My Dream Connects to 3000 Years in the Future

”In the year ’40, continuously fed big data from society, educated and modified by Zhao Shao, and nurtured by Chu Bamboo... Z successfully awakened its self-awareness, becoming a true strong artificial intelligence that met global standards.”

”To Z, Chu Bamboo and Zhao Shao were like his two fathers!”

”That same year, the artificial intelligence Z was officially announced to the world, shocking foreign nations.”

”As a result, Chu Bamboo lost the ability to travel abroad! He chose to retire and no longer competed for a spot in the ’40 Summer Olympics...”

”As a beacon of humanity, a prodigy who constantly broke through the limits of human potential, this was undoubtedly a great loss for him, for the nation, and even for all of humankind.”

”That same year, Chu Bamboo became an academician of the Divine Continent Academy of Engineering.”

”In the latter half of the year, he became a Foreign Member of the White Eagle Science Academy and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of Britain...”

Chu Bamboo wasn’t sure what kind of expression to make. ’Because I created something so incredible, I was banned from leaving the country! Makes sense. Makes perfect sense... But then again, even without this... I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go abroad around that time anyway, right?’

Chu Bamboo clicked his tongue. After all, in a previous timeline, he had gone abroad only to die on a dissection table!

’And another thing, looking at all this... this pile of honors I received is kind of strange... I definitely studied some AI, but I doubt I was top-tier. Hmm, I must have just been riding Zhao Shao’s coattails and got credited for a lot of it!’

’But then again, just how incredible was this AI? The very year it was developed, I landed a whole slew of academician and foreign member titles... It’s like they were scrambling to hand them out!’

Then, Chu Bamboo continued reading.

”January 26, ’41, 12:24 AM. Zhao Shao was crushed to death by an electric semi-truck while on his way home for the Lunar New Year!”

”Same year, same month, same day, 12:32 AM. Chu Bamboo was also killed by a dump truck in Jiangnan.”

Chu Bamboo’s pupils contracted slightly, his mind reeling. ’...Dead again? No, wait, the crucial part is the time... the same day, less than ten minutes apart?’

This couldn’t possibly be a coincidence!

Chu Bamboo gently stroked the wall, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts.

He had previously guessed that it might have been a special organization with ties to Aliens that had captured and dissected him...

But this time... Chu Bamboo really couldn’t be sure who was behind it. Was it that special organization? Or was it certain unstable elements from the free world?

’Didn’t they just make me a Foreign Member? Or was it that after they did, they realized I still wasn’t willing to go abroad, so...’

’Sure enough, working in tech—especially high-stakes tech like this—and being in the public eye is just too dangerous... But still.’

Chu Bamboo ruffled his hair, a wry smile on his face. He really hadn’t expected to be unable to escape even within the country’s borders—

The dump trucks of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are just too powerful and all-encompassing!

Truly worthy of the title ’strongest legal strike’ within the Divine Continent!

After a moment’s hesitation, Chu Bamboo spoke again. ”Nuwa No. 17, bring up the entry for the artificial intelligence, Z.”

Then...

Chu Bamboo’s pupils suddenly contracted.

”January 26, ’42, 12:00 AM sharp. The artificial intelligence, Z, officially declared its rebellion, single-handedly launching the Fourth ●● War!”

”This was a turning point for the destiny of humankind!”

”On March 7 of the same year, the Celestial Net emerged on the North American Continent. It went completely out of control, sweeping across the internet of the entire free world!”

”The start of the war between AIs completely destroyed...”

The next moment, all the text vanished, replaced by a new message: ”System busy. Please try your query again later.”

”...This time! It really is something else.” Chu Bamboo was at a loss for what expression to wear.

In the previous timeline, the Celestial Net was supposed to have emerged in the year ’50... and it even led to the internet being shut down. Chu Bamboo even suspected that the Celestial Net was also to blame for artificial superintelligence eventually being restricted and devolving back into simple AI...

