Chapter 6 (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After the raid by the Federation Army that happened in the daytime, everyone in the Red Light District was on high alert for the rest of the day. Danger and panic lurked everywhere. Gu Ding even heard the sounds of exchanging fire in the night.
On his way to the Academy the next morning, Gu Ding noticed that the Red Light District was deserted. Some of the buildings were even destroyed, which gave him a hint of what happened the night before. There was a heavy Army presence at the entrances of the District, and anyone who passed through it required a retina scan.
In the Academy, many of Gu Ding’s classmates were discussing the incident last night.
“Gu Ding, was there some fighting going on in the Red Light District yesterday?”Reid was a natural talkaholic. If gossip was considered a special ability, then he was also naturally gifted in this talent. He was not one to miss out on breaking news like this.
“I didn’t see it myself, but I did hear both sides exchanging fire. Also, when I was leaving the District this morning, there were troops restricting entry to the place.” Gu Ding nodded. He knew that if he did not tell Reid something, his friend would be bugging him for the rest of the day.
“So do you know what happened?” Reid became a lot more interested when his rumors were confirmed.
“The Army went to Auntie Roastbeef’s tavern to investigate yesterday. I heard that something that belonged to the Federation Government was stolen. I don’t know what it is though.” Gu Ding had a hunch that the thing that was stolen was Neptune.
4“To the library.” After Reid walked away, Gu Ding heard Neptune talking to him. “The military and civilian communication channels on Skynet are different. All the information that I have been able to obtain is from the civilian and Dark Web channels. Even though your school is only a military academy, its internal network is connected to the military network. I can access the network from the library to find useful military information.”
“Can’t you override the restrictions?” Gu Ding was starting to doubt the extent of Neptune’s Skeleton Key.
“You don’t know how powerful a mature artificial super-intelligence can be. Skynet extends over a hundred planetary councils without any latency or interruption across different dimensions. An immense structure like her has no flaws.” Neptune had his worries. “Based on my current abilities, I can override about 70% of Skynet’s restrictions. However, Skynet will detect my presence if I do so, and once she does, she will wipe me clean from this reality in no time. Your identity and location will also be exposed, and you will be chased to the ends of the universe by the Federation. If it’s not a matter of life and death, I will not expose my identity to her.”
2“So that’s the extent of Skynet’s power…” Gu Ding scratched his head thoughtfully. “Let’s go to the library then!”
Most natural resources on Cerule had been destroyed in the calamity before the New Era. Many plant species were annihilated, which caused the remaining species of aged wood to be an exorbitant rarity. Paper, of course, became a luxury.
The library of the military academy was unlike libraries of the present day. It did not have any books made out of paper, but rather all the information was stored in digital archives. One could access the archives by connecting one’s wristwatch to any terminal in the library and can thus enjoy all the basic military information the entire Skyriver Sector had to offer.
Gu Ding sat down in front of a terminal and connected his wristwatch to it. Two or three minutes later, Nepture chirped, “I’m done here. Let’s go!”