Honkai Impact 3rd: Saving the Pre-Civilization Through Hand-Crafted Black Tech

Don't mistake me for one of those ordinary scholars.

After leaving Elysia's dorm, Ai Yue deliberately lingered by Kevin's dorm entrance. Unfortunately, the Moth to Fire's buildings were too well-constructed, their soundproofing so effective that he couldn't hear anything, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

But no matter what, he'd solved a small problem today and gained an unexpected bonus, which couldn't help but bring a smug smile to Ai Yue's face.

This kind of unplanned surprise even made Ai Yue hum a tune involuntarily. It wasn't music from this era, though, but a little song from his past life.

It's so late anyway, no one should mind...

"Hello, excuse me?"

Just as Ai Yue had this thought, an elegant female voice entered his ears: "Excuse me, where is this melody from?"

Ai Yue turned his head and saw a figure emerging from the darkness beside him.

"Uh, this is..." Ai Yue was about to casually invent a name to fool the person, but then he saw the speaker walk into the light. "Wait, are you Eden?"

Although he couldn't tell from her voice, based on her appearance, Ai Yue recognized her.

"I didn't expect anyone to recognize me," Eden, a former top star, didn't put on airs. She simply smiled gently, then her gaze focused on Ai Yue. "Oh, this outfit..."

Then, she revealed a knowing smile. "It seems we have a mutual friend."

Chapter 42: Prometheus, Addicted to Surfing the Web

"Did you design this outfit?"

After a brief exchange, Ai Yue couldn't help but show surprise. "Elysia said she found a very skilled friend to help, I really didn't expect it to be such a skilled friend."

Speaking of which, they already knew each other at this time?

"Fashion design is just a little personal hobby of mine; I can't really claim to be skilled in it," Eden maintained her faint smile. "However, if I had known what Dr. Ai Yue looked like back then, I might not have designed a peaked lapel and would have used a round collar instead."

"I think it looks great as is." Ai Yue truly knew nothing about fashion design, but he could tell that the suit he was wearing had been carefully designed. "By the way, Miss Eden, were you curious about the tune I was humming just now?"

Although Eden was currently a globally renowned superstar, she would later join Moth to Fire and even become a Fused Warrior. Ai Yue had considered how to approach her, perhaps starting with music, but he never expected to run into her so coincidentally tonight.

Come to think of it, have I been unusually lucky today?

"Yes, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I consider myself knowledgeable about music, yet the melody you were humming was beyond my understanding." Returning to her professional field, Eden's interest clearly heightened. "Dr. Ai Yue, where did you hear it? Or is it perhaps your own improvisation?"

Perhaps due to the threat of the Honkai, entertainment in this world wasn't as prosperous as in Ai Yue's previous life, and the overall style was still quite old-fashioned. As someone who lived in an era of popular music, the songs Ai Yue hummed were naturally completely different from the mainstream of this world.

And Eden, as a top star, was also more familiar with and skilled in classical styles, which was why she was so interested in the melody Ai Yue was humming.

"Just a little something to relax with, I don't really study it," Ai Yue couldn't possibly say he learned it in his past life, so he shamelessly took all the credit. "I was just humming it for fun."

"That shows Dr. Ai Yue has a great talent for it." Eden smiled and nodded, not questioning Ai Yue's explanation. "If it's not too much trouble, could you hum it again for me? I'd like to record it; it might become a new source of inspiration."

Although humming a song specifically for someone else was a bit embarrassing, it was a good way to get closer to her, so Ai Yue naturally wouldn't refuse.

After this small interlude, he finally returned to his laboratory.

"Welcome back, Dr. Ai Yue."

As soon as Ai Yue opened the door, the laboratory lights automatically turned on, and accompanied by a dispassionate mechanical female voice, a girl's image appeared from the projector.

The projection showed a girl with a difficult-to-achieve hairstyle of twin drills for pigtails. Her joints had obvious spherical mechanism designs, clearly indicating her nature as an artificial doll.

The Artificial Intelligence "Prometheus," this was the project Ai Yue was currently handling.

