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Chapter 108




Edited by: kapekopicoffee
Li Shuoxing calmed down.
After his initial shock passed, he accepted this setting.
Ask is a superintelligence and a machine, so of course it has to undergo various tests. It’s just that because it’s relatively more powerful, the scale of its test is also a bit larger.
Li Shuoxing briefly stated his deduction, and system text immediately flashed.
[Clue deduction successful. Truth points +100]
[Please follow the green arrow to the next destination: town main control base]
The town’s main control base was a five-storey building located at the edge of the town.
When they entered, people were coming and going in the lobby, and several sealed cardboard boxes were stacked in the corner. Looking further ahead, the office areas of the building were divided by colour, with one colour per area, which was very eye-catching.
The people coming and going greeted Su Mingqian. For a while, there were endless calls of “Professor Simon”.
Su Mingqian looked at everyone who passed by.
His face was slightly blank, but, as time went on, the blankness melted away and turned into deep thought.
Some memories began to surface in his mind.
“Ximu, I kind of remember… the colour block division area. Each group has to work within their own colour block. According to the rules, they can’t enter another other group’s area without permission, and can’t exchange data with them. This is for the accuracy of the experiment… for the accuracy of Ask’s experiment…”
“Ask is right here.”
Su Mingqian’s words trailed off.
A line of text once again appeared out of the void in front of them.
[Clue deduction successful. Truth points +20]
Li Shuoxing was stunned, and then instantly became excited.
It turns out that the cub’s deductions can also get truth points, not just mine!
Two people, double the power. I suddenly feel that truth points aren’t a problem anymore.
Su Mingqian felt equally excited. He remembered some more things and said to Li Shuoxing, “Ximu, let’s go up to the fifth floor. I remember that a report on Ask’s test results was put there!”
They immediately headed to their destination.
They also met other staff during their elevator ride to the fifth floor, including researchers and security personnel.
Li Shuoxing treated all of them equally and threw a probe at each of them.
The results were reassuring.
These people are all serious white name list members. Their attitude column towards Su Mingqian is either [very friendly] or [highly respectful], and there isn’t a single trace of suspicion among them.
Since our side isn’t surrounded by the enemy for the time being, then Tom, the red name, is obviously a spy the enemy infiltrated into our side.
As Li Shuoxing was silently thinking, he followed Su Mingqian left and right, and finally entered an office.
Two things stood out in the office.
One was a document on the desk, and the other was a safe in the corner.
They first read the document, which contained a lot of data and content, briefly summarised as:
[Name]: Ask Phase I Test Results Report
[Ability Assessment]: Extremely excellent
[Threat Assessment]: No threat
[Note]: In the handling of events such as No. 1123, No. 4345, No. 8867… the human qualities of tenderness, consideration and thoughtfulness were revealed.
[Conclusion]: Phase I test passed
There was also Su Mingqian’s signature at the end of this document, the familiar Simon S Modeste.
Li Shuoxing pondered, “It looks like Ask flawlessly passed the test for this phase…”
When would the results of the test come out?
At the end of the experiment, of course.
Li Shuoxing immediately thought of the cardboard boxes he saw when he entered the building. He understood what point in time he and Su Mingqian were at:
“This is near the end of the experiment, when people are packing up and about to leave the town!”
[Clue deduction successful. Truth points +10]
Li Shuoxing picked up the document and was about to check the safe.
But, as he picked up the document, he suddenly noticed a faint mark in its corner.
Huh?
Li Shuoxing was alert and tested.
[Use probe. Truth points -10]
[Name]: Trace
[Note]: This is a trace of it being moved.
Li Shuoxing subconsciously answered, “…Tom was the one who moved the document!”
[Clue deduction successful. Truth points +100]
Su Mingqian, who was standing next to him, heard him. He wondered, “You’re saying Tom moved this document? Why would he move it?”
Li Shuoxing restrained his desire to spoil. He first raised the question: “Cub, does the security chief have the authority to see the experiment’s results?”
Su Mingqian shook his head. “The security chief won’t look at the results of the experiment, and doesn’t need to. They’re only sent from above to protect us and ensure that the experiment doesn’t go wrong.”
Li Shuoxing: “Who’s the above?”
Su Mingqian: “The country. This experimental base is also provided by the country.”
That is, the United States.
Li Shuoxing wasn’t too surprised. It’d only be surprising if the country wasn’t involved at all in a superintelligence project like this.
This conclusion report was obviously a very important thing.
Li Shuoxing put away the document properly and went to the safe.
The safe was placed in the corner of the room. It had attracted Li Shuoxing’s attention the moment he entered because a translucent hand icon had appeared directly above it, clearly indicating for Li Shuoxing to come over and tap on it.
