Chapter 818: The Key

Fang Ning sat on the only black leather chair in Black Robe’s study and stared intently at the 3D projection in front of him.

Black Robe, who was the actual owner of the study, could only stand by his side. He was not tired, but the scene of the two figures meeting each other made Black Robe look like he had betrayed his master…

Black Robe did not have a choice as Vigilante A could overpower him easily. Even his own master avoided him.

He was not in despair, however. He believed that once his master’s plan had come to fruition, Vigilante A and the many deities from the Upper Realm had to surrender to them.

Hence, he decided to tolerate everything. Toleration was difficult, but this was the real world. Whoever could tolerate the longest had a better chance of surviving till the end.

Those who chose to play tough with Vigilante A were all vanquished.

The evil ones who managed to stay alive already understood a principle, that was to avoid going over the opponent’s limits.

When he thought of this, Black Robe lifted his finger and the current 3D projection displayed Hook’s current tracks.

The scene changed to one of the Gobi Desert.

Blazing winds and clouds of yellow sand blurred the air. Stone pillars that have been corroded by the sands of time and were covered with holes flanked the Gobi Desert like a troop of soldiers. They seemed to recount events that happened billions of years ago.

A tiny figure was staring at a brownish-yellow stone pillar.

There were strange markings on the pillar.

Fang Ning was baffled by this view. A narration suddenly appeared. “This prehistoric rock formation was exposed due to the movement of the earth’s crust. It is located in the Middle East and has a history of about thirty billion years. It belongs to the Archean period, the earliest stage of the birth of life.”

It was a mechanical female voice.

Fang Ning’s face was still expressionless when he heard the voice, but he was suspicious of something.

The female voice sounded familiar to him… He contemplated and concluded that it belonged to the Red Queen in “Resident Evil”.

As a long-time gamer, how could he not play a classic like “Resident Evil”?

Did Black Robe have a bizarre sense of humor, or was he trying to hint at something deeper?

Did this so-called Red Queen possess the artificial intelligence in the “Resident Evil” series? What was the basis of its creation?

Fang Ning ignored this question for the time being and focused on the figure in the image.

The figure simply stared at the stone pillar. It was very difficult to guess what that person was trying to do.

“Red Queen, switch to Thought Inspection Mode, use the First Person Point of View.” Black Robe commanded.

“Affirmative, master. Thought Scanning Process has been activated, Point of View has been switched to First Person.” The female voice responded.

Huh, that’s witty…

Fang Ning was impressed. He never expected an insignificant devil like Black Robe to use Earth’s technology for such mysterious purposes.

If he had not witnessed it with his own eyes, he could not have imagined such a sophisticated AI. As a former programmer, he clearly understood what those so-called AI that was used for money-grabbing were really like.

Machines could learn and discover information, but they could only do so by focusing on a certain field. Artificial intelligence was not necessarily able to learn on its own.

The Red Queen, who was already capable of accurately identifying Black Robe’s verbal commands, was spectacular and breathtaking.

After all, Vitality was in the midst of restoration in this realm. It was not a futuristic world filled with black technology.

“Hmph, you spend most of your time with the greatest AI in the world and you still can’t imagine it?” Sir System popped up in Fang Ning’s mind without warning.

“You aren’t an AI, you’re just a third-rate System. Can you do what others are capable of doing? You don’t even understand it.” Fang Ning was unimpressed.

“I don’t understand how it does everything, but what does that matter? I’m a formidable Hero System who can beat monsters and pay to win. Can it do that? Can it?” Sir System argued defiantly.

“Eh, you sure know how to attack one’s shortcomings with your own strengths.” Fang Ning quipped.

Meanwhile, the scenery shown by the 3D projection changed again.

The tiny figure was nowhere to be seen. It was replaced by this figure’s point of view, which also represented Hook’s view and thoughts.

The brownish-yellow stone pillar in front of him was magnified and the strange markings on its surface could be observed clearly. They looked like fossils of prehistoric animals.

Some had ambiguous shapes whereas some were disintegrated. The images were very difficult to identify without undergoing special restoration processes.

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A devil was a devil, indeed.

Chief Hook was completely oblivious to the fact that Black Robe had already planted a surveillance tool in his new body. His views and thoughts were all controlled by Black Robe.

It was not that Hook was not smart, but he never knew that the marriage between mysterious forces and technology could give birth to such an otherworldly ability.

