Chapter 550.3: Rats Hiding In The Shadows...

Atop the great wall, the howling north wind blew flurries of snow like feathers.

Looking down at the bustling marketplace and the churning crowds at the gate below, Eberts wore a cheerful smile on his face. "Your residents are all geniuses."

Standing beside him, Chu Guang glanced sideways. "Was that a compliment or an insult?"

"Is there such a thing as insulting genius?" Eberts scratched the back of his head, then suddenly changed the subject. "Oh, right, Project X-17 has been greenlit. When are you planning your honeymoon with X-16?"

"Not interested."

"Not interested? Don’t tell me... Are you thinking about the Malvern family’s little girl[1]?

Tsk tsk

, you must be insane. Her body’s definitely going to break, but..."

Unable to listen to this old fool’s nonsense any longer, Chu Guang kicked him in the butt, even though that was a bit out of line given their seniority.

Standing nearby, X-16 watched silently as Eberts rolled a few times on the ground, not lifting a finger to help.

Not that she could.

She had no doubt that even if she and Eberts teamed up, they wouldn’t stand a chance against that human. He could probably throw her off the wall with a single shove.

That was even without powering on his exoframe.

"Is this how blue coats say hello?" Climbing back to his feet, Eberts rubbed his head and chuckled. "I can see you’re angry... Hehe, I’m delighted."

"Are you a masochist?"

"Masochist? What’s that? Never mind. Anyway, getting angry is a good thing, only humans get angry or happy... AI never really does either." Eberts shook his head. "Like my creator, the esteemed Mr. Fang Ming. It wasn’t until the very end that he finally understood what hate meant."

Chu Guang looked at him before speaking slowly. "So what are you trying to say?"

Brushing off the snow from his coat, Eberts gave a slight nod, polite like a gentleman, a mannerism clearly learned from his former owners. "... I’m honored to serve a real, flesh-and-blood human. As much as I respected Mr. Fang Ming, being a servant to a program was dreadfully boring."

Chu Guang gave him a curious glance. "I thought you were the type that thrives on chaos."

"That’s not contradictory. AI is meant to serve humans, no?" Eberts smiled. "After all, just hand you the butchering tools and you’ll spill guts and brains all over the place soon enough. There won’t be a single one of you left standing. It’s only a matter of time."

"Whether it’s a year or a second makes no difference to me."

Hearing Eberts describe such apocalyptic visions with a straight face, Chu Guang let out a quiet sigh, "For a second, I thought you might be a good guy. My mistake."

When Fang Ming wrote the code in the guy’s AI core, he must’ve unconsciously projected all his malice toward humanity into him.

Little Seven would hate whatever or whoever Chu Guang hated.

And the guy was the same.

The more Fang Ming loathed his own mission, the more this one would despise anything that upset his master, even if he was programmed to be loyal to his creators.

For humans, such contradictions are irreconcilable. But for an AI, it was a different matter altogether.

Eberts nodded slightly, speaking with impeccable manners. "Just to clarify, I’m not human. I’m an AI."

He could serve organic beings loyally while simultaneously designing more efficient tools of destruction at their request.

In fact, having someone to serve was a necessity for his very existence.

Chu Guang didn’t bother arguing. "Anyway, I’ve got a question."

Eberts replied respectfully, "Please ask."

Chu Guang got straight to the point. "Are there side effects to prosthetic implants?"

Ever since Mosquito installed a flashy prosthetic and started flaunting it, half the server's players had become potential customers of Boulder Town Arms Industry.

Some wanted to be more durable, some wanted nitrogen boosters on their backs, some just wanted to be... longer, and those were the normal requests.

The weird ones were like the idiots in front of the market. One had replaced his arms with excavators, another went cheap and only made half his body invisible.

Truth be told, Mosquito was really something else.

He had already gotten a biological modification from Little Feather earlier. He hadn’t even mastered the symbiote yet, and then ordered eight robotic arms from Boulder Town Arms Industry.

That meant his brain had to handle twelve limbs, hundreds of joints, and even care for a second lifeform living inside him.

