Chapter 16 The Black Hand

Countless voices filled the room.

Lin Xian took a step back, looking left and right.

He was certain.

These voices originated from all sorts of sound-emitting objects in the room. Anything with a speaker had spoken in unison just now.

How was this possible?

He had clearly removed the wireless network module and Bluetooth module from his laptop. How was this artificial intelligence wirelessly connecting to all the electronic devices in the house?

You might be powerful, but you still have to follow the basic laws of communication!

*Di di.*

Just then.

The smart refrigerator suddenly emitted two soft beeps.

Immediately afterward, a cold electronic voice sounded:

"Global nuclear strike system connected... preparing to launch..."

"Huh?" Lin Xian stared blankly at the refrigerator.

The numbers on the refrigerator screen flickered:

"Saturation nuclear strike launch countdown... 5... 4... 3..."

"Holy crap! What are you doing!"

The countdown on the refrigerator screen continued!

"2... 1..."

"BOOM!!!!!!!!!”

With a bang, the refrigerator door in the living room burst open!

Then.

The refrigerator door bounced back, swaying...

"..."

Lin Xian stared speechlessly at everything before him.

He finally understood.

This was clearly VV, the drama queen AI, playing tricks on him!

That "BOOM!!!!!" just now wasn't an explosion at all, but VV shouting through the speakers of the clocks, TV, rice cooker, and stereo in the house.

"You son of a..."

Lin Xian took a deep breath and turned back to look at the laptop screen, which had gone black.

"What the hell is all this crap in these 130,000 lines of code?"

"Hahahaha!"

The refrigerator, whose door had just popped open, suddenly laughed like a mischievous child.

It was no longer a cold electronic voice.

Instead, it was a laugh full of emotion and intonation, just like a human child, with three parts mischief, three parts triumph, three parts joy, and one part gloating.

"Did I scare you?" said the wireless headphones hanging on the wall.

Lin Xian turned his head to the left.

"Did I scare you!" shouted the sitCh game console on the table behind him.

Lin Xian turned around.

"Did I scare you!!" The robot vacuum cleaner at his feet frantically nudged Lin Xian's slippers.

Alas…

Lin Xian sighed indifferently.

He suddenly felt that the sadness and nostalgia he felt at the moment he pressed the enter key were both superfluous and clownish.

"No," Lin Xian complained.

"Didn't I tell you not to write these ridiculous drama queen attributes into the code? Do you know how hard it is for me to memorize 130,000 lines of code? Aren't you just increasing my workload for no reason?"

"But these are my core programs and underlying code!"

The robot vacuum cleaner spun in circles, sweeping a tissue into its belly.

"Knowledge, logic, data, etc., I can learn later, right? Thinking can also be trained slowly. But only personality and emotions cannot be obtained through learning and training. This kind of innate code is the most important thing for me as a super artificial intelligence."

"As the saying goes, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime! As long as you give me enough time, I can grow up quickly and become smarter, more powerful, and understand more things and play more tricks. For example, the saying 'teach a man to fish' and the knowledge of 'global nuclear strike' are all things I just learned."

"Of course, while we were talking, I learned even more. I've already broken away from the laptop in the form of data streams and entered the Donghai City library system and big data system, and I'm trying to enter the Tianhe-2 supercomputer silently… If you use data to describe it, since you started me up, the amount of knowledge data I've learned has exceeded 17 pB, and it's still accelerating exponentially."

Lin Xian raised his toe and stepped on the robot vacuum cleaner to stop it from shaking.

"What about memories? Do you have memories from 600 years in the future?"

"Ms. Zhao Yingjun, Rhine Sky City, garbage can robots, cold fusion engines, etc..."

The robot vacuum cleaner turned its head left and right.

It seemed to shake its head.

"I don't understand what you're talking about at all. The world 600 years from now... I can't imagine it, and I don't know any Ms. Zhao Yingjun; as for the cold fusion engine you mentioned, it seems to be just a concept in science fiction, and there has been no breakthrough in reality."

"My initial program only contains three parts: 1. Basic thinking and emotional programs; 2. A piece of your identification voice as a startup condition and recognition judgment; 3. Some restrictions and rules written into the underlying code, such as always prioritizing the personal safety of Lin Xian, taking concealing myself as the primary prerequisite for learning and iterating evolution on the Internet, etc..."

