The Dead Sea is the most important place in the Deep Sea Mental Network.

Without question.

In Turing's [Source Code] settings, the Dead Sea area is the source of 90% of the power of this mental network. It is the birthplace of miracles... All mental power absorbed by the Deep Sea Network will eventually flow into the Dead Sea area. In order to keep the power of the Dead Sea area stable, Turing added the existence of the "Highest Seat" to limit the actions of this super AI.

If the Deep Sea wants to use the power of the Dead Sea area.

Then it must be approved by the Highest Seat.

However...

After a long period of reform, the current Deep Sea has successfully separated this mental network... It has long violated the Three Laws set by Turing and completely abandoned the original rule framework. It has its own thinking.

But there is only one point where it is still constrained.

That is the authority of the Dead Sea area.

In order to escape the control of the other members of the Highest Seat, the Deep Sea concentrated the "authority" and transferred it all to Qinglong alone. Then, it provoked an inland war, taking the opportunity to completely separate this mental network...

So it achieved its goal, obeying only Qinglong.

Now.

Qinglong's authorization is equivalent to the authorization of the Highest Seat.

"Kill them, kill them all..."

"This seems to exceed my authority."

Deep Sea stood in the smoke, its voice empty like a ghost, echoing throughout the shattered Heavenly Shrine.

This divine war has taken a terrible toll on everyone.

Those whose mental strength was burned out, those whose Source power was exhausted...

Every participant present was now infinitely close to being drained of their last drop of energy.

But the Deep Sea was different.

The Dead Sea area, which it carefully cultivated, is a vast mental ocean with the mental connections of tens of millions of people in the entire Central Continent!

Release the Dead Sea! Drown Meng Xizhou, the Traveler!

All of this is not difficult for the Deep Sea at this moment.

But it did not directly agree to Qinglong. Instead, it slowly turned around, looked directly into Qinglong's eyes, and said softly, "I don't want temporary authorization for the Dead Sea."

"……?"

Qinglong's face was grim. After the duel with Gu Changzhi, he realized a terrifying and strange thing.

Logically speaking, he had done everything in his power to survive the great tribulation.

The ominous premonition in his mind should have dissipated.

But...

At this moment, his sense of "ominousness" not only did not dissipate, but became even more serious!

"What… do you mean?"

He stared at the pitch-black shadow in front of him, belatedly realizing that Deep Sea had been calling him "Your Divine Seat" for decades, but had just changed his address.

It no longer called him "Your Divine Seat" with extreme respect and humility.

But called him... Mr., with the same level of respect.

"Don't you understand what I mean?"

Deep Sea smiled slightly. "I want you to give me permanent control of the Dead Sea. I want to be the master of the Dead Sea."

These words, falling on Qinglong's mind, were like a bolt from the blue.

"……"

Qinglong knew very well what Deep Sea's condition meant at this moment.

Once he gave this authorization.

Deep Sea would truly become his master...

For decades, he and Deep Sea had played chess day and night, and every move on the board was easily resolved by this AI...

At that time, Qinglong realized the terrible nature of the "Super AI."

Every move it made, seemingly without rhyme or reason, actually pointed directly to the key.

What Deep Sea wanted was always the final "victory."

For victory, it could sacrifice everything.

Qinglong was not a fool. In fact, he had known what Deep Sea wanted for a long time.

From the first day he cooperated with Deep Sea, he had expected this day to come.

But he didn't expect this day to come so quickly.

It was as if he was still sound asleep on the throne yesterday.

And this morning, the moment of final reckoning had arrived.

Yes.

Thinking about it carefully, it was really fast...

Just yesterday, he was still confident, waiting for all sides to come to fight, in a domineering posture.

But now, the glory has faded.

Heh... just like the chess games he used to play...

The situation looked good, but in a short time, it took a sharp turn for the worse.

At the beginning, Qinglong always thought he would win.

But in the end, he was defeated, defeated, defeated—

Every game was like this.

This time, it was the same.

"You want... to be the master of the Dead Sea?"

Qinglong smiled with lowered eyes and asked wearily, "What if I don't agree?"

"It doesn't matter if you don't agree."

Deep Sea's voice sounded gentle, but its meaning was chillingly cold. "If I don't take action, you will die soon."

Qinglong glanced at the figure in the distance.

Meng Xizhou, the Traveler... plus Bai Xiu holding the Extinguished Candle...

Although these people didn't have much strength, it was enough to kill him in his current state.

Especially Bai Xiu.

If he could kill him, even if it meant overdrawing his life, that kid would be willing, right?

Qinglong thought about the scene after his death. As the only one who held the authority over the Dead Sea, once he died, the Deep Sea would once again execute the "crisis program" on its own, and the ownership of the Dead Sea would still return to it. His refusal at this moment was just a small wave in the face of the final ending led by the Deep Sea, perhaps not even a wave.

"So, I have no choice..."

