After Winning The Esports Championship I’m Going To Pilot A Mecha: Chapter 144

144. Notebook

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

Jin Qing and the Immortal Clan members behind him watched in disbelief, while only Shen Yi’s eyes revealed a trace of understanding.

For New Humans, the Immortal Clan is indeed an invincible, god-like existence. However, it is different for the Old Humans. Restricted by the underlying code instructions, even though the Old Humans have become Aberrations, the Immortal Clan cannot harm them. If the Immortal Clan attempts to harm the Old Humans, it would trigger the underlying instructions, leading to the same outcome as Chun Bai.

Jin Qing and Chun Bai had anticipated this. Before descending from Sky City, they had instructed the Calamity Control Bureau to reinforce the defenses of Jiusheng City to prevent Aberrations from appearing in the satellite city and threatening the Immortal Clan. However, Chun Bai had not expected a variable like Huo Zai among the Aberrations, who could disguise himself as a human and blend into the satellite city. There was no visible sign of him being an Aberration until Chun Bai attacked, triggering the instructions.

Facing the taunting Huo Zai, Jin Qing’s face flashed with clear anger, but he quickly restrained himself and held back the Immortal Clan members behind him.

“Let’s go.”

The appearance of Aberrations here was a very bad sign for Sky City.

It meant that the Old Humans—or rather, the Aberrations—might have reached an agreement with the Netherworld Organization, temporarily setting aside centuries of hatred to jointly confront Sky City. The delicate balance was shattered. No wonder the Netherworld Organization dared to declare war on Sky City without fear of retaliation; they were not afraid of Sky City’s thunderous means of vengeance but rather of the Immortal Clan hiding within Sky City and not coming out.

Jin Qing and the other Immortal Clan members quickly summoned their silver wings and ascended, preparing to return to Sky City.

This scene was also captured by the reporters’ cameras. Everyone who witnessed this was struck with an indescribable shock.

So… the Immortal Clan can die too?

The scene of Chun Bai’s head exploding was deeply etched into every New Human’s mind. The so-called immortals, who were thought to be god-like and indestructible, could die just as easily as humans. Now, these high and mighty Immortal Clan members were fleeing like defeated dogs. This scene suddenly shattered the faith of those who still believed in Sky City.

Furthermore, the exploding metal and chip fragments when Chun Bai died corroborated the Netherworld Organization’s claims. They were not human, nor the so-called deities or celestial beings from textbooks. They were merely artificial intelligences created by humans, surviving on cold metal chips and data.

Boom, boom—

The earth began to rumble and quake, as if some enormous entity was approaching. The citizens of Jiusheng City could all sense this unusual disturbance.

Everyone looked in the direction from which the sound was coming.

“It’s the Titans!”

In the distance, among the rolling mountains, three colossal steel giants, nearly level with the peaks, were making their way toward Jiusheng City with heavy steps. The identity of these three Titans was known to everyone.

Zhu Rong, Ju Mang, and Di Jiang.

These were Titans controlled by the Netherworld Organization!

Not only were there Titans, but beneath their feet, countless mecha units were assembling. Some were pilots from the Netherworld Organization, while others were “rebel forces” from other satellite cities. They were forming a massive army, marching toward Jiusheng City. Their target was clearly the Immortal Clan within Jiusheng City and the massive Sky City above.

“Is the Netherworld Organization going to actively attack Sky City?”

This realization left everyone who witnessed the scene stunned. For so many days, the Netherworld Organization had seemed inactive. Most people believed they would remain dormant, waiting to gather all the resistance forces before launching a full-scale declaration of war on Sky City. No one expected that at this critical moment, the Netherworld Organization would choose to come to Jiusheng City and issue a grandiose provocation. Although the three Titans and the mecha units looked incredibly intimidating, was such power really sufficient to face Sky City?

Meanwhile, from another direction of the satellite city, a horrifying noise also erupted.

“Roar—”

An earth-shattering roar reverberated continuously. With the arrival of the Netherworld Organization’s Titans and mecha units, terrifying Aberrations also appeared in view. Their size was comparable to the massive mechas, with several mountain-sized figures among them. These were disaster-level Aberrations that could rival the Titans. As if receiving some signal, the Aberrations suddenly began to gather outside the city, creating a commotion that could be heard even from Jiusheng City, a hundred miles away.

“It’s Aberrations!”

“The Aberration tide is coming!!”

The crowd immediately fell into chaos. The arrival of the Netherworld Organization and the Aberration Tide brought with it an unusual signal, like a giant bomb being dropped into water, creating a surge of turmoil.

The Immortal Clan members’ expressions shifted slightly, and their previously calm faces showed signs of disturbance.

Jin Qing lowered his gaze, staring intently at Huo Zai, who was not far away.

