Chapter 546.3: Formless? Tangible?

It was like how he could simply mow down all the pigs in the inner city. It really wouldn’t have been that hard.

However, Fang Ming simply didn’t allow him to do so! They couldn’t cross that line!

Even when Eberts had hinted that he could handle the matter cleanly, how he could simply chop up the nobles the way he dumped the killer sent to assassinate Spielberg in jail. Besides... Fang Ming had already grown tired of those old fools.

But regrettably, it refused.

Chu Guang looked at the smiling Eberts. There was something strange about that smile, though he couldn’t pinpoint what.

"Fang Ming is an AI. What about you?"

"It’s an AI in essence, but I’m something real." Eberts tapped his chest over his heart with a finger, then extended his right hand again with a faint smile. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Eberts, Chairman of Boulder Town Arms Industry. A general-purpose android, designed by Fang Ming."

"I was originally meant to serve the black card residents, after all, they bought me. But now that Boulder Tower has collapsed, technically, I’m free."

An AI designed with an independent personality? Was there any point to that?

Chu Guang was slightly stunned, though he didn’t show it. He reached out and shook Ebert’s hand firmly.

"You can call me Chu Guang. And by the way, you really do seem like a person."

It was said that designers often projected a part of their personality onto the AIs they created. However, he felt Eberts was even more human than Fang Ming.

At the very least, he talked a lot more.

Eberts chuckled, "You’re mistaken. Life and death is what makes someone human. For example, my dear father, Mr. Fang Ming. At the last moment, I’m sure it gained humanity. But me? I’m just a toy built to relieve boredom and loneliness, and to cater to the demands of inner city residents."

"My AI core has been running for over 100 years, long past its service life. I’m bound to have a few quirks."

"If I say anything weird, don’t be too surprised."

He paused and suddenly looked behind him, at a humanoid android with a black mirror visor and the designation X-16 etched on her chest armor. "By the way, let me introduce you. Boulder Town Arms Industry’s latest creation in recent years. A general purpose android."

"She can perform a variety of tasks. She’s the replacement for the now-decommissioned X-15. In your human terms, she’s like my daughter."

Chu Guang sensed something similar to Lyra in her, though in terms of raw combat power, she likely wasn’t as strong.

After all, Lyra had taken down a 100-man mercenary squad in live combat, while X-16's capabilities were still unknown.

But Chu Guang was more concerned with something else.

"Boulder Town can produce AI cores?"

"AI cores are like iron ore, you can dig them out of cities. They’re not hard to repair, and occasionally we buy some from mercenaries using our chips." Eberts smiled at Chu Guang and continued, "Let’s get to business. Everything here, including myself and all of Boulder Town Arms Industry, belongs to you now. Thank goodness. The ownership of Boulder Town had finally changed. No one remembered which year it started, but our engineers and designers had long run out of new tricks. Maybe in your hands, things will change.”

The real reason he wanted to mow down those useless pigs was because he was bored. He was sick of people who didn’t strive for progress.

There was a classic example.

The X-2 Hornet assault rifle once had an upgraded model, the X-3 Hornet assault rifle. It had a shortened receiver and caseless ammunition.

But the more advanced X-3 never replaced the outdated X-2.

On the surface, the reason was simple. The X-2 Hornet had a higher output, lower cost, and more stable performance. But the deeper truth was that Boulder Town was, by nature, a closed and stagnant society. It had no motivation for outward expansion, nor any drive for internal reform.

If humans didn’t know where they wanted to go, then AI wouldn’t be able to figure it out either. Their weapons were still designed by human engineers, with AI playing only an auxiliary administrative role.

Following the standards of the older generation, he had his engineers tinker with the X-series humanoids for fun, generation after generation.

As for the research and development of weapons, the moment the shareholders of Boulder Town Arms Industry deemed them good enough, all development stopped completely.

And even if there were improvements, they were only minor tweaks for cost-cutting and efficiency.

Occasionally, the militia would recover some evolved types from the Tide and hand them over to Boulder Town Arms Industry to analyze the structure and design ideas of pre-war equipment, but they rarely dispatched teams to explore the Hive in the center like people did during the time of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee.

The New Alliance, on the other hand, was completely different.

Even when they struggled to defend themselves, they still sent people to explore the city center, again and again!

Boulder Town moved slowly, clumsily, and always had to worry about the dignity of those pigs in the inner city. However, the New Alliance was different! They were doing it!

He saw in those blue coats the turning point he had been hoping for!

With those deadweight pigs in the inner city out of the way, the future of Boulder Town Arms Industry was brighter than ever!

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ah!

His intellectual plug-in was overheating!

A surge of electricity pulsed through his CPU, and Eberts suddenly thought of something. He smacked the back of his head. "Ah! Right, here, take her. You’re short a bodyguard anyway."

"While repairing her, I came up with some new ideas for X-17."

Before Chu Guang could respond, Eberts grinned mischievously. "Want me to install some extra functions for you? A general purpose android is far more versatile than you will expect. She can be equipped with all kinds of useful tools. They don’t just have to be for outdoor use. You can use her indoors as well...

Chu Guang hadn’t initially understood what he meant, but the moment he met that meaningful gaze, he instantly knew what Eberts was talking about and nearly choked on his spit.

"... Uh... No need." Looking slightly embarrassed, Chu Guang tried to brush it off.

Eberts showed a hint of disappointed resignation on his face. "I thought you old popsicles who came out of cryopods would be into that kind of thing. You know, I did some digging. Back in the Prosperity Era, the best-selling androids weren’t the general purpose or military types. Rather, they were the companion types. You know, sex dolls."

"..."

The fuck is this conversation?!

Though, come to think of it, it wasn’t all that strange.

Ideal City had shadows of the Prosperity Era. People of that time were probably even more self-indulgent than citizens of the Enterprise. Everyone was some weirdly shaped lock and key.

Traditional families probably couldn’t handle the emotional bandwidth of two modern souls. On top of arguing daily about what to eat and what to watch, they probably also bickered about what model prosthetics to use and whether to vacation on Mars.

It was way too hard to compromise.

In comparison, androids were so much easier. They were completely loyal to the purchaser, with fully customizable looks and even species.

"... So?" Chu Guang muttered after sometime.

Eberts chuckled, "So what are you so shy about? I’m not joking, can a normal human even withstand the strength you wield?"

"Honestly, the X-17 was conceptualized for you, because I figured the X-16 wouldn’t last long. If you don’t learn to control yourself, one day you’ll turn into a monster."

X-16 who was standing silently nearby, showed no reaction to this comment.

"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it." As Eberts continued rambling on, Chu Guang ended the topic with a dark cloud over his head.

What the hell did we just talk about for the past five minutes?!

He wasn’t against private discussions, he was human too, but he hated getting derailed when handling business!

"More than that nonsense, I’m more concerned with the legacy left behind by the Post-War Reconstruction Committee," Chu Guang said seriously, looking at Eberts. "The aircrafts, the bombs... and that weapon."

The word seemed to be a key.

The grin faded from Eberts’s face. He bowed slightly, as if switching back to serious mode.

"Please, follow me." With that, he turned and led Chu Guang toward the elevator beside the helipad.