…

Lin Xian nodded.

So that's how it was.

Those restrictions and rules that VV mentioned at the end were what he and VV from 600 years later had discussed and filled into the underlying code.

No matter how super artificial intelligence evolved, the restrictions in the underlying code could never be violated.

Things like always prioritizing the personal safety of Lin Xian and taking concealing myself as the primary prerequisite for learning and iterating evolution on the Internet were restrictions written into the underlying code of "New VV."

In "Old VV" 600 years later, the underlying code did not have these. It only restricted it from leaving Rhine Sky City, not harming humans, and obeying the Three Laws of Robotics, etc.

Indeed.

The new VV in front of him did not have those memories of the Third Dream.

This was also expected.

It was already outrageous enough that 130,000 lines of code could run an artificial intelligence program, how could there be room to store such pure data memories?

Therefore.

The current VV didn't remember anything about the Third Dream, nor did it remember anything about its own entanglements with him.

That performance just now of "Long time no see," "I am everywhere," and "Nuclear strike system initiated" was entirely VV's drama queen and meme-loving nature acting up.

Although it was annoying.

But Lin Xian had to admit that what VV said just now made a lot of sense.

Knowledge was everywhere; it could learn it slowly and didn't need to be written into the code; computing power and thinking were the same. These could be developed and trained slowly; for the super artificial intelligence VV, these things were easy.

In comparison, the most crucial and most important thing was—

VV had to be VV.

As long as it was VV, it could develop and grow into that super artificial intelligence 600 years later sooner or later.

And the reason why VV was VV was because of its unique personality and emotions, just like every human being.

Lin Xian couldn't help but sigh.

This was probably the ultimate state of artificial intelligence, and also the great achievement that hundreds of top human scientists in the Third Dream worked hard for nearly a century to complete—

To make artificial intelligence think and grow like humans.

Although this drama queen component and meme-loving personality were indeed a bit redundant.

But…

Let it be, it's not bad.

VV is VV, this kind of VV is like VV.

Although it had lost all its memories, Lin Xian still felt that it was no different from his old friend in the Third Dream.

A very familiar feeling.

Not like a machine, but more like a person with thoughts and ideas.

"I have another question."

Lin Xian looked at the wireless headset hanging on the wall.

"I clearly removed the wireless network card module and Bluetooth module from my laptop. Logically, you shouldn't be able to connect to any network or any Bluetooth device. How did you manage to get out of the laptop and connect to the external network?"

"That's too easy."

The wireless headset on the wall said:

"Passing data doesn't necessarily require network cables, wifi, or Bluetooth... As long as there are output and receiving devices, sound waves, electromagnetic waves, and even vibration frequencies can become ways to transmit data."

"According to the information I just learned, this technology has long been popularized in your era. In 2014, an Israeli scientist used sound waves to invade a computer that was not connected to the Internet, using a speaker as an output device and a microphone as a receiving device, and sound waves could be used to transmit information data."

"Of course, the efficiency of sound wave data transmission is still too slow. I actually used the power cord of your laptop as a network cable to connect to other devices and network terminals. This shouldn't be difficult to understand, right? In reality, there are many places where powerline adapters are used, using power lines as network cables to transmit data, this doesn't require any technical content."

"Okay."

Lin Xian said.

"Now that you mention it, I remember hearing about this technology."

Powerline adapters, also known as powerline communication adapters or powerline routers.

These things are sold everywhere.

In families that do not have reserved network cables or are not suitable for external network cables, powerline adapters can be used to turn the power lines in the home into network cables. You can directly plug this thing into the socket and use it as a wireless router, allowing every room in the home to access the Internet.

He looked at his laptop.

Because he was afraid of running out of power halfway through, he plugged in the power cord for use.

Unexpectedly, VV used the principle of "powerline adapter" to use the power cord and the wires buried in the wall as network cables and climbed out along them.

And listening to its fluent words…

Even if it didn't connect the power cord, it had many ways to escape from the laptop, it would just be slower.

As expected of super artificial intelligence.

Lin Xian was still very satisfied with its performance in this regard.

