Chapter 282: 282

Chapter 282 – The Root of Disaster… The Devil’s Command

Boom .

After an unknown amount of time had gone by, the steel door opened fully, and the loud noise it made caused the CEO to instantly snap out of his daze .

“Sir, is something on your mind?” the middle-aged man asked in confusion .

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing . ” The CEO shook his head and stepped inside .

Beyond the gate was a fully enclosed elevator . After the two people entered, the elevator doors shut, and the elevator began descending rapidly .

Having calmed down, the CEO placed his hands into his pockets and looked around . He then asked, “When did we change the elevator?”

“A week ago . ”

“Why don’t I know about it?”

“We used the institute’s internal funds, so I didn’t notify you about it . Why? Is there a problem with the elevator?”

“No, it’s nothing . I just feel a little uncomfortable standing inside here . ”

“I’ll have someone replace it tomorrow, then . ”

“No need to do that for the time being . I don’t come here often, either…”

After the two continued their seemingly meaningless conversation for a short while, the elevator came to a stop, and its doors parted to the sides .

The CEO and the middle-aged man exited the elevator and walked through the enclosed corridors with familiar steps, eventually arriving on an underground observation deck .

The observation deck was made of transparent glass . One would find many large servers stacked on top of each other if one looked down through the glass . Hundreds of workers were also doing maintenance on these servers .

“Have the casings of the quantum servers been replaced as well?” the CEO asked as he gazed down at the servers . “Why don’t I know of this either?”

“It’s a minor modification . We also used internal funds . ”

“Is the budget so plentiful?”

“Yes . ” The middle-aged man nodded . “Progress has been going smoothly, so we didn’t have to expend a lot of funds . ”

“After achieving a technological breakthrough, the initial development that follows really is rapid,” the CEO said as he stared at the rows of servers underneath the observation deck . After remaining silent for some time, he sighed and continued, “The project was established in 2012, achieved a breakthrough in 2018, and achieved hegemony in the quantum world in 2019 . Now, in just three years, quantum computers have already reached such a level . ”

“It is also because of this reason that No . 445 was born,” the middle-aged man said, shrugging . “It’s a pity that quantum computers are not yet commercially available on a large scale . ”

“Why would you want to commercialize it on a large scale? We’ll first use it to reap some benefits . Only after we have ensured the company’s operational development, consolidated our lead, and formulated industry standards should we consider commercializing it . ”

“This is something you should study with management . You don’t need to tell me this, Mr . CEO . ”

“Okay, our conversation ends here . ” The CEO nodded . He then stopped hesitating, crossed the observation deck, and pushed open the doors at the other end of the observation deck .

Creak .

The doors opened and revealed a pure white room .

Sitting in the center of the hall was a spherical screen that covered all 360 degrees . Meanwhile, two black dots on the screen were currently “staring” at the two people who had just entered the room .

Excitement welling up in his chest, the CEO took a deep breath and strode into the room . After observing the spherical screen at a close distance for a moment, he asked, “Are you sure it has reached the Strong AI standard?”

“Yes . ” The middle-aged man nodded . “We have conducted three standard tests and intensive tests . It has passed them all perfectly . After ten minutes of trial operation, it has achieved top-level performance in chemistry, mathematics, and genetic engineering . However, it would take time for it to reach a higher level as it has already exhausted all of the academic papers and materials available in the world . ”

“Make sure to omit the last sentence during the board meeting . ”

“Understood . ”

Reaching out, the CEO touched the black spots on the screen . He then muttered to himself, “If…we can get Transdimensional’s UP’s library materials, modern human civilization will be able to catch up with the civilization a thousand years later immediately . ”

“Maybe the company can consider cooperating with Transdimensional’s UP . I’m sure Transdimensional’s UP will be happy with the birth of artificial intelligence . ”

“…Let’s talk about that some other time . That person isn’t someone easy to deal with . We should maintain our distance from him,” The CEO said as he massaged his temples . He then took a step back and asked, “Did you name it yet?”

“Aside from No . 445, we also gave it an alternate name . ”

“What is it?”

“HAL . ”

“HAL?” The CEO frowned . “Short for Heuristically Programmed ALgorithmic Computer?”

“Yes . ” The middle-aged man nodded . He then smiled and said, “It seems you also like Arthur Clarke’s A Space Odyssey, Mr . CEO . ”

“…I don’t like it . As to why I don’t like it, it is because of HAL . Don’t you think this name is ominous?”

“No . 445 is ultimately a heuristic programmatic arithmetic artificial intelligence . The team thinks that it is more reasonable to call it HAL . ”

“I hope it won’t become a real ‘HAL . ’”

“Impossible . ” Confidently, the middle-aged man said, “Humanity will become better because of it . Sir, you should hurry up and enter the first central command . I still need to start other experiments . ”

“OK . ”

The CEO nodded . After pondering for some time, he spoke in a loud tone, “HAL!”

“Greetings, Mr . CEO . How may I be of service?”

“How do you know I’m the CEO?”

“HAL knows the identity, position, personalities, and human relations of 3 . 3 billion people around the world . ”

“Wonderful . Then…” A hint of inspiration flashing across his eyes, the CEO asked, “Do you know Transdimensional’s UP’s true iden—”

“Sir!” The middle-aged man suddenly got goosebumps all over his body . Interrupting the CEO, he said, “Let sleeping dogs lie . ”

Hearing this, the CEO promptly came to a realization, and he couldn’t help but grow fearful at the thought of his actions . “Thank you . I got a little conceited . ”

“Hurry up and enter the central command . ”

“Okay . ” After adjusting his mood, the CEO said sternly, “HAL, register central command . ”

The two black dots in the screen suddenly disappeared, and the spherical screen turned pure white in color .

“Begin input: first command, highest priority, protect humanity . Input complete . Please repeat . ”

“Protect humanity,” HAL said in an electronically synthesized voice .

“Repeat again . ”

“Protect humanity .

“Protect humanity .

“Protect…humanity…”

…

The Equator, above the Super Floating Castle:

Chen Yu, who was dozing off on his chair, suddenly sprang up from his seat as he felt a chill crawling down his spine .

“Is something wrong, Headmaster?”

“Uh, nothing . ” Giving his helmet a few taps, Chen Yu waited for his consciousness to clear up . He then lifted his exposed wrist to look at the time . “It’s been almost two hours? Is the exam over?”

“Not yet . Half the students haven’t finished answering,” Professor Li said as he tiptoed to look at the students before him . “But they should be done soon . ”

“I’ll leave the rest here to you . I need to head back to the castle to prepare for the interviews . ”

“No problem . ”

Snap .

Amidst the gaze of many surprised students, the stool Chen Yu previously sat on dispersed into tiny particles and vanished without a trace .

Following this, Chen Yu took to the air, crossed over the tall castle walls, and disappeared from everyone’s sight .

After entering the castle complex, Chen Yu first returned to the Headmaster’s Tower . He then picked up the script he left in his study and looked at it sadly . “I memorized it all, so why couldn’t I remember it just now?”

Tear .

After tearing the script apart, Chen Yu removed the protective suit and changed into a set of light robes . He then made his way to the auditorium located in the center of the castle complex .

…

Inside the auditorium, the professors had already set up the interview booth . Upon seeing Chen Yu, they promptly greeted him respectfully .

“Headmaster . ”

Hello, Headmaster King . ”

“Hello . ” Chen Yu nodded at the professors before sitting down at the seat of honor . “Everyone, work harder . Try to finish all the tests today . I don’t want any interruptions happening to my upcoming livestream . ”

“Yes, sir!”

However, at this time, nobody was aware that a command that would bring about a disaster had already begun to fester…