Chapter 165

Pardofelis said bluntly, then patted the Armed Doll's head, "It's strange, it seems like the difference between your personality and Number One's has become quite obvious. Is it just my imagination?"

"Even the same consciousness will develop differently after experiencing different things, which is reasonable."

Prometheus One's voice came from the side, "From a human perspective, Number Two can be said to have died once. Having experienced such an ordeal, it's reasonable that he would become somewhat composed."

After saying that, she sighed again, "It's a pity. I thought I had found a new playmate, but in the end I can only play games with myself online."

"Armed Doll have limited processing power, so they should be used with even greater caution,"

Number Two said in a serious tone, "On the contrary, Number One, you spend far too much computing power on games. Wouldn't it be better to allocate some of that to more meaningful areas?"

"Since Doctor Ai Yue did not interfere with my actions, it proves that my actions were reasonable."

Prometheus One responded, "Moreover, Doctor Ai Yue also has plans for the entertainment industry. I am absorbing human experience and wisdom to lay the foundation for future plans."

"The two of them started arguing instead, which felt quite strange."

Pardofelis slid up to Ai Yue on her chair and asked, "Brother Yue, wouldn't you say this counts as arguing with yourself?"

"It's not like that now, but it's hard to say what will happen in the future. I always have a feeling that Rose will one day create countless clones and a mechanical race named after herself."

Ai Yue shook his head helplessly, "But since they have no objections, let's just let things take their natural course."

"An entire race called Prometheus? That sounds a bit hard to imagine,"

Pardofelis didn't dwell on this matter, but instead noticed something else. "Wait, didn't Sister Snake and Sister Niya come back together?"

Although initially only the two of them and an Armed Doll were using the Teleportation Gate, Pardofelis didn't pay much attention, assuming there was something else that needed to be dealt with. It wasn't until now, when the two hadn't returned, that the girl realized things might not be as they seemed.

"They probably won't be coming over anytime soon,"

Ai Yue shrugged, looking somewhat puzzled. "Aponia went back to the academy. As for Mobius, she said she has a new project to work on... It's quite strange, what project could possibly compare to the Stigmata Project?"

Although it was a bit strange, Ai Yue didn't stop the two of them. After all, they both played a pivotal role in their respective fields, so there was no need for them to stay here indefinitely.

In any case, there is no need to continue experimenting with the Stigmata Project for the time being; we just need to collect Mobius's data every now and then.

"I see,"

Hearing this, Pardofelis tried her best to appear calm, but the slight upturn of her lips and the swaying tail behind her betrayed her. "So, it seems like it'll just be the two of us staying at the base for the time being?"

"Yes, that's how it is for now."

Ai Yue nodded, seemingly misunderstanding Pardofelis's meaning, "But if you're bored, you can go play with Desdrobia and Cosmo, since their camps aren't far apart anyway."

"No need,"

Pardofelis's expression changed immediately upon hearing this. She bumped her head against Ai Yue, then slid away on her chair, yelling, "Brother Yue, you big idiot!"

What's wrong with this guy now?

Ai Yue scratched his head, but didn't pay much attention to it. After all, compared to other things, there was something more worthy of his attention to solve.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue rushed towards the laboratory without hesitation. "Number One, is everything I need ready?"

"They have all been placed in the laboratory you designated."

Although still arguing with the Armed Doll, Prometheus One I promptly responded to Ai Yue's question, "I have also prepared additional equipment for you to meet any other needs you may have."

Thanks.

Ai Yue nodded. "Number Two, come and give me a hand."

Without Mobius's help, he could only make do with Armed Doll.

"They're here."

The Armed Doll agreed, then gave the camera in the corner a very human-like expression, which even Prometheus One could easily understand. The expression meant, "Can you do it?"

The camera kept tracking Number Two's movements until she disappeared from the detection range, then stopped. Prometheus One's voice echoed in the hall, "Queen, lend me a production line."

"No."

Queen's voice was very calm, even somewhat cold. "I've already trusted you, but you clearly don't have the ability to design a body that can move normally, sister. I haven't even reported the losses from last time to Doctor Ai Yue yet."

"Trust me one more time, just one more time, sister."

Prometheus One said, "This time is different, I'm sure I can succeed."

"What's the reason?"

Queen paused for a moment before speaking, "Where does your confidence come from?"

Prometheus suddenly projected his virtual image, making a smug expression. "Because this time, I found technical support."

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Who dares to disturb my experiment? I will end his life.

Ai Yue naturally had no idea what secret plan Prometheus was plotting behind his back, but even if he did know, he probably wouldn't choose to stop it; instead, he would show a gratified smile.