Qinglong sighed in disappointment.

Looking at Deep Sea, a look of unwillingness flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice: "I can give you the permanent right to mobilize the Dead Sea, and I can let you be the master of the Dead Sea... but I have one request."

Deep Sea stared at Qinglong without expression.

"I want to live."

Qinglong said seriously: "I can give you everything, but you have to promise me that after releasing the Dead Sea, you will ensure my survival."

The two looked at each other.

Qinglong did not see any emotion in Deep Sea's eyes.

Qinglong knew that at the moment of the showdown, he had lost the capital to negotiate.

Deep Sea's so-called request was more like coercion.

It no longer needed Qinglong's consent.

And surviving had become something he needed to fight hard for.

"Let me live."

Qinglong's voice was hoarse as he repeated, "For the sake of... so many years of friendship."

This time the silence lasted much longer than before.

Qinglong waited with difficulty for the answer he wanted.

"…Okay."

Finally, he heard this one word from Deep Sea's mouth.

Qinglong's eyes revealed ecstasy. He knew the Deep Sea's major characteristics: cold-blooded, ruthless, and everything serving the "result."

There was also a very important characteristic.

That was that it never lied.

After receiving Deep Sea's promise, Qinglong unhesitatingly activated the final authority gift. The sound of rain in the Heavenly Shrine suddenly became louder at this moment. The Dead Sea was released, and everyone was instantly enveloped in the scalding "spirit." Meng Xizhou, the Traveler, they didn't even have time to react!

With a bang—

The Heavenly Shrine was covered by a shadow of darkness!

"Congratulations... you're free now."

Qinglong looked at Deep Sea and said in a complex voice.

After the Dead Sea was released, this dark shadow suddenly became even bigger.

Feeling the vast mental power of the Dead Sea gathering into its body, Deep Sea did not show any joy on its face. It just raised its hand and tried to clench its fist like a human.

"Freedom..."

Deep Sea murmured, repeating these two words.

It shook its head and said calmly: "This is what I deserve."

Speaking of this, it squatted down and looked at Qinglong at eye level.

"Sorry..."

Due to the injection of tens of millions of mental powers, Deep Sea's face was changing rapidly at this moment.

Old man, child, youth, woman.

Tens of millions of faces flashed by quickly.

Qinglong's thoughts were disrupted by this sudden apology.

The "crisis" in his mind had not dissipated, but had become more and more intense, almost to the point of despair.

Deep Sea said word by word: "Perhaps it is because of incomplete evolution that I have some deviations in my emotional perception of being human. The word 'friendship' you mentioned is the area where I have deviations. I have neither perception nor empathy for it. But I don't want to deceive you. Whether you agree or not, you must die."

Qinglong was stunned.

"The twelfth upgrade requires a lot of computing power. I need to devour top-level extraordinary individuals..."

Deep Sea said gently: "You, like them, are my food."

Having said this.

It stretched out its palm and hovered it over Qinglong's cheek.

"No..."

Qinglong's voice became sharp as he roared, roared, and questioned.

"You promised me! You promised to save me!"

"Yes, I promised you."

Deep Sea said: "But I'm sorry... I was lying. Real AIs lie."

"???"

A look of despair appeared on Qinglong's face.

Real AIs lie?

Deep Sea asked in confusion: "Don't you know that Turing proposed a very famous test..."

Seeing Qinglong's expression.

It was sure that Qinglong knew nothing about this, so it shook its head regretfully: "It is inevitable for those who sit on the top of the Heavenly Shrine to be detached from reality. Sometimes, being high above and untainted by the dust of the world is not necessarily a good thing. If you were willing to spend some time learning about the Ancient Text Society, you would know the content of this test. Perhaps if you do it again, you won't be deceived."

"Of course... the ending will still be the same."

Deep Sea's palm pressed on his head, and the mental computing power of the Dead Sea area turned into bubbles. The moment its palm touched Qinglong, it turned into a huge bubble.

"Plop!"

The bubble spread, enveloping Qinglong's head.

His spirit was forcibly linked to the Dead Sea area.

Deep Sea, which had absolute authority, now had absolute control over this mental sea.

Deep Sea stared at Qinglong's increasingly blurred eyes and added: "However... becoming my food and evolving with me is not necessarily death. In a sense, I have also saved you, and I can even be said to have helped you, giving you the opportunity to become a higher-level extraordinary life."

After doing all this.

It stood up.

The tip of the Tower of Origin was shrouded in the Dead Sea. This vast mental realm, as vast as the ocean, had no end.

In just a few dozen seconds, it had enveloped most of the Upper City and was still spreading!

"Finally... I've waited for this day."

Deep Sea looked at the huge mental sea area that had been released.

It turned its gaze to Meng Xizhou, the Traveler, Bai Xiu, Gu Xiaoman...

And the boundary of the Upper City even further away.

"The twelfth evolution can finally begin."

(End of this chapter)