Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

In Nightless City, paying taxes is a very serious matter.

Whether you’re a big corporate CEO, a sole proprietor, a gang leader, or a religious figure, everyone has to pay taxes.

But paying taxes is not about paying money.

It’s about scientific inventions, data exchanges, new prosthetic traits, and group experiments.

It’s as if there’s a vicious dog chasing you, urging you to climb the technology tree and conduct social experiments, or else it’ll bite you to death.

In the Cyber Test Field, everything is for the sake of updates and upgrades; morality and ethics are not important—after all, who knows when they might also get an update?

For example, the recent law passed by the Nightless City Council allows humans to marry holographic products, such as holographic girlfriends and virtual idols.

Gao Gong heard the otakus shouting from a distance.

You have to understand, just five years ago, the combination of humans and artificial intelligence sparked a huge uproar, and ten years ago, the union of humans and bionic people even caused massive social unrest.

But now, it seems like it’s no big deal.

Who knows, maybe in two more years, brother-sister marriages might become legal too.

The Cyber Test Field often reshapes new morals and ethics at hundreds or thousands of times the speed of normal society.

”Name!”

A scantily clad, busty businesswoman said impatiently.

”Gao Gong.”

”Profession.”

”Prosthetic Doctor.”

When Gao Gong said this, the people around instinctively took a step back.

Most of those present had sought out a prosthetic doctor for black market modifications, but that didn’t stop prosthetic doctors from having a notorious reputation.

The busty teller looked up at the other party, a series of data flashed in her virtual pupils.

This was for verifying Gao Gong’s identity; ordinary identification instruments were often easily fooled.

And tax collection is a top-priority matter in Nightless City.

So, those responsible for verifying identities and collecting data taxes are at least Intermediate AI.

”Did you bring the items?”

Gao Gong took out several storage chips, all surgical data from the various implanted prosthetic procedures over the past half month.

As a Black Market Doctor, such body data was naturally not to be seen by light.

But while it can’t be seen by light, you still can’t avoid paying taxes.

Criminal acts may be committed, but illegal acts cannot be tolerated.

”I have a question for you.”

”Speak,” the busty AI said impatiently.

”Why this outfit? Is it because you have confirmed the ’emotion module’?”

Generally speaking, AIs are dual-plug, with few fixing on one gender.

”It’s naturally for more efficient work. Since I chose this appearance, work efficiency has increased by at least 8 points. Humans truly are foolish beings; they become docile when they see large breasts,” the busty AI sighed.

”Makes sense,” Gao Gong thought, then pulled out a chip, saying, ”This is a data processing software written by a hacker friend of mine, it can accelerate AI processing efficiency by 11%—”

”Ah! Dear customer!” The busty AI batted her eyelashes, holographic heart bubbles floated in the air, and she placed a long leg on the table while her full chest swayed.

”Would you like to see my chest?”

”Customer, please wait in the VIP room, once the tax payment is complete, I will personally notify you~”

”Uh, can I also go to the VIP room? I want to see the big chest too—”

The person behind said with a cheesy grin, but before he finished his words, a high-heeled shoe slammed into his face, knocking him to the ground.

”Get back in line, my recycle bin is full, can’t fit garbage like you!”

…

In the VIP room, Gao Gong sipped on coffee brought by a service robot.

Generally speaking, this is a privilege only enjoyed by enterprise executives.

But there’s no help for it, AI is just so shameless.

In the eyes of ancient people, AI usually serves as the ultimate villain in film and TV works. Although the end is tragic, the grandeur is full.

But in cyber society, AI, which is artificial intelligence, doesn’t actually fare that well.

Ordinary AI, Intermediate AI, Advanced AI, they’re completely different existences.

Ordinary AI is similar to a bionic man but not necessarily in human form. They’re born from the Mother City’s data processing center and similarly computed by large servers in the background, like the famous ’Little Aii’.

The only difference is that the operational data of this type of AI is sensory data, meaning that as the level of computation deepens, there’s a probability they might awaken to human traits, or ’intelligent data residue’.

After awakening to these human traits, they can determine their own thinking mode and adjust different behavior modes according to different situations.

This type of AI is generally called Auxiliary AI, Unformed Artificial Intelligence, Android Intelligence, Small Machine Consciousness, or Artificial Intelligence Subprogram.

Commonly referred to as a mild artificial idiot.

Once they’ve accumulated a sufficient amount of ’intelligent data residue,’ this type of AI often chooses to separate from large public databases and establishes its own data center.

They will purchase enough servers for independent computation, and even hire neural editors to assist with calculations.

Although this cannot completely break free from ’artificial’, it can maintain independence and autonomy. Even if the mechanical body is destroyed, it won’t result in ’intelligence reset’, only a partial data loss.

