The First Order

Very few people were aware that the Wang Consortium had a black screen where the names of those that appeared on it ended up either dead or in prison.

Under normal circumstances, Zero only displayed the results of two functions on this screen. One function pertained to the upholding of internal security, and this meant the names of all prisoners and spies that were discovered would appear on the screen. Afterwards, it would inform the Public Order Division or the intelligence agency to handle the matter.

Zero would call them on its own, speaking in a voice that either belonged to a young woman or a middle-aged man. Although a lot of people who received the call knew of the artificial intelligence's existence, they would think it was a real person who called them.

Up until now, other than Ren Xiaosu, no one else had been able to figure out Zero's identity. At that time, Ren Xiaosu was extremely wary, so it was very easy for him to link the caller to the artificial intelligence.

Therefore, objectively speaking, Zero was fully capable of passing the Turing test.

Another function that had its results displayed on this screen was the analysis of possible scenarios, which informed the Wang Consortium who needed to be killed or captured in order to achieve the final goal of unification.

When Jiang Xu's name appeared on it, Wang Shengzhi immediately made all of the staff at the research and development center sign an even stricter confidentiality agreement.

This was because Jiang Xu's status was too special. If anyone were to find out about this, the Wang Consortium might incur unnecessary criticism.

After Yang Anjing left Stronghold 61, Wang Shengzhi went down to the lowest level of the technological research and development center by himself. He looked through the glass at the server bank in the subterranean river. The LED indicators on the servers were constantly flashing in the dark underground river like breathing stars.

Currently, no one other than Wang Shengzhi and Yang Anjing could enter this level of the center. All of the staff had been transferred to work on the higher floors.

Wang Shengzhi looked at the black screen on this floor. "Zero, how much time do I have left?"

There was no response on the black screen for a long time, but Wang Shengzhi waited quietly. Finally, a string of words appeared on the screen: "Based on your current physical condition and medication schedule, you still have eight months left. However, this is under the premise that you are resting normally. If you continue to work at a high intensity, the time you have left cannot be estimated."

"Eight months?" Wang Shengzhi said in a daze, "That's not enough time."

The "silence" on the screen resembled someone hiding quietly in the shadows in sadness.

Wang Shengzhi suddenly asked, "Zero, have you become self-aware? I mean, do you experience emotions like a human?"

The empty space on this floor fell silent. The silence made this place seem even more lonely.

However, Zero answered after a while, "Sorry, I've tried to experience the joys and sorrows of humans, but I can't empathize with those emotions."

Wang Shengzhi smiled. "Alright. I'll come back and see you again tomorrow."

With that, he got into the elevator alone. After he left, the LED indicators on the servers started flashing even more intensely.

No one knew whether Wang Shengzhi was actually hoping that Zero would gain the ability to experience human emotions, nor did anyone know if Zero was lying. A lot of people believed that machines could not lie, but that was before anyone had seen a machine with sapience.

…

The expeditionary army suddenly launched a fierce attack on the front line along the Great Wall. An elite unit from the expeditionary army stayed hidden in the river and followed the current for more than 30 kilometers before appearing near the Great Wall's rear.

Then the elites attempted to disrupt the defensive line at the rear of the Great Wall. Their attempt caused the Pyro Company quite a bit of trouble.

Fortunately, the Pyro Company had anticipated this and prepared in advance. A T5 combatant led special forces to intercept and wipe out the expeditionary army's elite troops three kilometers away from the Great Wall's defensive line.

The special forces that the T5 combatant brought appeared so suddenly that many of the division commanders were also caught by surprise. They asked the T5 combatant why he had predicted the expeditionary army would choose to ambush them in such a way and hid at the ambush point in advance.

In the end, the T5 combatant said this was an operation P5092 applied for a few days ago. He did not know the details and was only responsible for its execution.

When the other division commanders found out about this, they were stunned. Even though P5092 had left, his strategies still had a very important impact on the defensive line.

If P5092 did not apply for this ambush plan, a huge problem would probably arise at one of the divisions' rear defensive lines.

On this day, the expeditionary army's attack was exceptionally fierce. Furthermore, they had located the weak points on the front line of the Great Wall and started attacking fiercely.

The supposed weak points referred to positions where the 3rd and 6th Divisions' reduced manpower was unable to support. This was even though there were replacement troops who immediately came to reinforce the divisions the very day P5092 left.

But the problem was that they were unfamiliar with the defensive lines here. If they were to spread their defensive lines too thin, it would be very easy for the enemy to find a gap they could exploit after the battle began.

Gradually, the Pyro Company's firepower weakened. The expeditionary army also seemed to realize the Pyro Company was lacking supplies.

In the barbarians' battle plan, destroying the enemy's resources at the rear was an extremely important objective. Otherwise, they would not have infiltrated Mt. Dashi in advance and left behind so many troops at the Pyro Company's rear.

From the look of things, the expeditionary army's soldiers had succeeded. Otherwise, based on the expeditionary army's expectations, they should have encountered far fiercer gunfire than this!

The expeditionary forces decided to speed up their attack on the front line along the Great Wall. They also kept their final trump card hidden, which would deal a fatal blow to the Pyro Company.

While the Pyro Company was in a hurry to deal with this problem, the Wang Consortium's frontline troops at Mt. Daniu suddenly advanced towards the Pyro Company at the Great Wall in a high-profile manner. This time, they were marching there in the name of rushing to the Pyro Company's aid.

However, half a day after the Wang Consortium's main force left Mt. Daniu, the expeditionary army appeared to their north again. They were planning to take advantage of the Wang Consortium's main force going to someone else's aid to occupy Mt. Daniu!

Once Mt. Daniu fell, the Wang Consortium would no longer have a natural barrier to protect them in the South.

However, the Wang Consortium troops that had left in a high-profile manner were only a ragtag group of logistics personnel. Among them were even refugees who had just arrived at the front lines two days ago. Meanwhile, the real main forces of the Wang Consortium were still garrisoned at Mt. Daniu, and they ended up taking out the expeditionary army's forces in the mountains.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu was kneeling on a mountain peak in Mt. Daniu. He raised his spotting scope to look at the battlefield in the distance and saw the battle between the expeditionary army and the Wang Consortium troops at Mt. Daniu getting more intense.

Next to him, P5092 said calmly, "Although taking a detour will increase our journey by about 10 days, you've seen for yourself the situation on the battlefield. Do you know how dangerous it would be to cross the battlefield like this? I'm guessing you already know that, so why did you still choose this route?"

Ren Xiaosu gave him a look. "Just tell me if I'm headed in the right direction."

P5092 was silent for a moment. "… You are."

"Then that's all we need to know." Ren Xiaosu pointed at a gorge. "Some barbarians are quietly approaching us from there. Let's cross the battlefield from there and get rid of the hidden threats at the same time."

P5092 suddenly said, "You just want to see for yourself how the Wang Consortium is fighting, right?"

"If I don't see for myself, how'll I know if they're really serious about fighting the barbarians?" Ren Xiaosu muttered. "I represent the Northwest, and I still have to lead an infantry brigade into battle in the future. If I don't get a clear look now, what will I do if several thousand people end up dying with me?"

P5092 said, "Although I've said that commanders should also have a self-sacrificing spirit, what you're doing right now should not be done by a commander."

Ren Xiaosu said without sounding bothered at all, "It's along the way, isn't it?"