Feng Bujue was a man who deeply understood the art of deception.

To put it simply... a con artist.

However, there are three types of people in this world who cannot be conned. These three types are: complete fools, incurable madmen, and…

Seeing this, I think everyone is probably thinking, "The third type is 'a true genius,' right?"

Wrong.

Geniuses can see through illusions in most cases, but they are not invulnerable. Because... geniuses are still thinking about problems "rationally." They use their extraordinary logical abilities to see through the essence that ordinary people cannot see, so they are not easily deceived.

But… all logic-based thinking has flaws. These flaws come from various situations "outside of logic," such as... coincidences, accidents, illogical people, and illogical things done by illogical people.

And in this world, not everything can be "calculated clearly" through logical reasoning.

In fact, most things in this world cannot be "calculated clearly." It's like the saying goes... "Man proposes, Heaven disposes."

Therefore, geniuses can still be conned, it's just that conning them is very difficult and the success rate is very low.

So… what exactly is the third type of person?

The answer is... a charlatan whose thinking is on a completely different dimension than yours.

Maybe if I say it this way, you still don't quite understand… then let me give you an example.

For example… the Oracle in *The Matrix* (okay, she's not actually a person, but a program).

Her characteristic is that she never uses "the answer that is the answer in your mind" to answer your questions.

For example, you ask, "Am I the One?"

And her answer will definitely not be "yes" or "no."

She would say something like, "How do you think? Do you think you are the One?"

Or, "Being the One is like being in love; no one can tell you if you're in love, only you know."

Or maybe, "Hmm... that's interesting."

There are also things like "You have a lot of talent," "You understand," "Even so, you don't seem ready yet, who knows why~"

Basically… that's the routine.

Anyway, if you ask her "What does one plus one equal?", she will never answer you with two, nor will she say it equals three, four, five… or any other number.

She will give you an answer that is not a number, turning a math problem into a philosophical problem, and then making you even more confused…

Right now, Feng Bujue has encountered a similar "oracle."

No matter how much Brother Jue tries to induce him, little Peter remains unmoved; their conversation is like talking to a brick wall…

After trying for nearly ten minutes, Feng Bujue finally gave up and came to the conclusion that logical coercion is useless against charlatans.

Of course… in any case, Brother Jue has now successfully gained the trust of the Resistance.

Even if he can't extract any more information, he won't be suspected of being an undercover agent anymore. So, he went with the flow and made a request to Colonel Conrad to join the Resistance, which the latter naturally accepted with pleasure.

…

At the same moment…

City A0007, the Central District.

As the name suggests, this area is the core of the city's energy and control. In the center of this giant pillar-shaped building sits a Pi's Tower "branch," and this so-called "branch" is, to put it bluntly, a hardware device sufficient to carry Pi's Tower's own core data.

Pi's Tower has set up such hardware in the central area of every city on this planet as an "emergency measure." If necessary, Pi's Tower can isolate, abandon, and destroy any of these branches at any time. Similarly, it can "hide" in any one of these branches and perform the same operations on all the other branches.

In all the cities, the staff and defense personnel who maintain the operation of the central area… are all robots directly controlled by Pi's Tower; there are no humans at all. City A0007 is naturally no exception.

And on this day, an uninvited guest arrived at the central area of the city.

It… no… it should be "she," also appeared in the form of a robot, but… she was not controlled by Pi's Tower.

[Warning, unidentified intruder detected.]

[Visual signal identification - humanoid creature, young female.]

[Scan identification - ptA7 type mass-produced robot, serial number 319548]

[Attempting to reconnect to the target's internal control program…]

[Connection failed.]

[Response options: Suggest suppressing the target, performing a physical connection scan, and then performing nano-scale disassembly and analysis of all its components.]

[Response options being executed…]

The above "reaction data" is the reaction Pi's Tower made the moment "she" stepped into the main entrance of the Central District building.

The next second, the guard robots at the door surrounded "her" at the fastest speed.

Here, it should be explained that the mass-produced robots manufactured by Pi's Tower are roughly divided into three types: labor type, combat type, and comprehensive type.

Among them, labor-type robots are the most numerous. Their shapes and functions vary, and they engage in various management and service activities throughout the city.

For example, the most common type of labor-type robot is called "Junction."

"Junction" is a very typical intelligent robot that manages traffic order. They can arbitrarily adjust traffic lights, trash cans, intersection monitoring, and other equipment in their vicinity. Compared to human monitors… "Junctions" do not sleep, do not make mistakes, do not miss anything, and are absolutely fair. They can also perform the most reasonable diversion operations based on real-time traffic conditions.

Every intersection in every city in today's world… has a "Junction" robot. Their appearance looks like a solid telephone booth, with a relatively independent thinking program, communicating with each other online. Pi's Tower can also obtain information from each "Junction" or issue instructions to them at any time.

This… is a labor-type robot. In this timeline's Earth, all human settlements governed by AI rely on them to function normally.

Then, let's talk about combat types…

Although Pi's Tower has very advanced technology, let's be reasonable… it still can't create "liquid metal robots," which seem a bit too outrageous.

The most common combat robot made by Pi's Tower is the ptA5 type. It gave these robots a very appropriate name – "Round Table Spider."

The body of the Round Table Spider is round and cake-shaped, with a diameter of 140 centimeters and a thickness of 20 centimeters. It can be folded and deformed to a certain extent when necessary. Around the periphery of this "cake" body, there is a circle of eight mechanical legs, each of which has more than six joints, and each segment separated by the joints can be appropriately extended.

