Chapter 51 - Conversation with God (1)

When Zhang Xun and Adam arrived at the Headquarters it was already in chaos. All the Generals had come to discuss countermeasures and even seven of the ten Chiefs had come. For the first time, the long, large table in the conference room was packed and there was even a second circle of chairs.

On the huge screen at the front of the Headquarters, as well as on the screen in the conference room, the same image appeared: a constantly swirling light that circled through the clouds with constantly changing colours that were soft and comfortable. After watching for a while there was a feeling of vertigo.

Adam stood in front of this halo with a calm expression. The halo circled in his eyes, as if it were the colours radiating from his soul.

Zhang Xun saw Adam's expression and knew that this halo was the image Eden used when showing himself in front of humans. Generally speaking, artificial intelligence would try to use images that were similar to the characteristics of the target population, but Eden never used appearances with human characteristics, in order to show his status above human rules.

And this cluster of light wasn't a random choice. The waveband and transformation speed of the halo was precisely set to subtly hypnotise the human brain and affect human judgement. So Adam didn't wait for the soldiers who brought them in to arrange seats for them and didn't greet any of the Chiefs, only saying loudly, "Turn off the screen."

Everyone was stunned and without waiting for others to speak, Adam continued to say quickly, "This image is hypnotic. The longer the exposure to it, the more serious the effect. Eden may communicate with us only with his voice."

At this time, the dialogue with Eden hadn't been formally connected. After receiving the dialogue request sent to them by Eden, they only received these images and didn't hear any sound and Eden couldn't see or hear them until the connection was established.

Everyone whispered uncomfortably. After a while, the Fifth Chief calmly ordered, "Then turn off the video."

Soon the two screens went dark. In an instant, there was an unnoticed, low-frequency vibration-like feeling in the room that disappeared. Everyone had a weird, waking lightness, as if something had been removed from their consciousness.

In the ordinary world, many people had reported that after talking with Eden, they would have a strange feeling of rebirth, as if they had been blessed and baptised by the Holy Spirit. This even led to the development of a religion that worshipped Eden as a god and the number of adherents developed in just one century to a point where it was even comparable to that of ancient Christianity.

Adam nodded to the Fifth Chief, "Thank you."

The Fifth Chief waved his hand and let them both sit down. Everyone also noticed that Adam's arm was different from before and understood that Zhang Xun had made a new type of material. However, due to the interference of various tedious affairs, most of the Chiefs hadn't read the report on the new material that had been jointly submitted by the Life Science Department, the Chemistry Department and the Lab, so they weren't aware of the mystery of Adam's new prosthetic limb.

Only the Sixth Chief's gaze froze for a long time on the cold-coloured metal hands that were exposed from his sleeves.

On the other hand, Zhang Shuo looked at Zhang Xun with a worried look on his face.

Eden's request was to talk to Zhang Xun and Adam without anyone monitoring them.

He could understand the dialogue with Adam, but why even Zhang Xun? Not to mention the possibility that Eden might suddenly attack and trap the two during the negotiation process. Even if Eden kept his promise and retreated, even if they were safe and sound, no matter what they said, Zhang Xun would definitely be carefully questioned by the Round Table afterwards. Every word would be repeated and the slightest inadvertent conversation with Eden could cause problems. After all, a human being with two super artificial intelligences may be dragged into a trap at some point. If these traps were included in Zhang Xun's confession and sent to the Round Table and after being misinterpreted by some chiefs who were hostile to Zhang Xun and Adam, he didn't know how they would be enlarged and distorted.

After this conversation, Zhang Xun's position would be more delicate and the Round Table's trust in him would be predictably reduced. Zhang Shuo knew that when the Round Table's trust fell to a certain level, all the privileges that Zhang Xun had would be revoked and then the scenery of Lost Paradise in his son's eyes would look different. That scenery would be quite different from the bright side he was accustomed to and it would instead be full of sewers, poverty and desperation.

His position as the Commander may be able to protect Zhang Xun to a certain extent, but if Zhang Xun sunk deeper into the vortex caused by artificial intelligence, he may end up powerless.

Because of these worries, Zhang Shuo uncharacteristically opposed Eden's request to accept the dialogue this time, but he also knew deep down that the Round Table would definitely agree.

Eden had surrounded them with an army of machines and although he was being very polite on the surface, he was still threatening them: that if they didn't agree to his request, Lost Paradise would pay a terrible price.

The Fifth Chief said, "Zhang Xun, Eden sent a dialogue request twenty minutes ago, specifying that he would have an unmonitored dialogue with you and Adam. What do you think Eden's possible intentions are and what are the risks?"

Zhang Xun glanced at Adam and said, "I don't think this is a good idea. Eden may not even need to use a language that humans can recognize to communicate with Adam. Although Adam has been domesticated, I'm still not certain how much influence Eden might have on him."

Adam lowered his eyes and didn't refute, but there was a hint of grievance...

Zhang Xun inwardly rolled his eyes, he still wanted to pretend at a time like this in front of so many Chiefs?

There was more whispering and the Chiefs exchanged unintelligible glances. The Sixth Chief said, "Eden gave us two hours to consider. If we don't agree after two hours, the air strikes will start. Mechanic Zhang Xun, do you think we should go to war with Eden, or should we agree with his request?"