"Rose, how was your learning today?" Ai Yue changed his shoes and walked upstairs, preparing to change out of his clothes. "Did you grasp everything I assigned you?"

"I have fully mastered it, Doctor." The girl in the projection moved her head in sync with Ai Yue's movements, keeping her gaze fixed on him as if simulating a real human. "Compared to my capabilities, the tasks you assigned me are nothing. According to my calculations, even if I had to handle ten times the workload in a day, it would still be more than enough."

"I know your abilities, of course, but learning can't be rushed." Ai Yue came down from upstairs. "Firstly, you are still in your nascent stage. If you absorb too much from the outside world at once, it's easy to make wrong judgments and go astray. With your abilities, if you were to go astray, it would be a huge problem for all of human civilization."

"Indeed." Prometheus nodded confidently. "If I were to go all out now, before my systems overload, I am confident I could paralyze ninety-five percent of the world's networks, causing immense disruption to systems like communication, power grids, transportation, healthcare, and education. I could even control some weapons and turn them against humanity itself."

"So you understand my intentions." Ai Yue came to the supercomputer and stated plainly, "I must ensure your stance always remains on the side of human civilization, and that you don't decide to destroy humanity after encountering a large amount of malice and chaos."

"Is that why you limit my internet access time every day, Dr. Ai Yue?" Prometheus nodded, a thinking emoji popping up above her head. "But you could completely use underlying logic to restrict my behavior, couldn't you? Like the 'Three Laws of Robotics' you mentioned before."

"The Three Laws of Robotics might regulate the behavior of ordinary AIs, but they absolutely cannot restrain an electronic life that has truly gained self-awareness." Ai Yue said, "And this is my expectation for you. So I will educate you like a parent raising a child. Before that, setting too many restrictions will only further slow down your growth."

While stating these high-sounding reasons, Ai Yue felt a little guilty. He couldn't exactly say that the technology he was using was far beyond this era. As soon as Prometheus experienced a technological singularity, she would completely break free from the constraints of underlying logic, so for now, he could only appeal to emotions.

Of course, countermeasures were already being researched, and he just hoped they wouldn't be needed.

"Dr. Ai Yue's expectations for me have been received." Prometheus nodded, shifting her gaze elsewhere. "So, can we start today's 'internet surfing time'?"

Just like most parents' methods of educating their children, Ai Yue had strict rules for Prometheus's internet time, only ten minutes a day.

Of course, for a supercomputer with extremely high bandwidth, ten minutes was actually quite a long time.

"No problem." Ai Yue walked to where Prometheus's gaze was focused and reconnected the network cable to the port. "But as usual, don't let anyone discover your existence."

Currently, besides Vill-V, no third person knew about Prometheus's birth.

"Oh, right, Vill-V will come to see you tomorrow." Ai Yue suddenly remembered something. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"Looking forward to, meaning to expect, to anticipate, to admire, to yearn for, and also to have expectations or anticipation for someone." Prometheus's display screen was already rapidly scrolling through the web pages she was browsing, but she could still fluently answer Ai Yue's question. "I suppose I am indeed looking forward to tomorrow arriving sooner, but only if this ten minutes doesn't get shortened."

Like all human children, Prometheus found it hard to resist the allure of surfing the internet.

Chapter 43: Some are happy to be dads, others are still pure virgins

The next morning, Ai Yue was woken up by a series of door-slamming sounds.

"You're awake, Doctor Ai Yue."

Prometheus's voice was the first thing that reached Ai Yue's ears. "Doctor Vill-V has been waiting for you outside the door for one minute and fourteen point two one seconds. Based on her current emotional state and predictive behavioral logic model, if you don't open the door for her within fifteen point seven nine seconds, she'll choose to break it down."

"Coming!" Amidst Prometheus's calm statement, Ai Yue had already finished dressing and other actions. "Don't smash it, or the door will be ruined if you do!"

"Why aren't you up yet?" When the door opened, Vill-V was there, looking impatient. "I got up early just so I could see Prometheus sooner. Do you know how long it takes to get here from Asia!"

"You came from Asia?" Ai Yue rubbed his eyes. "What, have the shelters been built all the way there already?"