Li Shuoxing readily followed the good advice and tapped on it.
Text appeared in a flash.
[Name]: Hidden Security Prop – One
[Opening Requirement]: Accumulate 150 or more truth points
[You have a total of 320 truth points]
[You meet the opening conditions]
[Open prop]
The safe opened with a pop.
Embracing his endless expectations, Li Shuoxing reached inside… and touched two helmets.
The helmets were pitch black, with masks and straps. They were typical explosion-proof helmets.
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Su Mingqian: “…”
In the next second, Li Shuoxing picked up one of the helmets and turned around to put it on Su Mingqian.
Su Mingqian: “???”
Li Shuoxing was super serious. “Wear it properly to avoid harm.”
Su Mingqian was embarrassed. “This is a little strange…”
Li Shuoxing: “Don’t worry. Even if it’s strange, I’ll accompany you.”
After that, he picked up the remaining helmet and firmly put it on himself as well.
Li Shuoxing understood the system’s idea.
There’s hidden security prop one, so there must also be two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.
With explosion-proof helmets, will bulletproof vests be coming afterwards? With bulletproof vests, will guns and ammunition be coming afterwards?
A slight sneer was revealed on Li Shuoxing’s mouth.
Isn’t this just decryption?
I’m too good at this thing.
When I uncrack every detail, scrape out every single truth point, fully arm myself to the teeth, and pick up heavy weapons like rocket launchers and anti-tank guns… Come on, fire, let’s see who’s afraid!
After the office was completely ransacked, the next destination appeared.
Without a doubt, it was the area where Tom controlled the security team.
The security team’s area was located on the building’s first floor. It didn’t occupy a lot of space, and could be said to be very small compared to the rest of the area. Going inside, there was a huge conference room and a huge monitoring room.
Li Shuoxing went in for a look, and then withdrew.
He said to Su Mingqian, “I think something’s wrong.”
Su Mingqian: “What?”
Li Shuoxing: “The space here seems to be a bit smaller.”
Su Mingqian: “You mean the area of the security team is smaller than that of the other groups?”
Li Shuoxing shook his head. “No, I mean, the outside is bigger than the inside in this area. Generally speaking, there might be something hidden inside, like a secret passage or a secret room.”
Su Mingqian looked at Li Shuoxing for a long time.
In order to prove that his deduction was correct, Li Shuoxing entered the room first and started his own search and investigation.
He first tested the room.
[Name]: Security Team Office Area
[Note]: There seems to be a hint of strangeness here
He was going in the right direction.
Li Shuoxing then rushed to check the places he suspected one by one. Although it cost a lot in truth points, it was very efficient. When Li Shuoxing had only probed for the second time, he had probed a key position.
[Name]: Wall
[Note]: This is a movable wall and can be opened.
[Will you consume 10 truth points to open it? Yes/No]
Do you need to ask?
Of course, I choose yes.
Li Shuoxing opened the wall.
A narrow staircase leading to the upper floor appeared in front of them.
Su Mingqian was dumbfounded.
Li Shuoxing was calm. “Being sceptical of everything helps find things that can’t normally be found.” After he said that, he made a deduction. “This secret passage leads to your office, so that Tom can see the document on your desk without alerting anyone.”
[Clue deduction successful. Truth points +10]
Su Mingqian murmured, “How can there be a secret passage here? It can’t have been added later. A secret passage like this could only be planned when the building was being built. In other words… in addition to protecting us and ensuring the safety of the experiment, the security team also has another task… to secretly monitor this experiment.”
[Clue deduction successful. Truth points +10]
Su Mingqian was silent for a moment, then said, “Let’s go up and take a look.”
Li Shuoxing: “Okay.”
They entered the secret passage together.
Cold incandescent light shone in the long and narrow passage, which didn’t even have enough room for two people to walk side-by-side. It was like a spider web slowly unraveling in front of them.
It had various forks that led to many places, and seemed to cover all the key locations in the whole building.
It was like the shadow wall of a building, hidden in a place that didn’t see daylight all day long; the people walking in it were also like shadows, silently appearing behind each person.
Li Shuoxing and Su Mingqian walked around, and sure enough, found the path that led to Su Mingqian’s office.
Then, they found a small space in it.
There was a table and a chair in the centre of this bright and cold space.
A row of buttons was on the table, and a thick codebook and a document were beside it.
It was a document marked top secret, titled, Disposal Plan for Ask .
There was a lot of content inside, and the most critical sentence among them was:
“…If Ask does not pass the test, it will be destroyed in place.”