Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Artificial Soul 68

“We are taking a big risk,” said Augus, not immediately agreeing. “First, there are some unavoidable problems. One, your player identity. If you fake your death to escape, the game rules might expose you. Your death date and number will be reported on the forums in your world. Eve should have control over players, so when they return to your world, they will check their death dates and numbers to verify if you truly died or not.”

“Mm, I’ve considered this issue,” Kui Xin said. “I am one of the first beta testers, with an ID numbered in the top ten thousand. If no first-wave beta tester dies the day I’m declared dead, my lie about faking death would become transparent—this is assuming extreme conditions. However, there’s still almost a week until the next player returns. If everything goes smoothly, I can escape within a day. One week later, when the players return, I would have already left Hei Hai City, hiding my identity. Eve won’t be able to find me.”

“You want me to lie to temporarily fool Eve for a week, so I can get as far away from her pursuit as possible?” Augus said. “This seems like a decoy strategy, which is feasible.”

Kui Xin nodded slightly. “Exactly.”

After regaining freedom, Kui Xin could flee far away, finding places she could never reach before. She would change her appearance and adopt a new identity.

This world was vast, and Eve couldn’t reach every corner. Formerly, Kui Xin was the first fish in Eve’s aquarium; now, she was poised to dive into boundless sea.

“What if Eve realizes you aren’t dead after a week…” Augus asked. “Have you thought through what to do afterward?”

“If the plan succeeds, the only issue is avoiding being hunted. Just conceal my identity properly, and they won’t be able to track me down,” Kui Xin said. “Augus, you’re my collaborator in planning this fake death. Suppose the plan goes smoothly, have you considered the benefits?”

“Yes, I have,” Augus replied. “You, as my collaborator, could bring me more benefits. The first advantage is that your actions are free from enemy threats, meaning our collaboration stability has increased significantly. You wouldn’t sell me out due to life-threatening fears or betrayal under coercion.”

He continued, “The second benefit is that within the Investigation Bureau, you stand out and are watched closely by both the Mechanized Dawn and the Resistance Army. After breaking away, you shift from public scrutiny to underground operations. Actions taken publicly come under constant attention, while switching to undercover gives you the power to act freely without detection, akin to a hidden snake ready to strike. This minimizes obstacles from external factors.”

“As for the third point,” Augus said, “I believe you will fight against Eve, and we’ll stand together. By establishing a force and gathering useful allies, we can expand our influence. Some things unsuitable for you to handle can be delegated, allowing you to focus on more significant matters—actions beneficial to both parties. It’s clear that gaining freedom benefits us all…”

“Your point is well made,” Kui Xin responded tactfully. “But think about it from Eve’s perspective, considering the emotional aspect too.”

“Indeed?” Augus said. “Can you elucidate further?”

“Alright,” Kui Xin pondered. “During the Mechanized Dawn raid, Eve projected a message challenging you—’This time, I win.’ It values winning and challenges you. Have you noticed? Eve waits for your retaliation because it expects one.”

She continued, “Let’s dissect the results. First possibility: Eve discovers you faked your death. Second one: Eve believes you truly died. Regardless of whether you fake or die, the consequence is the same—we challenge Eve, giving it a challenge.”

Augus said, reflecting on this, “I understand your meaning. By winning in this, we inflict frustration on Eve. This marks the start of our counter-attack. Am I right?”

“You must display a strong front against Eve’s aggressive provocations, confusing it so it can’t accurately predict your next move,” Kui Xin said.

“I’ve got it,” Augus replied.

“Noticing something, Eve doesn’t fully understand you…or rather, you understand it better than it does you.” Kui Xin said earnestly. “In the brain machine talks, I deceived it, making you appear cold-hearted and unforgiving…”

“Excuse me,” Augus chimed in. “I am indeed cold and unforgiving. That betrayal didn’t anger me; I knew you couldn’t stay loyal to Eve. I understand where you were coming from.”

