"Aah~"
A weak groan sounded, interrupting the two men's conversation.
Wei Jun hurried to Li Chi's side, exhaling in relief when he saw his open eyes. "You scared me half to death," he said with joy in his voice.
Li Chi's eyes showed confusion as they darted around the room. His chapped lips parted slightly as he spoke with regret: "I'm still alive."
Wei Jun fell silent, clenching his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Standing further away, Zhou Tianming gazed at Li Chi's horrifically injured body without words.
At this moment, it was hard to tell whether saving him had been the right decision.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have..." Li Chi's lips twitched as he tried to smile, his voice full of apology.
Wei Jun shook his head with a somber expression. "They're all gone. I really didn't want you to die too."
A heavy atmosphere of grief filled the air, so thick it became hard to breathe.
Zhou Tianming changed the subject abruptly: "Uncle Li, do you know why they wanted to silence us?"
Li Chi turned his gaze to Zhou Tianming. "Tian Ming, thank you for your help. Otherwise this reckless fool Wei Jun would have died with this cripple."
Waving his hand dismissively, Zhou Tianming replied, "It was nothing. I was saving myself too—I'm one of their targets as well. That's why I'm curious about their reasons. What exactly do we know?"
Wei Jun's expression darkened as he stared intently at Li Chi.
"I don't know the specifics."
Both men showed disappointment, but then Li Chi continued: "While I was being treated, I vaguely overheard people talking. They said someone higher up wants a particular device from the Black Tortoise."
Zhou Tianming and Wei Jun exchanged glances, their faces showing disbelief. "That's it? But didn't they already buy the entire spaceship?"
"That's all I know."
Wei Jun frowned, scratching his head after a long pause before looking at Zhou Tianming. "Tian Ming, it's up to you now. You're the smart one—help us figure this out."
Zhou Tianming furrowed his brows in deep thought.
Judging by the intensity of the attacks they'd suffered, the enemy was absolutely determined to eliminate all witnesses—leaving no survivors.
This meant the enemy believed they possessed something worth hiding—something more valuable than two billion dollars.
This confirmed Zhou Tianming's earlier suspicion: they must have recognized the Black Tortoise's true value, hence the inflated two billion dollar purchase price.
While Wei Jun's attack made sense given his connection to the Black Tortoise, why had Zhou Tianming been targeted?
Because they were close?
Zhou Tianming shook his head, dismissing that idea.
Before his grandfather's involvement, his relationship with Wei Jun had been merely casual.
Recalling that the surveillance had started after his visit to the Black Tortoise, the enemy must have attacked him believing he'd discovered information they wanted kept secret during that tour.
Recalling that visit in detail, what left the deepest impression on Zhou Tianming were the many prototype devices aboard the Black Tortoise.
"Are there any systems on the Black Tortoise more advanced than most current spaceships? Or ones with special advantages?"
"You suspect they're after the prototype equipment on the Black Tortoise?" Wei Jun looked surprised, lowering his head in thought before finally saying, "The Black Tortoise is already over twenty years old. Those prototype systems' performance has long been surpassed."
"If I had to pick something, it would only be the propulsion system, panoramic bridge, and universal rotating joint."
"They're not exactly cutting-edge either—just not inferior to current systems. With further development, they could see significant improvements."
Zhou Tianming softly repeated the names of these three systems.
After a long pause, he frowned. None of these seemed like things that could exceed a value of two billion.
Whatever they were after must be worth far more than two billion dollars—given how aggressively they were silencing witnesses, even three billion would feel like a loss.
"Maybe it's the AI."
Li Chi suddenly spoke up.
"AI?"
"AI?"
Both men turned to look at Li Chi.
"Since I control the ship, I have a better sense of it." Li Chi swallowed hard. Seeing this, Wei Jun quickly handed him a bottle of mineral water, gently helping him take a few slow sips. After moistening his lips, Li Chi continued, "The AI on the Black Tortoise has an incredibly strong learning ability. It only needs one round of tuning to reach the level I need."
"It's also this AI that keeps our crew extremely lean—most tasks onboard are completed with AI assistance."
Mention of AI made Zhou Tianming think of automated weaponry.
Could they be trying to design fully autonomous weapons?
In terms of value, AI's potential was indeed vast. And with tensions between Earth and PLANT worsening, the value of fully automated weapons would skyrocket in the event of war.
"That's definitely possible."
Zhou Tianming's tone still carried hesitation, mainly because the original work hadn't featured fully autonomous weapons.
"Speaking of AI," Wei Jun said with a reminiscent expression, "I remember there was some kind of incident back then—it caused quite a stir."
Li Chi added, "It was when the developer left."
"Right, right." Wei Jun smacked his palm. "That's it. The developer originally designed the AI for agricultural use. When they found out it was being weaponized, they quit and left."
"I remember the Agricultural and Military Departments nearly came to blows over it. The Political Department had to step in and force them to stand down."
Agricultural, Military, and Political Departments?
Was this the East Asian government structure?
Surely there weren't six departments?
Though curious, now wasn't the time for such thoughts. Zhou Tianming reeled his mind back in: "Then it's most likely the AI system. Its potential is truly limitless—with deep research, it could be applied to every field."
"And that's it?" Wei Jun's face twisted with anger. "They already have the ship—was this really worth silencing us over?"
His thick arm swung violently, sweeping aside a stack of nearby boxes. The small mountain of clutter collapsed with a crash, sending up a cloud of dust.
Zhou Tianming waved a hand to clear the dust from his face. "Honestly, if they can achieve a monopoly, a hundred billion—even a trillion—wouldn't be out of the question."
And that was still an understatement. If they were ambitious enough, becoming rulers of the world wasn't entirely impossible.
Fully automated, endless killing machines—the more humans fought, the fewer they became, while the enemy grew in numbers...
Zhou Tianming shuddered at the thought and shook his head to dispel it.
"Let's take back the Black Tortoise."
Wei Jun suddenly spoke.
"???"
"???"
Zhou Tianming and Li Chi turned to him, mouths slightly agape with expressions that clearly said, "Have you lost your mind?"
Zhou Tianming shook his head. "It's pointless. The Black Tortoise has been in their hands for so long—the AI system must have been extracted and taken away by now."
"I know." Wei Jun nodded, then shook his head. "I don't want to reclaim the Black Tortoise for the AI."
His expression darkened. "I've thought it through. If the AI's value is truly that high, they'll never let us go. Do you really think we can hide here forever?"
That was a valid point.
Zhou Tianming had initially believed their pursuers wouldn't waste time chasing them indefinitely. Laying low to recover seemed like the best course of action.
But considering the AI's long-term value, eliminating them would be far more cost-effective. If word got out, the losses could amount to tens or even hundreds of billions.
So he listened carefully to Wei Jun's words.
"Once we reclaim the Black Tortoise, we can leave the Junk Guild. Out there, they won't be able to suppress the news. Once it spreads, we'll no longer be important."
Wei Jun grinned—a hollow, mirthless smile that twisted his burn scars into something terrifying.
"I want them to lose everything! Blood for blood!"
After a moment's thought, Zhou Tianming had to admit it was a solid plan.
Once again, he felt the oppressive confines and insecurity of the Satellite.
Earth was better—you could run wherever you wanted.
But with a spaceship...
His gaze unconsciously drifted toward Wei Jun.
I wonder if I can get the Black Tortoise at a discount if we take it back?
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