For AI, "creation" is almost impossible. Everything they can do is basically based on things that have already been created. They may be able to fill in the gaps, extract the key points, and reconstruct the model, but to create or innovate is as difficult as climbing to the sky.

Even though Prometheus is a super Artificial Intelligence developed by Ai Yue through the system, and is fundamentally vastly different from ordinary Artificial Intelligence, it merely turns "something almost impossible" into "something very difficult to do".

If Prometheus One can truly demonstrate some kind of creativity beyond Artificial Intelligence in this matter, then Ai Yue wouldn't mind the series of problems it causes.

However, Ai Yue was still focused on studying the unknown energy sample he had brought down from the moon. He opened the container made of third-generation Soul Steel, carefully took out the crystal inside, and put it into the testing equipment.

Almost instantly, the monitoring equipment emitted a sharp alarm, and the danger index displayed quickly turned blood red, indicating "extreme danger".

With the high-precision equipment in his laboratory, more detailed data about the unknown energy samples gradually came to Ai Yue's attention.

"I see."

A smile gradually appeared on Ai Yue's face. "It seems that my previous guess was correct. The energy contained within, even after decay, is still closer to a certain 'origin' than Honkai Energy..."

Although the radiation data shows many differences between this unknown energy and Honkai Energy, a more detailed analysis of the data reveals that, in some aspects, this unknown energy is actually quite similar to Honkai Energy.

This means that the unknown energy is very likely to come from the same source as Honkai Energy. However, unlike Honkai Energy, this unknown energy is of a higher "level". Therefore, even after undergoing severe decay, it is still more lethal than Honkai Energy.

More importantly, it does not have the strange corrosiveness of Honkai Energy —at least Ai Yue has not found it yet.

Combined with the Will Fragment of ??? Ai Yue extracted from Honkai Energy, this seems to further confirm his initial speculation.

The corrosive power of Honkai Energy is not indelible—or rather, this corrosive power should not be a characteristic of any energy form.

If Ai Yue can truly unravel the mystery of the unknown energy, he might have the opportunity to restore Honkai Energy back to a pure energy form, which could even become a trump card in the fight against the Herrscher of the End.

Of course, these are all issues that need to be considered after success has been achieved.

Ai Yue collected his thoughts and refocused on the project at hand—the energy sample was not something that could be used indefinitely once it was started. Once stimulated by the outside world, its internal energy might quickly dissipate. Therefore, Ai Yue had to race against time.

While on the moon, he had dispatched a swarm of drones to conduct a large-scale search. However, although he found several other similar craters, he did not find any other energy samples. Now, all he can use are the few he has.

Even if he didn't achieve any results after using up all the resources, he could at least rely on the system for a safety net, but Ai Yue naturally didn't want that to happen. Therefore, he had to complete the project as much as possible within the limited time.

When necessary, we may also take some extraordinary measures.

As he watched the crystal emit a faint glow due to the stimulation of the testing equipment, Ai Yue couldn't help but stroke his chin.

Where should we start next?

Just as Ai Yue was working on the energy sample preparation plan, a special ringtone interrupted his thoughts.

This was a special call from the Moth to Fire. This communication channel ensured that Ai Yue could be contacted under any circumstances, thus preventing Ai Yue from missing any problems that ordinary people could not handle. He only granted this permission to three people in total.

After Ai Yue answered the call, Dr. Mei's slightly anxious voice came from the other end. "Ai Yue, have you returned to Earth?"

Clearly, Ai Yue had reported to Dr. Mei about going to the moon, but forgot to mention returning to Earth.

"I'm back, and I'm in Australia now."

Ai Yue didn't waste any words, "What's wrong?"

"The Sea of Quantum project has run into problems. The Teleportation Gate is malfunctioning, and I can no longer contact the project members."

Dr. Mei sounded very anxious, but she still calmly explained the current situation, "Five minutes ago, I received the last data report, and then there was no further news."

"Send me the data reports—not just this one, but all the data from the beginning of the project until now."

Ai Yue didn't hesitate and asked directly, "What's the situation in Atra City? How many people have been affected?"

"Transmission in progress. Currently, only all members responsible for the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate project, a total of 24 people, are affected."

Dr. Mei responded, "I cut off all communication between the entire project and the outside world as soon as I discovered the anomaly. According to reports from the members of the Moth to Fire branch, Atra City is relatively calm for the time being."

"A very rational choice, perhaps a little too rational."

Ai Yue shook his head slightly, already used to Dr. Mei's style. "Leave the rest to me. Just wait for news."

