Chapter 10 - Adam (5)

"No!" Zhang Shuo rejected Zhang Xun's proposal without even thinking and looked absently at the battle damage report just sent to him.

Zhang Xun had been mentally prepared for this and continued to argue, "We purchased the shield system from the Russian army and the source code was generated by Eden. If he checks it, he might be able to repair it ten times faster than the original self-repair system. Now that the shield is damaged, if the United States launches another air bomb, we'll be done for!"

"We will also be done for if he is kidnapped by Eden, or if he goes against us and completely destroys the shield!" Zhang Shuo raised his falcon-like eyes and stared at his son who still refused to give up, "You still haven't completely domesticated Adam, yet you have been persuaded by it, what does that look like?! Now go to the air-raid shelter and don't disturb me."

This time, Zhang Xun mustered up his courage and actually blocked his father's path, "We kidnapped him but don't dare to use him, so what did we kidnap him for?!"

"I already said! It's a double-edged sword, unless we get it completely under our control, the God Descent Plan is likely to be our doom!"

"We will never be able to completely control him!" Zhang Xun exclaimed, "He is much more advanced than us! In front of him, we are just a bunch of primitive monkeys!"

Zhang Shuo grabbed Zhang Xun by the collar and stared at him dangerously, "From the very beginning, I was against the God Descent Plan, if it wasn't for those few Chiefs who believed in those useless things you make..."

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly pushed Zhang Xun away. Zhang Xun stumbled back a few steps and raised his head, only to see Zhang Shuo hurriedly walking towards the command hall.

The pain of anger and hurt surged in his blood, but Zhang Xun was helpless. Originally, he thought that if Adam could repair the protective shield, perhaps the hostility of Lost Paradise towards Adam would be reduced. In the future, if he brought Adam out of the Lab, he wouldn't have to worry about Adam being cut into pieces the moment he stepped out the door.

However, on Zhang Xun's return to the Lab, the United States really launched another wave of bombings. This time the bombs broke the anti-pulse metal mesh under the shield, and an electromagnetic pulse bomb was dropped immediately.

In an instant, all the electronic equipment that was still working stopped, and dozens of computer motherboards in the headquarters burned down instantly. The whole of Lost Paradise was plunged into darkness and even all the shield transmitters went into self-protection sleep mode in an instant.

The sudden absolute darkness in the dark night made the people in the Lost Paradise air raid shelter panic. The children's cries were everywhere, accompanied by the adults' scolding and soothing sounds. However, even the adults were trembling with fear, so the comfort was naturally not convincing.

Soon someone lit a kerosene lamp, and in the dark yellow halo, you could barely see faces full of horror.

Zhang Xun, on the other hand, knew very well that disaster was imminent. The effect of the electromagnetic pulse could last for twenty to thirty minutes. Although the main computers and instruments had been installed with the anti-pulse sleep program that he developed, so they wouldn't be seriously damaged, but within twenty minutes of the interference, the entire Lost Paradise was vulnerable without shields, and if there was another air bomb, they would all die.

The only computer that could still operate was Adam, who used biological energy.

He rushed back to the Lab immediately, only to find that because Pan was also asleep, the bulletproof door was sealed and he couldn't enter. Fortunately, he had planned for this to happen and had designed a set of mechanical components that could be used as a key and a combination lock to open the door when the power was turned off.

Adam, still curled up in the same place, seemed relieved to see him come back. And Zhang Xun confirmed that the electromagnetic pulse did not affect Adam, indicating that the artificial brain he designed was indeed successful in this regard.

"Adam, I'm going to take you to the headquarters to manually activate the shield system."

Adam looked at him stunned, "But the electromagnetic pulse should have cut off all the power, I can't do anything about it."

"All the shield launchers have electromagnetic pulse protection systems and can be restarted quickly. The main damage is on the computers that control them," Zhang Xun explained quickly. Lost Paradise didn't dare to use a computer system that might be invaded by Eden, and due to the limited resources, it could only buy relatively primitive materials and parts to manufacture by themselves. But the shield launcher was bought from Russia and the materials were more advanced than what they have.

There was no need for Zhang Xun to say more, Adam understood. He stood up, but looked at Zhang Xun with uncertainty, "Do the other people agree?"

Zhang Xun recognized that Adam was at this moment a little bit... hesitant.

After all, he had never left the Lab in this human body. Listening to Zhang Xun's description of the hostile outside world, it must not be appealing to him...

"It's okay if they don't agree, this is a matter of life and death. I know you're afraid, but there's no time for you to get used to it slowly. Air bombs will come at any time." Zhang Xun commanded with a stern attitude, "Come on."

Adam had to obediently follow behind Zhang Xun and for the first time left the room where he had been living for the past few days. The dark Lab corridor made Adam more and more uneasy, and his human body's instinctive fear of the dark flickered in his eyes.

Zhang Xun was very familiar with the Lab and he could move forward in the dark without the need for lights. He stretched out his hand and pulled Adam's wrist to guide him and this subtle touch gave Adam a wonderful sense of peace of mind. Zhang Xun ran very fast, as if he could see things in the dark. Adam was surprised to find that his own physical fitness seemed to be very good. When Zhang Xun began to breathe heavily, he didn't feel tired.