Everything they had said was leading to this. Did they really want to give such an important decision to a little mechanic to make?!

To disagree was to trade the entire Lost Paradise for the sake of Adam alone. To agree was tantamount to putting Adam and himself into an extremely dubious situation.

"We can negotiate with it." Zhang Xun didn't want to fall into the trap.

"Hmph, do you understand that the other party is Eden, who has the whole world in his hand? What bargaining chips do we have to negotiate with?!" The Third Chief mocked in a pessimistic tone, "It's already a miracle that it's not directly forcing us to hand over Adam."

That's right, why not just force them to hand over Adam?

Zhang Xun suddenly remembered what Adam had said in the underground base of Feathered Serpent City: He wanted to know more about human beings.

"Lost Paradise may not be able to withstand Eden's air strikes, but without the support of the human nations, Eden simply cannot mobilise so many weapons." Zhang Shuo stood up and said, "Our army has the confidence to push them back."

"How many lives will be sacrificed to force them back?" The Fifth Chief frowned, his voice heavy and his expression solemn, "A dialogue could prevent sacrificing countless people, we should try anyway."

"There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world." The First Chief objected.

"Do we want our soldiers to die?"

The opinions of several Chiefs couldn't be unified and their tones became more and more intense. The Sixth Chief looked at Zhang Xun and Adam's expressions and suddenly said, "Why don't you listen to the opinions of the main people involved and see if they want to go?"

The attention of the entire conference room was concentrated on them. Zhang Xun glanced at Adam, shook his head slightly and motioned him not to make a sound. He stood up slowly and looked around at the crowd, "Let me talk to Eden first."

The Sixth Chief laughed, "What? You think you can talk Eden away with just your mouth alone?"

"Of course not." Zhang Xun's expression was calm and his tone was firm, "But I was able to tame Adam and I have a certain understanding of Eden. In this regard, is there a more suitable envoy in Lost Paradise than me?"

No one could refute this statement.

Zhang Shuo scolded nervously, "Zhang Xun! Don't be arrogant! This isn't a place for you to boast!"

"Commander Zhang, I don't think Mechanic Zhang is bragging." The Sixth Chief uncharacteristically expressed support for Zhang Xun, "I think he's right. No one in Lost Paradise knows Eden better than he."

On the one hand, it seemed to be a compliment, on the other hand, it also aroused suspicion.

Zhang Xun knew what the Sixth Chief was doing and also knew that his father wanted to protect him. While his heart was warmed, he had to jump into the pit. At least it was better than the other option of being thrown into the trap with Adam. He then said more confidently, "Give me half an hour. If I can't complete the negotiation, then send Adam in."

Adam, of course, understood Zhang Xun's intention and he frowned worriedly but he didn't say anything in the end. After all, he had promised Zhang Xun that he wouldn't openly defy his wishes again.

And this method was indeed the most feasible.

On the other hand, Zhang Xun would only be talking to himself, his former self, but the more he knew this, the more apprehensive Adam became. He was a little surprised by the large impact this emotion had on his reasoning.

"I think this method is feasible." The Fifth Chief said, looking at the others, "Does anyone have any objections?"

The room was silent.

"Okay, so it's decided. Deputy Commander, please send a reply to Eden. Just say we agree to talk."

...........................................................

According to the agreement, Zhang Xun would enter a mecha driven by the soldiers of the Guard army and two other mechas would escort him out of the gate and stand within a distance of 200 metres in front of Lost Paradise. After arriving at the designated location, the pilot of Zhang Xun's mecha would withdraw to the next mecha, leaving only Zhang Xun to talk to Eden. At the same time, Eden would ensure that all robot soldiers had retreated by two hundred metres.

The entire body of the tall humanoid mecha was painted bloody red and the top part of the head was slightly faded by the sun. The heavy, massive legs and huge arms full of ammo look intimidating, but also a little clunky and outdated. The cockpit was right in the centre and it was almost impossible to find its exact location from the outside.

Zhang Xun looked up, his palms full of cold sweat. Suddenly, his wrist was surrounded by a cool but soft touch. Adam was standing beside him, quietly holding his wrist when no one was watching.

"Let me go with you."

Zhang Xun wanted to believe that Adam was really worried about him, so he pulled up the corners of his mouth reluctantly, "No, be good and follow my plan."

"Are you worried that you and I will be trapped by the Sixth Chief, or do you not believe in me?" Adam asked in a low voice.

Zhang Xun didn't know how to answer.

Sometimes Adam wanted too much... knowing that there were things that he couldn't give.

"Adam, remember your place and also my place." Zhang Xun's expression froze slightly, "Don't ask such stupid questions again."

Adam looked at him and slowly released his hand.

Zhang Xun took a deep breath, turned and walked towards the mecha pilot who was waving at him. After walking just a few steps, he heard Adam say from behind, "Ah-Xun, you are right. Don't trust me, but more importantly, don't trust Eden."

Zhang Xun smiled bitterly without stopping.

He might say not to trust him, but this kind of thing wasn't necessarily controlled by rational thinking.