As they said, he who preyed was not aware that he was being preyed on.

However, Fang Ning had a familiar feeling.

“Eh, my apologies, Sir. I said the wrong thing just now.” He suddenly apologized.

“Huh, what a rare sight. You actually know how to apologize?” Sir System was both bewildered and delighted.

“Yes, I’ve suddenly understood that you’re indeed better than it. You can peek at my thoughts and possess your own sense of judgment. There’s no need for me to give you orders, unlike this Red Queen who’ll only do something when ordered by Black Robe.” Fang Ning buttered the System up.

“…” Sir System was speechless.

Once again, the 3D image changed.

Hook stretched out a silvery white mechanical arm and touched the stone pillar.

A bright orb appeared in the middle of his silvery white mechanical palm. It sparkled incessantly and was absorbed into the stone pillar once it came into contact with the latter.

“Hey, take note of the bright orb in his palm.” Sir System reminded.

“Alright.”

When the bright orb entered the stone pillar, it was as if the portal of destiny had been opened…

A dark whirlpool materialized.

After that, Fang Ning saw that the images kept swirling until the screen came to a halt at a blue sea.

Large blue flocs precipitated at the bottom of the sea. The water gleamed under the scorching sunlight.

The sea looked empty with no sign of fishes and crustaceans.

“The initial analysis states that the displayed image is one of Earth at a prehistoric period. Thirty-seven billion years ago, life forms have gradually begun to appear and floc-like beings have started to reproduce en masse, changing the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing oxygen, preparing nutrients for the imminent explosion of life.” The Red Queen’s narration re-appeared.

Fang Ning saw this scene and slowly made a guess.

“Looks like our prediction was correct. If the Axiom Daddy chooses a Converger, that person must be able to carry all of its historical deposits; he must be able to transform billions of years of deposits into actual mysterious power in order for it to resist the deities. As mentioned by Black Robe, it’s impossible for Hook to succeed. When he chose to be a pawn of the deities, he has relinquished the possibility of successfully converging the Heavenly Axiom, even though he has that mysterious bright orb as the key to the portal.”

“Hmm, judging from Mr. Rich Boss’ meaning, are you trying to replace him?” Sir System asked excitedly.

Fang Ning was stunned speechless. Sir System’s thought process was peculiar indeed. He immediately rejected.

“I never said so. I’m perfectly aware of my abilities. Hook’s also a highly-experienced officer. Although I have some experience, without proper cultivation, I won’t be able to withstand that many historical deposits.”

“If you can’t do it, I can. What’re billions of years of historical deposits anyway? They’ll occupy more of my System Storage at most…” Sir System declared.

“Eh, what’re you trying to do?” Fang Ning sensed that something was off.

“You can actually use that as a key. You just have to follow the example of the Land of Sanguinity. If we have a System administrator like the Earth’s Heavenly Axiom in our hands, we’ll stand a better chance at defeating the Upper Realm deities.” Sir System announced.

“Fine and dandy. My key isn’t strong enough. Even if I manage to insert it in, it’ll break when I turn it, so it can’t be used.” Fang Ning quickly declined.

He understood that the last time he converged a path —— which was a small grotto-heaven in the arcane realm ——, he had used up a great deal of energy and only succeeded by gorging on pills to restore himself to the Lake level.

Later, he refused to remain online all the time and let the System take care of everything instead in order to prevent exhausting his soul. At the same time, he wanted to avoid getting fused with the Heavenly Axiom of the arcane realm.

If he were to face the Axiom Daddy right now, he would surely be crushed to pulp within seconds.

Sir System was displeased when he heard Fang Ning’s reply. “A philosopher once said that you shouldn’t underestimate yourself and say something you’ll regret later, or else you’ll only discourage people who are trying to help you. How could you react like that? I was only trying to advise you.”

“It’s better to wait. We can’t rush this.” Fang Ning habitually delayed the matter.

“Earlier, you said that you wanted to push yourself, and now you behave this way. I was wrong about you, you’re so inefficient and unreliable.” Sir System fumed.

Fang Ning simply remarked blandly. “Circumstances have changed. We must be patient and take things slowly, then the task can be completed smoothly and successfully.”

“Cut the crap, you’re just trying to procrastinate…” Sir System did not fall into his trap.

“…”