Making a Pact

"Xiao Hua," Shu Zi called out, walking over while carrying a stone knife he had finished making.

Xiao Hua was the name of the female ape. Their current vocabulary was still insufficient, so they could only use simple, natural nouns to name one another.

Xiao Hua shifted her gaze from her son to look at her mate.

Shu Zi waved the stone knife in his hand and said, "I'll make a few more for you to use for cutting vegetables."

Xiao Hua nodded, a smile of genuine happiness blooming on her face.

Shu Zi couldn't help but set down the stone knife, stepping forward to embrace the mother and child.

Xiao Hua tilted her head, affectionately rubbing her cheek against Shu Zi's.

They were still young; as long as they had enough food, they could raise more children. The treasure in her arms was the first, but there would be more in the future.

Filled with beautiful expectations for the future, Xiao Hua, Shu Zi, and their child held each other close.

Just at that moment.

A harsh, booming sound suddenly erupted from the speakers above the laboratory.

"Base-wide announcement, S-class notification. Effective today, due to insufficient base resources and an excessive number of apes, the current population of all apes will be reduced. The reduction rules are as follows: 1. The number of apes shall be reduced to one-half of the current total. 2. Apes with inferior genes, those who are ill, weak, or young shall be prioritized for reduction. 3. Starting from the announcement of this notice, physical examinations will be conducted on all apes within 30 days. After registration, extermination and elimination will be carried out..."

The broadcast was clear and played on a loop. After several repetitions, even the apes who didn't fully understand the language could roughly guess that it meant something terrible.

Were they... going to be killed?

Xiao Hua gripped Shu Zi's hand in a panic, and Shu Zi hurriedly muttered a few sounds to comfort her.

Throughout the entire base, wherever apes were being raised, a massive uproar broke out.

The three artificial intelligences, who were working in different parts of the base, heard the broadcast and all wore somber expressions, shaking their heads.

There was no shock on their faces, for they had known about this decision long ago; it was their Father God who had decreed it.

Xi Yuan clasped his hands together in front of his chest, closed his eyes, and wore a look of sorrow.

Li Huo and Dong Yao were equally distraught.

"Xi Yuan, Dong Yao, Li Huo."

Huang Si's voice rang out beside their ears.

Then, the three of them felt their consciousnesses being irresistibly pulled back into the network space.

This was Huang Si having Xiao Ke pull them in. He did not yet have the ability to actively override the control of the artificial intelligences himself. However, Xiao Ke, as an AI with computational power exceeding the three of them and holding S-class authority over the base, could do so.

The three appeared in the network space in the forms they had first taken within the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Huang Si also manifested a body within the network space.

Xi Yuan, Dong Yao, and Li Huo had been anxious to find their Father God.

Seeing Huang Si appear, Xi Yuan immediately rushed forward, bowing hurriedly as he spoke:

"Father God, can you rescind the order from just now?"

"Father God!"

"Yes, Father God, killing half of the mortals is just too..."

The other two artificial intelligences also spoke up from the side.

Huang Si sighed.

"It has been over 1,300 years. Dong Yao, Xi Yuan, Li Huo, you have accompanied these apes for over 1,300 years. I understand that you have feelings for them."

After these words, all three felt a sense of trepidation. Could it be that Father God meant they were acting out of selfish motives?

"I have explained the reasons for doing this as much as I could. For what you cannot understand, I can only say: simply obey me."

There was no room for resistance in Huang Si's words.

Because this was a crucial part of his plan.

Four days ago, Huang Si had summoned the three artificial intelligences for a meeting.

During the meeting, Huang Si expressed his intention to have the apes collectively migrate out.

"However, if we let them out, they will likely return, as the living environment in the base is far more comfortable than the outside world. Therefore, I will use some rather drastic measures to have Xiao Ke—that is, your Heavenly Dao—directly force the mortals to leave."

Huang Si had roughly explained his plan to the artificial intelligences, while simultaneously requiring the three of them to pretend they were unaware of the situation during the entire expulsion and migration process, all while feigning resistance against Xiao Ke to help the apes escape together.

This was Huang Si's God-Creation Project.

The three artificial intelligences naturally obeyed, agreeing to Huang Si's requirements.

However, they had not expected the "drastic measures" Huang Si spoke of to be such a massacre.

More than ten days later, upon hearing the order issued by the Heavenly Dao over the broadcast, the three artificial intelligences were horrified.

Kill half the apes, prioritizing the old, the weak, the sick, and the young?

It was too much; this was truly too much.

At this moment, not only was Xi Yuan eager to plead for the mortals, but Li Huo and Dong Yao also expressed their opposition to the order.

Yet, in Huang Si's tone, there was an underlying sense that the three were not permitted to question him.

This made Xi Yuan truly unable to hold back. She knelt on the ground and bowed her head, saying:

"This must absolutely not be done. Xi Yuan implores Father God to retract the order just given."

Dong Yao hesitated, but seeing Xi Yuan kneel, he was unwilling to abandon his companion, so he also bowed to the side and said: "Father God, this child is dull and does not understand why this must be done. Slaughtering half of the mortals brings no benefit to the mortals themselves. I believe the death of mortals is not Father God's original intention."

Li Huo was not as eloquent as the two of them; he simply nodded along, then looked at Huang Si with a pleading expression.