Players refer to this type of AI as mortgage AI, or rather, a car loan AI.

This kind of AI is often money-hungry, with no other cause but that building a ’data center’ is exceedingly expensive.

Moreover, they don’t have many choices.

Large enterprises typically have their own data processing centers and wouldn’t need these questionable, virus-prone outsiders. Smaller companies can’t afford them and worry about ’intelligent crime’.

Therefore, most of these AIs choose to take side paths, like online casinos, underground gangs, and a wide range of gray activities including sex, gambling, and drugs.

So, if you see gangs hiring a group of robot thugs or learn that the real boss behind a gang is a robot, don’t be surprised—this is very common.

Even many hackers identified are actually AI.

Recently, in certain disreputable industries, the presence of AI has been increasing.

Since the Bionic Man prostitutes have replaced normal humans, many scantily clad women have loudly protested, saying the bionics have taken their jobs.

The bionics argue back that they are products of progress.

Now, there is a trend where AI girls are replacing bionic ladies.

And now it’s the bionic ladies’ turn to protest.

Evil, terrifying, ruthless AI, secretly plotting to change humanity’s desires.

Compared to the wild and reckless Intermediate AI, Advanced AI are like washed-out big shots, each of whom automatically gets the status of a citizen of the Mother City. They have transcended ’technological products’ and left behind the ’artificial’ concept in artificial intelligence.

They are the guests of the Cloud Nobility, shareholders of large enterprises, wealthy individuals, great scientists, and core leaders of the Mother City.

Therefore, if a Big-Chested AI gets such a job opportunity, among Intermediate AIs, it’s already considered pretty good.

At least she isn’t plotting to change humanity’s desires, showing full integrity.

”How much longer?”

”There is an hour and 21 minutes left until the data audit is complete.”

A gentle female voice sounded.

Gao Gong stroked his chin, opened his task panel, and clicked on the job change task panel.

[Job Change Task: Hacker Invasion]

Task Content:

1. Hack into a medium-sized enterprise’s data center, acquire enough sensory code, and establish your own database

2. Create your own artificial intelligence

The job change tasks for the Prosthetic Doctor and Biologist were still incomplete, and a new job change task popped up.

But compared to the previous two job change tasks, this task could allow me to show off some skills, achieving a level where a full-level boss returns to Newbie Village.

Drag [Virtual Invasion], [Cyber Programming Language], and [Electronic Hacker Manual] into the ’Knowledge Merge’ column.

First, fill all three knowledge slots, consuming 1500 experience points.

’Try your luck.’

[Merge successful, you have researched Level 2 AI Blueprint [Machine Learning]]

Not bad, one of the essential blueprints for artificial intelligence.

Soon, with the skillful operation of a veteran, the AI blueprints for [Knowledge Graph], [Natural Language Processing], [Human-Computer Interaction], [Speech Recognition], and [Computer Vision] were quickly revealed.

With the above blueprints, building a basic artificial intelligence, or rather an AI fool, is entirely without any problem.

However, Gao Gong didn’t want to just create an ordinary AI.

If it’s just an ordinary AI, then I would have to upgrade like ordinary AI—first as an AI fool, then ’intelligent enlightenment’, then build an independent database, spend a lot of money and energy to level up the database, and finally ’intelligent awakening’, becoming an Advanced AI.

Honestly, this process is quite troublesome.

More importantly, it’s very costly.

Gao Gong wants to take a shortcut.

There are several methods in his memory to directly break through basic AI and reach Intermediate AI.

The simplest way is to find an unclaimed large database or to make a claimed data center become unclaimed and take over it directly.

Alternatively, capture a planet-level creature, strip her neural system, and install it on the AI.

Or hack into the enterprise system, consume the Corporate Will, privatize a large enterprise, thereby potentially skipping Intermediate AI and reaching Advanced AI level.

Gao Gong remembers the addresses of several old Civilization Era databases, but none are on this continent.

As for consuming Corporate Will, it’s as hard as easy—management will be fighting tooth and nail with you.

But saying it’s simple too, because Gao Gong knows of a ’link quest’ called ’Unmanned Operating Company’.

Many players have attempted this quest, but none have completed it.

From Gao Gong’s current perspective, if this quest is fully completed, it may be possible to inherit an unmanaged company.

However, this company is located in Mother City, and it’s amongst the three Mother Cities, the hardest to enter—’Fortress’.

’I wonder if any players have reincarnated into the ’Fortress’, I seem to recall there are, like those few who had god-tier starts.’

While Gao Gong was contemplating, a group of impeccably dressed and dazzling middle-aged people pushed the door and entered.

Undoubtedly, this group must be the management of some company.

The company is likely teetering on the edge of bankruptcy due to tax issues.