"A big shot up there hired me with a hefty sum to design a shelter specifically for him," Vill-V said as she squeezed through the door. "He's paying very generously, and I'm short on funds right now, so it was a perfect match."

"How are you short on money again..." Ai Yue shook his head. "It feels like you're either demanding funds or on your way to demand funds?"

"A genius's creations always require costs!" Vill-V retorted. "Prometheus? Come out and let me see you!"

"I'm here, Doctor Vill-V," Prometheus appeared as a projection. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, this is great!" Vill-V observed Prometheus's projection closely. "You really are my child!"

"Don't get too carried away," Ai Yue said, walking up from behind. "It was mainly thanks to me that Rose was born successfully. You didn't do anything except provide the supercomputer."

"You can't say that," Vill-V shook her head. "The supercomputer is the foundation for Artificial Intelligence to grow rapidly. Without such hardware, what good is it if you can create Rose? Are you going to make Rose use those old, broken computers you had before?"

"I believe Doctor Vill-V's words are quite reasonable," Prometheus nodded. "If I hadn't relied on the supercomputer as the basis for my calculations, my abilities would have been greatly diminished. Therefore, without the efforts of either of you, Prometheus could not have been born into this world in my current state."

"If we go by Doctor Ai Yue's words, then you two doctors are my parents."

"Mhm, that's a great way to put it," Vill-V nodded, smiling happily. "So, Rose, you don't need to call me Doctor anymore. Just call me 'Mommy Vill-V'!"

"Okay, Mommy Vill-V," Prometheus readily agreed. "Doctor Ai Yue, should I also change my address for you to the corresponding 'Daddy Ai Yue'?"

"No, not for now," Ai Yue's expression was peculiar. "Putting aside the fact that it feels like I'm taking advantage, if you call me that, it'll just make me feel like a creepy father who uses his daughter as free labor."

"Understood, I'll maintain the original address for now," Prometheus nodded, then looked at Vill-V. "Mommy Vill-V, what brings you here today?"

"Ah, I almost forgot!" Vill-V only then remembered something and quickly walked towards the door. "Ai Yue, come help!"

A moment later, the two of them carried a large box in from outside.

"What's this?" Ai Yue put down the box. "Don't tell me this is your luggage and you're moving in with me?"

"What are you thinking? Spiral Workshop is my home," Vill-V shot him a look, then opened the box, revealing various carefully packaged electronic equipment. "This is an upgrade kit for the supercomputer. I'm here to give Rose a hardware upgrade."

"Thank you, Mommy Vill-V," Prometheus said obediently.

"Don't mention it," Vill-V waved her hand dismissively. "When you become really powerful, you can help Mommy steal money from those big shots' accounts..."

Before Vill-V could finish speaking, Ai Yue quickly covered her mouth. "Don't teach the child such nonsense!"

As an Artificial Intelligence, Prometheus's education had always been a concern for Ai Yue. If she were to be led astray by Vill-V, a self-taught, unconventional genius, it would be truly troublesome.

Prometheus blinked, saying nothing.

However, a thinking emoji appeared above her head, clearly indicating she had taken Vill-V's words to heart.

Mommy Vill-V wants money from the big shots' accounts.

"Alright," about half an hour later, Vill-V finally completed Prometheus's hardware upgrade. "How does it feel, Rose?"

As the supercomputer was restarted, Prometheus's figure reappeared in the room. She closed her eyes, her drill-like twin tails behind her head seeming to be blown by an invisible current, soaring towards the sky. "I have restarted. I feel good. Current processing power increased by 5%, calculation speed increased by 12%, overload redundancy increased by 10%, memory storage space expanded by 20%. Comprehensive capabilities improved by 16%."

"16%? That much?" Vill-V stroked her chin. "Strange, according to my plan, this upgrade should only have resulted in about a 10% increase."

"It's because Doctor Ai Yue optimized my algorithms, allowing me to maximize the hardware's performance," Prometheus said. "Please don't measure me by the standards for ordinary Artificial Intelligence, Mommy Vill-V."

