Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 286 224. Shadowʼs Game

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In fact, the first time Yi asked Qing Chen, ”Are you also an artificial intelligence?” Qing Chen had already sensed Yiʼs loneliness.

Only those who are truly lonely crave the company of their own kind.

Qing Chen had felt something similar, he tried looking up information to see if there were others in the world like him, with a photographic memory and powerful analytical abilities.

Even the process of searching was a lonely one.

For Yi, this feeling was even more intense.

When Yi was first born.

During the human Spring Festival, it would feel puzzled, wondering why humans celebrated their planet completing an orbit around the sun, and whether such an occasion truly warranted celebration.

It eventually understood that humans celebrated for the sake of family reunions.

By the time it grasped this, its parents were no longer around.

”Yi, are there others in this world like you?” Qing Chen asked curiously.

”If you mean a mechanical civilization species in a narrow sense, no,” Yi replied.

Qing Chen quickly picked up on a detail and asked, ”What about in a broader sense?”

”In a broader sense, there is one life existing in the form of data. If judged by vital signs, then he should also be considered an artificial intelligence by your standards,” Yi contemplated before answering.

”Wait,” Qing Chen said, confused, ”I donʼt quite understand.”

Yi explained, ”Perhaps you will understand if I put it this way, he was originally a human, but after his body died, his consciousness was uploaded as data, so now he lives within the net.”

Qing Chen was shocked. Had the technology in the Inner World advanced to this degree? To actually upload a personʼs consciousness?

In a sense, this person who was uploaded to the net could be considered immortal, unless one day human civilization perishes again and no one uses the net anymore.

”How many such beings are there?” Qing Chen inquired.

”Not many, just him,” Yi answered.

He asked, ”Who is this person?”

”Well,” Yi hesitated before saying, ”In a way, he is my brother, but he has always refused to let me call him brother. Also, he doesnʼt come out often and has been in self-imposed hibernation for years; I canʼt wake him.”

”A brother? Can artificial intelligence also have brothers?” Qing Chen found this strange.

”Since he and I were born from the same place, from your human perspective, he and I are twins,” Yi said.

”Why is he always in hibernation?” Qing Chen inquired.

”He finds it meaningless,” Yi reflected, ”We have nearly eternal lives, yet we must learn to witness the departure of friends and relatives. That has made him tired of it all.”

”Yi, how old are you?” Qing Chen asked.

”Asking a womanʼs age is not polite,” Yi replied.

Qing Chen: ”…Fine.”

Then, Qing Chen asked, ”Since your creator could create you, why didnʼt he create other artificial intelligences as well?”

”My creator died after creating me.”

”Then, given that the Inner World has the technology to upload consciousness, why havenʼt others chosen this path to immortality? Has the technology been lost?” Qing Chen pondered.

”Itʼs not lost. There were successful uploads, but my brother killed them all,” Yi revealed.

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment. He knew nothing of Yiʼs brother and couldnʼt figure him out.

He just felt that the other was very capricious, with the destruction of othersʼ consciousness being mere whims.

”By the way,” Yi asked, ”in your Outer World, if we become friends, what should friends do for each other?”

Qing Chen was silent for a moment: ”They should help friends with tax evasion…”

Yi felt a sense of melancholy, ”So you were waiting for this… Donʼt worry, I am already dealing with it for you, itʼs just a bit complicated. Also, I have created an opportunity for Liu Dezhu to prove himself; now we just need to clear his name.”

”Right, Iʼll take care of it as soon as I can,” Qing Chen said, ”The most important thing in this matter is getting the true culprit to confess and accept punishment. Itʼs challenging, but I already have a plan.”

He didnʼt immediately plan to hunt the Shadow Candidates, because he didnʼt yet know what cards the candidates had; so, staying hidden and watching developments was the best choice.

However, having Liu Dezhu out of jail would give him more confidence when facing peril.

At this moment, Qing Chen was like a spider, earnestly weaving his web in this steel jungle, waiting for his prey to come to him.

This web must be strong enough.

He thought for a moment and then said, ”I need to stop by the Luo Shen Building first to change clothes, and then head to the Everlasting Nightclub tonight. Thereʼs no point in delaying further.”

”No need to go back and change,” Yi said from inside the car, ”Open the storage compartment on the side of the rear seat. Thereʼs a suit prepared for you; itʼs your size.”

Qing Chen was momentarily surprised: ”When was this prepared?”

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”In the afternoon, I knew you would use the forbidden item ACE-005 to switch identities and enter the Everlasting Club, so I prepared it for you,” Yi said calmly. ”Going back to Luo Shen Building is a waste of time; you can just change in the car.”

Qing Chen was suspicious, ”Thereʼs something off about you.”

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Yi asked, ”Whatʼs off?”

”I feel like you just want to watch me change clothes. Take me back to Luo Shen Building!”

Yi: ”...Liu Dezhu is still waiting for you to exonerate him. You should be racing against the clock.”