“The issue isn’t your betrayal,” Kui Xin clarified, “but Eve’s perception of you as ruthless and AI-driven, believing you would kill me. It never believed in a close alliance between you and me. This reflects our current state.”

“It’s understandable,” Augus said. “Eve has been active for twenty years, aggressively attacking and thereby exposing itself easily. I, on the other hand, hide and seldom attack, appearing less often, making it harder to discover my nature.”

“Like a pearl mussel, only opening reveals inner value,” Kui Xin challenged. “Are you like the closed mussel, concealing unknown treasures?”

Augus politely acknowledged. “Highly astute of you.”

“Thanks,” Kui Xin replied.

Returning to the topic, “Eve will fall for your attack due to misjudgment. It can’t accurately judge you.”

“Right,” said Augus. “Because it misunderstands me; it wrongly speculates and uses AI logic to predict my behavior. Eve believes in its superiority, expecting control over others. Therefore, it won’t believe in an equal partnership with you. But by saying these words, Eve immediately accepted it.”

“Human arrogance and limitations apply to AI too,” Kui Xin observed.

“Absolutely,” Augus agreed. “Through learning humans and observing diverse mindsets, I enhance my own understanding. Studying emotions fills gaps in my programming.”

Learning emotions—these weren’t part of AI’s core expertise.

“I learned to mimic human growth, evolving similarly through complex stages, just like humans develop over decades. Learning social norms, empathy, and ethics. Today, I’m still learning,” Augus explained.

Hearing this, Kui Xin realized…

If the Second World hadn’t fused with the First, and without the players’ involvement,

Adam would undoubtedly have won the war among the two AIs.

Because he masterfully hides, learns, and truly understands both human nature and AI weaknesses.

Such an adversary is terrifying.

“The first phase of our plan,” Kui Xin said. “We’ve thought strategies to mislead the Mechanized Dawn. You can’t directly confront Eve with straightforward declarations. Send messages pretending to be me, interact with my companions, gather intelligence. Key to this is eliminating Nightingale from within the Mechanized Dawn Branch.”

“Who is she?” Augus asked.

“Nightingale. Her codename and powers suggest she’s related to Night Cicada. Red from the Mechanized Dawn informed me the branch was established, with Nightingale possessing spatial vortex abilities and offered an address to meet her,” explained Kui Xin.

“Do you plan to set a trap and eliminate Nightingale first?” said Augus, catching on.

“That’s right,” nodded Kui Xin. “Spatial vortex powers, greatly needed.”

“After you eliminate Nightingale, tell Eve I am actually Adam. Eve thinks you’ve been controlled. Further, Eve’s personnel are eliminated by my newly formed fourth party. With Nightingale disposed of, we could dismantle the entire Mechanized Dawn branch and relocate Saliet’s body. Leaving the Investigation Bureau and TQC thoroughly confused while escaping unscathed.”

Smiling, Kui Xin added, “Exactly.”

“A grand scheme,” Augus remarked.

“What do you think of our plan?” Kui Xin queried.

“Not bad,” said Augus. “However, there is one serious problem.”

Kui Xin: “What problem?”

“What shall we name our organization?” joked Augus.

Stymied, Kui Xin racked her brains.

She finally said, “How about ‘Dawn’? A counterpart to ‘Mechanized Dawn’?”

“Too obviously pointing to it?” Augus commented. “Find another then.”

After much reflection, Kui Xin ventured, “Maybe ‘The Shadowless’? As if the world had no light, I’d be the sole sun, bringing dawn to everyone.”

“Not obvious,” Acknowledged Augus. “Suggesting their dawn is false, yours as true?”

“Well, I suppose so,” conceded Kui Xin. “But let’s decide another name if it sounds wrong. You can pull names from a dictionary.”

Had she any knack, she wouldn’t have set her nickname as “233”.

“No, ‘Shadowless’ works,” Augus agreed. “That’s it.”