Aalto's Deal: Your Rules-Do You Dare Go Against the World?

The blue light from the canvas bag lasted for a few seconds, and the reading progress on the screen was still stuck at one percent. Zhou Yu reached out and took out the old-fashioned digital watch, but the buttons were much hotter than usual.

He moved the black stone from his side pocket to a separate cloth sleeve, and casually turned off the digital watch's display.

"Leave this stone here for now, and don't let anyone touch it."

Chisaki, half a step away, recorded the screen out of the corner of her eye, her finger hovering over the sampling page.

"It can bypass the shutdown state and start the device directly. The underlying code should be related to Tethys. I suggest that isolation and testing be carried out as soon as possible."

"Testing is fine, just don't wake up what's inside."

Zhou Yu stuffed the cloth cover back into the canvas bag.

"These days, memories of dubious origin are more likely to cause problems than expired canned food."

After the treasure hunt along the coast, Encore returned to the restaurant with two large pieces of coral fruit. Dania was seriously discussing with her whether to spread honey on the sliced fruit or put it in freshly baked bread.

Just as Zhou Yu was about to go over to participate in the dinner judging, a game coin flew over from outside the terrace and landed with a thud in the center of the wooden table in front of him.

An old observation room key card was placed under the game tokens, with Aalto's handwriting on the back, indicating the agreed time was 11 PM.

Just after 11 p. m., Zhou Yu, wearing a white tank top and floral shorts, walked along the stone steps by the coast to the abandoned observation room.

The domed building, covered in vines, had its internal equipment long since shut down. A corner had been transformed into a private teahouse, with a teapot and a plate of blackened biscuits on a wooden table.

Aalto sat by the window, spinning a game coin, and tapped the chair opposite her with her fingertip.

"Encore baked the cookies this afternoon. She insists the burnt edges are patterns left by ocean waves. You'd better not deny it in front of her."

After Zhou Yu sat down, he didn't touch his teacup. He picked up a biscuit and took a bite. The burnt taste overpowered the milky aroma, and a strange astringent feeling rose on his tongue.

"Too much alkali was added; tell her to add less next time."

"You actually dared to eat it? I was just planning to use it to decorate the table."

Aalto placed the game tokens on the edge of the table, her gaze falling on the canvas bag next to Zhou Yu's feet.

"The memory carrier has already started being read, right?"

"The security level of your equipment is quite impressive. I haven't even agreed yet, and it's already started going through the data on its own."

The other cup remained untouched; Aalto simply refilled her own cup with hot tea.

"Changli said you don't really like to play by the rules, which made me quite happy. The Black Shores has no shortage of rules."

Zhou Yu broke off the burnt edge of the biscuit, leaving half between his fingers.

"You invited me for tea in the middle of the night, you didn't come to compliment me, did you?"

"Tethys has recently seen changes that have exceeded expectations."

Aalto pushed a folded data page to the center of the desktop.

"It began to actively adjust its recording methods, automatically filling in missing information, and its computational tendencies became increasingly similar to those of humans."

Zhou Yu took the data page and flipped through it. It listed several abnormal events, the earliest of which could be traced back several months. Tethys had once modified the order of a disaster and then added a list of casualties that had not been entered into the system. Several of the people on the list are still alive and well.

His finger stopped at the last line.

"Living people are added to the death list by the system, and you just leave them there?"

"We haven't granted it that kind of permission, so we don't know where it learned to add or modify data."

Aalto raised her hand and pointed to the canvas bag.

"Those ten dark spots underground also refused to be scanned normally, but one thing is certain— Dania is a high-density data carrier. What she stores far exceeds the capacity of ordinary life forms. After Tethys detected her, its core computing speed increased by nearly 30%."

Zhou Yu pushed the data page back to the desktop, his tone remaining calm.

"She's just here on vacation, don't you dare try anything with her."

"I have no interest in breaking down a little girl into data."

Aalto put down her teacup, the bottom of which made a soft sound as it touched the wooden table.

"The real problem is that a third party is getting involved; they want to use Tethys's recording capabilities to turn what's written in the system into reality."

The black stone in the canvas bag heated up, and the old light on the ceiling of the observation room flickered.

The reading progress stopped increasing. Zhou Yu pressed the stone through the cloth, and several unrecognizable characters appeared on the digital watch screen.

Who exactly is this third party?

"The relevant traces are still being investigated. At present, I can only confirm that the other party entered the old archives area of Tethys."

Aalto flipped the game coin over to the back.

"Their records mention the Cradle, which predates Dania's arrival at the Black Shores."

"So you called me here just to let me know that someone is eyeing my people?"

"I called you here because I wanted to ask a more direct question."

Aalto Shui leaned forward slightly, the game coin resting between two fingers.

"If your rules can go against Tethys's system, would you like to give it a try?"

Scattered blue light reflected on the sea outside the window, and data towers lined the coast in the distance, tiny points of light moving up and down along a fixed trajectory.

Zhou Yu glanced at the cup of tea that had gone cold, then picked up the data page and flipped through it again.

"Temporary access needs to cover the core observation area. Scanning Dania is prohibited during the test. You also need to provide all anomaly logs. Don't ask me for compensation if there are any equipment problems. The cost of late-night snacks incurred during the test will be charged separately."

"The first two items are negotiable, but the last one sounds like a perk you added on the spur of the moment."

"Providing late-night technical support is considered overtime, and offering late-night snacks is a basic guarantee."

Zhou Yu stuffed the remaining half of the biscuit into his pocket.

"Take this back for Dania to try. She's not picky, and she might even be able to give Encore some feedback."

Just as Aalto was about to respond, a game start notification sound suddenly came from under the table.

He took out the handheld game console that had been turned off, and the screen lit up by itself, with a layer of black characters covering the pixelated image.

The characters paused for a moment, then finally arranged into a clear line of text.

The Cradle has reached the shore.

Aalto caught the game coin and closed her hand, her thumb pressing firmly on the front of the coin.

The relaxed smile in his eyes was gone; he looked up at Zhou Yu.