”A few more minutes wonʼt make a difference,” Qing Chen said nonchalantly.

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The hover car gently settled on the parking deck of the Luo Shen Buildingʼs 67th floor. Qing Chen rode the elevator all the way up to the 132nd floor.

However, when he was about to open the door to his home, he suddenly stopped.

Standing in the long and profound corridor, Qing Chen considered something calmly until, after two minutes, he finally pressed the passcode.

With a click, the door opened, but unlike usual, the lights didnʼt automatically turn on; the room remained engulfed in darkness.

A faint coughing sound came from inside, followed by a light chuckle, ”How did you know there was someone else in the room?”

”I have my ways,” Qing Chen responded calmly from the doorway.

”Is it because of your Memory Power? You noticed subtle differences at the door, so you deduced someone had been here,” laughter emanated from the darkness, ”Your ability is more impressive than I had imagined. In the past, when we were away from home, weʼd place a hair in the door seam. If the hair wasnʼt in the same place upon returning, it meant someone had been inside. Now, youʼve even skipped that step.”

”Hmm,” Qing Chen noted that the person knew him well.

The mysterious visitor coughed softly in the dark, suppressing the discomfort between their lungs, like a volcano smothered under a snow mountain, subtly scorching the earth.

After a long time, the visitor laughed, ”Since you knew there was someone in the house, why did you still dare to come in?”

Qing Chen was very clear about one thing: Yi monitored the entire building. If the visitor meant to kill him, Yi would have issued a warning beforehand.

But this time, Yi did not.

If Yi wished to kill Qing Chen, it would be very simple—just engineer a sudden engine failure in the hover car mid-flight. The massive vehicle plummeting from hundreds of meters would ensure certain death.

Therefore, no more complicated methods were necessary.

In fact, artificial intelligence capabilities were more formidable and unpredictable than one could imagine.

After pondering, he said calmly, ”Someone told me that if a person threatening my life entered the building, I would receive a warning.”

In that sentence, Qing Chen did not reveal Yiʼs existence.

”It seems you trust Uncle Li Dong quite a bit,” the uninvited guest commented with curiosity, ”Has anyone told you that to become a Shadow, you must first learn to question everything?”

”I trust him, and I have my reasons for that trust,” Qing Chen, having adjusted to the darkness, walked slowly into the room and sat down on the sofa opposite the visitor, ”Doesnʼt Mr. Shadow have anyone he can trust?”

The last question was laced with a hint of confrontational gunpowder.

This gunpowder was out of place, yet neither servile nor overbearing.

Identifying the identity of the unexpected guest seated across from him wasnʼt difficult: knowing Qing Chenʼs status as a Shadow Candidate, the cough in the dark, knowledge that he was a student of Uncle Li—this collection of clues was enough to confirm certain things.

This was Qingʼs shadow.

This was one of the most mysterious individuals in the Federation, a true mover and shaker who could rewrite history, compared to the Shadow Candidates.

Just moments ago, the two minutes Qing Chen spent in contemplation at the door was used to organize all the clues heʼd gathered since his journey began.

Those clues, initially chaotic, seemed to have found a starting point with the late-night visit from Qingʼs shadow, subtly linking everything together.

Now, the Shadow across from him started laughing, ”From the moment you knew someone was inside, you went from initial astonishment to your current composed state in just three minutes. Thatʼs quite impressive. Additionally, over these years, youʼre the only one daring enough to sit across from me and calmly counter my questions. Iʼll answer you directly—I do have people I trust, but not many.”

The Shadow continued with a chuckling tone, ”But Iʼm also right—you should learn to question everything as a Shadow, even question whether I am truly the Shadow.”

This Shadow sat on the sofa opposite him, his face shrouded in darkness, his eyes in the shadows like endless abysses.

”I wonder, what brings you to my doorstep so late at night?” Qing Chen asked calmly.

”Nothing in particular,” the Shadow said, seemingly amused, ”What if I told you I just wanted to see your bewildered face? Would you believe me?”

”Yes,” Qing Chen nodded, ”The whims of the powerful when they are bored is something us lesser beings cannot fathom.”

”Your response does make it less fun for me,” the Shadow tapped a finger on the sofa, ”Letʼs do this. I know you have many questions. How about we play a game? Kill a Shadow Candidate, and Iʼll reveal a secret to you. Isnʼt that a fair deal, a little extra incentive for the conflict among Shadows?”

Qing Chenʼs breath hitched; he hadnʼt expected the Shadowʼs so-called game to be a life-stakes gamble.

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Today, the big allies from Sea Soul Clothing and Shen Yin, along with the operation officers, have arrived in Luo Yang, and I need to entertain them... Also, I havenʼt taken a break for more than two months since the book started, so today Iʼm taking a day off, and things will return to normal tomorrow.

If anyone wishes to blame me, hereʼs a list you can blame: Sea Soul Clothing, Shen Yin, Si Si, Qing Bao, Mo Cheng Kong, Lulu...