Different

Whether as the highest-level artificial intelligence or an intelligent life form, "Ying" is absolutely omnipotent in the network world due to its unique form.

As technology advances to a certain level, it becomes increasingly difficult for all sectors of society, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation, to function without the internet. The same applies to various facilities; machines all need the internet to connect them to each other.

Imagine a neighborhood riddled with surveillance cameras, where dedicated monitors work tirelessly day and night, watching every corner of the street without needing a break.

In this situation, the difficulty for the people involved to organize themselves and plot against the watcher is simply unimaginable.

These people will likely have to abandon all advanced means of communication and resort to the most primitive methods to exchange information. They will also need one or even several entirely new codes, given that this monitor possesses unimaginable computing and retrieval speeds, as well as access to millions of years' worth of data.

With nearly two hundred races and a long history, how much wealth of knowledge have they accumulated in this area? If it is merely a collection of borrowed and pieced-together information, no matter how complex, it probably cannot escape the notice of this watcher.

To surpass the wisdom of the ancestors of these hundred races and create a completely new system—just thinking about the difficulty is enough to make one want to give up. However, it seems that there are still many capable people in the Star Sea Alliance. They must have these things to ensure that they can communicate without being detected by "Luminous".

The fact that this organization has survived to this day suggests that its personnel structure and security measures are extremely complex, and it would be impossible to contact them without a guide.

So far, Rowan has infiltrated quite a few of his own people into the Star Sea Alliance, but he hasn't discovered how.

Strictly speaking, Rowan did have a lead that allowed him to contact these guys. During Cecil's conversation with Humins, Cecil had revealed some of his attitudes toward the Swarm in his words and actions.

Others might not see anything wrong with it, but Rowan, as the person involved, immediately realized it. Even if Cecil wasn't one of those guys, he must have had contact with some of them.

At the time, Rowan was unaware of the existence of "Fire," but simply felt that if he could uncover the organization's secrets and intentions and obtain more information, he could then make targeted strategic deployments.

However, at that time, Humins and Cecil had just established a cooperative relationship, and they were still in a state of not knowing each other well enough to talk too much. If they rashly made some demands, they would probably not only fail to achieve their goals, but also cause unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, Humins did not mention this to Cecil at the time. Rowan originally planned to slowly cultivate this network of relationships, but plans could not keep up with changes. After Cecil ended the call, he was probably delivered a package by "Fire".

"Firefly" will definitely take advantage of Cecil's exposure, and probably has already extracted everything it should and shouldn't know through the constant restarts of the virtual world.

While it seems that Humins escaped Humins precisely because he didn't say much, the situation of those truly behind the scenes is uncertain.

If not handled properly, "Ying's" special abilities could indeed wipe them all out. Thinking about it this way, whether those organizations even exist now is another matter. Even if they do exist, they must have suffered heavy losses, and the survivors are probably just like quails, hiding in the shadows and silently licking their wounds.

In this way, it will be even more difficult for Rowan to contact them.

He hadn't figured out a solution yet, but the situation on the other side forced him to make a choice. This was precisely why Sarah had seen Rowan struggling with his decision earlier.

"My Overlord, are you worried that if we repel the Star Sea Alliance's attack, it will attract even more attention?" Sarah asked after watching the Intellect's memories and listening to Rowan's account.

Upon hearing Sarah's words, Rowan suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Yes, he realized why "Luminous" hadn't wiped out the Swarm in Swarm initial stages.

Compared to the ubiquitous surveillance cameras, the number of foreign races is greater, and compared to the isolated "Ying," each member of the foreign race has independent thoughts and consciousness.

An increase in the number of independent individuals increases the probability of accidents, and "Ying" is unknown for some reason, perhaps due to some constraint or some problem of its own.

But for whatever reason, it cannot be exposed at this time, meaning it cannot cause any accidents. Although "Firefly" can use Nano-robot to erode those accidents and then send them to play in the mud in the virtual world, this method cannot actually be used on a large scale.

First, the way "Ying" converts into "one of their own" is not as convenient as Rowan's. Although the Intellect are part of Rowan, each of them has independent consciousness, is capable of thinking, and possesses creativity, provided Rowan allows it.

Therefore, as the number of Intellect increases and their functions cover all aspects, as long as Rowan sets the general direction, the Intellect can handle most things well. This allows Rowan to often be a hands-off manager.

However, "Ying" is different. In "Ying's" camp, it is actually the only one with intelligence and the ability to think. No matter how many "own people" it develops, it only controls its own sub-threads. This means that "Ying" has to do everything itself.

Intelligent beings differ from mechanical units. Mechanical units are governed by their codes, resulting in a standardized and homogenous nature. Intelligent beings, on the other hand, possess complex emotions, giving each of them a unique personality. Furthermore, their group dynamics lead to complex interpersonal relationships, and managing these relationships, depending on their individual personalities, can generate a multitude of issues. All of this contributes to an increase in computational demands.

Therefore, the difficulty of simulating the daily behavior of a mechanical unit or an intelligent being is several stories high.

When "Ying" simulates a person, it creates a big data system tailored to that person in the virtual world, and then matches the environment based on the data within it.

The computing power required by this system might be enough for Luminous to control a small fleet of warships. If the number of intelligent beings it simulates and controls is small, it's fine, but once the number increases, even with its unparalleled hardware, Luminous would probably find it difficult to bear the consumption.