"I see."

Dr. Mei did not reject Ai Yue's suggestion because reason told her that it was the best solution. The reason she sought Ai Yue's help first was because she knew very well that Ai Yue's understanding of the Sea of Quantum was stronger than hers.

However, she still added, "Do you need someone to assist you?"

"No need. The Sea of Quantum is not a place where you can gain an advantage simply by having more people."

Ai Yue shook his head. "I received the data packet. Wait for my message."

After saying this, he turned off the communication, then stood up and looked at the energy sample on the table with some reluctance.

Unfortunately, it seems we'll have to lose some time. Hopefully, it won't affect the final result.

A thought flashed through Ai Yue's mind, and he shook his head before walking out of the laboratory.

However, he did not leave the Star of Light experimental base, but instead headed towards another laboratory that was tightly sealed off.

He also has a Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate.

If the Teleportation Gate here is still functioning properly, it means that at least the problem isn't with the Sea of Quantum itself.

But if it's another situation, then things will get complicated.

Chapter 40: The Sea of Quantum has so much water!

Since his last attempt to dive into the Sea of Quantum resulted in encountering Seele, who theoretically shouldn't be there at this time, Ai Yue sealed off the laboratory containing the miniature Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate and never used it again.

This wasn't because the Sea of Quantum was too dangerous; it was simply that for Ai Yue at the time, spending too much energy in the Sea of Quantum was a very low-cost-effective approach. Therefore, after pointing out the technological aspect of Quantum Leap, he temporarily put the matter aside.

In addition, a series of events followed, and now he has a backlog of projects. Compared to these, the priority of the Sea of Quantum is obviously lower.

However, Ai Yue knew very well that if he had enough knowledge, he could try to fight against the Honkai by using the power of the Sea of Quantum. However, this behavior was obviously very dangerous. If he tried it rashly before he had enough ability, he would likely end up burning himself.

However, despite saying that, Ai Yue did not give up on the idea. After all, compared to the Imaginary Tree, the Sea of Quantum seemed more real. Moreover, according to his memory, the Sea of Quantum also played a very important role in the plot.

Therefore, if Ai Yue were given the choice between the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quantum to study, he would definitely choose the Sea of Quantum first.

Moreover, Seele...

Thinking of that lonely figure, Ai Yue couldn't help but frown.

Although he did convince himself with some reasonable arguments at the time, Ai Yue still felt uneasy about it. After all, Seele was a person who would theoretically be born in a civilization 50,000 years from now. Even if there was no concept of time in the Sea of Quantum, he himself had this concept. Could two people in different points in time really meet?

If this is not normal, is it a problem with the Sea of Quantum, or with Seele's special constitution, or... is it a problem with him?

"System startup in progress."

Just as he was pondering this, the device in front of him emitted a mechanical prompt: "Cold start requires five minutes of initialization time, please wait patiently."

Ai Yue blinked, still a little unaccustomed to it. After all, Prometheus was usually the one responsible for conveying this information, and her voice wasn't so stiff.

Well, I might as well take this time to review the data that Dr. Mei sent me.

Ai Yue collected his chaotic thoughts, then tapped his glasses and projected the data he had just received.

Although the data collected by the Abyssal Eye project has reached an astonishing level over this period, the data that Dr. Mei handed to Ai Yue was well-organized and even pleasing to the eye.

Thanks to the data organization, Ai Yue encountered no obstacles while browsing, and the whole process was very quick.

Unfortunately, the data showed nothing unusual, even in the last data report that Dr. Mei received. Everything was just like any other day, with no indication that the project team would fall into silence.

So, it must be a sudden incident?

Ai Yue repeatedly browsed the data report, trying to find some clues to confirm the cause of the disaster, but the data in front of him was impeccable, which made Ai Yue even more uneasy.

Exploring the Sea of Quantum is extremely risky, second only to confronting the Herrscher. Even though Dr. Mei's strategy has always been to rely on probe robots to go in and collect valuable information, it will still attract attacks from the Quantum Shade. The damage or loss caused by these Quantum Shade is unpredictable. However, in the data report, Ai Yue could not find any trace of being affected by them.

Although he had heard that Dr. Mei had indeed arranged for a group of trustworthy people to be in charge of guarding the Abyssal Eye project after she had a sufficient number of Fused Warrior, it was impossible that there would be no impact at all.

Was it a deliberate concealment during the project, or was there another reason?

Initialization complete.

Just as Ai Yue was pondering, the device issued a new prompt: "Activate the Sea of Quantum Teleportation Gate now?"