanical City."
"Then, John Deere, you tell us, how do we preserve it?" Dak asked back.
"Seek third-party diation and negotiation."
Agricultural machine John Deere said: "Ask Heavenly Kingdom or Star Axis to diate and negotiate, and talk with Wasteland Developnt Company."
"chanical City must never step into the whirlpool of war; we should always stick to production and labor. Even without establishing an absolute advantage, we will maintain a place."
They argued with increasingly intense tension.
"Everyone, hold on."
A voice ca from the air: "Look at the main screen first."
Everyone imdiately looked at the spherical screen.
It displayed:
[chanical Administrator has disconnected and cannot be accessed through the Great Holy Spirit network.]
[chanical Administrator is missing.]
[Based on its last access, it appears to have been attacked by other Concept Lives, with the final missing public consciousness node located within Developnt Alliance territory.]
[The special chanical life introduction plan has stopped.]
[Please provide suggestions.]
Six advisors were shocked.
"The administrator is a Light Core Body Concept Life; how is it possible..."
"Does Wasteland Company have weapons targeting Concept Lives? Or do their Concept Lives have extrely high strength... preventing the administrator from even finding a chance to self-destruct?"
"First Shangyang goes missing, now the chanical Administrator. Law's decisions are mistake after mistake!"
"The general protocol was better!"
Great Monk Mo Kong interrupted their argunt: "Everyone, what's done is done, we need to think of ways to redy the situation."
The cara on its arm focused on the air: "Turing, what do you think?"
Compared to its peers, Turing was much smaller.
It was a small "Electrician Ant" with gliding wings made of thin threads. It was also the one who reminded them to look at the main screen earlier.
"I am a programr. From the perspective of programming, there's no problem with the Law chanism itself."
Among the advisors, Turing was the first to defend the Law.
"It's just that Wasteland Developnt Company and its chairman Zhou Yi co with many variables, making past decisions no longer appropriate and thus generating significant errors."
"I know everyone is angry and heartbroken over the failure of the Law program, the destruction of Spring City, and the disappearance of the chanical Administrator. But please calm down because the Law initiated human intervention, letting us provide recomndations for the next decision, which is a way of self-correcting and anding."
"I'm not good at city-level macro-strategies. Let's have Vivian speak; she's the investigator from Suzheng City and an expert in this area."
The other five consultants looked at the last person.
Investigator Vivian was a silver-tallic being with graceful feminine lines. Her smooth, tallic face had no features, and her head was wrapped in coils of copper wire like a bun.
Vivian said: "According to Suzheng City's data analysis, Zhou Yi's unpredictable deanor makes him difficult to read. He could destroy a major city, launch a protest, or start a trade war."
"Defense is essential. We cannot infer a city's fate based on probabilities."
"A new round of retaliation could co at any ti."
"I believe we need to increase city military expenditures and implent top-level risk defense asures."
This suggestion was agreed upon by the other advisors.
The spherical screen imdiately displayed:
[Recomndations collected.]
[Simulation in progress...]
[As expected, military readiness in all cities will comnce, entering a controlled mode.]
[Depending on the actual situation of each city, military spending will increase by 15%-35%.]
[138 underground cities and shelters construction initiated.]
[...]
Command after command was issued.
Vivian added: "Given Zhou Yi's control over LV4 or even higher level Light Core Body destructive power, I think we should imdiately contact Star Axis and ensure so chanical life in each chanical City transition into Data Voters, preparing for the worst case of entering the Star Core Matrix backup."
"This way, even if the city is destroyed, so survivors will continue."
"Agreed!"
"Approved!"
After approval, this plan was also submitted.
[Recomndations collected.]
[Simulation in progress...]
[As expected, backup plan initiated.]
[Star Core Matrix communication in progress...]
[Agreent reached.]
[In the next five years, the Legal Front will invest 15 million Light Seeds in the Mars project to obtain 10,000 Data Voter slots, freedom of migration rights, and specific satellite settlent rights.]
Great Monk Mo Kong sighed: "How did things co to this? Shangyang's suicidal assassination, without the consent of the Law process... everything has deviated from the original track."
Dak sneered: "Has it really veered off? Maybe all of this is the calculated result."
Vivian stated: "Everyone, we can only proceed step by step under the current circumstances. In the current environnt, we must prevent any extre actions of the Law to avoid further provoking the Wasteland Developnt Company."
"As long as we can maintain stability for a longer ti, we will have more shelters and satellite settlents. Future wars with the Wasteland Developnt Company will better protect more chanical residents."
"No matter what, we must survive! Just like we did against the Heavenly People!"
Advisors began to discuss this heatedly.
...
anwhile.
In Jade City, Zhou Yi sneezed twice while eating ice cream.
Who's ntioning my na?
Or is soone sticking pins in a voodoo doll of ?
Zhou Yi rubbed his nose.
At this mont, a golden light suddenly appeared outside the window.
A Golden Sphere hovered outside the floor-to-ceiling window, and a voice ca from it: "Chairman, I've returned from Mars."
Zhou Yi was overjoyed and quickly opened the window.
"Co in, co in."
The Ice Pot flew into the room.
"Chairman, the dust storms on Mars are extrely dangerous, at the minimum Light Core Body level, so posed death threats to , suggesting they reached the Transforr level."
It reported: "The environnt there is unique, with the Dead Sea on the surface compressed to a thin layer, but with imnse gravity and restraint, denser than Earth."
"The Mars Dead Sea has strong tides, sotis highly compressed and condensed, sotis stretching and erupting, like an undulating fountain."
"The Star Core Base is located among mountains, with Iron Soldiers working and collecting Light Seed Ores."
"There's a giant hole above the base, making it impossible for satellites to directly observe it."
"I couldn't delve into that hole, but my asurents find its shielding capability and chanism familiar."
Zhou Yi imdiately thought: "Like the one on the Forbidden Continent?"
"Yes, Chairman."
The atmosphere creature said seriously: "Compared to the Forbidden Continent's hole, the one on Mars is an even higher energy level complete structure. Not visible to the naked eye, only detected through extrely high-energy shocks."
Zhou Yi frowned.
Mars really has a connection with the Forbidden Continent.
"In that hole, I found sothing else."
The Ice Pot shared the information with Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi saw a massive pitch-black hole in the clear sky, its edges rolling, drawing in wisps of gas.
Inside the hole were transparent palaces, so grand and majestic, others small and round.
They were interconnected, floating stably inside the hole, like a Glass City suspended in the air.
In the largest central glass palace was a peculiar white object.
It was made of white snowflake-like solids, resembling a snowman made of snow pieces.
The Snowman was hitting the glass, seemingly trying to get out.
Zhou Yi was baffled.
How is there a trapped Snowman above Mars?
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