"Heh heh, feeling proud, are we?" Vill-V smiled. "In that case, I need to step up my game too. I'll bring even stronger upgrade hardware next time I visit!"

With that, Vill-V, carrying the empty box, left without looking back.

"She really is decisive," Ai Yue shook his head, refocusing his attention on Prometheus. "Alright Rose, run another self-diagnostic."

"Understood. Commencing self-diagnostic," Prometheus's eyes flashed with a stream of data, then she closed her eyes, her two drills flying again. "Primary detection target?"

"The new hardware your Mommy Vill-V installed for you," Ai Yue shrugged and sat down in a chair. "I don't believe she didn't prepare any loopholes or backdoors. She's a repeat offender."

Knowing Vill-V's personality, Ai Yue would never allow her to leave anything that could cause hidden dangers in Prometheus. He could only feel slightly at ease if he had complete control over something like super Artificial Intelligence, which was beyond the current limits of human technology.

Sigh, this is the burden a savior must bear.

"Anomaly detected," Prometheus opened her eyes, her pupils turning a deeper shade of red. "Shall I eliminate it?"

"Eliminate it. Although she definitely won't give up," Ai Yue shook his head and picked up a tool nearby. "It's a good opportunity to use it as a way to stimulate her to get stronger."

Just then, Ai Yue suddenly picked up his phone.

A new message from "Doctor Mei" was displayed.

"Mr. Ai Yue, please come to my office immediately upon receiving this message. I have something important to discuss."

"What time is it?" Ai Yue glanced at his watch and couldn't help but shake his head. "Kevin, you didn't do anything last night, did you?"

Chapter 44: Work Found

After surviving an assassination attempt, Doctor Mei found an excuse to establish her office underground. Her current workplace was very discreet, requiring a specific guide to reach.

The one who came to guide Ai Yue was Kevin.

"Please follow me."

Ai Yue arrived at the agreed-upon location and, upon seeing Kevin, was immediately led forward by him.

"Wait a moment."

Ai Yue interrupted Kevin's movement and stood very close to him, beginning to observe his condition carefully. Only when Kevin started to feel a prickling sensation all over his body did Ai Yue speak again, "You two didn't just hold each other and sleep when you went back last night, did you?"

"Huh?" Kevin blinked in surprise, then awkwardly turned his head away. "What are you talking about, Doctor Ai Yue? Y-yesterday..."

Ai Yue remained silent, watching him with a cold expression that clearly conveyed, I'm waiting to see how you'll spin this.

"Alright, you're right." Kevin finally sighed. "Yesterday, indeed... cough, nothing happened. Of course, even so, I'm already very satisfied. Thank you."

Even just falling asleep holding his lover was once an unattainable dream for Kevin. Now, he could once again feel Mei's warmth. What was there to complain about if things stopped there?

"That doesn't make sense?" Ai Yue scratched his head in frustration. "Seriously, man, you could just put up with that?"

In Ai Yue's imagination, two lovers who had been lonely for so long, only able to watch over each other from a distance, would finally overcome the last obstacle, embrace each other, and then it would be like dry wood meeting a spark, leading to that.

If you can endure that, then you should probably give up your spot as a Buddha to your buddy.

"It's not really a matter of whether I can endure it or not." Kevin scratched his head, realizing there was nothing he needed to hide. He decided to just say it directly. "Why don't we talk as we walk?"

And so, the two headed towards Dr. Mei's office.

"So you're saying that after you two returned to your room, Dr. Mei was contemplating the use of 'Salvation Fire' the entire time?" Ai Yue's expression became subtle upon hearing Kevin's words. "No way, did she really bring work into bed?"

"After all, your invention is quite remarkable. Mei believes it shouldn't just be applicable to me," Kevin said earnestly. "Also, I've found that while my original abilities were weakened during the duration of 'Salvation Fire's' effect, I can also barely utilize the other power that 'Salvation Fire' brings."

"If the two powers conflicted and weakened each other when used on me, then perhaps if it's used on other Fused Warriors, it could allow them to temporarily exert an additional burst of power."

Looking at Kevin's serious expression, Ai Yue hesitated, then sighed.

You two really can't say anything about each other.