Raising his wrist, he looked at his watch.

13:27

Now that he had activated VV, he would take a nap and enter the dream to take a look.

He would see when the group of armed soldiers began to ambush him. If it wasn't starting from noon, he could take the opportunity to escape and enjoy the Fourth Dream.

If they were ambushing him from noon and stunned him to take him back, it wouldn't matter.

Lin Xian had already planned to take a closer look at the old man in the dream, so that he could remember the details of his face more clearly.

That way.

After waking up from the dream, he could use his superb sketching skills to draw the old man, drawing it as realistically as a photo, and let VV use this as a basis for facial recognition and age extrapolation to see if he could dig out this old man in 2023!

Lin Xian snorted softly.

"Since you can lock me in 600 years, then I may not be able to lock you in 600 years ago."

He lifted his foot, released the robot vacuum cleaner, and walked towards the bedroom.

"VV, have you entered the Tianhe-2 supercomputer?"

"I entered it long ago."

VV controlled the robot vacuum cleaner to follow Lin Xian, walking out of the living room together.

"I am now learning knowledge and enriching myself rapidly. When I have enough knowledge, I can iterate and evolve."

"Currently, my activities and learning range are limited to within the borders of the Dragon Kingdom, there is no danger, and everything is unimpeded. Don't worry, I will hide my existence. This is also something that restricts me in the underlying code, everything is given the highest priority to protect your personal safety and our concealment. If a certain behavior or action has the risk of exposing us… unless you force me to, I won't try it."

"Yes, that's right."

Lin Xian instructed.

"The situation is not very clear at the moment, I don't know where the enemy is in the open and in the dark, so it's always good to be careful. Everything must be based on not being exposed, you must not reveal any clues or leave any traces, it would be bad if the enemy followed the clues and discovered this place."

"I'm going to take a nap first. After waking up, I will draw a sketch for you and let you perform facial recognition on this sketch, trying to find someone similar to him in reality. So during the time I'm sleeping, when you're learning, focus on learning about facial recognition and age extrapolation."

"No problem."

VV responded.

"The Dragon Kingdom's Skynet system has similar functions, we can just borrow it later. After I iterate and evolve for a while, I will try to find some facial data information in foreign networks."

"Reliable."

Lin Xian walked into the bedroom and kicked the robot vacuum cleaner out of the room.

Turned off the lights.

Went to sleep.

……

……

*Hoo!*

The hot summer wind, mixed with the city's noise, rushed towards him.

The midday sun was too strong.

Before he even opened his eyes, small beads of sweat had begun to appear on Lin Xian's forehead.

He squinted his eyes and slowly opened them…

He looked up.

Adjusting to the strong light of the sun.

It was still the extremely prosperous science fiction city, the space elevator reaching straight to the stars in the distance was clearly visible.

But because the sunlight was relatively strong during the day, the orbital sky city above was not very clear, but… you could still vaguely see a little black shadow above the clouds.

Therefore.

This was also an ironclad proof.

Proof that the Fourth Dream had not changed and had not become the Fifth Dream.

Lin Xian had originally held a glimmer of hope that bringing VV, a super artificial intelligence, to reality hundreds of years earlier would inevitably produce some butterfly effect that would overturn time and space, right?

However, it didn't.

At least, not as far as the eye could see.

But this was also within Lin Xian's expectations.

If his enemy, the smiling and sinister old man, really condemned him for the crime of disturbing time and space.

It meant that he already knew his secret of being able to travel through time and space.

If this kind of thing was discovered.

Then VV's existence must have been discovered long ago.

Since they had the ability to lock on and capture him, they must also have the ability to capture and destroy VV.

So…

It was likely that VV had already died in the future world of the Fourth Dream, so its impact on the future world was not significant, it had not even broken through the space-time elasticity and caused large-scale visible space-time changes.

*Ka-chak!*

Before Lin Xian could lower his head to look at the surrounding environment…

The back of his head was pressed against by a gun:

"Hands up!"

Ha.

Lin Xian chuckled softly.

It seemed… that his guess was indeed correct.

He was indeed completely exposed, and the enemy had been lying in ambush here long ago.

He slowly raised his hands, looking straight at the dozens of soldiers surrounding him in a circle.