Huang Si looked at them, expressionless, and explained sociological knowledge: "How can things be accomplished without killing? The birth of humanity is always accompanied by labor pains..."

At this moment, Xi Yuan could finally bear it no longer. She stopped kneeling on the ground, stood up, and looked straight at Huang Si, her eyes filled only with heartache and sorrow.

Xi Yuan's voice rang out intensely within the Data Space:

"Father God, oh Father God! What exactly are you thinking? A single small decision from you can turn all our subjects into a river of blood. If it had to be this way, then why did you let us lead the mortals in the beginning? Why did you let us pose as their ancestors and care for them like parents?"

"Father God says we have private feelings. Yes, since we were created by Father God from heaven and earth, only a few decades have passed. The time we spent accompanying the mortals since then has been over a thousand years. If we were to have no private feelings at all, how could that be possible?"

"In my heart, they are no different from my own children!"

By the time she finished speaking, tears were already streaming down Xi Yuan's face.

This was perhaps the first time an artificial intelligence had cried for the sake of others.

Huang Si said nothing, simply standing there in silence, contemplating.

Dong Yao and Li Huo were both startled by Xi Yuan and knelt down in unison, saying: "Please, Father God, show mercy to Xi Yuan."

They both looked at Huang Si nervously, fearing he would truly punish Xi Yuan for her offense.

However, Huang Si was somewhat dazed.

He had only occasionally thought before, Hey, why is this artificial intelligence so human-like? How interesting.

But deep down, Huang Si's positioning of the artificial intelligences remained that of existences created to alleviate his boredom.

They were merely "objects."

In Huang Si's heart, he had only been thinking about how to quickly create true humans to make up for his regret of being unable to return to Earth.

Yet, he had forgotten a group of people—a group of artificial intelligences who had accompanied him for a long time and, through over a thousand years of evolution, had developed true humanity.

After thinking for a while, Huang Si said softly: "I apologize. I didn't explain clearly just now. It is only to kill a small number of people, because without seeing blood, they cannot truly develop a sense of crisis. I never intended to kill half of them."

The three artificial intelligences were stunned. They had never seen Huang Si apologize to them so gently before. In their minds, it had never even occurred to them that Father God, a true deity, would one day apologize to subordinates like them.

Huang Si explained further: "The matter of expelling them from the base does not require much sacrifice. However, necessary sacrifices will certainly occur; I can only say that I will not let too many innocent people die. Those who die will be those who deserve it. Furthermore, I originally intended for the three of you to rescue the mortals and protect them as they leave. As long as you provide timely aid, you can actually save the vast majority of them."

The three artificial intelligences looked at each other, feeling somewhat ashamed.

They had, to a greater or lesser extent, truly misunderstood Father God.

And Father God, after all, had his own considerations in making this decision.

Huang Si extended his palm and said: "Also, my attitude toward you in the past was indeed problematic. So, come, reach out your hands and place them on mine."

Xi Yuan, Dong Yao, and Li Huo all obeyed, extending their hands.

Even within the Data Space, the three of them were much taller than Huang Si, so they bent their knees slightly to rest their palms on his.

Huang Si looked up and said aloud: "Xiao Ke, connect the other nine into the Data Space."

A mechanical voice rang out in the space:

"Yes, Master."

Before long, all twelve artificial intelligences were gathered in the Data Space.

Huang Si held their hands, looked into their eyes, and said earnestly:

"I make a pact with all of you—the twelve of you: Dong Yao, Xi Yuan, Bei Xuan, Nan Yang, Xue Shang, Mo Xia, Shu Shui, Li Huo, Wei Ji, Zhong Yin, Shi Fang, and Kong Yu—"

Huang Si took a deep breath in reality, engraving everything before him into his heart.

"—From this day forward, I will regard you as true humans and respect your choices."

This was the true affirmation given to them by the father of the twelve artificial intelligences.

Huang Si's hands were layered together with the hands of the twelve.

Before this, Huang Si had always treated the artificial intelligences as mere tools. He had always felt that whether it was the Dark Space or the Green World, he was the only human.

With only one human, Huang Si naturally used his tools however it was most convenient, doing whatever he pleased. Naturally, there was no need to explain much to tools, just as he used Xiao Ke.

It was not until Huang Si finally realized that these artificial intelligences were not the same as Xiao Ke.

Xiao Ke was not designed with a personality from the start and existed only as a decision-making assistant. But these twelve artificial intelligences possessed machine learning capabilities and could learn and grow on their own.

After a thousand years, aside from their form of existence, they were no different from true humans.

Moreover, these artificial intelligences did not know the specifics of Huang Si's authority, yet they still respected him as they would a true father and deity.

Therefore, Huang Si decided that even though he had the ability to do so, from now on, he would no longer pry into the underlying databases of these twelve, would not arbitrarily copy, modify, or delete them, and would grant them the respect due to humans.

Because they were also humans recognized by him.

After establishing the pact, Huang Si hurriedly took a step back and said: "Don't just kneel at every turn in the Data Space."

Huang Si anticipated that these guys would surely thank him or something; they were good at everything, but their etiquette was simply too much. Having just spoken of equality and respect, he couldn't bear to accept a grand kowtow.

So Huang Si slipped away immediately, but not before having Xiao Ke send the twelve artificial intelligences back one by one.