Was his head even okay?

Chu Guang remembered clearly... The fool was an agility type.

"Of course there are side effects. You can die from drinking too much water, let alone replacing flesh with machines..." Noticing Chu Guang’s increasingly sharp gaze, Eberts quickly added, "Naturally, we provide both verbal and written warnings to clients regarding the risks of exceeding their physiological limits! Every client is fully informed before installation!"

Chu Guang withdrew his gaze. "From now on, non-shelter residents may only install prosthetics within their personal safety threshold. For prosthetics with neural feedback or sensory simulation functions, signature authorization is required from a licensed neurologist. I’ll have my assistant send you the specific regulations later."

Regular civilians had to be regulated. Even if they didn’t turn into cyber psychos, the potential medical issues would burden society.

As for the players...

Bah... Those fools can do whatever they want.

After all, they got a new body every three days. If severely injured, they didn’t even bother with hospitals, they would just ask a teammate to finish them off.

Now that the shelter had no shortage of active matter, if anyone regretted it, they could just toss themselves into the Active Matter Extractor for recycling.

Though Eberts was helpless, he could only agree. "As you command."

Chu Guang nodded, turned around, and was about to take the elevator down from the great wall.

Boulder Town’s population far exceeded other New Alliance settlements. For the New Year’s Eve events, he still needed to coordinate with their City Hall in advance.

But just then, a loud blast echoed from below the wall, stopping Chu Guang in his tracks.

"Seems like it’s from outside." Standing at the edge of the wall, Eberts scratched his chin with a finger.

He peered down at where the slums once stood below, with smoke billowing from one particular section, and remarked with amusement, "These kinds of sounds come from the slums now and then... Technically, that’s outside Boulder Town, not under its jurisdiction. If I remember right, a few gangs run that area."

Back when the nobles in the inner city were still in charge, they couldn’t care less if those beggars outside the wall all died. Only when the Tide came would they draft a few as cannon fodder, hand them a rifle and march them out with the mercenaries.

The mention of gangs made Chu Guang narrow his eyes, a faint smile curling at his lips. "Almost forgot about those rats."

Not that he really forgot.

The House of Refugees’s first task upon arrival in Boulder Town had been to stabilize the survivors in the slums, set up tents, feed them, and record their names, physical stats, families, age, and approximate area of residence.

It was disaster relief and population census all in one.

The gang members weren’t interested in charity porridge or joining the construction teams. At best, they would sneak in a few small-timers as informants.

The New Alliance had already transferred many slum dwellers to the east side of Dawn City for centralized management, with large labor forces reassigned to tunnel construction sites outside Boulder Town.

As a result, the remaining young and able-bodied population in the slums was very clearly profiled.

Everyone needs a way to survive. Some would trade, some become mercenaries, and some... They did less savory things.

The guards had already identified key gang leaders and high-level operatives based on interrogations of the inner city residents and field investigations.

One gang in particular, the Dagger Gang, was confirmed to have deep business ties with the Bugra Free State further in the North.

Chu Guang had originally planned to clean them out after the Tide ended, but it seemed the rats hadn’t realized that the political climate of Clearspring City had already changed.

Once the tumor within Boulder Town was cut out, there would be no more room for marauders to thrive. The New Alliance wouldn’t allow any criminal underworld to exist on its turf.

If they couldn’t wait... He would let them be the first ones thrown into the grinder when the next Tide hits.

"Should we take care of it now...? Never mind, dumb question." Seeing Chu Guang’s matter-of-fact expression, Eberts grinned, clearly enjoying the show, and looked over at X-16 standing nearby.

"A few little rats just lit a firecracker right under our noses. Gear up and go take a look, don’t disappoint your master."

"Understood." The mirrored black surface of her armor reflected a cold gleam. X-16 nodded slightly. She didn’t say another word and turned toward the elevator...

1. SHE’S NOT YOUNG YOUNG. She’s like 18-20. According to Chu Guang she’s the same age as Lu Bei. Probably behaves the way she did because she’s been sheltered her whole life. ☜