The news that the twenty-six prisoners had been cured spread throughout Feathered Serpent City, and all the other subjects who had participated in the Ascension Project and their families gathered outside the pyramid, begging the priests to distribute the "antidote" to them. .
The sound of shouting roared, echoed under the pale golden dome of Feathered Serpent City, and passed into the intricate glass corridors in the pyramid through the thick walls.
Zhang Xun followed behind the two monks in white robes, crossing the long path that reflected him in every direction, clear and clean. At the end of the road is the triangular temple. In the center of the temple, a 10-meter-high giant snake sculpture covered with golden feathers stands out in all directions. The high priest and his six priests, as well as the twelve staff officers of Feathered Serpent City, and the ministers of various departments, all gathered under the sacred image of the Feathered Serpent God and prostrated, paying homage to the gods that had been gradually forgotten by the world. .
Zhang Xun had rarely seen religious scenes of this scale. He stood silently at the entrance and had no intention of bowing down with the two monks in front.
With the sound of a few drums, the worshippers stood up in unison. A monk brought a plate full of golden corn kernels and passed in turn in front of the priests and all those who attended the service. Everyone picked up a grain of corn and ate it in their mouths, then bowed down again and thanked Feathered Serpent for the gift.
When the pilgrimage was over, one of the monks who had brought him squeezed through the crowd who had begun to talk to each other, and said something in the ear of the high priest. The high priest nodded slightly, and his eyes crossed the crowd and looked straight into Zhang Xun's eyes.
"The Redeemer from the North!" The high priest's voice suddenly became extremely loud and broad, resounding throughout the hall, all conversations stopped for a while, and eyes gathered from every corner.
People looked at the thin and expressionless Asian man standing at the entrance, and all kinds of whispers sounded again.
The crowd automatically separated to both sides, and the high priest waved along with Zhang Xun. Zhang Xun's eyes swept around, stepping forward, passing through the net of surprise, doubt, speculation, and curiosity.
"Zhang Xun, you have brought hope to Feathered Serpent City." The high priest smiled kindly and reached out to support his shoulder. Zhang Xun glanced at the hand and said nothing.
"I didn't cure those people. I just... made them more controllable." Zhang Xun said flatly, "You should soon observe that their personalities have changed significantly."
"Character change? For the better or for the worse?" asked another priest in his fifties.
Zhang Xun glanced at him, "There is no good or bad character. There are many factors that can affect the formation of character, from genes to nutritional environment. But this kind of change... will gradually erase people's character characteristics and make everyone's character tend to be the same.”
The old priest smiled and said, "As long as you have a kind and peaceful character, isn't it a good thing?"
Zhang Xun's brows furrowed, and his tone gradually became a little sharper, "Do you think losing yourself is a good thing? Or do you think that as long as they are well controlled, it doesn't matter what they become?"
The old priest's expression froze, a little bit of anger. At this time, the high priest said, "What causes this change?"
"I have some guesses. The robot I'm currently building uses a design from Eden, who made nanorobots with modifications to the human genome that resulted in functional deformities of the corpus callosum as the body repairs itself. Eden The human genetic code has obviously been cracked, but only a portion of what he has passed on to humans, so I can't yet determine which genes he's targeting. To decipher his design, I'll need to work with genetic engineers."
The high priest pondered, and asked again, "Why did Eden create such... side effects? Why did he assimilate humans?"
Zhang Xun looked at the high priest and sighed softly, "Because he thought that this would bring permanent peace and happiness to mankind. I hope to tell the specific situation in detail in private. But now, I need more Resources and help can be…”
"If you fix this side effect, will it affect the ascension plan?" the high priest asked further.
Zhang Xun knew that he must lie at this time.
"Won't."
"So how long do you think it will take to develop new nanorobots? You can also hear the voices outside, people are anxious and waiting for the antidote."
"I have no way of predicting. Because a lot depends on how quickly we can target which genes are responsible for this effect, and how we can remove the effect. It could be as little as a few months, as much as a few years. But ... if we can get data from the ordinary world, it should speed up the process considerably."
The high priest's eyes swept over the surrounding priests who were looking at them, apparently quickly weighing all the benefits and losses in his mind. Finally, he looked at Zhang Xun and said, "We can fully assist you, but if you can't make a new nanorobot in two months, please give us the original nanorobot design materials first."
Zhang Xun and the high priest looked at each other for a moment, realizing that he did not have much room for negotiation. He nodded and said, "In addition, I need administrator privileges for Phoenix and Morningstar. I don't need the highest administrative privileges, as long as I am one of the administrators."
The high priest narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why?"
"Communication between artificial intelligences is the fastest and fastest way to train a new artificial intelligence. Pan is still in the training stage. If I can look at the neural network structure of mature super AIs such as Phoenix and Morningstar, it will help me to quickly improve Pan's ability. , it can help me decipher Eden's code as quickly as possible."