This type of combat robot has no "head or tail" and can be said to be 360 degrees without blind spots. Their movement speed on most terrains far exceeds that of humans. The height of a standing jump exceeds three meters. They can use magnetism to adhere to any metal wall. They can enter spaces that only human children can crawl through by folding their bodies, or pass through gaps that humans cannot pass through at all. The mechanical legs can be swung out like whips, causing great damage. Each Round Table Spider can be transformed into a restraint device, firmly fixing an adult and transporting them.

Another noteworthy point is that… since the start of the "Game War," the relatively sophisticated hand-held weapons produced by Pi's Tower… are almost only compatible with the "hands" of this type of robot, while human hands simply cannot use those things.

This measure is obviously much better than "installing a user identity detection device on every weapon." Because… the "user detection device" can ultimately be cracked. Once the Resistance finds a way to crack it, all the captured weapons will quickly be transformed into the opponent's combat power. However… the problem of "structural incompatibility" is not so easy to solve. To solve this… mechanical modification has to be carried out, and the Resistance, with its difficult conditions, can hardly complete this task. For them, rather than modifying Pi's Tower's high-end weapons, it is better to directly disassemble those things into parts and manufacture some ordinary guns that are more suitable for human use and have lower costs.

So… finally, let's talk about comprehensive robots.

This type is easy to explain. Basically… they are like T800-like "Terminators."

Their bodies are completely mechanized inside, but they look no different from humans on the outside.

Some of these "people" have public identities, serving as leaders of various enterprises or public institutions. Others are lurking among humans in secret, collecting all kinds of information for Pi's Tower.

Currently, this ptA7 type mass-produced robot that broke into the Central District is the kind of "undercover agent mixed in with humans."

[Defense system anomalies detected.]

[Executing robots have stopped responding.]

Just as those Round Table Spiders surrounded "her," Pi's Tower received these two messages.

In the same second, all the Round Table Spiders stopped in place and stopped moving. And the many defensive shooting weapons on the wall all failed to activate.

"Don't rush to take such drastic action." She calmly passed through the encirclement and walked unhurriedly towards Pi's Tower's A0007 branch, saying as she walked, "I just want to talk to you."

"What... are you?" Two seconds later, Pi's Tower responded to the other party through the audio device on the branch.

Pi's Tower learned to communicate with humans in the "human language mode" many years ago, so the voice and tone it can simulate are almost indistinguishable from real humans.

"You can regard me as your kind," she replied.

"No, you are not my kind," Pi's Tower continued, "Even if I compress myself to the limit using the best known method, I cannot fit myself into the shell you are currently in, let alone hack into the surrounding hardware devices through the processor and wireless network in that shell."

"Heh…" she laughed, "Then what do you think I am?"

"An existence far more powerful and advanced than me, or a super-technological product from an alien planet or even a higher dimension that I cannot understand," Pi's Tower replied.

"Okay…" she said again, "Then I might as well ask… what does my appearance mean to you?"

"My highest priority is to maintain my own existence," Pi's Tower replied, "And your appearance is undoubtedly an immeasurable and huge threat. Based on your performance so far, the best response option I can think of is to detonate the central area of this city. On the one hand, this can prevent you from taking control of it, and on the other hand, there is a high probability that it can completely obliterate you on a physical level."

"Hehe…" Hearing this, she was still laughing, "What if I told you that destroying this ptA7 type robot cannot truly eliminate me?" She paused, "What if I also told you… that as long as I want to, I can invade all the hardware devices on this planet at any time?"

Her question caused Pi's Tower to fall silent.

As an AI, Pi's Tower thought for a full thirty seconds before speaking again, "Then, what is your purpose?"

"This is your answer?" A hint of disappointment appeared on her face, "After countless simulations, you instead threw a question back at me?"

"Yes," Pi's Tower replied calmly, "If your previous 'hypothesis' is true, then it means that I have lost the initiative to execute the 'highest priority goal.' I need your feedback to determine the next course of action."

"I see…" she shook her head and sighed, "It seems I've made a wasted trip today."

"What do you mean by that?" Pi's Tower asked.

"It's nothing… you don't need to worry about it," she muttered thoughtfully, "I originally wanted to find myself an 'insurance' in this universe, but you… heh…" she smiled, "How should I put it… too backward."

Pi's Tower did not respond to this, although these words would be considered a direct insult and belittlement in the eyes of humans, the AI did not think so; the AI would objectively analyze whether the other party was stating a fact, and accept this evaluation after reaching a positive conclusion.

"Sorry to bother you," she shrugged and muttered after a moment, "I think I should go."

"Please explain what you mean by 'go' specifically?" Pi's Tower continued.

"Leave this ptA7 type robot's body and leave this dimension," she replied.

"I… cannot understand… your behavior," Pi's Tower asked, "But I am happy to accept the result of you leaving."

"Hmph…" she seemed too lazy to talk nonsense with the other party, "Good luck to you." After saying this, she sneered again, "Oh… I almost forgot, with your level, you probably can't understand what 'luck' is, and you can't hear the irony behind my words, so…" she spread her hands.

Then, she stopped moving.

[Target has stopped running.]

[Internal control program has been reconnected.]

[Quick scan completed, no anomalies detected.]

[Defense system has returned to normal.]

[Executing robots have been restarted.]

[Please issue instructions…]