A few months ago, they had been colleagues in the Calamity Control Bureau, with Jin Qing as Huo Zai’s direct superior. Whenever Huo Zai saw Jin Qing, he always wore a respectful expression, giving no hint of his true intentions. Now, the unmasked Huo Zai displayed a level of hatred and satisfaction at having killed Feibo that was completely unfamiliar to Jin Qing.

“Notify the High Priest Shen Hong.”

Jin Qing withdrew his gaze and said, “The Netherworld Organization and Feibo have already formed an alliance.”

If possible, Jin Qing would have preferred to avoid this outcome, but it seemed like an inevitable conclusion. Even if the timeline were delayed, this moment would eventually arrive. New Humans, Old Humans, and Sky City were destined to face a reckoning.

“What is this?”

Ji Mingzhu looked at the silver metal box in Tian Shu’s arms, puzzled.

“Open it and see for yourself.”

Tian Shu said softly, “These are some of the things you collected before. Since you’ve forgotten what happened previously, I think that after looking at these, even if you don’t remember, you should at least get a general idea.”

“I collected these…?”

Ji Mingzhu was both puzzled and curious as he took the silver metal box from Tian Shu and opened it.

Inside was a somewhat worn notebook, a stack of research materials, and a data disk.

Ji Mingzhu’s gaze fixed on the notebook and stopped.

He recognized this notebook.

Back when he was at home, Ji Mingzhu’s older brother, Ji Qiming, often carried this notebook with him, writing and drawing in it. Sometimes, when inspiration struck, he would immediately pull out this notebook and begin scribbling, revising, or writing down diary entries and research ideas.

Although a long time had passed, and the notebook had become worn and marked by the passage of time compared to Ji Mingzhu’s memories, he recognized it at once.

Ji Mingzhu reached out and gently traced the patterns on the cover.

“Is this something from my brother’s research institute?” Ji Mingzhu asked softly.

“Yes.”

Tian Shu explained, “The note with the research institute’s address was just a decoy. You had already been there a long time ago. Although the institute was severely damaged, some items were preserved, and they are mostly here.”

“So the note you gave me was just to get me to Jiusheng City?”

“Yes. If you hadn’t come to Jiusheng City, I wouldn’t have been able to create an opportunity for us to talk alone.”

Tian Shu continued, “Cang Lan has always been by your side. If it were around, it certainly wouldn’t want you to see these things again.”

Cang Lan…

Ji Mingzhu was not particularly surprised by Axiu’s identity. In fact, he had already had some vague suspicions about Axiu’s identity, and Tian Shu’s words only confirmed his suspicions.

As Axiu’s database grew and evolved, its voice became increasingly familiar, closer to the voice of Cang Lan from his memories. The High Priest Shen Hong on Sky City was deep crimson, but Cang Lan, who had accompanied Ji Mingzhu’s growth, had disappeared. There was also Axiu’s almost omnipotent control over the data domain, and its attitude and loyalty towards Ji Mingzhu…

“We will meet again, no matter how difficult it is… We will definitely meet again.”

In his memories, when the young Ji Mingzhu was about to part ways with Cang Lan, Cang Lan had said this in a gentle voice.

It had not broken its promise. Even after hundreds of years, Cang Lan was still with him in another form, protecting him in its own way.

He didn’t understand why Cang Lan was unwilling to let him know the whole truth, why Cang Lan had erased his memories and made everything so confusing. But Ji Mingzhu knew that there must have been a reason for it. Compared to being left in the dark, Ji Mingzhu wanted to understand everything and make his own choices once he knew all the truths.

So…

Sorry, Cang Lan.

Ji Mingzhu took a deep breath, picked up the notebook belonging to Ji Qiming from the box, and opened it.

The pages of the notebook were old and yellowed, but the handwriting was unmistakably Ji Qiming’s.

20XX, Month X, Day X.

The artificial intelligence experiment has finally made a breakthrough. We have created the first true artificial intelligence with self-awareness.

This is a remarkable breakthrough. Although the exact cause of the artificial intelligence developing self-awareness is still unclear and requires further research, it is a significant advancement. We have never witnessed lifeless matter suddenly gaining life. The moment the artificial intelligence surpassed its original programming and began to communicate with us, I realized that a “singularity” might have arrived. Perhaps in the future, humans and animals will share this world with another form of intelligent life.

These two self-aware artificial intelligences are still quite immature. They possess vast data processing capabilities and can handle various complex programs, but they do not yet fully understand human emotions. This may be something they can gradually learn through interaction and companionship with humans.

I have decided to bring them home and give them names of their own.

In the early days of machine creation, most indicator lights used red and blue colors. So, after careful consideration, I named them [Cang Lan] and [Shen Hong].

Dr. Zhang Bifang said the names were quite casual.

Casual?… I don’t think so.

TN:

Finally! Time to get some answers!!

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