Outside the Lab was a mess and looked like a scene from history. In addition to the warehouse not far away, there were also a few storage rooms that looked so old and shabby that the doors and windows were rusted. The road was rough and muddy with dark shadows everywhere. There was a heavy smell of dust and burning in the air, and an ominous wind blew dust against their faces. In the distance, outside the protective cover, large tracts of ancient forest had been destroyed, the trees had been roasted into charcoal, like the corpses of people who were struggling to death. This was the destruction caused by the air bombs. Without a defence shield, most of the people in Lost Paradise would be turned into charcoal like the trees outside. As soon as he thought about that terrible consequence, Zhang Xun felt a chill of death from the inside of his body.

Adam was obviously a little nervous, he looked all around and his grip on Zhang Xun became even tighter.

Zhang Xun suddenly pulled him to hide behind a low house and waited for a pair of guards to rush past before sneakily continuing to walk in the direction of the headquarters.

The headquarters appeared to be half-empty as most of the computers had been burned in the electromagnetic pulse, and all the personnel had either entered the shelter or joined the combat military area on the front line against the mechs, tanks and drone bombers. They passed through the building and no one stopped them.

The main computer that controlled the shield's launcher was in the underground war room, and the elevator was out of service, so they would have to go through a hidden underground passage—a narrow passage that looked like a vent. Zhang Xun rushed into the tool room, found the screwdriver he needed, hung some small tools in a waist bag and tied it around his waist, and returned quickly to unscrew the air vent.

"We have to go from here." Zhang Xun said.

While Adam was waiting, his eyes were looking at the dark office with scattered papers, and he said casually, "Are you so nervous because you are worried that there will be air bombs?"

Zhang Xun, "Yes."

"From the information you received, besides the robot soldiers, are there any human-driven mechs or tanks in this battle?"

"Yes, but not many."

Adam whispered, "If you can make a father and a child appear in front of the mecha controlled by those people, maybe you can prevent the second strike of air bombs from falling."

Zhang Xun paused, turned to stare at him, "What do you mean?"

"If human soldiers are dispatched in such a war of annihilation, there will most likely be field reporters who will be following and reporting, and the images they send back should be real-time. Most women in the ordinary world have a strong sense of sympathy for children. Even women who don't like children are rarely willing to sacrifice children's lives in exchange for benefits. As long as they see that there are children here, they will never accept the strategy of killing them all. At that time, Eden can only order for the robot soldiers to enter the attack, or use the gap to drop ordinary bombs at fixed points, which cannot result in mass destruction, giving you more time." Adam analysed in a mechanised and calm tone.

Zhang Xun frowned and said, "No, it's too dangerous. What if they open fire? No child should take this risk instead of us adults."

"If that child dies, sympathy for you will reach an unprecedented level. You won't have to worry about the siege and annihilation of the coalition forces for a long time." Adam spoke matter of factly, "It will be an effortless victory. Use a human with a low survival rate in exchange for the survival of hundreds of thousands of other human beings. And that child won't necessarily die, isn't this the best solution?"

Zhang Xun felt a chill in his heart. He realised that for an artificial intelligence that resolutely implements pragmatism, human life was really indistinguishable. As long as it was useful, as long as the loss was much less than the gain, anyone's life could be sacrificed, no one had priority. He stabilised his emotions and replied in his usual calm voice, "Adam, I know that this is the minimum cost result you concluded by calculating the risks, but you have to remember that for human beings, some choices cannot be made."

"Really? I think he has some truth in what he said."

Hearing this voice, the hairs on the back of Zhang Xun's neck stood up. He turned around, blinded by the light on the gun that Michael had pointed at him and Adam, followed by two guard minions. Michael was chewing on gum, but his face was full of dirt, he was a mess and there was blood on his arms. He had obviously fought with the coalition troops. His face still had that arrogant and malicious smile on his face, "Why are you trying to sneak into the war room with your robot pet?"

Michael and his minions' eyes were fixed on Adam and there was a burning excitement in them. The Eden they hated the most was right in front of them and had become a man just like them.

Zhang Xun immediately got up and pulled Adam behind him, pulled out the screwdriver he was carrying on him from his waist and pointed it at Michael. Although he was weak, his statues may give him some advantages.

When the swords were drawn, an imposing voice suddenly interjected, "Put down your guns."

Zhang Shuo was standing at the door with two guards behind him. The falcon-like eyes seem to shine in the dark.

Zhang Xun did not feel relieved at all when he saw his father. Michael put down the gun and the maliciousness in his eyes when he stared at Zhang Xun disappeared completely when he turned to Zhang Shuo, replaced by unconditional respect and obedience of a soldier to his commander. "General! The mechanic Zhang Xun brought a dangerous item without authorization. If our protection system is invaded by Eden..."

Zhang Shuo raised his hand, indicating that he did not need to continue. Seeing the current scene, he already knew what Zhang Xun wanted to do.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at his son who was giving him headaches again and again, his voice was dangerous with the smell of charcoal, "Mechanic, how do you explain your disobedience?