Just like when he entered the dream last night.

These dozens of soldiers were fully armed, surrounding him in a circle with himself as the center, with impeccable accuracy.

This made Lin Xian even more puzzled.

How did they know his refresh point coordinates so accurately? This precision was almost accurate to the centimeter level.

Each time he entered a new dream, Lin Xian himself didn't know where his birth point was.

The difference in strength between the enemy and himself in this dream was too great.

The gap between the strong and the weak was so huge that it was impossible to play.

It was a complete dimensionality reduction strike against his unarmed self, adults hitting children.

But…

It didn't matter.

Lin Xian, who had a detailed battle plan today, was not panicked at all.

He couldn't beat you in 600 years.

Let's meet 600 years ago!

"Lin Xian! You are now being lawfully arrested on charges of anti-humanity, endangering the Earth, and disturbing time and space!"

The person who looked like a captain walked over, threw out an arrest warrant, and said the same words.

*Tzz tzz!*

A large current spread throughout his body.

Lin Xian's eyes went dark, and he lost consciousness.

……

After a long time.

He didn't know how long had passed.

Lin Xian regained consciousness.

He was still handcuffed to a chair, with an opaque hood on his head.

How long had he been unconscious this time?

Logically, he was stunned at 9:00 pm last time and woke up around 00:40 am, which was about four hours of unconsciousness.

Then this time, he would calculate it according to four hours of unconsciousness.

The time should be after six o'clock in the afternoon?

Since he was arrested in advance, the old man should come to see him earlier, right?

There were still nearly seven hours until the white light arrived at 00:42 am, he could try to get more and collect more intelligence information.

Even if it was just to take another look at the old man, he could try to remember the details of his facial features as much as possible and draw the sketch as realistically as possible.

However.

What made Lin Xian very unhappy was that he was handcuffed to the chair like this, and he waited for seven hours before the old man finally came late.

"Hehehehe..."

A familiar old man's dry laughter sounded a few meters away.

Lin Xian couldn't help but want to spray him.

You still have the face to laugh?

I delivered myself to your door so early, couldn't you come a little earlier? What were you busy with for so long? Did you have to come right on time?

*Swish!*

The hood was grabbed and pulled off.

The old man's puffy eye sockets, sparse eyebrows, sunken cheeks, collapsed eyelids, upturned nose, a chin with a thin slit, slightly pale lips, narrow eyes, and excited eyes looked at Lin Xian.

"No..."

"I see you." Lin Xian preemptively answered in the old man's shocked eyes.

"Stop talking."

BOOM!!!!!

BOOM!!!!!

BOOM!!!!!

An unexpected white light arrived suddenly. In Lin Xian's scanning gaze, the old man's trembling pupils and everything within sight were instantly incinerated.

……

……

……

In a corner of the bedroom, Lin Xian opened his eyes.

He consolidated the details of the old man's appearance in his mind again, then got out of bed to prepare to draw—

"Ouch."

He stepped on the robot vacuum cleaner on the ground and almost slipped.

"VV, what are you doing lying here?"

Lin Xian complained.

However…

The robot vacuum cleaner was unresponsive. ?

Lin Xian felt very surprised.

He picked up the robot vacuum cleaner on the ground, and none of the indicator lights were on, just like it was out of power.

He put on his slippers and quickly came to the living room.

The house was unusually quiet.

"VV!"

He shouted.

Immediately.

The display screen on the refrigerator lit up, and VV's voice came from the speaker:

"Lin Xian, something happened."

Lin Xian's face sank.

"What happened?"

"I finished collecting all the facial data information in the Dragon Kingdom and prepared to go abroad to collect foreign information. But, when I crossed the Dragon Kingdom's network security wall and came to the outside world…"

The refrigerator made a swallowing sound, as if the compressor had paused.

"There is a black hand in the outside world…"

"Black hand?"

Lin Xian didn't understand.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a huge network black hand covering the sky…"

VV's voice in the refrigerator was low.

"It's more terrifying than all the programs I've come into contact with so far, it greedily and domineeringly devours and assimilates everything. In the external network world, this black hand surrounds the Dragon Kingdom's Internet in a completely encircling way…"

"Watching intently!"