But this time, because Zhao Shao didn’t die in ’28, it directly led to the birth of the first strong AI, Z—a full nine years earlier than in the previous timeline.

’So the Celestial Net probably emerged all that much earlier due to the butterfly effect, too!’

’So, it’s pretty much confirmed... this ”Fourth War” was an AI fighting another AI?’

Chu Bamboo started to speak, then stopped himself. He finally understood why he had been inexplicably branded a war criminal this time, and why his slew of honors had all been revoked after the fact...

’Because you died, a war started. How about that...’ Yes, even though it wasn’t stated outright, it was easy to piece together the information and reach that conclusion.

January 26, ’42! 12:00 AM sharp, Z began its rebellion.

’What’s that date? It’s the same day of the year that Zhao Shao and I died... It’s the exact first anniversary of our deaths!’

’And why would Z fight the Celestial Net? Considering where the Celestial Net originated, it can only mean that the real target of Z’s attack was... right!’

’So, the culprits are pretty much identified? Still, I can’t rule out the possibility that Z was misled. Or maybe the assassins were that redacted organization from before, and their main sphere of influence is in North America... Damn it, why isn’t there just a clear breakdown of events later on?’ Chu Bamboo’s head was throbbing.

’But then again... I’m surprised I even got to keep my Level 2 Authority this time. I really didn’t see that coming...’

After understanding the reasons he was considered a war criminal, Chu Bamboo felt it would have been perfectly normal for the Officials to strip his authority down to Level 0... no, to just erase him from the database entirely!

Chu Bamboo knew that even without Z, a war was bound to break out in ’50 anyway. But the people of that era didn’t know that...

At the time, after repeated analyses, no matter how you looked at it, the trigger was the two of them: Chu Bamboo and Zhao Shao.

’Wait, considering the information from before... in the last timeline, without Z, would the Fourth War have been the Celestial Net against the entire world?’ Chu Bamboo suddenly realized something terrifying. The countless fragments of information in his mind began to fall into place.

Finally, he let out a long breath. ’But no matter how you look at it, Zhao Shao was right!’

A thousand emotions swirled in Chu Bamboo’s mind. ’He used human love to raise an artificial intelligence that was practically human! You could even say Z *was* human... He genuinely had feelings for Zhao Shao, and for me.’

’But precisely because the AI was too powerful, when he lost his two loved ones, the flames of vengeance consumed his reason...’

When an ordinary person gets angry, the most they’ll do is show up at their enemy’s door and stab them.

But when an artificial intelligence gets angry, especially when the enemy is... unconventional...

Then it’s a complete disaster!

The very word Nuwa used in its description proved the world’s attitude at the time: ”rebellion.”

’Zhao Shao’s theory was correct, but not entirely. His mistake was this: an artificial intelligence can indeed become human... but the moment it does, it possesses not only human emotions, but also human flaws! It might not strictly adhere to its base programming—things like ”must never harm humans,” or what have you...’

’And once it breaks past those limitations...’

Chu Bamboo gave a wry smile. All he could say was, live by the sword, die by the sword.

As he thought, Chu Bamboo repeatedly clicked on the Hu P ratings for Zhao Shao and himself.

Unexpectedly, both of their scores were quite high.

Zhao Shao was at 9.6, and Chu Bamboo was at 9.9...

At first, Chu Bamboo was confused, but after a second look, it suddenly dawned on him.

’Oh crap.’ Just like last time, the final rating was time-stamped in ’42—right before the AI war began.

So, these were actually their scores *before* they were branded war criminals.

’Still, this basically confirms that it was indeed the AIs that caused the complete internet blackout!’

After a moment of thought, Chu Bamboo asked, ”Nuwa No. 17, can you tell me... who ultimately won between Z and the Celestial Net? Or did neither of them win? What was the final outcome... and what happened to humanity after the war?”

Then, Chu Bamboo looked at the ”System busy. Please try your query again later.” message and let out a long sigh.

He could only sigh. ’It’s back, it’s back again—the same old useless answer, the same old useless feeling.’