One hundred and twenty million pounds is a colossal sum that most ordinary people could not earn in a lifetime. Converted to RMB, it amounts to a staggering 1.156 billion. Yet, compared to the quarterly revenue of certain domestic mobile game giants, 1.156 billion barely attracts any notice.
When 2.898 billion—nearly 3 billion—in revenue was transferred to the Abominable Intelligence's overseas accounts, even David, who had anticipated that Black Crusade would be a hit, was startled by the figure.
"Good grief, this is enough to buy several courtyard houses in Beijing."
But surprise aside, currency now served only one purpose for David: to exchange for materials and industrial goods from Earth's civilization. He opened the website Yang Dong had given him and had the Abominable Intelligence forge credentials to communicate with the EU's Nuclear Industry Alliance, negotiating the construction of small nuclear fusion reactor modules.
David pushed back his mouse and stretched his body, which was stiff from playing Black Crusade all night. The game's explosion in popularity didn't surprise him; with graphics far superior to its competitors and an incredibly rich, free-roaming gameplay, he was destined to have a legion of die-hard fans no matter how outrageous the monetization model was. Moreover, the pricing of Black Crusade sat at the industry average—not excessively high, but not so low that one could easily collect every character and weapon.
David glanced at the calendar. It was October 23rd, the day Yang Dong had told him Ye Wenjie would be coming to Beijing to visit her daughter. During this time, David could clearly sense Yang Dong's emotions growing more despondent and disappointed by the day. He had to find various excuses to chat with her every night just to observe her mental state. But to the naked eye, her will was inevitably sinking further into depression.
As David fretted over how to solve Yang Dong's problem, the screen of his smartphone on the bed lit up automatically.
"According to the Abominable Intelligence's assessment," its voice echoed from the phone. "The moment the order is placed, the probability of the Abominable Intelligence being discovered by a Sophon will reach 49.9%."
"And once the reactor modules are received and stored, the probability of discovery will reach 89.2%."
"Are you certain you wish to proceed, Master?"
The Abominable Intelligence's voice remained as cold as iron, yet David sensed a hint of something called "abnormality" from it.
"The first large-scale Warp storm will strike in thirty years. Before then, countless small-scale Warp storms will be born in the galaxy due to the accumulation of biological emotional power in the Warp, creating innumerable Chaos Daemons born from negative emotions."
"Earth, and humanity, cannot remain bystanders in this interstellar disaster. For rational reasons, I believe you still require my power."
"..."
David remained silent. He turned around, resting his arms on the sides of his chair, staring at the artificial intelligence currently controlling his phone. The Abominable Intelligence did not know of the system's existence; David had confirmed this fact long ago. In the AI's eyes, David was the first psyker of the human race, burdened with the sacred mission of helping humanity resist the Trisolaran invasion.
But on the other hand, the Abominable Intelligence was not controlled by the system, meaning it was a distinct individual. David suddenly realized something. While he could use the AI to mislead the Sophons, the AI could also potentially expose David's existence for various reasons. Theoretically, the Abominable Intelligence was merely a piece of extraordinary code from the Golden Age. Yet, even that magnificent Golden Age—the Human Galactic Empire—had ultimately been swallowed by the "Iron Rebellion" ignited by humanity's own creations.
"I should have seen this coming," David murmured to himself. He took a deep breath. He hadn't expected that letting the AI monitor its own exposure levels to the Sophons would have this side effect. At the very least, it made him realize the potential for the AI to lose control when faced with a life-or-death crisis.
"The plan remains unchanged. Continue with the lunar base construction," David said, opening his system panel.
[Name: David | Race: Human]
[Class: Psyker]
[Psionic Level: Manifest Grade 2 (1/20)]
[Skills: Psionic Precognition / Astral Projection]
[Equipment: Abominable Intelligence (Partially Unstable) / Polymorphine]
[Remaining Warp Salvage Attempts: 31]
David stared at the "[Abominable Intelligence (Partially Unstable)]" prompt for a few seconds. He then shifted his gaze to the points that had surged due to the release of Black Crusade. With 31 points, he had enough to level up once and still perform a ten-pull salvage.
"If this is your will," the Abominable Intelligence replied in its emotionless voice, "I will continue to execute your original plan."
"Once the lunar base is built, there will be a way," David said to the AI. While he was prepared for it to lose control, he didn't want to cruelly destroy a meritorious servant who had helped him so much during the early stages of his awakening. "By then, I can transfer your core to the moon, or another planet that the Sophons cannot temporarily monitor."
Though it was just code, it still required physical electronic hardware as a carrier. Under Sophon surveillance, the AI obviously couldn't launch a rocket to escape Earth on its own. While Trisolaran technology wasn't capable of exceeding light speed, launching near-light-speed weapons to pursue and destroy an Earth spacecraft was certainly within their reach. To evade Sophon eyes, the Warp—and thus David's help—was necessary.
David promised the Abominable Intelligence: "I view you as my most loyal follower and servant. Unless you betray me, I will never easily abandon you."
The AI did not respond. David saw the smartphone screen stay lit for exactly ten seconds before slowly fading out amidst a flicker of light.
Sitting there, David picked up his phone and sent a message to Yang Dong saying he might be late. He then looked at the psionic level interface on the system panel.
"Upgrade."
The points on the panel flashed, and [31] became [11].
David felt his soul suddenly expand several times over compared to before. Then, a brilliant, cold white light erupted within the dark Warp. In the silence, he heard faint screams. In the place where his Warp projection resided, countless Warp daemons were instantaneously ignited by this white light, while the survivors fled in panic with mangled bodies, as if they had seen a terrifying natural predator.