The time on his phone had already reached eight o'clock.
"Alright, 888. Strike it rich, strike it rich. Great fortune and prosperity."
As he spoke, Han Fei plunged one hand fiercely into the bathtub water in a fish-grabbing motion, constantly stirring and sweeping through it.
In and out.
"Where's the bottle?"
"Hm?"
It seemed he had caught something. Han Fei pulled back his hand.
He withdrew it from the water, and a bottle had appeared in his previously empty palm.
It was a glass bottle about the length of his forearm, corked with a wooden stopper. Inside floated a tiny, indistinct object that gave off a faint glow.
Its overall appearance resembled something called a Drifting Bottle.
The bottle before him was his golden finger.
Even now, he could not forget the rotten apple that had emerged from the bottle during his third year of middle school.
But.
This was not magic.
What was it?
It was the support he had been waiting fifteen years too late for!
Afterward, he had continued exploring it.
He had roughly figured out some of its rules.
This Drifting Bottle could be fished once a day, with random items. From Snow Maiden's socks to Gao Jianli's Water Cold Sword, he had opened items from all sorts of worlds.
Though none of them had been anything truly good.
Still, based on that feeling inside him, this ability seemed capable of evolving over time. After evolving, the odds of obtaining good things would rise considerably. And now, after his final year of middle school, three years of high school, and four years through college to this day, he had finally evolved it.
Tonight was the first fishing attempt after its evolution.
He could not help feeling nervous.
If it still produced junk, he could comfortably go cling to Zhao Xin for support. With the deep friendship they had built over the years, it should not be a problem.
Besides, while Zhao Xin was somewhat lacking and only a second-generation Super Soldier, that was still power beyond humanity. And with his future Angel wife... yeah, that thigh was actually pretty thick too.
But even so, his life and death would probably be difficult to keep in his own hands in the future.
With mixed emotions.
Han Fei pulled out the cork.
A flash of light shot out and landed in his palm.
It was a black... chip, around half a palm wide and a finger thick.
"A chip? Doesn't quite look like one. It's a little too large. And what world is this thing from?"
Han Fei stroked his chin as he studied the chip, then glanced at the laptop he had bought not long ago.
After thinking it over, he brought it to the side, preparing to take the laptop apart and install it for a test.
But.
The moment he placed it beside the laptop.
The chip actually split apart at its corners like something out of a sci-fi movie, moving on its own, making contact, then turning into black water and merging into the laptop.
The laptop flickered with black light.
The screen lit up.
It booted directly.
"Black Star 1 greets you, Master."
A somewhat distorted voice came from the speakers.
Han Fei pursed his lips. "Artificial Intelligence?"
"By the conventional definition of this world, yes."
"Why do you call me Master?"
"The first command in my underlying logic is: you are Master, and I shall obey all your commands."
Han Fei fell thoughtful.
"Do you know how you were created?"
"I know... bzzz... data missing..."
"As expected."
Han Fei nodded. He could more or less confirm it now. Its recognition of him as Master and its inability to access prior data were probably due to the Drifting Bottle.
That was also the only reliable explanation at present.
Thinking of something, Han Fei asked eagerly, "As an Artificial Intelligence, what can you do?"
"Based on a comparative analysis of this laptop's technological level and built-in information, I can reasonably make use of everything on the internet. If you wish, you can become a god of the online world."
"..."
Yet upon hearing that, Han Fei's expression instead darkened slightly. "Black Star 1, you haven't connected to any local network, have you?"
"You have not yet authorized that action, Master."
Han Fei breathed a sigh of relief.
Though so much time had passed and he had forgotten many details about Super Seminary, he still remembered the broad strokes, such as Deno Three.
Although Deno Three had been beaten up in succession by Demons and Angels in the original work.
It was still alien technology, and its technological level was not low. He was not sure whether his Artificial Intelligence could handle it. He could not alert the enemy.
"Listen to me. On this planet, there is..."
"...so don't act rashly."
"Based on Master's description and analysis, there is a fifty percent probability that this intelligence is of the same level as me. However, my current base hardware is insufficient. I recommend that Master purchase more powerful servers to enhance my capabilities. In the short term, please continue keeping a low profile."
Black Star offered its suggestion.
Han Fei nodded. Naturally. Things were finally starting to look up; he could not get reckless.
"Then, without alerting them, do you have a way for me to acquire a certain amount of money without arousing suspicion?"
Han Fei asked the crucial question.
Money.
Before order collapsed, human society was driven by money.
Without money, it could basically be said that nothing could be done.
And he could not simply use hacker methods to get money, either. After all, there was a charge called possessing funds from an unidentified source.
Then.
Data continuously flashed across Black Star's screen.
In just ten seconds.
It stopped.
"According to data calculations, the following industries possess investment value. Additionally, several small-loan websites have already been targeted by this world's cyber police and are expected to be shut down within a week. I recommend that Master seize this opportunity to fleece them."
"..."
He did not dwell on the phrase "fleece them."
"Will my personal information be leaked?"
The moment Han Fei said that, he knocked himself on the head, inwardly cursing his own stupidity.
Sure enough.
"Just before the operation closes in, all data will be deleted."
That was Black Star's answer.
"Very good."
At that moment, Han Fei felt that perhaps he did not necessarily have to cling to someone else for support.
He would become the thickest thigh himself!
After clarifying everything, Han Fei picked up the bottle.
That strange feeling returned.
Then, instead of throwing it back into the bathtub, he filled a washbasin with water and placed it inside.
Before Han Fei's eyes, the bottle slowly vanished.
Once it had disappeared completely.
He took a deep breath.
Han Fei put his hand into the water.
Just as always.
Stirring.
In and out.
A pull.
A bottle appeared out of thin air in his hand as he pulled it out.
"Hahaha."
Han Fei could not help laughing aloud.
Sure enough.
His feeling had been right.
Just now, he had sensed that aside from the bathtub, it seemed he could fish once more from the washbasin.
Just as expected.
It worked.
After the ability evolved, it truly was extraordinary.
Not only could he fish bottles from a larger area of water, but he could also get an additional attempt from a smaller area.
That made the odds of fishing up something good even greater.
Smiling, he opened the cork.
A flash of light passed.
A syringe of reagent with a label attached appeared.
His eyes swept over it.
His brows rose.
His mouth fell open.
"Brother Fei, what happened just now?"
!
He shut his mouth again.
He took a deep breath.
"Nothing. I was just looking at the laptop."
Before you continue