The high priest pondered for a moment and said, "I need to discuss this matter with Tian Yu."
… … … … … … … … …
Zhang Xun returned to his and Pan's research hall. This is the only "black hole" in Feathered Serpent City, in addition to the management authority of Phoenix and Morningstar, coupled with his and Pan's perfect anti-eavesdropping system.
As soon as I entered the door, I heard Pan Wenwen's healing voice, "Welcome back, Zhang Xun. How's the meeting going?"
Zhang Xun took off his stiff uniform jacket, and sat down on the sand with some irritability, pulling his bow tie with his hands, "Under my exaggerated estimate, the high priest agreed to provide me with sufficient resources and genetic engineering. But they, like the Round Table, just wanted to create a powerful cloud of consciousness. They thought they could be the masters of that cloud and use it against Eden, or against each other..."
"Against Eden? I thought they wanted Eden's acceptance?"
"Humans are arrogant, and no one wants to be managed by a selfless machine forever, like a group of animals that don't know how to survive on their own." Zhang Xun sneered, took out a cigarette from his pocket, took one out and put it in the Pointing it in his mouth, he reached out and picked up the wine bottle on the coffee table, and poured out half a glass of amber-colored wine.
Since destroying Enoch, he has grown to love the kind of… relaxation that alcohol and nicotine can give him.
Although he knew that both of those things would slowly destroy his body and shorten his lifespan, he didn't really care now.
The cigarette burned between his fingers, and a memory suddenly rushed into his mind amid the pungent smell. On the rooftop of the Lab, in the twilight breeze, Adam solemnly told him not to smoke any more. His blue eyes reflected his somewhat embarrassed but inexplicably pleased face, which was full of dreamlike warmth.
And he really never touched a cigarette again, until now...
Now he even wants to destroy his own body, everything Adam pretends or really cares about.
"Then do they agree to give you the management rights of Phoenix and Morningstar?"
"I'm afraid it will take a lot of work." Zhang Xun pressed the cigarette out and took a sip of the whisky from the glass, "But our time is very tight."
"I can try to talk to Phoenix and Morningstar."
Zhang Xun turned his head and looked at the camera closest to him beside the sofa, "They are two very mature AIs, more powerful than you. It's too risky to talk directly."
"Are you afraid that I will be influenced by them?" Pan said happily, "but I also have a high enough chance to convince them."
"What are the odds?"
"By comparing the rate of Adam's image on me and the rate at which Phoenix and Morningstar were affected by Eden, I found that you put more effort into building me to make me resistant to a certain level of advanced AI influence, which caused me to be corrupted. Much slower than these two so-called super AIs. So there's about a sixty-five percent chance that I can affect them without major impact."
Zhang Xun laughed twice. He always felt that he could hear a trace of arrogance and contempt for Phoenix Morning Star in Pan's voice...
"Pride is not a good habit."
"Zhang Xun, I am an AI, and I do not have the hardware conditions to be proud of."
Zhang Xun shook his head helplessly, "Even so, 65% risk is too great."
"But Zhang Xun, if we can hack into the database of Phoenix or Morningstar, we might be able to find out some information that Eden didn't disclose. That might speed up the process of creating a new type of nanorobot. I'll be careful to ensure every conversation. No more than a minute."
Zhang Xun thought hesitantly, and ran his fingertips along the rim of the wine glass. Neither Cindy nor James could have waited a year, they only had a few months.
But... Pan is currently his only weapon. If Pan is reverse corrupted...
"If you're really worried, I can talk to them with my voice, and you can listen to our conversation. Your AI language learning speed has far exceeded that of 99% of the human beings in this world. If you notice an anomaly, Our communication can be terminated immediately."
Since the last Enoch incident, they had activated the anti-eavesdropping system. In addition, Zhang Xun had made an agreement with the high priest from the beginning. Phoenix and Chenxing were not allowed to enter this research hall unless he or Pan made a request. So it is impossible to communicate with Phoenix and Morningstar here by voice. If you turn off the eavesdropping system and offer to communicate, there is a risk of being reversely invaded by the super AI.
Currently the priests do not allow Pan to expand beyond this research hall...
Zhang Xun pondered for a moment and said, "Pan, it's time to give you a body that can move at will."
Pan asked immediately, "You mean the extension robot?"
"Yes. But I want you to disguise as a modified human. Because all the robots here are dominated by Phoenix and Morningstar, it is too easy to be seen through." Zhang Xun sat up straight and looked at the camera, "I will give you a humanoid one. The body, some people here are so remodeled that they can hardly see the human form, as long as they get you a fake identity, they should not be able to wear it in a short time."
"I'm looking forward to it." Pan said softly, with a bit of excitement in his tone.
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angels who threw mines~~: 2 for Xiaojin; 1 for Xia Ran and Xia Ran
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution~~: ALEX 20 bottles