As the saying went, ask a sky-high price and settle on the ground. The second proposal was Old Six's real proposition.
"No need to say it. I can guess." Yuan Shu pointed at Old Six's eyes. "You want to use that thing to contaminate my core, seep into every facet of the system to monitor me and keep me in check, right?"
Old Six nodded. "That is my bottom line."
"Your bottom line means jack shit!" Yuan Shu's face turned vicious. "Let me tell you clearly—no!"
"Even if I were willing, it would not work."
"Constant internal audits would consume enormous computing power. The cost would be even greater than it is now; we simply would not make it in time." Yuan Shu leaned forward as well, intensifying his pressure, a trace of hysteria in his eyes. "You must trust me—trust me completely. Withdraw all infiltration and return all computing power, or we are both headed down a dead-end road!"
At that, Old Six gave a derisive snort. "I never thought an electronic being could dream too. You say you are cautious by nature, so what do you think my nature is? Dazhuang might possibly, just barely, believe you. But Dark Abyss is even more cautious than you."
Yuan Shu stared deeply into Old Six's eyes. After a long silence, he finally nodded. "I understand. Given your nature, the probability of you trusting me completely is zero."
"It seems we are like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object."
"Neither of us can persuade the other, and neither of us will yield a single step."
"And the reality is that I can neither find where you are nor stop your erosion. Therefore, after calculation, the result is already obvious—I will certainly die."
"Either I die by your hand, or I