The central computer suddenly received a message.
"A communication signal is connecting?" Qin Su pondered it. He had always maintained extremely sophisticated and meticulous deep-layer disguises over his network traces, and this even consumed part of his computing power. Trying to follow his "footprints" to find him was as difficult as locating him on the physical level.
--Connection Confirmed--
Mei's holographic projection appeared in the center of the hall. As she looked around, she found herself standing amid rippling grassland. She could even see the grass swaying faintly in the breeze and ladybugs fluttering their wings as if ready to take flight. Yet it was winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
"All of this is simulated." A voice suddenly reached her ears.
"Surprised?" Qin Su stood behind Mei.
Mei turned around, looking somewhat startled. She had assumed this place would be filled with dark-toned structures and an unpleasantly eerie atmosphere.
"It truly is... astonishing."
"This is a gift from the Tenth Law-Ruler—a pseudo-Reason Law-Ruler Core. It can construct a few real things, but compared to the First Law-Ruler, it still falls far short." Qin Su held a blue Law-Ruler Core between the fingers of both hands. It was not a real Law-Ruler Core; that was part of the simulation as well.
"So I used it to create slightly 'real' virtual reality. It can simulate people, animals, plants, and backgrounds containing vast amounts of detail." The scene suddenly shifted from the rippling grassland to the snowbound Alps. Even the midday sun was replaced by a sky full of stars and a crescent moon.
"It not only deceives your sight, but also your sense of touch. If someone touches a snowflake, they can feel its texture and sensation. Snowflakes that cannot be touched are illusions fabricated through light."
The scene changed in less than a second. Countless threadlike ripples flashed across everything, and Qin Su's holographic projection flickered in and out.
"Some anomalies still occur because my research into the Core has not been thorough enough." At last, the entire scene stabilized once more.
"I don't know what method you used to establish communication with me," Qin Su said.
"I found a way to capture a drop of your liquid metal. It still retained a certain degree of activity."
When designing the T-1000's programming, he had failed to give the liquid alloy a long-range deactivation function. Qin Su did not know what method Dr. Mei had used to intercept the liquid metal from his body. But one thing was certain: the instant it was captured, it lost contact with Qin Su, which was why he had noticed nothing.
Since every drop of liquid alloy in the T-1000 was part of its CPU, some of the remnants still retained a connection to the main body, resulting in Qin Su's exposure.
"What do you need?"
"A small request," Mei said.
"As it happens, we have one too. How about we each take what we need?" Qin Su reconsidered. He had more or less finished researching the Tenth Law-Ruler Core in his possession, so exchanging it for a new batch to continue his research could not have been better.
Dr. Mei nodded in agreement, then said, "At a time like this, Fire Moth has fewer and fewer warriors, yet our need for them keeps increasing. However, we must still allocate some of them to experiments in search of even a sliver of hope. But we cannot bear the personnel losses caused by those experiments."
"Fire Moth will be conducting an experiment in Australia next. I will tell you part of its contents, so I would like you to save the experimental personnel at certain necessary moments. They are all outstanding warriors, and I do not want them to perish for nothing."
Dr. Mei was not as stubborn as one might have imagined. Humanity was accelerating, accelerating, and accelerating still further down the road to extinction. Was there any need to keep secrets at such a time? Before an even greater threat, other threats no longer counted as threats at all.
"Agreed."
In truth, the moment he heard the two keywords "Australia" and "experiment," he understood—the battle that would awaken Fu Hua. There was plenty he could manipulate here, such as obtaining Fu Hua's biological data from before and after her awakening.
"The relevant materials have already been sent to a private email account."
"Now it is time to discuss my conditions. In truth, it is also a small request." It was Qin Su's turn to make his demands. Qin Su knew Dr. Mei's motives would never be as simple as they appeared. She might want to verify certain information, or learn certain secrets, and so on. But as long as Dr. Mei did not make a move against him, there was no need to worry. The destruction of the First Civilization was inevitable, and sooner or later, he would abandon this place as well.
Besides, Dr. Mei certainly would not lightly disturb others over such a minor matter.
The key to this Fusion Warrior experiment lay in stimulating a person's potential through a life-or-death battle. Thus, this was the question—how could Skynet determine which moments were "necessary," and who could awaken their potential and become a Fusion Warrior? This detail could reveal whether the information they had obtained was trustworthy, as well as whether it contained enough information.
Fusion Warriors possessed immense authority and status, making them highly likely to appear in the observed fragments of information. If Skynet knew in advance who would become a Fusion Warrior, then it would not interfere with that person. Yet parallel worlds were bound to differ in certain places, and the unpredictability of individual humans meant that even minuscule changes could produce enormous differences in the final outcome. Dr. Mei intended to use such details to determine whether she should trust Qin Su.
Just as Dr. Mei had said, once she confirmed the authenticity of the "information fragments from parallel worlds," the deal would be complete. Dr. Mei was a smart person. She would not ask directly; she had always needed only to make a few phone calls.
Of course, this experiment also depended on intangible luck. Whether the Fusion Warrior project failed or a newly born Fusion Warrior died young, both were unknown variables.
Clearing her thoughts, Dr. Mei came back to herself. "Please, go ahead."
"We want to exchange for a batch of Tenth Law-Ruler Cores. The types do not matter. In terms of benefits, Fire Moth will suffer no losses. At most, there will be a few minor questions from within. I believe that under your authority, those will not be a problem."
Qin Su had already formed a basic application system through his research into the Thousand-Man Law-Ruler Cores, and the virtual reality construction system was one example. In contrast, Fire Moth's use of the Thousand-Man Law-Ruler was relatively simplistic.
"These gems will arrive at Fire Moth's doorstep very soon." Qin Su nodded.
"You really have given me a difficult problem."
"Don't be so serious, Dr. Mei. I never said I would not help you deal with these gems. I only need you to suppress a few minor doubts from within. Leave the rest to me."
"You truly have influence everywhere."
Qin Su returned a friendly smile, then erased his holographic projection. Snow continued to fall over the Alps, leaving Mei alone in this world of ice and snow.
"..." Dr. Mei said nothing as she watched him vanish, turning into white points of light that scattered amid the wind and snow. Afterward, she too became points of light and disappeared from that false land of frost.
Before you continue